Well hello lovely people of FanFiction! Welcome to another chapter courtesy of Quills and Swords (FictionPress).

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Click, click, click.

Tina's heels hit the floor hard and loud as she walked down the corridor. Breathe. She forced the tension in her shoulders to ease. Stay calm, don't punch him in the face. She thought as she drew nearer to Smith's office.

"Tina!" Queening snorted, elbowing her sister in the ribs. "Don't think things like that when I've got to be serious."

"Sorry, Queenie." Tina couldn't keep the giggle out of her voice. "But you have to admit he's a complete-"

"Yes, I know, he's terrible." Queenie interrupted before Tina could go on yet another rant about Smith and Theseus. Not being able to contact Newt was making her more and more irritable as time went on and Queenie hoped that Newt's reply would come soon for everyone's sake. "What do you think this meeting's for?"

"I don't know." Tina shrugged. "Smith probably needs another ink pot or something equally stupid. Come on, let's get this over with." She stopped at the door and exchanged a look with Queenie before knocking.

No answer. This didn't surprise Tina as Smith had recently taken to making her wait outside his office for several minutes because he seemed to think it make him look authoritative. Tina thought it made him look like an idiot. Queenie shot her another look for that thought. "Sorry." Tina mouthed.

She was about to knock on the door again when she paused at the sound of shouting. In all her years at the MACUSA Tina could count the number of times she had heard Madam Picquery raise her voice on one hand. But before she could stop herself (very uncharacteristically) curiosity won over politeness and she slowly and quietly opened the door, much to Queenie's hushed protests.

"Mr Smith, while I appreciate the Ministry has decided to monitor Miss Goldstein's actions I would remind you that I am in charge of MACUSA and not Theseus Scamander." the President's head piece was shaking dangerously as anger pierced through her every word. "You do not have the right to steal my prisoner nor do you have the right to waste my Aurors' talents on your ridiculous antics. These interrogations have been delayed for long enough, need I remind you that Grindelwald's plans should be treated with some urgency. After all, we Americans do have better things to do than interfere with the private lives of pen pals."

"I'm sure you can understand that Mr. Scamander is taking this precaution due to concerns over threats made against his brother." Smith replied.

"Well, you can tell Mr. Scamander that he won't be taking any precautions regarding Grindelwald's relocation to England because he doesn't have the authority to make such orders!" Picquery shouted as she slammed Theseus's latest letter (or rather, instruction) on the table.

"Theseus is not the only one at the Ministry concerned over Gindelwald's continued imprisonment in the US." Smith countered. "There are many high up in the Ministry who would have him relocated such as Mr. Lestrange and Mr. Black along with others."

"Unless the Minister for Magic orders the move, Grindelwald will remain in the US and under my control. Is that clear?"

Any response that Smith might have made was quickly lost under Picquery's steely gaze.

Noticing that both Picquery and Smith had now turned to look at them, Tina put her hands on her hips in her 'natural' pose, in an attempt to feign accidentally walking into the room. "I think we should try that new spaghetti tonight." she said as casually as she could to Queenie.

"Umm..." Queenie cleared her throat but was saved from answering.

"Tina you will continue your interrogations with Grindelwald without delay." Picquery interrupted.

"I will join you." Smith added before he could be stopped.

Picquery looked up to the ceiling before taking a deep, calming breath. "Very well."

"Ah, Miss Goldstein. Long time no see." Grindelwald leant forwards across the desk. He licked his lips and bared his teeth into a twisted smile. "You know I get depressed when I go more than a week without seeing a pretty face."

"Well you'll be going a lot longer than that now you're locked up." Tina growled. She didn't sit in the chair across from him, instead paced the room while Smith watched by the door.

"Speaking of pretty faces..." Grindelwald drawled. "Where's that sister of yours? Have your lot given up on using Legilimens' to probe my mind? Didn't you like what you saw?" He paused for a moment. Tina looked up waiting for him to continue and immediately reprimanded herself for playing into his trap. "Perhaps it was my comments over Newton that you objected to? We have a mutual friend, he and I. I'm sure Newt told you of the great Hogwarts teacher who saved him when Leta Lestrange had him kicked out of school?" When Tina paused, Grindelwald almost looked surprised. "No? Well, Dumbledore is a great man, truly."

