Proposal

Chapter One

The last place Newt Scamander ever thought he would be was in an apartment in New York with a bowtruckle in one pocket and a diamond ring in a box in the other. To be honest, he had never thought that he'd have to ask permission to marry someone – that he would indeed marry someone at all – let alone asking the younger sister of said girl for permission.

But here he was.

Jacob and Queenie's apartment was well-furnished, well-looked after, and that seemed to indicate that Jacob's bakery business was doing extremely well if nothing else. A pot was being scrubbed in the corner by a levitating brush, the ironing was doing itself, and a teapot poured itself on the table in front of him; it was clear that this home belonged to a wizard or witch.

Queenie Goldstein – Queenie Kowalski now, Newt corrected – had entered the room then, blonde curls pinned to her head and pink shift dancing around her legs delicately. Newt tried not to go pink at the thought of a certain someone else's legs and instead tried to focus his thoughts on the weather.

"It's alright," Queenie said with a slight giggle. "You don't need to hide it from me – I hear that kind of thing from Jacob all the time."

His cheeks reddened further. "I wasn't...well, that is to say...I wouldn't want to be indecent, of course..."

"No need to worry," She assured him quite sweetly, sitting down on the seat opposite him; with a flick of her wand she floated two mugs over. "Jacob's still at the bakery – I'm sure he'll bring home something sweet, if you're interested. He always does...I take it you prefer tea to coffee?"

"You remembered."

"Of course!" The two mugs set themselves on the coffee table and she looked at Newt expectantly. "So, why the sudden visit?"

"Can I not visit?" He asked, somewhat nervously. "You're one of my...good friends, Queenie...one of my only friends, if we're being honest."

Queenie seemed unperturbed. "Yes, but you usually only visit with Teenie...is something wrong? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Newt assured her quite quickly. "She does miss you very much, though, and she's been looking forward to this trip for weeks. No, I wanted to visit on my own because...well..."

He absent-mindedly cast his mind back to the ring box in his pocket, forgetting for just a second who was sitting opposite him.

Queenie just stared at him for a moment – and then her mouth dropped open. "Oh my goodness! Yes...Oh my God! Yes, yes, of course!"

Before he could fully comprehend what had happened, she had thrown herself at him and knocked him quite cleanly off his chair; she was hardly heavy, of course, but the surprise of it took him aback.

"Oh, Teenie will be so thrilled! She's been wondering for so long now when – or even if - you'd pop the question, ever since Jacob and I announced our engagement!"

"I take it I have your permission?" Newt questioned, trying not to grin like too much of a fool. "I may ask her to marry me?"

Queenie let out another cry (or scream, he mused) of excitement. "Of course, of course! I promise I won't tell Teenie a single thing, I promise...but it'll be so difficult! We're going to be a family now, a real family...when are you asking her? Please tell me it'll be soon!"

Newt hesitated. "Oh. Umm. Well. I haven't really planned a certain date...or a time for it, to be quite honest. I was going to do that next."

"Goodness, it has to be soon!" She reiterated, moving so that they could both stand again. "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this a secret for!"

"It will be soon," He promised unsurely, straightening his coat and checking his pocket for Pickett; the bowtruckle gave a cry of protest at having been squashed in the hug. "I'll try and ask her before...before we leave for England again...I'm not very good at this sort of thing, I'm afraid. I want it to be the right time and place."

"Newt, dear, no matter where it is or when, she's going to say yes," Queenie said quite confidently with a smile. "You know, I don't think I've seen her as happy as she is with you – you should hear the thoughts she thinks!"

Despite having known both of the sisters for years, Newt couldn't help but blush at that. "Ah, well, that's...lovely to hear. But I do want this to be special; I want this to be right for her, for it to be perfect because..." He trailed off but he knew she would know what he was thinking.

Tina deserves it.

Queenie's eyes filled with tears, a huge beautiful smile lighting up her face. "Oh, Newt...I am so glad it's going to be you. You're right – it's what she deserves."