Newt was staring out the window of his childhood bedroom at his parents' estate. It seemed so long since he last visited them at the estate. Memories of the day he asked Theseus where to take Tina on their friendly date started to flash through Newt's mind, his brother's words echoing as clear as day.
"But if my suspicions are right and you do like this girl..."
Newt shakes his head at himself as he lowers his head so he could stare at his feet, smiling at the thought of Theseus being right. Normally he would never be amused by whatever it is his older brother says or does, but he couldn't hide his amusement that Theseus knew before he did that he liked Tina. Apparently, he was clueless, as he always was when it came to people.
Newt raised his head again to stare out his window, admiring the hippogriffs his mother had bred that were flying in the air, his own thoughts drifting off to Tina and what she was doing back at home without him. He couldn't help but wonder if she was missing him like he was missing her right now. He kept imagining her eating dinner alone and how much he wished he could have been there to dine with her. His thoughts then drifted off to the last night that he had spent with her before his unfortunate kidnapping and he couldn't help but smile at the memory of her shuffling about the house trying to prepare dinner for the both of them. He remembered how it felt that night, how domestic it was, how simple, and how nice. He smiled again, this time his smile reaching his eyes, his expression brightening up at the thought of just Tina and how she's changed so much in his life since they met at that muggle coffee shop.
"I haven't seen you smile like this in a very long time," a tender voice said from the door of Newt's room, breaking Newt away from his thoughts of the girl that he fancies.
"Mum!" Newt exclaimed in surprise as he turned to face his mother who had just walked right into his room towards him, leaving the door ajar behind her. "I didn't see you come in."
"Oh, hush," Mrs. Scamander said in dismissal, waving her hands at her younger son. "I'm glad you didn't because I wouldn't have seen that smile if you had."
Newt chuckles nervously at his mother, scratching the back of his head as he avoided her gaze. He knew she was going to ask where that smile came from, and he was trying to come up with answers in his head fast. But when he looked up, Mrs. Scamander's expression turned from amused and happy to disappointed and sad.
"I thought you were staying for at least a week," Mrs. Scamander asked, a frown starting to form on her face as she started to look at her son from head to foot, inspecting the blue coat that he had on, one that he usually wore when he was heading out.
Before Newt could respond and argue his case, Theseus had walked by his room, hands in his pockets and a casual, relaxed aura about him. The auror had noticed that the door to his brother's room was open and immediately poked his head into the bedroom to see what was going on.
"I see you're ready to leave, brother," Theseus commented as he stood by the door of Newt's room, not making an attempt to enter because of his mother's presence. She wasn't pleased with him when she found out about what happened to Newt and she hadn't fully forgiven her eldest for getting her youngest into a situation that almost killed him.
"Yes," Newt replied quietly, as he turned away from the window to finally face his mother and brother, trying hard to avoid his older brother's gaze because he was sure that he would be teasing him again. "I go back to work tomorrow, so I really need to get back home."
Newt looked up tentatively at Theseus, regretting his decision immediately when he saw the mischievous glint the older Scamander had in his eyes. Newt groaned internally knowing that this was Theseus' silent way of teasing him about Tina.
"Are you sure I can't convince you to stay?" Mrs. Scamander asked one last time, imploring her son to stay even for just one night. "You know how much your father and I love it when you come over."
"I'm sorry, mum," Newt apologizes. "I can't this time."
Newt gathers his mother in his arms for a quick hug, a hug that the older woman gladly returned. She held onto her younger son, a son who was a little taller than her before she let's go of him, placing her hand on one of his cheeks saying, "Promise me you'll stay safe? Don't ever scare us like that again, okay?"
"Don't worry, mum," Theseus replied cheekily from behind them, grinning from ear-to-ear as he gave his brother yet another mischievous grin. "I'm pretty sure someone's going to make sure he stays out of trouble after what happened last week."
Newt could feel heat rising to his cheeks as he turned beetroot at what Theseus had just implied. He stared blankly at his brother, dumbstruck that Theseus would still tease him about Tina in front of their mother. Mrs. Scamander had a confused look on her face as she looked back and forth between her sons, waiting for one of them to explain.
"What does he mean, Newton?" Mrs. Scamander finally asked a few minutes later when neither son said anything.
Newt felt panicky. He look at his confused mother and then at his smug brother before he turned back to his mother and replied, "You'll have to ask him that."
Before she could turn to Theseus and ask him what he meant, Newt planted a kiss on his mother's cheek and added hurriedly, "I need to go, mum. It's getting late. I'll see you soon, I promise."
