Newt's travel ban had been lifted two days after they had gotten back from Paris. The first thing he had done when he had learned was to purchase two tickets for the first boat to New York. Jacob and Nagini had chosen not to go and Newt had made arrangements for them to stay at Hogwarts until they returned.
Newt led Tina along the narrow hall in the ship until they reached their room. Tina had insisted on sharing a room with him, claiming that she didn't want to be alone. He had agreed somewhat shyly but he didn't mind the thought of sharing a room with her. However, he was still hesitant to share a bed with her.
Newt and Tina had expected their room to have two separate beds, that had been what they had requested. When they unlocked the door to their cabin and pushed it open, they were met with a surprise. A single bed sat in the middle of the room. It was large enough for the both of them but they couldn't escape the fact that there was only one. The two of them stood side by side, staring at the ground with embarrassed expressions on their faces.
They had closed the door behind them so Tina pulled out her wand. With a flick of her wrist, the bed split into two, each bed settling against opposite walls. The room was decently large since Newt had insisted on paying for both tickets and had decided that, if they were going to share a room, they should at least share a nice room. Tina had tried to protest, thinking it was too expensive, but he had reminded her that he could afford it since he now had more money than he knew what to do with.
That night, they curled up in their respective beds and tried to go to sleep. Newt drifted in and out of a restless sleep. A few hours after he had crawled into bed, he was wide awake, tossing and turning, trying to go back to sleep.
"Newt?" Tina's murmur reached his ears and he rolled over. He could see her outline standing by his bed.
"Tina?" he mumbled.
The tip of her wand lit up, filling the room with a soft light.
"I can't sleep."
Newt sat up and swung his legs off his bed.
"Neither can I," he responded. He got to his feet and pulled her into a hug.
Tina sighed. "Can we sleep together?"
Newt started. "What?"
"Can we put the beds back together and sleep in the same bed?" she reiterated.
A slight blush formed on Newt's cheeks. "I suppose, uh, if you w-want to."
Tina nodded and they moved out from between the beds. She waved her wand and the beds joined together. She and Newt slowly crawled into the larger bed.
Newt lay still, his back to Tina. He didn't know what to do with himself. He had never shared a bed with anyone, not even his brother. But Tina had curled up against his back. He rolled over hesitantly, draping his arm over her waist. "Good night, Tina," he murmured.
Tina's only response was a gentle snore and Newt chuckled. She was already fast asleep.
Tina woke up the next morning with a peaceful smile on her face. For the first time in nights, her sleep hadn't been haunted by nightmares of a raging blue fire. She blinked her eyes sleepily, trying to figure out where she was. Then she blushed. She was in Newt's arms. Her head was resting against his chest and somehow she had slipped her hand between two of the buttons on his pajama shirt, her palm pressed against his skin, searching for the warmth of his chest. His own arms were around her, holding her close, and she could feel that one of his hands had slipped under her own shirt and was resting on the small of her back. Their legs were tangled together with the sheets.
She knew she should move. The position wasn't exactly inappropriate, but it was embarrassing, and Newt was more easily embarrassed than she was. But Tina couldn't bring herself to pull away from him. He was so warm and looked so peaceful.
Soon enough, every morning can be like this, she realized. Her smile widened.
Newt's eyes fluttered open and he smiled sleepily at the woman in his arms.
"Good morning, darling," he murmured. Tina blushed and tried to pull away but Newt held her closer. "Where are you going? You don't like being so close to me?"
Tina laughed slightly. "I do but I thought you'd be embarrassed. You're usually easily embarrassed. I'm surprised you're not blushing now."
"Oh believe me, when I first woke up and found us like this I was blushing."
"When was that?" Tina murmured.
Newt shrugged. "A few hours ago, maybe. I don't know."
Tina started. "You mean we've been like this for several hours?"
"Yes." He gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then she did move, shifting slightly so she could kiss him properly. He returned the kiss and then Tina snuggled closer to him.
"I could get used to this," she murmured.
"We'll have to get used to it," Newt replied. "We're getting married, aren't we?"
Tina's face broke into a smile. "Yes, we are," she breathed, kissing Newt again.
They lay there for several minutes, neither one moving. Eventually, Newt spoke.
"We should get up, Tina. I've got to feed the creatures and we need to get breakfast."
"But I don't want to move," she mumbled into his chest.
"Tina," he groaned.
Tina laughed and slowly pulled away from Newt. "Okay, we'll get up."
Newt and Tina spent most of the day down in the case. That night they agreed that they should separate the beds again, though this time they only placed them a foot apart. They both slept soundly that night and when they woke up the next morning, they found themselves holding hands, bridging the gap between the beds.
On the third day, they had eaten dinner together as usual but Newt had left the table earlier than Tina. He had offered to wait for her but she had told him it would be fine. She knew he was concerned about one of the Graphorns which had seemed to be getting sick. When she had finished her food, she had slowly made her way along the deck. There were a few people there, leaning over the rail, talking and laughing as if nothing was wrong.
Tina had tried not to think about it, about what her sister had done, but it was hard. Sometimes her mind wandered there without her permission. She could usually shake the thought away, except for when something specific had put it there. In this case, it was a young woman. She was about Queenie's age and had short, blond hair. From the back, she looked almost identical to the younger Goldstein and Tina had nearly called her sister's name. Then the woman had turned and she had seen it wasn't her.
A wave of sadness washed over, hitting her as hard as the waves hit the boat. She felt light-headed and quickly made her way over to the nearest bench. She sunk into it, burying her face in her hands. She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm herself down, but it didn't work. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them away hastily. She stayed there for several minutes, hugging her knees to her chest and staring out across the ocean. Every now and then, a tear would escape, rolling down her cheeks, leaving a wet trail that the wind quickly dried, making her face colder than it had been before.
