Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Newt and Tina Scamander were settling comfortably into their new lives. Every morning they would wake up, usually Newt waking before Tina, and feed the creatures in the basement before having a small breakfast with Jacob. After breakfast, Newt would leave for his job at the Ministry.

Jacob was attempting to find a job in London, and was able to distract himself between that and baking at home. The No-Maj would also help Bunty in the basement if he had time during the day. Newt was thankful that his friend had something to do during the day now; he had often felt guilty having to leave for work while Jacob sat at home.

Tina was still unable to return to work. It had been a few weeks since she had been attacked on a raid following a tip on Grindelwald’s whereabouts, and Theseus refused to clear her to return to work yet. Neither Newt nor Tina knew why this was, and Theseus wouldn’t give a clear answer as to why she couldn’t return yet. He simply said that she “wasn’t ready”.

As time went on, Newt had been less insistent on Tina staying in bed all day. He still wanted her to continue resting for the majority of the day, but he did allow her to help him with the creatures more and more now. Tina wasn’t a huge fan of having to spend the day resting, and rarely ever actually did stay in bed for long periods of time unless it was to sleep. If Newt ever thought she was trying to hide any pain, though, he immediately sent her to go lay down no matter how much she protested.

The couple was becoming much more comfortable in their marriage, especially now that the spotlight was off of them. After Achilles Tolliver had returned to New York there had been no word from him at all, and no articles in any newspapers they had seen claiming that Tina had been unfaithful to Newt while she was still living in New York.

Newt and Tina seemed to be much more loving with each other everyday; they were constantly stealing kisses when they could, and on nights when Tina felt like she could, they would make love (with a silencing charm on the room for extra privacy).

All in all, life was finally becoming normal for them all, minus Tina being unable to work. As more time passed, Tina was becoming even more irritated that Theseus wouldn’t let her return to work. Eight weeks after the attack, she decided to get answers as to why when he came by for dinner at her request.

“So,” she started after they had eaten, “When can I come back to work?”

“Not yet. I hear you’re still having some pain.” Theseus answered, looking her over, “Have you seen the doctor recently?”

“I’m hardly having any pain, at the very least I can do desk work if you don’t want me in the field.”

Her brother-in-law shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I’m not clearing you yet.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know for sure if you’re physically ready.” Theseus said after a second, and Tina wondered if there was something more to it.

“If I go to a doctor and get them to say that I’m fine, which I am, will you let me come back? I don’t like having to sit around all day.”

“I’ll consider it if you are in fact told there’s nothing going on that could possible impact your health.”

Tina nodded, wondering what exactly he meant by ‘nothing that could impact her health’, but didn’t question it. Instead, she pulled her husband aside later to talk with him about it.

“Can you talk to Theseus for me?” she asked, “He won’t clear me for work, but we all know I’m fine now. He won’t listen to me. Tell him I’m fine.”

“Have you been having any pain recently? You were complaining about some the other day…” was Newt’s response.

“Pain that could be completely unrelated to what happened! It didn’t feel like the same type of pain I’d been having, it was just some cramps.”

This caught Newt’s attention, “You’ve been having different pains? Why didn’t you tell me? What if you’ve been hurt in away we didn’t notice at first?”

“I’m fine, Newt. I just want to go back to work, okay? Even if you can get him to let me just sit at my desk and do paperwork, it would be better than this.”

“I think it might be a good idea for you to see a doctor again if you’re having new pains.”

Tina sighed, “Can you please just talk to Theseus for me? I’ll go to a doctor if I absolutely have to, but nothings wrong with me and I don’t want to go back there again. I’ve been better, and you know that. I’m getting around a lot better now, along with other things.”

“Alright, I’ll talk with him the next time I see him, but I won’t make any promises that I’ll convince him. I’m still worried about you too. I know you’d prefer not to have to go back to the hospital but if you’ve been having new pains--”

“Let’s forget I ever said anything about that, okay?” Tina interrupted, “They’re just cramps, it’s not some late reaction to any curse. They would’ve found it the first time I was there.”

Newt thought for a second, “Why didn’t you tell me the pain was different before, Tina?”

“I didn’t want you to do exactly what you’re doing. Nothing else is wrong with me! I couldn’t hide the fact that I was in pain but I didn’t want you to try and rush me to the hospital because it was a pain you haven’t seen me have before.”

“But how do you know that you’re fine?” thinking for a second, the magizoologist tried to remember if Tina’s monthly cycle had happened yet and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, “Are there...other signs to as to what caused this new pain?” he didn’t know how else to ask if it was just her time of the month. Would she be okay with talking about that? Surely he’d have to know at some point, he was her husband after all.

Realizing what he was asking, Tina shook her head, “No, I’m not bleeding. Though I should be soon, and it’s not unusual to have pain from it before the bleeding actually starts. If that is what it is, I don’t want to go to the doctor to be told I’m starting my cycle. That’s another reason why I didn’t say anything.”

“I apologize if this is wrong of me to ask, but wouldn’t you recognize the pain by now? If that is what’s causing it, that is.”

“It can vary. Can we not talk about this?”

Newt nodded, “Of course, but I just want to make sure you’re okay. I trust that you know your body, but the thought of you still suffering from something after what happened worries me. I’ll talk to Theseus and see why he hasn’t cleared you yet.”

The next day at work, Newt held up his promise and went to go speak with his brother. Walking into the Auror’s office, his brother gave him a bit of a questioning look.

“Anything I can do for you?” Theseus asked, not used to Newt randomly showing up in his office.

“I told Tina that I’d talk with you about letting her come back to work. I understand why you’ve kept her home, but she’s adamant that she can at least do desk work.”

“I think it best she not come to the Ministry for now.”

“I think she wants to know why. She won’t accept that it’s just because she isn’t fully recovered yet. I won’t argue for her to go back in the field, but I’m a bit curious as well as to why she can’t even sit at a desk and do paperwork?”

Theseus got up and closed the office door, making sure nobody could hear him, “I didn’t want to say anything as I’m sure it would make her want to return to work even more than she already does. If I tell you, can I trust you not to tell her?”

“What could be so bad you don’t want her to know?” the younger brother asked, now even more intrigued, “Tina is already up to date on everything involving Grindelwald, isn’t she?”

“Not completely, no. She knows everything major, but I’ve made sure she hasn’t heard this. I don’t want her coming in and somehow hearing it from somebody.”

“I don’t know what could possibly be that bad, Theseus.”

“We’ve already seen how she reacts where her sister is involved,” Theseus said after a second of silence, “Eight weeks ago she thought she heard her sisters voice and ended up badly injured because of it. If she were to ever actually see her sister, I can only imagine that something worse would happen.”

“You’re not letting her come back to work because she thought she heard Queenie’s voice?” Newt said, not understanding why that was this big of an issue, “I don’t understand why that means she can’t come sit at a desk here and work. Unless there’s something else?”

Another pause from Theseus, “I don’t know if her hearing Queenie’s voice was her mishearing something or if we somehow missed that she was actually there. What I’m worried about is that Grindelwald is trying to somehow use her sister as a way to get to Tina, which seems to have worked at least once now.”

Newt didn’t respond at first, taking in the new information. “You’re saying that as long as Queenie can be used to distract Tina, she can’t come to work?”

“Partly, yes. Despite my initial wanting Queenie to somehow reach out, I now fear that it could put Tina’s life in danger, especially in her current condition. She’s too vulnerable in that regard, and I want to make sure she’s kept safe. ”

“I appreciate the concern, truly. But I do believe her condition is improving, though I am glad she has had the time to rest...do you think she could do some paperwork from home? Maybe things that don’t involve Grindelwald? It might help her calm down bit.”

“Is she planning on visiting a doctor soon?”

“I don’t believe so, she told me last night she doesn’t believe she needs to.”

Theseus nodded, thinking for a second, “If she goes to a doctor to get an update on her condition, and there’s nothing concerning, I’ll let her do some work from home. Don’t mention anything about Queenie to her, alright?”

“Of course. Thank you, Theseus.” Newt said and left, leaving his brother alone in his office.

Theseus sighed, hoping that Tina would actually now listen to him and make a visit to the doctor sometime soon. He didn’t know what, but something had seemed off about his sister-in-law the last couple times he had seen her, but didn’t want to worry his brother by bringing it up with him.

‘If she doesn’t go to the doctor soon I might have to mention it to Newt,’ he thought, ‘But for now, let’s see if they can figure it out on their own.’

Chapter Text

Tina had finally agreed to go back to the doctor when she had heard it would at least get her to be able to work from home. It wasn’t what she had been hoping for, she wanted to actually go into work, but it was better than nothing.

When Newt had told her about why Theseus wasn’t allowing her to go back to work, it was the same things she had been hearing: he wasn’t sure she was ready to go back, she needed more time to recover, and everything in between.

“It’s been two months,” she said while talking with her husband about it, “I’ve had more than enough time to rest. What’s the difference of me sitting at a desk in the Ministry and working and me sitting at a desk here and working?”

“That’s what Theseus offered,” Newt responded, “I figured it would work for now. Maybe it’ll help prove to him that you can get back to work.” he knew that wasn’t exactly the case, but he didn’t want to risk Tina getting angry that she was being kept away so she wouldn’t get anymore involved in the Grindelwald case at the moment. He hadn’t told her that the paperwork she would be working on wouldn’t be related to it, either.

“So I go in for a basic check-up, get a confirmation that nothing's wrong with me, and he’ll start sending work for me to do?” Tina reiterated.

“Yes. We just want to be completely certain that you’re okay.” he smiled, “I know it can seem annoying, but he and I both are just trying to look after you.”

That was the last they talked of it that night, and the next morning Newt was made even more glad that Tina had agreed to see a doctor as she had woken up ill.

He had tried to convince her to go to the doctor that afternoon, knowing she was planning on waiting another day or two before going. Tina insisted that the wave of sickness wasn’t that big of a deal, especially since once it had ended it didn’t come back for the remainder of the day. Despite this, she did agree without much protest to spend the day resting.

The next couple of days went similarly, until Tina was finally ready to make her way to the doctor again.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I don’t have to go in today.” Newt offered, more than willing to skip going to the Ministry to be with her.

“No it’s fine, I can manage on my own.” Tina gave him a smile, “I’m sure they’ll tell me I’m completely fine, minus this bug I’ve gotten.”

Newt nodded, giving her a quick kiss before heading out. He was hoping that whatever had been affecting his wife was truly just a bug, and nothing more serious. He wondered if Tina would’ve gone to the doctor at all for it if she didn’t have the possibility of being able to work again on the table.

