Newt was sitting at his desk in the room he was staying in for his visit, bent over his manuscript for his second edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He'd been declared officially healed by Tina and Queenie yesterday, and had jumped at the chance to catch up on his work.
He looked up and gazed out the window for a moment, thinking about how he wanted to describe Wampus cats. It was snowing heavily, the white flakes drifting in a blur past his window. Newt realized that his throat was parched and dry, and he decided to get some water from the kitchen. He stood up from his chair, swiftly opened his door, and walked down the hall.
Rounding the doorway, he saw that Tina and Queenie were already in the kitchen, along with Jacob, who apparently, had just arrived.
"It's snowing again," the baker informed.
Newt walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a glass, wanting to arrive and leave unnoticed, so that he could get back to his book as soon as possible. Unluckily for him, Tina turned around, having heard him.
"Newt!" she exclaimed. "So you're finally taking a break?"
The Magizoologist filled his glass with water. "Actually, I just needed some water, so if you don't mind, I'll be heading back now," he said, sincerely hoping that he could get away. He edged toward the doorframe, but was halted by Tina.
"Oh, come on, Newt," Tina sighed. "You've been at your desk for hours. Stay out here for a while."
"No, I really must get back to my manuscript, I need to catch up on some work that I've missed..."
A hard look from Tina made the rest of his sentence trail off feebly.
"Fine," Newt gave in. "I'll stay for a while."
"Good for you, Newt!" Jacob said.
Tina, looking satisfied, went over to the window and looked out. "You're right," she said to Jacob. "It's snowing hard out there."
Newt noticed that Queenie had a devious grin on her face. Oh no...
"Let's have a snowball fight!" Queenie proposed excitedly.
Jacob, as usual, agreed eagerly. Newt turned toward Tina, about to tell her to pull them out of this ridiculous situation. To his immense surprise, she had a thoughtful expression on her face, and her arms were crossed, as if she were seriously thinking about Queenie's suggestion.
"You know," Tina said slowly. "I think that might actually be a good idea!"
Queenie cheered, and Newt gaped at the brunette.
"I definitely do not think that is a good idea," Newt said abruptly.
"Oh come on, Newt! We can all get out, it'll be fun," Jacob persuaded.
Newt coughed pointedly. "As adults, I don't think we're supposed to have fun. And besides," he added, "I really do need to work on my manuscript for my new book."
Tina cast a withering glare at him. "You've been stuck inside that room all day, Newt. Some fresh air will do you good."
"Yeah," Queenie agreed. "And winter is Tina's favorite season, don't you wanna do it for her?"
Newt blushed, and tried to ignore this very direct comment. "But I don't know how snowball fights work," he mumbled.
"What?" Jacob exclaimed, jumping up. "Are you kidding?"
"Yes, I've actually never been in a snowball fight," Newt admitted, ducking his head.
"What about Theseus?" Tina inquired. "Didn't he ever play with you when you were children?"
Newt snorted bitterly. "Theseus was never really the brotherly sort."
"Well," Queenie piped up brightly, "then we'll just have to show you!"
Newt looked from Queenie, to Jacob, and finally to Tina. His eyes rested on her. Sighing resignedly, he muttered a hasty agreement. The three others beamed at him, and each of them went off to retrieve their winter clothing.
Newt retreated temporarily back into his room to grab his peacock blue overcoat, and his Hufflepuff scarf. Slinging it around his neck, he walked back through the kitchen and into the living room, where he stood by the door, waiting for the others.
Tina appeared next, wearing her storm gray overcoat, black hat, and some navy mittens. She frowned as she looked at him. Newt glanced down at himself self-consciously. Was his pocket inside out? Or maybe one of his pant legs was tucked in, and the other was not?
"Newt, why aren't you wearing gloves? It'll be cold outside." Tina said, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Oh," Newt said lamely. "I didn't pack any."
"Wait here, then," Tina told him as she whipped around through the kitchen and down the hallway. "I'll be right back!"
Newt blinked, confused, and decided to reserve judgement until Tina got back. Queenie and Jacob walked into the living room, both clad in winter garments.
"Where's Teen?" Queenie asked, looking around. "She's usually the first one ready."
Newt shrugged. "No clue."
"Hey Newt," Jacob interrupted. "Where are your gloves?"
"I didn't think to bring any," Newt explained, shoving his hands into his pockets to avoid further questioning.
Just then, Tina darted back into the room, waving something in her hands. She came up to Newt, and handed a thick pair of mittens to him. His eyes widened in surprise, and he removed his hands from his pockets to take them.
"Thank you," Newt murmured, gratified, as he reached out to accept the gloves.
Their fingers brushed for a split second, and it seemed as though the world froze. Green eyes met brown, and sparks of electricity flew through the air before Newt hastily tugged his gaze away.
Tina smiled lightly at him, blushing faintly. "Well, I couldn't have you freeze to death, could I?"
Newt chuckled softly as he slipped the mittens on. "No, I guess not."
Queenie was giggling, although she tried to hide it behind her hand. Newt flushed, and he saw Tina roll her eyes at her sister.
"Come on, let's get going," she said, opening the door and gesturing for the rest of the group to follow her.
The foursome stepped down the stairs in a single file line, with Tina in the lead. When they were halfway down, a door on the first floor landing opened, and a head appeared. Newt felt Tina's hand on his head, forcing him down and out of sight, while a similar thing happened to Jacob behind him.
"Tina? Queenie? That you two?" Mrs. Esposito called.
"Yes, Mrs. Esposito!" the sisters chorused.
"Then why does it sound like a herd of dinosaurs is having a party up there?"