He then walks past his mother, completely ignoring the confused look she had all over her face and walked towards the entrance of his room.
On his way to the door Newt walked past Theseus, who immediately blocked his little brother's exit by placing a hand on his elbow.
"Go get her, little brother," Theseus said in a low voice so that their mother wouldn't hear, his expression more encouraging now than teasing.
Newt chuckled nervously as he simply walked past his big brother. He turned slightly back simply to whisper a simple thank you back at Theseus for the talk they had at St. Mungo's, a talk that he didn't know would encourage him to finally do something about his feelings for Tina instead of trying to run away from them.
Newt then started to walk towards the fireplace in the estate that they had connected to the floo network, his heart beating harder than ever. The older Scamander looked at his brother as he walked away from them, pride swelling inside him. He then turned back to his mother who had a lot of questions running through her head, questions that were evident in her blue eyes.
"It's not for me to tell, mum. I'm sure he'll tell you everything when he's ready." Theseus simply said before he walks out of his brother's room towards his own room, remembering the talk that he and Newt had at St. Mungo's during his recovery after the kidnapping incident.
Theseus cannot remember the last time he had to fill out this much paperwork. Being the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement meant that he had people sending him completely filled out paperwork to read, so he didn't actually have to do any of them for himself.
He sighs as soon as he finally finished scribbling the last few details regarding his brother's past injuries and illnesses as well as family history before finally handing the papers back to the mediwitch that had given them to him when they arrived.
"Thank you, Mr. Scamander," the mediwitch said as soon as she received the paperwork from Theseus. "the head mediwitch is patching your brother up. As far as I know he hasn't earned any severe injuries, just a couple of bruises. So, I think you both will be out of here in no time."
Theseus gave the mediwitch a reverent nod and a charming smile that made her blush. Theseus ducked his head, an amused smile spreading across his lips at the effect he had on most women. He gave the mediwitch a last glance before heading to the emergency room where the head mediwitch was stitching up Newt.
As soon as he entered, Theseus was met with the usual image of his brother trying to avoid eye contact with everyone in the room so that he could avoid the inevitable conversation that would come up with the people around him. Despite his bruises and scratches Newt still had an innocence and lightness about him that was never present in Theseus. The two brothers have always been different, one the complete opposite of the other. Where Theseus was confident and outgoing, Newt was awkward and reserved.
"There," the head mediwitch announced with a final wave of her wand as she finally finished stitching up the large cut on Newt's left cheek. "you're all fixed up."
Theseus arrived beside the mediwitch just in time for her to look up at him. "You're brother's lucky he didn't sustain more serious injuries."
The mediwitch then turned back to Newt as Theseus was tucking his hands into his coat pockets saying, "You have far too many bruises for my taste, but luckily your attackers didn't manage to do any damage to anything vital. I'd like to keep you here overnight, just for observation, but other than that you're not in any immediate danger."
"Thank you," Newt says with reverence, giving the head mediwitch a brief glance before ducking his head to go back to staring at the floor.
The mediwitch smiled at Newt and then did the same to Theseus, who gave her a thankful nod, before she left the two brothers to themselves.
"So…"
"She's just a friend, nothing more," Newt says without even waiting for Theseus to ask him.
"So defensive, Newton," Theseus replies with a devious smile, a hint of teasing in his voice.
"Only because I know what you're going to say," Newt says in reply, looking his brother dead in the eye.
"Or maybe because you're actually trying to hide the fact that you like her," Theseus says matter-of-factly, raising his eyebrows at his floppy haired little brother.
Newt immediately lowered his head, losing eye contact with Theseus, which confirmed what the auror already knew about his brother and how he feels for one of his aurors.
"Why?" Theseus asks a few minutes later when his brother didn't say anything in reply, a curiosity laced in his question.
"You know why," Newt replies sadly, not looking at his brother as he did.
Theseus shakes his head as he tucks his hands inside his pockets, understanding why Newt didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for Tina. The older Scamander then looked up at his brother, watching the younger Scamander with sad eyes and said, "That was different, Newt."
"How is it different, Theseus?" Newt replied fiercely, raising his head to look at the auror, his eyes laced with a pain that hasn't been seen between the brothers since the last time they were in a room together. "I'm in love with a girl who is my friend, my only friend."
Newt looks away, unable to keep eye contact with Theseus as he admitted the truth to him. He then whispered, "and I don't want to lose her like I lost Leta."
"You won't," Theseus responded, surprising Newt at how sharp his sense of hearing was for him to have heard something as soft as a whisper.
