From Goldstein To Scamander

Chapter twelve:

When we got home Newt asked me if I wanted to have a proper tour of the basement. "yes please"

He led me down the stairs and I stared around trying to take every little detail in as all the other times I had been very distracted.

"It's amazing Newt"
"I'm glad you think so Tina......Tina?"

"Yeah?"

"did you mean it? you know that you would marry me?" he blushed.

I nodded and whispered "yes".

We stared into each other's eyes. Wait? was that a proposal?

He suddenly came back to the real world and said "right, this is the zouwu's enclosure and there is the kelpie as you know."

I'll ask him later. I picked up the toy and shook it. The zouwu stared at me like a little kitten and started running towards me. Newt shot to stop her, but she was only playing and rubbed against me purring. "hello there." I said. Newt smiled at me like a proud mother.

"here is my case" he said a moment later, then blushed as he realised there was a photo of me. I felt touched, but felt like teasing him. He rushed to cover it up, very shy. "Was that me?" I asked pretending to be stern.

"yes sorry"

"I'm kidding Newt. I feel so..... touched"

he didn't reply. then said "oh"

"don't worry, i have one of you, see" I took it out of my jacket pocket it was the one from the ill-fated spellbound article but with him only as I cut the rest out.

He looked as shocked as 'salamanders' but then slightly confused.

"I cut this out and kept it because I hadn't anything else except your letters and I kept hoping that you weren't marrying Leta."

He nodded. "sorry"

"what do you mean?"

"about the article and the misunderstanding.---as soon as" "it's ok" I interrupted. " as soon as I met you I no longer thought of Leta as more than a past painful friendship."

"I'm so sorry you lost her, Newt"

he was silent and I noticed a tear down his cheek. " I-- I Just feel so..... so sorry for Theseus...... as well as missing her myself."

I gave him a hug. "I'm sorry, Newt. I'm here for you."

He let himself cry for a minute then wiped his face and pulled out of the hug. "thanks" he said.

Pickett looked out of his pocket concerned.

"oh hello Pickett" I said. " I haven't seen you in a long while. Thanks for looking after Newt for me" He chirped at me.

"He says you are most welcome" Newt translated. Pickett chirped again. "I'm ok now don't worry Pick"

I smiled and looked on lovingly. "Newt?"

"yes?"

"how do you understand what he's saying? I would like to"

"Oh lots of practise and living alone and a long time studying them lying under trees in the forest. And Pick helped me once I rescued him."

"You are very dedicated."

"Thanks. what would you like to do now?"

"can we go in your case? And then I think you should go and see Theseus or invite him here for dinner if we also help Jacob to cook."

"That's a wonderful idea. You are so thoughtful Tina. I will just go and ask Jacob and send Theseus an owl. You go ahead into the case, Tina. It's almost empty as most are in the basement. The nifflers are over there see" He pointed to a den full of gold and to the cage of the baby nifflers.

" you sure I can go in alone?"

"I trust you Tina.... And do you remember when I gave the case to you to look after? I trusted you even then."

I smiled very happy. " yes I do remember... Newt?" I asked, as he went up the stairs.

"Yes Tina?"

"Can we talk about things later? I mean like how we felt in the past and about the future too. I still don't know everything about what happened when you stopped writing to me."

"Oh ok. It'll have to be after Theseus has left or gone to bed here."

"ok."

"see you in a minute. " he said, going up the stairs.

"I love you, Newt" I called out.

"I love you too, Tina"

I smiled as he exited the basement to see Jacob upstairs and again felt how lucky I was. Then I felt very sad as I finally understood what Queenie must have been feeling when she snuck off to see Jacob at the bakery. If she felt half as happy as she did being with Newt no wonder she felt so sad at being kept apart. She better go and give Jacob a hug and a chat later too. It was going to be a busy day.

3rd person POV

She entered the case and climbed down the wooden pole ladder. Once inside the shed, she looked around, a feeling of familiarity and peace coming over her. He's really mine, she thought happily. He never stopped loving me. She looked around the shed and saw lots of different plants and different potions and glass bottles with cork lids and a desk with parchment on top and scrunched up balls of paper underneath. The photo of Leta was showing in a draw, and underneath she saw something she recognised; her writing on some crumpled parchment, as though Newt had held them often; her letters. She blushed, and not wanting to be caught she looked up the ladder. Not seeing Newt, she had a glance at the top one. It was one she had written a few months ago:

Dear Newt,

I hope you and the creatures are well and the weather is not treating you so badly in London as here. Every day I come home from work drenched and have to keep drying my clothes by the fire. Every evening when we have our meal I am reminded of the meal we had the evening of the day we met and we have been often having strudel and thinking of you and Jacob. I am sorry again for some of the things I did those first few days we met. I am ashamed of them now. 

Anyway, hope Pickett is better and Teddy is no longer escaping and stealing your spoons. Hope to see you soon.

Yours, 

Tina.

On the page below was his familiar handwriting:

Dear Tina, 

I hope you are alright. I am sorry for my comment about aurors and hope that that isn't why you have stopped writing to me. You are different to any auror I have ever met; clever, kind, talented, open minded, beautiful and stubborn, as well as strong and resilient. I hope this isn't untoward but I have come to feel for you a strong affection that I have never felt before which nobody else has given me and I hope it is returned. 

Then there was loads of crossings-out and as the paper was crumpled she realised he had screwed it up but re-flattened it at another time. She felt so happy that he had tried to explain his feelings so long ago and felt very warm at all his compliments but sad that she had made him feel that she was ignoring him. Now feeling she was invading his privacy, she put them back in the drawer and left the shed.