Tina nervously tugged her overcoat tighter around her body. She was at the docks, waiting for Newt's ferry to arrive. It was raining gently, and if you concentrated on something in the distance, the rain almost looked like a fine layer of mist. A chilly November wind pulled at her hair, blowing it into her face. As Tina reached up to push her hair away, an image of Newt popped into her mind. They were standing in this very spot, his hand extended to hook a strand of her hair behind her ear. She shook herself. Now was not the time to take an unplanned trip somewhere down the memory lane.
A ferry was pulling up along the choppy New York waters. Tina bounced on the balls of her feet, her stomach knotted up into a tangle of nerves. The ferry was docking. People began pouring down the ramp. She swallowed and scanned the crowd for a messy crop of hair, or a battered leather case. Suddenly, at the top of the ramp, a flash of peacock blue appeared. Tina's breath momentarily hitched as Newt walked down the ramp. For a second, he stood amidst the crowd, looking lost.
Tina called out to him. "Newt! Over here!" She waved her arms.
His head jerked up at the sound of his name, and catching sight of her, he began to make his way through the crowd, his case in tow. Tina chewed her lip nervously, a habit she had picked up from Queenie. Newt was wearing his usual outfit, a white undershirt with a burnt orange waistcoat, a gray jacket, and his defining peacock blue overcoat, finishing it all off with a Hufflepuff scarf wrapped around his neck. He was nearing her now, and at any moment one of them would have to call out a greeting.
She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "H-hey, Newt".
The Magizoologist looked as awkward as ever. "Hello, Miss Goldstein,"
Tina was surprised by the formality of his tone. Perhaps he'd realized his mistake, for he cleared his throat and mumbled, "Er, hi, Tina,". The tips of his ears turned red.
"So," Tina began timidly, "How've you been for the past, erm, year?" God, that had sounded so lame. She cursed herself under her breath. Why couldn't she just act normally for once?
"I've mainly been working on my book, um, adding details here and there, getting it published," he paused, hesitating, then took something out of the inside pocket of his overcoat. "Er–here's your promised copy..."
He handed her a red book embossed with golden letter reading, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander.
Tina took it, speechless. She flipped through the pages, and glimpsed detailed illustrations of various beasts. "Wow, Newt...it's–"
He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "I know it's not the best," he rambled, "and the illustrations could use some work, but–"
"Newt, it's beautiful."
Newt stopped mid sentence, and stared at her. His expression was one of total shock, with his mouth slightly open and eyebrows raised. He blinked, and blushed faintly, illuminating his freckles. Tina found herself staring at them, and hastily looked away, meeting his eyes instead. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noted unhelpfully that they were a brilliant shade of green.
"Th-thank you," he finally stuttered.
Tina tucked the book safely into the pocket of her overcoat. A heavy silence fell between them. After a moment, Tina broke it. "Well, uh, if you need a place to stay, we can go to my place right now,". They hadn't discussed where he'd be staying when he arrived in New York. Thinking about it, Tina realized she didn't even know how long he was going to stay.
"Yes, thank you, that would be fine."
She grabbed Newt's arm, ready to Apparate from the docks to the front of the brownstones. He pulled away quickly. "Erm, if you don't mind, maybe we could walk there? They hate it when I Apparate," he said, holding up his case.
Tina blushed, embarrassed. "Oh. Of course. This way," she directed, taking the lead. Her hands now hung limply at her side. She shoved them into the pockets of her gray coat, not knowing what to do with them. It was raining harder now, and neither of them had brought umbrellas with them. They couldn't use their wands either, as the street was full of No-Majs. The rain was starting to seep through her clothes, and the chilly wind made her shiver. But she couldn't complain, winter was her favorite month after all. Everyone thought she was crazy, but Tina liked the cold, and the snow, even the harsh, bitter winds.
They headed up the street, towards the Goldsteins' residence. "How long are you planning on staying in New York?" Tina asked.
"Just a week. I'll be heading back to England on the 27th."
She felt a twinge of dissapointment. Of course, she hadn't been expecting him to stay for long. But a week? That felt way too short. Sighing, she trudged on through the rain, with Newt beside her.
"Is everything alright, Tina?", Newt asked in his quiet voice, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes.
He'd had heard her sigh. He's as observant as ever. "Oh, no, I was just...thinking," she replied, trying to sound upbeat.
Newt glanced at her once more, an unreadable question in his green eyes, but he didn't press the matter. Tina met his gaze for a moment, and a shiver of electricity passed through her. Oddly enough, she no longer felt cold.
