Greetings! Here is the next chapter!

But wait! This chapter comes with a warning. Angst is contained herein. All you fans of cute fluffy stories are going to hate me but I promise there will be a hell of a lot of fluff...just in the distant future of this story.

This chapter comes courtesy of Quills and Swords on FictionPress (PLEASE go check her out, she is a genius writer as you will find with this chapter) with some edits by me.

As always thank you for all the reviews, keep 'em coming and enjoy!

"Get OFF!" Tina shouted as Mr Flappy landed on her head for the fifth time that morning. The sisters hadn't been able to get him to leave since New Year and Tina was beginning to wonder if she'd have to start adding bird food to the shopping list. Queenie had set up a small swing and perch for Mr Flappy to use, but he seemed to prefer to use Tina's head as a chair, much to her annoyance.

"Don't take your frustration out on Mr Flappy." Queenie called from the other room. "No, we are not going to make pigeon pie!" She added hearing Tina's thoughts. "I don't care if he'll taste good with gravy."

"Fine, fine. Whatever." Tina folded her arms crossly but then raised them again to hit Mr Flappy before he messed up her hair. She'd never been much for style but even Tina knew that a pigeon hat was not the fashion. "No." Tina shot a warning look at the bird, who in return tilted his head to the side in innocence. "You are not coming to work with me. No, don't look at me like that… today is an important day and I can't have you messing it up with your – GET OUT OF MY BAG YOU IDIOT PIGEON!"

Mr Flappy responded by diving deeper into Tina's satchel and not for the first time Tina wondered how Newt had the patience for his creatures. "Queenie." Tina whined. "He won't get out of my bag and I'm going to be late for work."

"Well I don't know what you want me to do, I'm not a pigeon whisperer." Queenie replied through not-so-stifled giggles.

Tina looked up to the heavens and prayed to Merlin that she would have the strength for today. "That's it, I have to go. I guess I'm just going to have to take him with me."

"You're taking Mr Flappy to work?" Queenie laughed.

"Why not?" Tina replied defensively. "That Professor Dumbledore that Newt was raving about has a bird."

"His is a phoenix." Queenie retorted.

"Yes… well… phoenixes are so cliché, there's no rule that says pigeons can't be just as glamourous." With that Tina left the flat trying very hard to walk with dignity despite the sounds of Queenie roaring with laughter.

Ten minutes later, however, Tina was not quite as confident in her idea to bring Mr Flappy to work. Especially when she walked into MACUSA's owlery only to find several office secretaries. "Oh hello Tina!" One of them waved enthusiastically as she placed her sleek snowy owl into one of the cages. "Interrogations going well?"

"Umm… yeah." Tina nodded, slightly red in the face as she wrestled Mr Flappy out of her bag and into the cage.

"Oh and don't let those inquirers intimidate you." The secretary continued calmly, examining her nail apparently not having noticed the pigeon at all. "You're the one who took down Grindelwald in the first place."

"Yeahowwww." Tina replied just as Mr Flappy gave her a strong nip on one of her fingers. "Get back in the cage you stupid bird or I swear to Merlin I don't care what Queenie says I will make pigeon pie out of you." She hissed.

"Don't even get me started on professionalism." The secretary continued - she didn't seem to have ceased talking despite Tina's cries of pain over her finger which was now bleeding profusely. "You're the most professional person I know. Anyway I've got to go, I don't want to be late for my meeting." With that the woman left, not even bothering to look to find the source of the growing puddle of blood on the floor. It was a good thing for Tina that the secretary did leave because if she had decided to look up she would have seen Tina showing Mr Flappy her middle finger only to have him bite that one as well.

"Get… in!" Tina grunted as she finally forced the pigeon into the cage and shut the rather rickety door. She fumbled with the lock for a few moments, wincing from the pain in her fingers, but eventually gave up and did her best to jam the cage shut. Tina stood up panting, did a quick charm to stop the bleeding and fixed the collar on her jacket. "Yeah, professionalism." she breathed.

