More than a Friend (A Newtina Fanfic)

Part 11

It was at that moment the rest of the aurors decided to come into the theatre. Just our luck, Tina thought. She turned to Lewis, whose face read brave, but body language read terrified. Not very reassuring. She turned back to the rest of the aurors. They all had their wands drawn, but they were outnumbered, seven people (if you included Tina and Lewis) to hundreds. Hundreds of wands pointed at them. The woman next to them had her wand pointed right at Tina's heart. Tina couldn't move, or she was sure she would be killed. They would have had a better chance if they had the rest of their group.

"Is this how we treat our guests? Surely not. Lower your wands." Grindelwald said, his voice sounding just as smooth, as persuasive as it did last time. Hundreds of wands lowered, at the same time, as if Grindelwald was a puppeteer and his followers were merely puppets.

"What do you want from us?" Theseus asked, his voice loud and full of courage. His grip on his wand was so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"Just to warn you. And show you what you're up against." Grindelwald said, smiling. This whole scene, playing out, made Tina sick to her stomach. She had the sinking feeling they were heading toward a trap but hadn't yet gotten caught in it yet. Knowing Grindelwald, the trap might span days, even weeks. Pinching her arm, she tried to push those thoughts away, and focus on what was happening at the present. The committed acolytes, and yes, Queenie, stepped forward to stand next to Grindelwald. Grindelwald still had his wand raised, and Tina noticed that the acolytes, while they didn't have their wands blatantly raised, had them out, and half concealed. She could just see Queenie's elegant mother-of-pearl wand handle peeking out from behind the folds of her long beige coat. Tina stood up, and so did Lewis. A flash of recognition passed on Queenie's face as she saw Tina. Queenie closed her eyes, and Tina hastily put up mental shields, one layer after another, as she knew Queenie was going to try to read her mind, from long distance. She felt Queenie searching her mind, but since her occlumency was perfect, as it should be, Queenie soon gave up. Queenie gave a small pout, but Tina didn't break from her steely gaze. Tina's hand went towards the special pocket in her leather coat where she kept her wand. She gripped the handle of her own wand, and slowly, as unobtrusively as possible, she brought it out. She saw Queenie closing her eyes again, but she knew this time it was directed at Theseus. She wanted to warn him, to tell him to put his mental shields up, that Queenie was a legilimens, but she couldn't. It was frustrating and horrible to watch classified information become accessible to Grindelwald and his acolytes. She hoped that Theseus could feel Queenie in his mind, and she also hoped he had a small layer of protection like any responsible auror would have. She stepped to be closer to the rest of the group, which was pressed against the wall.

"What are we going to do?" Tina whispered to Theseus. Theseus didn't respond, as he was closing his eyes and concentrating on something. What he did was point to his head, and then at Queenie. Thank goodness he is shielding his mind, Tina thought.

"She's done. Thank god. Whoever she is, she is powerful. I haven't seen her before, she must be a new asset. She's one more obstacle to overcome." Theseus whispered. The comment stung, even though it wasn't pointed at her. She had an urge to yell at Theseus, to tell him Queenie was her younger sister. But she didn't, since it could put her job in jeopardy.

"You haven't answered my question." Tina whispered back.

"Right. To be honest, I don't know. Let's just hope we get out of here alive." Theseus whispered. Tina faced the stage.

"Warn us of what, exactly?" Tina asked, trying to make her voice match Theseus's, loud and full of courage, except to her, her thick New York accent made her sound a bit ridiculous. Stop it, Tina, you sound fine, she thought.

"Now that our Legilimens here," Grindelwald gestured to Queenie, "Has gathered some information from all of you, you may be free to leave." He finished, a small smirk on his face. Tina whipped her head around. The other aurors looked confused. They all mouthed the same thing, I put up my blocking. Except for one person. Isa. Why in the name of Deliverance Dane does it have to be Isa who destroys the wizarding world? Tina thought.

"It's Isa. She's the one who's shared the information." Theseus said, softly. Tina just nodded.

"Free to leave? With no catch? What are you planning?" Roberts spoke up.

"I have already told you. I have gotten the information from you. There is no catch. And why would I tell you my plans? That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it." Grindelwald said. His acolytes mirrored his smirk. The aurors backed towards the door, not wanting to turn around.

"You'll have to turn around to get out of here, you know." Grindelwald called. They hesitantly turned around and waited a couple of seconds. Nothing happened, so they all started to leave, one by one. Tina looked back at Grindelwald, one more time, and noticed that Queenie and Rosier were both pointing their wands at Theseus as if ready to cast a spell. She was going to warn Theseus, but it was too late. Two bolts of light, one a dark green, one a pale pink, hit Theseus directly on his left leg. Theseus crumpled over from the impact, and Tina rushed forward to push him through the wall. She glared at her sister with the death glare, but Queenie looked back at her, using the steely gaze Tina had used minutes before. Without thinking, Tina called out,

"Queenie, please come back." Queenie turned away and shook her head. Tina walked through the wall, fighting tears.

Tina stepped outside, blinking from the sunlight, blinking away tears that threatened to spill out. She saw Theseus leaning against the wall, propping his leg up.

"Are you alright?" Tina asked.

"I think they broke a bone, nothing serious." Theseus said, wincing.

"Oh, I can fix that. Brackium Emendo!" Tina pointed her wand at Theseus leg, and with a flash of light, Theseus's leg was mended. He tentatively tried stepping using his left leg, and Tina knew she had done the spell properly when he grinned. She helped him back up, and said,

"So, do you still not want a Christmas party?"

"Eh, I mean, I guess I kind of need one, to distract me." Theseus said, sighing.

"I know what you mean. I just don't want anything bad to happen. And I have a date with Achilles tomorrow, maybe that'll take my mind off things." Tina said, a neutral expression on her face.

"Wait, I thought you were with N-" Theseus said but he was cut off by Tina, who said,

"Mercy Lewis, Theseus. We've gone over this. I've already said I'm dating ACHILLES TOLLIVER." Tina half yelled. She didn't know why it made her irritated, but it did.

"Fine, alright. But, you know, my little brother is a pretty nice person." Theseus said, smirking. Tina rolled her eyes and turned her back on him to talk to the rest of the aurors.