Tina woke to an empty bed, a cold emptiness beside her; she hazily turned over to see only the brick wall, and as her sight adjusted and she looked around the office, she realized Newt was nowhere to be found at all. She rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up, and then gazed across the room to the window, through which the sun now streaked in with a piercing brightness. She stood up and walked over to it, curiously watching the students outside who were spread out throughout the grounds; some in groups, chatting and laughing enthusiastically with their friends, some with their books in hand and an anxious expression on their face as they hurriedly made their way to class, and others simply seeming to enjoy the beautiful day, which was especially warm for it being the beginning of autumn, and sitting in the grass as they admired everything around them. What Tina would give to simply be a student again—her only worries being passing the OWLs and NEWTs, who was going to take her to the Yule Ball, and if Thunderbird was going to win the House Cup that year.

She tugged at her blouse and jacket, attempting to straighten out the clothes she slept in before exiting the office, and was greeted by the bustling hallway; she quickly moved to the side as to not be crushed by the crowds, instantly reminded of how chaotic a school of children could be. After a few moments, she was able to find a break between students, and nervously joined the flow of them down the hallway; she eventually spotted a courtyard, which featured a large, ornate fountain at its center, and stepped away from the crowd to the pavement below. She took a deep breath of relief to have escaped; and she thought downtown New York was stressful.

As she sat down on the edge of the fountain, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and took out another candy she had bought the previous day in Hogsmeade; Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans the package read, and through the plastic could be seen jellybeans of various shades of every color, some with multiple. She opened the box and ate one, and immediately grimaced as a horrid taste filled her mouth. She set the box down and spit the bean out onto the pavement; a student beside her began to laugh, and she turned to see a girl in robes of blue and bronze, her bushy light brown hair cropped at her shoulders.

"Was it vomit or earwax?" The girl was attempting to stifle her laughter.

"I-I believe it was… soap," Tina answered, rubbing her tongue on the roof of her mouth to try and dissolve the taste.

"Wait, did you just say vomit? And earwax?"

"I take it you've never tried those before." She laughed again. "They come in every flavor imaginable. And I mean every."

Tina had officially lost her appetite.

"So are you the new Potions professor?"

"Oh, no. I'm just visiting with a friend." Tina shook her head, and suddenly remembered she hadn't a clue where that friend had disappeared to. The student seemed disappointed, as she twisted her mouth to the side and looked down at the brick beneath them.

"That's a shame. I was hoping Professor Lestrange was finally leaving."

Lestrange. Tina's mind went back to the conversation in Newt's suitcase, what Queenie told her she saw in his thoughts, and she felt a flip in the pit of her stomach. Maybe Lestrange was just a common British surname.

"You don't like him?" Tina asked, hopeful it was a coincidence.

"Her. And no, I don't. Nobody does really, besides Slytherins."

Tina now looked down as well, attempting to silence the voice in her mind that was once again loud and clear. Well isn't that wonderful. How much are you going to put up with? She closed her eyes. Don't be ridiculous, she countered. You just learned that his mother is in a mental ward; you can't handle an ex-girlfriend?

"There you are!"

Newt's voice broke her thoughts, and as she opened her eyes there he stood by one of the entrances to the courtyard; she blinked, and stood up with curiosity at the excitement in his expression as her worries about Leta Lestrange faded away.

"Good morning, Newt." She greeted as a feeling of relief washed over her, and she walked over to him.

"I-I have a surprise… for you." He said shyly, yet playfully, and reached his hand out towards her. Tina looked from his small, boyish simper to his open hand, and slowly slid her hand into its hold; she raised a brow, looking into his eyes with suspicion.

"What kind of surprise?"

He chose not to answer but instead simply turned away to step back up into the hallway, and with her hand in his he led her to Dumbledore's office.


Dumbledore opened the door almost immediately after Newt knocked, and he hurriedly ushered the two of them inside the office. With equal haste he closed it behind them, and began gathering papers from his desk into a pile, before picking it up and clumsily clutching it to his chest.

"I trust you will be responsible with this, Newt?"

"Y-Yes, of course." He stepped out of Dumbledore's way as the professor headed towards the door. He then turned to Tina and briefly nodded.