"How would you even know that?"
"Because she likes you too."
"It's one thing to tease me about this, Theseus," Newt says a little annoyed, angry that his brother would take things too far like this. "But it's another thing to mock me."
"I'm not mocking you, Newton," Theseus replied. "I'm simply stating a fact. Tina likes you. Surely you can see it yourself."
Newt glares at his brother, anger starting to bubble inside of him because of the fact that Theseus would get his hopes up like this especially since a tiny ray of hope was starting to sprout in the deepest parts of his soul. "If you say so, Theseus."
"So," Theseus begins, an inquiry in his voice. "What are you going to do next?"
"Nothing," Newt replies in an annoyed tone. "Because we're just friends. Now do let it go."
"You're going to stay friends if you don't do something about it, Newton," Theseus said seriously, the teasing and joking absent from his voice this time around as he approached his brother, a fierce look on his face as he inched closer toward Newt so that their noses were almost touching.
"For once in your life don't you want to get the girl?"
"I'm not you, Theseus," Newt replies sadly, defeat laced in his voice. "I'm never meant to get the girl."
Theseus presses his lips together, sadness starting to fill him. The auror then moves and pulls his little brother in for a hug, surprising Newt. The younger scamander always knew his brother was a hugger but it has been a while since they shared a hug. The older Scamander pulled away first, placing a firm hand on his brother's shoulder, giving him a look of determination. "You're meant to get her this time."
Newt stared at his brother, his face full of surprise at how much Theseus believes in what he was saying. Was the auror right? Did Tina really like him the way that he liked her? Was it his chance to get the girl? He knew that he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he felt a confidence inside of him start to grow because of his brother's encouragement.
Newt breaks his gaze with his brother, his mind reeling, so many thoughts racing through his mind; thoughts of Tina, thoughts of the encounter they had before Theseus had interrupted them in the potion smugglers' warehouse, thoughts the possibility of the two of them getting together. He then looked back up at Theseus, a determination the auror had never seen before painted all over his brother's face.
Theseus smiles when he sees the expression on his brother's face a few minutes later. The look of determination morphed into a look of someone who has everything figured out. He ducks his head for a split second before looking back at the younger Scamander, pride starting to spread through his entire being.
He didn't need to say it. He knew what his brother had planned. And he sure hoped it would work. For he had never seen two people as right for one another than his brother and Tina Goldstein.
Despite being given a free weekend by Theseus, Tina decided that she would finish the paperwork she needed to finish before she went back to work the next day.
She was halfway through her report on the potion smuggling case when she heard a sudden fizzle by the fireplace. To her surprise, Newt Scamander came out walking from the green flame that had just died down, his entire person covered in soot.
"Newt!" Tina exclaims as she rushes over to Newt, starting to pat his coat to remove the soot that had gathered all over his coat, moving to remove soot from his floppy auburn hair before realizing that it was maybe too forward, finally letting her hands fall to her sides. "I didn't think you'd be home until next week."
Newt's heart started to beat rapidly. His heart rate had started firing rapidly since he stepped out of the fireplace, his nerves getting the better of him and squashing all the confidence he had in him before he left the Scamander estate. It didn't help that Tina ran hurriedly to him and started patting off the soot from his entire body. He was frozen in place, with the woman he planned on winning tonight only a few inches from him.
"Newt?" Tina asks a few minutes later after Newt had continued to stare at her, blinking furiously and unable to utter a single word to her.
"Ah, yes, uhm," Newt stammers, trying to find his composure. "I thought it was a good idea to come home since I'm going back to work tomorrow. Maybe start on what I'm going to say at the debrief."
"You're going back?" Tina asked, her expression changing to that of concern which was also reflected in the worry in her voice. "Already?"
"Yes," Newt replied simply, his eyes going back and forth from Tina's and the sofa. "I don't see why I shouldn't."
"Well maybe because you've been through so much last week," Tina supplies matter-of-factly, her concern for him growing by the minute. "They can't expect you to go back immediately after all of that."
"They don't," Newt replies, smiling at Tina, unable to help himself. "But I insisted. I don't like not doing anything when I'm perfectly fine."
Tina gives Newt a look of amusement, raising her eyebrows playfully at him. "You know, most people would have taken advantage of the free week they could have gotten out from work."
Newt chuckles, ducking his head in the process, happy that he and Tina finally settled back into the dynamic that they had before his kidnapping, like nothing even happened. "Yes, they would have."
"But not you," Tina interjects, locking eyes with Newt, something inside her telling her that Newt was going to say that next.
