Newt had just set down the final bucket of feed when he felt a pair of arms circling his waist. He turned and wrapped his arms around Tina's shoulders.
"Hello, there," he said, laughing slightly.
Tina grinned at him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then he disentangled himself from her arms and moved to straighten the things on his desk. She dropped into his chair.
"I still can't believe this," she sighed happily.
"What?" Newt gave her a curious look.
"We started dating in the middle of October and it's almost December," she said. "We've been dating for over a month."
"Well?" Newt said. He glanced at her nervously.
"What? You think I'm going to say I'm tired of you?"
Newt's gaze dropped to the desk. "N -- no, I--"
"Newt, I could never get tired of you," Tina said. Getting to her feet, she made her way over to him and rested a hand on his arm. "You know that, right?"
Newt nodded slowly. "I know."
There was a pause. "What are you doing now?" Tina asked.
"I was going to work on my manuscript but if you want we can do something el--"
"Let's go on a walk," she interrupted.
"A walk? Where?"
Tina shrugged. "I don't know. Just through London, I guess."
"Okay." Newt quickly adjusted a few things on his desk. Then he joined Tina and they left the house. They began walking arm in arm through the streets of London. Neither of them said anything for a long time.
"I've never been particularly fond of the city," Newt murmured eventually.
"I've always lived in the city," Tina responded. "I've pretty much spent my whole life in New York City, except for when I was at Ilvermorny."
"Where exactly is Ilvermorny?" Newt asked.
"It's in Massachusetts." Tina paused. "You didn't grow up in London?"
Newt shook his head. "I grew up in a large house on the outskirts of London. The house was pretty much in the countryside and it was quite wonderful. I spent quite a lot of time exploring the woods near our house when I was young."
"Newt, can I ask you something?" Tina said hesitantly.
"Of course you can," he replied.
"It's kind of a personal question," she continued.
Newt glanced at her. "You can ask me anything, Tina."
"I -- I was wondering about your parents. I mean, you've never mentioned them and I don't even know if they're alive or not."
"Oh--" Newt was startled. "I -- I guess I haven't mentioned them."
"Are they alive?"
"Yes, they're alive."
"Well then, why haven't you ever mentioned them?" Tina asked.
"I don't know, I just never thought about them. I mean, you've never mentioned your parents," Newt pointed out.
"My parents are dead, Newt. There's not much to say about them."
"Right."
"Tell me about them," she urged.
"I don't know what to say," he said.
"Why don't you talk about them?"
"I don't know," Newt said. "I suppose it's because I never had a very strong relationship with them. My mum was nice enough, she bred Hippogriffs, but we were never very close. My father, on the other hand, was almost never at home. He worked for the Ministry and spent a lot of time on business trips in Europe. When he was home, he didn't have much time for Theseus or me.
"Theseus was always the preferred child anyway, at least by my father. I think my mom loved us both equally. Anyway, my father liked Theseus more than me. I don't think he really wanted a second child. I've always suspected the only reason he wanted a son was to continue the Scamander line. He was the one who pushed Theseus to work for the Ministry. Theseus wanted to be a teacher. Our father wanted him to work as an ambassador for the Ministry, just like he did but Theseus refused. He agreed to work for the Ministry if he could choose his job. Our father gave him a list of the jobs he could choose from. The only option Theseus was interested in was being an Auror, which was also the job my father had been hesitant to put on the list.
"Theseus was the eldest and the one who would inherit the house and most of the money. He was the one who would represent the Scamanders. He always had to be on his best behavior and was expected to do well in school. My father freaked out whenever he got in trouble but he didn't care what I did. I was in detention so many times, mostly because of something to do with magical creatures, and he never cared. My parents didn't even care when I was expelled. I did manage to finish my education but my parents didn't care what I did with my life. I don't think they would have let me pursue Magizoology if they had cared. I mean, even though my mother bred Hippogriffs that was more of a hobby, they wouldn't have considered Magizoology as an appropriate job for a Scamander."
"I'm so sorry," Tina murmured, resting a hand on his arm.
Newt shrugged. "It's fine. I mean, at least I had parents. I can't imagine how hard it was for you to grow up without them."
"It was difficult," she said. "But where are your parents now?"
"Ever since they retired, they've spent a lot of time traveling. They were in France when I had my book signing. That's why they didn't come."
"And right now?"
"Uh, somewhere in Europe, I think," Newt said. "I believe they left England in August to travel all over Europe. I don't think they've been back since. I know they were proud that Theseus got engaged, though that was probably just because he was marrying Leta and the name Lestrange is such a well known and respected name. I wonder what they're going to think when they learn she's gone. They'll probably be upset because, if Theseus doesn't get married, he won't have any sons and the name Scamander would be lost."
"Well, what about you?" Tina asked. "You could have kids."
Newt chuckled. "I suspect they don't think I'll ever get married. I never thought I would either but now I'm not so sure."
"What do you mean by that?"
Newt blushed. "I don't know. I'm just saying, I might like to get married at some point." He looked down, not knowing why he had said that.
They fell silent. As they continued down the streets of London, it started to drizzle.
Newt groaned. "It's raining again."
"What? You don't like rain?"
"I don't mind it," he shrugged. "But I prefer not being in it."
"I love the rain."
Tina let go of Newt's arm and skipped ahead of him. She opened her arms wide and spun in a circle. The rain started coming down harder, drenching them.
"Tina," Newt complained. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the nearest alley. "We should go home or we'll catch a cold."
"Rain doesn't make you sick," Tina laughed.
"I know that, but it's almost November. It's getting colder and if you stay wet you'll get cold and you will get a cold."
"A few more minutes won't hurt," Tina argued. She threw her arms around Newt's neck and pulled him into a kiss. He laughed as their lips met before melting into the kiss. Moving one hand to her head, he tangled his fingers in her wet hair. They kissed passionately, ignoring the rain pounding on their heads and ignoring the people walking past the alley. They finally broke apart, stared at each other, and started laughing.
"Come on, Tina," Newt said. "You've had your few minutes."
Tina grinned and Disapparated. They appeared on the front step to their house and quickly made their way inside. Newt pulled out his wand and cast a spell to dry them off. He watched Tina as she pulled off her coat, giving it a good shake. She looked up at him and grinned. Then she ran a hand through her hair, pulling out a few tangles. Her hair was longer than he had ever seen it before. It was already to her collar. She had decided to grow her hair out and Newt loved how her longer hair looked.
"You're staring at me again," she observed, smiling slightly.
"I think you should know why by now," he replied, blushing.
Tina blushed as well. "What? Because I'm so beautiful?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Of course," he replied, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I still don't know how you think I'm beautiful," she sighed.
Newt shook his head. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and I don't want you to ever doubt that."
A/N: I finished a chapter! I hope you enjoyed. Please vote and comment.
I honestly didn't know what I was doing with this chapter. I needed a couple of filler chapters, this one and the next one, and I had a good idea for one, the next one, but I didn't know what to do with this one. I decided that Newt and Tina would go for a walk and it would rain but that was all I had. The discussion about Newt's parents was an idea I had come up with a few days ago and I was going to use it for the book I'm planning but I decided it would work best here.
Anyway, have a good day!
Bye!