They resumed their trek through the rain in silence. Newt was taking in his surroundings, his head turning at all the sights that he was not used to. Dozens of colorful shops lined the street on both sides, and the road was full of cars, honking their horns as they passed by in a blur. Steam could be seen hissing out of manholes, and the chatter of others blended into the air around them.
Tina noticed that Newt's appearance hadn't changed at all since the last time she saw him. His mop of messy auburn hair still hid part of his face, and he still walked his awkward gait, his calf-high boots hardly making a sound on the concrete sidewalk. Self-consciously, Tina made an effort to step lighter, embarrassed by her feet that seemed to clomp along as if they were attached to dumbbells.
As they turned the corner, a whole block of brownstones came into view, standing on either side of the road. She led Newt to the second one down, and turned to face him. "Okay, so here we are. Now, I'm not allowed to have men on the premises, so–"
"If she asks, you're alone," Newt finished her sentence, grinning slightly. He clearly remembered the last time that he'd been here.
Tina couldn't help but smile back. She entered the building, and they were just walking up the stairs when she heard a voice.
"Tina?" Mrs. Esposito, the landlady, called, "Is that you?", her voice had a slight accent to it.
"Yes, Mrs. Esposito!", Tina was used to this procedure. Mrs. Esposito tended to be a bit paranoid, and everytime Tina entered the building, she would make sure it was her.
"Are you alone?"
"I'm always alone, Mrs. Esposito!"
She heard Mrs.Esposito's receding footsteps, and the sound of a door closing. During the whole time, Newt had been impeccably quiet. Tina'd hardly heard his breathing. They continued on, and within moments, they arrived at the door to where the Goldstein sisters lived.
The American witch fished in her pockets for her key, and inserted it into the slot. As the key clicked into place, she pushed the door open, and a blast of warm air hit them.
"Welcome to the Goldstein residence, Newt," she said with a smile.
He blinked nervously and smiled back lopsidedly. Newt followed her inside. The place hadn't changed much. Everything was tidy, but still had a homey feel to it. The fire in the fireplace was roaring. He silently thanked Merlin that there weren't any undergarments drying in front of it this time.
"Teen! You're back!" Queenie appeared poked her head around the kitchen doorframe. "And hello, Newt!", she smiled warmly at him before glancing mischievously at Tina. Her sister raised her eyebrows and glared at her, and Queenie giggled before disappearing again. "Dinner will be ready soon!", she announced over her shoulder.
Newt was thoroughly confused by this exchange between the sisters, but he decided to ignore it.
"Alright, you can bunk in here for your stay," Tina told him, gesturing to the bedroom in which he'd stayed last time.
"Thanks," He walked into the bedroom and set down his case gently before lifting up the lid to check on his creatures. "Are you all behaving yourselves down there?". His question was answered by a jumble if calls, roars, and hisses. "I'll take that as a yes then," he muttered to himself before snapping the lid shut and returning to the dining room.
He arrived just in time to hear Tina asking, "When will Jacob be here for dinner?"
"He should be here anytime now," her sister replied.
"Jacob?" Newt inquired.
Tina turned around at the sound of his voice. "Oh yes, apparently he wasn't Obliviated properly," she explained, beaming, "When Queenie walked into his bakery the other day, he remembered everything."
Newt inwardly smacked his head. Of course! "The Swooping Evil venom cures only bad memories, memories that you would want to forget,"
Queenie sighed happily, "Well, whatever happened, I'm just glad he's back," she said, smiling radiantly.
He was suddenly aware of Tina staring at him, still beaming radiantly, her dark brown eyes boring into his own green ones. As he gazed at her, unaware of any thing else, he felt himself being transported off into another world, another life, another time. He looked away first, and stared at the ground awkwardly, fiddling with his coat sleeve. A tingling shudder traveled down his spine, followed by a hint of an unknown feeling he'd never experienced before, a feeling that he couldn't put into words.
Well, this is the second chapter that I've published today, and this one was surprisingly smooth to write. You know it's a better chapter when you can easily knock out 1.7k. I hope the switch between Tina's POV to Newt's in the middle of the chapter wasn't too confusing, I tried to make it as smooth and unnoticeable as possible. Although I am having a hard time making Newt talk more like, well, Newt. Anyways, be an angel and leave a vote/star or a comment, and you'll have made my day. Thank you for reading, I'll update soon :)