Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 11

      Newt's head whipped up as he heard a high-pitched shrieking coming from somewhere inside his case. Ignoring the indignant protests coming from the Bowtruckles, he abandoned their feeding and began pelting towards the source of the noise. Skidding to a halt at the base of the Mooncalf environment, he bounded up the steps, taking them three at a time. A shocking sight met his eyes.

       One of the Mooncalves was lying on the ground, screaming, and kicking its legs in the air furiously. Queenie sighed in relief at the sight of him, while Tina was hovering over the Mooncalf, flapping her hands hysterically and a look of utter panic on her face. Newt ran to the Mooncalf, and knelt down beside it. There was no time to worry. 

      "Newt! I–I don't know–I just–I'm so sorry–I swear I didn't know!" Tina cried, on the verge of tears.

       Newt barely heard her. He ran his fingers over the Mooncalf, inspecting him.  Then he wrenched open the jaws of the Mooncalf and peered down its throat. Just as he thought, it had been fed the wrong food. Quickly withdrawing his wand from his pocket, he pointed it at his shed, and a bottle of antidote zoomed out the window into his hand. Unstoppering the glass bottle with his teeth, he spit the cork off to the side and poured the liquid down the Mooncalf's throat.

       For a moment, nothing happened, but then the Mooncalf leaped up, vomited up a pile of sloppy pellets, and skipped away happily to rejoin the herd as if nothing had happened. Newt sat back and sighed, relieved. The situation had clearly not been as severe as he'd thought. Although food poisoning could be serious, this case was a mild one. 

       "Newt, I'm really sorry, I truly am–this is all my fault–I should have checked with you before I started feeding them," Tina said miserably.

       Newt looked at her for the first time since he'd arrived on this incident. "No, it's my fault. I should have told you which creature to feed," he said, shaking his head. If only he had, none if this would have happened. But he had felt that he'd needed to get out of that shed as soon as he could. He had needed to get away from Tina. He couldn't explain why, but she seemed different. She acted...colder towards him now. Newt couldn't remember doing anything to upset her. And yet, there had to be an explanation to her frosty behavior. 

       Suddenly, he remembered his conversation with Queenie the other day. She must have told Tina what he felt about her, and Tina must not have felt the same way, so not she was trying to distance herself from him. Newt groaned, and put his head in his hands. How could he have messed up that badly? He should have ended the conversation with Queenie the first chance he had, but he had let it develop so far, and now whatever there was between him and Tina had been broken. All because of his foolishness, and his rebellious heart. After what had happened with Leta, he'd vowed to never let his feelings override his common sense again, but then Tina had come along...And he had screwed everything up all over again.

       "Newt?" he heard Tina call his name. She sounded hesitant. "Are you alright? I know I really balled it up this time, and I'm sorry, Newt..." She must have thought he was mad at her. He realized that he shouldn't have put his head down.

       She needed to hear him forgive her, he knew that. "S'okay," he muttered. "It wasn't your fault to begin with–there's nothing to forgive." He lifted his head out of his hands to look her right in the eye. That was when he realized she was on the verge of tears. Oh no...Merlin, help me, I don't know what to do!

       Luckily, Queenie came to the rescue. "Oh, Teenie, it's okay..."

       Tina's eyes flashed. "No, it's not okay! I was so stupid!"

       Newt cleared his throat awkwardly. "Erm, perhaps we should go back to the shed. Brew up some tea?" he suggested hesitantly. It seemed at any moment that Tina would burst into tears

       Queenie nodded immediately and grabbed her sister by the forearm, leading her down the path to the shed. Newt pushed open the creaky wooden door, and he pulled out a bench, also wooden, for them to sit on. Tina sat down heavily, knocking her head against the wall, her eyes shut. As Queenie had already begun to make the tea, it was up to Newt to talk to Tina. 

       He sat down tentatively beside her, leaving a respectable amount of space between them. Tina was now repetitively smacking the back of her head against the wall. Newt reached out a hand to stop her. "It wasn't your fault, you know," he said.

       Tina scoffed disbelievingly. "Doesn't look that way from where I'm sitting."

       "If it was anyone's fault Tina, it was mine. I should have been more responsible." That was the truth, Newt thought, with an uncomfortable twinge in his stomach. He should have never let his emotions control his logic.

       "Don't you understand, Newt?" Tina looked at him with wet, despairing eyes. Newt was surprised that she hadn't started crying yet. But then, Tina Goldstein never struck him as the type to break down and weep. "That Mooncalf could have died  because of me!" 

      She sighed, and banged her head against the wall once more. Queenie glanced over from where she was preparing tea. "Teen, it was an honest mistake. Just try to relax here, okay, Teenie?"

       Tina's eyes flew wide open. "Here! What in the name of Deliverance Dane am I still doing here?! What if I do further damage?" 

       She stood up as fast as lightning, preparing to leave, but Newt grabbed her hand and forced her back down. For a split second, they both stared at each other, then down at their hands, and then at each other again. Newt, blushing furiously, hastily let go, and rested his hand on his leg. 

       He cleared his throat awkwardly before saying, "Tina, please listen to me. It wasn't your fault, Tina. Anyone could have made that mistake. I could have made that mistake. All that matters now is that the Mooncalf is fine, and no one got hurt." Except you, Tina.

       The American witch closed her eyes once more, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Queenie came up to them with a steaming cup of tea, and handed it to Tina, who accepted it half-heartedly. 

       Queenie sat down on Tina's other side, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Newt's right, Teen. All that matters is that everybody's fine. No harm done!"

       Tina took a sip of tea, and seemed to relax a little bit. She sighed. "I know...it's just–we got lucky this time. Who knows what could have happened?"

       "That's in the past now," Newt told her, "Stop blaming yourself Tina. It really wasn't your fault." Because it was mine.

       "Aw, Newt," Queenie said, "it was nobody's. It was just an unfortunate accident, that's all!"

       Newt snorted a little, but then flashed Queenie a quick smile. It was nice of her to try to comfort him, after all. 

       Tina sniffed. "I just can't stop feeling guilty! What if–"

       Newt put his hand on her shoulder, silencing her. "Shhhh, Tina. No more with the what ifs."

       She seemed to relax into his embrace, and maybe it was his imagination, but he thought she looked less guilty, too. 

       "Now, come on, give me a smile," he encouraged.

       This got a laugh from her, for it was the same method he used with Pickett whenever he was throwing a temper tantrum. "Come one, give me a smile, Tina." He found himself starting to grin. 

       Tina gazed at him, and returned a watery smile back.