Chapter Text
The sun was starting to set as Tina picked her way through the dense assortment of fauna, walking through every kind of flower while she and the other auror walked back to the shack that doubled as the local law enforcement. Five months of travelling worldwide had brought herself and Newt to the rainforests of Assam, aiding a group consisting of four men that protected and enforced the law in the surrounding villages. There wasn’t many living in the miles of dense rainforest but where the villages had sprung up in the occasional clearings the small group's job was not going well. There was some religious tension and previous incidents with the Aurors had left people untrusting and suspicious. Due to their small size, they worked regularly with the No Maj enforcers, even sharing a workspace. So people being unwilling to report potentially magic disturbances had become an even greater problem as it fell to the semi suspicious no maj.
Thankfully, the villages were quite cohesive groups of Magic and non-magic people. They were all taught from a young age that some people had gifts and some didn't but neither was a threat to the other. Merely just people. The main problem came from encroaching foreigners as well as villages growing disproportionately so Tina had been wandering through the dense forests with the wizards, often just with one other, to different villages to try and mend the fractured relationships. They had previously been in Egypt prior to the assignment, her helping the ministry in manpower to try and combat pickpocketing and other petty crimes while Newt went with the beast's department to work with some Sphinxes who had caught an illness meaning that their riddles were no longer solvable.
"How's Mr Scamander then?" Auror Chauhan asked as he jumped over a log. Infinitely glad her translation charms were still holding strong she shot him a grin and replied in a language that matched his own
"Probably running around the forest chasing Wyverns"
Or charming the socks off everyone
The auror gave a loud boyish chuckle as they continued onward. Chauhan was her favourite auror to be paired up with. He was slightly younger than her but held a quality that made him seem like a teenager, down to his lanky body and wide, shining grin. The other wizards called him 'Ladaka' and he took it in his stride.
After another five minutes of stomping, they reached the clearing that was central to the entire Southern area. Everyone called the village Kendreey and it was in a circular configuration. At the centre of it all was a communal area where the women tended to work, cook and mend and barefooted children ran about watched over by elders. Surrounding the clearing were huts, and cottages and one section was a herb and vegetable garden. The buildings were all one story and the one used by the Aurors and No Maj workers consisted of one main room, two cells and then a room that could be used for them to sleep as the cells could not be left full and unattended. Chauhan bobbed his head in parting and he waved cheerfully as he disappeared. Tina gave a quick scan of the other buildings to see Newt perched on a log watching the children run about at breakneck speeds as they kicked a ball between one another. Aiming for a goal they had set up between two buckets just beside Newt's perch. As she got closer she could hear him talking to the little boy that she would put around eight that had been put as the keeper.
Unlike her Hindi, which was coming out jilted and staggered as the spell translated her words, his was flowing in his usual soothing lilt. Though there was a very good reason for it as he had a habit of picking up languages and within three days of them arriving in Assam he was talking pleasantries with the elderly. As her sandals scuffed against the earth he looked up and gave her that lopsided grin that she had fallen head over heels for nearly two years ago. He said something to the boy that made him scoff and then giggle slightly before he lunged for the ball that had come soaring over. Newt nimbly leapt to his feet then walked over to her, greeting her with a sweet kiss.
"Hello" He murmured against her and she laughed breathlessly, tipping their foreheads together
"Hi"
Once they had spent long enough holding one another they separated and began to walk to the path on the other side of the clearing. As they began to stroll he turned his head towards her
"So, how has your day been?"
"Kinda normal. There was a bit of a fight going on between some farmers and Chauhan did not stop talking the entire way there. I didn't know there were that many different names for plants"
He laughed again and replied
"I thought you were rather well versed in that department?"
He wasn't wrong. She had spent a large part of her free time since they set off tending to her garden which had grown exponentially with flowers and plants from all over the world.
"Yeah but I call 'em one thing, and don't tend to go round sniffing 'em"
"Fair point" He stepped aside to let her down the rocky path first then they walked a few more feet to where the case was sat underneath a disillusion charm beside a burnt-out campfire.
She watched Newt glance around before reaching into seemingly nothing and flick open the catches before the light bent to allow the site of the open case. The usual images and drawings adorned it including a new photo of her that was taken just before she left by the ministry to update her file. Newt had commented that he loved her 'work face' and had immediately stuck it in the lid of the case. Giving the black and white photo her usual cursory nod she stepped into the case, landing in the now significantly more organised shed with Newt falling with an elegant thud behind her. The product of many long sea voyages and train rides had made her quite restless which had usually morphed into organising and ordering the small shack that had developed. Now it wasn't just one cramped room but instead three. The main room was still home to potions, plants, harnesses, feed and every bucket they had but through a curtain to the right was a small double bedroom. The room was the width of the bed and the two side tables and had a three-foot-wide walking space at the base between the wardrobe and the baseboard. Newt's sketches and their acquired photographs adorned every spare inch of wall apart from above the head of the bed which held a window out into the menagerie and where a door gave way to a small bathroom suite. The bathroom had been an addition after a few days of every time they filled the bath outside it would be filled with creatures before they could even enter but it completed the tiny home they held inside.
