Chapter Text
Tina felt like hell.
Through the next two weeks she visited the headmistress’s office in hopes of an early return, and every day she was met with further disappointment. She told herself it was because she was dreading the make-up work she would have to do once her mess was fixed, but there was a part of her that acknowledge the fact that a certain British assistant professor was secretly to blame. Still, she begrudgingly made her way to every class and drowned in the annoying droll that was her life. Her bag was heavy with additional assignment as she tried to keep up with classes as best she could. Many professors, such as her potions teacher, pitied the rather unfortunate circumstance she was in, and provided her with additional work so that she wouldn’t be so behind once the mess was straightened out.
She made her way back down to the eastern tower, mentally preparing herself for the dreaded hour and a half she would have to spend listening to Mr. Scamander go on about magical creatures. True to his word, Professor Trumble left the responsibility of lecturing to the younger intern, and for the past two weeks Tina was subjected to the soft tenor of his heavy accent has he talked excitedly about various creatures. The older professor might as well have been good as gone as far as she was concerned. Often times he could be found dozing off in a chair in the back of the classroom, if he bothered to show up at all. There was no mistake, Mr. Scamander was the one in charge of the class now, and there was no sign of change in the near future.
In consequence to her troubled thoughts, Tina had turned to avoiding Queenie at all costs. It was difficult, living with a Legilimens. Often times Queenie couldn’t help her intrusion; other people’s thoughts would just tumble out in the open for her to hear, but Tina knew that she was a better Legilimens than Tina was an Occlumens. She couldn’t trust herself to be able to keep anything from her sister. Still, she felt bad, and every heartbreaking look Queenie would give her when she would brush her off stung her heart with guilt. She knew it wasn’t fair, but did she really have any other choice?
Today was a specially day apparently, for Mr. Scamander looked particularly excited when he walked in the room. Classes had been rather dull, mostly going over basic magical creature care and facts, along with understanding the proper ways to handle them. Actually working with creatures didn’t come till later in the semester, and even still they were few and mostly uninteresting first tier creatures.
Tina took her usual seat beside Bunty and the window, setting her bag down and pulling out her borrowed textbook. In spite of all the trouble Mr. Scamander was unknowingly giving her, Tina had found herself prying open the well-used tomb at nearly every chance she got. Whether it was during meals, through boring classes, or alone in her dorm room, something inside her urged her to pull it out and read. During the first read-through she had gone through both his notes and the textbook’s writing, but as she finished the second read through and started on the third Tina found herself neglecting the author’s writing more and more as she carefully read through Mr. Scamander’s carefully detailed annotations over and over. It wasn’t something she was particularly proud of, and she would be the last to admit if anyone asked her, but there was just something about his words and the way he seemed to deeply care about the creatures he was observing that sparked her attention and drew her in. If the way he wrote about his creatures could spark such an interest in her of all people, then Tina would take a gander to say that he should write his own book on magical creatures. After all, their current textbook was a couple decades out of date.
Mr. Scamander suddenly pulled in the attention of the class, and the loud chatter of the students around her quieted down to a soft murmur until everyone has their undivided attention on him. He smiled slightly, tugging at his coat sleeve before resting his hands atop the worn briefcase he seems to carry around with him everywhere. Tina had the sneaking suspicion that there might be expansion charms attached to it, for Mr. Scamander had more than a hand full of times pulled out rather large objects from it without so much as a struggle.
“Good afternoon everyone,” he started scanning the room quickly, and Tina swore his gaze landed on her a moment longer than was needed. She quickly shoved the though out of her mind and tried to focus on the detailed sketch of an Occamy in her book. “Today we’ll be doing something a little different.” He began to shed off his blue overcoat and yellow vest , laying them gently across the desk corner; the display setting Tina about three seconds away from cardiac arrest. “I know most of what we’ve been doing is basic knowledge and textbook work, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned during my research, it’s that the best way to understand a magical creature is to witness it up close.” He rolled up his sleeves to the elbows before unlocking the briefcase and reaching inside. When he pulled back up and closesd the case, he brought with him a creature. It was small, clearly pre-pubescent, and bright green at the head. It’s color faded to a dark black as it reached the tip of its tail and it hung tightly around his thumb and pointer finger, terrified of the world around it.
