Tina gazed at the endless halls of pink and green gradient tiles. Turning her head towards the ceiling, she took in the endless floors leading up to a huge dome. Here and there, house elves hurried about with their cleaning gear and various devices whizzed around, vacuuming the carpet and polishing the door handles. The Brits sure knew how to put on a show of grandeur. Still, MACUSA's soaring chambers would surely turn Leta's head if the situation were reversed.
'Come on, Travers said he'll meet us with your contract upstairs.' Leta tugged Tina away from the massive fountain towards the lifts.
It was a few hours' into the morning and most Ministry employees were already in their offices, so the Atrium and corridors were quite deserted. Theseus was already upstairs with Travers, finalising Tina's paperwork, so he'd sent Leta to escort Tina up to the office.
The two witches entered the lift and grabbed onto the handholds. The lift whisked them away, first backwards, then sideways.
'So..you and Newt, huh?' Leta's smile was sly as she glanced sideways at the American Auror.
Tina resisted the temptation to squirm uncomfortably under her gaze. She was here for work, and she was going to be a confident and capable Auror. Not a lovestruck teenager.
Luckily for her, Leta decided to show her some mercy. 'He's completely besotted. I think you two are absolutely adorable.'
Tina looked up, a little surprised. 'You giving your blessing?'
Leta chuckled and nodded.
The lift jolted to a halt and the doors opened. The girls stepped out into a corridor lined with green tiles. An owl swooped over their heads, so low that they both ducked instinctively as the bird zoomed into the now-empty lift.
'You know, you have nothing to worry about at all,' Leta continued. 'That magazine was utter rubbish.'
'You know about that, then?' Tina was following closely beside Leta as they walked down the corridor, but still unable to meet her eyes for more than a split-second.
Leta smiled. 'Theseus told me. Speaking of Theseus, you will be at the wedding, won't you? We need someone to take care of Newt, remind him that he's best man.'
'Oh,' Tina was surprised, 'Sure, of course.' A niggling thought began to crawl up the back of her mind - why hadn't Newt asked her?
Leta seemed to sense this. 'Don't worry, Newt's been in denial, that'll be why he hasn't asked you. I'm telling you though, he's completely besotted. You know he cut out your picture from the newspaper and stuck it in his case so he can see your smile every day. He's been refusing to come to dinner with Theseus and me. He says it's the creatures, but I can tell it's more. He hasn't gone a day without thinking of you, not to mention driving Theseus mad with trying to get his travel ban revoked.'
Everything that Leta was saying seemed to flow into Tina's brain at an achingly slow speed. But the gears gradually clicked into place, and suddenly, Tina was feeling much warmer towards the her new colleague.
'Besides,' Leta added with a smirk. 'He's never compared anyone else's eyes to a salamander.'
Tina's eyes flew wide. 'Does everyone know about that?' she asked, a little exasperated.
Leta grinned but said nothing. She gestured to a door a few metres ahead of them. 'Come on then. Time to join the British Ministry.'