Newt began to climb the stairs, unsure what he would tell the woman. Sorry I ran away earlier, I wasn't doing anything bad in your house, just chasing...

Chasing a what? How could he explain anything without telling her about his magical creature.

Newt shook his head. Some people may have thought he was going through more trouble than it was worth, avoiding all of these things just so he wouldn't have to obliviate her, but it was sort of like something more. He broke into her house, he didn't want to obliviate her for something that wasn't her fault. Maybe that was a funny thought to other people, but in his own mind, it made a lot of sense. He was always a little flimsy when it came to obliviating people, sometimes forgetting to do it entirely, but he had good reasons.

Good reasons the ministry never really wanted to hear.

He was just glad the rules back home pertaining to Muggles were a lot slacker than the rules here pertaining to no-majs. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't in Britain, so he couldn't just do as he usually did.

How he wished he could though.

Finally, Newt got to what he recognized to be the woman's apartment. He wondered if anyone else lived there, it was quite unusual for a girl on her own to be renting out such a place. It wasn't run down, it was a rather decent apartment. Shaking those thoughts from his head, Newt sheepishly put his hand over the door and knocked.

The woman answered the door a few seconds later, staring at Newt, making immediate eye contact. Newt, once again, got distracted by her eye's soft color, and how they seemed to shine. Did all eyes shine so nicely? He couldn't remember, or think about it for long. He could spend quite some time just standing there, looking into her eyes, but under the circumstances he couldn't keep eye contact for long. Her expression seemed so helpless, and it made him feel a bit guilty. Neither of them spoke for a while, then Newt finally decided to pipe in.

"Sorry about earlier," he began. "I guess it was instinct to run out so suddenly like that." He looked up once again to make brief eye contact with her, and this time, her eyes seemed more forgiving. Less helpless, more understanding, but her expression still seemed confused. He didn't blame her though, he would be confused to if he helped someone who might have just broken into his apartment and they ran away without a word.

"It's... fine I suppose," she finally replied, still looking at him. It was almost as if she was trying to place him. She knew she'd never seen him before in her life, but his appearance still seemed to give her a warm aura, as if she'd known him before. As if she'd met him before. She hadn't, she knew she hadn't, but how else was she supposed to describe this warm feeling? Maybe it's just because he's attractive, she began to think. He's very good looking, I've got to give him that. "I still want answers," she continued. "What were you doing in my house earlier?"

"I'll explain everything, but first... may I please come in?" Newt asked softly. He put on as nice a voice as possible, not to trick her, but to be sincere towards her. It was almost as if he wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't. She moved aside and as Newt stepped in, his eyes immediately began to make a search for where Pickett could possibly be.

As the woman closed the door behind her, she turned around to face Newt. "So, start explaining," she told him in a near demanding voice, though she tried not to be too harsh.

"Well, um, you see..." Newt began, trailing off as his eyes still glanced around the apartment, never really looking at her. That probably just made him look even sketchier, but frankly, he didn't care. Where could Pickett be? He didn't see any houseplants he could hide in, and there weren't many places to hide she wouldn't have already found him in. He sighed and looked at her, and that's when he spotted Pickett.

He was hiding up her sleeve for warmth, just as Newt suspected. Just as he feared. How was he supposed to subtly get Pickett back now?

Just then, an idea popped into his head. That would work, wouldn't it? He thought to himself.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"You see," he began again, this time looking at her. Not making direct eye contact, but at least this time, he was looking at her face. She had quite a pretty face. No time to be thinking about that, Newt shook his head. "My, erm, pet got out and the little thing went right into your apartment. I promise I didn't break anything, or take anything, but it tried to go out your bathroom window, and I went after it. Then I slipped trying to get back in and, well, you saw the rest..." Newt trailed off. That was close enough to the truth, wasn't it?

"So my bathroom window just happened to be open wide enough for your... pet to go through?" she asked, looking at him.

"Precisely."

"Why didn't I see this pet on you when I pulled you back in?"

"He's small enough to fit in my jacket, so I put him in there. Always better to keep him warm, you know?"

"I guess..." the woman mumbled to herself. His story seemed a bit farfetched, but she was willing to believe him. In fact, she wanted to believe him. It's not every day some handsome stranger breaks into your house. Stuff like that usually only happens in works of fiction.

Now it was time for Newt to try to go through with his plan. He held his hand out for her to shake. "Anyways, sorry about that, but I figured I might as well introduce myself to you. I'm Newton, but I mostly go by Newt Scamander."

"Oh, ______. ______ ______." She told him, taking his hand and shaking it. His hands were still cold from earlier, very different from her warm hands. They almost seemed to absorb her warmth.

"______, that's a pretty name," Newt complimented her. He hoped this would serve as a distraction, and as he began to let go of her hand in just the slightest, he moved it up her sleeve.

This didn't go unnoticed by ______. She felt his cold hand travel up her arm, and as a reflex, she pulled her arm back. She didn't, however, account for the fact that as her reflex was to pull away, his seemed to be that he grasped onto her arm tightly. She pulled back quickly, and in the process, accidentally fell backwards. You'd think at this point, Newt would have let go.

Yet he didn't.

This resulted in them both falling to the floor, Newt on top of ______, his chest pressing against her. Everything went wrong all at once, Newt thought to himself in a burst, too shocked to move or realize the position they were in. He stared at her face, and she stared back into his eyes, her jaw slacked but not open, and Newt's face had turned red without him knowing it. They both just laid there, unsure what to say to one another.

"I'm so sorry," Newt managed to get out, trying to move, but for some reason his body wouldn't comply. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I-"

Newt's sentence was cut off with a small yelp of surprise coming from the girl, who was staring at the arm Newt still had a hold on.

Pickett was now sticking his head out of her sleeve.