Author's Note: I'm so glad that some of you are still following my Newt & Tina! Thank you so much. Hopefully you like this next chapter, too.

Chapter 4

"You know it's a very good thing that I can carry a conversation all on my own," Queenie said as she poked her head into the guestroom that had been fixed up for Tina. "And what's the deal with your Occlumency? You've always been awful at it," she asked.

Tina shook her head. "I'm still terrible. I haven't been doing anything to keep you out. You haven't been able read any of my thoughts?"

Queenie shook her blond curls. "Nope. So, you're gonna have to just tell me what's wrong. What did Madame Picquery say to you to put you in this funk?" she asked while she sat down on the bed next to Tina. "You can tell me anything. Is she mad at you for what I did? Because I can…"

Tina was quiet. And her silence spoke volumes.

"Well, maybe Jacob and me and the baby can move to Britain with you and Newt, where things like this don't matter so much. We…"

"I have to stay here," Tina said quietly.

"Of course you don't! Don't be silly, Teenie. Why would you wanna stay here when Newt's in…"

"Madame Picquery forced a promotion on me. I had no choice. I'm in charge of the Aurors now. And I'll be leading a taskforce to track down and capture Grindelwald."

"No!" Queenie shouted, jumping up and began to pace. "No, no, no! It's much too dangerous. And, just no. I won't let you! And Newt…what about Newt?"

"I don't have a choice," Tina said. "I was told this was it. I don't know what I'm going to say to Newt. Or his family. I didn't even know how to tell you, 'course I didn't think I had to. You can't read anything?"

"Nope – you're a closed book tonight," she said sadly.

"What am I going to do? We had just started to build a life together. And now…if I resign from MACUSA, Picquery will go after you and Jacob. I can't risk that," Tina said.

"What about Newt?" Queenie asked.

"I don't know. I imagine he'll feel a lot like I do right now," Tina said. "Heartbroken."

Queenie pulled Tina into a hug and held her tightly. "We'll figure it all out, Teenie. It'll be okay because it has to be," Queenie said in the most confident voice she could muster. But it didn't help; neither believed it.

…

"I really don't need a minder," Newt said to Mateo Abascal as the man opened the door to the bookshop for him. Mateo said nothing, again. Newt had been trying to engage the man in conversation since they'd left the hotel that morning and still was saying nothing. Newt rolled his eyes. He didn't care if Mr. Abascal saw him or not; it had been less than 24 hours and we was tired of all of it.

A man and woman bustled toward them as soon as they'd entered the shop. Both wore smiles as they approached.

"Mr. and Mrs. Slocombe, am I right?" Newt said as he extended his hand.

"Mr. Scamander!" the woman said. "We're just delighted to have you hear. We were talking with Augustus – he's a longtime friend of ours from before we moved to Barcelona lifetimes ago. He had said that you were coming through the city and we just had to have you at our little shop," Mrs. Slocombe told him. "Doesn't your mother feed you? You're all skin and bones, my dear boy!" she said, putting her hands around his middle.

Newt turned a deep shade of pink while he noticed a small smirk on Mateo's face. Perhaps he did have a personality after all.

"Esther, you're embarrassing the poor boy. Leave him alone," Mr. Slocombe said in an annoyed voice. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Scamander. And this is…?" he said, referring to Mateo.

"Mateo Abascal," Mateo extended his hand, introducing himself. "I'm here to ensure the safety and security of Mr. Scamander during his travels."

"Yes," Newt replied in an annoyed tone as well. Mr. Abascal is here on Mr. Worme's orders that no one tries to steal me, if you could imagine such a thing," he tried to say in a nice enough way. "It's not bothersome in the slightest."

"Gossip from home said that you had a female traveling companion as well," Mrs. Slocombe said. "But you could meet our daughter, Hyacinth, if that is not the case…"

"Oh, well, I, uh…I still have my, uh, Tina," Newt said nervously.

"You have a Tina – is that one of your creatures? What an odd name for a creature, don't you think?" Mrs. Slocombe said to her husband.

"Tina is actually my fiancée," Newt said. She's in New York right now, she's from New York. She's an Auror at MACUSA," Newt said proudly. "She's back there at the request of the President of MACUSA so she was unable to join me for my trip here."

"An Auror," Mrs. Slocombe replied with a raised eyebrow. "But she's all the way in New York? Well, maybe you should meet my daughter anyway. She's a lovely girl, you know. Very sweet, my Hyacinth. You'd like her very much, I think," Mrs. Slocombe said.

