Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...Continued.

15: Waiting to Know

TINA
As frustrating as it was waiting for a law to be passed (or rejected), Tina was in hopeful spirits. All the other Aurors were asking her who she was coming to the gala with, and she just said "A friend of mine from overseas." She wasn't much for drawing attention to herself, but she couldn't wait for everyone to see that her date to the galla was the beautiful British man who let all his creatures out in New York before capturing them all, along with Gellert Gridelwald. Newt Scamander was a highly talked about topic in the Auror office, but when asked about him, Tina replied, "Well, I know he doesn't enjoy talking to strangers much. He's a very shy man, Mr. Scamander is."
No one got any more information about him out of her.
As for the law they discussed with Madam Picquery, they had heard nothing. There had been a few Auror meetings with the president since the presentation, but Madam Picquery didn't mention anything, which didn't surprise Tina. She figured it was illegal for her to leak any information, but ut was hard for Tina to contain her eagerness for some scrap of information. It was even harder for Queenie, of course, who had become increasingly jittery as the days went by. Tina noticed that she bounced her legs when sitting, tapped her foot when standing, and tossed and turned in bed while trying to fall asleep.
One week exactly after the presentation with Picquery, Tina woke to Queenie (already dressed of course) chopping up onions and potatoes and adding them to a large pot. As she took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, she asked,
"Is that for dinner?"
"Yeah," Queenie said drumming her toes on the ground as the diced vegetables flew into a large pot of brown broth on the stove. "Beef soup. I'll let it simmer while we're at work. That way, the beef will be tender and it'll be ready to eat when we get home."
"You could just make it with magic instantly when we get home," Tina pointed out.
"Well...I know," Queenie said quietly. "But I feel like it'll taste better with more time and effort invested in it." She shrugged.
Tina nodded as she ate her apple and drank her coffee. The air in their apartment was more and more tense with every day that went by, more anticipation as they picked up the morning papers together when they walked into work together.
That morning, the Goldstein sisters headed to work, walking in a pair as they usually did until they parted at the elevators to go to their seperate departments. When they walked inside the MACUSA building, Tina immediately knew that something was up. The lobby was unusually crowded and there was an air of excitement as people talked emphatically from all around them. Queenie was shaking. She turned to Tina, her eyes wide with worry, anticipation, and hope.
"Do you think this is it?" Queenie asked her sister, gripping her shoulders like a vice.
"I don't know, but something is going on," Tina said, peering around for a glimpse at a paper or banner or anything that might hold information. "There!" She and Queenie hurried to the nearest New York Ghost stand. Tina grabbed the paper, and read the headline aloud.
"The Magical Congress of the USA instates a new law-" Queenie buried her face in Tina's shoulder. "-regarding the marrital joining of No-majs and wizards. The practice is completely legal as of today, at six o'clock in the morning. The only exception is that the No-maj must make an Unbreakable Vow never to tell another No-Maj for as long as he/she shall live."
Queenie had let out a squeal and grabbed Tina from behind, jumping up and down.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" She said in a suprisingly quiet, strangled voice. She changed her expression of euphoria to an expression of pain in a heartbeat, and began clutching her knee dramatically. No one seemed to notice as Tina took her hand and led her limping sister to the nearest bench. Tina was confused at first; then she heard Mr. Abernathy's voice behind her and Queenie winked at her and gave her a look that said just help me out of this one. Suddenly she understood; she gave Queenie a curt nod and turned to Abernathy, concern painted across her face.
"What's wrong, Goldstein?" He asked, looking worried as well.
"I think she twisted her knee just now...." she said, feigning confusion. Queenie winced, rubbing her knee.
"Yeah, I think it's sprained. I have some potion I take for things like this at home...think I could go and take some?" She looked pleadingly at Abernathy.
"Of course," he said immediately. "Things are slow at the wand permit office, anyway. Just come back around..." he looked at her, and she waited expectantly. "Nah. Just take the rest of the day off. Feel better." He walked away awkwardly.
"Well, sis," Queenie said, barely containing her smile. "I guess we'll see you when you get home."
"We, huh?" Tina smiled.
Queenie winked at her as she limped away.

The Auror office was uneventful that day. Tina had nothing to do but boring paperwork. Some of her coworkers came by to bid her good morning and give her more boring paperwork. It wasn't until after lunch that anything interesting happened, and afterward, Tina thoroughly wished that it had never happened.
An owl landed on her shoulder as she was walking back to work from the hot dog stand. She discreetly took it into an alley when no one was looking and opened the letter, happy to see who it was from. Her happiness continued, until the whole mood of the letter changed. It was confusing at first; it seemed to be a quick conversation between Newt and a guy named Sven, about an escaped Norwegian Ridgeback. There had been no final words, just Newt assuring Sven he'd be there in a second.
Tina began to think, a sense of dread growing stronger every second. Assuming that a Norwegian Ridgeback was a dragon, (which it probably was), Newt, Sven, and the other men that worked in Romania had to guide it back to it's pen. Sven seemed frantic, so the dragon was probably hard to deal with....
What could have happened to Newt? The question hit Tina in the face with so much weight she felt dizzy and had to lean against a wall. Was he all right? He had said he was an expert, and the way he handled his creatured created no doubt in her mind that he was...but dragons were huge. Newt had said so himself. It took multiple wizards to handle just one. He could've been scratched, bitten, or burned. Or worse...
"No," Tina said firmly, out loud. "No, he's fine, I'm sure of it." But her voice wavered.
Tina grabbed the owl and Apparated straight into the alley behind MACUSA and brought it inside with her. She needed to write something back; just a quick letter to make sure he was okay.
Dear Newt,
Are you all right? Did you round the dragon up okay? The way your last letter ended worries me.
As for the presentation, the law was passed today. I expect Queenie's restoring Jacob's memory as I write this.
Anyway, just checking up on you.
Love,
Tina Goldstein.
She sent the letter off, her lips pressed tightly together as she raced to finish the boring paperwork.

I figured a new chapter could be my present to you for my birthday 😄 Enjoy, guys! ⚡👓