He tried to push things out of his mind and focus on his work, something which he had been doing a lot lately, but a feeling of guilt kept tugging at him. ‘I should’ve gone with her,’ he thought, ‘If something really is wrong then I should’ve been there with her when they told her. But if something was seriously wrong, someone would let me know before tonight, I’m sure.’ he tried to reassure himself.

As the day went on, he heard nothing of Tina’s appointment or how it went. Newt was telling himself this was a good thing; that it meant that there was nothing awful going on with Tina, because surely if there was something wrong someone would’ve sent word to him.

As the end of the workday got closer, the magizoologist was eager to head home. Not that he ever wanted to stay at work, per say, but today he wanted to hear from Tina herself that the doctors had said that she was fine.

Newt left as soon as he could. He knew he shouldn’t be so worried, but he was. Had the vomiting not started, his nerves wouldn’t be this bad and he knew that. When he walked through the door to his home, he was greeted by what had become the normal scene.

Bunty was now leaving, she had stopped insisting on staying later most nights, and Jacob and Tina were in the kitchen. When Tina saw him, she smiled and walked over.

“So we can tell Theseus I’m able to at least do desk work now.” she said.

A wave of relief crashed over the magizoologist, “So everything’s alright, then? Nothing new to be concerned with?”

“I’m completely healthy, as I’ve been saying this entire time.”

“And the sickness? You did mention it, correct?”

She nodded, “I did, and it’s nothing to worry about. It’ll pass.”

Newt wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but could already tell he wasn’t going to get a straight answer from her. This didn’t stop him from at least trying to ask, “But you do know why you’ve been getting sick now? Is it just an illness, or is it something--”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Tina said again, giving another small smile, “The doctor said I should be able to return to work, so there’s no reason Theseus can’t let me do desk work at the very least now.”

“I’ll let him know.” Newt said, still trying to figure out what ‘nothing he needs to worry about’ could possibly mean.

The rest of the night went by almost to normal for Newt’s liking, complete with Tina even helping him do his last rounds of checking on the creatures in his basement.

While they were down there, he noticed her staring at the baby nifflers and went over to see what was wrong.

“We never talked about having children, you know?” Tina said before he could speak. “When it came up after that article falsely claiming we only married because I was pregnant, we said we’d talk about it later. We never did.”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“I think we should.”

Newt thought for a second before saying anything else, “I’ve never given it much thought, really. I wouldn’t mind having children someday, but I can honestly say I never imagined I’d have the chance until much more recently.”

“But you wouldn’t be against having children?” Tina asked, wanting to clarify what he had said.

“I think it would be wonderful, assuming you would also want them.”

Now Tina took a moment to respond, “I think I’ve always assumed I’d be a mother eventually. Not that I think I’d be a good one, but it just seemed like the natural thing to happen. It was always a given to me that Queenie would have kids, so I’d at least be an aunt, but...I’m not sure. I think I want children of my own, I’m just worried I wouldn’t be that great at motherhood.”

“I think you’d be a great mother, Tina.” Newt smiled at her, and she smiled in return. He leaned over to give her a small kiss, “Actually, I know that you’ll be a great mother to any future children we may have.”

“And you’ll be a wonderful father.” she responded, not breaking her smile.

They stood in silence for a moment, Newt glancing at the baby nifflers before a sudden realization hit him. “Anything in particular that brings this up?”

Tina paused, not answering at first as she thought about how to word her answer, “It’s just been on my mind.”

“Tina…”

“I mean, we’re married. That’s a normal thing to think about, right?” she continued on, cutting him off from finishing what he was about to ask. “Have you not given it any thought since we married?”

“I have, briefly around the time that article was published. I can’t honestly say I’ve thought about it that much recently, though...not with everything that’s happened.”

“But you’ve thought about it recently?” This caught Newt off guard a bit, and when Tina noticed this she explained, “You said you haven’t thought of it that much recently, implying that you’ve at least thought about it some?”

He nodded, “As we’ve become more intimate with one another I have wondered how you felt about the idea of children. It’s when I really started thinking about if it’s something I’d want as well.”

“And it is something you want?” at this point Newt all but knew why Tina kept asking this, and he mentally slapped himself for not noticing it earlier. Regardless, he wanted to hear her tell him.

“I do want children. May I ask again what brings this up?” he said, determined to get her to say it aloud to him.

Newt could see her hesitate, again trying to consider her words before she spoke them. “I told you that I’m perfectly healthy, and that’s true. The doctor also did say I could return to work, and that the sickness would eventually pass and it’s nothing to worry about as…” she trailed off.

“As what, love?” he asked and Tina paused again before finally confirming what Newt already knew to be true.

“I’m pregnant, Newt. We’re going to be parents.”

Chapter Text

“I’m pregnant, Newt. We’re going to be parents.”

Tina had a small smile, and was hoping Newt wasn’t upset about the news she had just given him. His brief silence worried her, until he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

“Are you really?” he asked, sounding as if he were in disbelief.

“I am.” she responded, returning the hug.

“It’s healthy? And so are you? There’s nothing wrong with either of you, right?” Newt asked, taking a step back to look her up and down, amusing Tina a bit.

“We’re both healthy, I was telling the truth earlier when I told you the doctor said I was fine. The only thing is…”

There was a flash of panic in Newt’s eyes as he waited for Tina to continue, not having a clue what she was about to say.

“They were concerned about how soon after my accident that the baby was conceived. Though as far as they could tell, the baby is fine. They just want me to go in a bit more frequently to make sure it stays that way, I think.”

The magizoologist nodded, thinking for a second, “You’re going to have to take it easy at work for a while now, too.”

“I’m sure I’m not going to be given the chance to do anything too adventurous anytime soon, anyways.” she said, “But the deal was that if I was told I’m healthy I get to at least work from home, and I expect I can still do that. This won’t mess with my ability to do basic desk work, and I don’t want Theseus to try and give me any easier work because of it.”

Newt gave her a smile, “I know you can handle paperwork and I’ll make sure Theseus knows as well. But I’m asking that you don’t try and do anything crazy, alright? Which...have you told anybody else about this?” he asked, glancing at the stairs, thinking of Jacob and Bunty who had been here with her all day.

Tina shook her head, “I wanted you to be the first person to know. But who all do you think we should tell? I’m guessing the press will get a hold of it sooner or later, so we shouldn’t wait too long to tell those who need to hear it from us…”

“I agree but I’m sure we can still wait a bit if you want. Is there anybody you want to tell in particular? All I can think of is Jacob and Theseus, as well as my parents. Mother would be upset if she were to hear about it through the paper when it’s actually true.”

“Should we tell Bunty? She is here almost everyday, after all…”

“We can, if that’s what you want. We don’t have to tell anyone ourselves that you don’t want to.” Newt answered, “We can also hold off on telling the press for as long as you want, I’m sure Theseus won’t go run and tell them now.” he added jokingly.

She let out a laugh, “So how should we go about telling everyone? All at once? Separately?” she asked, “I’ve been trying to think of ways to do it, I honestly couldn’t even think of how to tell you properly.”

Now her husband laughed, “And you decided staring at the nifflers was a good way to start the conversation?”

“No, but it worked out that way, I guess. I wasn’t even sure I was going to tell you tonight in all honesty.” Tina admitted, “As I said, we hadn’t talked about having children yet, so to find this out...I was almost scared to tell you.”

“You were scared to tell me?”

“Scared isn’t the right word but I didn’t know how you’d react. We haven’t really been together that long, so to find out I was carrying your child when I wasn’t even sure you wanted children wasn’t the best thing to ever happen to me.”

This made Newt pause for a second, “Are you happy about it, though?”

Tina looked down and rested a hand below her navel, “I am. I was shocked at first, and did have a moment of uncertainty about it, but I’m happy. And I hope you are too.” she looked up at him as she said the last part.

Newt leaned forward and kissed her, “I’m very happy.” he rested his hand above hers, “It will be a big change, but starting a family doesn’t sound bad at all.”

“It doesn’t.” Tina whispered in agreement.

The couple continued to talk about possible ways to tell the others about Tina’s condition, but went to bed without settling on any one idea. The next morning when Tina got sick, Newt knew it wasn’t anything he had to be extremely concerned about.

Newt lingered a bit longer than he usually did when saying goodbye to Tina before he left for work, trying to delay having to leave by talking with her about how he would make sure Theseus would send work for her to do by the next day. By the time that Bunty had arrived, the magizoologist finally gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and made his way to the Ministry.

When Newt made his way to his brothers office, Theseus noted that his younger brother seemed to be in a much better mood than he had seen him in recently. Newt didn’t notice his brother quickly slide an envelope into his desk drawer, hiding it from his view.

“I take it Tina saw a doctor?” the Auror asked, not knowing any other reason that Newt would be in his office.

“She did, and she is good to to desk work now.” Newt said, handing over the note that Tina had been given proving she was fit for work. “Though she won’t be going out in the field again anytime soon.”

“That’s good, because I wasn’t planning on letting her back into the field soon. How much longer is her recovery time going to be? I’m sure once she’s cleared to go into the field I’m going to have to come up with another reason she can’t, assuming this Queenie situation hasn’t been resolved by then.”

“I’m not sure when she’ll be able to return to the field,” it wasn’t a lie, he really didn’t know when Tina would be able to do raids again, “But it will probably be a while.”

Theseus gave a small nod of acknowledgement, “I’ll give her today off as well, but you can let her know I’ll send over work for her tomorrow morning. I expect she’ll work on it as if she were actually at her desk here working but…” he looked at his younger brother, “I will be less strict on when she has to have it back to me. Not by much, but I will give her a bit more time if she needs it. I understand she is still suffering from some illness?”

“She has been,” Newt had forgotten he had briefly mentioned Tina’s spells of morning sickness to his brother when he had told him that she would be going to the doctor soon. “But it’s nothing to be concerned about, though I do admit she might need the extra time at first.”

Giving another nod, Theseus responded with a simple “I hope she recovers soon, if she’s still ill. Thank you for updating me.” As Newt walked out, Theseus took the hidden envelope back out, looking at the intended recipient in handwriting that was unfamiliar to him.

Tina Goldstein/Scamander, Auror’s Department, British Ministry of Magic

.

Tina was, relatively speaking, having a good day. Not only was she not in any pain, but she knew that soon she’d be getting back to work. She hated having nothing to do, and was excited at the thought of even having simple desk work to complete.

That afternoon, she offered to help Bunty feed the creatures and to her delight Bunty had accepted her help. Tina occasionally got the feeling that her husband's assistant didn’t like her, especially after she had accused her of being the person who had been leaking her and Newt’s personal information.