"Good morning, Miss Goldstein. Please excuse my rudeness; I am a bit behind schedule today, and my first years tend to think if I don't arrive within the first five minutes that class is cancelled."

"Good morning, Albus." Tina flashed a polite smile, and with that Dumbledore was gone.

She turned to Newt, who stood against the desk with his hands planted on each side of him. Tina looked around the office; nothing stood out to her nor appeared particularly "surprise"-worthy, despite the eager expression which was still spread across Newt's face. Her brow furrowed, examining the room once again.

"So, uhm, what is…?" Tina was trying her hardest not to offend him, but she hadn't the slightest idea what was so exciting.

Newt turned and walked over to a chair, and picked up a rather large, weathered, and dingy brown hat; he held it with both hands in front of her, and as she looked it over she still felt incredibly confused. The hat was clearly ancient, held together by patches and other stitches throughout, all of its edges frayed, and stained in different shades from wear.

"You were curious which house you'd be in," He started, and he now looked down at the hat in his hands. "So I thought, why not just have you sorted."

A gentle laugh escaped her lips; leave it to Newt to remember an inconsequential conversation like that. She sat down in one of the chairs which stood by the door.

"But this has… what to do with that?" She didn't remember an unfortunate looking hat being a part of her Hogwarts-related readings.

He answered her question by leaning forward and placing the hat on top of her head; she jumped once she felt it begin to move, and gazed up anxiously when it began to speak.

"Is it that time again already?" It squinted tiredly, and dramatically yawned.

"No, not yet," Newt answered. "But would you do me a favor, if it won't be too much trouble, and sort one more student?"

"Who is asking?"

"Newt Scamander."

"Ahh, Scamander, I remember you… you were a bit of a difficult one… so much potential, quite a lot of courage, cunning as well… but a Hufflepuff at heart."

Newt curiously watched as the hat began to dig inside the mind and heart of Tina; it seemed conflicted as it read her, waiting several moments to speak.

"Hmm, another complicated one. A brilliant mind, and very ambitious… but above all, I must say…"

It paused as it thought about its final decision, and Newt raised his eyebrows at Tina.

"Gryffindor!" The sorting hat proudly declared.

"See? I knew it." Newt took the hat from her head, and she stood up as he placed it back on the chair.

"Thank you." He said as he looked down at it, and the hat tiredly nodded.

"May I go back to sleep now?" It grumbled.

"Yes."

She laughed as she looked down at the old thing, then looked back to Newt.

"So, what does Gryffindor mean?"

"W-Well, they can be a bit obnoxious… They tend to be rather reckless, as well."

"Newt!"

He chuckled, and then met Tina's gaze with a cheerful smile.

"But… They are also very brave. They always stand up for what they believe in, and in my experience, are the most loyal of any person that one will ever meet."

Her features softened, and she felt a subtle heat in her cheeks as he reached over to hold her hand. He then leaned forward and pressed his lips delicately to her forehead; she closed her eyes as he lingered for a moment, before slowly pulling away.

"Well, I promised Dumbledore I would assist their new Care of Magical Creatures professor on his Occamy lecture today. Apparently he's never seen one. Odd decision of them to hire him, in my opinion."

"Why don't you tea—" She stopped herself midsentence, remembering who else happened to be a professor there. Let's not.

Newt looked at her curiously, almost inquiring of what she was about to say, but quickly moved on.

"So, I'm going to have to leave you on your own for a couple of hours—"

"Newt, I'm not a toddler. I'll be fine."

He smirked, and put his hands in his pockets.

"Okay." He breathed, his features once again bright with excitement; he was about to talk about one of his favorite beasts, for two whole hours… and they had no choice but to listen. What could possibly be better?

"Have fun." She said playfully, and he nodded to her with a mixture of excitement and nervousness in his eyes, then walked out the door.


Tina spent a good portion of the day in the library, taking the free time she hadn't had in years to simply relax and read a story; she couldn't remember the last time she simply escaped, unaware of the time that passed as she flipped the pages, engulfed entirely by characters and their adventures. It had probably been before their parents passed, before she was suddenly thrust into the role of the provider and had to focus only on her and her sister's survival; she never had much free time at all then, let alone for pure leisure. But that afternoon and into the early evening, she curled up at one of the desks and allowed the novel to take her away; as the sun's rays that shined through the windows slowly transformed into a soft glow on the horizon, she focused solely on herself.

