Leta was enjoying herself more than she thought that she would. All her life, she had been looked at as "the bastard Lestrange girl" – the two adjectives just as bad as the other – and, even now, people would regard her with suspicion, even fear, even if they were far too polite or smart to actually say anything to her face.
But this evening, she hadn't seen a lot of those glances. The majority of the people who came just seemed happy to be there; the summer festival was looked forward to as much as Christmas for many people. Theseus had reassured her of this before the guests arrived, and he'd been right.
Theseus by her side made her feel much better, safer, more comfortable in her own skin. It wasn't the fact that he was an auror; it was that he truly loved her. And she loved him right back.
The couple walked among the stalls of sweets and refreshments. Because he knew her only too well, Theseus led her to a stall set up by the owners of Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. "Vanilla and caramel for you, mint chocolate for me?"
"Sounds perfect," said Leta.
As Theseus made the order, Leta casually turned her head to the left. What she managed to see just down the path made her eyes nearly pop out.
At a stall selling color-changing candy floss, Leta saw Newt. It wasn't so much the fact that he was actually showing his face at the festival as opposed to hiding in the hippogriff stalls – Newt wasn't alone. Standing beside him was a woman that it took Leta a moment to place. Then she remembered: the new auror from America that had joined Theseus's team a few months ago, what was her name…Tina?
From the corner of her eye, Leta watched Newt purchase two generous sticks of candy floss, hand one to Tina, and then offer her his arm before walking away from the stand. Thankfully, they had turned in the opposite direction from her and Theseus.
Once Theseus had completed her purchase, Leta purposefully led him in the opposite direction down the path. "Now, let's find a good spot to watch the fireworks."
Theseus, oblivious to any ulterior motive, nodded and handed Leta her ice cream.
As they walked, Leta resolved to keep what she saw to herself tonight. If she told Theseus, then he would want to find Newt and Tina for himself. If that happened, Leta knew that Newt would clam up, as he always seemed to do with the both of them now. And she didn't want to watch him do that tonight, especially if he had managed to find human company that he actually enjoyed.
In her subconscious mind and her innermost heart, seeing Newt like that with someone else, Leta couldn't help but mourn a little. Once, she had been the only person who could bring him out of his shell like that. Now, ever since they had come back into each other's lives, she could see Newt putting new walls between them where there had once been none.
And Leta knew that she had nobody to blame but herself.
"Attention, everybody! The Fireworks Show provided by the Drs. Filibuster will begin in fifteen minutes! Be sure to find a good spot before they start!"
Both Newt and Tina had stopped in their steps at the announcement – obviously made by a sound enhancement charm on the throat – and both recognized the voice of Theseus Scamander making the announcement.
Newt immediately turned to Tina and said, "I know the perfect spot. If you hold on to my arm, I'll apparate us there." He paused momentarily. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"
Tina raised an eyebrow. "Not really…we're not apparating up into a tree, are we?"
Newt huffed a laugh. "No, not a tree. But there is a bit of climbing involved. Is that alright?"
Now both of her eyebrows went up, but then she set her expression in determination. "Sure. I can handle that."
The corners of Newt's mouth turned upwards and he nodded. "Hold on."
Tina tightened her grip on Newt's arm, and in the next moment, they had disapparated.
When Tina opened her eyes again, she saw that the two of them were in a bedroom of what had to be the grand house of the estate. By the looks of the bedspread and the pictures tacked on the wall, this was a child's room. Not where she expected to land at all.
Newt walked to the bed and placed his suitcase at the foot of it and turned to Tina. "It might be best if you leave your parcel here. I promise it will be quite safe here."
Tina nodded and placed her parcel beside his suitcase. "Is this…um…your bedroom?" Morrigan, why do I have to blush like a tomato?
Thankfully, Newt did too as he answered. "Uh, it was, when I was a child. I grew up here, and I live in London now."
Tina nodded. Knowing his last name and the name of this estate, it made perfect sense…did this make him Theseus's brother, then? Her boss had never mentioned a brother, but she only knew her boss at work where all they talked about was work.
Newt then broke off her wonderings by surprising her further: he walked to the window, opened it – and then climbing out. Agile as a monkey, Newt turned once out the window and seemed to grab onto the right side of the house. Looking back into the room at Tina, he said, "There's a strong trellis of ivy to grab onto, and the roof is right above us. Just follow me."
Knowing that she had already said she could handle some climbing (and pretty grateful that it wasn't, in fact, a tree) Tina walked to the window and carefully eased herself out and over. The trellis of ivy was actually very strong, like a secure ladder, and only after two steps up did she find herself being pulled onto the roof by Newt.
