They stepped out from the subway and into the crisp city air as the vibrant lights from the outside of all the clubs, restaurants, and theatres simultaneously illuminated their eyes, and they unconsciously all gasped at the sudden thrill to their senses. Crowds walked hurriedly in all directions around them; young couples in their evening wear out for their date night, groups of young flapper women chatting with their cigarettes elegantly held by their holders in small, delicate, gloved hands, and groups of suited men with their cigars discussing business and the aforementioned women. The city was alive with jazz music from the various clubs dancing through the air with the scent of various perfumes and tobacco as its partner. Newt couldn't help the awe-struck expression that appeared on his face as he looked up and down the street with what was genuine excitement. He typically wasn't one for large crowds, noises, or overwhelming situations in general—but he felt himself increasingly being drawn in to the energetic nightlife with each second he observed it.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Tina said excitedly, surprised herself that she had even agreed to this evening in the first place, let alone the fact she was standing here now. She also was a quieter, more withdrawn person herself—but even she missed the occasional nights when she would join Queenie on her adventures, creating memories she couldn't remember, but still would never forget.

"I-it really is." Newt stammered, before breaking his focus from everything around him and looking over at Tina. Her face was beaming, with her smile wider than he had ever seen it, and her large mocha eyes glistening with the city lights. His cheeks turned a light rose as he made himself look back at the street.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Queenie exclaimed, looking over at the both of them. "I say that first, we hit Connie's Inn. You'll love it, Mr. Scamander—the music is unreal and the people are wild fun! Tina will tell ya!"

Tina looked up at Newt, knowing how uncomfortable he could get in large, busy company. She gave him a sympathetic smile. He looked down for a moment, knowing that one way or another he was going to be forced into a club—and he knew nothing about them, or anything about this city in general, so there wasn't much of a point in disagreeing. He shrugged, looking back up at the both of them.

"Sure. Okay."

Queenie giggled with excitement, linked arms with her sister and headed down the street. Newt timidly walked right behind them, still glancing around as he took in the lively atmosphere around them. The streets of Harlem at night were definitely a sight to see, and he could feel a small sense of comfort growing as he adjusted to the energy and charm.

A large illuminated sign flashed at the front of the building, "Connie's" spelled out going down the length of it, with "Inn" at the very bottom. The sound of smooth jazz and laughter emanated from the building as elegant crowds were entering the building as inconspicuously as they could.

"Now, try not to have too much fun tonight Mr. Scamander," Queenie looked over at him and winked. "Connie's Inn is a façade. This is really a speakeasy. If you didn't know, alcohol is illegal here—meaning you can't be stumbling down the streets when we leave."

He chuckled lightly, looking down and nodding. He hadn't even thought about it, really—he wasn't much of a drinker. Tina unlinked with her sisters arm and moved over to link with Newt. He abruptly looked up at her, meeting her wide smile which made him unwittingly smile right back at her.

They moved in towards the entrance, taking an immediate turn once they were inside, which led down a hallway that ended with a staircase. Queenie led the way in front of them down the stairs. She tapped on the door, and was immediately met with an opened slit at the top of the door in which part of a man's face appeared.

"What's the password?" The main said in a humorous tone.

"Oh, Robert, let me in!" Queenie giggled, and the door was opened. The sound of jazz and a lively crowd was immediately amplified, taking Newt back a bit, and Tina squeezed his arm softly. He composed himself as they all stepped into the speakeasy.

"Queenie, nice to see ya!" A man at one of the tables yelled to her as they walked through to the bar. She cheekily blew him a kiss.

The club was more expansive than Newt had expected; elegant black wood accented with gold lined the walls and large, ornate black and yellow chandeliers hung from the ceiling across the space. There must have been thirty or so tables placed throughout, and at the far end from the entrance was a grand stage. There were two grand bars against both adjacent walls, opulent and also accented with gold art-deco design.

"Oh…" Is all Newt could say, blown away by the overwhelming ambience.

They reached the bar, and the bartender also immediately recognized Queenie. He nudged at the other bartender, who turned and immediately lit up.

"Hey, hey, look who it is—my favorite vamp!"

Queenie blushed a little and gave him a teasing look. "And look who I got to come out with me!" She grabbed Tina by her arm and brought her slightly forward.

