Tides of Turmoil (NEWTINA)

Chapter 25 - The Touch

We ran through the corridors, which had been emptied after Seira was released. I almost could smile at the change of events. Yet, the sight of the back of Tina, so tense and so cold, made all that amusement disappear.

'Where is she?' I heard Tina ask as we hurried down a corridor which led to a big and spacious office room.

'I don't know, but something tells me that we are getting close,' I said, and after a bit of hesitation, I took her hand to lead her to the right exist. I felt her eyes on the back of my head. 'Stay close.'

The scene in front of us was to be expected. Things were knocked over, desks and papers scattered all across the room. A roar was heard closer than before, to our left, but still distant. There were a couple of grumpy-looking house elves staring at the mess and starting to clean it. I hesitated at first, but I went to nearest one of them - he looked younger than the others and less stern - to ask him about Seira.

He looked up to me with his big, brown eyes. 'Oui, monsieur? Est-ce que vous auriez besoin de quelque chose, monsieur?'

Oh, bugger... I had forgotten where I was and had forgotten entirely about the language barrier. My French was never good, so I felt suddenly really self-conscious. I glanced at Tina, raising my eyebrows in question, but she shook her head.

The elf looked at my confused face and, after swiftly looking at me from head to toe, he asked. 'English?'

'Yes,' I replied.

The elf nodded, a small smile on his face. 'Iz therr som'thing you need, monsieur?'

'Yes, um... what happened here?'

'A créature came and flew aroun' - big, wiz furr made of fire, monsieur. It came and mezzed all aroun'd, monsieur. It went dat way,' he said and pointed to one of the arches to our left.

I felt a pang of guilt as he looked around with tired eyes. Even though I knew that Seira was only behaving like this because she was scared, the damage left behind was not excusable.

'Iz there anymor' you and your épouse need, monsieur?' the elf asked, looking up from me to Tina with innocent, glowing eyes.

At that, I felt the urge to look at Tina to see her reaction. As I obliged, I was somehow pleased to see her cheeks turn into a deep shade of pink. I felt my cheeks warm up instantly, and my mind went completely blank when she turned her eyes at me.

After a few stunned, yet warming seconds, we both looked away. Clearing my throat, I thanked the elf and he bowed before going back to work.

As I tried to master all the courage I could find, I kept searching my head to what to say. I glanced at Tina's hands as she played with them.

'Tina, listen...' I started but was cut off as a big roar came from under our feet. Not having the time to recover from it, we had to leap out of the way as Seira burst out from the floor.

In an instant, there were dozens of Aurors around us, pointing their wands at Seira. Spells were shot to her, but Seira blocked some, thanks to her luminous and hard mane, and missed others by mere inches. A yell from one of the Aurors alerted others of our presence. I looked around for Tina, my heart pounding frenetically. A shot of red light and a shriek pulled me to my feet.

'Tina!' I screamed, my body tingling with desperation at the lack of response. I saw Aurors point at me with their wands, but I repelled them with Shielding Charms. I looked around, searching around the different faces and coats for the one I wanted to find the most. I screamed her name, but no response came; I kept convincing myself that it was due to either the noise of the current chaos. However, I didn't see nor hear her, not even after a curse grazed and cut me on my upper arm as I tried to double-check.

Seira roared again and, in a confusing instant, I was raised from the floor and, in a backflip, I was mounting on Seira's shoulders. Instinctively, I grabbed hold of her and turned my eyes to the crowd around us. I saw jets of red and blue all around, but I finally found what mattered. Tina was engaged in combat with three Aurors.

'Tina!' I called, and with a very powerful swish of her wand, she sent the Aurors flying back and colliding with others close by. She turned around, searching around with her eyes; everywhere, except where I was.

'Newt? Newt?!' she called.

'Up here!' I responded, raising one of my hands. I couldn't tell if she saw me because Seira moved brutally to the side and almost knocked me off her shoulders. I grunted, trying to grab hold of her again but failing as her mane slip through my fingers. I saw an Auror from the corner of my eye and point his wand at me. I closed my eyes as a curse shot from his wand: I was doomed.

Suddenly, a hand gripped my arm and pulled me back on a sitting position; a scream came to my left, where the Auror was. I opened my eyes in time to see him be knocked out. I left a warm and soft pair of arms wrapped tightly around my waist and looked over my shoulder: it was Tina. Her face was slightly pink and her eyes were had a blazing look in them. I couldn't part mine off hers. 

'NEWT! TINA!'

We both turned to the sound of that voice. Jacob came running from a corridor, but Leta and Theseus were not near him. A couple of Aurors turned to him, wands raised.

'Uh oh,' Jacob panted. Quickly, I turned Seira towards him and urged her to move. She understood me and set her way towards that same corridor. Jacob made way, looking up and noticing us. A relieved smile spread across his face. 

'Jacob!' I yelled and extended my hand out, sliding a bit to the side. He leapt to reach me and grabbed hold. Tina helped me, but Seira gave a high-pitched growl that made me freeze.

Confused, Tina turned to me and raised her eyebrows. 'What it is?'

'No time... grab him and don't let go!' I said, using both hands to grab his arm. Tina, although looking puzzled, copied my actions and grabbed on Jacob's other arm.

'What's wrong? Help me up! I know I might not be as light as a feather, but -'

'Jacob, it's not that. Don't worry, you'll be fine!' I said quickly as Seira leaned back on her back legs and dived head first to the ceiling. The walls and lights around us suddenly fused together and, like fireworks, Seira's mane lighted up and engulfed everything. Tina leaned her head onto my back and wrapped her free hand around my waist; Jacob's yells echoed into my ears as we Disapparated. 

Once I felt the tight hold around my inners disappear (though I still felt Tina's hold around me - wouldn't complain) we were outside and the night air blew and whistled through the trees around us. I heard the panted breath of all the other three. 

'Are you alright?' I heard Tina ask Jacob. An invisible hand gripped my insides when I noticed how faint her voice sounded. 

Jacob groaned, dropping his feet to the ground. 'I hate these leaps you guys do...'

I raised my wand out and muttered 'Lumos'; Tina did the same. We were in this park, but there were no house lights around.

'Where are we?' asked Jacob, echoing my thoughts.

'It looks like a park... but it's too big. Maybe we are in the countryside?' I replied half-certainly.

'No,' said Tina suddenly. I turned to her and saw what she was seeing. 'It's a cemetery.'

Her wand lightened a couple of headstones, some old and some really ancient; the names were almost gone. Seira growled softly, backing away in fear. I patted her gently, reassuring her. I took a deep breath and touched Tina's hand that lied over my stomach; she barely reacted.

'Tina?' I asked softly. But in an instant, the whole world seemed to end for me. In a moment, Tina's hand and arm left me and she was sliding down Seira's side; her wand's had slipped from her hold, the light extinguished; and as I turned around, the light of my wand showed me how deathly pale she was. 

No... 

I know it's short but you know what happened and I'm very mad. I'mma do my best to write the suite... read my profile for the full story. T_T