disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Another chapter where things move quickly, but needed to get this out of the way. Enjoy.
Things moved forward slowly from there. Tina's feelings about her pregnancy varied from day to day. Some days she seemed unsure and terrified about it. Other she seemed to be completely accepting of it. She still didn't talk about the rape. That still worried Newt. She was still distant, most days.
Picquery had shifted Tina to a desk job when the pregnancy became apparent. Newt knew Tina was enduring more whispers from the Aurors and others, but she still didn't talk about it. The man who'd raped her still hadn't been caught. Despite what he had told Tina, Newt was starting to think he never would be.
Tina didn't ask to end their relationship, bu he could tell she thought she should, if only so he wouldn't be attached to what she had once refered to as a huge mess.
One evening when he knew Tina would be home from work, Newt risked sneaking past her landlady up the stairs to Tina's apartment. He could have Apparated, but that would be immensely rude when Tina hadn't invited him over.
He made it up the stairs and knocked on the door, glancing around. He wasn't entirely certain what the consequences of being caught by Mrs. Esposito would be. Tina opned the door and looked startled.
"Newt!" she hissed, grabbing him and yanking him into the apartment. "What are you doing?"
"I wanted to see you."
Newt felt this was obvious. Tina looked tired. Her hair was slightly messy and there were shadows beneath her eyes. Her shirt was part way untucked from her pants, giving her a slightly messy appearance.
"Well, you're now." Tina said, facing him fully after closing the door. "What do you want, Newt?"
Newt stood there awkwardly, then got down on one knee in front of Tina. If he was ever going to do something right in his life, this should be it. Tina's eyes widened.
"Tina." Newt took a deep breath, feeling nervous. "Will you marry me?"
Tina looked stunned.
"Newt-why? I'm . . . . . ." She shook her head. "Why would you-"
Newt held her gaze.
"I know what I'm asking for, Tina. And I want all of it."
Tina still stared at him. To Newt's alarm, a tear ran down her face. She nodded.
"Yes." Her voice caught for a moment. Then she laughed, smiling. It was the first real, full smile he'd seen from her since she had been raped.
"Yes." Tina repeated.
Newt pulled a ring out of his coat pocket. It was nothing fancy, silver with what he thought might have been a moonstone. It had belonged to his mother and she had given it to him years ago, probably before she'd given up hope of him marrying. He offered it to Tina silently. She nodded and he slipped it on to her finger. He stood, still holding Tina's hand. He smiled at her and Tina laughed.
This time it was Newt that leaned in for the kiss. Once it was over, Tina hugged him and simply hung on on to him.
"I love you, Newt." she said, resting her chin on his shoulder. "But I'm not sure I've done anything to deserve you. Especially not these past few months."
"I feel the same way. I have no idea what I've done to deserve you." Newt said, resting his cheek against her hair. "But I love you too, Tina."
XXXXXXX
They eloped a few days later.
They did it the Muggle way, going to the courthouse, exchanging inexpensive silver rings they'd bought on their way there. It was nothing fancy. Newt wore his usual clothes, making sure his tie was done neatly. Tina wore a long skirt and a blouse that in no way hid the swell of her stomach. That got some looks, but neither of them cared. Their vows were simple.
Once the ceremony was over, they left, hand in hand. Both of them were laughing a little. It was the first time Newt had seen Tina completely happy in months. They walked to a bakery and bought a slice of cake, which they shared at one of the tables. It seemed to be the thing to do, celebrating your marriage.
To Newt, it was more than that, smiling with Tina and completely at ease for the first time in a long time. He stared at the silver bands on their fingers and smiled at Tina. Before he could say anything to her, Pickett peeked out of his pocket. Newt placed his hand over the bowtruckle, aware of the Muggles surrounding them.
"Why am I not surprised he's with you?" Tina said, shaking her head slightly.
"We're trying to work on the attachment issues. Not much progress has been made, unfortunately." Newt lowered his hand once he was certain Pickett had ducked back into his pocket, no doubt pouting a little bit. "You stay in there, mister, or you'll be in trouble."
Tina was watching this with an amused expression.
"If I'd known you'd brought creatures, I would have suggested we got to Macusa instead."
"That would have been a good idea, considering the Muggle's reaction to our names."
Before the ceremony, Newt had never truly considered the fact that Muggles might find plenty of wizarding names odd. Tina was quiet for a moment.
"I love you, Newt." Her tone had changed somewhat and was much quieter than before.
"I love you too, Tina." he said, shifting a little closer to her.
Tina gave him a small smile.
"Oh, please. You only love me because of my salamander eyes."
Newt shifted again, looking down at the table.
"Upon reflection, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that in the vows." he said.
Tina took his hand.
"It's you, Newt. It's not as bad as you think."
Newt accepted this assement, considering she had been the one he'd been talking about and she seemed fine with it. Tina twirled her fork between her fingers.
"Is there anything you want to do today?" Newt asked her.
Now that they were married, the rest of the day seemed wide open and neither of them had given much thought of what to do past actually getting married.
"I don't know." Tina admitted.
They finished the slice of cake and left, simply wandering streets. Tina showed him some spots he had never visited before. It was a peaceful, happy day, the sort they hadn't seen in a long time. When they headed back to Tina's apartment-Newt had retrieved his case and left his room-they stopped at the door.
"Should I Apparate up?" Newt asked.
Tina smiled a little. "You're my husband. I think we can bend the rules."
Despite the words, they did creeup up the stiars and managed not to attract any sort of attention. Newt closed the door and set his case on the floor. Tina shrugged her coat off.
"Should we make dinner?" she suggested.
The sun had set by now and Tina waved her wand to light the apartment.
"I believe we can try." Newt said.