As Tina made her way back to the stairs, a certain demiguise followed her. Dougal reached out to grab her hand as if he didn’t want to somehow lose her during their walk. This wasn’t the first time he had done this, in fact he had started doing it every time he had seen her recently. When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Tina tried to let go of Dougal’s hand, but the demiguise was insistent on staying with her.

“Dougal, come on…” she said, finally getting him to let go. As soon as he did, though, his hand went directly to her stomach before he tried resting his head there as well. “What are you doing?” she wasn’t expecting a response, so she was a bit startled when she did hear a voice.

“Oh,” Bunty said, now also walking up, “That’s…” she trailed off, staring at the scene in front of her. “He’s being protective.”

Tina, thinking Bunty’s staring was her being upset that Dougal had taken to liking her, tried to laugh it off and gently remove the creatures head and hands from her. The demiguise wrapped himself around Tina now, not letting her go.

Bunty’s staring continued, and Tina watched her face to try and read her. It was times like this that Tina wished she could read minds; was Bunty actually upset about this?

“Forgive me if I’m stepping out of line,” Bunty finally said, “But...you see that’s not something that Dougal would typically do, unless…”

“Unless…?” the Auror repeated, wanting to know what the other had to say. Why exactly was Dougal protecting her, and what was he protecting her from? It took all of two seconds for the light bulb to go off in her head. Dougal wasn’t trying to protect her, he was trying to protect the child inside of her.

“Unless you were with child.” the assistant finished, eyes moving to look at the demiguise. “I of course can’t say for certain that you are, but…”

The smile that appeared on Tina’s face must’ve not been what Bunty was expecting, as she finished her sentence with a simple “oh!”

“I never thought about that,” Tina said, petting Dougal, “He’s been doing this for a few weeks now. I guess Newt never noticed either, or maybe thought it was something else?”

Bunty gave her a smile, “I should congratulate you, does Newt know yet?”

Tina nodded, “He does, we haven’t told anyone yet as we just found out ourselves.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Bunty said, sending a bit of guilt through Tina as she again remembered when she had lashed out at the other woman.

Tina was able to free herself from the demiguise with a bit of help, and went upstairs now again thinking about how her and Newt would tell everyone else. She wasn’t concerned about how Jacob and Theseus would react, but she didn’t know Newt’s parents that well. All she really knew was that his father didn’t seem to like her that much, and she was not looking forward to getting his reaction to their news.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since Theseus had started sending work for his sister-in-law to complete at home, and this morning was no different. He had just sent the owl to his brothers home, containing the work that Tina would need to complete that day.

Sitting back down at his desk, Theseus pulled out the letter he had been keeping for a little over a week now but had not yet opened.

‘Tina Goldstein/Scamander, Auror’s Department, British Ministry of Magic’ it was addressed in an unfamiliar handwriting.

Theseus had debated giving it to Tina, but if his suspicion as to who sent it was correct, he didn’t know if it was best that she read it. If Queenie had tried to write to her sister, then she might end up putting herself in danger again. Or maybe due to her current condition, Tina wouldn’t do something that could get herself hurt?

Newt and Tina hadn’t told Theseus of their expecting arrival yet, but the older brother all but knew. To him it seemed obvious; he had even had an inkling about it before Tina ever did, not that he would ever tell them that. When the couple decided to share their news with him, he would smile and congratulate them, acting surprised.

“Well, what am I waiting for?” Theseus said to nobody, using a spell to carefully open the envelope in a way that it could be resealed without anybody knowing it had been opened. If it wasn’t from Queenie, then he would reseal it and give it to Tina.

Tina,

I hope this makes it to you, as I’m not really sure where you’re staying now. I heard that you’re working at the Ministry in England now, so I thought I’d try sending this to you there. I also heard that you and Newt married, is it true? If so, I’m happy for you both. I believe I read something saying that you had only married him because you were expecting his child, but I know that’s not true. You wouldn’t do something like that. I know you then did come out and say you were married, though I can’t say for certain that it’s true. After all, we’ve learned that false things get published when it comes to Newt, now haven’t we?

How’s my Jacob doing? Is he still in Europe, or did he make his way back to New York? I hope to hear back from you soon, and I hope you’re doing well.

If you do receive this, is there any other place I can contact you at? Writing to you at work feels wrong.

Your sister,
Queenie Goldstein

Theseus did reseal the short letter just in case anybody were to find it, but put it back in his desk drawer. He wouldn’t be giving this to Tina, at least not yet.

Not long after the letter had been put away, Newt made his way into his brothers office.

“What can I do for you, Newt?” Theseus asked, already having a hunch about what his brother was doing.

“Tina and I wanted to know if you’d like to come by for dinner tonight.” Newt stated, confirming the older Scamander’s suspicions. So they were going to announce it tonight.

“I should be able to stop by tonight.” he answered, almost finding it humorous how Newt had always declined offers to join him for dinner, yet here he was now asking his brother if he’d stop by for dinner. There was a reason, of course, there was always a reason. At least this time Theseus already knew what it was, not that Newt knew that.

Theseus considered telling his brother about the letter; he had, after all, admitted that he was trying to get Queenie to reach out to Tina. He had also admitted that he was now concerned about Queenie possibly reaching out, as there wasn’t always a way to confirm that it was really her or not.

The Auror decided against sharing the letter with Newt to make sure that it didn’t somehow make its way to his sister-in-law. He still felt guilty following the raid he had her assist on, as she had gotten badly injured. He didn’t realize that Queenie would be such a weak spot for her, but now that he did know he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

No, Tina wouldn’t hear about anything involving Queenie if he could help it, especially if it meant it would keep her safe. But would Tina purposely put herself in a situation now where she could get hurt?

That evening, Newt and Tina announced their news to both Jacob and Theseus. Both congratulated them, Theseus pretending like he didn’t know it already and Jacob only looking slightly shocked at the news. Had he also connected the dots, or was he actually surprised about it? Theseus couldn’t tell.

Theseus noticed the way that Newt and Tina smiled at each other, and despite his own pain at having lost Leta he was glad that his brother was happy. While the marriage may not have been out of love originally, there was no doubting the fact that the two were in love now.

“Are you going to be making a public announcement about the pregnancy?” Theseus asked after they had finished eating.

“We are, we just wanted to make sure we told certain people first.” Tina answered, “The only people we still have left to tell are your parents.”

“Saving them for last, are you?” the older Scamander joked. He had a feeling that his parents hadn’t been given this information yet; he probably would’ve heard it from his mother if they had.

“I’m not sure how to tell them,” it was again Tina who spoke, “I know your father isn’t my biggest fan…”

“Mother will be ecstatic, surely you at least know this, Newt?”

Now the magizoologist spoke, “I know she will be, which is another reason we decided to wait to tell them. While she might have been able to keep our marriage to herself, I believe everyone will know she’s going to be a grandmother by morning after we tell her.”

“So…” Jacob spoke up, “I think I need to find mine own place, then? Or stay with someone else?”

Newt looked at him confused, “You’re more than welcome to continuing living here, Jacob. Is there an issue with the current living arrangement?”

“I’m staying in the spare bedroom, ain’t I? If you two are having a kid, you’ll need the space.”

“That’s still a bit away. Even so, I’m sure we can make it work.” Newt said, realizing he hadn’t thought of that before. Where would this child sleep once it was born? He surely hadn’t bought this home with the thought of starting a family.

Tina nodded, “We’ll find a way to make everything work out. Don’t feel like you have to move because of this.”

Theseus watched Tina, thinking about the letter he had in his desk. He did feel guilty keeping it from her, but what if it was somehow a trap? What if Queenie had never written to her at all?

Tina seemed to be happy now for the most part. Her and Newt were happily married and expecting their first child, and Theseus was going to do whatever he could to make sure it stayed that way.

Chapter Text

The day after announcing the news of their expanding family to Theseus and Jacob, Newt wrote to his mother asking if there would be a time soon when he and Tina could go visit them. He didn’t say why, but figured a son simply wanting to visit his mother was a good enough reason. He sent the letter before leaving for work, and by that evening his mother had responded with plans to have the couple visit in two days. Two days later, Newt went to leave for work so he could go for at least half the day, as he and Tina wouldn’t be leaving until later in the afternoon for his parents home. He was stopped by his wife before he could make his way out the door.

“Newt?” Tina called out to him, stopping him from leaving, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“When is Theseus going to trust me enough to give me work related to the Grindelwald case again? I’m glad that I’m getting some work, but it’s random cases that I had nothing to do with. I want to be able to go back to what I was doing.”

Newt paused, unsure of how to answer, “I’m sure he’s just worried after what happened on the raid. He doesn’t want you trying to go out in the field again whenever they get news of a possible location.”

“Have there been any more leads?”

“Theseus hasn’t told me of any, though I’m not sure he would even if there had been.” he was telling the truth. He hadn’t heard of any more raids involving Grindelwald happening, and Theseus was worried about Tina rejoining the Grindelwald case.

“Can you ask? I would but if he won’t even let me see the paperwork, I’m sure he won’t give me any details. I haven’t had an update on it at all. Even if there is nothing new, I’d like to be told that. I’m part of this too.”

Newt felt a bit guilty, knowing the reason that Theseus wasn’t updating her was because of Queenie. But...surely he could ask for an update that didn’t involve her? Or maybe Theseus could find work related to Grindelwald that wouldn’t somehow tie back to Queenie? Newt had accepted the Queenie reasoning easily; he wanted Tina away from the case at the time too. In fact, he had been the one to suggest she start off with paperwork not related to it. But now, as long as she stayed out of the field and out of harm's way, he couldn’t think of a solid reason why paperwork from the case couldn’t be allowed.

“Of course I’ll ask.” he responded, “But I can’t promise he’ll be any more open with me.” thinking back, the only thing Theseus had really been open with Newt about was the situation around Queenie, though even what his brother had told him about that was vague. Theseus had wanted Queenie to reach out after the news of their marriage had been made public...why was he so worried about it now? What had changed? Yes, Tina had been hurt because she thought she heard her sisters voice, but a voice couldn’t make it’s way through the work Theseus approved to have sent over for her to work on.

‘There’s something that he doesn’t want either of us to know.’ was the only conclusion that the magizoologist could come to for the sudden change in his brothers narrative. ‘And that something probably involves Queenie. She must’ve reached out in some way.’ he was going to find out if he was correct. And maybe, just maybe, if he was correct he was going to tell Tina the full truth.