"Aww, Tina! Haven't seen you around either—how ya been? You came out for the perfect night. We're throwing a birthday party for one of our closest chums. It's going to be a good time."

"Hey, what are you all drinking?" The other bartender chimed in.

"Three Sidecars." Queenie quickly ordered, smiling back at Newt and Tina.

They were served their drinks and they sat down at a table towards the back of the room. Newt sipped his cocktail, which clearly was a bit stiff compared to what he was used to, and Tina laughed.

"Aww, Newt. Just sip it."

The melodic swing of Fletcher Henderson and his band flowed through the room, and Newt could feel himself starting to finally relax. The air was filled with laughter, yelling, and random chatter, and as the night was going on, more people were starting to get up and dance in front of the stage. Queenie was one of them—her laughter could be heard louder than anyone else's, as she swung across the dancefloor with a handsome, dark-haired man.

Tina knew better than to expect that out of Newt, though.

"So… You used to come here often?" Newt inquired, taking another sip of his cocktail.

"W-well, you know, sometimes Queenie got me to climb out of our apartment," she laughed. "It's not really my thing, but it's nice to get a breath of fresh air every once in a while."

A waiter walked up to their table, setting a drink before her. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Oh, I didn't order another—"

"This is courtesy of the gentleman at the bar." He answered, gesturing with his head and looking behind them. Both Newt and Tina turned to look, and there stood a tall, light-eyed and light-haired man in a grey and black striped suit with a brown tie, who nodded at Tina once their eyes met. He smirked as he held up his drink to her, and then looked away and took a sip. The waiter bowed slightly to them and walked away.

She turned back towards the table, not acknowledging him, as her cheeks turned bright red. Newt awkwardly turned back as well, looking down at the table and unsure if it was his place to ask. With the alcohol flowing through his system, he did anyway.

"U-Uhm, is that—"

"It's a long story, Newt." Tina clumsily interrupted. She took another sip of her drink. "I'm sorry. He's just someone I used to know." She still was too embarrassed to look at him.

"Okay, then. Well, uh, I'm going to use the restroom. I'll return in a moment." And with that he gracelessly made his way across the room.


Tina sighed heavily, staring at the drink sitting before her. Well, I'm not going to waste it. She finished the drink she had already been working on, and then picked up the other, taking a large sip.

That's when she felt a presence beside her, which caused her to look up with the glass still at her lips.

"Tina Goldstein," the deep voice calmly addressed her, before he sat down at the table. "How wonderful it is to see you. It's been a long time."

There sat the man who had ordered her drink—his electric green eyes set on her as he smirked. She slowly set her drink down and gave a half-effort smile, then swallowed before looking back up at him.

"Richard." She answered. "Yes, it's been a while."

"You look beautiful." He kept his eyes on her face as she tried as much as she could to not look back. "Just as beautiful as I remembered."

Her cheeks turned a rose hue, as she now looked down at her lap. She wished she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him, but she did, all too well. After they graduated together from Ilvermorny, she was sure he was going to propose to her. They had dated since they were in their third year, and were the envy of everyone. Everyone was sure they would make it—young and hopeful, she thought it was only a matter of months when they moved in together. She had a vision; they were going to make this new apartment in Manhattan their home. She had a plan; they were going to get married, and have delicate, beautiful little babies while she worked in her dream government job and he a rising star in acting.

He didn't share that vision, or that plan.

The last time Tina had set eyes on the man now sitting next to her, he was above her best friend in the bed they shared. They were in the "throes of passion" as one might say, and as she opened the door, the two closest people in her life stared back at her, wide-eyed and speechless.

"I appreciate the drink, Richard, but I think you should leave." She said sternly, only looking up slightly at the table, still unwilling to look him in the eyes.

"Now, Tina, I'm just trying to talk to you." He lightly touched her arm and sat closer to her.

Newt left the restroom and made his way back to their table, looking down at the ground the entire time so he wouldn't bring any attention to himself. He wasn't completely drunk yet, but he could certainly feel it, and was oddly embarrassed of it. It had been a very long time since he was at any level of intoxication.