Tina wondered just what on earth he was doing bringing a magical creature into the classroom on the second week of classes. Most professors wouldn’t dare do such a thing in front of barely educated, inexperienced students, yet here he was, stripping down to just his dress shirt, trousers, and suspenders, handling a poison spitting salamander so casually it seemed like he did it on his free time.
It seemed like the class was in a similar state of uncertainty and awe, and a quick sweep of the room showed the majority of them leaning back stiffly in their chairs. Tina took a glance at Bunty, and it was obvious how hard the poor girls was trying. Despite the look of fear crossing her face she tried to smile, forcing her body to lean forward in an attempt at looking more interested than frightened. This made Tina frown, and the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach that she had grown use to associating with him stilled for a moment as she glared uncertainly at Mr. Scamander.
He took a look back at Professor Trumble in the corner of the room who merely nodded his head once with a smile. Tina wanted to scream. There was no way this was happening right now. It was borderline illegal.
Mr. Scamander brought the creature forward, coaxing it gently to uncurl from his fingers and bringing it around the room slowly for the students to see. Many people mumbled uncertainly, clearly uncomfortable with the display, but he trudged on forward, either unaware of the reaction of the classroom or ignoring it altogether.
“Now this little fellow,” he began, petting the creature’s head gently, “Is a rare subspecies of salamander that a colleague of mine found during an expedition in South America. He is the third generation bred in captivity, and the poison they spit can be rather corrosive. It is highly advised that they are handled with care and the proper anti-corrosive spells are cast,” he gave the class a cheeky grin, sweeping the nervous room.
Tina’s jaw clenched at that, lips pursing into a heavy pout. She raised her hand deftly, eyeing him with a hard stare. He looked her way, locking eyes and a worried expression crossing his face at her own dower one, before nodding his head in an indication to continue. “Mr. Scamander,” she began, completely aware of the sudden shift of focus on her, “In a class aiming to teach the proper care for magical creatures, it’s a bit concerning to see you so blatantly going against the good advice you have just given us,” she bit out, eyeing the salamander warily. Bunty looked at her nervously, seeming to want to say something to her but thinking better of it.
Mr. Scamander looked a bit put off by this, but responded dutifully, “Well, Miss Goldstein, I’m glad you asked. I was just about to present the question to the class. Do you know why I have chosen to handle him in such a way?” he posed, raising an eyebrow at her as he wandered closer to her desk.
She crossed her arms across her chest, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face before responding, “Well, I would gander to say that it’s because of its age. Judging by the small size and narrow midsection, it still hasn’t matured to puberty, which would indicate that either the poison it holds isn’t nearly as dangerous as its adult counterpart or it is not yet capable of projecting it large distances,” she answered, and for a moment his face lit up with pride until he heard what she had to say next. “As such, it is safe to assume that you have neglected to follow proper care protocol due to over confidence and hubris,” she surmised, only feeling a little bad about his downturned expression.
“Yes, well…” he struggled, rearranging the creature in his hand. Mr. Scamander shook his head, choosing to dismiss the last part of her statement, “You are correct in your assessment of the salamander, Miss Goldstein. He is only a couple weeks old, and just started creating poison. It is minimally corrosive at best, and he poses no threat to the class, I can assure you.”
“Or so you assume, Mr. Scamander,” she huffed, and the class giggled behind her. She heard Bunty murmur her name, but Tina chose to ignore it.
He gave her a funny look, glancing back around the giggling room before lading back on her stony expression, “Yes, well I am the professor here, Miss Goldstein. I’ve handled these creatures many a times.”
“But we haven’t,” she interjected, “We don’t know anything about this creature, Mr. Scamander, and you think it’s wise to bring it into a room of uninformed students and tote it around like a toy.” More giggles and whispers followed.
Mr. Scamander shifted uncomfortably, “Which is precisely why I am the one handling him, not any of you. There are two perfectly qualified wizards in the room should anything go wrong, which I assure you won’t.”
