Newt led Jacob along the White Cliffs of Dover. He knew they would be in Paris in a matter of minutes and he'd be able to see Tina. If I can find her. Suddenly, he was nervous. Queenie said she's dating someone. What if she doesn't want me anymore?
"Jacob, that man Tina's been seeing . . ." he started.
"Don't worry, she's gonna see you and she'll see the four of us together, it'll be just like New York all over again," Jacob assured him. "Don't worry about it."
"But he - he's an Auror, Queenie said."
"Yeah, he's an Auror," Jacob said. "So what? Don't worry about him."
Newt hesitated. "What do you think I should say to her, if I see her?"
"Oh, well, it's best not to plan these things," his friend replied. "You know, you just say whatever comes to you in the moment. You should be able to speak to her. You two were close, weren't you?"
Newt nodded. "Didn't Queenie ever tell you that we - we were engaged?"
"You and Tina?"
"Yes."
"No, I don't think she did." Jacob seemed to notice Newt's worried expression. "Hey, it'll be fine."
"But what if she doesn't want me anymore?"
"Hey. Hey, hey," Jacob said, stopping Newt. He grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "It's gonna be alright. We're in this together, pal. Okay, I'm gonna help you out. I'm gonna help you find Tina, find Queenie, and we'll all be happy again, just like old times." He turned and saw the portkey tout waiting at the edge of the cliff. "Who is this guy?"
Newt turned to look at the man. "Oh, he's the only way I can leave the country without documentation," he explained. They started moving again. "You don't suffer from motion sickness, do you?"
"I don't do well on boats, no."
"You'll be fine."
"Stir your stumps," the man said. "Leaves in one minute." He glared at Newt. "Fifty galleons."
"No, we said thirty," Newt said quickly.
"Uh huh. Thirty to go to France. Twenty not to tell anyone I see Newt Scamander leaving the country illegally."
Newt sighed and began digging in his pocket.
"Price of fame, pal," the man said.
Newt pulled out a handful of money and passed it to him. He checked it before pocketing it. "Hmm. Ten seconds." He began counting down.
Newt offered Jacob his hand.
"Jacob," he said.
Jacob hesitantly reached out his hand.
"Six," the man said. He looked pointedly at the bucket which had begun to shake. "Four, three, two, one."
Newt stared at the bucket then purposefully stomped his foot down into it. He felt the tug of a portkey transporting him miles across the world. They appeared in a large field. They could see the city of Paris in the distance.
Newt had been to Paris before so he knew where to go. He motioned for Jacob to pick up the bucket. Then he grabbed his friend's hand and Disapparated. They appeared in the city, and Newt began leading them through the streets.
Jacob moaned slightly.
"What?" Newt asked.
"This thing makes me feel- ugh."
"What, the portkey?"
"I guess." Jacob paused. "Do you know where we're going?"
"Maybe."
Newt led them further into the city until they reached the statue of the young woman that had been on the postcard.
"I don't like that portkey, Newt," Jacob complained again.
"So you keep saying." He looked up at the guard. He seemed like he was nearly finished speaking to a woman. "Follow me."
They climbed up the stairs and Newt slowly pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the man.
"Confundus," he said.
The man doubled over, hiccuping and giggling uncontrollably. Newt looked up at the statue, waiting for her to pull away her skirt, then ducked through the concrete. He noticed that Jacob hadn't followed him so he reached back and grabbed his friend. "Come on. It'll wear off in a minute."
Newt quickly moved into the middle of the street. Then he set his case down and took a few steps away from it. Jacob looked confused, as if he didn't understand why his friend was leaving his most prized possession in the middle of the street.
"Appare Vestigium," he said. He raised his wand to his lips and blew, a cloud of gold dust blowing out around him. Jacob jumped back. The dust was settling on the ground, creating glowing footprints. He pointed his wand at his case. "Accio the Niffler." The Niffler shot out of the case, gold coins dropping around it. "Get looking," he commanded. "Oi, get looking."
Crouching down, Newt dropped his wand. It stuck in the ground, a cloud of gold dust forming a shimmering image of a creature. "It's a Kappa," he exclaimed. "It's a Japanese water demon."
He turned. Another shadowy image had caught his eye. He could hear footsteps echoing through his mind. A tall figure was walking away from him, walking right through his case. She raised her wand at something, never stopping.
"Tina," he breathed. He grabbed his wand and placed it between his teeth. "Tina!" he repeated, moving after the image but it had vanished. He sighed slightly. Of course, he had known it was just an image and that she couldn't really hear him. But there was one thing he had noticed. Even though it had just been a shadowy image of her, made of swirling golden dust, he had seen that her left hand was bare. She was no longer wearing the engagement ring.
Of course she isn't.
The Niffler was moving along the ground, his nose pressed to the pavement. Newt moved towards, him taking his wand out of his mouth.
"What've you found?" he asked.
He touched the ground with a finger, tasting the dust. Then he leaned down and licked the ground.
"Eh, we're licking the dirt now," Jacob observed, confused and probably rather embarrassed for his friend.
The Niffler chittered and Newt raised his want to his ear. The end of it transformed, forming a shape like an ear, and letting Newt hear the echoes of a roar and screams.
"Revelio," he murmured, pointing the wand in front of him. The shadowy image of a large creature appeared on the street.
"Newt, what made those?" Jacob asked, walking through the image and looking down at the golden footprints.
"That is a Zouwu," Newt replied, amazed. "It's a Chinese creature. They are incredibly fast and incredibly powerful. They can travel a thousand miles in a day and, uh, this one could take you from one part of Paris to another in a single leap."
He heard the Niffler chattering behind him. He turned to see the black creature rolling on the ground on a pair of golden footprints.
