More than a Friend (A Newtina Fanfic)

Part 3

Nightmares. Everyone was having them. Nagini's were of watching Credence side with Grindelwald and having to return to the Circus Arcanus. Being a snake for part of the night, her dreams were a bit dulled, but still as terrifying. Tina's were of Queenie and Newt walking into the flames. It was equally parts terrifying and perplexing. Why am I dreaming of Newt? she thought. Newt's were of watching everyone walk into the flames, for him, leaving him all alone. It always zeroed in on Tina, for some reason. I would miss her the most, Newt concluded. Jacob didn't have nightmares. His dreams were always full of new pastry ideas.

Both Tina and Nagini couldn't sleep because of the nightmares. Tina could hear Nagini quietly sniffling under the covers, and saw through the dim light her clutching the extra pillow Newt had provided. She herself was still a bit shaken, and she hugged Fluffy like she did when she had nightmares in Illvermorny. And even though she was a bit old to have a stuffed animal, she didn't care.

Newt woke up one morning to discover Tina wrapped in a blanket on the couch, crying. She held a mug of cocoa in one hand and had a book on jinxes in the other. The salty droplets were staining the page, but she didn't seem to notice. She also didn't seem to see Newt as he walked up to her. He sat down next to her and she jumped a little. Cocoa spilt over on her blue pyjamas, leaving a wet brown stain. She blushed and vanished the cocoa stain off her shirt.

"Sorry about that," Tina whispered. Now that Newt had gotten a good chance to look at her, he noticed her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her hair was wild and messy, and strands stuck out from all different angles. Almost instinctively, Newt tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, like when he left for England.

Tina started to tear up again. She couldn't help it. When she was at Illvermorny, no one was there to comfort her (her sister was in Pukwudgie) so that small gesture meant a lot. Unfortunately, at the sight of her tearing up again, Newt thought he had done something wrong, and stood up. She wanted to tell him it was alright, but her voice had chosen to stop working at that particular moment, he walked downstairs, looking back once to make sure Tina was ok.

She wanted to chase after him. She really did. But the shy reserved part of her (which to be honest was most of her) kept her on the couch. It would be too embarrassing, that part of her brain said. She decided to get up anyway. But first, she straightened up her hair. For some reason, she felt really self-conscious about it. She didn't normally care about these things, she would always let Queenie be the one fussing over her hair and her clothes. At the thought of Queenie, she started to tear up again. Come on Tina, stop crying! Tina thought to herself. But she had experienced this kind of loss only once when her parents died. She had Queenie then. Now she had someone she never thought she would need. Newt. And she couldn't lose anyone else. She needed to apologize.

Tina walked downstairs, but she didn't notice the slight nuance in the ground. She kept walking, and right before she got into the little hut where Newt was, she tripped. Over Dougal the demiguise, who had suddenly chosen to appear. Luckily (or not so luckily), she fell straight into Newt's arms.