It was Christmas eve, and Tina was just finishing up getting ready. Nagini was helping, as she was surprisingly good at styling hair. Nagini was running a comb through Tina's short brown tresses. Tina had a small black hairclip, which Nagini used to pin up Tina's hair out of her face for when she - Tina shuddered at the thought of it - was dancing. Tina carefully used her wand to straighten out any wrinkles in her dress. She had applied a little more makeup than she normally did, though nothing too drastic for her standards. She slipped on the flats she had bought, and she was ready. She walked out of the room, a bit self-consciously. She never really got dressed up like this, it was more of Queenie's thing. She waited on the couch, nibbling on a jam tart. A couple of minutes later, Newt emerged from the bedroom. He was wearing a classic black and white tuxedo and dress shoes, and Tina had to admit, he was looking very handsome. He was also blushing ferociously and looking at his shoes. Tina stood up, brushing the crumbs off of her skirt. Newt looked up, about to say something, but he stopped, gazing at Tina in a way that didn't make her uncomfortable, just maybe a little pleased.
"You look, um, very nice, Tina." Newt managed to mumble out after a couple of seconds. Now it was Tina's turn to blush.
"Thank you. And you look handsome too." Tina mumbled back.
"I look like a penguin," Newt muttered. A very handsome penguin, at that, Tina thought.
"Shall we?" Newt asked, gesturing to the door. Newt offered out his arm, which Tina gladly took. Tina grabbed her coat, which she had magically altered to become a more elegant - and warm - fur trimmed coat. Before they left, Nagini whispered in Tina's ear, told you so. Tina looked back and rolled her eyes at Nagini playfully. Newt and Tina then apparated away.
They landed in front of a quintessential English country estate. It was snowing, and there was a cold bite in the air. A gravel driveway led to a stately set of stone steps and was lined with Christmas holly bushes, an added touch to the Christmas cheer. The house itself was impressive, a grand construction of stone and glass. A multitude of people were already heading towards the house, a stream of red and green skirts and black and white suits entering the mahogany doors. Tina looked at Newt in shock.
"This is your home?" Tina asked, a little incredulously.
"Well, yes. This is my childhood home. My parents are quite wealthy, but I've never really enjoyed this very outward display of opulence." Newt said, with a look of resignedness on his face. They proceeded to join the stream of people, and after a short amount of time, they were inside, drying off their coats. Suddenly, an invisible force whisked Newt away from the large group of guests. Tina quickly followed him, and he was led to a mostly empty parlour, except for a well-dressed ageing man and woman. Newt stood facing them, rubbing his arm.
"NEWTON ARTEMIS FIDO SCAMANDER! Where have you been?! I have been worried sick! What were you thinking, letting beasts loose in New York! And no note, no letter, nothing! " The lady said, who Tina figured was Newt's mum. Newt tried to protest, but his mum wasn't having any of it and proceeded to keep berating him. "You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job! Honestly, Newton. You could do with taking a leaf out of Theseus's book!" She seemed to have finished, as she was now looking at her son with a look of contempt. Theseus, who Tina suddenly noticed was in the room, sighed.
"I'm sorry, mum," Newt mumbled, shamefaced. The hard exterior mask melted away from his mum's face, and she proceeded squeezed him into a fierce but affectionate hug. After she was done, she faced Tina.
"You must be Miss Goldstein. Both of my sons have told me so much about you. I'm Eleanor Scamander, a pleasure to meet you." Eleanor Scamander stated and shook hands with Tina. The statement left both of the Scamander brothers reddening, though for slightly different reasons.
"Pleasure to meet you too, Mrs Scamander. Thank you for the invitation." Tina replied cordially, slightly self-conscious about the fact that Theseus and Newt were talking about her. Eleanor nodded and gently headed them in the direction of where the party was. Eleanor left them in the ballroom, hurrying off to the kitchen, or so she said. The ballroom was large and ornate. A string quartet played music from the corner, though the tall ceilings amplified the sound so it could be heard clearly from all areas. Couples danced in the centre, and circles of people lined around the edges, conversing and gossiping. House elves stood around with trays, ready to clean up any mess that would happen. Newt pointed out his relatives, such as a small group of teenage girls that he told Tina was some of his younger cousins. A couple of young children ran around, shrieking and laughing, those were Newt's cousin's children. And a group of his aunts and uncles, sitting around some of the tables that lined the walls.
"Shall we get drinks?" Newt offered. Tina nodded, so and they walked to a large table, covered in crystal flutes. Most were filled with champagne, but neither Newt or Tina drank, so they took the ones that were meant for children, just with water (and protection charms in case they were dropped). It was only seven o'clock, and Newt took the opportunity to show Tina the rest of his childhood home.
Newt had shown Tina most of the house, skipping over some parts, and showing her the most interesting parts. But he had saved the best of the house for last. The library. Newt opened the doors, and they walked in, Tina not knowing what to expect. It was breathtaking. The walls were lined with books, floor to ceiling. An enchanted fire crackled in the fireplace, giving the entire space a warm glow. Large windows were directly in front, and it seemed as if it looked out the garden, it was hard to tell because of the snow.
"This is amazing, Newt," Tina whispered.
