This chapter came out pretty long and Newtina-ish. Sooo... I dunno. Enjoy.

"Newt," Leta asked, "When do you reckon you'd like to kiss a girl for the first ever time?"

Newt looked up, surprised by this sudden question.

"I don't know." He said. "Why?"

Leta shrugged. "I was just thinking. Most boys'd probably like to kiss a girl in their Seventh Year."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I suppose it's more romantic."

"Romantic?" Newt wrinkled his nose. "I don't think I want to have a romance, ever."

"Well," Leta argued, "You'll kiss a girl sometime."

"No I won't. I wouldn't even kiss you."

"As if I'd like to kiss you back!' Leta giggled.

Newt raised his eyebrows. "What about a girl kissing me instead of me kissing a girl?"

"I don't think that's how it works." Leta said dubiously. "The boy must kiss the girl."

"Why?"

"That's just how it is."

Newt shrugged. "Then I don't suppose I will ever want to kiss a girl, or ever get kissed by one."

Newt woke up with a start.

It took him a few seconds to remember where he was. The… Goldstein apartment, right. Today was Christmas Day. And last night…

Newt almost laughed out loud. How ironic that the dream he'd had would appear in his sleep the morning after he'd been kissed by the girl he loved.

Then it hit Newt like a truck. Tina had kissed him. She had kissed him. Could that mean she loved him back? Were his deep worried for naught?

Newt blinked up at the ceiling above him. Relationships were so much harder to cope with than his creatures, but he was always willing to accept a challenge. He liked Tina. As in, really liked her. In fact, he'd been slightly in love with her ever since he'd first met her. The main problem had been those nervous thoughts she didn't love him back… but maybe she did. After last night, he wasn't so sure.

Newt sighed. Comp-li-ca-ted. If only he could muster enough guts, maybe he could go and ask Tina what she thought about him. But he couldn't. He was too afraid to ruin it and too shy. So he went to Queenie instead.

Queenie was already in the sitting room, curled up on the couch in her dressing gown with a book and a mug of cocoa.

"Morning, Newt." She smiled as he entered.

"Morning, Queenie." Newt replied. "Um, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Queenie straightened, surprised.

He cleared his throat. "Well. You know. I just-"

Queenie smirked, and Newt had a suspicion she knew exactly what he meant. He also had a feeling she was reading him.

"Please stop reading my mind." He asked gently.

Queenie shook herself a little. "Sorry. I just thought it would be easier for you if I just read your thoughts and understood without you having to talk out loud."

"It is easier for me." Newt sighed. "But that's not good because… Tina can't read minds."

Queenie giggled quietly. "I knew this was about Teenie!"

Newt rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. Maybe going to Queenie had been a mistake.

"No, listen." Queenie stopped laughing. "In case you were wondering, I know what she feels about your relationship. I can't tell you most any of it because, I mean, I should respect her privacy, but…"

She grinned. "I can reveal that Teenie thinks very highly of you."

"Oh. Um. That's… good, I guess." Newt coughed. "Can you just- does she-?"

Queenie read his mind again, and Newt didn't complain. He didn't have the guts to say what he was thinking aloud.

"Oh, Newt." Queenie said finally, after staring at him for a long moment. "I can't tell you what Tina feels about you. You two have to talk about that."

"I'm not terribly good at the whole talking thing."

"Neither is Teen, you'll get along fine."

"Queenie-"

"I ain't going to say another word. Good luck!"

With that, she winked at Newt and went back to reading her book.

Tina woke up an hour later and emerged from her room with a ruffled bedhead and blue-spotted pajamas. Newt was stressfully waiting for her, focusing his nervous energy into sketching Pickett on a loose piece of paper.

"Good morning." Tina yawned softly, running a hand through her black hair.

"Morning, Teenie." Queenie replied.

"Where's Jacob?"

"He left eleven o'clock at night." Queenie said, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you notice? You were there."

"I forgot." Tina mumbled sheepishly.

Queenie looked amused. "I'd ask how anybody could forget an entire evening, but the both of you seemed a bit drifty last night. What exactly happened?"