At work that day, Newt hadn’t been able to talk with his brother as he had wanted. When he went to his brothers office, he found it empty. He took the moment to glance around, as if any evidence would be lying out in the open. Walking around the desk, Newt debated opening the drawers to see what contents they held; the only thing stopping him was the fact that he would be invading his older brothers space. As he began reaching for a drawer, he heard someone else make their way into the office.

“Mr. Scamander?” the person said, standing in the doorway, “Are you looking for Auror Scamander?”

Newt quickly straightened up, looking at the person he recognized as an employee of the department he was currently standing in. “I was, is he not in today?” he asked in response.

“He is, but his main team is on a raid right now. I don’t know the specifics, but you just missed him. It’ll be awhile before they get back. Anything in particular you need?”

“It’s a personal matter. I’ll speak with him later.” the younger Scamander made his way out of the office, hoping that the person wouldn’t tell Theseus that he had been snooping around his desk, if he had even noticed.

Instead of going back to his own office, Newt decided to go ahead and head home to prepare for the trip to his parents home. They were only going to be staying two nights, but he wanted to make sure he left Bunty enough instructions on what to do while he was gone, especially as he had no plans to take any of the creatures with him in his case this time. No, he was going to be much too preoccupied with telling his parents that they were going to be grandparents.

When he told Tina he wasn’t able to talk to Theseus, she seemed curious about the raid that he had gone on.

“Was it one involving Grindelwald? Did they get another possible location?”

“I’m not sure, I was only told that they were on a raid. I’ve got no more details, but I promised I would talk with him and I will the next time I see him.” Newt reassured her as they prepared to leave, after saying goodbye to Jacob. This trip would only be the two of them.

Once they arrived at the house that Tina had only been to one time before, Newt’s mother again ran out to greet them.

“Newt, Tina!” the older woman smiled, going to hug the two. “How’re you two doing? Are you feeling well, Tina? I heard you were injured at work.”

Tina returned her smile, “I’m doing fine, Mrs. Scamander, that incident was a little over two months ago now.”

“Oh please, call me Elaine. There’s no need to be formal.”

Tina’s smile brightened as they went inside, dropping off their luggage in the same room they had stayed in during their last visit. As they hadn’t arrived until the evening, the small family didn’t spend much time together the first night they were there. They dined together, but the presence of Newt’s father had made Tina too nervous to say anything at first. It also confirmed her suspicion that this was going to be the most difficult announcement they were going to have to do. Even as the next day went on she found it difficult to say anything. She could tell by Newt’s constant glances that he was waiting for her to say something first, but she couldn’t work up the nerve to do it. Why was this so hard?

It wasn’t until that afternoon, after a full day had passed, that she finally found the opportunity to bring it up. Her, Newt, and Elaine were outside watching the hippogriffs that her in-laws still cared for when the topic of conversation had turned to a certain hippogriff that had recently been born. Elaine and Newt were in the middle of discussing the mothers tendency to be protective over it’s offspring when Tina interrupted.

“I can’t imagine a mother not being protective over it’s child,” she said, “I haven’t met my baby yet but I know I’d never let anything happen to them.” This caught both Newt and his mother off guard, but her husband quickly recovered and went to put an arm around her, trying not to laugh seeing the brief confusion on his mother’s face.

Elaine looked between the two giving a gentle smile, “So this is why you two wanted to stop by for a visit.” it was more of a statement than a question.

Tina nodded, “I’m pregnant. I’m sorry this is such an odd way to tell you, but I couldn’t find any other way to bring it up.” she couldn’t help but smiling as she said it.

“Don’t be sorry!” Elaine exclaimed, going to hug Tina, “This is wonderful! How far along are you? Surely not very…”

“About ten weeks now, I think.” Tina answered, “We found out about two weeks ago. We were trying to figure out how to tell everybody.”

“Am I the last to know?”

“Mr. Scamander, your husband I should say, doesn’t know yet. I...I’m not quite sure how to go about telling him, as he doesn’t seem to be my biggest fan.” Tina felt Newt give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze when she said this.

“Oh don’t you worry about him,” Elaine said, “I’ll take care of it.”

The Auror was glad that her mother-in-law was excited about her news, yet still worried about how to go about telling Newt’s father. In the end, she ended up not even being the one to tell him. Elaine really had taken care of it, having made a comment about it over dinner that night.

“Well, I certainly am excited to meet my first grandchild.” Newt’s mother had said halfway through the meal, catching everyone off guard. “Isn’t it exciting dear?” the question was directed at her husband.

Newt’s father only nodded in response, glaring at Tina. That was the last the topic was mentioned that night, and further then that it hadn’t been brought up for the remainder of their visit. Along with that, everything had seemed to just be...awkward. She was was glad when Newt suggested they head home early. When they arrived home, Tina had insisted that they make the public announcement that day, or at least write to someone who could do it for them. Now that Newt’s parents knew, she wanted to be done with the announcements.

The next day they saw the (thankfully expected) headline:

SCAMANDER BABY CONFIRMED TO BE ON THE WAY

***

It was dark by the time Theseus arrived back at his office, and he almost ignored the the envelope on his desk. One of the other Auror’s had told him that Newt had stopped by a few days earlier to discuss a personal matter, so at first he had just assumed it was him writing about whatever it was he wanted to talk about. He knew that his brother had been out of town visiting their parents, and he hadn’t been in his office much in general recently anyways. As he gathered his stuff to leave for the evening, he saw that it wasn’t really addressed to him.

It had his name on it, but under it was written ‘give to Tina’.

Unlike the last time he had gotten a letter with this handwriting and Tina’s name on it, he wasted no time in opening it.

Tina,

I don’t know if you got my last letter, but maybe you just weren’t able to respond. I wanted to reach out again to congratulate you! I saw that you and Newt are expecting your first child, and that this time it’s true. I do miss you and hope I can hear from you soon. Have you been told about...well, anything? I hope you haven't been kept in the dark; he said you wouldn’t be. If you want to respond but don’t know how, you can ask him to get your response to me. He knows how.

I wish you and Newt the best, and hope I get to see you before your baby is born.

Your sister,
Queenie Goldstein
(Also, I apologize for sending this letter through someone else to get to you, but it was the only way I knew to make sure you got it)

Theseus resealed the note and quickly threw it in the drawer with the other letter he had gotten before going to write out a response.

Q.G.,

Please refrain from writing to Tina, even if it is addressed to me. Your message will be passed along this time only.

T.S.

Chapter Text

It had been nearly a week since Newt had tried talking with Theseus. As the younger Scamander had made no other attempt at talking with his brother, the older of the two had completely forgotten that he had even been told that Newt had stopped by his office. This also meant that it had been nearly a week since he had sent his letter to Queenie telling her to stop writing to Tina, which it appeared she had done for now. The next letter from her was addressed to Theseus, and just Theseus.

T.S.,

Does this mean that you haven’t told Tina about anything? I didn’t know she wouldn’t be updated on the situation, isn’t she working the case? I don’t understand why I can’t even reach out to congratulate her, it’s not as if I’m giving away any secrets by doing so. When I agreed to this, I wasn’t told I would be kept away from my family. I’m putting myself at risk by doing this, and all I ask is that I’m able to talk with my sister. I don’t understand why that’s an issue.

Q.G.

Theseus didn’t respond to the letter right away but simply put it away, making a mental note to write Queenie back later when he didn’t have a mountain of paperwork that needed his attention. Besides, he needed the time to think about how to explain why he didn’t want Tina knowing that Queenie was communicating with the Ministry. Yes, wanting to keep Tina safe was a good enough reason, but he knew that it wasn’t good enough. The odds of Tina somehow getting hurt simply because she knew Queenie had reached out was low, and he could only keep saying that for so much longer. Maybe he could use her health as an excuse.

He also thought about how he could continue to keep Tina away from the Ministry, as he didn’t have a valid reason for that anymore either. She had been told she was fine to return to work as long as she didn’t go into the field, but what if one of Queenie’s letters happened to end up at her desk? What if the news of a leak from Grindelwald’s followers made its way to her while she was at her desk? No, Theseus didn’t want to risk it. The only way he could be sure that Tina would hear nothing about it was by keeping her away from the case, and in order to do that she needed to stay away from the Ministry, specifically the department where she worked.

For right now, though, Tina had stopped asking to come back into the office. At least she hadn’t asked him specifically about it. As long as it stayed like that, he could later use her pregnancy as a reason for her to need to stay home. He would find a way to make it work out.

As another week passed, in the crazy amount of work it seemed that Theseus had accumulated, he had completely forgotten about Queenie’s letter that had been put away to be responded to later.

***

Tina tried to hide her grin as she made her way to Newt’s office in the Department of Magical Creatures, having to stop herself from going straight to her brother-in-laws office. She knocked on the door to her husbands office before walking in, not waiting for an answer.

“Tina!” Newt exclaimed, “What’re you doing here? Didn’t you have an appointment with the healer today?”

“I did. I thought I’d stop by on my way home.”

“Is everything okay? Is something wrong with the baby?” Newt’s voice had a hint of concern in it as his mind went over every possible reason Tina had decided to stop by today, as she had never done this before when leaving her appointments.

His wife laughed, “We’re both fine, I just thought that while I was out I could go talk with Theseus, since you haven’t had the chance. Besides, it keeps me out of the house. I don’t like feeling like I have to stay there all the time. Theseus is here today, right?”

“I’m sure he’s here every day...but I’m not sure if he’s in his office or not, I haven’t been by. Are you sure he’ll be okay with you showing up unannounced? He seemed pretty adamant that you work strictly from home…”

“But I’m not here working,” Tina responded, “And he can’t tell me that I can’t come by and see you. He can’t just...ban me from the Ministry all together.”

“He can’t, but are you sure you want to risk upsetting him by just showing up?”

Tina sighed, “I just want to know why he refuses to let me work on the Grindelwald case, as well as why he won’t let me sit at my desk here and work. I understand why he did it at first, but there’s just no reason for him to not let me now!”

Newt nodded, thinking for a second, “If you want to sit in here with me for a bit, I’ll go with you.”

Tina smiled and sat down in a chair in the corner of Newt’s office, “I’d like that.”

The magizoologist kept going through the papers on his desk, the two sitting in a comfortable silence before he spoke. “So you’re both healthy? Nothing to be concerned about?”

“The healer told me that both me and the baby are in perfect shape. She also said that there seems to be no damage from the accident, so I can probably stop going in so often to make sure everything’s alright.”

“The healer told you to stop going in as often as they originally told you to?” Newt looked up at her, “I...think that’s good? They’re not worried anymore that your injuries somehow affected the baby?”

