Sands of Dragon Scales

Chapter 31

"Take a right here!" Tina instructed, rounding the next street corner. The group had been following the lady for quite some time now. Rose had personally been a bit agitated after traveling the length of New York and back by some crazy lady who was trying to save her job. And, by this point, Rose was just about sure that this couldn't have been the right Porpentina Goldstein.

Speaking of which, Tina had stopped to hide behind a car, glancing across the street, before spinning back around to give the group further instructions, "Um, ok, before we go in, I'm not supposed to have men on the premises." Newt just gave the hint of a smug smile, "Well, in that case, Mr. Kowalski, Rose, and I will seek other accommodations." "Oh, please," Tina huffed, dragging Mr. Kowalski along behind her. Newt gave another heavy sigh as he tugged on Rose's hand to follow the persistent American witch.

Tina had made the men head up first as Rose followed closely behind Newt. They had made it up to the floor they needed to be on before an older woman's voiced called out from downstairs, "Is that you, Tina?" Newt and Mr. Kowalski had stopped in their tracks as Newt gave the confused Muggle, or... no-Maj, a quick 'shush'. "Yes, Mrs. Esposito!" Tina called out. "Are you alone?" the lady called up again. "Always alone, Mrs. Esposito," Tina replied with a quiet sigh. Newt couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows and turn back to the woman as Rose was taken a bit by surprise by Tina's reply. Maybe she should try and be a bit kinder... just in case she did end up being the right Porpentina Goldstein.

They were soon ushered into the apartment as Tina closed the door behind them. Rose had quickly glanced around the small flat as she found magic at work. It was a homey little place; definitely 1920s American style life. Rose couldn't help but be a little bit excited to see history on display for her. Especially when it was all so relatively new.

"Teenie, you brought men home. And a new friend!" Rose quickly located the source of the voice to find a woman in the back room of the apartment. She had short, blonde, curly hair, fair, smooth skin, and was currently wearing a simple slip. Rose briefly remembered that something like that was considered to be the equivalent to lingerie in her time. Thankfully, she was somewhat hidden behind the sliding door.

"Gentleman, Miss Black, this is my sister," Tina introduced. Tina's sister just smiled biting her lip. "Want to put something on, Queenie?" Tina suggested, as though this was normal. Newt had quickly put his gaze upon Rose, who was standing beside one of the windows that looked out into the street. "Oh, sure," Queenie replied. Tina had gone to move about the house as Newt pushed the curtains back to glance nervously about the neighboring roof tops.

And while everyone did their own thing, Rose couldn't help but catch Mr. Kowalski standing in the middle of the room gawking at Queenie as if she were a goddess. Rose had let out a light giggle, catching Newt's attention. "What is it?" Newt wondered. Rose nodded her head in the direction of the no-Maj, "I think he just might be in love." Newt followed her line of sight to find that she might have been right; of course, he had returned to gazing out the windows in a worried manner.

"So, who are they?" Queenie asked, being very sweet and polite. "This is Mr. Scamander and Miss Black. They have committed a serious infraction in the national stature of secrecy," Tina introduced. "They're criminals?" Queenie asked, almost excitedly. Rose couldn't help but give another little giggle; the evening was beginning to be more amusing than she had originally thought. "And this is Mr. Kowalski. He's a no-Maj," Tina pointed. The no-Maj in question just gave a little wave.

"A no-Maj?" Queenie repeated in a whisper, before turning to her sister, "Teenie, what are you up to?" Tina had been walked about the apartment hanging her coat, hat, and now had ended up beside her sister as she removed her shoes. "He's sick," Tina sighed once more, "It's a long story. Mr. Scamander and Miss Black have lost something that I'm going to help them find." Newt had glanced back at his name but became fully aware of the conversations the moment Mr. Kowalski began to visibly sway.