Looking round Tina checked the Nifflers hadn't gotten to the locks on the door again as Newt went to start preparing the large chunks of meat, reams of fish and the chain of ferrets that hung from a heavy leather belt. Tina preferred the job of weighing out the medicines to mix in with the feed as well as chopping up the somehow never-ending supply of apples and vegetables. This had become the comfortable routine for the past five months, standing side to side on the workbench throwing cuts of fruit or meat into different buckets more or less in silence. Occasionally Newt would hum something to the Pygmy Puff in his pocket which would trigger Pepper to give out a set of purrs making both her and Newt chuckle but it was rare that she and Newt would speak profoundly until all the creatures were fed.
Thankfully, feedings didn't take long and soon Tina was climbing out of the case again clutching a shawl and a bowl filled with food for themselves. She sat down beside the ashy campfire and with a flick of her wand ignited it in a blaze of glowing embers before settling down on the patch of moss and waiting for Newt to follow. Moments later, the latches clicked again and Pepper appeared perched atop a hurricane of reddish hair that was followed by Newt's normal small smile. As he climbed out and settled beside her she noticed he had several bowls in his hand and answering her unspoken question he stated
"I spent some time doing food prep with the women today, something that appeared to amuse everyone, and I made some bread" he gestured to it with a hint of pride on his features
"One lady said I did better than herself the first time so- Hopefully it should be edible"
"Newt, I bet it tastes far better than anything I could have made" Noticing his raised eyebrow she rolled her eyes and added "Low bar, I know"
He chuckled and plunged his hand into his pocket to pull out the several sharpened sticks they had been using to cook their food. Happy to start threading the cheese and vegetables she asked
"So was today the day they finally got you to play No Maj quidditch?"
She watched as he snorted while patting circles of bread into flat shapes and shook his head
"No, they did try but the men felt I needed to regain some masculinity so I ended up collecting firewood and asking if they had seen any Re'ems in the area"
"And do you feel more masculine?"
"I'm becoming more and more certain it's an objective quality, and I rather enjoyed making bread"
"You should tell Jacob, he'll be ecstatic" Tina chuckled as she looked upon her finished skewers of peppers and paneer. She cast another spell and they immediately went to rotate above the flames. Happy that they would actually be eating tonight she settled further into her shawl. It was still almost suffocatingly humid but its presence was comforting if nothing else a reminder of how late November should be.
The thought sparked a sudden realisation and she spoke quietly
"Do you realise it's Thee and Leta's wedding anniversary tomorrow?" Newt started for a second, eyes wide then murmured
"Merlin's beard, it's been a year"
"Mmhmm, a year since you almost died the first time round"
"I am making a rather unfortunate habit of that aren't I?"
He gave a weak smile as he placed the flat pieces of bread on the hot flat stones from the fire
"I think we'd all appreciate it if you cool it in that department" She replied dryly
"Well I believe we should be rather safe from now on so no need to worry- Bugger"
He hissed the last part through his teeth making her narrow her eyes at him
"Y'know that's not a very comforting way to end a statement"
"No, it's nothing I just burnt my finger"
She remained with eyes narrowed until a smudge of flour on Newt's cheek caught her eye leaving her helpless to reach out and wipe it off. He leant into her touch as his non-injured hand flittered about and she took the burnt finger in her palm. It had already gone an angry red colour so she murmured a cooling charm in an attempt to soothe. Newt smiled gratefully before pausing and looking above her head. Knowing that chances were it was some creature she remained frozen in place for the validation from Newt that it wasn't the kind to see them as a meal
"It's okay, Tina, it's an owl?" He seemed rather confused at the prospect of a rather common bird so she looked his gaze to see not a wild bird but a messenger owl carrying a small rectangle of parchment.
"I thought we have strict instructions to not send letters to us until we made our way to Moscow?" Tina muttered and Newt nodded as they watched the owl slowly descend in a regal manner.
"And that is Theseus' owl." Newt still appeared more confused than annoyed, a feeling that was starting to bleed into pure irritation on Tina's side, especially at the owl's slow pace but eventually it was perched on a log clicking its beak impatiently. Newt rapidly removed the cooking food as she unravelled the letter, slipping it open with one slice of her finger and pulling it out.
The letter in itself was only a few lines, written hastily in a way that erased Theseus' usual pompous handwriting. She scanned down it and her heart fell to the floor
Dear Newt and Tina
I know we were meant to wait until Moscow but this is an exceptional circumstance. Grindelwald escaped Azkaban but the ministry has covered it up. No one apart from the auror department and a few others know. We're thin on the ground, we can't ask for MACUSA because they'll get suspicious. I need you both. We're all at Scamander Manor so the moment you enter the country head there, do not go alone.
Stay safe and hopefully see you soon,
Theseus