“Doesn’t seem that way.”

Newt smiled and got up to hug Tina, also giving her a kiss. He was relieved at this news; now he had one less thing to constantly worry about.

***

As Tina had entered the Ministry of Magic and made her way to the department where Newt worked, she hadn’t paid any attention to any of the other witches and wizards around her, especially not the ones who entered the building after her. This didn’t mean that those around her didn’t notice her, though, especially one certain witch who walked in just in time to see the female Auror turn a corner.

The witch, who was wearing a long black coat and had her hair completely hidden in a hat, had to stop herself from calling out to Tina. She even considered abandoning her original reason for coming here to follow her, but shook her head and looked around realizing that she didn’t know where to go. She hadn’t wanted to draw any attention to herself, yet had to resort to asking someone to point her in the right direction. Maybe she should’ve followed the one face she had recognized, but by this time it was too late.

“Excuse me,” she tapped another witches shoulder, getting her attention, “I’m looking for Theseus Scamander. He’s an Auror?”

Getting pointed in the right direction, the woman made her way to the head Auror’s office, not even bothering to knock as she walked in.

“Can I help you?” Theseus sounded annoyed as he looked up, not realizing who had just walked in at first.

“I hope so because if not then I’m going to find my sister.”

Theseus immediately jumped up and locked the office door, “You shouldn’t be here.”

Queenie took off her hat, now having no obstruction of her face, “I want answers. I gave you plenty of time to write back and you never did. Now, why is it so important that I don’t talk to Teenie? Have you not told her?”

“I don’t have time for this right now.” the older Scamander said under his breath, realizing that he never had written back, “As I’ve told you before, it’s for safety reasons.”

“Her knowing that I’m trying to help is a safety concern? How is she helping you if she doesn’t know where you’re getting your information?”

“She isn’t working the case.”

“But she does work here, I know she does. I just saw her.”

Theseus went to respond but paused, “You just saw her? Where?”

“When I walked in. You’re lucky that I didn’t run after her, but I wanted to give you the chance to give me a better explanation than what you’ve given me. If I’m not going to get one, then I’m going to go find my sister. I’ll give you one last chance to explain it to me in a way that actually makes sense.”

Theseus remained silent, processing the fact that both Tina and Queenie were now in the same building after everything he had done to make sure they didn’t communicate.

“I’ll go find Teenie, then.” Queenie said, putting her hat back on and going to open the door.

“Alright,” he stopped her, “I’ll tell you.”

Chapter Text

[Excerpt from Chapter 15 of “This Mess We’re In”]

As the battle went on, the Auror’s were able to stand their ground and fight off some of the attackers. Tina had managed to stop a few of them, but soon got distracted when she thought she heard her sisters voice.

“Queenie?” she exclaimed, turning around to look for her.

In the brief time she had let her guard down, she felt herself get hit with something. The hand not holding her wand quickly went to her side where she had been grazed, and in the moment of weakness more curses continued flying past her, two more hitting her.

When the third one hit, it knocked her over, giving her no time to recover. Her vision started blurring, but she could hear her name being called out by multiple different voices that she now couldn’t place.

Tina tried to say that she was fine, followed by an attempt to stand up, but she wasn’t sure she was moving at all. The more she tried to move, the fuzzier everything got.

The last thing she heard before everything went dark was a voice screaming, “TINA!”

[End Excerpt]

Queenie watched Tina fall to the ground after being hit by numerous curses. Queenie called out for her sister and tried to make her way over to where she was now lying on the floor, but other Aurors had surrounded her before she had been able to reach her. They were trying to get her to stand up, and from the little view that Queenie had she could tell that Tina was trying as well. She tried to catch a few of her sisters thoughts, but due to the amount of people in the area she was unable to focus solely on Tina.

She saw that Tina was starting to fight less to stand up, and a second later she went still. “TINA!” Queenie called out, trying to make her way through the Auror’s. One held his wand up to her, causing her to back down. The man studied her face before grabbing her arm and disapparating them.

***

Theseus remained silent, processing the fact that both Tina and Queenie were now in the same building after everything he had done to make sure they didn’t communicate.

“I’ll go find Teenie, then.” Queenie said, putting her hat back on and going to open the door.

“Alright,” he stopped her, “I’ll tell you.”

Queenie turned back to Theseus, “Go ahead.”

The Auror thought for a second before beginning, “Do you remember when we made this agreement?”

“Of course. I had seen Tina get hit by a curse and wanted to make sure she was okay. You pulled me away from her.”

“Were you ever told why she had let her guard down? Why those curses were able to hit her so easily?”

The legilimens shook her head, wishing the man would get to the point. She wished she could just read his thoughts to see what he wanted to say, but it seemed Auror’s were good at blocking her out. But he did have her thinking...why had Tina paused that day? That wasn’t like her sister.

“She heard your voice. She had stopped to try and find you.”

“So she wants to see me!” Queenie said a bit louder than intended, “I’m not seeing what the issue is, then.” she paused, “Unless she blames me? But I wasn’t the one who attacked her! If that’s the case then I have to talk to her to clear things up!”

Theseus sighed, “No, as far as I know she doesn’t blame you. But she also doesn’t know that you actually were there that day. I believe she was told that nobody saw you, but I can’t say that for certain at this point. What I do know is that she almost got killed trying to find you. Tina would do anything to get you back, but at this point in time that can put her in too much danger. We can’t have her doing anything impulsive.”

“But if I’m already here she wouldn’t have to. I’m on your side, can’t she at least know that? My own sister thinks that I’ve betrayed her! I can still stay working as I am, but at least I’d know that Teenie isn’t upset with me.”

“If she knows that you’re not really working for Grindelwald anymore, she’ll argue against you going back out there. You’ve signed up to do this, and sadly at the time that means that you can’t see your sister. I’m sorry.”

Queenie shook her head, “So you don’t want me to see her because she’ll disagree with what I’m doing? I’m a grown woman, I’m sure she’ll understand that I can make my own decisions. Besides, I’m helping you, aren’t I? Without me you wouldn’t even have a general idea of where Grindelwald is.”

“I’m afraid she won’t see it that way.” Theseus knew this would be a possible issue as soon as the younger Goldstein sister had agreed to his plan. For the time being it was easy enough to keep Tina from constantly asking to see Queenie; she didn’t know her younger sister was secretly working with the Ministry. That’s why he had been keeping her away from both the office and the case - she couldn’t question where the information was coming from if she didn’t know it was there. Queenie was a different story, though. She knew she could contact her older sister directly if she really wanted, especially now that she thought the other was upset with her. How would he keep Queenie from randomly showing up at Newt’s home now?

“If Tina found out you’re working with the Ministry she wouldn’t want you going anywhere near Grindelwald,” Theseus tried to explain, “But we need you to continue to do what you’re doing. Her knowing is a…”

“Conflict of interest?” Queenie finished, “You don’t want my sister to be concerned for my safety? At least I’d know someone here cares! I put myself in danger every time I send a letter to you. All I wanted was to be able to send a few to Teenie as well to congratulate her. You said you’d pass that message along to her, but now I’m going to guess you didn’t even do that, did you?”

Theseus remaining silent was all the younger Goldstein needed for an answer, and she turned away and stormed out of his office. In doing so, she ran into another person who was walking as if heading to the room she had just left.

The legilimens gasped when she saw the woman she had run into, as well as her male companion. “Turn and walk back the direction you came from.” she whispered, getting looks that were a mix of shock and confusion from the two, “Just do it, please!”

Newt started to say something to her, but she motioned for him to be quiet, not wanting to alert anyone else to the fact that she was finally about to be able to talk with her older sister and her now brother-in-law.

Queenie quickly glanced back and was glad to see that Theseus hadn’t tried to go after her just yet, and hadn’t seemed to notice what had just happened. As Newt and Tina continued to stare at her, she waved her hands for them to start walking and they did, but this time with her following them. Tina kept glancing back in disbelief, opening her mouth and closing it without saying anything.

Newt all but pushed Queenie into his office, where she again removed the hat she had been wearing to hide her hair.

“Q...Queenie, is that really you?” Tina looked close to tears, “Are you really here?”

“I am here, it is me…” Queenie wanted to hug her sister, especially as she noticed her thoughts running a million miles per hour. “I know I have a lot of explaining to do, will you give me the chance?”

Tina was struggling to form a coherent sentence, as shocked as she was. “How...you...when...what’re you doing here?”

“You were in Theseus’ office.” Newt stated before Queenie could say anything to them. “How long have you two been working together?”

“About three months now.” she was able to answer, not moving her focus away from Tina, “After I saw you get hurt. I tried to get to you but you were surrounded by other Aurors. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead...I was angry with the people who had pointed their wands at you. Theseus saw me and took me away from you; he said if I actually cared about you that I would help the Ministry...I told him I would.”

Nobody spoke for a second, the two Scamander's trying to take in this information. “You’re working undercover?” Tina eventually asked.

“I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore,” Queenie looked down, “I thought I was helping. When Theseus said I’d be contacting the Ministry, I guess I assumed that meant you would know about it. But he hasn’t told you any of this, has he? He said you haven’t been working the Grindelwald case anymore.”

Tina shook her head, “He took me off of it after that day. Kept saying I couldn’t come back to work yet, but when a healer said I was good to return he still wouldn’t let me come into the office...he just sent me paperwork at home.” she rested a hand on her small yet growing stomach, “He really was looking for any excuse to keep me home, wasn’t he? Is this why? How many more secrets does he have!” Tina was getting angry now. Though he had good intentions when he did it, Theseus had leaked her and Newts private information to the media. Now he was lying to her about her own sisters whereabouts.

“He looked at me like I was crazy when I said I heard you that day,” Tina continued, tears filling her eyes, “He tried so hard to keep me from you.”

Queenie finally made the step to embrace Tina, “I have been writing to you, Teen.” she said, “I didn’t know you weren’t getting the letters. I would’ve come sooner had I known...I wanted to congratulate you on everything. You and Newt both. At first I thought you were just mad at me and weren’t responding but then he told me to not write to you...I knew as soon as I read that, that he wasn’t telling you everything. I wish I would’ve known he hadn’t told you anything at all. Oh Teenie, I’m so sorry.” Queenie was on the verge of tears now too, the reality of everything hitting them. “Now that I think back, he never really gave me updated on you like he said he would...I heard it all through magazines and papers.”

Tina stepped back to wipe her eyes, silently cursing her new lack of control over her emotions, “Can you tell me exactly how this all started?”

Her sister immediately began telling the events of that day, as well as everything else that led them to the point they were at now.

