Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 43

       Newt left the kitchen and began to walk toward the front door, with Tina trailing behind him. He peered through the eyehole, and furrowed his brow. "It's Queenie and Jacob!" he informed, surprised.

       Queenie and Jacob?  Tina stared as he opened the front door to their beaming faces. Queenie and Jacab stepped inside, and Newt closed the door hurriedly.

       "Hi, Teen!" Queenie chirped brightly. 

       "Hey Newt," Jacob said, lifting a hand up.

      Irritation made Tina frown. "What are you two doing here?" she shot at them. "You can't be seen! You're criminals on the run from the law, remember?"

       Jacob had the grace to look ashamed, lowering his gaze bashfully and clearing his throat, while muttering something about Queenie being stubborn and insisting that they come here.

       "Don't throw me under the bus, Jacob!" Queenie said indignantly. She turned to Tina, who had her arms crossed and was glaring sternly at her. "And besides, Teen, we Apparated right onto the doorstep, I bet no one saw us."

       "It took time to knock, didn't it, it took time to answer the door!" Tina burst out, paranoid and angry. "You could have been seen! What would we have done then? MACUSA's already hot on your trail, you don't need to help them!"

       "It's alright," Newt said hastily, stepping in with a warning glance at all of them. "As long as you weren't seen, it doesn't matter. For now, anyways. And in the future, do stay where you're meant to," he added to Queenie and Jacob.

       Jacob looked relieved that the argument had been resolved, and Queenie still seemed somewhat indignant, but she shrugged it off. Tina could feel anger boiling away in her stomach, coated by anxiety, but she took a deep breath and forced it to calm down, anchoring herself on Newt's calm green gaze.

       The sound of a toaster popping up reminded her of the waffles. "Would you guys like some waffles?" she asked.

       "They're frozen, but I reckon they're not all that bad," Newt added.

       "Sure," Queenie and Jacob chorused.

       The group headed into the living room, with Tina walking past to toast another pair of waffles. When she returned, they were all seated, and she took a spot beside Newt. 

       "–misses his bakery, but it's okay," Queenie finished.

       Jacob nodded in agreement. "At least I know Hendry's got things under control," he pitched in.

       "Has my mum been bothering you?" Newt asked tentatively, as if he was afraid of the answer. Tina thought that he had a great deal of reason to be.

       "Oh, not at all!" Queenie replied cheerfully. "Though I did help her start the Newtina fan club, we're going to invite some of her friends from the book club to join next–"

       "You what? " Tina and Newt exclaimed at the same time. 

       "Yep!" Queenie giggled at their disbelieving and horrified reactions.

       "There's actually a lot of people who joined, too," Jacob said. "Newt, your old teacher, Dumbellpop or something, he joined too."

       "Dumbledore?! " Newt yelped, his face flushing and pink. "Merlin's Beard, no, not Dumbledore..."

       "Oh yeah, Dumbledore, that was his name," Jacob said. "And Theseus also joined."

       Newt looked like he wanted to sink through the floor and never resurface aagain. He buried his face into his hands and mumbled disbelievingly to himself. Tina laughed slightly, but was feeling equally mortified herself. 

       A chink from the kitchen distracted her, and she got up to retrieve the waffles, putting them onto some more plates and drizzling syrup all over them. She slathered Queenie's waffle in syrup so that it was drowning in brown gooeyness, just as she liked it. Then, levitating the four plates with her wand, she poured out four glasses of milk and magicked everything into the living room, where they floated to the designated individuals.

      "Enjoy," she said.

      "The very un-burnt waffles," Newt added.

       "Huh?" Queenie puzzled, confused.

       "Nothing," he said quickly, but he flashed a grin at Tina, who smiled back.

       The group of friends happily ate their waffles and drank their milk, while just enjoying each other's company. The mood was light and carefree, even though Queenie and Jacob had just narrowly avoided being seen. A rush of affection for her sister and friend came over Tina as she thought of the risk they took to visit her and Newt. 

       "And how have you two been?" Jacob asked.

       "We've been okay," Tina responded.

       "How are the creatures doing?" Queenie inquired curiously.

       This comment made Tina remember something. She glanced sideways at Newt, wondering when he would be showing them his beasts in the cupboard, but his face gave away no indication of his intentions.

       "They're quite happy and content," Newt replied. "Though Pickett still has some attachment issues."

       Tina laughed, along with Queenie and Jacob. They all knew despite the Magizoologist's frequent scoldings and complaints about the little Bowtruckle, that he had an affinity for him. They whiled away the hour chatting whitch each other, making jokes, and laughing. Newt pointed out a smear of syrup of Tina's upper lip, which made them all chuckle, and she remembered the time when she'd had mustard on her lips instead, which was the first time she met Newt. Queenie humored them with more tales about The Newtina Fan Club, that was its official name, and Newt and Tina cringed, blushing. Jacob told them about all of his ideas for pastries that he'd been mapping out, and he couldn't wait to get back to New York to make them.

       Finally, when it was past noon, Queenie and Jacob stood up, saying that they had to go. They seemed to be sad that the four of them were separating again, but promised to keep undercover and not be spotted.

       "You'd better Apparate away in here, then," Newt said.

       Tina and Queenie exchanged a hug, while Newt and Jacob did some sort of complicated handshake. When they were ready, Jacob placed his hand on Queenie's arm and she spun on the spot, waving goodbye.

       "And make sure you Apparate directly on the doorstep and hurry in!" Tina called after the whirling blur of colors. In an instant, Queenie and Jacob were gone.

       "I hope they don't get spotted," Newt said nervously.

       "They'd better not," the brunette muttered darkly, "or I will be after their blood myself, nevermind MACUSA."

       Newt laughed. "I can imagine that," he said, amused.

       Tina hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind. "Newt, can I ask you something?"

       "Go ahead," he encouraged openly.

       "Why didn't you show them your cupboard full of creatures?" she asked.

       Newt paused for a moment before answering. He seemed to be genuinely thinking it over, and not stalling.

       "I don't know," he said slowly, tentatively. "I guess I wanted the cupboard to be our thing. I mean, I am aware that other people already know about it, like Bunty, my family....But it feels different between you and me. It's sort of stupid, I know."

       Tina felt touched, and a warm glow spread inside her, making her fingertips tingle. A smile bloomed across her features, and she couldn't make it stop. The thought of having something special to share with Newt, and the further extension of him thinking that she was worth sharing with, made something inside her soar. 

       "It's not stupid at all," she said softly. "Not at all."

       Newt's shy gaze met hers. "You really don't think so?"

       "On the contrary, I like the idea of it being our thing," Tina said. "Very much."