.

.

"Tina!" Jacob shouts as he enters the living room. "I just heard that Newt's in trouble for unlicensed manhandling of, uh, No-Magic merchandise on 6th and Lexington. That's illegal, yeah?"

Tina pokes her head out from her newspaper.

Jacob stares back, resolute. Occasionally his eyes dart toward Queenie, who's sitting oh-so-primly on the sofa, trying to be inconspicuous.

"Queenie…" Tina says warningly.

"Very illegal. Very dangerous," repeats Jacob, with gravitas.

"Very," echoes Queenie, before succumbing to the look her elder sister shoots her. "Oh, come off it, Tini, you know it's Newt's last full day here before his ship leaves!"

Tina tastes acid. "We've had this conversation, Queenie."

"Dangerous," echoes Jacob.

Her sister practically leaps off the sofa, running toward her cabinet dossier and pulling out leaf after leaf of rumpled parchment. Then, Queenie bundles them up in her arms, like Tina's seen her do with kittens or hamsters or even small mice (Tina never let them have pets, growing up), and deposits them into Tina's lap, watching them flutter and settle like lead weights.

"There."

Tina gapes at the painstakingly uniform, lopsided scrawls. "You said those were from admirers."

"Sure, Newt admires me. He thinks I'm helpful. Because I'm honest about my feelings about the two of you," Queenie sniffs. "Unlike you, Tini. You're moping because you don't think you're good enough for him. Well, you are. At least Newt's brave enough to face this."

Jacob nods, crossing the threshold to put a hand on Queenie's shoulder. "You and Newt. Both of you's exactly what the other needs."

The realization of her sister's correspondence with one Newton Scamander renders her mute. Tina tries not to think sour, envious thoughts, self-disparaging ones either, but the stress in her limbs is a lead weight. Work has been piling up, and Tina's body is sore every day from hunching over her desk or running through sewer passages. Still, it's better than her heart being sore too. Short term loss, long term gain, as they say.

"Jacob and I don't regret a thing, Tini," says Queenie, softly.

"Don't read my thoughts," she growls.

"It's been worth it, every up and down." Jacob's words are sincere and dazzling. Queenie gives a small, delighted sound. Her beau catches on quick, for a non-legilimens. The happy but publicly disparaged couple are rubbing off on each other.

"Though there's not really any downs," Jacob laughs, as Queenie's eyes sparkle fondly.

"Making people happy is not easy, Queenie. I'm not—" Tina starts, only for her sister to interrupt.

"You're not me, and that's good, Tini. You'll make someone so happy in the ways I can't. And that's Newt, if you'll let yourself."

Queenie's voice is trembling but sharp, as it has always been on occasions when Tina realizes her little sister's raised her, just as much as the converse.

But Tina's stubborn.

So stubborn she despises herself, sometimes.

"Newt," tries Tina. "Is off gallivanting through the world! Having adventures! Saving creatures and people alike! There's no reason for him to keep making pit stops in New York. I-I've gotten his book now, and it's more than I could hope for," she finishes in a small voice.

It's Jacob who claps a reassuring but gentle hand on her back.

"Hey, you save people too, Ms. Auror Investigator. And as I said, Newt could use a lotta saving right about now."

She's on her last leg, a proud creature too stiff to bow.

"He won't want to see me, after… after I ran away."

Queenie's eyes flash.

"Tini, Jacob and I are going to prepare dinner for four. Go."

.

.