"Oh, good boy!" he congratulated, hurrying over to him. He stood facing the footprints. "Jacob, she was here. Tina stood here. She has incredibly narrow feet, have you noticed?"
Jacob glanced at him curiously. "Can't say that I have."
Newt stared at the footprints. Tina was right there. If she was there now she'd be close enough to kiss.
He turned and saw another shadowy figure approaching, this one of a dark man.
"Someone came towards her," he observed.
An image of a feather fell from the man's hat. Newt looked down and quickly spotted the real feather lying on the ground. He picked it up and sniffed it before throwing it in the air.
"Avenseguim," he said, pointing his wand at the feather. It began to fly away, flying past Jacob and down the street. "Right, follow that feather," he called.
"What?"
"Jacob, follow the feather."
"Following the feather," Jacob said, doing so.
Newt looked around. "Where is he?" He spotted the Niffler trying to steal a large gold item. "Ah. Accio Niffler."
The Niffler flew the air, dropping into the case. Newt ran forward, grabbing his case as he passed. He looked for the feather. Jacob pointed at it and they ran after it.
"Drop the bucket!" Newt called.
Jacob did so and it vanished behind them.
They followed the feather through the streets of Paris for the majority of the day. Newt knew Jacob was getting tired but they couldn't stop. They couldn't risk losing the feather. Eventually, it started raining but they continued on, Jacob attempting to hold an umbrella over both of them. As they went, he kept asking if they could stop for something to eat but Newt brushed him off. He was desperate to find Tina.
As the hours wore on, Newt was getting more and more worried. He knew the feather was searching for its owner but he was starting to wonder if they would ever find him. Every now and then the feather would switch directions, going back the way they had come. Newt suspected that its owner had Apparated.
Eventually, the feather led them to a café, very near where they had started. It flew around a table and Newt quickly captured it under a glass bowl.
"What are you doing?" Jacob asked.
"He's close," Newt explained. "We'll just wait for him here."
Jacob sighed and pulled up a seat. Newt was about to sit down when something on his chair caught his eye. It was a strand of dark brown hair, about six inches in length. He picked it up and twisted it around his fingers as he carefully took a seat.
Tina sat in this chair, he realized. He had no proof that she had, or that the hair was hers, but he knew it was. As he sat in the chair, he sunk into his thoughts. He could see a couple at another table, their faces close together, whispering things to each other.
I wish Tina was here with me now, he thought, twisting the strand of her hair around his fingers. I wish I knew where she was.
Newt missed Tina. He missed everything about her. He missed her laugh, her smile, her eyes. He missed how stubborn she was and how hard it was to get her to take a break. He missed how passionate she was about her job and how excited she got when she was telling him about her cases. He missed the feeling of having her close, the sensation of her lips against his, the bitter taste of coffee in every kiss. He missed making coffee for her. He missed the tea she made for him; it was always perfect with just the right amount of milk and sugar. He missed the hours they would spend on the couch, reading silently, her head resting in his lap, the fingers of one of his hands tangled in her hair.
Suddenly, Newt realized that Jacob had been talking.
"Sorry?" he said.
Jacob looked mildly embarrassed. "I was sayin', you sure the guy is here that we're looking for?"
"Definitely," Newt said, sighing. "Yeah. The feather says so." He looked down at the feather which was desperately trying to escape the glass bowl. They fell silent again.
Eventually, the feather began tapping on the glass, trying to fly in a specific direction. Newt looked up in that direction and saw a dark-skinned man walking towards them.
"Is that the guy we're looking for?" Jacob asked.
"Yes," Newt responded softly. He lifted the bowl and let the feather fly out from under it. It soared towards the man, neatly tucking itself in the band of his hat. The man continued walking so Newt quickly got to his feet to intercept him.
"Sorry, uh- Bonjour," Newt started. He could speak French almost fluently but he was nervous and that made speech difficult for him, even when he was speaking in English. "Bonjour, Monsieur."
The man stared at him. Then he turned and began moving in the opposite direction.
"Oh, wait, no. Sorry. We were just- Sir, we actually- We were just wondering if you've come across a friend of ours," he stammered, grabbing his case and following after him.
"Tina Goldstein," Jacob supplied.
"Monsieur, Paris is a large city," the man said.
"She's an Auror," Newt said. "And, when Aurors go missing, well the Ministry tend to come looking, so . . ." The man didn't react to Newt's subtle threat so he turned to Jacob. "Look, you know, I suppose it would probably be better if we just report her absence . . ." He hoped this threat would work. He didn't even know if Tina could be considered missing. For all he knew, the Ministry knew exactly where she was.
"Is she tall?" the man said. "Dark? Rather-"
"Beautiful," Newt said quickly. "She's-"
"Intense," Jacob said at the same time. He glanced at Newt. "Yeah, what I meant to say was . . ."
"She's intense," Newt mumbled. I was an accurate description of Tina's personality.
"Yeah, no. She's very- She's very pretty." Jacob said, glancing at Newt.
"I think I saw someone like this," the man said. "Last night. Perhaps if I showed you where?"
"That would- If you wouldn't mind, that would be-" Newt glanced at Jacob who smiled and nodded. "That would be lovely, Monsieur."
The man turned and motioned for them to follow him. They did and he led them through the streets of Paris. They finally came to a sewer and the man motioned for them to go inside.
Newt entered the dark space slowly, carefully pulling out his wand. He moved through the tunnels. The only sound was the trickle of water and their footsteps. He moved into a large open space. The walls were covered in glowing writing and there was a long, makeshift desk along one side. And there, lying on the ground, with her head resting on the desk, was . . .
Tina.