She was on fire. Porpentina Goldestein was almost fairly certain she was on fire. Her face had reddened, and reddened since she snuck her house guest very silently up the stairs. Perhaps it was the scandalous nature of the whole situation of sneaking a man up to her room so late at night, or perhaps it was the meal and beverages she had consumed earlier, but she felt almost like a perpetual giggle as her and Newt tried and failed miserably to go un-detected up the stairway to her door.

Water stained and darkened the floor under their steps and clothing that dripped from the cold and rain outside. Newt had slipped his footing twice in progress up the stairs and Tina wondered if it were the water or drinks that hindered his coordination. It didn't much matter though, because when a door opened loudly a few floors up and an older woman's voice spoke out, Newt had put a hand on the small of her back and she'd spun around to shush him and found herself mere inches from his face and all other thought processes had quickly escaped her. In fact, she didn't even reply at first to the woman's call, instead she found herself holding her breath and starring at his lips.

Please kiss me, her heart was pleading in her head.

"Tina," his voice was just barely audible, but it was just enough to refocus her attention. Newt pointed upward, his hand still on the small of her back as he motioned to the floors above.

Which was when she realized she should probably send the woman back to bed before anyone found out she was bringing a man home tonight.

"It's just me, Mrs. Lawson. I'm just…" She had to swallow before continuing her words because the look in Newt's eyes as he watched her was something she was not accustomed to from the quiet and timid foreigner. "…slippery," she finally settled on. The older woman then went on to say something else, but neither of the magical pair said anything, and even several minutes after the sound of a door closing and locking echoed throughout the stairwell, they just stood there, starring and searching each other's eyes.

Eventually Newt noticed the placement of his hands and retracted them with a clear of his throat and the two finally separated. Tina felt her face flush with pink, and though she couldn't see it in the darkness of the stairwell and living area as they entered her apartment together, Newt couldn't hide the burning red in his face either.

A few hours later, Tina lay in bed opposite from her sleeping sister. She may have been warm now and lying in bed watching the shadows from the fire in the corner dance over her ceiling, but she was anything from sleepy. In fact, Tina couldn't rest at all. Her mind was swarming like a hive of bees, bees all drawing images of Newt Scamander in her head. She imagined what he might be doing at that moment. Was he asleep right now? She imagined he would be after all he had said earlier that evening about not resting lately. Maybe he had found a way to go check on his creatures. It hadn't even occurred to her that he hadn't been carrying his large, magical case when she'd picked him up earlier that day. Maybe he was lying in bed too, lost in his own thoughts.

Tina let out a low grumble of frustration and turned to her side, closing her eyes and trying to force herself to sleep.

Go to sleep… she tried to tell herself.

There was a creak outside her door then, and her eyes snapped open. The creak was too loud to be a mouse, but far too soft to be an unwelcome intruder.

She quietly reached for her wand and it lit silently without more than a whisper from her. Queenie stirred slightly as Tina rose from the bed, but when her soft snoring continued, she knew she wouldn't wake her sister. As silently as she could manage, she tiptoed out of the room and silently closed the door behind her.

"Newt?" Her voice was low and tentative as she found him standing near the window. His eyes looked slightly wide and unnerved, but when he saw her they seemed to soften.

"My apologies," he whispered rather low. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm just a bit restless."

Tina frowned. "Are you alright?" she asked with sincerity.

"Of course," he answered quickly. The way he brought a hand up to his head and ran it through his hair distractedly was unconvincing though. "I really do apologize for waking you," he whispered softly.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Scamander?" she asked now very formally. He looked at her. "Or maybe a cocoa?"

She watched another mug lower itself in front of her and realized the wall behind him seemed warped and waving unnaturally. She wasn't sure when, or why she had even thought of it in the first place, but somewhere between the awkward conversation and unsatisfying cocoa, she had offered something a little more adult to be mixed in, and somewhere after the second mug had been refilled with the prohibited mixture, she had lost count.

"You know, I do think I'm inebriated right now," she laughed loudly at her proclamation and Newt couldn't help but follow along with her contagious glee.

"I must be myself, for I've certainly lost all of my manners." He said the words with enough of a slight slur that Tina burst into another fit of laughter, not even remembering her sleeping sister just a few feet and a wall away. Newt scooted his chair slightly closer and a comfortable quiet fell between them and the laughter died down. Newt was watching the untouched remnants of his mug carefully as if they were telling him a story, and Tina took the opportunity to release a much needed long breath of air. This was perhaps the most relaxed and comfortable that she had been in months.

"Why did you really come visit again, Mr. Scamander?" She wasn't quite sure why she was still referring to him with such formalities or where she had gained up the courage to ask such a heavy question again, but she was also equally uncertain her fogged mind and senses paid much care at the current state she was in.

"If I told you," he started again much more gently this time. "I fear you wouldn't see me quite the same way again." He looked up at her and their eyes locked.

Tina opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't find any words so she closed it again.

He moved a little closer, so close in fact that she could now pinpoint each freckle over his fire-lit complexion and smell the spicy scent of his breath as he spoke. It was increasingly more difficult to breathe.

"Are you alright?" His voice was now just a whisper, his lips glistening in front of her, mesmerizing and tantalizing like a swollen piece of fruit in front of a starving man.

"Tina?" He asked again, this time breathy and hot. She was certain he had moved even closer but she couldn't remember when.

She swallowed. "Yes?"

"Perhaps it is the amount of alcohol I have consumed tonight, but I would much like to kiss you right now." His lips were so close to hers now she felt her eyes flutter closed and her entire body lean forward. She could almost taste his breath.

"Please do…" She whispered so low she didn't even hear it herself.

And then there was magic. The instant his lips touched her, it felt like magic. It was like electricity, a shock lighting up her entire body from the tiny connection their skins made. Her blood swirled, her head spun, and she was so dizzy from everything that rushed through her in that instant that she felt herself go faint.

And then it was over. Newt pulled back just enough that the connection was broken but his lips just hoovered over hers so close that they almost brushed against her as he spoke.

"Tina," his voice was horse and raspy, full of something so very different than before.

She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes because she didn't want the moment to end. She made a barely inaudible sound of recognition.

"Please don't think less of me for this," his voice was so low and warm Tina wanted to get closer. "But I have been thinking of very little else than this in a very long time."