Chapter Text

It had been a week; one full week since Tina had seen her sister after all that had happened in Paris, and she was still feeling the same mix of emotions she had been since she figured out Queenie had been working with Theseus. She was both hurt and angry--with Theseus and Queenie alike. She was upset that Theseus had been lying to her, but she had yet to confront him about it at Newt’s request. As for Queenie, Tina had pleaded with her to stay but had been unsuccessful at convincing her to. Something was keeping Queenie working for Grindelwald, even if under disguise, and Tina couldn’t figure out what it was.

It scared Tina more than anything to think about. Having her sister so close to that wizard, especially doing what she was doing was extremely dangerous. What if Grindelwald found her out? He certainly had no problems with killing people. Queenie had insisted she knew what she was doing and that she was being careful, but it didn’t ease Tina’s anxieties about the situation at all. Really, all it did was increase her anger at Theseus Scamander. Why did he think this was a good idea? Why would he use her sister like that, and then lie about it? Queenie had no training to be an undercover agent, and each time she contacted Theseus she risked her life. Queenie had also been unwilling to tell Tina how she was able to contact Theseus despite insisting it was completely safe. The younger Goldstein had also claimed that she would write to her older sister directly now that she knew it possible, but refused to discuss how she could without Grindelwald finding out.

Tina knew the stress of the situation wasn’t good for her, especially with her condition, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. With every day that passed, she came closer to going back to the Ministry to confront Theseus about it all, but Newt kept telling her it wouldn’t be a good idea least it upset his older brother. The fact that Newt was correct upset her even more; if Theseus was angry with them for any reason he could, in theory, make life a lot of difficult for the two. So Tina agreed to wait for now and see if her brother-in-law would simply come clean to her about what he had been up to, and why he wouldn’t allow her to go back to the Ministry building to work.

It had been a week since Tina started having this mix of emotions when Newt hesitantly approached her one evening.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, noticing how he was trying to decide how to go about saying what it is he had to say. “Nothings happened, has it? You haven’t heard anything?” her heart began beating faster, worry about her sister skyrocketing.

“Oh no, no everything’s alright,” Newt said quickly, “I wanted to talk with you about an opportunity I have that I...well, I really don’t wish to turn down. I did want to make sure you would be okay with it first, though.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve always despised office work,” Newt began, “It’s why I’ve always been happy to travel and further my research on creatures. Even when I was working with dragons during the war, to me it was better than ever having to work in an office. Though with everything that has happened lately, I have been willing to simply be in an office at the Ministry…”

“You’re going to start traveling again.” his wife said for him, almost feeling her heart drop. “For how long?” under a different circumstance, her reaction would’ve been to offer to go with him, but they were starting a family. She shouldn’t be traveling and living out of his case, especially if it meant traveling for a couple of months. Though maybe at the moment it would be safe for her to…

“It won’t be for long periods of time, if I do.” her husband explained, “And I told them I wouldn’t travel far distances if I could help it.” he tried to reassure her, “I’m not trying to avoid any responsibilities here, but I fully understand if you’d rather I not be travelling at the moment.”

“You’d be safe?”

“Dealing with certain creatures can sometimes get dangerous but…yes, I’d be safe. And never that far away if I can help it. I might even be so close that I can still be here with you at night, but avoid having to actually go into the office during the day. There’s plenty in the immediate area that I can do and study more.”

Tina knew she couldn’t say no, she couldn’t tell him that she didn’t want him out in the field. She felt guilty that he had felt the need to ask her, that he even thought she might say no to him doing a job that would make him much happier. It was almost a humorous thought to her, him in the field doing work while she was stuck at home with the basement full of creatures.

“I’ll still be here for you, Tina--” he said before she cut him off again.

“Of course you can travel.” Tina said, “I’m not going to tell you that you can’t, you’re work is probably more productive out there anyways, I’d imagine. Just promise me you’ll stay safe and let me know where you are, if possible.”

Newt grinned and hugged her, “Of course, love. And as I said, I’ll make sure I’m never too far away. After all, I have a reason to want to be at my own home at night now.” he kissed her forehead and rested a hand on her bump, “You have another appointment with a healer soon, don’t you?”

She nodded, “Tomorrow. Then hopefully I’ll be able to have longer wait periods between having to go in.” Despite not liking the constant appointments, she was a little glad she’d be going in the next day. She had questions for the healers, involving how stress might affect her pregnancy as well as how it was progressing in general. She didn’t know much about baby bumps or how they were supposed to look at different time marks, but she felt she was showing a bit more than she should be with how far along she was. ‘I’m probably overreacting,’ she thought, ‘but I just want to make sure.’

For the rest of the evening Newt and Tina enjoyed some time alone discussing the work that Newt would be doing outside of his office, and Newt entertained Tina with the story of the time his boggart appeared as a desk once while he was studying at Hogwarts. While she laughed at the image of Newt saying that he feared working in an office more than anything, it made the guilt she felt worse for indirectly having made him settle for office work for the past couple months.

In the morning he kissed her goodbye before leaving for work, and she could tell he seemed much happier than he usually did when he did this. If he was lucky, today would be one of the last he had to spend cooped up in his office.

Tina tried to push all thoughts of Queenie and Theseus out of her head for the day, which became easier to do once she got to her appointment. A different healer was seeing her this time, not that she minded. The appointment started as all the others had, and Tina was going to wait until the end to ask the questions that she had. Those questions were forgotten when Tina saw the brief look of concern on the healers face.

“Who has been tending to you, Mrs. Scamander?” the healer asked, nodding to herself and thinking when Tina gave her the answer.

“Is everything alright?” all worry Tina had about Queenie was currently completely replaced by a new worry. Was something wrong with her baby?

“It appears to be. Let’s continue on though.” the healer gave a small smile as she continued on with the examination that Tina had become used to. Even as the healer tried to be reassuring, the Auror couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong now. Had her high stress levels caused something to happen?

As the examination came to where it typically ended, Tina was preparing to bombard her with questions she now had when the healer went back to what she had done at the beginning of the appointment.

“Is something wrong with the baby?” Tina finally blurted out, not wanting to wait any longer to know what had caused the healer to act how she was acting.

“Everything seems to be going as it should, and I do agree that you don’t need to be coming in every week anymore.”

“You looked like something was wrong. If you noticed something shouldn’t I know?”

“Nothing is wrong, as I said. I was just confused as I did notice something that hadn’t been recorded in your records. I’m assuming that the healer you had been seeing never mentioned anything about it?”

“About what?” Tina’s worry was rising again, and the vagueness wasn’t helping at all.

The healer gave her another smile, “There were two heartbeats. You’re carrying twins, Mrs. Scamander.”

Chapter Text

‘You’re carrying twins, Mrs, Scamander,’ the words had been echoing in Tina’s mind since she had returned home. She was almost in a daze and, needing time to herself to think, had retreated to the bedroom to avoid having to talk to whoever else would be in the flat at the time. How was she going to break this news to her husband? It wasn’t as if she could find a way to casually bring up the subject of twins to him; no, she would have to find another way. Tina felt tears begin to fill her eyes as she continued thinking about everything going on at the moment - Queenie working for both Grindelwald and Theseus, Theseus not being honest about it, thinking about how Newt would be traveling more now, carrying two babies, and the cherry on top of it all was that she felt alone.

Not that she would admit it, but she disliked having Newt at work more and more. It wasn’t envy, but the long stretches of being alone in the flat. It was never truly just her there, of course, Bunty came during the day to care for the creatures. Jacob had been spending increasingly less time there, having found odd jobs in the area to do, but even he was sometimes around. Despite the two others who she could talk to, though, Tina only truly wanted to confide in Newt most of the time. It made her feel guilty at times, but the magizoologist was the only person she felt she could tell truly anything to now.

By the time Newt returned home from work, Tina was still in the bedroom though she had managed to wipe most of the tears from her eyes.

“Tina?” Newt asked, knocking on the door before slowly entering, “Are you...what’s wrong?” his voice was full of concern when he noticed that his wife had been crying. He quickly set down his things and sat next to her on the bed, gathering her in his arms. This action almost made the tears return.

Tina shook her head, not letting herself start crying again, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Love, you’ve been crying. Did something happen today?”

“No I just...I missed you.” Tina said, which wasn’t a complete lie. All she had wanted since getting home was for him to be there with her.

Newt continued to hold Tina, waiting a few minutes before speaking again, “How did your appointment with the healer go?” he asked, having a feeling that might be the real source of the tears.

“I’m healthy.”

“And the baby?”

“About that…” Tina trailed off for a second, feeling Newt suddenly hold her tighter, “I was given some...new information about that.”

The worry in her husband's voice was obvious, “What kind of news would that be?”

“It’s twins.” she said before she talked herself out of it somehow. As soon as the words left her mouth, she almost wished she wouldn’t have said it so abruptly, but it had been done. It was out there now, and now he knew.

Newt was quiet for a second as he processed the information he had just been given, “Twins? As in two?” he got a nod in response, “And...and that upset you?”

“No! I...I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to hear that. It...I’m happy, of course, but I...I just wanted you here with me today after I found out, that’s it.”

The couple stayed holding each other for a little while longer, Newt’s hand finding its place resting on her abdomen at some point. After some time had passed, it was Newt who brought up his travelling.

“Tina, I’m going to wait until after they’re born before I start traveling again.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t feel it’s right to leave you alone, even if it is just overnight. I want to be here with you, especially if anything were to happen…”

“I told you that I didn’t mind if you-”

“I know, and I’m saying I’m not comfortable with it now.”

Tina sighed, “Newt, please. I know you don’t want to be in that office. Besides, you said you’d try and stay local anyways, didn’t you? That you’d never be too far?”

He thought for a second, “What if I did both? I’ll do day trips in the immediate area when I can, always being home in the evenings. On days I can’t do that, I’ll go to the office like I do now. Do you think that would work?”

“Newt…”

“Please don’t argue with me about this,” he kissed the top of her head, “That’s what I’ll do. I don’t want to be too far from you, especially the further along you get.”

Tina was about to respond when there was a knock on the bedroom door, “Hey Tina?” Jacob’s voice called through the door, “A letter just got here for you. Looks important so thought you should go ahead and take a look at it…”

Tina got up and opened the door, thanking the No-Maj before turning back to Newt, “It looks like it’s from Theseus.” she said.

“What could he possibly want this late into the evening?” the magizoologist asked, glancing at his pocket watch. “Surely he doesn’t choose now to call you into the office.”

“Not tonight but...he wants me to come in tomorrow morning. He said he has something important to talk with me about.”

