"Let's go skating," Newt suggested to Tina.
"What?" she asked blankly.
"Ice skating," he clarified.
"I can't skate."
"I'll teach you."
"I'm just going to embarrass the both of us."
"Nobody will be watching."
"I really can't skate."
"Oh come on," Newt said. "The ice will be melting soon. This might be our last chance."
Tina snorted. "You make it sound like it's a life and death matter."
Newt ignored this remark. "It won't be horrible. I promise."
"Why do you want to go skating anyway?" she inquired.
"Because it's fun. And don't change the topic."
"I can't skate. At all," she repeated.
"Look, I'll teach you, Tina. You won't embarrass yourself."
Tina eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. "Fine," she consented. "But I'm warning you, I'm no ice princess."
"You don't have to be," Newt shrugged. "I don't mind whether you're clumsy or graceful on ice."
Tina laughed, shaking her head helplessly. "I can never say no to you when you beg," she giggled.
"Who said I'm begging?" Newt said indignantly. "I was merely inviting you to go skating with me. Multiple times."
"You know," she began thoughtfully. "I never imagined you as the type to ice skate."
"Well, when you have a career as a Magizoologist, you need to be quite skilled in all modes of transportation," he responded, grinning. "Now let's go already."
*****
Newt and Tina arrived at a frozen pond, surrounded by a bank of snow. There were only a few other people skating, including a couple and two loners. The ice wasn't as thick as it usually was, but it was still safe to skate on. Bulrushes poked out at the edges of the pond, fringing the ice.
The weather was chilly, but there was no wind and the air was still. It wasn't snowing or raining, but the sun wasn't out either.
"This is perfect weather for skating," Newt observed. "I don't know why there aren't more people out."
"Maybe because they all knew I was coming and didn't want to see me fall repeatedly?" Tina muttered.
"Don't say that," he encouraged. "You'll be fine, you'll see."
They walked over to a bench and strapped their ice skates on. Tina had some difficulty with them, and ended up tying the laces up into a thick knot. Newt unfortunately laughed, which earned him a hard slap to the head.
"What was that for?" he winced, rubbing the side of his head.
"For laughing at me!" Tina said indignantly.
"All right, all right, I'm sorry," Newt apologized hastily, fearing another sharp blow to the head. "But please do remember, my skull is susceptible to breakage under immense force."
Tina laughed, and bent down to tug at the knot. It was stubbornly refusing to be undone, and Newt, with a furtive glance around him, whipped his wand out. He pointed it at the knot and muttered a spell, then hastily stowed his wand away again.
"Newt!" Tina exclaimed. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry," he said again. "But the knot's gone, isn't it?"
Tina snorted, but she was smiling. "Trust you to be reckless."
"Come on, then," he invited. He stood up, balancing on his skates and offered a hand to Tina.
She was looking anxious, and bit her lip before accepting it. She stood up, and immediately wobbled on her skates, but Newt steadied her before she could topple over.
"I'm not going to be able to do this," she muttered.
"You're an Auror, you've been through much more difficult things. Of course you can do this," Newt reasoned.
He led the way onto the ice, with Tina shuffling cautiously behind him. They stepped onto the smooth sheet of frozen water, and Newt began skating, leading Tina with his hand. His rythm was steady and slow, as to make sure she was okay with it.
Tina was looking quite nervous, and her ankles were shaking, unable to find a balancing point. She was clutching his hand as though her life depended on it, and Newt skidded to a stop.
"Here," he said. "Balance yourself first."
"How?" she asked, her knees wobbling.
"Like this," Newt showed her. She tried her best to copy him, and after a few minutes of struggling, she managed to stay on her feet.
Once she was able to stand, Newt adjusted his grip on her hand and set off again, skating smoothly. Their skates made quiet, muffled hissing sounds on the ice, and every once in a while Tina's would make a choking noise when her skates went off course. She wasn't a bad skater, though most of the time she was relying heavily on Newt and her strides were shaky, but that was to be expected of a beginner.
"Try it on your own," Newt suggested.
