Lovers (A Newtina Fanfic)

Part 8

The aurors were kicking, struggling against steel rope bonds. They were moving their mouths, but no sound came out. Queenie and Newt were nowhere in sight. A rush of panic travelled through Tina, but she told herself they were fine. They had to be fine. Ten acolytes stood, surrounding the aurors, with their wands pointed at the auror's hearts.

The minute they saw Tina, the wands were redirected to her head. Tina used one hand to grip Grindelwald's coat and used the other to make a shield. She quickly used a sleeping spell to knock Grindelwald out, then a silencing charm so he couldn't say anything if the acolytes woke him up.

The tallest acolyte stepped forward. "What do you want?" He had a German accent tinged with menace. Tina had to think quick. Her original plan -leave with Grindelwald and the aurors and Newt and Queenie- was not going to work.

"I've got your leader. You've got my colleagues. I propose we trade." The acolytes looked at each other, seemingly conferring, though their lips didn't move an inch.

"We'll give you three of these and you give us back Grindelwald." The way they said it made it seem like the aurors were Chocolate Frog Cards and not human beings.

"I want all of my colleagues to be freed. All of them. And I'll give you back your coward of a leader." The acolytes visibly stiffened. They all looked at Grindelwald, and back to Tina.

"And what would be the fun in that?"

"It would be fun for both of us since we'd both get what we want. There are always more chances to kidnap each other, don't you think?" The acolytes looked at Tina like she was crazy. Tina just shrugged.

"Look at her, pretending she knows everything. Just another rat to add to the pile," an acolyte said, mostly to the others.

"Yeah. It's really a shame, she is pretty," another acolyte said. Tina resisted the urge to gag. Suddenly, she jerked back, hitting a partly decimated gargoyle. She flicked her wand, creating a bond between her coat and Grindelwald's coat. The acolytes wouldn't be able to separate them if they tried. Tina tried shifting around, but her hands and legs were trapped between the same steel bonds as the other aurors.

An acolyte stepped forward and pulled Tina's wand out of her hand. "Not so powerful now, huh?" He turned to the rest of his group. "Should we break it and watch her scream or should we keep it just out of her reach and watch her struggle?"

"The latter," chorused the other nine acolytes. Tina groaned and realized there was one more thing she could do. I'll save it for later, she thought.

"Now what?" she challenged. 

"Since you've inconveniently attached yourself to Grindelwald, we'll have to detach you." One acolyte stepped forward and procured a knife. Tina winced. The knife whistled through the air, and it sliced through the coats.

Almost. Instead of slicing through like it was expected to, it bounced off. A little pant of relief escaped through Tina's lips. She knew it wouldn't have worked, the bond could only be removed by the caster of the spell, but she was slightly worried anyhow. The acolyte looked confused, then tried once more. Again, it didn't work. Then the acolyte brought out their wand and cycled through as many spells as they could to try to separate the two. And, as planned, none of them worked.

"Grindelwald said you were 'highly skilled' yet you can't even separate two pieces of cloth. Grindelwald must have low standards for his minions," Tina said, smirking. A few acolytes glared, one growled. They looked at each other. The expressions on their faces stated what they wanted to say, the nerve of this woman!

"That won't get you anywhere," an acolyte said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Tina replied.