Newt's breath hitched in his throat, he sensed Tina stiffen beside him.
"Tina tripped, Mrs. Esposito!" Queenie lied, her voice higher than usual.
There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Well, don't do that again Tina! It's very disturbing." Then the sound of a door being slammed shut echoed up the stairs, and the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
Once they got outside, Tina started fuming. "Disturbing! As if! Why that landlady ought to know what it's like when she's singing in the shower–". This was followed by a few well chosen string of swear words, which made Newt laugh.
"Why don't we go to the back?" Jacob suggested, clearly deciding it was best to let Tina rant on. "There's probably more snow there."
The snow where they were standing was gray and slushy, as it was right by the street. They agreed, headed around the brownstone, and emerged in front of a wide bank of untouched snow. Tina's anger and indignation had faded away by now, replaced by a look of relaxation as she breathed in the cold, crisp air.
"Snowball fight!" Queenie declared, breaking the silence.
Newt's head jerked up, startled. "Wait– I thought you were going to teach–"
However, he never got the chance to finish his sentence, as a clump of snow hit him sharply in the head. Newt whirled around to find Tina laughing at him, her gloved hands on her knees, and she was bent over almost double with laughter. He grinned. That was the clearest explanation that I've ever gotten.
The British wizard bent down swiftly and scooped up a handful of snow, packing it into a tight ball. He threw it at Tina, whose eyes widened in surprise. It splattered against her coat, leaving a splotch of powdery snow there.
"Why, you–" she said, gathering up more snow at lobbing it at Newt, who dodged.
It hit Queenie instead, and she threw a snowball at Jacob, who got a face full of coldness. Although it was supposed to be a snowball fight between all four of them, Newt and Tina were mainly targeting each other, as were Jacob and Queenie.
Newt ducked out of the way of another one of Tina's snowballs, chucking one at her in return. She managed to sidestep it, but the snow still grazed her elbow.
"Say, Newt, for a beginner, you're not at all bad!" she called.
"You're not horrible yourself!" he shouted to her as she threw a snowball at him through the air that caught him right on the chest. Newt retaliated by tossing two balls of snow at once at her, which hit her on the waist and arm.
"Very good, Mr. Scamander!" Tina said, panting, "But not good enough!". A snowball zoomed right by his ear, almost hitting him but not quite.
"Well, Miss Goldstein, it looks as though I'm winning right now!" Newt called triumphantly, another one of his snowballs colliding against her.
Soon, white balls of tightly packed snow were flying through the air, sometimes landing on their designated destinations, and sometimes plopping down sadly onto the ground instead. Newt didn't know how the snowball fight was going between Queenie and Jacob, as he was too preoccupied with dodging Tina's relentless snowballs to spare them a glance.
At first, Newt had thought that he was winning, but now it seemed the tables had turned. It was as if Tina could not miss, every one snowballs landed on its target. He realized that he may have won the battle, but Tina was most certainly going to win the war. Snowball after snowball hit Newt, and he was so busy trying to shield himself that he didn't have time to hit back, or else he was sure he would be burried in a torrent of snow. Newt threw his arms over his head, and backed away while laughing at the same time. Really, she is quite something.
As the Magizoologist hastily stepped backward, his foot caught on a lump in the snow and he tripped over, landing on the snow covered ground with a muffled thump. Before he could scramble back to his feet, Newt saw Tina leaning over him, her arms laden with powdery white snow.
Newt's eyes widened. "No– Tina, please–"
A blanket of snow fell down upon him, going up his nose and freezing him senseless. Newt violently sat up, coughing madly and spitting out snow. He brushed himself off, and looked up at Tina.
"Tina! What was that for?" he protested indignantly, yet there was also a playful tone in his voice.
"Well, I need to get you to forfeit, or else I'm not going to win this thing, am I?" Tina teased, and she bent down to scoop up yet another armful of snow.
Newt spluttered incoherently, and he quickly raised his hands in surrender, not wanted to be doused in another wave of bitterly cold snow. "I forfeit, I forfeit!" he shouted quickly.
Tina smiled down at him. "Good." Then she let go of her armload of snow right over his head.
Newt was knocked to the ground again, under the force of all the snow. He sneezed fiercely, and resumed his coughing fit, blowing snow out of his nose. Sitting up, he shook his head, and a sprinkle of snow showered down. He got to his feet and glared mock-angrily at Tina.
"Are you deliberately trying to drown me, Miss Goldstein?" he complained.
Tina's eyes sparkled. "Maybe, Mr. Scamander, but I doubt I could bring myself to actually drown you."
Then she blushed, having realized what she said. Newt could feel his own face heating up, despite the cold weather.
"Well," he said, "I'm glad that you wouldn't want to drown me, because I don't think I'd like to drown you, either."
Merlin's Beard, Newt! That was just about the lamest response ever! Now she'll think that you're a blithering idiot.
Tina laughed, the sound tinkling through the chilly air. She gazed at him, and he felt himself staring right back, unable to take his eyes off her, as though the moment he looked away he would be sucked into an abyss of darkness and despair.
"You are truly something different, Newt," she said softly, her eyes twinkling.
Newt felt a tingling warmth spreading through his body, from his toes to the very tips of his messy auburn hair. He noticed that a piece of Tina's hair was astray, and he reached out, hand shaking slightly, and hooked it behind her ear, his fingers lingering for a second.
"You're rather special yourself, Tina."
Sorry for the late upload, but this chapter has been the longest so far, 2.2k words rather than my usual 1.3 to 1.5k. This chapter was really fun to write though. Thank you for reading! :)