"You sound nostalgic." Tina raised her eyebrow.

"We villains don't spend all our time plotting you know." Grindelwald answered dryly. "But Dumbledore is a good man. We were close once, but he couldn't understand my vision. But you, Miss Goldstein, you are not disappointing. Now you might not understand my view yet, but you will. I can feel it. You object to our way of life just as I do."

"What I object to is your abuse of Credence, an innocent boy that was killed for nothing." Tina spat.

"Yes!" Grindelwald slammed him hand down on the desk, his chains rattling with the vibration. "Exactly. Killed by your side of the battle and not mine. Killed because your President values the secrecy of magic over wizard lives. Surely you agree with me Tina? We worked together once you know? And we worked well."

"No." Tina stamped her foot. "Enough. I worked with Graves, not you."

"But I was him." Grindelwald smiled and ran his tongue over his teeth. "I was Graves when you lost your badge for protecting Credence. I defended you. We're on the same side."

"Never."

"But we are." Grindelwald laughed. "Because, like me, you know that wizards can never survive when even the most abusive, vile muggles are protected over us. It's self-preservation Miss Goldstein."

"It's murder." Tina's eyes flashed with anger. "What you want is murder. You are the vile one."

"Name calling is beneath you Miss Goldstein." Grindelwald tutted. "You might hurt my feelings."

"Maybe I would if you had feelings to be hurt." Tina growled. She stalked towards him like a lioness assessing her prey. "If you believe that what you're doing is for the good of wizards then why did you allow Credence to lose control rather than help him?"

"You can make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Grindelwald gestured vaguely with his hand in boredom. "I'd prefer to know why the witch who cared so much for Credence would continue to support the side that had him repress his magic in the first place. Surely that isn't right."

"My job is to uphold the law, not to decide what's right." Tina crossed her arms as she lowered herself into the chair opposite Grindelwald. He raised an eyebrow and leans forward.

"I could believe that you're happy blindly following the rules. But unlike your Auror friends, I'm not stupid." He licked his lips. "Are you really okay with your letters being read by the Ministry and having to follow round that idiot," he pointed at Smith, "and only because they are the rules?" He tiled his head to the side and Tina felt as though he were examining her soul under his harsh gaze. "No Miss Goldstein, I don't think you are."

"How did you know my letters were being read?" Tina narrowed her eyes, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Oops." Grindelwald gasped in mock surprise. "I shouldn't have said that should I?"

"Tell me how you knew." Tina hit the desk and jumped up from her chair. She leant over so she was towering about him. "Tell me."

He laughed. He laughed a high pitch cackling scream of a laugh. "What are going to do Miss Goldstein? Are you going to hit me again?"

Tina forced her breathing to even out and straightened as she brushed down her robes. "No."

"Well then Miss Goldstein." Grindelwald leant back in his chair and observed her for a minute. "I can't say I'm not disappointed, I had hoped for better from you. But I have faith that you'll come around to my view of things. In the meantime, you had best take me back to my cell because it's clear we aren't going to get along today."

"You'll get him next time Teenie." Queenie encouraged as she mixed up cake batter for the fifth time that evening. "Grindelwald will have to break sooner or later."

"I'm not so sure of that." Tina sighed as she dipped her finger into the bowl and tasted the mixture. She wrinkled her nose at the taste. "That has way too much flour in it."

"You think?" Queenie frowned.

"Queenie, I thought you were the cooking expert here? Cake mix is supposed to be runny. That is a blob." Tina replied. "Why are you making cupcakes anyway?"

"Look, I can't keep going back to Jacob's shop, he's going to think I'm stalking him." Queenie whined.

"Because you are." Tina pointed out.

"I am not stalking Jacob." Queenie objected as she flicked her spoon dangerously close to Tina, leaving a dusting on flour on her suit. "I am taking a healthy interest in the upstart of his bakery shop."

"By buying half the goods every week so he makes millions while we go bankrupt?" Tina teased.

