The next morning you arrived to breakfast late again. You smiled, seeing Mrs. Scamander, Theseus and Newt all seated and fully dressed.
"You really are all early risers," you said, sitting across from Newt. He glanced up at you, smiling and coloring a bit. You had left the case quite late, reluctant to let him go until you were falling asleep on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, dear," Mrs. Scamander said, tapping your mug to fill it with coffee. "You'll get used to us."
"Sleep well?" Theseus asked, smiling at you from over his newspaper.
"Perfectly," you said, sipping your coffee.
"That's good, poor Newton said he didn't sleep a wink."
"Oh?" You said, glancing at Newt with a small smile. "That's awful."
"Yes," Newt said, biting back a smile. "It was quite awful." Theseus raised a brow, looking between you and his brother curiously.
"Our guests should start arriving this afternoon," Mrs. Scamander said. "Theseus, dear, make sure you keep our Scarlet by your side and introduce her to everyone."
"Oh, that's not necessary, Mrs. Scamander. I can make my own introductions."
"Nonsense!" She said, patting your arm. "A pretty young woman like yourself needs a handsome escort." She winked at you and you blushed.
"Mother," Theseus chastised. "Stop playing matchmaker." He gave you an apologetic look.
"Excuse me." You looked up to see Newt standing. "I must attend to my creatures." His voice was tight, and he left the dining room without looking at you or Theseus. You bit your lip.
"On second thought," Theseus said thoughtfully, "Newton might be a better escort for you. He works at the Ministry, afterall…" He gave you a knowing smile.
"I'm going to go get ready," you said weakly.
After dressing, struck by an intense feeling of claustrophobia, you made your way outside. You walked along the driveway, staring up at the great ash trees and feeling small. You wondered if Newt and Theseus had ever climbed these trees as children. You wondered if you could climb one of them now… You reached your arms up, grabbing at the tree's lowest branch. You looked for a rough place on the trunk to place your foot, frowning as the bark dug into your palms.
"What are you doing?" You huffed, turning to face Newt.
"What does it look like?" You said, raising a brow at him.
"I'm not exactly sure…" He trailed off, chuckling as you tried again to hoist yourself up on the branch.
"Newt, are you going to help me or not?"
"Oh," he said, giving a shy smile. "I'm meant to be your accomplice?"
"You've already seen too much," you said gravely, and he laughed. "Come on, then." Newt walked to you, making you squeak in surprise as he picked you up by the waist and lifted you towards the branch. You grabbed for it, pulling yourself up until you were perched on it, quite pleased with yourself. You grinned down at him. "Are you coming up?"
Newt watched you for a moment, deliberating, then shook his head. He removed his jacket, folding it neatly and placing it by the tree trunk before hoisting himself up onto the branch where you sat. You scooted over to give him space. You were both quiet for a moment, listening to the wind rustling through the leaves of the great tree. "Why are we up here?" Newt said finally, turning to look at you with a small smile.
You sighed, leaning your head back and closing your eyes. "I was just feeling a bit… overwhelmed on the ground." You opened an eye to see him studying you. "Needed a new perspective." He nodded, frowning to himself.
"When I was little, I used to climb these trees to escape."
"From what?"
Newt glanced at you quickly, giving you a shy smile. "Expectations."
You bit your lip, looking out towards the grassy fields. "I normally don't cover the Society pages, you know. I'm usually chasing after headlines."
"I've read your articles," Newt said, blushing when you raised a brow at him. "I had read them before I knew you, of course. But I re-read a few, recently."
You ignored the flutter of your heart. "Yes, well. I was demoted." You let silence hang between you until Newt spoke up, asking exactly what you thought he would.
"Why?"
You let out a shaky breath. "I… have a bit of a reputation. For being… uncouth. In my personal life." You could tell Newt knew what you meant by the way he colored.
"Yes," he coughed. "Well, I've never known what it was like to fit in, either. I always seem to do the exact opposite of what I'm expected to." He gave you a small smile. "Meeting expectations was always Theseus' strength."
"He seems like someone who has always been sure of himself," you said smiling.
"Yes," Newt agreed, his voice sounding strange. You looked at him. "I won't hold it against you, you know" he said, not meeting your eyes, "if you want to accompany him tonight. He really would be a better - "
"No," you interrupted quickly. Newt looked at you for a long moment and you scooted close to him, letting your shoulders touch. "Tell me something about yourself."
"Sorry?"
"Come on," you said, giving him a half-smile. "Anything."
"Oh, well, I'm allergic to - "
"No," you laughed. "No, something nobody else knows." Newt looked confused. "Like… oh, I don't know… what's your favorite scent?"
Newt gave you a lopsided grin. "Really?"
"Yes!" He arched a brow at you and you smiled. "Ok, I'll go first." You closed your eyes and thought for a moment. "I like the smell of the pavement after it rains. The smell of the air right before it's about to snow. Old books. Fresh sheets. The smell of leather." You opened an eye to see Newt staring at you. "You go."
He colored a bit, looking at the ground. "Well… I suppose the smell of dirt - wait, not dirt… grass. The earth." He looked at you, making sure you weren't laughing. You gave him a small smile of encouragement. "Also, the smell of ink and parchment. Wildflowers…" He licked his bottom lip, closing his eyes. "The smell of the ocean - of salt on skin. And lemon." You let your head fall to his shoulder and he stiffened.
"You smell a bit like the earth," you said. You felt him look down at you.
"Like dirt?"
You chuckled as he relaxed beneath you. "No," you smiled, turning your head into the crook of his neck and inhaling. "Like a warm summer day."
