Written for Amber (Cheeky Slytherin Lass) for January's Gift Giving Extravaganza. Pairing: NewtTina, Prompt: "Don't try to act innocent. It doesn't suit you."

Written for the Prompt Sweep Challenge: (scenario) write about someone finding out they're pregnant


Look of Innocence

A crash sounded above. Then a stomp of the foot. And then cursing.

Porpentina Scamander put down the tea she'd just begun to consume and sighed. "What's he up to now?" she thought aloud.

This wasn't the first occurrence in the past days where she'd heard odd noises from her husband, Newt's, workroom. Whenever she tried to ask him about it, he'd simply tell her it was business and nothing for her to worry about.

Well, she did worry about it. Especially when language he'd dare not say in front of her flowed down from his office.

"Newt," she called. "What was that?"

She heard scrambling, and a moment later her husband's smiling face appeared around the door. "Nothing, darling." He grinned.

Tina's brows knitted together. "Newt -"

"I swear, just some work." His whole body appeared now and he met her at the bottom of the staircase and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You worry too much."

"Don't try to act innocent, Newt," Tina huffed. "You're not good at it."

There was a moment's falter on Newt's face, before he once again replaced it with a grin. "Alright," he said, "it was going to be a surprise, but…" He grabbed her hand and began leading her up the stairs.

"Newt…"

"Just wait until you see it, Tina. I think you'll like this."

"If this is another one of those damn creatures, I've already told you -"

Newt pushed open the door to his workroom, beaming.

Tina stared. And blinked. And stared again. "Newt, what is this?"

Still beaming, her husband stepped further into the room and spread his arms as if that would help her to see better. "It's the nursery."

"The… nursery?" Tina frowned. "Are we, er, expecting?"

It was Newt's turn to be confused now. His smile gone, he walked back over to her. "We aren't?"

"Newt, what are you -"

"I thought…" His frown deepened as he looked her over. "I thought…"

Tina's right brow disappeared as she stared at him quizzically. "You thought we were having a baby?"

Newt shook his head furiously, his face beetroot red. "No, no, no, not at all. Not at all, because that would imply I…" he indicated her belly. "I don't think you're fat, Tina."

Despite her best efforts to act offended, it only took Tina a few moments to burst out laughing. "Oh, Newt," she sighed.

"I'm sorry." Newt collapsed into an armchair that looked as if he'd put it together without the use of magic. "I should have asked before assuming."

Tina smiled. "I'm not sure what to make of it, I admit." She scanned the room, spotting a wooden toy sitting on a handmade shelf. She went to it. "Newt, what's this?"

Her husband, whose head was buried in his hands, peeked between his fingers. "It was mine," he mumbled.

"Yours?" Tina took it over to him and sat it on the armrest of the chair.

Newt nodded. "It was my favourite as a child."

Tina smiled. "I had one exactly the same."

Newt lowered his hands, but his face remained aglow with embarrassment. "Really?"

Tina nodded. "It was destroyed in an argument Queenie and I had when I was nine. I never thought… that was why I wanted to know where you'd found it."

A smile appeared once again on Newt's face. "Well, how about that, huh?"

Also smiling, Tina took up the toy's spot on the armrest and rested it in her lap. "Newt, you've gone to so much trouble with all of this, I'm almost sorry to have disappointed you."

Newt waved her away. "I'm not disappointed, I just thought you, er… just hadn't told me yet." Colour returned to his cheeks. "Tina, I honestly wasn't making any assumptions."

Tina shook her head. "Newt, it's okay. Truthfully, it's something I've been thinking about for a while. Having a child, that is."

Newt frowned.

"Well, I don't know. Often I wonder if I am cut out for motherhood, and I've not wanted to bring it up, but seeing this… this toy, the effort you've gone to… I can't help but think it would be a wonderful idea to have a child."

Newt sat up in the chair, a look of bewilderment on his expression. "You… do?"

Tina shrugged. "I...I'm not sure, Newt. But this room makes me… want to… a little bit." It was her turn to go red, but Newt scooped her into his arms, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto his lap. "Newt!"

"I'm so happy right now, Tina!" He planted a hard kiss on her lips.

Tina laughed. "Oh, Newt!"

"We'll call a Healer to our house right now and they can, er, tell us if now is the right time, or later." He jumped to his feet, and Tina had to stable herself. "So, we can keep this room. It's okay. I've found a place in London that I can work in. I'll just Apparate there every day. But we obviously can't send the baby there, so the baby will have to be here obviously. And Queenie can mind the baby if we're both working. Hm, on second thought, it might be best if -"

"Newt." Tina held up her hand to silence her husband. "Newt, stop."

Newt froze, but his voice remained in the shape of his next word.

"I'm not even pregnant yet, so we have plenty of time to think about all of that." Tina waved her hand around the room. "Cast a charm on it, so you can continue to work here until then."

"Right, of course…"

"Let me just get my head around everything, Newt. It will take a few weeks, or a few months even."

"Yes, I know." Newt collapsed back into the armchair, the look of innocence returning to his face. "Oh, my, I'm going to be a father!"

"Yes, and I a mother," Tina murmured.

That evening, Newt wandered down from his office, which would soon be a nursery with a wide grin. He dusted his hands on his robes, again in the appearance that he'd not used magic. "Okay, while I was at it, I gave the workroom a few touch ups."

Tina placed two plates of food on the table, nodding. "Hm."

Newt sat down and waited for Tina to join him. But when she didn't, his smile disappeared. "Is everything okay?"

Again, Tina didn't move. She said nothing at all.

"Tina." Newt hurried to her, drawing her into his arms. "What's the matter?"

"Newt." Tina's voice cracked, and she pushed him away. "Newt."

"Yes, darling?" Newt asked. "What is it?"

"You w-were r-right," she stammered.

"Right?"

Tina nodded. "I am going to have a baby. I mean, we are."

Newt stepped away, his mouth hanging open. "But we haven't - what?"

Tina nodded, her expression neutral. "I never even realised."

"A baby? Now?"

Tina nodded a third time, and a smile spread across her husband's face.

"A baby!" he cried. "A baby! We're going to have a baby!" He grabbed her and spun her around in his arms. "I guess that means I can reopen the nursery!"

Without another word, he vanished back up the stairs and more crashes and bangs sounded down.

Tina sighed heavily. A child. She was going to be a mother.

A smile tugged at her own mouth.

That suited her just fine.


I debated whether to put this in the Fantastic Beasts fandom or the Harry Potter fandom, but decided with Fantastic Beasts in the end. I hope you all like it!