"Ah Miss Goldstein, nice of you to finally join us. You're late." said Mr Smith tapping his watch as Tina entered Madam Picquery's office. Smith was a rat faced man with wiry hair and glasses which perched precariously on the very end of his nose. Clearly he'd been there a while because Madam Picquery sniffed in irritation.

"I don't understand." Tina frowned. "The meeting starts at 10:30."

"Yes, and it is now 10:31." Smith tapped his watch again. "Do you have any other objections to delay us further or may we get on?"

"Please continue." Tina smiled doing her best to keep her temper. It was strange, she thought, that when Newt had spoken she had fallen in love with the English accent, but whenever these officials from the Ministry opened their mouths she found her ears being grated on like nails on a chalk board.

"After some deliberation, the Ministry has decided that it is best if our Aurors continue to assist with the holding and interrogation of Grindelwald." Smith paused and Madam Picquery sucked in a sharp breath. "Of course, MACUSA will continue to lead the interrogations…for now. However, myself and the other Aurors shall be monitoring conduct to ensure that no more unfortunate incidents occur." Smith particularly relished the last few words, turning to Tina with a smug look on his face as he did so. "As for Miss Goldstein," he continued, "The Ministry feels that given recent events, and her past dismissal, that she must continue to be shadowed during her interrogations. This will of course be done by me. The Ministry also thought that this would be most effective if Miss Goldstein were to report to me at the beginning and end of each day to share her progress and receive instructions."

"Absolutely not!" Madam Picquery snapped and Smith looked up sharply, the twisted grin on his face fading only momentarily. "I will not have the Ministry attempting to take charge of my Aurors. Tina is under my command and will be instructed by me."

"With all due respect," Smith said quickly, "Theseus Scamander has-"

"No authority to make this decision." Madam Picquery finished, her headdress wobbling slightly. "Tina will continue to receive her instructions from me and will report back to me."

Smith looked as if he was going to object but said nothing. "I see. I shall inform the Ministry of this and I would advise you to cooperate with the rest of our plans."

"I would advise you, Mr Smith, that I am the President of MACUSA and that Grindelwald is currently in my custody." Tina wasn't sure whether to look at Madam Picquery, who was speaking, or Smith, whose face was growing an increasingly concerning shade of purple. "Therefore, it is the Ministry who should be cooperating with us."

"I believe that it is the responsibility of both parties to ensure clear communications on both ends." Smith replied coolly.

"Remarkable isn't it Tina?" Madam Picquery commented not sounding at all impressed. "That the English language consists of so many words and the British have fine-tuned the technique of making sure that none of them mean anything." Smith narrowed his eyes and Tina put a hand in front of her mouth to hide her smile.

"Moving on." Smith said after a few moments. "Theseus Scamander has informed me that his younger brother Newton Scamander and Miss Goldstein have kept up a regular correspondence since Newton returned to England. Seeing as Miss Goldstein is in such a delicate position with these interrogations, it seems unwise for these letters to continue as owls could easily be intercepted, thus revealing secret information."

"We're friends!" Tina protested. "I don't talk about my job and I definitely don't say anything that would interest Grindelwald or his followers."

"That isn't strictly true." Smith smiled again and Tina fought the urge to slap his face. "Grindelwald has expressed an interest in the connection that you and the younger Mr Scamander share. It is also clear from what I have been told that Grindelwald intends to use this connection to manipulate you should the need arise."

"This is ridiculous." Tina waved her arms in frustration. "We are just friends."

"Not according to Theseus." Mr Smith replied, still smiling.

"What does Theseus have to do with this?" Tina growled. She found herself hating Newt's older brother more and more every day.

"Theseus has expressed his concern for his brother's safety." Smith answered. "He says that while he understands that you are an Auror and are aware of the risks, his brother is not. Theseus worries that Newton doesn't fully understand the danger these letters could put him in and isn't able to defend himself."

