Tina hovered uncertainly behind her younger sister as a passing nurse pointed a stubby finger down the corridor, explaining the directions to Angela's office. Queenie thanked her and set off, Tina easily keeping pace beside her.
Neither of the sisters said anything until Tina knocked on the door.
A stocky, dark skinned lady with a pristine white coat cracked open the door. "H'llo?"
Tina spoke up. "Hello. We're friends of Nick. Uh- Nick Holden," she clarified at the lady's frown. "We're visiting his sister."
"Oh. Oh, fo' sure. Come on in."
She held the door open, and the sisters slipped inside.
The office looked like it had been the cleanest place in the world at one point; the floors were sparkling, the shelves and desks clear. But there was a frayed, aged sense to it. There were small, thin cobwebs in the corner and tattered books sitting in most of the shelves. A stack of paperwork sat on one of the larger desks, which Tina presumed was Angela's.
Mainly because the lady sat down at the desk and introduced herself before pointing to one of the smaller tables further into the office.
"That's where Charlotte is. She has been fo' the whole day. Drawin' I think."
Tina thanked Angela and followed her sister towards the table at the back.
Charlotte was indeed drawing something that looked like a horse, her hand scribbling away furiously, but her face remaining blank. Her ash wood wand was sitting on the table adjacent to her hand.
Charlotte finally noticed them out of the corner of her eye and carefully placed her brown pencil down. Her hand drifted to a small keyboard connected to her wheelchair and pressed something.
The chair turned, and Charlotte looked up to meet their eyes.
She was a pretty little thing; her crushing sky-blue eyes gazed up at the sisters, a flicker of curiosity darting through them. A curtain of thick, cascading red-brown curls tumbled past her shoulders. Charlotte contemplated them for a moment before her left hand moved to type something on the keyboard.
"Are you Queenie?" said a voice.
Tina glanced around for a moment before it dawned on her. It was the voice from the little speaker on the keyboard of Charlotte's wheelchair.
Queenie noticed the same time Tina did. A smile bloomed on her lips. "Yes. I'm Queenie, and this is Tina."
Charlotte smiled, then keyed something else in.
"Who's the older sister?"
The voice was robotic, but realistic enough that the words flowed together. Tina grinned. "I'm a year older than Queenie."
"Nick told me about you. Griffins or Hippogriffs? I prefer Hippogriffs. I'm drawing one now."
Queenie peered over the chair and smiled. "It's beautiful, Charlotte."
Tina leaned over a smidge and glimpsed Charlotte's drawing. It was indeed a Hippogriff, sitting in a meadow of lush grass with its head tucked under a wing. Charlotte appeared to be in the middle of colouring its wings, Tina noticed. Her discarded brown pencil matched the colour of the beast's left wing.
"She's right. It's amazing! You're very talented, Charlotte."
A shy smile spread itself across her face. Her left hand moved again, jumping across the keyboard. "Thank you. I got the idea from your boyfriend."
Queenie tried poorly to conceal her sniggering, pretending to hide it behind a sudden fit of violet coughs. She ultimately let her guard down at Tina's flushed cheeks and howled a laugh. Tina glared at her sister.
"Newt isn't- he isn't my boyfriend," she clarified eventually, but Charlotte was grinning like the devil itself. "You knew that, didn't you?" added Tina, a smile painting itself across her own face. Charlotte nodded. Younger version of Theseus indeed.
She was typing something else now. "He quite likes Hippogriffs. He quite likes a lot of creatures. Is he a Hufflepuff?"
Queenie nodded. "Yes he is. And yes, he probably does own a Hippogriff."
Charlotte paused, then keyed in something else.
"You're a legilimens."
"Yeah."
"So am I."
"What?"
The question came from Tina that time. Queenie and Charlotte looked towards her. "Oh great. There goes any remaining scrap of my privacy," she muttered, slightly bemused.
Queenie echoed the expression, glancing towards Charlotte as she did. The girl grinned back. Tina sketched an eyebrow.
Queenie giggled.
"Secret conversation?"
The legilimens' grinned maliciously at her, and Tina made a mental note to only visit Charlotte if someone other than Queenie was coming.
"Do you want to draw something?" Charlotte's robotic voice was speaking again.
Tina politely declined, but Queenie took a shot at it. She flicked her wand and a fresh, crisp piece of parchment appeared out thin air and fluttered gracefully onto the desk.
"Hmm..." Queenie chewed on a lip, then picked up a nearby quill and sketched a rough outline of a Hippogriff.
After a few minutes, she paused, gave a nod of satisfaction, and placed the quill back next to the parchment. Tina peered over at her sister's handiwork, and Charlotte turned her wheelchair around again so she could see.
It was a second Hippogriff, but in a different position; this one was mid-flight, soaring across the page with its wings spread wide.
"Wow. That's real talent, Queenie. Do you want to keep it?"
Tina still wasn't entirely used to hearing the somewhat robotic voice emitting from the little speaker. It was strange... her mouth wasn't moving, and yet she acted as if she'd spoken normally. Not that she wasn't- it wasn't weird, it was just unfamiliar.
Tina was under the impression that Queenie had adjusted already, as she responded in a heartbeat.
"Oh, that's alright Charlotte. You can have it, if you want." She waved her off with a radiant smile, and Charlotte beamed back.
Her spindly fingers jumped lightly across the keyboard again.
"Thank you."
The sisters grinned.
Charlotte and Queenie went quiet again, and Tina sensed trouble. Queenie chuckled softly, and a shy smile spread across Charlotte's face. Charlotte typed in something else.
"Come back tomorrow? Newt's on crutches, so I know you'll visit. Hey, maybe Nick will let me stay in the room with him. I like it when that happens."
Tina let out a soft laugh. "Of course we'll come back tomorrow."
The pair ambled down the corridor in silence.
Or until, Tina turned to her sister and said "What were those legilimency chats about?"
Queenie grinned evilly. "That's a secret."
Tina barked a laugh. "You're so difficult!"
"You love it."
"Hmm..."
"You do know I'm reading your mind."
Tina gave her younger sister a playful nudge. "I know."
She grinned, rolled her eyes, and looped her arm through Queenie's, and the pair strolled down the corridor in comfortable, companionable silence.
I just realised I had lots of Scamander brother fluff, but no Goldstein sisters, so here you go :)
So I introduced a new character in this chapter. Uhm- Charlotte is based loosely off Aimee from Everything I've Never Said
It's a really good Novel by Samantha Wheeler, let me know if you've read it. Today's shoutout goes to AScamanderSalamander for being really nice in general and always expressing their opinion on different parts of this story.
Feedback is always welcome, as usual. To spark an idea, let me know your thoughts on Nick shipping Newtina. Yes or no?
Please let me know, I love receiving your lovely comments <3
Thank you all for sticking with me, especially since I have school and I'm now writing new chapters. I really appreciate it, guys. It means a lot to me :)
Sorry, I don't have a meme today. Well, actually, I have loads, but I have to get them from my phone to my laptop and I should be going to bed soon XP
Cateye992, out!