"Which is why I've decided to learn to make the cupcakes myself." Queenie snapped defensively. "And I'm not even using magic, which is why I can't get it right!"

"Hey, I'm not judging you." Tina raised her hands in surrender. "Personally, I think this," she gestured to Queenie's No-Maj baking attempts, "is much better. I'm not sure I could take you getting any more ridiculous ideas from Jacob - such as using Mr. Flappy as a carrier pigeon."

"Mmhmm." Queenie nodded, suddenly becoming very interested in her mixing.

"Speaking of Mr Flappy..." Tina frowned. "Have you seen him recently? I've been so swept off my feet with work these last few weeks I've barely seen him. I know he flies out occasionally but he always comes back."

"Oh, I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Queenie shrugged as she gave her cake mix an extra jab with the spoon. "I think I saw him the other day."

"When?" Tina narrowed her eyes. "I haven't seen him this week at least."

"Oh, you know, the other day, that day when we... well it was one of the days." Queenie turned away from Tina under the pretense of consulting with her recipe hoping that she would drop the subject. She knew exactly how to make cupcakes the No-Maj way, but had been feigning incompetence (which Tina had, very surprisingly, actually believed) to buy herself some time and to distract Tina, as she just knew that Newt's reply would arrive any day now. She also knew that Tina would hit the roof when she found out what she (Queenie) had done.

"Queenie..." Tina warned. "Where is Mr. Flappy?"

"Around. Like I said." Queenie mentally cursed and searched for a way to move off the subject. However, she was saved by the doorbell. When Tina opened the door she found the landlady stood on the threshold.

"Yes, Mrs. Esposito?"

"There's a package for you to collect."

"I'll come down now. Queenie do you know what that is? I'm sure I haven't ordered anything." Tina called over her shoulder as she walked through the doorway down to the hall. In response, Queenie shrugged and quickly looked back at her baking.

It took all of thirty seconds for Tina to scream, "Queenie! What did you do?"

She rushed back into the kitchen wielding her wand and Mr Flappy in a cage. "Queenie, you had better answer me before I curse you into oblivion."

"Well..." Queenie swallowed as she worked for time. "I know you were really upset about not being able to write to Newt... so I err-"

"Spit it out!" Tina groaned, praying that Queenie hadn't done what she was already sure she had. "Please. Just tell me. What did you do?"

"Well, pigeons aren't monitored the way owls are..." Queenie too up a defensive stance with her wand as Tina rounded on her. "So I did some research on flying distances and one quick locator charm later I sent Mr. Flappy off to Newt."

"With what?" Tina growled.

"Excuse me?" Queenie squeaked.

Tina narrowed her eyes and stalked towards her sister. "What did you send to Newt using Mr. Flappy?"

"Just a letter." Queenie replied, not taking her eyes off Tina's wand. She knew her sister wouldn't hurt her, but it wouldn't be the first time their arguments had descended into a duel.

"Just a letter from you, you mean." Tina's voice was low and dangerous and Queenie mentally calculated how quickly she would be able to run out the door from her current position by the cooker. Her odds were good.

"Well..."

"Yes?"

"I may have... what I mean to say is... I found some..."

"Queenie!"

"I sent him those letters that you wrote but wouldn't send." Queenie finally, and far too quickly, blurted out.

"You did what!?" Tina almost fainted. She blanched at the thought of Newt reading those letters and then flushed as she remembered what she had said in them. "I can't believe you! Now he's going to think I'm some sappy alcoholic who's too pathetic to live her life without a man."

"Oh Teenie, he won't think that." Queenie hugged her. Both sisters had lowered their wands and had ceased staring each other down now.

"How do you know?" Tina sniffed.

"Because he feels the same way." Queenie replied. "I know he does."

"You don't know that." Tina stamped her foot.

"Well we aren't going to find out if you don't read the letter." Queenie pointed out as she took Mr. Flappy out of his cage. He squawked in delight at being home again.

"I can't. You read it for me." Tina held the letter away from her and then snatched it back when Queenie reached for it. "No. No, I have to do it." She ran into the bedroom and squealed in delight when she read Newt's words. "He misses me!" She danced over to her desk, immediately planning her reply. For the first time in a long while, she allowed herself to sit and bask in the feeling of euphoria.