Newt stares at Tina in awe for a split second, amazed at how she already knew him like they've known each other for years despite only knowing each other for a month or so. He smiles at her, the brightness of his smile reaching his eyes before replying, "Nope. Not me."
Tina shakes her head at him as a smile started to spread across her lips. She did not find his decision surprising at all, maybe because she would have done the same thing if it had been her. Her work is where she thrived and it was nice to find someone who was the same.
Tina turned around, crossing her arms against her shoulders before saying, "Well at least let me get you some tea while you work."
She starts to walk away from him but Newt's hand immediately flew to catch one of her own before they were too far away.
"Tina."
Upon hearing the sound of his voice saying her name and feeling the tender grip he had on her fingers, Tina turned back slowly to face Newt, seeing how his expression changed from playful to serious.
Newt pulled her softly towards him, his heart beating so rapidly against his chest he thought it would jump right out.
Tina could feel herself being pulled towards the man in front of her. She felt the mood change. It felt like how it did back at the potion smuggler's headquarters, just before she was going to kiss him. Her heart started to beat really fast she started to feel dizzy.
"Yes?" Tina managed to ask weakly.
"I just wanted to thank you for saving me," Newt began, his hands still holding onto hers. "Theseus told me that if it wasn't for you they wouldn't have even thought me lost."
Newt looked up, raising his head from its previously ducked position to lock eyes with Tina. "Thank you."
He started to pull her towards him, their bodies getting closer, their faces inching closer to one another. Newt could feel Tina's breath hitch as he was pulling her closer to him. He could feel his own heart beating hard against his chest, his mind reeling at all the thoughts that were passing through his mind.
Newt wasn't entirely sure with himself if he was being honest. He knew what he wanted to do, what he planned to do. But he was having second thoughts. Would he be any good at it? He had never done it before after all.
His earlier conversation with Theseus at St. Mungo's started to come back to him.
"I don't want to lose her like I lost Leta…"
"You won't…"
"How would you even know that?"
"Because she likes you too…"
But does she really? Newt asks himself, doubt starting to take root inside of him. Maybe Theseus is wrong. Maybe he's just playing games with me and I lose Tina for good? I can't lose the only friend I have.
He could see every detail of Tina's face very clearly now. She was so close to him that he could feel the ghost of her lips on his. His mind was still racing with self doubt. He needs to make a decision now.
His eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips and then back again. She was so close to him and in a fraction of a second his overthinking managed to get the best of him.
I'd rather have her as my friend than not have her in my life at all.
He had decided. So, instead of planting a kiss on her lips like he had planned to do only when he decided to come home, he pulled her in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and resting his chin against the crook of her neck.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," he whispered in her ear, immediately regretting his change in decision.
Newt pulled away from the hug, allowing his hands to run down Tina's shoulders before letting them drop to his side.
Tina stood rooted in place, blinking furiously at the man in front of her. She was dumbstruck. A million thoughts were running through her head, her mind unable to process what had just happened between Newt and herself, even though it was simply hug.
If was being completely honest, her heart sank in disappointment the moment Newt wrapped his arms around her for a hug. She thought, hoped, that he was going to do something else, something more intimate than a hug, something she had wanted to do when they found him at that warehouse.
Tina was taken back to reality at the loss of Newt's touch. She immediately looked at him, her brown eyes immediately finding his beautiful green ones. She chuckled nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear and ducking her head before saying, "It was nothing. Anyone would have done it once they realized you were missing. I just happened to realize it early on."
"I'm not sure they would have, Tina," Newt replied simply, cocking his head in the way that he always did before. "Like I've told you before, I don't have friends. No one would have even known I went missing had it not been for you."
Tina frowns at Newt's statement. She remembered the first time they met when he told her that he didn't have friends, and she didn't really believe it at that time. But after weeks of being around him, of living with him, Tina had seen that he had told her the truth back then. People did tend to avoid him because of his quirks, quirks that she has now grown to love.
"You're welcome," Tina said with a reassuring voice, smiling at him as she takes on of his hands in hers, squeeizing them reassuringly. "Now let me get you that cup of tea I promised you when you arrived."
She disentangles their hands and turned away from Newt, walking towards the kitchen. She turned back when she reached the kitchen countertop to look at Newt, a mixture of playfulness and doubt etched all over her face. "Even though I have no idea how to."
Newt chuckles lightly, amused at Tina's antics. He shakes his head at her before walking towards the kitchen to teach her how to brew some tea. "Here let me teach you."