“But it could, Mr. Scamander,” she said again, and there were more giggles, “You said it yourself, this is a rare subspecies from South America. Meaning not native to North America. We don’t know anything about it or what it could do.”
“Yes, and I also mentioned that I have worked closely with it since its discovery, and the fact that it is a third generation bred in captivity salamander means that it has no premonitions to go off on and is mostly domesticated. I incubated him myself, Miss Goldstein,” he bit back, and from the corner of the room Professor Trumble let out a low chuckle, clearly amused with the whole situation.
“But we don’t know for sure!” she exclaimed, finally blowing up in irritation and disbelief. “Do you know anything about the wizarding community in America, Mr. Scamander?” she asked after taking a shaky breath to calm herself down, “that thing isn’t even registered on the list of approved magical beasts. It’s illegal to move unknown magical species across American boarders, Mr. Scamander,” she retorted, and the class began to laugh once more.
“Tina, please,” she heard Bunty plead, and turning back to the red hared girl Tina noticed she was hot in the face and looking particularly mortified.
“What?” she snapped, both at Bunty and the giggling class around her.
“My apologies, Miss Goldstein. I didn’t know you had such strong feelings on the matter,” he conceited, giving her a tight lipped smile as she stewed. “I’ll be sure to be more considerate next time. Professor Trumble and I merely though this would be a good learning experience for you all.” She looked his way, finally noticing how close he had gotten, for he was standing beside her now, less than a foot away. He leaned forward a little, bending down in ear shot to whisper something only she could hear, “As for the rest of the class, well I can’t say for sure, but I think it has something to do with you referring to me as Mr. Scamander. Professor Trumble and Professor Picquery had both requested that you all refer to me as Professor as well, just for appearance sake. So to do otherwise is just a little…uncouth,” he murmured, and gave her an awkward smile as she began to turn red at the ears. Tina cursed a little under her breath, stuttering out a half-hearted apology as he walked away.
Mr. Scamander took the overstimulated, baby salamander back to the front and places him back in the case, closing it deftly. He quieted the loud chatter of the class with an awkward clearing of his throat, and glanced over at Tina to give her a tight smile, before addressing the rest of the class. “Alright that’s enough,” he called out in an attempt to be a bit authoritative, frowning when the quiet chatter still persists. “Now is as good of a time as any, I guess. Please clear you desks of everything except a quill and ink,” he said, bringing out his wand and flicking it deftly. From behind the desk a stack of paper appeared and began to disperse across the classroom quickly, a paper landing neatly on each student’s desk. There were loud groans from some of the students, and Tina rolled her eyes at their response, but thankful none the less for the change in subject. She felt a little bad at how worked up she had gotten, and admitted to herself that she probably could have handled it better. Still, what’s done is done, and Tina couldn’t do more than offer an apologetic smile the next time he looked her way. “You’ll have the remainder of the period to finish the quiz. Once complete you are free to go,” he explained, and with that the room was silent, save for the quiet scribbling of quills against paper.
Tina scanned through the questions before her, letting out a silent chuckle at the simplicity of it. They were basic questions, things that they had gone over in class multiple times. In her mind, anyone who found it difficult was in dire need of an intervention. Of course it never occurred to her that perhaps the questions were so easy because of the amount of time she had unknowingly dedicated to reading through her borrowed textbook. The answers came easily to her, and Tina began to write quickly.
Question 1: A niffler is a small black creature native to Great Britain and has a particular penchant for what?...
She was the first to finish and leave, handing in her paper with a polite smile before making her way out of the room.
“You!” a familiar voice called behind Tina, forceful and angry. Cursing under her breath, Tina slowly turned around to come face to face with Queenie who was beat red and donning an angry grimace. She had caught her in the hall on her way to the library. Tina often liked to take the long way so as to avoid the loud groups of people that cluttered the main entrance. As such the hallway they occupied was empty, save for a few classrooms that were still in use, though the doors were closed so no one could probably hear them.
