Safe in Your Arms

Chapter 18

Tina watched as Nagini tried to transfigure a match into a needle. It was her first attempt at transfiguration and she, like most people, was having a bit of trouble.

"Is there a point to this, Tina?" the girl asked, frustrated. "How is this going to help me?"

Tina stood up and made her way over. "Transfiguration is a very difficult but very useful branch of magic. This is one of the most simple spells there is. Once you've figured this out, the others will be a bit easier to understand."

"Show it to me again," Nagini requested. Tina nodded and pointed her wand at the match, she performed the spell and the match morphed into a silver needle. Then she undid the transfiguration and let the girl try again.

Newt appeared in the entrance to the living room. He had vanished after breakfast and Tina had been afraid that he was hiding from her again but she had hoped he was just feeding his creatures. Now that he was here she offered him a smile, glad that he had decided not to stay in his basement the whole day. He smiled back and made his way over to Nagini.

"How are things going?" he asked her.

She scowled. "I can't get it. Nothing's happening."

Newt picked up the match and examined it. "It's not too bad. You're making progress."

"It looks exactly the same as when I started," she complained.

"Not exactly," Newt said. "It's starting to get a bit silvery and the end is a little pointer."

Nagini grabbed the match and examined it. "It's still so little."

"I know. The spell takes some time to learn. Keep practicing and you'll get it."

"Can I start again?" she asked.

Newt nodded and pulled out his wand, undoing what little transformation she had accomplished. The girl dropped to the floor and set the match in front of her. She frowned in concentration and continued practicing the spell.

Newt made his way over to an armchair and took a seat. Tina took a seat on the couch beside him. He reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Then he pulled his hand back quickly and began fidgeting with his wand.

Tina studied his face. "It's good to see you up here again," she murmured.

Newt looked up. "I promised you I would," he replied, offering her another smile. But there was something else in his look, something in his eyes.

Glancing at Nagini, Tina got to her feet and grabbed Newt by the hand, pulling him to his feet and out of the room. She stopped in the narrow hall at the top of the stairs to the basement and turned to face Newt.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Newt looked at her. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Tina repeated.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Your eyes," Tina said, pointing at them. "Something's wrong. What is it?"

"Nothing," he replied. "Everything's fine."

He was lying. Tina knew he was lying. He wasn't meeting her gaze. His head was lowered and he was mumbling more than normal.

"Newt, if I've got to tell you when something's wrong, you ought to tell me when something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Newt said firmly. He glanced up but looked down the moment their eyes met.

"Tina?"

Tina glanced out the door, Achilles had come into the room. She sighed. 

"We're not done with this yet," she hissed to Newt then joined Achilles in the living room. "I'm here," she said.

"Oh, good," Achilles said. When she reached him, he took both her hands in his. "I was thinking, let's go back to New York."

"Wha--" Tina gasped. There was a noise behind her. She turned and saw Newt leaning down to pick up his wand, which he must have dropped on the floor. She turned back to Achilles. "I can't go back to New York."

"Why not?"

Tina stared at her boyfriend. "I-- Because-- I mean, Grindelwald is still out there."

"So, you'd be safer in New York," Achilles said. "He's not there."

Tina stepped back, pulling her hands from him. "That's exactly why I need to stay here, so that I can help when he shows up. Besides, I wouldn't be safer in New York. Grindelwald could go there just as easily and he'd be hunting for me. I need to stay here where there are people who can help protect me."

Achilles took a step forward. "So you're saying you don't trust me?" he asked.

"No, I never said that," she protested. "I just -- There are more people here I can trust like Newt, Theseus, and Dumbledore. Besides,  I also need to stay so I can help protect people like Nagini and Jacob."

"Why do you think Grindelwald would be after Mr. Kowalski and the girl?" he demanded.

"Because all of us are involved. We were all there at his rally. I don't think Grindelwald particularly cares about either of them but there are people who might want to come after them," Tina said, her voice was strained. "Credence, the Obscurial, the one I was sent to track down . . . Nagini was his only friend. He might want to find her. And Queenie . . ." She was almost crying now. "Queenie will be trying to find Jacob soon enough."

Achilles looked disgusted. "What do you mean Queenie will be looking for Jacob? Isn't she in New York? Isn't that just another reason for you to go back?"

Tina swiped at her eyes, brushing away her tears. "I -- I don't know where Queenie is," she said, glancing at Newt. His face had taken on a curious expression the moment she had said her sister's name and he was refusing to meet her gaze. "That's exactly why I can't go back to New York. She's not there and it's too painful."

Before Achilles could respond, Tina turned and ran out of the room. She ran all the way down the stairs to the basement and up the other flight of stairs to the landing she had spent much of her time on when she had first arrived. It had been a while since she had gone there but she needed to be alone. If she was near people, she knew she'd start crying and she couldn't stand that.

Tina stayed up on the landing until well past lunchtime. When she had finally calmed down enough that she knew she could handle being around people again, she got to her feet and set out in search of Newt. She needed to talk to him.

He knows something about Queenie. That's why he looked upset and wouldn't tell me what it was. That's why he looked guilty when I said I didn't know where she was.

Tina looked in Newt's office. He was nowhere to be seen. She was about to leave and check the rest of the basement when something caught her eye. Newt's case was still in its usual corner of the room but it was no longer upright. It was lying on its side as if it had been recently opened. 

That's odd. Since we're all staying here, Newt moved all his creatures into the basement so it would be easier to feed them all. No one's had reason to go down there for ages. She approached the case slowly. Maybe Newt's down there. Maybe he's trying to avoid me.

Tina opened the case and made her way down into it. The shed was empty. She made her way across it and opened the door, glancing out into the rest of the case. It too was empty. The silence made her shiver slightly. It had been a while since she had been down into the case but she was still used to seeing it buzzing with life. Now, as she looked out across the empty enclosures, she was reminded painfully of the dreams she had had after losing her job. She turned and shut the door quickly, pressing her back against it.

As she started back towards the ladder, Tina's eyes passed over Newt's workbench. One thing, in particular, caught her eye. She picked it up and looked at it. She gasped.

A/N: Sorry for another cliffhanger and for not properly resolving the last one. They'll both be fixed in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Please vote and comment.

I've to a Physics test in about half an hour and I'm really bad at Physics. As in really, really bad at it. At least, after that, I'm done with school.

Anyway, have a good day!

Bye!