Sitting on the edge of the slanted roof, clutching onto his arm that he held out to her, she watched Newt cast a silent charm towards the large chimney stack coming out at the peak of the roof. From the tip of his wand came a rope that stretched out and wrapped itself securely around the chimney stack.
With a little flick, the rope came loose from the wand's tip, and Tina instinctively grabbed it. Newt again gave her a little, appreciative smile as he put away his wand. After taking hold of the rope himself, the two of them used it to walk up the slanted roof towards the large chimney stack. Once they reached its base at the top of the roof, Tina saw that the base of the large chimney was about three feet of flat stone all around that could easily be walked on or sat on. Newt guided her to sit on the side of the chimney that faced the part of the grounds where the festival was spread out.
"Oh, Morrigan…" Tina breathed, taking in the beautiful sight below. All of the families gathered together, seating on blankets on the grass, on benches or picnic tables, ready for the fireworks, in the light of the colored lanterns, with the moon and stars above…she was overwhelmed. "I never thought that I would see something like this…"
Newt was looking at her, again transfixed, but what she said made him curious. "See what? You don't have something like this in America?"
"Not in New York City," said Tina. "I know that they have regional festivals in other parts of America, in the more rural states, but not in my city. It would be too risky…"
She paused, biting her lip and then turning her head to look at him. She noticed that Pickett was poking his head and arms out comfortably now that the two of them were away from the crowd.
"What do you know about the wizarding community in America?" she asked.
"Um, one or two things, and correct me if I'm wrong," said Newt. "From what you've told me, the rules of secrecy and concealment must be stricter than they are here, which is saying something."
Tina nodded. "Especially in cities. With such large concentrations of people, New York City being the biggest one, we can't afford any slip to be made. To make matters more complicated, there are no-maj – muggle, excuse me – factions and groups who not only believe in magic, but would like nothing more than to get rid of all people with magical abilities."
Tina's expression had darkened as she spoke, and Newt could only nod in sympathy.
Eventually, she calmed her expression and asked him, "Anything else?"
"Um…well, I believe that America has some rather backwards laws about relations between magical and non-magical people. Is it true that American magical law forbids marriage between them, or even any kind of relationship between them?"
Again, Tina's expression hardened. She looked at her hands in her lap, fingering the fringe of her new shawl, and she nodded.
Terrified that he had unintentionally insulted her by calling an American law backwards, he began to speak: "I'm sor –"
"Don't," she interrupted, not looking up. "Don't apologize, please. You're right: those laws are backwards. I'm just ashamed that I didn't realize that until last year." She took a breath and then met Newt's gaze again. "My younger sister, Queenie, fell in love with a man named Jacob. He's a baker – and a muggle."
"Ah," Newt breathed in comprehension.
"I was furious at first," said Tina, looking back down at her hands. "Not so much because I thought the law was right, but because it could mean my sister could have her wand snapped in half, or worse – arrested. We had a terrible fight about it, and it ended with her leaving our apartment."
"You lived together?" asked Newt, in a soft tone so as not to stop her story.
"All our lives. Our parents died when we were kids, and it's been the two of us, looking out for each other, ever since."
His heart ached for her. "I'm so sorry…no wonder you were so frightened for her."
Tina looked back up at Newt, relieved that he seemed to understand rather than judge her. "Yes, I was frightened, much more frightened than really angry. I didn't sleep at all that night, going over and over in my mind what could be done, what should be done, what was right and what was wrong…I had made my choice by the time the sun rose. The next morning, I tracked down my sister; she had stayed with Jacob. We talked for a long time, formed a plan, and the plan worked: we got to England, have settled in London, and they are very happily married."
Now that she had finished the story (she'd kept it short in fear of rambling on or getting too emotional), she tried to decipher the expression on Newt's face. It was hard in the low light, and all she felt confident in believing was that he had listened and had no bad judgement of her.
That was all that she had time to deduce, though, because at that moment, the sound of Theseus's voice magically resonated and announced the start of the fireworks show.
It was a fact that magical people simply couldn't resist showing off when a large group of them came together. This was natural enough, since the vast majority spent their day-to-day lives in some form of hiding. Tina was truly coming to understand this concept tonight, and the fireworks show was just the cherry on top of that.
Tina had only glimpsed non-magical fireworks on the fourth of July a few times. The magical fireworks that she was witnessing now…Tina didn't want to even blink for fear of missing one moment!