She woke to the feeling of her shoulder being shaken, and she abruptly looked up to see Newt standing above her; the library was now lit only by candles throughout the room, and pale moonlight had replaced the orange glow of the sun.

"Oh wow, I must have fallen asleep—"

Newt picked up the book from her lap and set it on one of the nearby tables.

"I apologize for taking so long. The professor needed a lot more help than Dumbledore let on."

She slowly began to stand, and he helped her up as she attempted to regain her equilibrium.

"W-Would you like to take a walk?" He asked clumsily, and she rubbed her eyes before looking up at him.

"It's still quite lovely outside. I could show you more of the grounds, too."

"Sure." She smiled coyly, and they both made their way out of the library.


They walked the grounds of the school, her hand in his as they roamed in whatever direction the gentle breeze took them; they felt no need to speak, but simply enjoyed the tranquil quiet of the night and the company of each other. The Hogwarts sky was even more brilliant than its Great Hall cousin, the ink-black elegant and rich, the stars specks of light artistically painted across the vastness as if by the skilled hand of a love-struck artist. The chirps and hums of various creatures could be heard across the grassland and in the distance from the forest; she felt enchanted by the song of nature, one which she rarely had the chance to hear in the industrialized metropolis of New York.

As they rounded a corner of the castle, numerous voices began to enter the air; the sound of laughter, of yelling, and other nonsensical inebriated chatter. Tina looked over to Newt with a puzzled look, and Newt returned it with equal confusion. As they continued in the direction of the voices, they reached the enormous lake which spread out at the rear of the castle; what also appeared before them was a large, chaotic group of students, swimming in the lake and running around in their undergarments, who clearly snuck out of their dorms for a late-night excursion. Piles of clothes were strewn about the lawn, and among them sat other students around small fires, chatting and sharing what seemed to be smuggled flasks of firewhisky.

"D-Don't they know what kind of creatures live in there?" Newt asked aloud as he watched them play in and around the lake, his mind racing with all of the species he had found many years ago.

"Something tells me that they aren't too concerned." She replied lightheartedly, and she began walking towards the lake, some distance away from the students. Her eyes examined the scenery out across the waters, watching the moonlight dance on its small waves; she didn't find it particularly threatening either.

Newt walked up beside her, feeling nervous by being so much as within the near vicinity of the students; what would they think if he was found here? He had already been expelled as a student—he didn't need to be completely banned from the property altogether. He looked down to see Tina fumbling with her shirt, untucking it from her pants before she began unbuttoning it.

"Tina—w-what, what are you—"

She looked over to him, an unfamiliar mischievous smile across her lips; his face instantly turned an unnatural shade of scarlet as the edges of her brazier began to show, and her blouse began to slip from her shoulders.

"We're on an adventure, right? Isn't that the point of all of this?"

"T-This…" He found it extremely difficult to form anything coherent as it fell completely from her body, and she promptly worked on unbuttoning her pants. "This isn't quite what I had in mind—"

"Well, I'm going in." She said matter-of-factly, and nonchalantly pulled her bottoms down and stepped out of them, then tossed both those and her shirt off to the side. He watched speechlessly as the silhouette of her slender frame stepped into the water, and then abruptly lunged in, going completely under.

Her head eventually surfaced, and she spat out some of the water as she slicked her wet hair back away from her face. She still had the same impish smirk as she turned to look at Newt, who still stood at the edge, completely frozen by the mixture of awe, nervousness, and fear pounding in his chest.

"Come in, Newt. It's fine."

"T-There's a rather large squid in there, you know. It's massive, actually. I've never even seen the entire beast myself, but I can only imagine—"

"Newt."

She was now halfway above the water, and her hands on her hips as she stared at him; he cleared his throat as he did everything he could to maintain direct eye contact, and not allow them to roam elsewhere. She may have still had her undergarments on, but there was plenty of Tina to be seen that he hadn't before.

"Suit yourself." She turned around and lunged back into the water, once again disappearing beneath the surface.

