Chapter Text
New York, Early morning, August 20 1927
Queenie had left a small parcel on her desk in the auror’s office, a small thing wrapped up in dark pink tissue paper and tied with a lavender ribbon and the only evidence that she had passed by. Ever since her sister had gotten married Tina saw so little of her, and she promised that last night they would all have a nice birthday dinner together. But, she was an auror and therefore had no real control over her work hours, another bonus to the job alongside dangerous, and emotionally and physical demanding. It was a rule of thumb that auror did not often reach retirement age, but right then Tina wasn’t sure whether or not that was because of the high risk field cases posed or simply the stress that slowly induced one into a severe health condition early on in life. Both, in all likelihood. With another sigh, Tina began to gather her things, shuffling around her desk and briefly glancing at the clock Litt kept on his desk beside hers for the time. Six hours ago her birthday had gone for another year. By twenty five - twenty six, she corrected herself, - birthdays stopped being something to look forward to.
It wasn’t until she was out in the foyer, passing under an even greater clock as her feet hurried across the great eagle seal and the golden letters that spelt MACUSA that she saw something that stopped her in her tracks, staring dumbfounded through the glass of the doors. Standing outside, easily recognisable by that bright blue coat, was Newt Scamander, awkwardly having some sort of jittery argument with the doorman while successfully avoiding his eyes. She couldn’t believe it, blinking several times before frowning and opening her mouth as though to speak, before remembering he could neither see or hear her behind the charmed glass. Slowly, as though her limbs had somehow become thick with lead and refused to cooperate with her in time, she approached the door and came face to face with the doorman.
“Miss Goldstein.” The doorman greeted her.
“Arthur.”
“Miss Goldstein.”
“Mr Scamander.” Her memory had failed her quite exceedingly, Tina found, as she caught sight of his blue eyes again for the first time in almost two years. Once she had thought her mind would never allow her to forget a single detail about him, which was maddening to say the least, but how mistaken she was. Or perhaps he had changed over the years, she thought he looked even paler than last she saw him, and that his hair had been different - how was it different? she couldn’t say, it just looked it. Somethings never changed, however, like the way he always focused on the space to the right of her face when he spoke, at her eye level just above her ear.
“I’m sorry I just couldn’t think where to find you.” He said, sounding almost perplexed by the sound of his own voice. The first thing he’s said to her in months and it’s an apology, and she can’t help but smile.
“So you come to MACUSA at five passed six hoping I’d be around?” She questions, a smile on her face but a cold monotone ruling her voice. She’s started walking home by then, away from the Woolworth building, and he follows her.
“Well, yes, I needed to give something to you.” He explained, matching her speed until he is an inch away from being her equal, hanging back out of habit. It dawned on her. His book. He had come to give her his book on magical creatures.
“You finished it?” This sense of giddiness that had come over her was unfamiliar to Tina, something that she expected was a result of never really missing a close friend and being reunited with them - not that Newt was a close friend, she had known if for a span of three days before he left. And then she had thought about him for well more than three months afterwards.
“Yes, they’re um, they’re being released on the first of September, and I rather panicked when they told me and er, got the first boat out.”
“That’s wonderful.” Tina truly meant it, Newt deserved this chance at telling the world about his creatures, and she knew how much it meant to him besides. Making a conscious effort to slow her pace in hops of tricking him into standing beside her, something that she felt would make the conversation flow a lot easier. “How long have you been in New York, then, if you rushed?”
“An hour, but I, ah, got lost.” He admitted, following her through the winding streets until they found a dark alley to apparate in. Even at six in the morning New York City was as busy as ever.
Tina was never really aware of how messy her apartment could get until she had guests over, and regrettably apparition did not leave any time for her to tidy before her guest arrived, the pair of them appearing in the centre of her living room, the very heart of the clutter. Tina didn’t apologise, however, she was not one to apologise for being who she was and she knew Newt would never dare to comment and likely wouldn’t notice - he spent most of his time around animals anyway. She did, however, attempt to discreetly move some few personal items out of the way with her foot as Newt looked about the room, noticing all the subtle and not so subtle changes it had experienced in his absence.
“Queenie’s things are gone.” He noted, clearly wondering what that meant as he pressed his lips together, regretting he even spoke. A small bowtruckle, that Tina guessed was Picket, peeked out from behind the lapels of his coat as he looked up at the ceiling, waiting for her reaction.
“Yes, she’s married, moved out.” Tina explained, nodding. “To Jacob, actually, she turned up at his bakery one day and he, well, remembered her.”
“He wasn’t obliviated properly?” Newt inquired, clearly surprised but not displeased with the idea, rather quite the opposite.