Newt stood behind Tina, the left part of his body touching her right. She looked at him with reverence, smiling at herself as she watched him rummage between the boxes that contained tea bags and ones that contained loose tea leaves that he had stocked in the cupboards of his kitchen. He took a teapot out of one of the cupboards along with a bag of loose camomile tea leaves and set them all down on the countertop. He then turned to her and gave her a simple smile before he began instructing her on how to brew tea from loose tea leaves.
Neither Newt or Tina moved a single inch since they both stepped into the kitchen, both of them comfortable in the position that they were both in. Newt continued to instruct Tina on how he brews his tea. Tina, loving how animate Newt was while he was doing so, simply nodded and smiled at him to confirm that she understood what he was saying. At one point during the whole tutorial session, Tina had leaned against Newt, a part of her nervous that he would move away from her and they would lose contact yet again. But he didn't, and for that she was thankful.
Tina looked up at Newt again, her eyes shining with admiration for the man giving her a tea brewing tutorial. She silently vowed to herself to be there for him no matter what. A man like Newt Scamander deserves friends, and she would be exactly that even though she knew she wanted something more.
As soon as Tina turned her head to look at the teapot in front of her, Newt had turned to look at her as he started to pour hot water into the teapot. He couldn't help but smile as he was admiring her face. He turned back to look at the teapot, placing the loose tea leaves that he had retrieved from his cupboards into the teapot.
"There," Newt said merrily, replacing the lid back on the teapot. "All done."
"Shouldn't we let that steep first?" Tina asks as she raised her eyebrows at Newt.
"Are you sure you don't really know how to brew tea, Miss Goldstein?" Newt replies now raising his own eyebrows at her, a challenge laced in his voice.
"I might have exaggerated on my tea brewing abilities," Tina smiled guiltily in reply. "Or lack thereof."
She pauses for a minute and looks up at Newt, who was now looking at her playfully.
"I do know how to brew them using tea bags," she continues to explain, never taking her eyes off Newt. "Not from the loose leaves you have stocked in your cupboard."
"Well, now you know."
"Now I know."
She smiles weakly at Newt for split second before widening her smile at him as soon as she saw how brightly he had smiled at her for her honesty. She then moved to grab a teacup for Newt and herself before looking back at Newt who had a look of confusion on his face.
"Two teacups?" Newt asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
Tina simply gives him a look of innocence before walking back to where she was working.
"No," Newt said in disbelief after he realized what was going on, excitement starting to build up inside him.
"Yes," Tina replied matter-of-factly. "Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try."
Newt continued to stare at her in awe, still unable to believe that he had lived to see the day where Tina Goldstein would willingly drink a cup of tea despite how she much she said she hated it.
"Besides," Tina continues, setting the two teacups on the table before resuming her position before Newt came popping out of the fireplace. "we haven't done tea week yet."
"I thought you might have forgotten about that after everything that happened."
"A deal's a deal," Tina says with conviction before she starts to pick up the teapot from the table to pour some tea into Newt's and her cups.
"Wait!" Newt exclaims as he held out his hand to stop Tina from pouring out the tea. He then rummages through another cupboard to retrieve two tea strainers. "You'll need these."
He rushed over to where Tina was sitting and placed the strainers on top of the teacups that Tina had laid out for them. He then took the teapot from her hands and poured out tea for the both of them, offering Tina her teacup as soon as he managed to remove the strainers.
"There you go," Newt says as he offers Tina her cup of tea, before taking his own at taking a tentative sip.
"Thanks," she replies with a smile before following his lead and taking a sip.
As soon as the warm liquid touched her lips Tina's face contorted into one of disgust. "Good luck convincing me that this is superior to coffee."
Newt laughs before taking another sip of his own cup of tea, reveling at its taste and the warmth that it imparted.
"You're not off to a good start, Mr. Scamander," Tina says shaking her head and eyeing her teacup with contempt.
"I'll change your mind at the end of the week," Newt replies confidently, giving Tina one final look before settling into his side of the living room and starting on his own paperwork.
"We'll see," Tina says coyly, begrudgingly taking a sip of tea before returning to the paperwork she had left scattered on the table the moment Newt had stepped out of the fireplace.
A/N: First off, I would like to apologize for the delay in the updates. I know I said I'll be finishing my fics before the year ends but real life is really busy and I only manage to write in the small bits of free time I get to myself. Secondly, I'm sorry this is shorter than the last chapter. I know I owe you guys a long chapter haha. Let me know what you think about this chapter, I always love reading your comments. Lastly, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! This is my gift for you all to thank you guys for sticking with this story despite the long breaks between updates.