𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔲𝔰

Eighteen

"You happy to be home?" Jacob asked Dougal as they walked through Newt's case hand in hand. "Yeah, you must be exhausted." He helped the creature into his nest.

Tina held the now small occamy in her hands and let him slide back into his own nest with his siblings. 

She pushed her hair behind her ears and looked around, amazed at the interior of the suitcase. I stood next to her, "I made this, you know." 

She turned to me, surprised. "You did?" I nodded.

"Newt and I used to be really great friends at Hogwarts. I had the case first with only a few creatures, but when he left I gave it to him." She continued to ogle the surrounding landscapes filled with amazing magical animals. 

"Friends?" Tina suddenly asked with a questioning look. I thought back on our years at Hogwarts, remembering the intimate moments we had. If only he hadn't taken the blame for Leta's mistake, we probably could have been something more. 

I sighed, "Yeah, just friends." I gave her a smile before we walked over to Newt, who was trying to apologize to Pickett for almost leaving him earlier.

"Come on, give me a smile," He was saying. The bowtruckle only stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at him. I stifled my laughter. 

"Alright, now that is beneath you." I just shook my head and walked to Queenie, who was looking around in Newt's shed.

I followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at a photo. It was of me, Newt, and Leta during one of the quidditch games back at Hogwarts. Newt had his arm swung around my shoulder and Leta was throwing her arms in the air, grinning as I held the camera up. 

"Hey, Newt," Queenie asked, "who is she?" She asked, nodding to Leta.

Newt's smile quickly fell and I started playing with my fingers.

"Oh, that's no one." Newt said nonchalantly, but I knew he was bothered. I put my hand on her arm to stop her but she continued.

Newt stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, "Please don't read my mind." He said. 

Queenie eyed me carefully and I felt her digging into my mind. "Don't, Queenie." I shot her a look.

"I'm sorry," She apologized, "people are easiest to read when they're hurting."

"I'm not hurting." Newt said, offering a smile, but I knew better.

"Anyway, it was a long time ago." I held the photo in my hands.

Queenie walked over to him slowly, "That was a real close friendship you had at school."

Newt sighed before deciding to explain, "Neither of us ever really fit in at school. Well..." I remembered how it was just the 3 of us against the world till Leta found her new friends.

"We became close." I finished. 

Queenie bit her lip, anguished. I knew she had learned about our pasts just by looking at our expressions.

"She was a taker." Queenie said. "You need a giver." I felt Queenie's fingers curl slightly around mine. Newt looked down at the ground.

"What are you guys talking about?" I turned around to see that it was just Tina and Jacob.

"Um..." Queenie looked hesitant but I jumped in. "School!" I exclaimed, smiling.

"We were talking about school." Jacob looks up at us, surprised.

"Is there a magic school somewhere?" He asked curiously. 

"Yes, Hogwarts." I smiled, imagining the old castle with its beautiful sights and such. "The best wizarding school on the planet."

"I think you'll find Ilvermoney to be the best wizarding school on the planet." Tina stepped in.

"No, Hogwarts." Newt argued with a grin.

"Hogwash." Queenie added, almost threateningly. Before I could reply, we all heard thunderclaps from above. It was Frank the thunderbird. He flapped his wings and let out a loud screech.

"What's going on?" Tina asked as rain began to pour down on us.

"He senses danger." Newt realized.