Tina stared at the British wizard in front of her. He stood with his head bowed, avoiding eye contact. He was staring at something just behind her. She found it fascinating how he had been so comfortable studying her when her back was turned and he thought she couldn't see him or thought she didn't know he was there. However, the moment she had acknowledged his presence, his gaze had immediately shifted to a point just to one side of her.
Another thing that amazed her was that this man had just offered her the one thing she needed, a place to stay. As she had been looking out the window, she had been wondering what she was going to do. He seemed to understand why she didn't want to return to New York and she got the feeling that he had come to her with the intention of offering her a place to stay. Somehow, he had known exactly what she needed before she had even mentioned it.
Newt glanced up and met her eyes but he quickly looked away when he saw she was looking at him. "We should, uh, we should go now," he mumbled.
Tina nodded. Even though he wasn't looking directly at her, she knew he was watching her and could see the motion. He turned and started back down the corridor. She started after him, walking quickly to catch up. Then she fell in step with him, walking by his side. They made their way back to the room where Jacob and Nagini were waiting. Newt gestured to them and they both got up and came over.
"Let's go," he said. They followed him out of the room and through the winding corridors of Hogwarts. Tina tried to remember the way they had come in to predict the way they were going out but, though some things looked familiar, she could have sworn there were others that she hadn't seen at all.
"Newt," she murmured. "Are we going out the same way we came in?"
"Uh -- more or less."
Tina raised her eyebrows. "More or less?"
"The castle tends to change constantly. Things, uh-- Things tend to move around."
Tina frowned slightly. Then she shrugged, too exhausted to figure out what he meant.
The group left the castle and made their way across the bridge. It was already getting darker. About halfway across, they joined hands and Disapparated, appearing in an empty street. Tina had been between Newt and Nagini. Jacob had been on the other side of the girl. When they appeared, Newt immediately released her hand and started towards a house. She let go of Nagini's hand and followed after him.
"You Apparate into the middle of a street?" she asked.
Newt shrugged. "This is England. We're not as strict. Besides, I know for a fact that there's never anyone here at this time of day." He quickly climbed the stairs to a house and turned the doorknob. It was locked. He shoved his hand in his pocket.
"Merlin's beard," he muttered.
"What?" Tina asked, suddenly nervous.
"My keys. I don't have them. I was in such a hurry to get to Paris to fi-- to find you that I must have forgotten to grab them when I left the house. I can't open the door with magic because I enchanted it to protect my creatures. I can undo the enchantments but that would be a long process; not to mention how hard it would be to put them back."
"Does anyone else have a key?" Tina asked. She didn't know why anyone would but she had asked without thinking. Newt's response startled her.
"Yes, actually. My assistant, Bunty," he mumbled. "But she's not here right now, otherwise the door wouldn't be locked."
Tina was suddenly annoyed. For some reason, it bothered her that Newt had a female assistant but she didn't know why. It was the same feeling she had had when she had read the article about his book. "Well, where is she?"
"She went home, I assume."
"Home?"
"Uh, yes." Newt glanced at her curiously. "She doesn't live here."
Tina started. Why is he telling me that? It's like he knows I would be relieved to hear that. . . . Why am I relieved to hear that?
Suddenly, she saw a flash of green poking out of Newt's pocket. She gasped quietly.
"Pickett," she murmured.
Newt turned to face her. "Excuse me?"
Tina reached out toward the Bowtruckle. He grabbed onto her index finger with his long, thin fingers and she lifted him out of Newt's pocket, setting him on her opposite hand. Then she held him up to the doorknob and let him do his work. A few seconds later, he turned and ran up her arm, settling on her shoulder. She grabbed the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open.
"Thank you, Pickett," Newt said, reaching up to take him from Tina's shoulder. His fingers brushed her cheek as he reached forward and she shivered slightly. "I'm surprised you remembered he could do that," he continued, speaking to her now.
Tina blushed, suddenly shy. "He's already helped us twice: first when we were about to be executed and then he got us out of that sewer. Besides, I read your book," she said quietly.
Newt blushed slightly then led them inside and took them upstairs.
"Jacob, you can stay in this room," he said, showing the man a small room. Turning to Tina and Nagini, he continued, "I'll need to make a new room in the house for you two."
"I can help," Tina said.
Newt nodded and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at a section of a wall then created a doorway. Then he began casting spells to expand the space in the wall. Tina pulled out her own wand and joined him. They until the space was slightly bigger than her room back at New York. Then they created a wooden floor and white walls that matched the rest of the house. Tina made two beds, one on either side of the room, and a soft rug on the floor. Newt created a couple of dressers, placing them on either side of the doorway. Finally, he waved his wand, creating a door.
"This house is a lot bigger than it is outside," Nagini observed.
Newt chuckled. "You haven't even seen the basement."
"Basement?" Tina asked.
He nodded. "Come and I'll show you."
Nagini decided she'd stay in the room so Tina followed Newt down the stairs. He led her through a couple of doors. She gasped.
They had emerged into a huge space. A series of cement walkways with metal railings led to different enclosures where hundreds of magical creatures were kept. There was a shed in the middle of room, similar to the one in Newt's case. Across the room was a huge lake.
"This -- this is amazing!" Tina murmured.
"It is?" Newt said hesitantly.
Tina nodded and he offered to show her around. She accepted immediately. He led her through the basement, showing her all the creatures. Some she had seen before since he had had them in his case, others she had only read about in his book. There were also a few she had never heard of.
"How come some of these creatures weren't in your book?" she asked.
"I haven't finished researching all of them. Also, a few of them are American and Madame Picquery asked me not to include American creatures."
When they reached the Niffler's cage Tina gasped. "You didn't tell me you had baby Nifflers."
"I wanted to but our correspondence had already stopped by the time they were born," Newt mumbled. Tina thought she heard a hint of regret in his voice.
She leaned close to the cage. "They're so cute."
"Yes, but they're a handful. They tend to escape and start stealing things from my house. They're so small they're hard to catch."
They finished the tour and Newt made his way over to an empty enclosure. He began casting spells, transforming the area into a green landscape.
"What are you doing?" Tina asked.
"It's for the Zouwu. I can't keep her in my case. I prefer only having the animals I need to keep an eye on in my case. The Zouwu should be fine out here," he explained. When he was done, he set his case down in the middle of the enclosure and opened it. A few moments later, the Zouwu burst out from inside it. Newt stepped forward and the large cat-like creature nuzzled him. Tina smiled as he snapped his case shut and left the enclosure.
Newt said he was going to see if he could find something for them to eat. "Feel free to stay down here," he offered. "I know you won't hurt anything."
Tina smiled. He trusts me, she realized. I've never really done anything to gain his trust but he trusts me. I nearly got his creatures killed and, even after he came to find me, I was so rude to him but he trusts me. She nodded once and Newt made his way back up to the rest of the house. Then she started wandering around.
The highest point of the basement was the Augurey nest -- a big, tear-shaped thing made of thorns and brambles. The staircase up to it had a small square landing halfway up. Tina stopped here and sat down, slipping her legs under the railing and letting them hang over the edge. She was high above the rest of the basement and could see many of the different creatures.
This is a wonderful place to get away from everything, she mused. I think everyone in this house needs a place like that right now. We've all lost someone and it hurts. This place is so removed from the rest of the world that you can almost get yourself to believe that everything is okay. . . . If only everything was okay.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story. Please vote and comment.
I'm sorry if the description of Newt's basement is all wrong but I've only seen the movie once and I don't even have access to the screenplay.
Edit note: I've seen several times now. I still don't have the screenplay though but it doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm now able to fix accuracy errors like the description of the basement.