"Acendio!"
Holding tight to Newt's case, Tina shot upward through the water. As soon as her head broke the surface, she peeled off the scorched dragon hide suit and stuffed it inside the suitcase. If anyone saw her now, they would think she was like any other survivor.
The MACUSA police boat came to a stop next to her and a young auror helped her aboard. As the house-elf steered the boat back to the harbor, the auror who had helped her out of the water brought her to Mr. Grimsditch.
He was stern and stoic, even more so now than before.
"Goldstein," he said, his voice dangerous. "You disobeyed my direct orders by staying behind. Need I remind you that such an action is punishable by dismissal from the auror ranks?"
Tina lowered her gaze. "Yes, sir," she mumbled, "but—"
"And that your reinstatement was only accepted after much persuasion?"
"Yes—"
"Goldstein, I like you," he said bluntly, "but I am not prepared to vouch for you in front of the Wizengamot. For both of our sakes, I'll keep this off the official record. But if you so much as put a toe out of line...," he glared at her darkly. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."
Still holding Newt's soaked case, she Disapparated.
She rematerialized just inside the door to her apartment. As Tina hung her coat on the rack, she realized that the other hooks were empty. If it was even possible, her heart sank even more. Now she would have to confront her misery without the company of her sister.
Tina set the case on the floor and collapsed onto the sofa, completely exhausted.
Newt was dead. Hundreds of No-Majs had died. She had nearly been sacked. Grindelwald's fanatics were on the rampage. Overall, it had not been a good day.
For the first time since her parents had died of Dragon Pox, Tina felt like crying.
She was just about to succumb to her tears when she heard a knock.
She moved over to the door and swung it open, but there was no one standing on the other side. Thinking nothing of it, Tina returned to the sofa.
Then it came again, and Tina realized it was coming from somewhere below her.
She took Newt's case and turned it on its side on the table in front of her. Who (or what) had knocked?
Cautiously, she flipped open the two latches and lifted the lid.
And there staring up at her was a little boy, weak-looking and pale. Behind him on the ladder was an ashen-faced girl, and behind her two disoriented adults. There was no sign of Newt.
Very confused, and slightly hopeful, Tina helped them out of the case.
"Who are you?" she asked.
None of them seemed inclined to answer. They were staring around dumbfounded at the apartment.
"They're No-Majs," came a voice from inside the case. "We were trapped behind the fire, so I had them climb into my case."
"Newt," said Tina, reaching into the case to help pull the battered magizoologist out. "How on Earth did you survive?"
Newt smiled vaguely before gesturing at his case fondly.
"It was my case that saved us. It's made of dragon hide, actually. There's a Disillusionment charm on it to make it look and feel like common leather. I learned long ago that leather just wasn't going to cut it in the field so I had this specially made."
"Hang on… dragon hide?" said Tina questioningly. "You don't seem the type to use the hide of a beast."
"I made sure it was humane and from a reliable source," he said defensively. "The dragon whose hide was used in this case died in the war on the Eastern Front."
He looked very uncomfortable and clumsily tried to change the subject. "We should, erm, probably Obliviate the muggles—sorry— No-Majs now."
"Let's bring them downstairs first," said Tina. "We wouldn't want them remembering this place."
"Good idea," agreed Newt, thankful that Tina hadn't pursued the matter of the dragon hide. He prodded the family towards the door.
They brought the No-Majs family downstairs and Obliviated them. After their memories had been thoroughly wiped, Newt and Tina pushed the No-Majs onto the street, where they blinked dumbly in the sunlight.
"They seemed very cooperative," remarked Tina as she unlocked the door to her flat.
"I had them Confunded," explained Newt. "I thought it was for the best that they didn't understand what they were seeing when I took them into the case."
"Here," said Tina, "take a seat. You look exhausted. I'll make some coffee."
Newt gratefully leaned back on the sofa and picked up his case. "Scourgify," he said, pointing his nicked wand at his case.