The blonde stormed forward, eyes narrowed and fists clenched at her side. Queenie was never one to hold her temper, often being the more emotional of the two, yet Tina knew she had no one to blame but herself. “Oh no you don’t. Don’t you dare run away from me again, Porpentina,” she growled, taking note of Tina’s growing flight response gathering in her panicked thoughts. She winced as her sister used her name- her full name- knowing well and good that it meant her little sister was particularly livid this time around.
“Please don’t call me that,” she whispered half-heartedly, but Queenie merely laughed a dry, rueful laugh.
“Oh so she finally talks to me,” she snapped, and Tina shrunk under her intense glare, “No, you don’t get to decide what I call you. Not after the way you’ve been treating me for the past two weeks.”
“Queenie, please. I told you I’ve been busy is all-“
“Busy? Busy! What on earth could you be busy with, you aren’t even talking half of the classes you’re supposed to be and you’re trying to tell me you’re too busy!”
“I’m sor-“
“And even still, busy doesn’t even begin to explain why you won’t even sit with me at dinner, or walk with me to class, or let me hang around you in the common room or library!” she snapped, not giving Tina the chance to even try to explain herself.
“I’m sorry I-“
“What?”
“I-“
“What?” Queenie didn’t give her the chance to explain, and within seconds Tina felt the heavy push of an unforeseen force invade her mind. Try as she may to push her out, Queenie simply pushed her aside, occupying the space in her head and shuffling through her memories and emotions, rendering her helpless as she clutched her head in pain. Queenie had never been this aggressive, and the intensity of it sent waves of pain coursing through her head quickly. She feared her brain may explode.
Please stop, Queenie it hurts she cried in her mind, and though she didn’t stop completely, her sister let up significantly, easing Tina’s pain. Angry as she was, she didn’t want to hurt her sister.
“What? What could be so important that you can’t tell me? That you wanna keep hidden so bad you ignore me for two weeks?” Queenie pleaded, looking very nearly like she was about to cry.
“Is everything alright over here,” a familiar voice intruded, taking both girls by surprise. The heavy argument stopped abruptly by the time Mr. Scamander walked up to the pair, and Queenie had retracted almost completely from Tina’s mind. She looked him once over, glanced at Tina, then back to him with a new face of mischievous innocence now donning her pretty features.
“Oh! You must be the new Magical Creatures professor?” she quipped. Tina could practically see the gears turning in her sisters mind as she began to piece together the information from Tina’s memories as well as the ones she was surely taking from Mr. Scamander.
“I am,” he responder curiously, and nervously gave her his hand to shake, “Newton Scamander. Is everything alright over here? It seems like you and Miss Goldstein were fighting just a moment ago, Miss…” he trailed off in that awkward way he had used before to ask Tina’s name.
“Queenie,” she hummed, taking his hand gingerly and smiling up at him, “Charmed. Tina’s said a lot of great things about you,” she lied, trying to hide the fact that they hadn’t spoken in weeks and he was likely the unknowing cause of it. “And don’t worry ‘bout that, we’ve been dealing with this since we were little. Tina’s always been good about putting up with my temper,” she hummed, nudging Tina none too lightly and nearly toppling her over in surprise.
“I take it you two are sisters?” Newt chuckled, and Queenie beamed, radiant and beautiful as always. Tina’s stomach began to turn.
“Yessir, and thick as thieves! Teenie, ya see, she’s only a year older, but she’s always taken good care of me,” she giggled, batting long blonde eyelashes towards Mr. Scamander in a way that made most boys their age go weak at the knees.
“Ah how sweet. It’s good to see such strong familial kinship,” he hummed awkwardly, eyes sweeping over Queenie for a moment, before darting back to look at Tina instead.
“Oh yes, for sure. Have you got any siblings Mr. Scamander?” Queenie asked, eyes narrowing as she stepped forward just a bit.
Queenie, if you can hear me, please stop Tina silently begged, staring nervously at her sister, but she only gave her a quick side glance before returning her attention back to their professor.
Newt raised an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting the younger Goldstein sister to also pick up the same habit that Tina had. He had a suspicion that Queenie was more deliberate though. Something told him that she didn’t do anything without a reason.
“Yes, I have an older brother,” he finally answered, “Theseus is his name. He’s head of the Auror Office back in England. Though I must say, we aren’t nearly as close as the two of you.”