"It's been my favourite place in this house ever since I could read. Not many people come in here, so I would normally have it to myself." Newt whispered back. It was a library, and even though it wasn't a public one, they still felt compelled to whisper.
"May I look?" Tina asked.
"Alright," Newt answered. Tina started to walk around, reading the titles. There were reference books, guidebooks, novels and children's books. It felt like there was every kind of book in the Wizarding World there, and also, many kinds of No-Maj books as well. They spent time in there for a good fifteen minutes, until Newt announced that the food was going to be served and that the cook's food is quite good so they should hurry up.
When they got back into the ballroom, they noticed that the tables had been slightly shifted so that they encompassed the entire space. As Tina was looking around for a table, Newt had to excuse himself for a moment, to look for Theseus, and Tina took the opportunity to survey the room. The more she looked, the more she felt like she was a needle in a haystack. All of the ladies that were her age, or a couple of years younger than her, looked different than her. While she was sharp edges and straight lines, the ladies were soft and pretty, and all had long, blond hair set in ringlets. Tina told herself it was nothing to worry about, they had all probably used magic to make themselves look so nice, but there was a little thing in the back of her mind, making her worried that they were the kind of people Achilles wanted, not her. Before she could start overthinking, she noticed Newt trying to walk towards her, but also getting slightly mobbed by a group of coquettishly acting young women. They all trying to get him to sit at their own tables and flirting with him, and it was making him very uncomfortable. Once again, Tina had to come to rescue him. She strode over the group, and said,
"Come on Newt. We don't want our dinner to be cold." She stated, grabbing his hand and leading him away from the group. Newt relievedly followed.
"Honestly, I thought I'd never escape," Newt muttered.
"I'm guessing they're like that because you have money, and you're famous?" Tina asked though she was pretty sure she was right.
"Yeah. They've come after me for years now, for those reasons. I just sort of freeze up, and Theseus normally has to drag me away." Newt said. They reached the table. Theseus, Eleanor, and the man from the parlour, who Tina assumed was Newt and Theseus's father since Theseus was the spitting image of him. The man stood up and walked over to her.
"I apologize for not properly introducing myself, Miss Goldstein. My name is Charles Scamander. A pleasure to meet you. My son tells me you are the most talented auror in his group." Charles said.
"Pleasure to meet you too, Mr Scamander. Thank you for the invitation." Tina replied politely. Charles Scamander was a bit more cold towards her than his wife, but it didn't matter. They sat down to eat, and dinner began.
About an hour later, the house elves started cleaning up. Already people were standing up. Tina heard Newt groan, and that was when she realized it was time to dance. Newt stood up, and Tina then stood up to follow him, and he took her arm.
"I can't dance that well," Tina said as they were walking to the central area. Already, house elves were moving the tables out of the way, to make more room for the dancing.
"Well, neither can I. I guess we're in this together," Newt replied, and gave a half smile. Tina remembered the dancing lessons Queenie had given her a couple of years ago, and they positioned their arms so that one of Newt's hands were on Tina's back, one of Tina's hands were on one of Newt's shoulders, and their other hands were gently clasped. A second of silence passed, the dancer waiting for the music, and the string quartet began to play a slow, lilting melody. Round and round they went, each being careful not to step on each other's toes. There was a constant brush of fabric when the ladies were twirled around, and though neither Tina or Newt wanted to admit it, it was quite fun. The music picked up its pace, and it became harder and harder to avoid each other's toes, so they eventually gave up and sat down.
"I'm a bit warm. What about you?" Newt asked.
"Same. I didn't think dancing would be this tiring." Tina said, as she sipped a glass of water.
"I haven't shown you the gardens yet. It's cold outside, so we can take a stroll and cool down. Any objections?" Newt offered.
"Sure, why not," Tina replied. They stood up once more, Tina setting down her glass. They walked out of the ballroom, avoiding the dancers. Newt led her through the hallways, and outside. The breeze was refreshingly cool, and the snow had stopped to a mere couple of flakes lazily drifting from the sky. Already the clouds were parting, and you could see small stars peeking out, winking in and out of view. The garden was a sprawling, expansive thing. There were all sorts of winter flora, with tall hedges, evergreen trees, and colourful wizarding plants as well. He led her through the garden, through the hedges, into some sort of maze. He assured her it was perfectly safe, as he had been through it many times. She held tight to his hand anyway. Round and round they went until Tina had lost all sense of direction. Then Newt stopped. They were completely surrounded by hedges, and they couldn't see over them. Newt tightened his grip on her hand, and suddenly, he pitched forward into the hedge, pulling Tina along with him.
A/N
Hey! I have a couple of things to say. I apologize for any grammatical errors, or things that slightly don't make sense, I just want to update for you guys, so I've been rushing a bit. And, MY FANFIC HAS GOTTEN OVER 1K VIEWS! I can't thank you guys enough for supporting my fanfic. Sorry for the late update, my summer has already gotten super hectic and I have almost no time to write. Next, something about salamander eyes. I was watching a nature show, and then they showed a couple of minutes about giant salamanders in Japan. They were gross, and bumpy, and had little tiny beady eyes. And I was just like sAlAmAnDeR eYeS?! Eugh. Bye!