Out of the corner of her eyes, Tina saw a young man approach her hesitantly.
"Are you alright, miss?" he asked when he had reached her.
Tina looked at him and managed a small smile. She nodded once. "Y-yes, I'm alright," she said.
"Are you sure?" the man insisted. He had a pleasant voice with a hint of a British accent. "It's just that, people don't usually cry unless something is wrong."
Tina instinctively reached up to wipe the tears off her face, inadvertently flashing her engagement ring as she did so. "Well, I suppose . . ." She trailed off, unsure of where that sentence had been going.
"Is it something to do with your fiancé?" the man asked.
A small smile crept onto her face. "No, my fiancé and I are on quite good terms." She gestured for the man to take a seat, glad for the chance to talk to someone.
"Then what is it?" The man looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I shouldn't push."
"No, it's alright," Tina sighed. "It's actually my sister. She's, well, she made a very bad decision and left both me and her fiancé in order to join a not very good group of people."
"Oh," the man murmured. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Tina replied. "I suppose it's not anyone's fault, really, except the man who manipulated her."
"Would you tell me your name?"
"Uh, Tina- Tina Goldstein," she said.
The man nodded. "And once you're married?"
"Um, Scamander," she said, a small smile dancing on her lips. "I'll be Tina Scamander." As she said that, she felt a shiver go down her spine. She had never really thought about the fact that her name would be changed but now that she had she felt even more excited than before. She had been Tina Goldstein for twenty-six years but Tina Scamander sounded just as natural. She looked at the man. "And you are?"
"Oh, right, sorry. Um, James Forbes." He extended his hand and Tina shook it. "You don't have to tell me this but, what's your fiancé's name?"
"I don't mind. His name's Newt," she said.
"Newt like the animal?"
Tina nodded.
Forbes chuckled. "I'm sorry but it's an unusual name," he apologized.
"He's an unusual man," Tina replied with a shrug. She began fidgetting with the cuff of her coat sleeve. "I suppose I should - uh - I should go find him. He might start wondering where I am since I told him I'd be along shortly."
"Right," Forbes said, getting to his feet. Tina stood up as well.
"It was nice talking to you," she said, offering him her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Forbes."
"You're welcome, Miss Goldstein," he said, shaking her hand. "I'll see you around?"
"Yes." Tina nodded and turned to leave.
She quickly made her way down to the room and pushed the door open. The room was empty but she wasn't worried. As she passed the bathroom door, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She stopped. She didn't look as bad as she had on some occasions but her face was tearstained. Quickly ducking into the bathroom, she turned on the tap and splashed water onto her face, drying it with a towel. Then she left the room and made her way over to Newt's case which sat open on the floor.
Tina quickly descended the ladder into the shed. Pushing the door open, she made her way out into the rest of the case. She glanced around. It was difficult to know where Newt might be so she began wandering around. She rounded a corner and nearly walked into him. He had his back to her and was busy filling a bucket of feed.
Tina started. Newt's top was bare, his shirt hanging on a hook a few feet away. But what had startled Tina was the fact that his back was covered in scars, crisscrossing his skin like the roads on a map. She let out a gasp and Newt spun around.
"Tina!" he exclaimed, reaching for his shirt. But Tina stopped him.
"Newt, your back!" she breathed. "And your chest!" she added, seeing that his chest had just as many, if not more scars than his back did. She took a step forward, hesitantly reaching a hand up and gently tracing a finger over some of his larger scars. "How?"
"Uh, my creatures," Newt said, blushing as Tina's fingers glided over his skin. "I know it's hideous. I won't blame you if you never want to see me shirtless again."
"It's not hideous," Tina protested. "I- I think scars are important, you see-" She broke off and lowered her hand, blushing slightly. "Let me show you something."
Turning her back to Newt, she motioned for him to lift her shirt.
"Tina, are you sure?"
"It's only my lower back, Newt. Just look."
Newt's fingers gently clutched the white fabric, pulling it upwards to expose her lower back. Now it was Newt's turn to gasp. Her back, like his, had a number of scars marring the surface of her otherwise smooth skin.
Tina felt the fabric flutter down to cover her back. She turned slowly.
"Those are just a few of my scars," she admitted. "My upper back, my chest, and my arms have a lot more."
Newt stared at her in shock. "When did you get all those?"
"Uh, mostly when I was between 18 and 20 or maybe 22, back when I was still new to working as an Auror. Of course, I got a few of them after that. I got the most recent just a few months ago," Tina explained.
"But I've seen your back and arms uncovered before," Newt said, pulling on his shirt and swiftly doing up the buttons. "You know, when we first met and you took us to the Blind Pig. Your dress didn't - didn't exactly cover much of you back or your arms but I didn't see any scars at all."
Tina laughed softly. "I used magic to temporarily hide them. The only people who have seen them are my sister, the healers who treated them, and now you."
"Oh," Newt murmured. He pulled her into a tight hug. "You were crying."
Tina hesitated, then nodded slightly. "A bit, but I'm fine now."
"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked.
"Not now," she replied. "Later, before bed."
The boat arrived in New York two days later. Newt and Tina quickly made their way back to the apartment. They slipped up the stairs and Tina dug in her pocket for her keys. She pushed the door opened and they stepped inside the room. Newt flicked on the lights.
Tina choked back a sob as she looked around the apartment. Nothing had changed but everything felt different. She felt Newt's hand on her back so she turned quickly, burying her face in his chest. She didn't want to look at the room. Everything in it reminded her of Queenie, but she knew she'd have to go through everything, packing it all up so they could take it to England.
"Shh," Newt murmured.
Tina pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be fine."
"I know you miss her," he assured her.
She nodded. "Thank you, Newt."
Newt offered her a smile, gently pulling her back into a hug.