Newt was just as enraptured by the fireworks. He hadn't seen a magical fireworks display since the last time his family had hosted the summer festival. Then, it had been Theseus who had watched with him from this secret spot on the roof. And now, it was Tina…Tina…
When it was over, Newt and Tina had clapped as enthusiastically as the crowd below them. Tina was the first to speak. "That was absolutely amazing! Thank you for bringing me up here to see it."
Newt nodded. "It was my pleasure, truly."
He then held out his arm for her to take, and once she did, they disapparated.
When they had apparated, the first thing that they noticed was that they were still seated. The second thing that they noticed was that they had apparated back into Newt's childhood bedroom – and were sitting on his childhood bed.
The two red-faced magical adults stood up as quickly as if they had landed on a bed of hot coals. While Newt looked like he wanted to crawl under his bed, Tina looked as if she were trying very hard not to giggle hysterically.
"The, the festival, back to, right," Newt managed to stutter. "My case will be good on the bed, I mean safe in the room, for now."
Tina wordlessly (because she was still fighting back giggles) picked up her wrapped parcel for Queenie and took his arm before they again disapparated.
Newt apparated the two of them back to the spot by the woods where they had met, most likely because they were far less likely to land on top of anybody there. Arm-in-arm (this felt natural for the two of them now), they walked back towards the festival tents and pavilions. As they got closer, Tina saw that people were beginning to leave. While some adult couples apparated, families with children made their way to the gates of the property where they had all entered, most likely to grab a portkey.
But before Tina could comment about this, she felt herself being unceremoniously tugged sideways, and soon Newt was leading her along the backs of the various vendor tents. "Newt, what are you doing?" she asked, more than a little confused and just a bit peeved.
"So sorry, I saw someone up ahead I didn't want to subject you to unprepared."
Tina raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, considering where we are: a family member?"
Newt nodded. "My brother, Theseus."
So, brothers after all, thought Tina. She decided to tell Newt how she already knew his brother, but couldn't resist teasing him first: "And what's so terrible about him?"
Newt's reply came as he led her through two vendor tents and onto the path a safe distance from most of the people. "He's an auror – and a hugger."
"And…both of those things are…bad things?" It took a real effort to keep her tone of voice casual.
"In my experience," replied Newt. "The hugging always depends on the person and situation, which have been mercifully few for me. Aurors, in my opinion and experience, are mostly careerist hypocrites, and I can't respect people whose answer to everything that they fear or misunderstand is to kill it."
As Tina felt every cell in her body turn cold, she knew that the other shoe had dropped. This wonderful dream was over; his words were the equivalent of being shoved out of a warm bed.
And, as an auror, Tina knew that the best thing to do in a situation like this was to make a quick and inconspicuous exit.
"Um, Newt, what's the time?" she asked, feeling herself slip into 'auror mode' just to keep her inner turmoil completely internal.
Newt, thankfully, seemed blissfully oblivious to any of the turmoil in his companion. He pulled out a pocket-watch from the pocket of his mustard-colored vest. Opening it and looking, Newt said, "About a quarter to eleven o'clock."
"Ah," said Tina, stopping in her tracks and letting go of his arm. "Then I should be going."
Newt stopped and turned to her. His expression went from peacefully content to surprised and just a little devastated. "O-oh?"
Her heart twisting, Tina hugged Queenie's parcel to her chest for strength. "Yeah. You see, my sister came down with a bad cold today, and I promised Jacob that I wouldn't stay too late at the festival so that I could help him out, you know?" Never had she been so grateful that she didn't have to come up with a lie.
"Of course, of course," Newt replied, trying to school his expression to one of understanding rather than sadness. "My mother came down with one a few days ago, I understand."
She sighed with relief. Before she could say goodbye and disapparate, he spoke again.
"Are you…you're coming to the rest of the festival, right? I'll see you again?"
Her heart sank into her stomach at how hopeful he looked, the tiniest drop of pleading in his tone. This man genuinely wanted to see her again. Or, rather, he wanted to see the woman that he thought she was – the woman who was not an auror.
She averted her gaze and evaded his answer. "Um, I can't promise anything, really depends on how my sister is feeling and…other things…"
Tina felt her voice breaking and her expression wavering as her non-committal answer made the hope in Newt's face begin to drain. Morrigan, why did he have to say that? Why does he have to believe a person like me is so horrible?
With her last chunk of strength, she straightened her stance and said with sincerity, "It was really nice to meet you, Newt. And these lovely creatures, too."
Not two seconds later, she had disapparated and Newt was alone.