“Do you think it’s about Queenie?”

“I guess we’ll find out in the morning.” Tina was worried about what this sudden meeting could possibly be about and what could’ve possibly happened to bring it about. If Theseus was finally going to tell the truth about Queenie, why do it now? Had something happened? Did he know that her and Newt had found out?

It was almost a weird feeling to get ready with Newt in the morning to head to the Ministry; she hadn’t had to do this in a while. Once there, her husband walked her to the department where she technically still worked and would find the office she needed. When she walked into said office, Theseus didn’t acknowledge her for a second.

“Tina,” the head Auror said after a minute, looking up at her, “Please have a seat.”

“What is this about?” she asked, sitting down as she had been told to do. Usually she would’ve insisted on standing, but she didn’t feel the had the energy or patience to argue about something so small at the moment. She wanted to know what was going on.

“Do you remember the raid where you ended up injured?” Theseus asked instead of answering her question.

“Vaguely. I remember most things right before I was hit, but the details after that are a bit fuzzy.”

He nodded, considering his next words, “You claimed to have heard your younger sisters voice, do you remember that?”

Tina nodded, trying not to let on that she knew she had in fact heard Queenie’s voice that day. That she knew Queenie was actually working for Theseus now.

“I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you recently,” Theseus continued, “I believe I told you that your sister hadn’t been spotted that day. The truth is, she had been. And, as I have no other way to say this I do apologize saying it so simply but...well, she’s been working for me ever since.”

She stared at him for a second, trying to not let her sudden anger get the best of her, “Queenie’s been working for you since she was seen at that warehouse? Care to expand on that?”

“For the time being I’m going to leave it at that, but now you know why I’ve been distancing you from the case. I will explain everything to you in time. For now, you have the right to know what happens regarding her, as well as the fact that she is safe.”

“And why can’t I be told everything now?” Tina’s voice was rising, “Why bother telling me this at all if you’re going to acknowledge you’re not telling me everything? Why should I even trust you?!”

“Tina, please.” Theseus said, calmly, “I’m telling you because I know if roles were reversed, I’d want to know what was going on with Newt. I also know that you already have spoken with your sister about this all of this, when she came in to see me the other day. Now, I’m not sure what lies have made their way to you regarding the situation, but if you’ll remain calm I’ll be happy to tell you the truth. The full truth.”

Instead of verbally responding, Tina made herself more comfortable in her seat and waited for her brother-in-law to tell his side of the story. She would decide if she trusted him afterwards.

Chapter Text

Tina left her brother-in-law’s office with more answers than she had expected, though she knew he hadn’t told her everything. He had made it clear from the beginning that he wouldn’t say everything about the situation to her, leaving out details here and there, but he would tell her all the major points and be completely honest with her.

Nothing that Theseus said anymore deserved to be accepted without some sort of proof anymore, Tina believed. She didn’t think she’d walk out of that office believing anything he tried to sell to her but...she did. Everything he had told her and matched up with what Queenie had told her in regards to how Queenie had ended up working as his spy. Everything that Theseus had said confirmed not only what she already knew, but also filled in some of the gaps in what her sister hadn’t told her. Tina had a million reasons to not believe a word that came out of Theseus’s mouth anymore, yet she believed him. And she didn’t know why.

“Since I know now, could I return to working here in the office?” she had tried asking before being excused from the meeting. “Since that seems to be the main reason you kept me away for so long.”

“No. Even now being up to speed, you’re still pregnant. For your child’s health as well as your own, you can’t return until sometime after it’s born. The exact date of your return will be decided much closer to the time you will actually be allowed to even consider coming back.”

“Children.” Tina had corrected without thinking.

Theseus raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

“You said my child. I’m carrying twins. So...children.”

“You’re carrying twins?” Tina nodded, “Even more reason to keep you away from the stress of the office.” he wasn’t going to say it, but now Theseus was considering lessening the already low amounts of work he was sending for her to work on from home. Maybe she could go on an early leave. Even if she protested, he technically could make that call by not sending her anymore work.

Tina still didn’t really know why Theseus had suddenly decided to tell her all this. He knew that Queenie had communicated with her, so maybe that was it. But...how did he know that Queenie had spoken with her? That was something he had neglected to mention.

Maybe it really was him realizing that it wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark when it came to matters involving her younger sister. Or maybe, just maybe, this was becoming another part of this game he seemed to have going on.

Theseus didn’t seem to want Tina to do anything, so she wasn’t sure if there really was an alternative motive for him telling her now. He would’ve asked something, anything of her if that was the case.

That evening Tina asked Newt if he had any idea why Theseus might suddenly do what he had done, but he didn’t have any idea either.

“Maybe he finally realized that he can’t continuously lie to us and expect you to keep trusting him,” Newt had suggested, “Do you still trust him?”

“I”m not sure I do, but I feel like I should and I’m not sure why. I don’t know what he gains from telling me about everything, but I honestly don’t know what he gained by keeping it from me in the first place. What do you think?”

“I’m not sure anymore. It is odd that he just decided to tell you, especially after he tried to hide it for so long. I’ll see if I can’t get him to tell me anything more about it. Surely he wasn’t expecting you to keep it from me.”

Tina nodded, thinking for a second, “Theseus said that he knew Queenie talked to me the day she came into the Ministry. You didn’t tell him that, did you?”

“Why would I have told him?”

“I don’t know, it just...if he knew the entire time, why wait so long to say something about it? It’s been what? Almost two weeks since that happened? If he knew that Queenie had approached us then, wouldn’t he have said something then?”

“Maybe he was waiting to see if either of us would ask him about it?” Newt went to hug her, “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I promise I’ll try and find out for you. I don’t want you stressing too much over it if you can help it. You know she’s safe now.”

Tina leaned into the hug, sighing. “I know, but it just...I hate not knowing what’s going on. I feel so left in the dark about everything. Theseus said he told me the full truth, yet admitted to leaving details of it out. How do I know that he’s even being truthful about how truthful he’s being with me?”

“You’re thinking too much into this, love.” he kissed her forehead, “We know he’s telling the truth about how Queenie ended up working for him. We know that she’s safe. I’ll talk with him tomorrow and see if he’ll tell me anything else. For now, you should try and relax. I know it’s hard, but at least try?”

“Promise you’ll talk to him tomorrow? No delaying it?”

“I promise.”

“Alright. I’ll try to leave it alone for tonight, then. But I do expect more answers tomorrow.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Even after going to bed that night, Tina’s mind couldn’t help but go over what Theseus had told her again and again.

Queenie had seen Tina get attacked. Theseus had seen Queenie. He then told Queenie that if she truly cared, she’d work for the Ministry. She had agreed, and had started working undercover, updating Theseus as necessary involving Grindelwald and his movements. Theseus had kept Tina away from the case so she wouldn’t protest what Queenie was doing, and had also kept Queenie from contacting Tina about it in any way. Yet Queenie had managed to sneak into the Ministry when she realized Tina wasn’t getting her letters. But instead of trying to find Tina right away, she had gone to Theseus.

This was where the details got more fuzzy in Tina’s head. Why did Queenie go to Theseus first? What had happened in his office that day that made Queenie so angry, deciding to tell Newt and her what was going on?

And why, a good amount of time after all that, had Theseus decided it was a good time to tell Tina the truth?

Chapter Text

He tapped his foot impatiently, looking around through the darkness to see if there was anyone else in the general area. She was late.

A few more minutes passed, and still no sign of the woman he was supposed to be meeting at this time. How much longer should he wait? Maybe she was just lost, hadn’t been able to get out that night, or maybe something worse had happened. But how was he to know what was holding up the other?

“Lumos,” Theseus whispered after a few more minutes had passed, having heard someone approaching. The light from his wand let him see the person walking towards him, letting him know that deciding to wait the extra time had been the right decision. “You’re late.”

“It can be hard sneaking out, you know.” the woman responded, “Usually you wouldn’t tell me to risk doing this. Is everything okay? Has something happened with Teenie?”

“Your sister is fine. As for you, Queenie, I’m afraid your time working under Grindelwald is going to have to come to an end soon. I’ve given you the time you asked for, but it’s becoming more dangerous. You can get out, we’ll keep you safe at the Ministry.”

Queenie shook her head, “I can still help more if I stay where I am. I want to help. I know I shouldn’t have done what I did when I told Teen, but she had the right to know. I wouldn’t take it back if I could.”

“That’s not it, though that was a very stupid thing of you to do. Regardless of you breaking my orders, I don’t want you out here anymore. The Ministry could use your help just as well from our end. You would be risking your life a lot less.”

“But you don’t want Newt and them knowing that I’m working for you. I can’t just show up there one day and pretend like nothing happened.”

“I’ve told Tina what I can,” Theseus explained, “I told her that you’ve been working for me, and told her the same story you did. I told her a little over a month ago, just before I told you that we were going to look for a way to pull you out of the field. She knows you’re working for us.”

The legilimens shook her head again, “I don’t see how I could be of any help in an office. It’s not like I’m an Auror like Teen. There’s so much more I can do pretending to still be working with Grindelwald, if you’ll just let me have a bit more time--”

“I’ve given you more time, and now I’m ending it.” Theseus cut her off, “I’m not sure how much you’ve been communicating with your sister recently, but don’t you want to be there with her? Rebuild your relationship? Meet her children when their born? You do know about that, don’t you?” it was the best card he could play at the moment. If there was anything he thought could convince Queenie to end her ‘mission’ early, it was bringing up Tina’s pregnancy. Could she really say no to meeting the new additions to her family?

He saw Queenie hesitate, “Will a few more weeks really make that much of a difference?”

“They could.”

“But what if I--”

“This decision is final, Queenie. Trust me when I say that you will be able to help us from the safety of the Ministry. Besides that, you’ll be with your family again. Like I said, you’d get to see your sister’s children. You’d be back with Jacob.”

A pained look crossed Queenie’s face, “Jacob won’t want anything to do with me after what I’ve done. He thinks I’m crazy.”

“I assure you he doesn’t. He misses you; he wants you to come back to him. You are aware that you two can marry properly in England?”

She nodded in response, considering what Theseus was telling her. Were there really more pros to staying with Grindelwald than going back with the Auror? She’d be a lot happier if she was reunited with everyone, but the guilt of having abandoned them in the first place…

Newt and Tina had seemed to forgive her when she had run into them so many weeks before, but what about Jacob? She hadn’t heard anything about his reaction to what she had done in Paris. Would he really still want her?