“Oh, an Auror,” Queenie perked up, ignoring her sister’s loud mental pleas, “Teenie’s gonna be an Auror. Everyone always said she was gonna be a career girl, always got her hands full keeping me outa trouble.” She let out a giggle, high pitched and girlish.
“Oh,” he hummed, looking towards Tina as if to ask if this was true, but she kept her gaze stubbornly on her sister, “Well if that is the case, perhaps I could talk with Theseus, put in a good word for you, Miss Goldstein.”
“Yeah, yeah that’d be great,” Queenie quickly tutted before Tina could respond, “Say, Mr. Scamander, what kinda name is Theseus anyhow?” she asked, and suddenly Tina knew where her sister was going with this.
Queenie, please no.
“It Greek,” he answered truthfully, “We both have them, our parents had a thing for mythology.”
Queenie’s smile widened as she tucked a stand of hair from her face. “Oh really! That’s so neat, Mr. Scamander. Ya know, Tina and I, our names come from family. Hand me downs from our great, great grandmothers, though they shortened my name down, from Quinella Marie, to just Queenie,” she hummed.
Queenie, please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for ignoring you!
“But Tina, you see, she kinda got the short end of the stick. Her name’s as old as they come,” she said, leaning in close as if she were letting on some big secret.
No, stop!
“You don’t say.”
Queenie, stop!
“Yup, old as time. She used to hate it-“
Queenie, stop!
“-When we called her-“
Queenie, stop!
“Porcupine, ya know for Porpentina-“
“Queenie, stop!”
Tina hadn’t realized she has said it out loud. For a moment she stood there, eyes closed, fists balled up and shaking with anger. When she looked up she saw both of them staring at her, shocked. Her bottom lip trembled, and though Mr. Scamander had tried to catch her eye, she refused to look his way.
“I said I was sorry,” she whispered half-heartedly, hurt by her sister’s vindictive words.
Before Queenie could respond Tina pivoted on her foot and made her way down the corridor, eyes red with unshed tears. It was dumb, she thought, getting so worked up over a stupid nickname. But she knew, deep down, it wasn’t just the name. Queenie had known-had to have known-to some degree how Tina felt. Regardless of how stupid or unreasonable those feelings were, she still couldn’t bear the thought of him knowing. To know that her own sister would do it too, due to some petty hurt feelings, made it sting more, and the humiliation she felt weighed heavy in her chest and threatened to claw its way up and out her throat. Despite her best efforts, hot tears spilled over and down her cheeks.
The sound of laughing students met her ears, and Tina saw the flutter of black robes round the corner. On instinct, she ducked into the nearest classroom, the room dimly lit and thankfully empty so that she could catch her breath in silence. She rubbed her eyes furiously, wetness dampening her robe sleeves as she took heavy, shaky breaths.
The sound of the heavy oak doors opening made her jump, and Tina pressed her body hard against the stone wall.
“Go away, Queenie. I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she snapped, her voice coming out heavy and strained as she wiped her dripping nose against the scratchy material of her sleeve.
“Queenie’s not here,” she heard a familiar, male voice mumble, and Tina snapped her head up to see Mr. Scamander standing awkwardly in the doorway, staring her down in deep concern.
She didn’t know what to do. Tina could easily balance perfect grades and quidditch practice, had done so for many years till she quit the team to focus more heavily on her studies, and yet confronting the painful object of her affections after a humiliating conversation facilitated by her own sister seemed near impossible. Her chest ached at the sight of his worried glance, and he reached out just a bit, as if to pull her in and comfort her, but instead opted to set a hand down on her shoulder with a heavy sigh.
Tina buried her face in her hands, rubbing her swollen eyes angrily as she tried to muster up the courage to look him in the eyes and insist that everything was fine. It was easier said than done, and Tina found herself instead hiccupping messy apologies towards his direction as she prayed a hole in the ground would swallow her up in one go.
“This is so dumb,” she hissed, trying aimlessly to rub the hot tears out of her eyes till the skin of her face began to ache and flair red. Mr. Scamander grabbed her wrists gently, pulling them away from her face and brought his other hand up to wipe away the tears with something soft and cottony.