The scorch marks on his case vanished, reverting it to its usual brown coloring.
When his case was back to normal, Newt heard a little squeak coming from his shoulder. It was Pickett the Bowtruckle, his leaves and stem slightly wilted.
The little Bowtruckle let loose an angry barrage of squeaks, waving his hand-like appendages in anger.
"I'm so sorry you got wilted, Pickett," said Newt. "How about I get you some woodlice? Would that make you feel better?"
Pickett uncrossed his spindly arms and chirped his approval.
Newt reached inside his case and grabbed a few dried woodlice from a packet taped to the inside of the lid. Once he had secured the case again, Tina arrived back in the room.
"How are your creatures?" asked Tina, handing Newt a mug of coffee.
"The Bowtruckles are a touch wilted… Erumpent's not happy... Can't blame her, the enclosure's one giant puddle. A lot of water leaked in. The Grindylows are loving it, though. Margaret is so frightened of it that she climbed all the way to the top of the Mooncalves' hill! Most importantly, no one is hurt. Sorry... I've been rambling, haven't I?"
"That's fine," said Tina. "It's just good to hear that your creatures are safe."
"Have you found anything about the person who cast the Fiendfyre?" asked Newt.
"No," said Tina, "though I am almost certain that Grindelwald's followers were behind it."
Newt's brow furrowed. "Have you not been officially reinstated as an auror yet, then?"
"Er, no," said Tina, her gaze cast down. She didn't want Newt to think that she didn't appreciate all the trouble he had been through to get her commission back. If Newt knew she had disobeyed orders, he might think that she was reckless and undeserving of such an important job. "I have been reinstated, but… suffice it to say that Mr. Grimsditch is not very happy with me at the moment."
"That's unfortunate," said Newt empathetically. "I don't like Mr. Grimsditch. I almost preferred working with who we thought was Mr. Graves, even though he sent us to that horrid death chamber."
They both laughed at Newt's somewhat morbid humor. Now that she thought about it, Tina was tempted to agree.
"That reminds me… is there any news on the real Percival Graves?" asked Newt.
They both knew that Gellert Grindelwald had been using Polyjuice Potion to masquerade as Mr. Graves, and that meant that the real Graves was still alive. Or, at least, he had up until recently been.
"While I was still at the Wand Permit Office, a team of aurors raided the Graves residence, where Grindelwald had his hideout. There was no sign of the real Graves," replied Tina. "The search for him is still ongoing, but we've had no tangible results."
"A shame," said Newt. "I hope that you and the other aurors are able to rescue him… that is, of course, if he is still alive."
"I liked Graves… no, the real one, not Grindelgraves," said Tina. "He was nice… a bit soft spoken, but never that way when he was on a mission."
"Knowing Grindelwald's supporters, I would expect them to take their revenge on anyone who was involved in their leader's capture. Their attack on me might just be the start. Picquery, the real Graves, even you could be the subject of attacks."
Just then, the door swung open and the ringing of laughter wafted through. Jacob and Queenie walked in, smiling broadly.
Queenie's smile quickly faded as she sensed the thoughts of both Newt and Tina. Even though Jacob lacked Legilimency, sensed the change in mood.
"Newt, Tina, what happened?" asked the No-Maj baker.
"Someone lit a Fiendfyre on Newt's ship," said Queenie, listening to Newt's thoughts. "Some of Grindelwald's followers. And Tina," she said, turning to her sister, "your boss…"
Tina ignored her sister and shrouded her thoughts with Occlumency. She often left her mind open to her sister, but she didn't want Queenie to let it slip that she had disobeyed orders when Newt was in the room. When there were Dark wizards and witches to be apprehended, there was no time to get caught up in petty emotional disputes.
"Oh, that's terrible," said Queenie, talking to no one in particular. "I think we all could use some comfort food."
A/N: Please review! Tell me what you liked (or didn't like) about this chapter.
