Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 16

       Newt sat uncomfortably at the dinner table as his family chatted with Leta. Theseus had decided to finally introduce his fiancé to the rest of them over dinner. His parents seemed to love Leta, especially his mother, who kept going on about how she and Theseus would make lovely children. Theseus had groaned aloud pleadingly at this, and Newt'd smirked, remembering what his mother and brother had put him through yesterday. 

       However, it wasn't all fun and games. Newt and Leta had not made eye contact throughout the whole event. Newt had eaten as fast as he could, and was just preparing to excuse himself from the table when his mother shot a death glare at him, and nodded at him to sit back down. 

       It was immensely awkward, Newt thought, to have your brother be engaged to your past love. Looking back on his days at Hogwarts, he wasn't sure how he had even come to develop feelings for Leta. All he knew was that they were now long gone. She'd changed, and it was as simple as that. Leta had more than willingly let him take the blame for her illegal experiment with a Jarvey, and Newt couldn't let go of that.

       She was a taker. Queenie's words echoed in his head. You need a giver. 

       And he had found his giver. Tina Goldstein. As Newt thought about the American witch, he frowned slightly and a thread of doubt squirmed in his stomach. Slight problem was, he didn't even know if Tina liked  him, never mind love. Sure, she had given him that hug, and she'd smiled radiantly at him when he promised to write to her, but that was only because she considered him a friend, right? After all, there had been that brief period of time where she had acted remarkably cold towards him. But it had been brief, and she seemed  normal when he had departured.  During their goodbye, he had literally felt the sparks in the air, and he knew she had, too. Or had she? Of course she had. Why else would she have decided to hug him, then? Although there was the possibility that she just considered him as a friend, nothing more, nothing less. 

       Newt sighed in frustration. Tina, why do you have to get inside my head and mess everything up? 

       His mother seemed sure that Tina loved him, but then that was a thing mothers were supposed to say. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of his thoughts. Deciding that he would ponder this very confusing matter later, in the privacy of his own bedroom, Newt tried to focus on the conversation around the table instead.

       "Theseus, I can't believe you've let us meet Leta this late into your relationship! You should have brought her home as soon as you two met," Florence scolded.

      Theseus looked exasperated. "Mum, I can't just bring home a girl I've only just met, I wanted to make sure I got to know her before I introduced her to all of you," he explained. "And besides, Leta said she wasn't ready to meet all of you just yet."

       Leta looked down, apparently embarrassed.

       "Why's that?" Newt's father asked.

       "Well," Leta began, "it's just that I just wanted to wait a bit until I felt prepared."

       Newt felt her shoot a lightning-quick glance at him, and he knew he was the reason why she had put off her visit for so long. Things were still rather awkward between them, and they both weren't sure where there relationship lied, as neither of them had been in touch with the other since Hogwarts. Newt knew that he definitely did not love Leta anymore, and not just because his brother was dating her. True, he had been in love with her for quite some time, even after they fell out of touch, but all of that was before he had met Tina. The last time he had left New York, he had gone down into his case and burned the picture of Leta (Incendio! he shouted as he pointed his wand at the photo) he had in his shed of her as soon as he was home, frame and all.  As he had stood there, watching the picture that he had carried for years being devoured by the flames, he felt something in him let go, and for the first time in a long, long while, he felt free.

       Newt was sure Leta did not love him anymore, either, if she ever even had. He realized that he had been nothing but a tool for her, something that she would have no problem using, manipulating, and hurting. Maybe they had been true friends once, friends who bonded over the fact that they were both outsiders at school, but at some point during their friendship, something had gone awry. Newt used to spend hours contemplating what he had done wrong, but then he had met Tina in New York. When he'd observed that she shared his trait in thinking that everything was the cause of her wrongdoing, and was determined to fix the situation that she had not caused at all, he had realized that Leta was the one that had butchered it up, not him.

       He returned his attention to the conversation, not wanting to be caught spacing out,

       "Of course," his father replied, nodding in understanding.

       "Tell me," Florence said, leaning forward eagerly, "when will your wedding be?"

       Leta smiled. "We're planning it in May, since that's my favorite month out of the year."

       Newt personally knew that his brother had always wanted to be married in the fall, 'with leaves falling all around us,' as he put it, and realized that Leta must have insisted their wedding be in May. Still self-absorbed, he thought bitterly.

       His mother sighed dreamily. "Ah, spring, how romantic!"

       The conversation continued on, Newt marveling at his own luck to have not been dragged into it yet. As it neared eight o'clock, Leta announced that she had to get going, and Newt was extremely relieved to see the door close behind her.

       Sighing, he climbed up the stairs to his bedroom. As he leaned out his open window and gazed up at the dark, starry sky, he couldn't help but wonder what Tina was doing.

*****

      Tina sighed as she magicked the dishes into the sink. It felt strange to have dinner with only one other person. The only bonus was that there were now fewer dishes to wash, which somehow made her unhappier.

       "Missing someone?" Queenie teased as she wiped down the table.

       "It's just a bit lonely without Newt here," Tina admitted. There was no point in denying it; her sister would have just drunk her thoughts out of her mind anyways. Tina felt a pang in her chest as she thought of Newt. The one thing she wanted most right now was to have him here, by her side.

       Queenie, perhaps sensing that her sister was a bit down, came up behind her and gave the brunette a quick, comforting hug. "Tell you what, Teenie," she said, "why don'tcha leave the dishes to me, and turn in for an early night?"

       Tina smiled slightly at her sister's generosity. "Thanks, Queenie. I think I will."

       She entered her bedroom, and changed into her pajamas. Feeling like breathing in some fresh air, Tina walked over to her window and threw it open. Cold, winter air flooded into her room, comforting her the tiniest bit. As she leaned out her open window, and gazed up at the dark, starry sky, she couldn't help but wonder what Newt was doing.