“No its not,” he hummed, rubbing what she now realized was a handkerchief of all things, in soft soothing circles as her hiccups finally faded and the tears stilled, “You’re hurt. There’s no shame in reacting the way you did if you fell this strongly about it,” he answered honestly, and Tina blushed at his sincere words. She felt another wave of tears begin to well up behind her eyes, and Newt scrambled to calm her, drawing her in close before either one of them could stop it, and she found herself crying hard against the rough material of his vest.
“You’re sister’s a Legilimens,” he murmured, trying to find a topic to pull her from her hysterical misery.
It worked a bit, and Tina looked up at him with watery, confused eyes, “How did you know?” she asked, incredulous. The topic hadn’t come up.
He smiled at that, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “I could feel her trying to shuffle through my mind when we were talking. I was able to cast her out pretty easily, and I could tell she was getting frustrated with me by the minute. It’s safe to say she’s natural born?” he explained, and Tina nodded her head in affirmation.
“Yeah, she’s been good at it since we were little. I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t invading my every thought,” she laughed lightly, eyes downcast towards the floor.
“I thought so. It’s unusual to see someone so young as advanced in the craft as she is,” he hummed, and despite the current situation Tina felt a flush of pride on Queenie’s behalf, “She’ll be a force to be reckoned with in due time.”
“Yeah, before you know it I won’t be able to tell when she’s shuffling through my mind,” Tina said, rolling her eyes, “Queenie’s always been special. Got the looks and talent,” she huffed, and gave Mr. Scamander a lazy smirk letting him know she was just kidding.
Still he carried on. “Miss Goldstein, I don’t want you to fight with your sister,” he said earnestly, and she cast her eyes down and away from his serious gaze, “I’m not quite sure what you two were arguing about, and I know what she did to you was unkind, but I don’t think she intended for it to go this far.” Tina huffed at that, eyebrow’s drawing together angrily as she refused to respond. He sighed at her stubbornness, realizing the Tina he had witnessed today during class was starting to appear again. “She was quite upset after you left, you know,” he tried again, quipping her interest, “She apologized to me, and I dare say she was about to cry as well. I thinks it’s safe to say she felt more than a little bad for making you feel this way.”
Tina hummed thoughtfully at that before conceding. “I guess I can go back and talk to her later,” she huffed, shoulders sagging visibly, “She is my sister after all, she’s all I’ve got.”
Mr. Scamander nodded in response and unconsciously tightening his grip around her. Tina finally noticed that they were still embracing, and began to color at the thought of being in such close proximity to him. It was like earlier today hadn’t even happened, and all the spunk drained out of her as nerves began to shoot through her once more. He didn’t seem to mind though, or even notice her sudden change in mood, seeming more content than anything. He was just glad to have been able to diffuse the situation somewhat and stop her from crying so terribly. They stood there in comfortable silence, the last remains of sunset peeking through the heavy curtains barely enough to illuminate the room.
“You know I knew…” he mumbled half-heartedly after a while. The silence had stretched out far longer than was comfortable or necessary. Tina tried to pull back, managing to only lean back slightly, still wrapped in his tight embrace.
“What?” she asked, looking quizzically at his bashful face. He gave her a nervous grin, biting his bottom lip between his teeth in a pathetic effort to hold it back.
“Your name. I knew what it was,” he confessed, and nearly laughed at the scandalized look she gave him, “I mean it only makes sense. I grade your papers, Miss Goldstein, and the way you introduced yourself on the first day certainty didn’t do you any favors.”
She looked positively scandalized at the information, and it took all the power within him not to laugh at her expense. “You what?” she said again in disbelief, more in a state of denial than anything else.
He shrugged at that. “I mean, I didn’t know for sure where your sister was going with the whole tangent, but I can’t say I was surprised,” he said, beginning to grow antsy under her incredulous stare, “I mean Porpentina is derived from the word Porpentine, which in turn means porcupine. I wouldn’t be surprising to have at least one person refer to you as such, but for it to stir such a reaction out of you is quite surprising-“
She pulled away at that, stomping over to the nearest desk and bracing herself against it. Tina let out a shaky breath, groaning at his long winded response. “I can’t believe…I made a fool out of myself just for you to tell me you knew all along,” she groaned, shaking her head violently.