Tina blushed and Newt ducked further over his drawing, attempting to ignore the awkward conversation.

"Well." Tina cleared her throat. "When you and Jacob were… um… busy under the mistletoe, Newt and I just-"

Queenie smirked.

"-We-"

"Go on."

"-We actually… oh, Queenie, I think you know already."

Queenie giggled. "Let's assume I don't. What did you do?"

"We-" Tina rolled her head on her neck a bit, hair falling in her face. "-Kissed."

Queenie let out a triumphant shout.

"I KNEW IT!" she crowed. "I KNEW IT!"

Tina huffed. "Then why on earth did you make me say it?"

"I just wanted to make sure." Queenie said innocently.

With a little scowl, Tina crossed her arms and stomped over to the kitchen. She rummaged around in the drawers, then-

"Queenie, what happened to all the cocoa?"

"I finished what was left of it."

"QUEE-NIE!"

The blonde shrugged. "Sorry. Besides, you don't have time for cocoa right at the moment. Newt wants to talk to you."

Newt looked up. "I do?"

"Yeah you do." Queenie raised her eyebrows and smirked.

He cocked his head, confused for a second, then his eyes widened.

"Um. Yes. Actually, I do want to talk to you." He said. "Privately, if we may."

"Oh. Sure." Tina shrugged at Queenie and followed Newt to the guest room, sitting beside him on the bed.

Newt kicked his legs, looking around him. This conversation was going to be difficult, but he had to do it.

"Tina." He started.

She turned to him, listening.

"I wanted to ask you something. It has to do with last night-"

"Right." Tina interrupted him. "About that… I'm sorry if it was sudden. I just thought that since last time you made the move, I should've. I know, probably stupid. I-"

"No!" Newt cut her off as well. "No, it was… fine, what you did. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Tina blinked. "Oh."

"Listen. What I want to say is… I-"

He breathed deeply.

"I'm in love with you, Tina. I know you'll probably find this ridiculous and I don't even know if you love me back, but I do. I've loved you for a long time. Since we left eachother last time, since before that. I don't know exactly when I really fell. But I thought I should tell you. So you'll know that I'm in love with you."

There. It was done. Newt clenched his fists tight enough to feel pain, bowing his head. It was coming. The moment when she'd tell him, voice full of pity, that she didn't love him back. That she kissed him because she'd felt bad for him. The moment she'd know she was so amazing she could have any man she'd want and why would she want Newt over anyone else? Because she was, truly, magnificent, and Newt knew she really could have any man she pleased. He just prayed she could ever love him back as much as he loved her.

But Tina didn't do any of those things. Head lowered, Newt couldn't see her, but he could hear her; she seemed to be shifting around and-

-Crying.

He looked up. She really was crying, face in her hands.

"Tina?" Newt asked timidly, touching her shoulder. "Tina, are you okay?"

She lifted her head and he saw she was simultaneously sobbing and laughing.

"What..?" Newt asked, at loss for words.

Tina let out a choked chuckle that somehow sounded like the happiest thing Newt had heard in a while. She wiped her eyes, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Mercy Lewis." Tina said. "I must seem crazy. But, oh, Newt, you have no idea how happy I am right now!"

Newt blinked heavily and shook his head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You don't understand, do you?" Tina asked. "Newt, that night in the rain, when you told me you loved me… I thought you meant in a friendly way. Like you love Queenie."

"Never." Newt said. "I mean, I love Queenie like a close friend. But you, Tina…"

Tina laughed, tearing up again, like the way she'd laughed a year ago when Newt had left New York.

"This is crazy. This is just crazy. I- I thought… I thought you didn't love me back."

"What?"

"We've been having the same thoughts."

"You mean-?"

Tina smiled. "Yes. I'm very much in love with you, Newt Scamander."

Without a warning, she flung her arms around him in a close hug. Newt pressed her close to him, relishing the sentence she'd just said.

"That's good to know." He murmured into her hair. "Because I think Queenie is getting impatient."

Tina laughed. "Let her wait. We have all the time in the world."