Cocoa is Good for the Soul
Chapter 5
Newt appears onto the street where he had last seen the suitcase, looking around for any sighs of her. “Eli!” He calls out for the missing girl.
He roams the street, long after dark, yelling until he is hoarse. He can’t find them.
He turns the corner and something hits him.
“Newt!” A small bundle shoots into Newt, causing him to grun at the impact as small arms wind around his torso. He looks down to see Eli.
“Elizabeth,” Newt breathes out in relief. “Why did you leave the case?!”
Eli flinches at his raised voice but Newt scoops her up and holds her close to him, glad to have her back safe. Eli instinctively curls up into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“The Dougal got out. I’m sorry,” Eli mumbles into his coat.
“I don’t care, you could have gotten hurt,” Newt scolds gently, careful as to not upset the already emotional child. “You’ve frightened me.” He admits.
“Sorry,” Eli whispers as Newt rubs her back.
“Mr. Scamander!”
Newt whirls around, Eli clutched protectively in his arms only to see that Tina had chased after him. “You left your case.” She replies slightly out of breath.
Tina’s eyes then fall onto the child in his arms and recognizes the weathered coat the child is wearing.
“You found him,” Tina breathes out in relief. “Good.”
“Yes,” Newt nods, rubbing circles into the tired child’s back.
"Come back," Tina mumbles, a little unsure. He was a criminal but she wasn't sure if she had it in her to apprehend him in front of his kid.
Newt nods before looking down at Eli. "Do you have Pickett?"
Eli reaches up to pull the hat off of her head to reveal the little green stick who glares up at Newt for disturbing his nap.
Newt keeps Eli in his arms, not quite ready to let go of her yet. It seems that Eli wasn’t eager to be separated from him either, pressing her face into the crook of his neck as they walk.
Tina leads the two back to her apartment, holding the door open for them.
Newt was still carrying Eli when he entered the room. Jacob looks up from his spot on the couch next to Queenie and tilts his head at Newt.
"Oh, wonderful!" Queenie jumps up, startling Eli who clings to Newt tighter in response to the exuberant woman.
"You need to let me breathe, Sprout," Newt pats Eli's back. "Come. Down you go, now."
Eli is reluctantly set back onto her feet and settles for gripping a fistful of Newt's coat, shying into his side.
"Hi darling," Queenie gushes. "Are you hungry?"
Eli refuses to look at Queenie, settling for burying her face into Newt's coat instead.
"She's talking to you, Eli. It's rude not to reply, you know," Newt chides. "You don't even have to talk. A simple head shake will do." Newt wanted her to know that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. Tina and Queenie didn’t seem too bad and Newt could easily overpower Jacob.
"She's a legilimens," Eli whispers. "She'll see."
In order to protect himself and Eli against the Ministry, Newt taught himself occlumency before teaching Eli. Eli was decent at it but the fear of someone in her mind lingered.
It was during occlumency lessons that Newt figured out that Eli had a special talent of knowing certain magical talents of wizards. She was sensitive to magic after repressing hers for so many years.
"Oh honey, I can't help it but I'll try my best not to read your thoughts. Let me see your handsome face," Queenie coos. "How about some cocoa?"
Eli looks up at Newt for permission. He nods and then Eli nods shyly in Queenie's direction.
"What did you say his name was?" Tina questioned.
"Oh, right. Introductions," Newt smiles. "Ms and Ms Goldstein, Mr Kowalski, this is Eli Scamander. Eli, this is Tina Goldstein, her sister Queenie, and Jacob Kowalski."
"Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Eli," Jacob nods towards her and Eli’s fingers curled into Newt’s coat tighter. "Lovely to see you again."
Eli watches as Queenie uses magic to make her cocoa and curls into Newt.
"It's alright," Newt places a hand on her head. "It's just magic. Here, take a seat at the table."
"Not 'llowed to sit at the table," The child whispers to Newt, remembering old rules. She knew the rules for the suitcase but she would revert back to old rules and an old mindset in new places.
"Ah, that was there. Here, you are allowed to sit at the table," Newt assures her. "Right, Ms Goldstein?"
He wasn't really addressing either one directly. He just wanted to reassure Eli.
"Of course," Queenie assures. "We wouldn't have a table if we didn't want people to sit at it."
Newt takes a seat at the table, letting Eli move to sit in his lap instead of next to him. Tina and Jacob move to sit at the table too.
"He's a cuddle little fella, ain't he?" Jacob questioned, smiling gently at Eli. "That's okay, I am too."
He winks at Eli, who merely shoves their face into Newt's scarf instead.
Something about the first part of the question doesn't sit well with Tina. Cuddly little ‘fella’.
She gets a good peer at Eli's face as they beam at Queenie when she sets the cocoa in front of them. Queenie then occupies the seat next to Tina.
Eli looks like a boy from far away, but up close and inspecting their face, Tina realizes that they look like a very feminine boy.
Tina watches as they lift the cup, inhaling the steam as their eyes flutter shut in happiness.
Sure, she couldn't really tell without getting in the child's face, something she had no desire to do. But the child was young enough to not really develop any distinguishing features. Chopping their hair off and dressing them in boys clothing would be a good way to throw off anyone.
It was just a matter of why.
Tina was broken out of thought by Newt snickering.
"You got cocoa on your lip there, Sprout," Newt reaches up to wipe the leftover cocoa from the child's face before poking their side. Eli lets out a startled giggle, swatting at Newt with a free hand.
The child was obviously very happy with Newt, this Tina noticed.
"I get it," Jacob nods. "Cocoa is good. You should try one of my pastries with a good cup. Mmm."
Eli then makes a bold move, brushing the curls from their face and looking up at Queenie, making eye contact.
Since Tina was sitting next to Queenie, she got a really good look at the child's face.
It was littered with tiny white scars that easily blended in with the surrounding skin. Only being a few inches away from her face would one notice. The child's eyes were deep brown, almost black. There were a few larger scars standing out, one over the lips, one across the right eyebrow, and one by the left ear.
"Well, ain't you a little charmer," Queenie beams. "You're welcome darling. A little cocoa does good for the soul, you know."
Newt was a criminal, there was a No-Maj and Tina isn't sure where this child comes into the equation but looking at this scene with an outside perspective, nothing seemed wrong.
Newt is not a criminal but someone with a large heart. Jacob proves that not all muggles hate magic. Then there was the child whose giggles warmed Tina's heart.
This was the hard part of the job. She would undoubtedly have to take the child away from Newt when the man was processed in the ministry. The child would be placed either with a magical family or their magic would be tested and they could be shipped off to a muggle orphanage.
“Thank you,” Eli mumbles to Tina. “For bringing us here…” Newt looks down at Eli with pride and approval.
Tina wasn’t sure she could do this.