They managed to make dinner together, doing it the Muggle way. Newt enjoyed it and they talked over the meal. After that and taking care of the creatures, they were sitting together in front of the fire, listening to the wizarding radio.
Tina was cuddled beneath Newt's arm and they were relaxed. Tina silently took Newt's hand and rested it on her rounded belly. A few moments later, Newt felt movement beneath his hand. He jumped a little and looked at Tina. Tina laughed a little and he did too, but Newt removed his hand.
Eventually, they decided to go to bed. Newt hovered awkwardly in the doorway. This was something he hadn't truly thought about. He wondered if Tina would want him to sleep in Queenie's bed again. Tina turned back to him and must have guessed what he was thinking. She stood in front of him and kissed him, differently than she had ever kissed him before. When she pulled away, Newt just stared at her, realizing its meaning.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Tina nodded.
"I want to." she whispered, kissing him again.
This time he kissed her back.
XXXXXXXX
Two days later, Newt broached the subject that they should have talked about before they'd gotten married. Tina had the day off-he suspected she had more of these now because of her pregnancy.
"Where do you want to live?" he asked, watching as Tina tried to remove a stain from one of her shirts with magic.
"What?" She looked up at him.
"We need to discuss it. New York or London. Or somewhere else entirely."
Tina frowned, as if she hadn't thought of it before. She was clearly thining of everything he had described about his home back in England.
"Technically, you're breaking the law just by having the case in New York." That was true. "And I can't ask you to give up your life back in England. You've put it on hold for so long because of me."
Tina looked troubled. Newt realized she must have been thinking that she had been a massive disruption to his life.
"I stayed because I wanted to, Tina." he said.
She nodded. Newt waited. He honestly wasn't certain what he would do if Tina said she wnated them to stay in New York. He had so many creatues back in London that he knew without a doubt he would not be allowed to have in America.
"The British Ministry has an Auror department, doesn't it?" Tina said at last.
"Yes." Newt said, a little cautiously.
Tina took a deep breath, looking around the apartment.
"Then I think London it is."
Newt was started by how quickly she'd made the decision.
"Are you certain, Tina?" he asked.
Tina suddenly looked incredibly sad, as if some part of her had retreated back behind the barriers she had erected since she'd been raped. She looked out the window at the city beyond. She nodded.
"Yeah."
They went to see Picquery the next day. As they headed up Macusa's steps, Newt saw the way some of the witches and wizards looked at Tina.
They all knew what had happened to her and they could all see that she was pregnant. Plenty of them were staring at Newt as well, but for much different reasons. Tina walked with her head high. Newt felt proud of her for that, but all he could think of was how many days, weeks, months she had endured this. They were let in to see Picquery at once. Picquery rose to meet them.
"Miss Goldstein. Mister Scamander."
"Madam President." Tina said, suddenly seeming nervous.
"Madam President." Newt said, feeling a little awkward.
They sat in chairs in front of Picquery's desk. Newt saw Picquery's eyes linger on his and Tina's wedding bands.
"I see that congratulations are in order."
"Thank you, Madam President." Newt said. Tina echoed this.
"Do what do I owe this visit?" Picquery asked.
Tina cleared her throat. They had previously decided that Tina would do most of the talking here.
"I want to tell you that I'm resigning from the Auror department, Madam President."
Picquery looked surprised by this.
"I have to say, this comes as a surprise, Miss Goldstein."
Picquery didn't say the obvious -if Tina had been going to quite, she'd though it would have been months before. One of Tina's hands drifted to the bulge of her stomach.
"I'm hoping to transfer to the Auror department of the British Ministry, ma'am. Newt and I have decide to live in London."
Picquery nodded slowly.
"While you were an assent to the Auror department, Goldstein, I'm not going to lie. This may be for the best. For the both of you."
Picquery's gaze slid to Newt and in that moment he understood that Picquery knew for a fact that his case had been in New York this whole time. And she had let him get away with it for Tina's sake.
"I will give you the highest recommendation possible to the British Ministry, Goldstein. I wish you both luck and I hope that you'll be able to start over."
The conversation went quikcer than Newt had anticipated it would.
"Thank you, Madam President." Tina said quietly.
They both stood.
"I will arrange a Portkey for the both of you when you are ready to leave for London." Picquery said as they were about to leave.
This surprsied both Newt and Tina and they looked at each other.
"Thank you, Madam President." Newt said.
Picquery nodded and they left the office. Newt felt almost confused by the whole thing. They stayed long enough to collect Tina's things from her desk. Newt was aware of whispers. He started to turn towards the closest person, who he would have been willing to bet had been the Auror who had called Tina a slut, but Tina's fingers closed around his wrist gently.
"Don't, Newt." she said quietly. "It doesn't matter."
They went back to Tina's apartment after this. It didn't take long for them to gather and pack Tina's things, but they decided to wait until the next day to leave. Tina arranged with the landlady to be able to leave the apartment intact for Queenie, should she ever turn up, and she cast spells to keep it that way. Queenie was another subject that Tina refused to talk about.
Newt just stopped to watch Tina for a moment. Parts of her were retreating back behind her walls. He was starting to wonder if it would always be that way. She was moving past the rape as best she could, but Newt knew it would always be with her in some capacity. Her nightmares were slowly lessening, but they still came. And her feeligns towards her pregnancy were still twisted up together.
The next evening, they stood together in the doorway of the apartment, each with a case, Tina with an additional, slightly magical bag. She was standing there in silence, staring at the apartment.
"Tina?" Newt said gently, touching her shoulder gently. "Are you certain you want to do this?"
Tina didn't look at him, just kept her gaze where it was. She nodded. She looked almost haunted and her voice was just as hollow when she spoke.
"There's nothing left for me here."
Author's Note: Please review!