“No, he remembered everything, Queenie, you, me, everything.” She assured him, remembering how shocked she was when her sister dragged Mr Kowalski in, thinking she had gone absolutely crazy to come into contact with a no-maj that they had obliviated, and how happy she had been for Queenie and Jacob when she realised it hadn’t worked. “I was supposed to be meeting them last night, actually, but you know auror work.” No, no he probably didn’t know anything about auror work.
“Oh, yeah, auror work is, uhh, difficult.” He nodded, eyes fixated on her shoes.
“Do you want something to eat?” She eventually asked, the awkward silence Newt seemed more comfortable in than conversation putting her teeth on edge. “I’m not as good as Queenie and I am very tired, but I have a lot of food leftovers.” Tina wasn’t used to cooking for one, which meant she had a lot of leftovers all the time. More convenient than sad, really.
“That would be fine.” Newt answered, and quickly Tina took her coat off, emptying her pockets onto the table beside the coat rack, and extended a hand for her guest’s before she could think to ask him. Somewhat begrudgingly Newt removed his coat and handed it to her. Tina notice the weight in it, and her mind leaped to the book faster than anything, before her mind ran away with her thinking about all the likely things Newt Scamander had in his pockets. He could have that niffler in there for all she knew. Dismissing her speculations as silly, Tina proceeded to slowly move out all the baked goods that seemed to swamp her pantry until she found what she was looking for, but by that time Newt had seen the cake.
It was very small, humble really, with just some little blue icing on top, white letters spelling out Happy Birthday Tina elegantly despite the entire confectionery being small enough to fit in her hand. Newt just stared at it for a while, until she noticed what he was looking at and stopped. He didn’t ask a lot of questions, just waited until someone had the courtesy to give him the answers, it was another reminder of the kind of person he was.
“It was my birthday yesterday.” She explained, summing with a swish of her wand plates and glass wear, and now it was her time to avoid eye contact. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed saying it, she wasn’t ashamed of her age exactly, it was just that people tended to make a big event out of birthdays with parties and she had never really appreciated that.
“Happy Birthday.” Was all he said, and that was the end of the discussion until the majority of the dinner was consumed. Eventually, Newt found it high time to ask a small question. “How old are you now?” He asked quietly, and seeing her face of shock and recovering what social sensibilities that had been drilled into him as a young adult hurriedly apologised. “I’m sorry, you don’t need to answer that, I, I was just curious.”
“Oh.” Tina replied, because that’s all she could say. “That’s fine, fine, um I turned twenty six yesterday.” Some fleeting expression of surprise passed over his face, and alarmed she responded hastily, “What? Did you think I was older?” She supposed it was the haircut, and the clothes. Probably the lack of a smile too, she’d always been so conscious of that.
“Um, no I just didn’t think you were twenty four when we met, that’s all.”
“And you, Mr Scamander? When were you born?”
“The third of September, 1897.” He replied, seemingly immersed in the remnants of the meal on his plate. “I’m turning thirty next month.” She might have looked thirty with her downcast expressions and conservative dress, but Newt Scamander did not look a day over twenty six, that she was positive of it. Then again, how had he spent so much time researching his beasts if he was as young as he seemed?
“Oh, Happy Birthday.” She congratulated him, loathing the silence that ensued. "Great weather for August."
"Oh yes, yes very fine weather."
The dinner ended in what would of been silence, had it not been for the scrape of cutlery on china plates, and Tina set about cleaning and putting away the dishes with a series of delicate flicks of her wand, still making a mistake here and there from being out of practice, very aware of the man - or boy - that stood a few metres away in the living room, eyes bouncing about the walls. She was so conscious of his movements, or as aware as one could be with their back turned, and yet he was still able to take her by surprise, for when she turned around with her task complete he was standing directly in front of her.
"I know it's not a real birthday gift, it's not wrapped or anything, but I, uh..." Newt Scamander was always so endearing and strangely perfect, even when he was tripping over his words, sheepishly raising and then dropping his hand, a hand that held a very new, very red book. "Happy Birthday." He finished with a smile, finally deciding he ought to hand it to her, and gently Tina accepted it.
"It's perfect, Newt." She murmured, fingertips brushing over the gold lettering that spelled in bold font 'FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM', and her heart swelled when they passed over the name Newton Scamander below the print.This was his whole life, something that he had dedicated the last decade to creating, yes, but the fact that he had been so driven to research the creatures he loved so much and share his findings with the world. He was so wonderfully Newt. She didn't even notice she had called him by his first name she was so overwhelmed. What she did notice was that when she hugged him he smelled like dried grass and sunshine, or atleast what she would imagine sunshine would smell like. It seemed so familiar and comforting, and so very much like Newt, that she could not help but be confused as to why it reminded her of the dimly lit cellar-like potions classroom of her fifth year.
They halved her small birthday cake and shared it between them, and their weren't many awkward silences for a long time. It was only afterwards that Tina remembered her lesson on the strongest love potion in the world, and the significance of that smell that was so incredibly Newt.