Two minutes later her happiness was shattered.

Tina clutched her urgent message from MACUSA in her fisted hand and apparated as close to the building as she could. Queenie arrived only a second later and ran to keep up with Tina who stormed straight into Madam Picquery's office only to find Smith had beaten her to it.

"What is this?" She threw the note at Smith, not even caring that the President was watching. "How dare you take my investigation from me! All in the name of pettiness, and so that Theseus can what? Prove a point?"

"Miss Goldstein, I implore you to calm down." Smith drawled. "The Ministry has been debating Grindelwald's move to England for some time now. As of course you know, Grindelwald is European and, therefore, we have more jurisdiction over his fate than you do. The Minister felt that it would be most effective for future interrogation to be held in England seeing as your most recent effort with Grindelwald resulted in his mentioning of Newton Scamander and Albus Dumbledore."

"Moving Grindelwald is only going to slow down interrogations." Tina protested. "I was making good progress and you have no reason to interrupt that. If you put him on a boat to England all you're doing is endangering No-Majs because we can't guarantee the highest security levels during transport."

"On the contrary Miss Goldstein." Smith countered. "The Ministry is quite confident that we will be able to safely transport Grindelwald. You are also incorrect when you say your interrogations were proceeding well. Today, I observed a rather intimate atmosphere between you and Grindelwald, one which I can only assume he is using to manipulate you in some way."

"Oh, that's ridiculous." Tina threw her hands up in disgust.

"Is it, Miss Goldstein?" Smith raised an eyebrow. "Can you deny that Grindelwald was familiar with your current circumstances? How could he have gotten that information?"

"Are you suggesting that I told him about the letters?" Tina bristled.

"Tina!" Madam Picquery finally interrupted. "No one is suggesting anything of the sort. However, no matter what we feel, the Ministry is perfectly within its rights to have Grindelwald transferred to England for their own investigations." She narrowed her eyes at Smith. "I don't know how you've done it, but someone has pressured the Minister into this move and I'm sure you'll soon find that Grindelwald's followers are working within your side."

"I highly doubt it." Smith smiled. "We aren't in the habit of re-employing disgraced ex-Aurors. We will transfer Grindelwald next week. Good night to you both."

Grindelwald made it to the shores of England, but never to the Ministry of Magic.

The most dangerous living wizard was now at large in London.

8th February 1927

Dear Newt,

If someone had told me that I could feel so much in a week I would have laughed at them. I felt sadness when I couldn't correspond with you. Annoyance when my interrogation with Grindelwald didn't reveal any new information. And I was ecstatic to hear from you again. Then angry when the Ministry ordered Grindelwald to be sent to England and taken from my investigation. Now all I feel is fear. Fear because he has escaped. Fear that he is coming after you for revenge. But I'm trying to remind myself of what you always say, "Worrying only mean you suffer twice." So I promise not to worry too much.

I hear that you've been put under permanent guarding by the Ministry now that you're likely to be Grindelwald's first target. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose your privacy in that way and to constantly be followed by a bodyguard. I suppose I have to admit that it is worth the protection seeing as your book has made you a public figure. But it still must be awful for you.

I hope you're still getting to care for your creatures as much as you like. Your idea to make your book part of the Hogwarts curriculum was genius and I'm sure the students will love it. I'm proud to think how many people you'll be educating with your work. I suppose one good thing from this is that you won't be pressured into a book tour now Grindelwald has escaped. After all, they can hardly publish your location if you're in danger.

Please write back soon

Kindest regards,

Tina

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I'm afraid the next chapter will not be up for a while as I am very busy for pretty much all of this next coming week (part-time job, driving lessons, beach trip, preparing for a holiday) and then I'm out of the country for 10 days, and I won't be taking my laptop. I will try and get the next chapter done for you guys as soon as I get back though, and will work on it in any free time I have this week. The weather is beautiful here in England, UK at the moment (even if it is FAR too humid for my liking) so when I'm not working or driving I try and make the most of the weather by sunbathing and reading (I'm starting to tan!), but I promise the next chapter will be up by the end of the month, if not just after.

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