This is sort of my headcanon of what happened prior COG – the one where we see Newt sitting on a bench in the Ministry. Newtina fanfic, but the focus is on Newt. Enjoy!
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It was Newt’s habit to have a look over the delivery owl before paying it.
The feathers were glossy, there was a scratch above its eye but the appearance of the scab showed that it was a minor injury that was healing nicely. Nothing to worry about.
Newt dropped a Knut into the owl’s pouch and gave it a gentle pat.
“Come on. Off you go.”
The delivery owl ruffled its feathers importantly and took off through the window.
Stuffing the last of his toast into his mouth, Newt took the Daily Prophet down with him to the menagerie. The first few pages were as usual dedicated to political affairs of the day. Newt merely read so as to not be entirely ignorant, but he wasn’t interested or compelled by the urge to actively take part in sides. Theseus often chewed him out for lacking interest in what the Ministry was doing. Well, if the welcome Newt received upon arriving back in his country wasn’t a travel ban, he might have reconsidered Theseus’s advice.
Newt couldn’t work out how tricky it would be to get those stuffy old fools in their office chairs to lift the ban. His book was complete for now; he sent the manuscript to the publisher yesterday – but having travelled once, how could he not travel again? What he witnessed, observed and documented was merely a tiny shell in the vast ocean.
There was also the promise he gave to Tina. He had to return to America. Probably a couple of months later when his book was finalized and published.
Surely the Ministry would lift the ban by then? Newt didn’t like to think of the alternative.
He flipped through the paper, skimming the news. It was with a jolt to his stomach to see Tina looking back up at him. He read the title: TINA GOLDSTEIN REAPPOINTED AS AUROR.
And there it was, a picture of Tina looking proud and pleased with herself.
His breath quickened without him realizing it. His first thought was what an injustice this picture has done to the real Tina! The picture was moving, of course, but it failed to capture her real appearance. That was not how her eyes looked like when he looked at them. Beautiful, dark – resembling those on fire-dwelling lizards: the salamander. That was how her eyes looked like. He wondered if Tina would realize if he showed her one of those creatures.
The second thought was that he wanted to keep the picture. He tore the picture slowly from the page, being careful around the corners and made sure to include the title as well (There was her name there, he couldn’t not have that.) A wizard featured in an advertisement on the flip side of the page looked vandalized as Newt unknowingly severed the wizard’s hand in the process of saving Tina’s picture.
He held Tina’s picture in his hands. He smiled at it, touching the hair. The Tina in the picture glanced sideways at his fingers. She arched an eyebrow at him, as though warning him not to mess it up.
Newt walked absentmindedly to his work desk where the framed picture of Leta stood. He placed it there once he came back from his trip. Leta, unaged, a moment of her frozen in time when they were close friends. A tinge of longing and sadness pulled at his insides.
Leta was seeing Theseus now. It was only a matter of time before they were engaged. With Tina slowly filling the rest of his mind after magical creatures, it wasn’t as painful as he thought it would be. He took up the frame with one hand. With one last look, he placed it into a drawer of old notes and knick knacks and kept it away.
His gaze moved back to the picture from the paper, thinking of where to put Tina. He wanted to have it somewhere he could see everyday …
He went to his case and opened it. There were only a few sketches-in-progress on the inside lid; the space was sufficient. He put a Sticking Charm onto the back of the picture and taped it onto his case.
(7 months later.)
Tina didn’t reply.
Newt waited.
It took a fortnight maximum to receive her letter.
It was now already a month.
A depressed feeling followed him around that day. His footsteps felt heavy and everything in the world felt dull. His heart leaped a little each time an owl dropped by, but it was mostly letters from readers of his published Fantastic Beasts book. He turned down yet another dinner invitation from Theseus and Leta. He felt isolated and awkward in front of their loving banter. If only Tina was with him … He, Newt, could introduce her: This is Tina Goldstein. I met her during my trip to New York. A sense of pride welled inside him at knowing someone so capable, talented and kind.
But the fact remained that he had not heard from her for a month.