The sound of crunching gravel distracted you both, and Newt surprised you by straightening up and quickly jumping to the ground.
"Theseus," he said nervously, "I was just - "
Theseus waved a hand dismissively. "Our guests are here." He looked up, catching your eye and smiling. "Oh, hello up there, Miss Littlewood."
"Hello," you said brightly. You looked down over the side of the tree warily.
"Need help?" He was unsuccessfully hiding a smile.
"No," you said slowly. "Actually…"
Theseus chuckled, taking out his wand. He muttered a quick levitating charm and eased you to the ground slowly. "There you are."
"My hero," you said dusting yourself off. You glanced at Newt, pausing when you caught him looking at your strangely. "What?"
"Sorry," he said, a small smile playing over his lips. "You've just…" He reached up to the side of your face and brushed his fingers through your hair. "You had a leaf," he whispered.
"Oh…" You took a moment to appreciate the freckles that dotted his face. Theseus coughed, causing his brother to redden.
"Right," Newt said. "Our guests." He offered his arm to you and you took it, smiling.
"Lead the way."
You hid a smile behind your drink as you watched Newt from across the room. One of the elderly women from the Ministry had cornered him, talking to him at length about a problem she was having with Gnomes in her garden. His eyes flicked to yours in a silent plea for help, but you flashed him a smile instead. Theseus joined you at the bar and chuckled.
"Stuck with Mrs. Trickle, is he?"
You nodded, taking a sip of Firewhiskey. "Oh yes. For the past thirty minutes at least."
Theseus winced. "Tough luck." He refilled your glass for you and poured one for himself. "Cheers," he said. You clinked your glass with his and smiled.
"Ready for tonight?"
"Don't remind me," he groaned. "I hate these sorts of parties, especially when I'm the center of them."
"I would have thought you'd love to be the center of attention," you said, arching a brow at him. He laughed.
"You know, Newt is lucky he met you before me. I have a weakness for clever women."
You blushed. "I…"
"Oh, don't worry Miss Littlewood. Your 'secret' is safe with me." He winked at you and strutted away, joining his mother on the sofa. You bit your lip and looked towards Newt. He was trying to back away from Mrs. Trickle as subtly as possible, but with each step backwards he took, Mrs. Trickle took one forward. You decided to take pity on him.
"Excuse me," you said to the woman, stepping to Newt's side. You gave him a serious look. "I'm afraid there's a bit of an emergency at the Beast Division. They need your input straight away." Newt's mouth fell open momentarily before catching on.
"Oh...right," he said. "Oh, that is an emergency. I'm terrible sorry, Mrs. Trickle."
"Nothing serious, I hope?" The woman said, frowning.
"Nothing I can't sort out, I'm sure." Newt tried to give her a reassuring smile, though it came out as more of a grimace.
"If you'll excuse us," you said, pulling him away and towards the office.
"Yes, yes of course," she said, waving her hand. You dragged him into the office, shutting the door behind you. He sighed and leaned back against it, closing his eyes.
"How am I going to get through a whole night of that?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. You laughed and sat on top of his desk, letting your legs dangle. "It's not funny," he said, opening an eye and glaring at you.
"It really is," you countered.
"It's all Theseus fault, you know," he said with a small smile. "If he hadn't been so brave during the war… excuse me!" He arched a brow at you playfully as you looked up from reading one of his errant papers. "That's part of my book - I'm not finished yet."
"The Niffler has a penchant for glittering objects?" You read aloud, smiling. "Was that why he was in my jewelry box?" Newt stepped to you quickly, reaching for the paper. You held it out of his grasp. "No, no," you said laughing, "this is my evidence for when I take your Niffler into the Wizengamot for stealing my things."
"He didn't have a chance to nick anything, really," he said, trying to grab the paper again. "I stopped him, remember?"
"I remember you bursting into my room, rather inappropriately, actually." Newt stopped reaching and reddened immediately. His eyes flicked over you, as if reliving the moment.
"Yes," he said. "Yes, I remember." You looked up at him, getting lost momentarily in the green of his eyes. You reached up and brushed the hair from his face and he closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. "Is this real?"
"I think so," you said, breathless. You leaned up, brushing your lips against his. For a moment he didn't respond and you panicked, but before you could pull away he crashed his mouth down to yours. You gasped at his intensity, allowing him to deepen the kiss. His taste and smell washed over you, and when you felt his hand press on the small of your back you let out a soft sigh. He pulled back, resting his forehead on yours and breathing heavily.
"Sorry," he said.
"Whatever for?" You kissed the tip of his nose softly and he smiled. "I've never met someone like you, Mr. Scamander."
"Someone so eccentric?" You pulled back, locking your eyes with his.
"Someone so special," you said. He moved his hand to cup the side of your face, and you leaned into his touch as his thumb brushed over your cheek.
"I haven't… I don't…" Newt looked at you, struggling.
"It's ok," you said. You laid your head on his chest, listening to the wild beating of his heart. "It's ok."
You stayed like that for a long moment, afraid to break the silence and disturb whatever was happening between the two of you. Newt reluctantly spoke first. "I think Theseus will notice if we're not at his dinner…"
"Shite, Theseus…" You winced. "My interview. I need to go talk to him." You stood, smoothing your hands over the front of your dress. "Do I look alright?" Newt's eyes looked over you, softening.
"You're beautiful." You smiled, kissing him softly on the cheek.
"Wish me luck."
"You don't need it," he said, offering you a shy smile. "But good luck."
It took everything you had to leave him standing there.