Work Text:
On the evening before Christmas, you sat at the window to your apartment, watching the snowflakes drift down to the ground. A light flurry had begun, but it was not enough for the winter wonderland everyone had been expecting for Christmas, the concrete showing in muddy patches along the boardwalk.
The decision was reached earlier in the week to have a small gathering in your apartment in support of the holiday, as the sisters feared that their landlady would have a fit at the crowd of people.
No matter, you were willing to have them so long as they wanted to come. A sharp rapping drew you away from the window and to the door, opening to find Queenie and Tina waiting, Jacob trailing up the hallway to meet them.
“Come on in,” you stepped back to allow them entrance, exchanging hugs and greetings as everyone removed their coats and made way to settle inside. Huddled together in your cramped din, you passed out drinks to hold everyone over until you could finally eat dinner. Your little tree was decked, and all your friends were here, save one.
“Where's Newt at?” Tina asked you, startling you out of your thoughts.
“I'm not sure, he said he would be by around seven,” you replied, sending everyone's eyes swiveling to look at the clock softly ticking away on the wall. He wasn't late per se, but he was cutting it close.
A loud CRACK sounded from the hallway, making everyone flinch, and you darted over to the door, opening it to see Newt, his hair flecked with rapidly melting snowflakes.
He smiled and waved in greeting as you thrust your hand out to drag him inside before someone saw, Tina starting in on him before you had the chance to speak.
“What are you thinking? There are No-Majs in this building!” she hissed through gritted teeth, and Newt ducked his head.
“Perhaps, but I felt it would be less rude than just Apperating inside,” he replied, quick on the return even as he was being scolded. Jacob was chuckling in the corner, falling silent when Tina shot him a warning glance.
“No harm done; it wasn't like he was out there long enough to be seen,” you chimed in, trying to turn the hostility away from Newt long enough to get the party back on track.
“Why don't we go ahead and eat? Then we can exchange gifts.” Tina looked miffed at your interruption, clearly not done with Newt, but she let out a huff and nodded, heading towards the kitchen, you and Jacob trailing behind her.
“Yes... alright then,” she spoke sullenly, and Queenie stepped over to greet Newt with a wide grin on her face, blocking him entrance from the kitchen. He looked pointedly down at her, his brow arching up slightly as she probed at his mind.
“I do hope you're not going to ruin the surprise,” he said. Queenie shook her head, looping her arm loosely around his to lead him to the table.
“Not at all; as a mater of fact, I wanted to compliment you on your choice,” she said with a wink before taking her seat, her words making his face color slightly and leaving the rest of you to wonder what just happened.
Queenie put a finger to her lips and Newt let out a sigh, taking his place at the table as you dished out the food.
At least he knew that you would like your gift... or so he hoped anyways.
After dinner, everyone passed out presents, excitement and laughter in the air with each package opened. Fiddling with the gift you had for Newt, you swallowed, drawing yourself up and clearing your throat, attracting the eyes of everyone else in the room.
“Here Newt, this is for you. To help with your research,” you said, quickly passing the box over to him and sitting back to twist your fingers in your lap, your nerves on edge as he tugged at the corners of the wrapping paper to reveal a large leather bound journal and silver quill.
Newt was marveling over the quality of the gift, tracing the spine with one finger, a silence that you took as displeasure.
“It's waterproof and smudge proof. Just don't loose the quill or it'll have to be replaced as normal ones won't work,” you said, letting out a breath, chewing on your lip as Newt turned the journal over in his hands before he leveled his gaze on you and smiled gently, your stomach lurching.
“It's absolutely wonderful. Thank you,” he said, looking up to you and smiling, your cheeks heating up even as you smiled back.
“Good, I'm... I'm glad.” Quiet fell once more as you stared at one another until Jacob cleared his throat and the two of you realized that you weren't alone. You dropped your gaze to avoid everyone watching you and Newt let out a nervous chuckle, aware of Queenie sending him loaded glances.
“Well... now I can give you your present,” he said as he stood, looking over one shoulder as he headed into the kitchen and you rose to follow him, a curious expression on your face.
Following where Newt had disappeared, you found him rummaging through his coat, turning towards you with a small blue present. He fluffed up the bow as it had gotten slightly crushed in his pocket, pausing a moment to look at you, then placed the present in your hands.
“Here, I picked it up while out traveling... and I believe it would suit you,” his eyes settled on yours as you pulled off the ribbon. Lifting the lid of the box, you spied something shiny inside and flicked your gaze back up to Newt, in awe of the gift.
Tipping the box over carefully, a ordinate silver locket, roughly a quarter of the size of your palm tumbled out onto your hand. You inhaled softly, running your fingers over the finely etched surface, speechless at the beauty of the gift.
Newt watched your reaction, a warmth swelling in his chest at how pleased you were with the gift, reaching over to open the locket with unsteady hands.
“And... inside...” his speech faltered as there was no point telling you what you were looking at; a the tiny picture of yourself and Newt nestled inside, waving up at you from their silver encasing. You looked up at him, asking for an explanation.
“I had a little help from Queenie,” he told you, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“I wanted the gift to be something special for both of us, so I asked her to... take some pictures of us, and then picked one for the locket,” Newt finished as you looked back down at the locket, noting that these pictures took place on one of your outings with the Goldstein sisters.
So that's where Queenie disappeared to...
“Just don't let Niffler see it or you'll be fighting him to keep it away,” he added, babbling now as you hadn't said anything about the gift just yet, and he was afraid that it was too much. A giggle escaping from your lips, you reached over and grasped at his wrist, silencing him.
“Newt... I love it,” you beamed at him, feeling light as a feather as you watched the smile stretch across his face at your words, the moment ruined by Jacob interjecting from the doorway.
“Aww... look at that... standing underneath the mistletoe...” A chorus of snickers sounding as he was dragged back around the corner. You glanced up, your face blooming scarlet at the sight of mistletoe above your heads.
That certainly wasn't there before...
“Ermm...I didn't put that there...” you mumbled out, fiddling with the chain of your new locket as you draped it around your neck.
“I know you didn't,” Newt squeezed your hand, a nervous smile slipping across his face when your head shot up to look at him in confusion.
“Well... that wasn't your only present,” he said, eyes flicking up to the mistletoe above, his words barely registering until he was already bending down towards you, hand gliding beneath your chin to bring your lips to his.
Time felt like it had stopped as you kissed, and you couldn't do much but lean back into it, finding yourself disappointed when he moved back. You both locked eyes, pleased to find that Newt's face was just as flushed at yours, blushing all the way up to his ears.
After a short, awkward silence, you let out a breath.
“Well we should probably get back...” You said, laughing a bit and looking away in embarrassment, still hearing the whispering coming from the other room.
“Yes, of course,” Newt said, sounding almost disappointed, something you didn't miss. He turned to leave, halting when you took his hand.
“Um... Newt...”
“Yes?”
“I loved my gifts, both of them. But... I want to return one,” You leaned up and planted a quick kiss on his lips, then trotted off, a grin on your face, Newt trailing behind you momentarily stunned. His eyes wandered back to the mistletoe hanging in the kitchen, a smirk creeping onto his face as he withdrew his wand, silently summoning the bundle and stowing it away in his vest.
Perhaps he would have use of this again.