In the evening, Newt sat down in front of his opened case, staring at the sketches he pinned. His eyes stopped at Tina’s picture. The edges were beginning to yellow, yet the Tina in the picture beamed up at him, confident and happy as always beneath the words “Auror”.
Had he annoyed her? He must have, otherwise she wouldn’t have stopped replying all of a sudden. Had he annoyed her all along? A small, cynical voice in his head wanted to say yes, but Newt knew he did not. Reading her letters, he felt the smile in her words, the reserved eagerness in which she convey her thoughts in her writing.
In his last letter, he informed Tina he couldn’t come to America just yet but did not tell her about the ban. There was an unexplainable sense of embarrassment of having lost his liberty to travel. He didn’t feel like admitting this issue to Tina. He simply explained that he was busy. As he wrote, he thought of Theseus’s tendency to side with the Ministry in spite of the decision to ban Newt’s right to travel. At that time, he lost his temper a little and wrote sharp words criticizing the system.
Newt let out a long sigh. Tomorrow would be his fifth attempt to have his travelling permit approved. For Merlin’s sake, couldn’t they simply stamp down an approval and let him get on with his life? It was frustrating, sitting in front of those people. He didn’t harm anybody … He just needed to travel to fulfill a promise he gave to someone.
Night fell. One by one, his creatures slowly settled down to sleep. A few nocturnal ones made some noise in the distance but most of them were now curled up in their habitats. The sounds of quiet breathing filled Newt’s surroundings. Alone in his basement, the words slipped from his mouth in a soft whisper.
“I like you very much, Tina,” he said to the picture.
If only he could tell the real one.
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Being the smol bean he is, I feel that Newt would blurt out his feelings to the picture. He’s unknowingly practicing for the confession, really. xD Here’s to the wait for Fantastic Beasts 3! (Everyone chant with me: Newtina kiss, Newtina kiss, NEWTINA KISS.)
I miss the promotional stage of the movie. Pre cog was so much fun. I mean it was hard waiting half the time I was saying OMG CANT NOVEMBER GET HERE ALREADY, but I liked loging on to tumblr and seeing new posters and getting SO EXCITED
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski
Characters: Tina Goldstein, Newt Scamander
Additional Tags: Letters, Post FBAWTFT, Pre Spellbound Article, newt and tina
Summary:
What was in the letters that Newt and Tina exchanged?
Starts right after Newt has docked in Liverpool, following his steamer ride home.
❥ NON - SEXUAL ACTS OF DOMINANCE .[ instruct ] your muse giving mine instructions / telling them what to do .
Newt. Put that stack over here it’ll look nicer. Turning with a tall stack of his books in his arms, Newt stared owlishly at Leta for a brief moment before his gaze flittered away, dropping over to the other side of the table where the witch had pointed. After all, what did he know about organization or keeping things neat and tidy? His home was practically a zoo. With a quick nod, the author shifted his direction to heed Leta’s advice and place the last remaining stack.
In doing so, Newt jumped slightly at the loud crack of a camera flash outside, hands jerkily moving towards his ears as his feet bumped into one of the stacks of books on the ground. The stack toppled over, books spreading out in a line like toppled dominos. No doubt the man from the paper was taking a photo of the bookstore front but it was the last straw that set Newt off a bit. “Merlin’s beard – I’m a disaster. This is a bad idea they’re going to think I’m a wreck,” Newt babbled out, anxiously glancing at the line of people being kept outside a few minutes longer until they’d finished setting up for the signing. Writing this book had been a great opportunity for Newt to teach the wizarding world they didn’t have to feaar magical creatures they way they did if they simply understood them better, but the world wide fame the book had gotten had never been a part of the plan.
“Leta – Leta I’m not, I’m not good at–” Newt’s brow scrunched as he fought to form words for a moment before he merely rubbed at his temple before just pointing out to the people outside. Part of him was relieved it was Leta here at his first signing and not his brother ( albeit Theseus had promised they’d all go to the next one ) because at least with Leta, Newt could say these sorts of things. His hand dropped to the pocket of his coat so he could rub at the lip with the pad of his thumb. “What if I say something very, very foolish?”