He looked up once he was within feet of the table, and saw the man from the bar sitting next to her. His eyes followed to see his hand resting on her arm. His immediate reaction was to back away and leave, find a hotel and call it a night. He then studied Tina closer, and noticed the uncomfortable look on her face as she looked down at the table, leaning away from him as he spoke to her. He felt a foreign sense of anger bubble up inside of his chest and approached them.

"Excuse me, I don't think—"

"Yes, excuse you. We're having a conversation." Richard looked up at Newt now, a clear expression of irritation on his face.

Tina looked up at him desperately, her wide eyes begging for him to save her.

Newt had been drinking, but he hadn't drank enough for this. He took a step back, looking down at the ground again. "O-Oh, well—" He began to turn away, unsure of what else he could do, and unable to make himself be any more confrontational.

"Newt! Please!" Tina sprang up from her chair, ripping her arm from Richard, as she took ahold of Newt's. Newt rapidly turned back around to face Tina, feeling his anxiety spike and his mind start to panic. Richard stood up immediately and stepped towards them, his eyes now more intense, looking at first Tina, and then Newt.

"This is none of your business—"

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

A voice rang out from the stage—the bartender from when they first arrived was at the microphone. He had a wide, toothy smile on his face as he held a drink in his hand.

"I'm pleased to announce, our guest of honor has arrived—" He gestured at someone in the crowd to come up on stage, looking down to his right. A drunken laugh came from that direction as a figure started to emerge towards the stage.

"—Jacob Kowalski!"

And there he was, walking towards his friend, as he nodded, smiling, while shaking his head.

"You've outdone yourself this time." Jacob chuckled into the microphone.

Tina's mind immediately went to Queenie, and she quickly started searching the room. She had no idea how Queenie was going to handle this—seeing him so soon, just a couple of days after everything that had happened. Her sister had just been in tears hours earlier over this man, and now here he was under bright lights and the focus of the club. Her eyes started to water as she tore into the crowds, desperately searching for her sister.

"Queenie! Queenie!" She called as quietly as she could, not wanting to interrupt what was going on, but needing to find her sister. She turned to look at the face of each head of blonde curls she passed, but none of them were her.

"Tina—" Newt attempted to follow her as the people in the crowd were becoming increasingly irritated at being pushed through. "Sorry, sorry…" He muttered as he tried to keep up.

He finally was able to reach her, and softly touched her arm. Tina glanced back at him but continued to push forward. He sighed and continued following her.

"Queenie!" He heard her exclaim, and saw Queenie's face turn towards her sister.

"Shh!" She put her fingers to her mouth.

Tina and Newt had completely missed the words Jacob and the bartender exchanged on stage, and they were now walking off to the side as an eruption of clapping engulfed the room.

"Queenie—are you—"

"Tina! You worry too much," Queenie clumsily said, her eyes slightly glazed over, but she was clearly still coherent. "I-I'm okay. I'm going to go say hello." Queenie pushed lightly past her sister and made her way towards the bar where Jacob now was chatting with a group of men.

Tina looked back at Newt, a look of resignation on her face. She shrugged and tiredly smiled at him.

"Well, that's a relief, at least."

Newt felt exhausted himself, and managed a smile back. Tina linked arms with him again once more as they made their way to the bar as well.

"Listen, Newt, I know this is probably a lot for you," she started as they walked through the crowd. "Thank you."

She looked up at him, and he simply nodded. "Of course, Tina."

They joined her sister at the bar and ordered another round of drinks.


"It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" Newt asked, unable to find a clock in the room. They had already drank two more rounds of cocktails, and he was feeling extremely tipsy.

Tina laughed. "Newt, it's probably about eleven." She took a sip of her drink. "The night is still young."

He let out a playful sigh, not wanting to be a downer when Tina and Queenie were still having fun. Queenie especially—she had been eagerly chatting with Jacob and his friends for the past hour or so.

"Raid!"

A voice tore through the entire room, as a man ran through the entrance and then stood on one of the tables.

"Raid! Everyone out! Now!"