"Oh like hell he worries!" Tina shouted, no longer able to contain her anger. "Newt took down Grindelwald in the first place, he is perfectly capable of protecting himself."

"Tina." Madam Picquery warned.

"Newton Scamander was expelled from Hogwarts before he could complete his studies. Just because he was lucky enough not to get hurt during his encounter with Grindelwald, doesn't guarantee he will be lucky again." Smith said sharply. "I am in agreement with Theseus that the letters between you and Newton should cease. However, we understand that the correspondence may be important to you. Therefore, Theseus is willing to offer you an alternative."

Tina took a deep breath. She couldn't bear the thought of having to stop speaking with Newt, not when he was… Well, she wasn't sure what he was to her. But she knew that she wasn't going to like whatever Theseus had suggested.

Smith continued. "If you wish to continue writing to Newton then Theseus will permit it providing that letters from both parties are read before they are sent to ensure no sensitive information is revealed. When letters are received they will be read out to you and then destroyed to make sure they can't be read by the wrong person."

"There must be another way!" Tina stamped her foot not caring how childish she must look.

"I'm afraid that Theseus says that unless you and Newton wish to formally commit to being involved in a romantic relationship, the rules don't permit private correspondence under these circumstances." Smith smiled - he seemed to know exactly what Theseus was trying to do.

"This is ridiculous." Tina snapped again. "I am perfectly capable of handling all this myself. I certainly don't need micromanaging. I am a responsible –" But Tina never got to say what else she was because just at that moment an escaped Mr Flappy swooped through the doorway and landed on her head.

Five minutes later Tina was listening to Smith read out Newt's letter as she blushed profusely. Smith paused for a moment to sip from a glass of water - he seemed to enjoy dragging the process out for as long as possible. Not least because Mr Flappy was still perched firmly on Tina's head, despite her best efforts to remove him. Tina was having some fun though as she particularly enjoyed the moments when Smith read out about Newt having to drag Theseus – royally drunk and all – to the nearest inn on New Year, and whenever Newt insulted his older brother – directly or indirectly – in general.

"That bird will need to be assessed if you intend on keeping him." Smith had said at the point when Newt addressed Mr Flappy.

"For what?" Tina asked coldly. "Being in league with Grindelwald? I can assure you that even in the little information we have discovered during our interrogations, we can safely say that Grindelwald is not trying to take over the world via pigeon."

"I am only doing this for your safety." Smith replied.

"Let's not kid ourselves." Tina spat. "Neither you nor Theseus have the slightest interest in safety when it comes to these ridiculous protocols."

Tina didn't want to write this letter. But she wanted even less for Theseus and Smith to get in the middle of her and Newt. So, with a shaking hand she wrote:

15th January 1927

Dear Newt,

It is wonderful to hear about you book release and signing. Didn't I tell you that people would love it? I shall be expecting to buy a copy sometime in the near future. I do hope that Hogwarts has the sense to add it to their curriculum as I'm sure the students will find it very educational.

As for the subject of the investigation I am afraid this brings me to some difficult news. I have become aware that our correspondence could cause harm to my interrogations with Grindelwald and my position here at MACUSA. This could potentially put you at risk especially with your recent growth in publicity and your connections to both me and Theseus. Therefore, I have decided that it would be best to cease our communications for the time being.

I wish you the best of luck with your book and further studies into magical creatures.

Kind regards,

Tina

As she shakily tied the letter to the leg of Newt's owl, Tina struggled to keep the tears from falling. While she was still not quite sure what Newt was to her, she still hated doing this. Ending these letters would mean an end to the excitement and anticipation of recieving them. An end to the only thing that had kept her going during the interrogations. An end to the only communication she'd ever had with a man that wasn't strictly professional, which had subsequently made her life far less boring.

She opened the window, praying to Merlin that Newt didn't take the letter personally. As soon as the owl had flown away, she ducked back into the apartment and bolted into the bedroom - hoping that nobody had seen her cry.

I know I'm cruel, I'm sorry.

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Peace!