Newt needed to find a polite way to get himself out of anything to do with Hyacinth; he'd been previously warned by Mr. Worme that even if he didn't have Tina, he should avoid any interaction.

"Mr. Scamander has a fiancée, Esther; don't push Hyacinth on him. Besides, it looks as though he has a backbone; I reckon that our Hyacinth needs someone who'll cater to her like we do," he added flatly.

"She sounds, er, lovely," Newt said. "But I do have my fiancée and I don't think she'd take too kindly to me having a date with another woman," Newt said.

"No, I expect she wouldn't," Mr. Slocombe said.

"Your shop is very nice," Newt said after an awkward silence.

"Thank you," Mrs. Slocombe replied. "We've owned it for almost 20 years now. Since we relocated down here."

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you around," Mr. Slocombe said.

Newt nodded and they began to walk away from Mateo and Mrs. Slocombe.

"I'm sorry about my wife. She is on an endless search for the perfect suitor for our Hyacinth. I think it's going to be an endless, fruitless one, though," he smiled uncertainly. "Your book is quite good, Mr. Scamander. Very useful."

"Please call me Newt; Mr. Scamander is my father," he laughed, finally feeling marginally less anxious. "I've done dozens of these things and I still get so nervous. I'm better with creatures than I am with people, I'm afraid."

"Nothing wrong with that, son. Sometimes I wish I had pursued my passion."

"Owning a bookshop isn't what you wanted to do?" Newt asked.

"No, hard to believe since I've spent most of my life taking care of the one here and the one back home," he chuckled. "I actually wanted to be a hatter. I wanted to make hats like my uncle, but it did not happen. Ah, well."

"I don't think it is ever too late to learn new things. Why don't you take it up as a hobby?" Newt asked.

Mr. Slocombe and Newt looked up from their conversation as Mrs. Slocombe's voice carried through the shop. They made eye contact and Newt instantly understood.

"Your Tina, she likes what you do? That you're a Magizoologist?"

Newt nodded. "It's actually how I met her," he replied. "In fact, we met when she arrested me in New York," he said with a smile.

"Arrested you?" he replied, visibly startled by the news.

"It was all a misunderstanding, really. But had it not happened, I would never have met her," he shrugged.

Mr. Slocombe nodded. "Ours was an arranged marriage. Deranged, is more like it," he smiled slightly.

"Are we expecting a large crowd?" Newt said as Mr. Slocombe directed them around a corner. The seating area of the shop had been enchanted, like his case, and there was enough seating for at least 200.

"We've had 148 RSVPs, so we're imagining that we'll have more than that. People really should know that RSVP means…" he trailed off as he noticed Newt's face. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Newt really wished that Tina were there with him. Aside from the simple, and obvious, fact that he missed her, she would be able to quell the anxious feeling that was now buzzing inside him. Somehow, he would have to figure it out on his own.

Newt forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. "No, it'll be fine, I think," he said in an uneasy voice. "Do you think I could trouble you for some water?" he asked as he pulled on his shirt collar that suddenly felt incredibly tight around his neck.

"Of course, follow me, please," Mr. Slocombe replied before moving towards the back of the store. He opened a door and allowed Newt into a small kitchen.

"I thought Augustus would have told you about the group that would be attending today's lecture," Mr. Slocombe said as he retrieved a glass from the cupboard and proceeded to fill it with water.

"Mr. Worme hasn't been as forthcoming with information as of late," Newt said as he accepted the glass. "I can't say that I blame him, though. I didn't hold up my end of the bargain for a bit," Newt drank the entire glass down and blew out a deep breath. "Thank you, sir."

"Would you like some more?" he asked, regarding Newt carefully.

"I should think I should be fine now. I tend to…"

"You needn't worry, you know."

"Oh, I do my best to never worry. That only means you suffer twice," Newt said. "It's just been a while since I've done one of these. Tina had been injured and I was tending to her and the creatures and…I'm sorry. I've picked up this habit from Tina."

Mr. Slocombe waved him, and his rambling, off. "No need to apologize, Newt. So, the lecture is set to begin in an hour. And I do believe my Hyacinth will be attending so if you see a younger version of Mrs. Slocombe running around, best avoid her at all costs, my boy. Do not allow her to have your attention.