Tina shot him a glance that was clearly wondering whether he was touched in the head or not. "I can't. I can barely even skate right now, with you helping me!" she exclaimed.
"You're better than you think," he urged. "Go on, try it."
When she didn't reply, Newt turned to look directly at her.
"I'll catch you if you fall, Tina," he said. "I'll catch you."
Tina looked at him for a long moment, then nodded and suddenly let go of his hand. She stumbled for a split second, and Newt was about to lunge forward to help her, but then she found her balance and skated on.
Newt followed, making sure to always keep beside her. Her kept one eye ahead of them, and the other on Tina. She was skating slowly, but surely. Occasionally, she had to manically pinwheel her arms to prevent herself from falling over, but most of the time she was skating quite well.
"That's it," Newt encouraged. "You've got it."
"I bet you learned way faster than I am," she said wryly. She didn't seem jealous though.
"Well, not necessarily," he said slowly.
"Really?" Tina said disbelievingly, raising her eyebrows.
"I mean – I did get the hang of it rather quickly, but I had a lot of troubles too at first–" Newt said.
"In other words, you're being modest," she replied.
"Well, no..." he started.
"That's okay, Newt," Tina cut off. "You ought to feel proud of yourself once in a while. It's perfectly normal."
"I suppose," he mumbled.
Tina was about to reply, when her foot shot away from under her, and she tripped. Newt started forward, catching her by her arms just before she hit the ice, and pulled her up.
"Are you all right?" he asked worriedly.
"Fine," she mumbled, though she was blushing.
Newt could tell that she was embarrassed, and he slipped his hand into hers again. "Everyone has fallen before," he assured quietly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."
Tina gave a noncommittal grunt and said nothing, though her hand tightened around his. After a few moments, she said, "You caught me."
Newt blinked, unsure of why she was bringing this up. "Yes," he agreed.
"Again. Once in the death chambers, and another time now," she finished.
The memory came flooding back to Newt, and he remembered looking into Tina's scared eyes when she was standing on the steel chair. He'd released the Swooping Evil, and it was soaring around her in circles, ready to act as a bridge.
"I'll catch you, Tina. I'll catch you," he said.
Tina stared at him, her brown eyes bright with fear. The deadly black waves were closing in around her, trapping her in a stiffling dome. She took a tiny step forward to the edge of the chair, then hesitated.
"I'll catch you," Newt repeated.
The Swooping Evil flew in front of Tina as a gap opened up in the death potion. She jumped, and crashed into Newt's open arms. Their eyes met for a split second before he grabbed her hand, recalled the Swooping Evil, and fled together.
Newt blinked, jerking himself from the memory. He vaguely remembered how vulnerable she had felt in his arms, but also how comforting her presence had been.
"Yes," he murmured. "I remember."
Tina smiled softly. "I doubted you at first. But now, I completely trust you."
She blushed again, her cheeks flushing red. Newt thought that she supposed she must have said too much, though he was of the opposite opinion. Surprise and gratitude washed over him at her words
"I trust you too," he replied truthfully.
"Well, that's good," she said, somewhat flustered.
"I think – um, that trust is very important in a relationship," Newt blurted out. He cringed, then added hesitantly, "If um, if a relationship is what we're currently in?"
Tina glanced at him, then burst out laughing. Newt blinked, startled, then started to blush furiously, thinking that he had assumed wrong.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that we were – sorry," he mumbled.
Tina giggled then glanced again at him again, fondness shining in her brown eyes. "Newt, of course we're in a relationship! That's what this whole thing is called," she said, smiling.
"Oh," Newt said lamely, feeling rather silly. "Right, of course."
Tina laughed affectionately, shaking her head, and squeezed his hand. "Sometimes you really are clueless," she remarked. "But I guess that's part of the reason why I'm dating you."
Newt felt a grin bloom on his face when he heard those words. His hand tingled with a happy, burning warmth where it was linked with Tina's, and that warmth spread throughout his entire body, lighting him up.
"That's nice to know," he smiled. "You know, I have my own reasons for why I'm dating you too, and all of them are absolutely amazing."