“If I could have just a bit more ti--”

“You have another month to do whatever it is you want to do, and no longer. You only get that so we can make sure we have a solid plan for getting you out. After that you have to come to the Ministry. We’ll work out a plan to get you out safely, you just have to make sure that you go willingly. Understood?”

Queenie nodded, “I understand. Just promise that whatever it is you’re wanting me to do in an office is just as good as what I’m doing out here?”

“We wouldn’t pull you if we didn’t think it wasn’t what was best. And Queenie?”

“Yes?”

“You’re getting this month so we can get a better idea of how to get you out without him realizing. If anything starts to go wrong before the month is up, we will be removing you from his company whenever we need.”

***

“Jacob, really, you can stay here.” Newt said as his friend again brought up the subject of finding somewhere else to live, “We don’t mind.”

The No-Maj shook his head, “You need the extra room, don’t you? I don’t want to be using space that you need for your family.”

“But you--” Tina now said, though she was cut off before she could finish her statement.

“Don’t say that I am family, because I’m also a grownup who can manage to live on his own. I’ve been here long enough that I think I’ve figured everything out, I’ll be fine.” Jacob insisted. While he did enjoy staying with the two married Scamanders, he wasn’t sure he’d enjoy still living there when two babies were introduced into the home. Not that he didn’t like children, the flat was simply too small for five people to be in, even if two were tiny.

“You two are startin’ a family of your own, and there’s no reason for me to still be hanging around here everyday.” Jacob continued, “I’ll still be around though, right? We’re all in this mess together and I’m not trying to run from any of it. Well, maybe I’m running from having to deal with hearing crying babies in the middle of the night, but that’s it.” he tried to joke. “I’m not going to go running back to New York or something, if that’s what you think.”

“Not at all, Jacob.” Newt said, “I just want you to know that you’re welcome here. It’s not an issue with me, and I’m sure Tina doesn’t mind either,” she gave a nod as he said this, “You’re welcome to do whatever you want, obviously, but you’re always welcome here whenever you want.”

So it was partly decided. Jacob was going to try and find a place to move to where he would still be nearby, but not in the residence. Newt still insisted that he was fine to continue to stay in the flat, but Jacob insisted on leaving. If Jacob found a place to move into, his goal was to move before he ever had to worry about Tina going into labor.

Chapter Text

Theseus was irritated, to say the least. It had been three months since his last meeting with Queenie. Three months since he had told her she’d only be with Grindelwald for one more month. The problem wasn’t that he wasn’t trying to get her to the Ministry, but there had been complication after complication in trying to come up with a safe way to get her out. Grindelwald had moved locations, they didn’t have enough available people to form a proper rescue team, etc etc...

He was glad he hasn’t shared his plans to get Queenie back to London with Newt or Tina when they were being made originally—it would’ve added too much stress on them, which would’ve been worsened by how long it’s taken. Especially now that Tina was nearing the nine month mark of her pregnancy, Theseus didn’t want to cause the couple any more avoidable stress. Tina would’ve also more than likely tried to get involved with getting her sister out, which was in no way going to be possible. Not with her current condition, and possible interference with her emotional connection to the witch in question.

So, Theseus kept his mouth shut about the whole thing. Of course Tina still asked about Queenie, as she knew the legilimens was working for him, but he just said she was safe. He at least knew this was true, as they were still able to communicate via letters even if face to face meetings weren’t possible.

So, seeing a letter sitting on his desk when he walked into the office that morning wasn’t a complete surprise.

“What new information have you got today?” he mumbled as he opened it, not at all expecting what it actually said.

‘T.S.,

I know I fought to stay here longer, and I know you’ve been doing everything to stop that from happening. I know you didn’t want me here this long, and while I’ve been glad ya plans falling through, I’m afraid my position has changed.

I think he suspects me and I may be in danger. If I can get out unnoticed one night I will, and I’ll go straight to the Ministry. I’m not sure it’s safe for you or your team to try and ‘rescue me’ anymore. Let me get out on my own, and I will as soon as I possibly can.

I now see that it might not be best for me to stay here, especially if he knows something.

Q.G.’

If Grindelwald did know something, then she did need to be out sooner rather than later. What she had suggested had angered Theseus a bit, though. She was saying not to worry about planning an escape anymore, something they’d been doing for months now? She was going to just...walk out on her own? How long ago had this letter been written?

‘I’ll give it a few days,’ he decided, ‘If she doesn’t show up, I’ll go get her myself.’

***

Tina was still in bed despite it being early afternoon. This had become the norm recently; she had trouble getting out of bed most of the time, or was simply too tired to try and move.

She was more than ready for the babies to be born, but was also terrified at the thought. Giving birth to one child was scary enough, but giving birth to two children?

“How’re you feeling, love?” Newt asked gently as he walked in to check on her before he left for the day. More recently, he had taken to only going to the Ministry for a few short hours in the afternoon, opting to stay home the rest of the day.

“Huge,” she answered, “Ready go get these little beans out of me.”

“Little beans?” Newt chuckled, “A new nickname for them, then?”

“Yep, I have to do something while laying here all day. So nicknames it is.”

“What about actual names? Have you thought of any of those?”

“I wanted us to think of those together,” Tina replied, feeling a pain in her abdomen. She wanted to brush it off at first, it wasn’t the first time she had felt this. In fact, it had been happening randomly for a few days now. It had never been an awful pain, though, so surely it was nothing to worry about…

“Tina?” Newt frowned, “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, “It’s nothing, just a cramp. It’s been happening a bit recently, but it’s not that bad.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? What if…”

Tina cut him off, “I promise I’ll tell you when something actually starts to happen. I know you’re worried, I am too, but I think we still have a bit of time before we think about getting any healers involved.”

“If you’re sure…” Newt said, his worry not completely resolved. “Should I stay here today? If it gets any worse then I should be here.”

His wife shook her head, “No, I promise I’m fine.”

This would be the conversation they almost always had before Newt would leave the house for the next few days until Tina’s pains had become more frequent and longer lasting.

“Newt,” she gasped one evening before bed, “I think it’s time.”

***

Theseus had given it five days. He had received Queenie’s letter five days ago, and hadn’t heard from her since. He, at the last minute, was able to put a small (much smaller than he would’ve liked) team together to try and find the Goldstein the next day. All he could do at the moment was hope the last bit of information on Grindelwalds location was still accurate.

He was packing up to leave the Ministry for the night after having stayed late, looking over the plans one last time. Everyone else had pretty much already gone home, and the usually busy area where all the Aurors worked looked abandoned.

As he got ready to lock up his office, there was a sudden loud pop noise, followed by someone grabbing him and pulling him back into the office.

The Auror readied to attack whoever had just apparated there, but quickly lowered his wand when a female voice spoke.

“Calm down, it’s me!” Queenie exclaimed, though her voice almost sounded weaker than normal, “It took me longer to find a time to get out than I thought it would...I was right, he knew something was up…” she struggled to catch her breath, “Bit of a fight as I made a run for it...think he might’ve hit me before I was able to get somewhere I could disapparate from. Doesn’t hurt that bad, it’s probably nothing…”

Theseus illuminated the room, looking Queenie up and down. Sure enough, he saw blood seeping through her dress. “We’re getting you to St. Mungo’s,” he said, “Even if it isn’t anything serious, you still need to be looked over.”

“Won’t he look for me there?”

“I highly doubt there will be any huge mission on his part to get you back as you’re not Credence, but we’ll make sure you’re safe. So unless there’s another reason you don’t want to be looked over by healers…” in a way, this was Theseus trying to confirm it really was Queenie Goldstein standing in front of him. If it was someone impersonating him, they wouldn’t want to be anywhere near a healer.

“I’m not trying to stay away because I’m secretly someone else,” she said, reading his thoughts, “I’ll go if you can say for certain I won’t be in danger.”

“Of course. The Ministry will protect you at all costs for what you’ve done for us.”

***

Tina’s labor had been a long one, and Newt was glad to see his wife finally resting following it all. He sat in her room at S. Mungo’s, looking between Tina and the two infants who had only recently made their appearance in this world.

Despite Tina having expressed a wish to give birth at home, they had been advised that it would be much safer for her and the twins if she would deliver at St. Mungo’s instead, where it would be easier to deal with any complications that may have arisen.

But everyone was okay, everyone had survived through the ordeal.

Newt was just starting to let himself doze off when he noticed someone else walk in the room, “Theseus?” he questioned, “What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to come by and meet my...nephews? Nieces? I haven’t been told yet.”

“Nephew and niece. A boy and a girl.” Newt answered, looking back over at his children. Theseus also made his way over to see them, before giving his younger brother a smile and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Congratulations, Newton.” he said. Newt gave a smile in return before Theseus continued, “Can I ask you to come with me for a second? I promise to keep it brief.”

The magizoologist hesitated, reluctant to leave his small family. “If you actually mean it’ll be brief,” he said, following his brother out of the room and down the hall, “Where are we going?”

Theseus didn’t answer, but rather went to a different floor of the hospital and into a different patients room. Newt was about to question him again when he saw his sister-in-law was the one sitting on the bed.

“Queenie?” Newt asked, shocked, “What’re...you’re here?”

“She escaped from Grindelwald,” Theseus answered, “We were planning on getting her out, but she was found out before we were able to come up with a solid plan. She got herself out with a small injury, but the healers have cleared her.”

“Teenie had the babies? Do you think I could see her?” Queenie chimed in.

“I...I think Tina would be happy that you’re here,” Newt smiled, “She’s been worried about you, she’ll be relieved to know you’re safe now...but let me give her a heads up first. I’ll explain it to her so she doesn’t freak out when she sees you, if that’s alright?”

“Of course! I don’t want to upset her…”

Newt nodded, “I do apologize for cutting this short but...I would like to get back to her. I’ll tell her that you’re here as soon as she wakes up.”

The two brothers left the room together, the younger of them being confused when the older followed him back to the room where Tina was.

“Does Mother know yet?” Theseus asked as they walked, “I thought for sure she’d be here by now.”

Newt stopped, “I...I forgot to send a memo to her! It was late and I was worried about Tina and…”

Now Theseus laughed, “Understandable. I’ll let her know to get here. By the way...have you two discussed names yet? I haven’t heard any mentioned.”

“I think we’re going with Esther and Benjamin.”

“Esther and Benjamin Scamander, huh?”

“Yep,” Newt said as they walked back into Tina’s room, finding all three still asleep.

“Well...good luck, Newt,” Theseus said as he looked at his niece and nephew again, “I’ve heard parenthood can be a real mess.”

“Maybe so,” Newt had a small smile as he looked at his wife, “But it’s a mess I wouldn’t want to be in with anyone else.”