Within seconds everyone in the room was scrambling and chaos broke out. The sound of glass shattering from drinks being dropped was heard throughout the club, and chatter and yelling of panic filled the air. Newt instinctively brought Tina close to him to protect her, although he was extremely nervous himself, as he made his way while holding her while heading towards where everyone else was going. He was paralyzed with fear and unable to speak, and Tina just clung to him as they moved with the crowd. Tina instinctively glanced around for her sister, but couldn't find her before they were out the door.

The secret exit left everyone running in either direction down an alleyway, and Newt led Tina to the right. They hurried until they reached a left turn that they took, hiding in the corner of a gate where the alley had a dead end. They hid in the shadows as people ran by, soon followed by police. Some minutes later, everything fell silent.

Newt's breathing was only now starting to steady, and Tina stepped away from his hold to catch her own breath. They both looked down at the ground, attempting to process the fact they almost were arrested—by No-Majs, nonetheless.

"L-look… I tried to do this. For you. I can't—"

"Newt…" Tina stepped towards him. She felt a rush of guilt take over, and her face fell as she watched him in the corner, still breathing irregularly and looking at the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't know all of this would happen, I thought we would have fun—"

"Who is he?" Newt looked up at her, the alcohol in his system giving him courage. His mind was pushing him to find out. He needed to know. He needed to know if she still…

"What?" Taken completely by surprise, Tina looked at him quizzically. They almost had just been arrested, and that was still on his mind?

"…Nevermind, it's not my business—" He looked back down at the ground, ashamed by his nerve.

"Do you want it to be?"

Newt now met her eyes again, the deep shades of caramel glistening against the moonlight. She stood there, staring at him.

He reached a hand out towards her, grabbing ahold of her jacket and gently pulling her towards him. He was acting purely on instinct now, unable to verbalize anything he was feeling. Tina's eyes widened and gazed deep into his, as their faces were only inches apart.

He leaned in towards her and passionately pressed his lips against hers, which she immediately reciprocated. Her hands traced along his jawline and then cradled his head, her fingers entwined in his messy hair. His other hand reached around and desperately grabbed her hips, pulling her against him, and they both fell against the brick wall. She let a soft moan escape from her throat, as he pushed his tongue between her lips and brought her closer.

She pressed both palms against his chest, slowly dragging her hands down his hard chest and stomach. She felt his hard length press against her, making her gasp as she felt her knees go weak. She felt a pulse of need through her body and warmth between her thighs, as she gently lowered her hands and tugged at his waistband, pulling him harder against her. This caused him to let out a low growl as he broke away from her lips and began kissing below her ear. Her skin was sweeter than he had imagined—he couldn't get enough as his lips kissed continuously down her neck, eventually finding the curves of her breasts he had been craving to touch with each glance he stole at her plunging neckline throughout the evening.

"O-Oh, Newt…"

He smirked against her skin and continued kissing her slowly back up to below her ear. Still holding her, he turned them both around and her back was now against the wall. He placed both hands on the wall at each side of her, breathing heavily and gazing deep into her eyes. He studied her striking features with a conflicted look on his face, making her heart ache. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a rush of anxiety run through him, and the liquid courage was starting to wear off. How could I take advantage of her like this? She was feeling overwhelmed and nervous herself, but the last thing she wanted was for Newt to feel like he did anything wrong. She reached her hand out towards him and held his chin.

"Tina..."

Tina put her finger up to his lips as she gave him an understanding smile.

"Tina!" A voice rang out through the alley. They both jumped away from each other, Tina tucking herself back into her dress as she turned towards the sound. Newt fumbled around for a moment, quickly putting his hands in his pockets just before two figures emerged in front of the alley.

"Teenie, Newt! There you are! Let's go—Landmark Tavern is still open!"

There stood Queenie and Jacob, curiously peering down the alley at them.

"Come on!" Queenie motioned with her hands, a smirk growing across her face as she began to realize what she interrupted.

Both Newt and Tina sheepishly, briefly glanced at each other, and then looked down at the ground as they left.


A/N: And here ends chapter two! I had to do a LOT of research for this chapter, because although I know some things about the twenties, I wanted everything to be as accurate as possible. Connie's Inn and Landmark Tavern were real speakeasies in Harlem at the time, Fletcher Henderson did play there fairly often, and I tried to portray the language and decor as accurately as possible. Thank you so much for reading, and please let me know what you think!