Lovers (A Newtina Fanfic)

Part 2

Tina woke up the next morning, early, as she always did. She vaguely recalled the early hours of the morning, talking with Newt. She felt the part of the bed next to her. It was empty but slightly warm. Newt must have gotten up to feed the creatures. The kelpie was always hungry.

Jumping out of bed and tidying it, she thought, I must have scared Nagini with that scream. I should apologize. She quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth. Moving around the room, she kept a quick, anxious pace. Five minutes later, she was out in the kitchen, ready to grab something so she could leave. She sped to the nearest food item, which was a pear. Before she could grab it, a pale, spider-like hand snatched it up.

"Before you leave to do important things, there are two things that need to be done. I made you a breakfast sandwich because you can not run on a pear. And it's five forty-five in the morning, for goodness sake, so sit down and eat it at the table. We need to talk," Nagini stated, holding the pear as far away from Tina as possible. With the other hand, she slid a steaming egg, ham and cheese sandwich to Tina. Tina dug in, grateful. It was delicious.

"What did you want to talk about?" Tina asked, in between ravenous bites.

"The sleeping arrangement. Newt is much better at comforting you then I could ever be." With that, she paused, and yelled, "NEWT!"

"Right," Tina said, slightly confused. Newt came rushing up.

"Yes? Oh, good morning Tina, Nagini," he said.

"I propose that Jacob switches beds with Tina. I'm sure we can put a bit of a screen up between Jacob and I. You two should sleep together. Well, in the same room," Nagini explained.

"I don't know about that," Tina said.

"It might be good, though. I think you scared Nagini last night. It might be better." Newt said, quietly.

"Exactly!" Nagini exclaimed.

"Sorry about last night," Tina apologised.

"I'll tell Jacob. It'll be done by tonight," Nagini said, ignoring Tina in her excitement.

"Can I have my pear back?" Tina asked, trying to grab it. Nagini held it out of her reach for a couple of seconds, and then handed it to her.

"I should probably get back downstairs," Newt said.

"I should leave," Tina said.

"Bye, Tina," Nagini said. Newt and Tina both stood up, and Newt pressed a little kiss to her cheek.

"Have a good day at work," Newt said, as if hunting down criminals and spies was an everyday office job.

"See you later," Tina said, slipping on her oxfords. She then apparated to the Ministry.

Theseus was pacing in his office. He needed to know more. That letter didn't reveal as much as they needed. Though the person who wrote the letter said there would be more letters. And they didn't even know who was sending them. For all they could know, it could be an elaborate ruse by Grindelwald. And then Leta. He thought she was dead. He had accepted it. But the letter said she was alive. There were too many things to focus on. He hoped Tina and the other aurors could shed some light on it.

A sharp tap on the door interrupted his train of thought.

"Come in," he said. In came a timid looking girl, only about nineteen. The assistant secretary to the Minister. She had risen in the ranks faster than anyone he had ever met.

"The aurors and the Minister are all assembled in a conference room. Miss Goldstein has the letter. They're all waiting for you, sir," the girl said.

"Alright. Let's get a move on, shall we," Theseus replied. He opened the door, ushering the girl through. The two quickly walked to the conference room, the girl organizing her papers with her wand as they walked.

Tina nervously clutched the letter, fidgeting in her seat. Where was Theseus? Before she could say something, Theseus walked in with the secretary. She inwardly sighed with relief. Theseus took his place at the table. The Minister rapped twice on the table to get everyone's attention.

"It has come to my attention an anonymous person has sent us a letter. A spy from Grindlewald's headquarters. Currently, Miss Goldstein is in possession of it. Miss Goldstein, please read it out loud," said the Minister. Tina did. She finished, and immediately the chatter started. People talked at the same time, getting louder and louder until Tina had enough and stood up.

"There's something else. You all don't know who sent the letter. But I do." Tina paused to let that sink in, then continued. "It's Queenie. Queenie Goldstein, my younger sister."

"Why should we take your word for it? We don't even know who your sister is," protested one of the aurors.

"I know my sister, and I've reviewed countless of her papers. This writing is her handwriting. It looks the same. Exactly the same. Trust me," Tina said. A couple more aurors stood up, ready to protest further, but they were interrupted by a tawny owl flying in. It landed in front of Tina. She untied the scroll attached to its talons, and the owl hooted and flew away.

"What is it?" the Minister demanded. Tina unfurled it, and said,

"It's another letter. It's addressed to me."

"Well, read it aloud," the Minister said. Tina took a deep breath and read,

"Dear Teenie,

I bet those eagle eyes of your's have picked up who I am. But ignore that right now.

As I've said, Grindelwald has given the boy, Credence, a wand. He's blown up a cliff again. Yes, again. Grindelwald thought that giving Credence a wand would get rid of the obscurus, but I fear that it's making him more unstable. All the obscurus's power is being channelled through the wand, so there are uncontrollable bursts of magic. And then bad things happen, like cliffs being blown up. The most recent one resulted in a landslide, burying a No-Maj town. I don't know how to stop it. You and Newt might be able to.

I say this regretfully, but an auror's been killed. His name was Brian Carpenter, and that's all I know about him. He refused to give away any information even when he was threatened with death. He died without sharing one secret. I've cremated him and thrown his ashes to the wind. I know his family would want his body, but it was either that or his body being tossed off a cliff. Cremating him was the best I could do. I apologize, and please tell the Carpenters. More aurors will die if you do not hurry.

Cast a seeking spell on this letter, say Nurmengard Castle, and it'll lead to a portkey I've set up on the outskirts of London.

Please hurry.

Sincerely,

A Friend."

"Who's Teenie?" asked an auror.

"It's my sister's pet name for me. Only she would know that" Tina answered.

"How do you even know your sister's with Grindlewald?" another auror challenged.

"She walked into the flames to join Grindlewald. She's the legilimens we saw in the theatre," Tina said.

"But she's a traitor then! She's feeding Grindlewald information!" exclaimed the auror sitting across from her.

"I'm sure can explain her actions to us if we go to Nurmengard Castle. I trust Miss Goldstein. It's the best lead we have, and Miss Goldstein's sister is willingly smuggling us information. We should plan, at least. We have to go with whatever we have. You all know we're desperate. Don't pretend we aren't," Theseus said, his loud, commanding voice filling the room. The Minister had been quiet the entire time, and now the entire magical security force was staring at him, waiting for the verdict.

"Mr Scamander is right. We'll take any lead we get, and we won't know if it's true unless we test the idea. We'll plan," The Minister said, though not as decisively as he meant it to be. There was a tinge of doubt in his voice. Tina brushed it off. Even she was slightly doubtful, but she was mostly sure. And confidence got her farther than doubt.

"Well, why don't we start," Tina said. The aurors nodded.

This is going to take a while, thought Theseus.