Tides of Turmoil (NEWTINA)

Chapter 22 - The Reasons

I raised my hand and lowered Leta's straightened arm. I felt her eyes on me, and I could see her mouth go agape from the corners of my eyes. Yet, they were not enough to keep me from looking at the face of the woman in front of us.

Once close enough, the creatures started to fade away slowly. Their teeth were not showing anymore, their back was not in tension anymore as they stared at us. They sat down on the floor, feline-like, and disappeared into thin air. The woman's expression was calm, her face smooth and her hair white. 

Yet, after the creatures went away, her skin began to bubble, and her hair became shorter and turned from white to a silky black. From her pocket, she took out a wand and pointed it at her clothes, which began to transfigure into a dark, blue coat.

Before I could process what was happening, I had walked a few steps till we were both a foot away from each other. I smiled awkwardly, yet brightly, at her, not knowing what to say. But, as she answered me back with a radiant smile, I could think of nothing else. Our eyes never left each other's, the world around me suddenly fading away as I let myself be drowned by her warm eyes. After all this time, I had almost forgotten how beautiful she really was – a picture of her can never match the feeling I got to see her, right there, in front of me, after all this time.

'Hello Newt,' said Tina, her voice waltzing its way into my very core and warming it up.

'It's great to see you, Tina,' I replied, now fully smiling at her. She looked surprised for a bit, and yet, her smile grew even sunny. I don't know who went for it, but by the time I noticed what had happened, we were hugging with fervour.

Never in my life would've I had thought that I would be hugging Tina. The only time we were close to each other was at the death chamber in MACUSA – not a typical place to be so. And yet, even though I felt something awaken back then when I felt our arms around each other, or the warmth caused by the proximity of our bodies as they collided, I had never felt such a powerful emotion shake inside of me as at this moment. I felt her body relax, and I could feel mine do the same.

I ignore how long we stayed like that – it felt rather short – but a great number of rushing footsteps took us from each other's grasp. Still feeling a bit hot, I looked around to see silhouettes of Aurors running towards us. Why not just Apparate? I asked myself.

'This place is enchanted in such a way that it's impossible for anyone to Apparate or Disapparate from it,' said Leta as she guessed my thoughts. I glanced at Tina and noticed that her cheeks had turned a scarlet pink. Gulping, I looked away from her and faced Leta.

'Leta, what now?'

'We need to find a way out of here,' said Leta with urgency.

'Come on,' hissed Tina as she tugged on my arm; her face had turned cold and hard, and I felt an ache inside of me I couldn't place. Deciding to dwell about it later, I followed Tina into another corridor with Leta at my side. We ran as we heard many shouts from behind us, some spells being shot at us and nearly missing us by a hair. Finally, we reached a room and got inside it. We locked it and heard the footsteps of the Aurors pass us by. We all sighed in relief and turned towards each other. I looked at Tina, who was looking at Leta with bright eyes, and Leta was staring back for a while before looking away. She cleared her throat and began to pace, her back turned on us.

'We cannot stay here. There has to be a way out,' she said.

'There is one,' said Tina, her voice a bit icy, 'but I'm afraid it's far. We cannot go unnoticed, especially now that the Ministry is in full alert.'

'Who informed you that Newt was here?' asked Leta suddenly, turning fast to face Tina with crossed arms.

Tina's face was set like a statue. 'That does not concern you.'