“Now, it isn’t as bad as you think-“ he tried again, but she cut him off.
“Not bad? I’ve tried so hard to make sure no one knows of the embarrassing nickname, just to have my sister blurt it out in a fit of anger, and you’re telling me it’s not a big deal?” she snapped, glaring his way but not meeting his eye.
He contemplated his next thought, for once mulling over his answer before choosing to respond. “You know, you’re not the only one with a less than dignified nick name,” he started, meeting her warry gaze, “Imagine living your entire life responding to the name Newt of all things,” he offered, giving her a small, awkward smile in response. Tina stared at him for a moment, an odd expression donning her face and making Newt’s confidence waver. Suddenly she burst out laughing, light and breathy, with a lovely grin gracing her face. Newt found himself unable to look away until she brought a hand up to stifle the giggles escaping her mouth in desperate gasps.
“I guess that is a little ridiculous,” she laughed, giving him an unapologetic grin, “Though nothing can be worse than Esther, I assure you. I mean how ancient can you get with that kind of name?” she huffed, and he raised an eyebrow at that.
“I bet I can do you one better,” he said in a playful challenge.
“Oh yeah?"
“Yes, I bet you I can do two,” he grinned, eyes shining mischievously in the setting sunlight. She made a curious noise as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his passport and flipping it open to the identification page before turning it her way. Tina glanced down at the card, taking note of the awkward half smile he flashed the camera, his face moving around in strange stutters in the enchanted picture. His hair was shorter in this photo, and Tina decided that she liked it longer and fuller. The heavy curls he donned now suited him. Moving her eyes down Tina carefully read the name at the bottom of the page and a grin bloomed across her face.
‘Newton Artemis Fido Scamander’ it read in bold, curly lettering. She gave him an incredulous look, scarcely believing it to be true had it not been for the official stamp at the top of the page.
“Artemis Fido? Really” she giggled behind her hand, and his own amusement danced across his face in turn.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said my parents had a particular affinity for mythology,” he defended lightly, “Of course Theseus got off a bit better than I did. It looks like you weren’t the only one who got the short end of the stick, Miss Goldstein.”
She bit her bottom lip playfully, tugging at the ends of her robe. “You can call me Tina you know,” she said softly, face red now with excitement and mirth, “Miss Goldstein just sounds so formal. When we’re just talking one on one like this I don’t see why you can’t call me by my first name.”
He smiled at that, taking the handkerchief and dabbing away the last sticky remains of her tears before giving it to her to get any spots he missed. “I will, thank you Tina,” he said, and the feel of her name on his tongue felt strange, but not altogether unpleasant. “I guess you can call me Newt then, when we’re alone,” he offered uncertainly, though he felt like he made the right choice when her face brightened up at the words.
“Newt,” she whispered into the quiet air, testing it out in the confines of the empty classroom. The sound of his name coming from her mouth stirred something inside of him, spreading an unfamiliar warmth that he lingered on for only a moment. “Thank you,” she said, giving a breathy laugh that pulled a shy smile out of him too. In that one small moment everything felt right.
Tina made her way back to Thunderbird tower slowly, giving herself time to calm down and hopefully let her eyes rest. She knew they were puffy and red, clear indications of her having cried earlier, but hopefully the side effects would settle down before she got to her room so no one would question what was wrong. All she felt like doing was drawing the privacy curtains of her bed close and curling up in her sheets with her magical creatures textbook.
When she arrived, the room was noticeably empty, save for one familiar blonde. Queenie sat on her bed, eyes just as red as Tina’s. She looked up as her sister entered the room and they stared at one another for a long, silent moment. Queenie was the first to break, bursting out in messy tears and running over to throw her arms around Tina’s neck. Tina held her tightly as she cried loudly into her shoulder, spluttering out incoherent apologies. Patting the younger girl’s back gently, Tina maneuvered them to the bed to sit down. Though she was reluctant to admit it, the mere sight of her sister had pulled at her heartstrings and Tina knew she had already forgiven Queenie.