"I wouldn't want to be rude if she were to…"

"No, I'm telling you: be it on your own head, Newt. Do not engage with her," he said seriously. "Believe me, you will be better off. I love my daughter, but she's a lot to take."

By the time the lecture was set to begin, Newt was much calmer. But as he looked out into the crowd, he began to get nervous again. He was able to spot Hyacinth Slocombe immediately; she was the spitting image of her mother and she wore an enormous hat that was clearly blocking the view of some of the other audience members. Newt was doing his best to focus on the other audience members, but the loud hat continually caught his eye. He knew he was going to be in trouble when the lecture was through.

His talk lasted 45 minutes and he brought Pickett out to finish. The small creature hopped about on the podium and delighted the crowd by doing a small dance in Newt's open hand before clamoring up onto Newt's shoulder. It was quite the little show and the audience appeared to enjoy it all.

After the lecture, Newt, with Mateo at his side, sat and signed the books that the audience members purchased. Occasionally Pickett would even put a leafy hand into the ink and "sign" his own autograph, much to the delight of the ladies.

Newt looked up when he was on the final person. It was Hyacinth. Mateo had gotten up to go speak with Mr. and Mrs. Slocombe and that left Newt alone to interact with the woman.

"Mr. Scamander!" she exclaimed as she forcefully put the book on the tabletop in front of Newt. "Your book has opened my eyes!"

Pickett scrambled into Newt's coat pocket and quivered in fear as he peeked over the edge. Newt almost he could do the same.

"Well, I am glad to help people to experience the goodness of the magical creatures," Newt said.

"I'm Hyacinth Slocombe; I'm their daughter," she waved to Mr. and Mrs. Slocombe.

Newt nodded. "Ah, yes. It is very nice to meet you, Ms. Slocombe," Newt said.

"Your little green friend is just simply adorable," she replied. "And, please call me Hyacinth, Newt," she smiled.

"Pickett, please come out and meet Hyacinth," he said, hoping for a distraction. They waited, but Pickett didn't budge. "C'mon, mate," he urged him and then smiled up at Hyacinth uncertainly.

Pickett chirped and did not leave.

"Okay, come on," Newt said as he gently pulled his friend out of his pocket. Pickett protested the entire way. "Pickett, she would like to meet you. Hyacinth, this is Pickett. He is a Bowtruckle. And he has some attachment issues…clearly."

Pickett didn't care that Hyacinth wanted to meet him. Newt couldn't blame him, but if he did something, anything, Hyacinth would go away that much more quickly. Or, at least he hoped.

Newt implored Pickett with a look and finally he jumped around a few times on the table to humor him.

"He's a bit tired, I'm afraid. It'll be time to take him back to the others soon," Newt said.

Pickett turned and blew a raspberry at Newt in response.

"So, you really have all those creatures in that case of yours?" Hyacinth asked in a flirtatious way. "Could I see them?"

"They don't, um, well…um…I don't think that's such a good idea, really…" he trailed off as she looked down at Pickett, who was shaking his head. He clearly didn't want to have Hyacinth down there either.

Hyacinth made what she thought was an adorable pouty face. "Not even for a minute, Newt?" she said as she batted her eyelashes.

"I'm afraid I must again say no," he said as he forced himself to make eye contact with the woman. "The creatures that are living in my case have gotten very used to myself and to Tina and I just don't think that it would be a good idea to take you down there," he said as politely as possible.

He could only imagine how the creatures would react if he brought someone down there that wasn't Tina.

Hyacinth continued to pout and Newt was at a loss for how he was supposed to handle the situation.

"I'm very sorry. The creatures are all safe, but they are rather set in their ways…" he trailed off.

"Oh, it'll be fine!"

Newt shook his head, as did Pickett. "I'm afraid I'll have to say no, once more," he said wishing that Mr. Abascal, or anyone, was there to distract her.

"Really? Not even for little me?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Well, then I do believe that you owe me a dinner," Hyacinth said with a smile. "You can pick me back up here at seven tonight," she said. "I know just the place."

"I'm…" he began, trying to tell her about Tina and him being engaged, but he was cut off.

"It'll be just perfect!" she said before flouncing off.

Newt hung his head in shame. There was nothing he could do now. How was he going to tell Tina?

Pickett stared up at him, tapping his leafy foot.

"I know, I know," he shook his head warily. "I don't know what else to do."

…

A/N: let me know what you think so far!