Chapter Three

The Arrival

After nearly four days' journey, the ship finally pulled in to port in New York City. Not wanting to look suspicious, Newt removed the twine from his suitcase and stuffed it into his pocket. He double-checked to make sure that, when opened, his suitcase would reveal only clothing and sundries, and then he joined the queue forming to disembark from the ship. Just behind him was Ezekiel. Newt felt his palms begin to sweat. He'd avoided most contact with Ezekiel since the first day on the ship, but it was a relatively small craft and their quarters were near each other so, inevitably, they'd run into each other on a few occasions. Ezekiel always made small talk and asked more personal questions than Newt was comfortable answering, and Newt always replied minimally and timidly, hoping that eventually Ezekiel would catch on and leave him alone.
He met with no such luck, of course.

"Hello, Newt," Ezekiel said, and Newt barely withheld an audible sigh.

"Hello, Ezekiel."

"I suppose this is where we say goodbye." The taller man sighed.

"I suppose it is." Replied Newt, sounding much more upbeat about the matter.

"Maybe I'll see you around the city, though."

"Well, it's a big city."

"True, but still. It's possible."

Newt felt vaguely threatened, as though Ezekiel was implying that he knew they were going to be encountering each other. In lieu of replying, he shrugged his shoulders and stepped forward as the line advanced.

"You're not very talkative, are you?" The man asked, stepping closer to Newt. He leaned forward and barely whispered into the redhead's ear, "I bet you're a Hufflepuff."

Newt's spine stiffened, and his heart began pounding.

"Sorry, what was that?" he queried, trying to look innocent as he turned to face the tall man.

"A Hufflepuff." Ezekiel repeated, quietly. "I was a Gryffindor, myself. Of course, that was probably before your time."

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about." Newt tried to continue in line, but Ezekiel closed the distance once again.

"You think I don't recognize you, Mr. Scamander?" he asked, his breath sending a shudder through Newt's limbs. "You think I don't recognize that suitcase?"

"I'm afraid I still haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, Mr. Nordquist."

"It was in all the papers, and you thought you could just slip by under my radar?" Newt breathed a sigh of relief as he felt solid ground under his shoes and saw that he was near the end of the line.

"I didn't intend to slip by anything." Newt said, truthfully. "I'm not a spy, I'm just going to my friend's wedding."

"That'd be Ms. Goldstein, then? A real shame, Newt, I was rooting for you."

"How did you—" Ezekiel cut Newt off with a gentle nudge towards the gate and stepped to the side, to a gate of his own, and just like that, he was gone.

Newt stepped forward, placed his suitcase on the table, opened it, and was waved through. He scanned the dispersing crowd and spotted Queenie and Jacob standing near a pillar. He stepped towards them, mustering up all his cheer and focusing his thoughts on anything but the strange man from the boat. He couldn't have Queenie catching wind of what was up, it would be too much for her to keep to herself and he didn't want to worry anyone. Though he was remarkably shaken up by the encounter, he made himself think only of the people standing in front of him, focusing on every detail of their features. Jacob quickly closed the space between them, letting go of Queenie's hand and barreling towards Newt. He swept him up in a huge embrace, nearly smashing the slight man in between his beefy arms. Newt gasped for breath and weakly patted Jacob's shoulder, which was the only part of him he could reach with his arms so crushed by Jacob's. After a moment, Jacob set him down, and Newt could see that there were tears in the man's eyes.

"I've missed you, Newt. I've really missed you. Ever since Queenie slipped me that potion – thank you so much for that, by the way – I've been looking forward to this moment. It is so good to see you."

"It's lovely to see you, Jacob. I'm so glad it worked."

"Me, too. Don't get me wrong, I was in love with Queenie even without having my memories back, but I don't know how I thought my life was interesting when I didn't have memories of you in it, and the creatures…" he trailed off. "You didn't bring the creatures with you this time, did you?"

"Well…" Newt shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I did, actually. But I'm going to be a lot more careful, and we're not going to swap cases this time. I'm not letting it out of my sight." He pulled the twine from his pocket and knotted it tightly around the case.

"Hello, Newt," a delicate voice said from the side. Newt turned and grinned at Queenie.

"Hi," he said, hugging her gently. She kissed his cheek and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're tired, sweetie! You haven't showered in so long. Come on, let's get you home." Suddenly, a sad look crossed her face. "I know, honey. I was expecting her to marry you, too." She put a hand on his arm and took Jacob's hand in her other one, and the three proceeded down the street together.