《 Skip a Beat 》

Toil and trouble

"Newt, you probably shouldn't run around after your creatures while you're on crutches. We're here to help you, you know... just ask," she told him quietly, a tender smile gracing her lips.

Newt nodded curtly, forcing a smile and silently wishing everyone would stop staring at him. To her credit, Queenie resumed her seat at the dinner table and picked up her fork again, with the others promptly following.

Pickett peeked out from behind Newt's lapel, attracted by the sounds of clinking forks and contented munching.

"Pickett-" started Newt, upon seeing his curious gaze, then he decided on a more important question. Gently setting Pickett down on the table, he asked, "Pickett, why were you riding the niffler?"

It seemed like an appropriate question, to him.

The bowtruckle offered Newt what might've been a sheepish grin and clicked a response. Newt frowned.

"I thought I fixed them!"

Queenie bit back a laugh, her face breaking into a huge grin. Tina, Theseus, Jacob and Leta watched on, slightly miffed at being left out on the big joke.

Queenie immediately launched into an explanation about the catches on Newt's suitcase flicking open after he thought he fixed them, and the niffler finding a way to wriggle out and run free around the house with Pickett in hot pursuit.

Newt flushed pink and stared at his socks, grinning at his own mistake. Theseus looked confused and disturbed at the same time. Leta and Jacob were both grinning back at him, concealing chuckles. Tina was biting her lip to stop herself from laughing. Queenie, satisfied that she'd informed everyone of the situation, leaned back in her chair, smirking.

"You'd better fix them, Newt," mocked Jacob. "Or it'll be like New York all over again."

Every Auror participating in the stakeout has been advised to take a small bag filled with only the essentials, as Graves had stressed repeatedly in a following letter.

Consequently, a small black backpack sat on Tina's mattress, almost empty. The sheets were currently serving as a tabletop, hosting a selection of swiftly strewn out belongings; Tina's wand, her MACUSA ID, the letter that Graves had sent and the newspaper clipping announcing that Grindlewald had been sighted.

Tina sighed and ran a hand through her hair for what must've been the fifteenth time. It was late- she should be getting to bed.

What to take, what not to take, what will I need?

Her mind swam with fatigue and slight confusion, and, too lazy to sort out what she should and shouldn't pack, started stuffing her ID into the bag. She'd take everything. It wasn't a lot, and who knew what she might need?

Slightly numb, she rolled the newspaper into a long cylinder.

A knock on the door made her whip around suddenly, to find Newt shifting on his feet in the doorway, staring at his shoes and still wearing a goofy smile from dinner that night. Tina found herself smiling awkwardly back.

She slowly lowered the newspaper in her hand. A second elapsed- neither of them spoke, smiling and staring somewhere in between the other person and the floor.

"Leta's in Thes- our room," Newt murmured finally, not dragging his eyes from the ground.

"Oh."

Newt looked more uncomfortable than ever, though he was still smiling, as if sharing a joke with himself. Tina felt a twinge of guilt. Had she suddenly made him feel self-conscious?