"Geeks."
Tina dutifully raised her hand and gave Theseus another vulgar gesture without peeling her eyes away from the page she was studying.
"Calm down. We're just bringing up sandwiches," he defended meekly. From behind him, Leta snorted, then pushed past her husband and into the room, clutching a brown paper bag.
Promptly after placing the bag on the ever-present wooden bedside, she patted Tina on the back and wryly told her, "That was hilarious."
The woman in question inclined her head slightly in thanks, not bothering to mask her grin at Theseus' miffed expression.
"Indulge yourselves," he murmured, gesturing towards the bag, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Leta's carefree smile began to fade as she realised what they were doing.
"Any luck, so far?"
Both Newt and Tina shook their heads. No, they hadn't found a seer with the initials J.D.V. yet. The stack of books Tina had brought in the previous day had divided in size- they only had a few more to read through.
Absorb any tidbits of relevant information they could- that was their plan. Day in, day out. Hearing the prophecy made them more determined to find out who made it, and realising Dumbledore's potential connection only fuelled them further.
Even after only one day of researching, it already felt like a routine. On occasion, Leta or Theo would pop in and help them for a bit. The latter had informed Leta, Queenie and Jacob of everything they found in the ministry, so all six of them were on the same page.
It was mostly with their help that Tina's stockpile of books was beginning to dwindle so quickly.
On Newt's left, Leta had firmly parked herself in a cushioned chair, already blazing through a copy of The Oracle of Palombo.
Newt yawned and set his book down on his lap, stretching his arms. Nick had spared him the small mercy of being able to keep his white shirt, vest and pants, instead of changing back into the white hospital gown. Newt was already beginning to feel more comfortable and at home, though it would be a little while longer before he could leave the hospital for good.
"Newt? Leta?" Tina mumbled, still refusing to tear her eyes from the page she was on.
"Mm?"
"Check this one out." She held the book open for them, and Leta leaned a twinge closer to squint at it. "Judith Voyce. Born in 1907."
Newt and Leta considered it for a moment, then glanced at each other, then back at Tina. Newt bit his lip in concentration.
"Wouldn't she have been... say, ten, when the prophecy was made? That's awfully young..." mused Newt finally, running a hand through his auburn hair to push his fringe back.
He'd found himself doing this a lot lately, he noticed absentmindedly. Six and a half months had taken its toll on him- he needed a haircut.
Leta indicated toward him.
"You're right," she agreed. "I found a 'Jerome Daphne' born in 1888, but-"
"- But he doesn't have a 'V' in his name," Tina finished for her. Leta gave her a nod.
"Exactly. This is getting frustrating." Leta rested her head on a fist. "Anyone want a sandwich? They're fresh," she enquired half-heartedly, trying to refresh the topic.
Tina and Newt each took a sandwich filled with crunchy lettuce and cheese, and the trio continued poring over their respective books.
There was a considerable amount of seers whose names began with 'J', Newt recognised subconsciously. More than he'd expected. Flipping through the yellowing pages, he wondered if they'd ever find J.D.V.
To his side, Tina frustratedly held her head in her hands. They'd been at it for almost three hours, with no results.
"Can't we ask the ministry who he is?" Newt asked her.
"They don't know either," put forward Tina. Leta and Newt absorbed the information. The former thought hard for a bit, flicking backwards through frayed pages.
"No one has any idea?" she asked bemusedly, but somehow, managing to sound grave as she spoke.
Tina moaned dejectedly, scrubbing her face. "I don't know."
None of them had a clue about any of it. Every time they had a question about the meaning of the prophecy, or the mystery initial on the tag, or how Grindelwald had the orb in his possession- the list was endless... they'd all been answered with the same phrase: I don't know, I don't know, I don't know...
"There are no answers anywhere." Tina angrily tore off a hunk of sandwich before gulping it down. "There's nothing," she mumbled while chewing.
"There can't be nothing. There's never nothing. We'll keep searching, don't worry." Newt reached out his right hand- the one without the pressure clamp. It trembled a bit, as if he was hesitating, then he gently placed it over Tina's closed hand, resting on the open-splayed pages of her book.
She risked a glance up at him from beneath her fringe, and their eyes locked. Newt offered her a crooked smile.
"Er- am I interrupting something?" playfully lilted a voice.
Newt, Tina and Leta whipped around to face the source of the voice, issuing from the green door.
"No," hastily said both Newt and Tina as Nick hovered uncertainly in the doorway, a knowing smirk dancing across his freckled face. The former hurriedly moved his hand away from Tina's, and he could've sworn that her gaze stayed trained on him for a long while after that.