He bit his lip, and before he could overthink it any longer he was throwing his jacket to the ground and unbuttoning his vest; Tina popped up from the water just as he was pulling his shirt up over his head, and she now was the one blushing, as she shyly took in the sight of his bare chest and abdomen. She eventually looked up, only to meet Newt's even further embarrassed expression.

"Oh! I'm sorry." She quickly turned around, her cheeks now nearly as red as his; she quietly looked up at the moon as she waited, and within a few minutes she heard a splash behind her. Soon after came a sigh, and then there he was beside her, with not the most enthused look upon his face, but not one of regret either.

"Happy?" He asked, his body shivering subtly from the change in temperature; she turned towards him and clutched his arms, her eyes wide with concern.

"Newt! That's why you're supposed to just jump in!"

As he felt her delicate fingertips on his skin, his attention instinctively began to travel; beginning with her sleek dark hair that clung to the edges of her face, accentuating her elegant cheekbones, then her doe-like hickory eyes, the warm brown tones deepened in the night, to the tempting pout of her small lips, which he had been craving since that night in Pitlochry. The alluring scent of her perfume mixed with earth emanated from her, intoxicating him as it filled his senses. He bit his lip, conflicted by the anxiety and temptation knotting in his stomach.

She took in a deep breath, feeling his heavy gaze upon her and a gentle flutter in her stomach at the sudden intimacy between them; her eyes drifted up from his chest, to his collarbone and strong shoulders, along his jawline to finally his bright, fascinated eyes, an intensity within them she hadn't expected. Tina froze, the grasp on his arms weakening as she watched the way his eyes burned as they explored her; her initial instinct was to cover up, feeling an insecurity nag in the back of her mind, but this felt… sensual. And it had been a long time she had that feeling.

They eagerly collided, desperate hands finding any spot of skin they could as their mouths clumsily, passionately explored each other's. Tina placed her hands on his chest as he reached up and intertwined his fingers in her damp hair, cradling her head as he wrapped the other arm around her waist. They weren't sure how many minutes passed, nor how many students saw; but they felt no need to rush the moment as they for the first time simply enjoyed each other, not only physically but on a level they hadn't reached before, now without the pressure of impending train rides home or the tragedy of a revealed past.

Tina was the first to break away, and she breathlessly rested her forehead against his bare chest; he then wrapped both arms around her, and held her as attempted to calm himself. He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, no longer bothered by the chill in the air or the risk of being caught. They were the very last things on his mind.

"I wasn't lying about the squid."

However, creatures always were.

"There's a lot of merpeople living in here, too. They can be rather territorial."

Tina raised her head and looked at him, her brow furrowed as he looked out across the waters.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm being completely serious. I—"

A splash of water crashed into his stomach and chest, and as his eyes snapped to her a grin spread across his face; she braced herself as he wound back a bit and splashed her in return, and they both began shoving the water at each other, moving around as they attempted to dodge it and laughing loudly into the air, as any remaining tension completely washed away. Tina then ran forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, crashing her lips into his, and he held her up and against his body as they kissed.

They played well into the night, and Newt especially felt more uninhibited than he had possibly ever in his life; the past couple of days had opened him up more than the past thirty years had managed to. They laughed, they kissed, they felt, and might have even taken up the students on one or… five of their offers of firewhisky; they sat among the small fires with them, Newt sharing stories of his days at Hogwarts and Tina telling them all about Ilvermorny. It wasn't until the sun began to rise on the horizon that they left, running among the rebel students towards the castle, with their clothes in hand and a newfound freedom coursing through their veins.


A/N: Hello! So this one was a bit more... racy. Lol. Of course nothing will be even remotely explicit in this story since it is rated T, so don't worry if you aren't comfortable with that kind of thing! (But if you are… I do have a rated M Newtina story, One More Night, that you could read if that tickles your fancy. :P)

Anyway, I felt like they needed to finally make some deeper connection, especially after what happened in the last chapter—I love writing the dynamic of them each forcing each other to grow. (I must admit, I have been picking on poor Newt so far, but that is going to change.)

As always, thank you to all of the amazing readers, followers, reviewers—you all are so wonderful! I can't express how thankful I am for all of the feedback and support. Please lend me your thoughts on this chapter, and thank you for reading! :)