Tina adjusted her hold on the Niffler as Newt opened the cage. He looked like he was about to turn and take the Niffler from her but instead, he froze. He seemed fixated on something in the burrow. She followed his gaze. He seemed to be staring at a small bit of silver, surrounded by gold coins.
Before Tina could get a good look at whatever it was, Newt's hand had darted out and snatched it out of the burrow. Tina slipped the Niffler back in its cage and closed the door behind it. Then she turned to Newt. He was looking at whatever was in his hands.
"Whatcha got there?" she asked.
Newt's grip tightened. "N-n-nothing," he stammered much too quickly.
Tina reached forward to take hold of Newt's wrist.
"Come on, let me see," she pleaded.
Newt slowly loosened his grip. His fingers unfurled one by one to reveal a small silver band: a ring. Reaching forward, Tina picked it up and examined it. It was beautiful. A single diamond was set in the middle and on either side were two thin bands of metal, one of which was covered in a row of smaller diamonds.
"Whose is this?" she asked, handing it back to him.
"I'm not -- It's not -- I don't --"
"Don't tell me you don't know. If you didn't know whose it was you would have let the Nifflers have it," she demanded. "Tell me whose it is. I don't have to know the person."
"It -- It's nobody's," Newt mumbled.
"What?"
"It doesn't belong to anyone."
"What do you mean it doesn't belong to anyone? How can it not belong to anyone?"
"I -- uh -- It's possible." Newt stammered a bit more but didn't seem willing to explain.
"Alright fine, maybe the Niffler stole it from a shop so it doesn't belong to anyone but there are hundreds of stolen items in that burrow that you don't bother taking out. That ring has to belong to someone," Tina insisted.
"I -- It's mine," Newt finally admitted. "I bought it the other day when I bought your necklace." He glanced up and pointed to the chain around her neck.
Tina looked at him curiously. "What?" she stammered. She wasn't sure what was happening. Her mind was trying to process what he was saying. The only thing she could come up with was . . .
That's impossible. That can't be it.
Tina's heart was beginning to race and it was getting harder to breathe. "Why would you buy a ring?" she said slowly, trying to keep her voice even.
"I -- I don't know -- I mean, I do know," Newt admitted. "But I -- I saw it in the shop and -- and I was immediately reminded of you. I had to buy it, I couldn't help myself. I -- I don't know if I was ever going to give it to you, I don't know if I'd have been able to give it to you, but I want to."
"Newt, what are you saying?" Tina managed.
Newt was staring at the ring, lying in his palm. He picked it up with his left hand and began fidgeting with it nervously.
"I g-guess what I'm saying is--" Newt broke off and paused, trying to gather his thoughts. "I love you, Tina, and I bought this ring because I hoped that one day you might consider m-marrying me. I was afraid to ask you now because I thought it -- it would be too soon and you might not be ready for that kind of commitment but I -- I really would like to marry you. I don't ever want to lose you the way I almost lost you to Tolliver. I know you're probably not ready but--"
Tina didn't let him finish his sentence. She had thrown her arms around his neck, her lips crashing against his. She kissed him deeply, tangling her fingers in his hair to pull him closer. He returned the kiss, his arms snaking around her waist, holding her in place. She didn't know how much time had passed before they pulled apart, gasping for air.
"What does that--" Newt started. "Does that mean--"
"It means I'd love to marry you, Newt," Tina said, pressing another kiss to his lips.
"You would?" he asked, disbelieving.
She laughed and kissed him again. "Of course, I would. I love you more than I've loved anyone before. You're the reason I couldn't marry Tolliver." She offered him a smile. "You're the only person I could ever dream of spending the rest of my life with."
"I love you, Tina," Newt murmured.
He pulled her into another long kiss that lasted for several more minutes. When they finally broke apart, Newt held up the ring for Tina to see.
"Can I?"
"Of course," Tina nodded. She offered him her left hand and he gently slipped the ring onto her ring finger. Then he pulled her into a hug. She clung to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She let out a contented sigh. They stood there for several minutes, neither of them wanting to move. Tina finally understood why Newt's behavior had been different the last few days. He had been terrified of the decision he had made and had been wrestling with whether or not to act on it.
"We should probably head back up there," Newt murmured eventually. "They might start to wonder where we are."
Tina nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Let's go."
They made their way back up the stairs. Before they entered the living room, Tina was stopped by Newt's hand resting on her arm. She turned.
"Before we go in there, I think you should know that Nagini knows about the ring."
Tina studied him. He looked nervous. "It'll be fine, Newt. I'm here with you. We'll always be together now."
Newt nodded. She took his hand and they entered the living room.
Nagini looked up from her book, an expectant look on his face.
"Well?" she asked. Her eyes flickered to their joined hands.
Tina grinned and disentangled her hand from Newt's. She raised it to show Nagini the silver band. The girl gasped and jumped to her feet. She dashed across the room and pulled the two of them into a hug.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"What's going on," Jacob asked from his seat on the couch.
Nagini spun around. "They're getting married!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Jacob scrambled to his feet. He looked between Newt and Tina. "You are?"
Newt nodded.
"When?"
"We haven't discussed that yet," Newt admitted. "But soon."
Tina turned to Newt. My fiancé, she realized. "I don't want a big wedding, in fact, the smaller the better and I think you'll agree."
"Of course," he said.
"Then can we have the wedding before the year is over?"
Newt stared at her. "I don't have a problem with getting married so quickly but that means we have less than a week to prepare everything. How are we supposed to do that?"
"I don't think it will be too hard," Tina mused. "We can get married on the 31st of December, that's a Saturday. That's exactly six days from now. Six days is more than enough time to prepare a small wedding."
"But we are going to invite some people, right?" Newt was looking at her curiously.
"Of course," she said. "Jacob, Nagini, Theseus, Bunty and Andrew, and Dumbledore. They're the only people who need to be there. Right?"
"Right." Newt offered her a smile. It dissolved into a concerned frown. "But what about a dress?"
"We don't need to get a dress. I already have a dress," Tina said.
"You do?" Jacob and Nagini had both spoken at the same time.
"I don't have to wear white and I want to wear the dress Newt bought me," Tina said. "It's a beautiful dress and it's already very special to me. You don't mind that, Newt. Do you?"
Newt grinned at her. "Of course not." He hesitated. "What I don't understand is how the ring got into the Niffler's cage. And how the Niffler got out. I mean, the cage was shut."
"I -- I can explain that," Nagini said nervously.
"You can?" Tina asked.
"Yes, I knew Newt had the ring," the girl began. "I tried to get him to say he would give it to you on Christmas but I didn't know if he would. While the two of you were looking at the presents you had gotten each other, I snuck up to Newt's room and unlocked the small drawer. Sure enough, the ring was still there. I took it out of the box and made my way down to the basement. I put it in the Niffler's burrow and took one of the baby Nifflers. I let it go in the living room because I knew it would want to climb the tree and someone would see it. I knew the two of you would take it back to where it belonged and I knew Newt would see the ring. I hoped things would work themselves out from there and they did. I know I probably shouldn't have but I had to."
Newt looked more embarrassed than mad. Tina couldn't help laughing.
"Well, thank you, Nagini," she said. She glanced at Newt as he turned to look at her sheepishly.
Tina smiled as he pressed a kiss to her lips.
I'm marrying Newt, she realized. In less than a week, Newt and I will be married.
A/N: YOU ARE WELCOME! I know everyone wanted this! Please vote and comment!
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