Safe in Your Arms

Chapter 6

Tina shot awake with a small gasp, blinking to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She let her head crash back into the pillow then rolled over, burying her face in the fabric to muffle her sobs. She was crying and she hated herself for it. 

Dreams. 

Tina had loved dreams as a child, especially during her first few years at Ilvermorny. She had been lonely and her dreams were an escape. They let her enter a world where she could be free. Dreaming was a time when she didn't have to worry about her grades, how much she missed her family, or all her classmates who laughed at her behind her back for being such a plain girl who was always reading a book. Her dreams were wonderful . . . until her third year at school. She had gone down to breakfast with her sister one day, the two of them avoiding everyone as usual. Then the mail came. They received a letter, saying that their mother was sick. About a week later, they received another letter, saying that their mother had been diagnosed with Dragon Pox and that their father had contracted it too. 

Tina had spent that day in shock. She knew it was possible to recover from Dragon Pox but she also knew that people could die from the disease. She and Queenie waited for weeks, hoping to hear that their parents had recovered. They received a letter every week, informing them how their parents were but nothing ever changed. Then one week the letter came earlier than usual. Tina and Queenie had opened quickly, hoping to hear good news. What the letter contained left them in shock. 

Tina had run up to their room and flung herself on her bed. She spent the whole day there, her face buried in her pillow. She didn't care that she was missing classes, she didn't care that this was the week before exams, all that mattered was that she and Queenie were alone in the world. Their parents had been their only family. Their grandparents had all died; one had died shortly before Tina was born, the other three before they went to school. Neither of their parents had had any siblings. Tina and Queenie had no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. They only had each other. 

That night, Tina's dreams had become nightmares. She had dreamt about death. At first, her dreams had only been about learning her parents were dead. Then she and Queenie had gone back home for the funeral and to collect their things since they would be living at Ilvermorny until they graduated. After that, her nightmares had gotten worse. She had begun dreaming about seeing her parents die. It had been horrible and it had been years before they ended. 

Once she had graduated and started training to be an Auror, her nightmares had finally slowed. The work was so exhausting that she fell asleep the moment her head touched her pillow, often without having changed. She then slept so soundly that she didn't dream at all. However, when she did dream, her dreams were still nightmares. She slowly began to train herself not to dream and, by the time she was 21, she spent most nights without dreaming at all.

Her nightmares had started again when she lost her job. Nearly every night, she dreamed of losing her parents, attacking that No-Maj, or losing her job. But her most common nightmare was of losing everything, of finding herself in nothingness, unable to see or breath. When she thought about it, she didn't understand how that could be so scary but when she was asleep, when she was in the dream, it terrified her.

Her dreams had changed the December before. They hadn't stopped but they were no longer nightmares. Instead, her dreams were filled with the image of one man: a tall, insecure man with messy, reddish-brown hair, deep, blue eyes, and a shy but warm smile. 

Newt. 

After he left, the dreams had come more frequently and he had occupied her thoughts, even while she was awake. Queenie had teased her constantly for it but, somehow, she hadn't minded that much.

Then she had seen the magazine. She had been shocked. She had tried to forget about it, tried to act like she didn't care, but that night proved that she did. She still dreamed about Newt but Leta had been there too. The two of them were wrapped in each other's arms, their lips connected in a passionate kiss. The self-satisfied look on their faces made Tina's stomach turn. She had woken up with her blanket clutched firmly in her fists and her jaw clenched so tightly she thought she was going to break her teeth. After that, she had gone back to keeping herself from dreaming. This involved exhausting herself during the day so she would sleep soundly at night. She knew it wasn't healthy but she didn't want to have that dream again.

She hadn't dreamed since then until that day she had watched her sister struggle through the flames to join Grindelwald. That night had been awful, as was every night since. Every time she went to sleep, she relived the night at the cemetery. However, since she had grown up having nightmares, she got used to them quickly. Especially since they had gotten slightly better after she had opened up to Newt.

But tonight was worse. She didn't know what it was but something about Queenie's expression had terrified her. It had been years since she woke up crying because of a nightmare; the last time had been when she was 14. 

The fact that she was crying angered her, and her anger made her tears come more easily. She bit her pillow, trying to stop herself from crying. Eventually, her tears slowed. She wanted to go back to sleep but she knew that if she did she would go right back to her nightmare. Instead, she grabbed her wand and climbed out of bed.

"Lumos," she murmured. The tip of her wand lit up and she made her way over to her dresser. She rummaged around, looking for the book she had been reading. She wished she had her copy of Newt's book but she had left that in New York. She had bought when it first came out and she had read it all in one day, even though she thought Newt was engaged.

"Are you alright?"

Tina jumped and turned, holding her wand out in front of her. Nagini was sitting up in her bed.

"I'm sorry," Tina mumbled. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm fine."

"You didn't wake me up. I couldn't sleep," the girl replied. "And you were crying."

"I'm fine," Tina said, a little colder than she meant it. She paused. "Why can't you sleep?"

Nagini shrugged. "Bad dreams. I assume that's your problem too."

Tina sat down on her bed. "Yes, but I'm used to it. I've been having nightmares since I was in school."

"Nightmares? About what?"

"Different things," Tina said, shrugging. "At first it was about my parents dying but it changed whenever something really upsetting happened."

"This time it's about your sister, isn't it?" Nagini said.

Tina nodded. She could feel tears forming in her eyes but she blinked them away.

"I know how you feel," the girl said. "I lost my only friend that night. I know it can't compare to losing your sister but I still understand."

Sighing, Tina replied. "I know. We've all suffered thanks to Grindelwald and I suspect it's only going to get worse."

"That man, Dumbledore, will be able to help," Nagini said, a hopeful tone to her voice. "I'm sure he will."

"We can only hope so," Tina agreed. "According to Newt, Dumbledore is the only wizard who is Grindelwald's equal."

A/N: Shorter chapter, I know, but it's done. I hope you enjoyed. Please vote and comment!

This actually was not my plan for this chapter. I had planned to have Tina and Bunty getting to know each other and discussing Achilles. However, I had wanted more to the chapter and I had come up with the idea of starting it with Tina waking up from a dream. It was supposed to just be the beginning of the chapter but I got a bit carried away and this is what ended up happening. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to update again tomorrow. However, tomorrow night is our Christmas Concert so I'll be busy since I'm in Choir, Chorale (the more advanced singing group), and Wind Ensemble (the more advanced band). Wish us luck!

Have a good day!

Bye!