“I’m so sorry, Tina,” Queenie gasped. The older girl gently grabbed her sister’s face between her hands, rubbing away the tears with her thumb as she tried to sooth the hysterical girl. “I-so-sooo-oorry,” she wailed, and Tina sighed, realizing she would just have to let her ride it out.
It took a couple of minutes, with Tina shushing every mumbled apology that left her sisters mouth. Once she started to settle down into soft whimpers Tina finally spoke up. “There. Are you all done? Did you get it all out,” she teased playfully, and the blonde girl merely nodded.
“I’m sorry, Teen,” she mumbled, brushing away leftover tears. Even post hysterical, Queenie managed to look breathtakingly beautiful. “I shouldn’t have said all those things, and I shouldn’t have forced my way into your head, and I shouldn’t have made a fool of you in front of Mister Scamander, but I didn’t know,” she rambled, and Tina looked at her disbelievingly at that last statement. “I mean I did know- kind of. Well not completely. Listen, I kinda knew, a little, about how you felt, but I swears I didn’t know how bad you felt about him till after you left, honest,” she pleaded, and the sincerity in her eyes convinced Tina in the end.
She sighed sadly at that, rolling her eyes tiredly. “Yeah well it’s dumb,” she said, brushing her hair out of her face nervously, “I mean honestly, I’ve barely known the guy for two weeks, Queenie! He teaches my Care of Magical Creatures class for Merlin’s sake. It’s ridiculous, but I can’t help getting so worked up over it,” she groaned, and knowing how reluctant her sister was after today, decided to generously lay out every though and memory of the past two weeks to Queenie in her mind, including todays interactions.
She watched Queenies eyes flutter, a faraway look in her eyes as she shifted quickly though each thought carefully. “Oh!” she exclaimed, face going rosy as she pounced on her sister excitedly, “Oh, Teenie, it’s not stupid at all!” she cooed.
Tina rolled her eyes at that. “Isn’t it?”
Queenie shook her head furiously. “No. I think its sweet,” she hummed, clasping their hands together and giving her sister a soft smile.
Tina grew pink at her sister’s lovey expression, knowing where this could go fast. She scrambled to change the subject to something else. “H-hey, by the way, how did you do that today?” Tina asked, and Queenie cocked her head in confusion, “That thing earlier you know? It hurt like hell too. It was like you were flooding my mind completely instead of just looking around. I couldn’t even force you out like I usually do.”
Queenie shrank at that, remembering how badly Tina seemed to hurt during that moment, “Oh. I dunno. It was just in the moment you know. All of a sudden I just felt this rush of energy take over me and I just…” she trailed off, waving her hands dramatically to try and express what she couldn’t with words.
Tina nodded at that, half expecting it to be spurred on by her sister’s fit of anger. “Yeah, I get it. Man, you’re gonna be one hell of a Legilimens in no time, Queen.” She beamed at that, going pink at the compliment. “Though I do know you were trying to peek into Mr. Scamander’s mind too. Didn’t work out too well for you, did it?”
Queenie pouted at that, blowing a curly blonde lock out of her face in annoyance. “Not it didn’t. I was so confident to, ya know, after I managed to do that thing with you! But he just pushed me away, over and over again. I swear, Tina, it was like one of those cartoons you see on those No-Maj picture shows…” she went on and the girls giggled and laughed, happy to finally be talking again. Tina felt complete. How she managed to avoid her sister for this long without going crazy was a mystery, but she knew she never wanted to do it again.
Suddenly there was a loud, hollow toll as the school bells chimed heavy throughout the school. It shook the bed and walls alike, stilling the conversation between the two girls. Birds began to crow anxiously outside, and Tina and Queenie made their way to the window to see what all the commotion was about. Outside there was a group of people, dressed in black and heading for the front entrance of the castle. One particularly tall figure spearheaded the group, dressed in purple and clearly the one in charge. The tall oak doors creaked open with a flick of her wand and the group began to file inside quickly.
The headmistress had returned.