Love is Patient

Chapter 12

Tina scrambled to her feet and stood on the metal chair as the gray potion slowly rose around her. "Mr. Scamander!" she called frantically. 

She watched Newt glance around. "Now, don't panic," he said.

Tina felt the annoyance build up inside her. She was about to die and all he would do was give useless advice. "What do you suggest I do instead?" she snapped.

Newt looked up at the green and blue creature that was flying around Tina's head. He whistled and the creature changed direction so that it would fly right above the potion in front of Tina on every pass. "Jump."

Tina looked at the swooping creature. She was shocked. "Are you crazy?"

"Jump on him," Newt said watching as the creature flew around Tina's head. Tina glanced at it again. Newt looked back at her and said, "Tina, listen to me. I'll catch you. . . . Tina . . ." 

Tina looked down at the chair below her. She shifted her feet away from the hole that was burning through the bottom of it and looked back up at Newt. "I'll catch you," he insisted. "I've got you, Tina." He looked at her and Tina knew she could trust him. "Go!" he shouted.

Tina jumped. Her foot landed on the creature's back and she felt Newt's strong hands grab onto her arms. She felt her foot slip on the creature's back. Her hands instinctively gripped the sleeves of Newt's coat as she began to fall backward. Just before she hit the bubbling potion she saw Newt topple forwards into the potion. She opened her mouth to shout his name but no sound came out. 

"Newt!"

Tina gasped as she came awake. She was sitting upright and had managed to kick half of her bed sheets to the floor. Climbing out of bed, she grabbed her wand from where it sat on the dresser and with a quick swish had her bed made as neatly as she was able to make it.

"Lumos," she muttered. The tip of her wand lit up. She glanced at the time: 3:27. At least Queenie's still asleep, Tina thought as she heard her sister's gentle snoring.

Sliding the door open, she slipped out of the room. She shut the door behind her. Having noticed a faint glow in the crack between the doors to Newt's room, she tapped on it lightly. 

When she got no response she slid the door open and stepped inside. Newt's bed had been slept in but he wasn't there now. The faint glow had come from his case which sat open in a corner.

Without thinking, Tina stepped into the case and climbed down the ladder. She was met with the sight of Newt, his hair messier than usual, fixing up a potion.

"Can't you sleep?" she asked, sitting on the ladder.

Newt jumped and turned. Tina couldn't help but smile. He wasn't wearing his coat, jacket, or vest but he had pulled on his brown pants and white shirt. The shirt was untucked and the buttons were off by one; the first button was in the second hole and so one.

Newt gestured to the small colorful bird on a perch next to him. "He's sick."

Tina looked at the bird. It was a young Diricawl. Its feathers seemed to droop and the colors seemed faded. "I take it you couldn't sleep?" Newt asked as he turned and continued making the potion.

"Bad dreams," Tina said.

Newt forced the potion down the Diricawl's throat. A few seconds later, its colors brightened and the feathers stopped drooping. Newt picked the bird up and carried it to the door of the shed. Tina stood up and followed him. As soon as Newt set it down, the Diricawl vanished only to appear a few feet away, where it promptly vanished again.