Nick chuckled, ambling towards them with his hands in his pockets. "Try and refrain from engaging in any romantic activity. It sends your heart rate rocketing through the ceiling."
Sure enough, when Leta, Newt and Tina- in that order- turned to glimpse the screen, the green peaks were spiking close together, the rapid beeping piercing the silence.
"Don't say that, Nick! You're ruining Operation Newtina!" chirruped a new voice. Newt, Tina and Leta watched as Charlotte wheeled herself into the room- the shrill robotic voice emitting from her speaker filled the air.
Pickett grasped the side of Newt's breast pocket with twig-like fingers and peeped out, gazing with a sparked interest while Nick inquired his sister as to why she wasn't back in the nurses' office. Charlotte's crushing blue eyes, however, were focussed on the minuscule bowtruckle now perched on Newt's shoulder.
"He's cute! What's his name?" Charlotte's speaker belted out next. Nick paused his lecturing mid-sentence, staring at his younger sister. His eyes travelled to Pickett, who chirped contemptuously.
"Pickett," Newt clarified, letting his weedy little companion climb down his arm and onto his wrist. Seemingly decided, Nick gently took Charlotte's chair by the handles and wheeled it forward until she was at the side of his bed, right next to Tina.
"Uh- would you like to-" Newt held his wrist out towards her, Pickett clinging onto his fingers for balance. Behind him, Tina and Leta fondly absorbed the scene, exchanging a smile at Newt's caring demeanour.
Gingerly, the young girl lifted her own arm, palm faced limply downwards, and Newt pressed his hand next to hers and let Pickett clamber onto her wrist.
Tina glanced to her side again, and found Leta gazing contentedly at Newt and Charlotte. Watching him introduce his animal companion to a friend, like he had done so with her, many years ago, as they stood upon one of the little islands surrounding Hogwarts. Almost in the exact way he was doing now.
Once Pickett had perched comfortably upon Charlotte's hand, significantly smaller than his, Newt moved his arm away and watched the young girl with a glint of pride in his eyes.
They all watched, as Charlotte stayed rigid in her wheelchair, staring with intrigue at the tiny creature before her, who stared right back with the same expression.
After what seemed like a year, Pickett reached out with a spindly green finger and lightly bopped her on the nose. A radiant, toothy grin broke across Charlotte's face.
As if in conformation, she looked toward Newt.
"He likes you!" he translated playfully.
At that moment, Charlotte swivelled her eyes back to her elder brother, her expression morphing into one of trepidation.
"Tina wants to know if we have any news. Tell her the news, Nicky!" she urged him, the speaker voice once again breaking the brief silence.
Behind her, Tina visibly bristled. There came a point, in her life, when it became difficult to track who was and wasn't a legilimens.
To his credit, Nick saved her from a humiliating explanation by speaking up with the news.
"Look- uh- I know it's only been a few days since your surgery, Newt-" He leaned forward slightly. Newt's carefree smile had, like Charlotte's, turned to trepidation. "- But, um, we want to know if you want to give the crutches another go. I think that, with yesterday... you went alright. Made it back in one piece. Er- not that I've told anyone about it."
He paused, perhaps to let the words sink in, then went on.
"Of course, only if you're up for it. It's going to be a little harder, since this recovery is a bit more painful, but we... I want you to be able to walk again as soon as you can. What do you say?"
From behind Nick, Charlotte gave him a thumbs up and Pickett enthusiastically clung to her thumb. Leta looked uncertainly toward him, but Newt found himself sparing only a thrilled Tina one quick glance before facing Nick again.
"I think- yes. That'd be w- yes. I'm ready."
Nick's answering grin was all that he could've hoped for.
Woo hoo! I hope you enjoyed. If you didn't that's understandable, because this chapter is a little boring.
I really wanted to add Charlotte again, and a little Newtina fluff. There'll be a few chapters like this... they might not be that interesting (I'm trying, okay?), but they have important information.
I'm really pushing myself on wrapping up this fanfiction now, because the first ten, fifteen chapters had no plot, really. I didn't actually have a plot until around chapter twenty. I'm starting to stress out because this is so long. I had an idea earlier that I should maybe delete a couple chapters that I don't need.
Also, a ginormous shoutout to crenin_the_fenin for mass commenting and making me smile like I'm on an advertisement for toothpaste :)
I never mentioned this because it's weird, but Grindelwald's first name sounds like a brand of yoghurt. So, naturally, I had to photoshop it.
Lol. My mum says that Gellert sounds like a shaving company XD so I photoshopped that too.
My talent deserves to be appreciated.
Anyway, I hope you have an awesome day XP
Cateye992, out!