Newt and ______ both turned around, in nearly-perfect sync. Newt knew that voice, and ______ was curious who else would know Newt. Standing in front of them was a tall, brown-haired woman, who seemed to have mixed emotions on her face.

"Tina?" Newt asked, blinking. He was shocked, he wasn't really sure it was her at first. What was she doing in a Muggle's grocery store?

"I thought you left New York!" she asked, smiling and stepping towards him. That's when she noticed ______, who was standing behind Newt with a confused expression. She could tell from just one look at her that she was a no-maj. Newt and no-majs never mix well, she thought to herself. In all her time with him, she couldn't remember one no-maj Newt didn't accidentally expose magic to. Of course, he did end up fixing everything, but it always got her worried. Before Newt could open his mouth to reply to Tina, she spoke again. "Can I speak to you for a moment? Alone?" she stressed.

Newt looked over at ______, who just looked back at him wide-eyed and shrugged. She had no idea what was going on, but whoever this woman was, Newt seemed to know her. ______ examined the woman. He couldn't remember Newt ever mentioning someone who looked like her, and she'd never heard the name Tina before. Even though she knew she had nothing to worry about, something else stirred in her. Something she couldn't name.

Newt turned and looked back at Tina, nodding silently. Tina took his arm, looking over at the mysterious no-maj. "This will only take a second," Tina reassured her.

"Take your time," ______ replied in a neutral voice. She still wasn't sure how she felt towards this woman, and that strange feeling she was having wasn't going away for some reason. It wasn't a bad vibe, but it wasn't a good feeling either.

She didn't know how to name it, but it was felt very close to jealousy.

But she had no reason to be jealous... right? It's not like she was in a relationship with Newt, and it's not like this woman stated herself as having feelings towards him or anything. For all she knew, this Tina woman was just a friend of his, nothing more, nothing less.

Tina didn't hesitate for a second to start asking questions as soon as she knew she was out of earshot from the no-maj. "Scamander, who's the no-maj you're here with?"

Oh here we go, Newt thought to himself in his head. "It's kind of a funny story. Well, uh, turns out I missed my boat, and the next one isn't for... well now it's not for two or three more days. I ended up accidentally breaking into her house in pursuit of my Niffler who got loose, and, well, she found me hanging from her window."

"You were hanging from her window?" Tina asked, rather loudly, in shock.

"Tina, your voice. I was, and she helped me back in, and... well, Pickett has gotten attached to her. I can't seem to get him off."

Tina put her head in her hands. "I'm going to assume she knows about magic then," she sighed. This was already sounding like a mess, and depending on how much she's seen, it would be even worse.

"Well, I kind of had to tell her. There's a magical creature on her that won't leave her. It's kind of hard to miss that." Newt told her. He could see the disappointment on Tina's face. Less disappointed in him and more disappointed in the fact that she would have to end up being the one dealing with this if Newt wouldn't obliviate her.

"Well, how close are you to getting Pickett off her?" She asked, rubbing her temples. Please say close, please say close, please say close... she thought to herself over and over.

"How close?" he repeated the question, thinking about it. Well, he wasn't very close at all, but it's not like he was trying everything. He wasn't willing to, he didn't want to have to trick ______ or Pickett. Also... there was this feeling he had of not wanting to try harder. He didn't know what it was about her, but he didn't want to leave ______. Even if he couldn't get Pickett off of her... would that be such a bad thing?

After all, she said she always wanted to leave New York.

There had been a long pause where Tina had just been staring at Newt. She seemed to recognize the look in his eyes when he spaced out... it was the same look her sister had on her face whenever she was with Jacob. The same looked whenever Queenie talked about Jacob, when she thought Queenie was spacing off and thinking about him. She knew that look in Newt's eyes. Finally, Newt snapped out of his thoughts and started replying to Tina. "Not very close, I still have to-"

"You've got feelings for her, don't you?" she asked suddenly. Her tone came across as accusing, as if she was already against it. Already against Newt liking ______, and she hadn't even met her yet.

"What?" Newt asked, unaware that there was a small, barely noticeable blush on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Tina continued, her face morphing now into a sad one. Here eyebrows curved up, and she looked at Newt desperately. She was sure he didn't know, but the time they spent together was what Tina considered to be some of the best times of her life. He made her feel so helpless, even if she wouldn't say anything. Even if she didn't show it well. She was hoping she was wrong, but from the look on Newt's face, she already knew she was right.

Even if he didn't confirm it, she could tell just from the look on his face.

"I mean," he began, trying to come up with words. Words for how he felt, words to describe it so he wouldn't have to lie to Tina. He respected her that much. "I like her, she's my friend. She's understanding, and she doesn't react badly to magic, I'm sure she wouldn't tell anybody."

"Newt..." Tina trailed off, dropping the pleasantries. "You know the rules as much as I do. It's my job. We can't have her know, there can't be any exceptions."

"Please Tina," Newt began. "The rules here about Muggles are so backwards."

Tina bit her lip. She didn't want to do this to Newt, but it was her job. Also... she was admittedly upset. It was so obvious to her that Newt cared deeply about her, and she began to wonder if he'd do this for her. He was desperate to get Tina to not do what she had to do for this woman, whoever she was. "Newt, I wasn't allowed to overlook the rules for my sister. I can't overlook the rules for you either."

Newt looked away from her, looking to the ground. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say. "Tina, please. I'll take her out of New York with me," he suddenly offered. "You'll never have to see her again. She won't be under MACUSA's jurisdiction anymore. Just... don't do this."

"Why are you doing all of this for her?" she asked Newt, staring at him. She asked, but she already knew the answer. She just wanted to hear him say it.

"I already told you," Newt said shorty. "So, Tina, don't obliviate her. I'll take her out of New York. She'll get on that ship with me and you won't have to see her again, just please, don't do this."

When Tina opened her mouth to speak, she hesitated for a moment. She knew that would work, she knew that he could get away with doing that. Inside her though, she didn't want him to get away with it. So, she decided quickly he didn't need to know he could get away with doing that. "Rules are rules, Newt. There can be no exceptions," she paused. "However, I'll let you do it. If you don't. however, obliviate her before you leave, I'll come and do it myself."

Newt sighed. He wanted this less than anything else. He didn't want to obliviate her, he didn't want to be in this situation, he didn't want this to be happening. Why couldn't Tina just let the two of them leave New York? Newt had never heard of any laws against that, and he knew over in England they were slacker with the rules against relations with Muggles. Everything would be fine if he got there, so why couldn't he do it? "Fine," he whispered to Tina in a tone that made her heart sink.

"Where can I find you two?" Tina asked.

"Her apartment complex. Next to the docks, three floors up, first door on your right."

"I'm sorry Newt. I'll let you say goodbye to her, at least. You should be the one to tell her anyways."

"Saying goodbye doesn't help," Newt said shortly, looking up at Tina with a sad look in his eyes. "You know that as much as I do, Tina. Saying goodbye doesn't help when you know they're going to forget you."

Tina was the one to hang her head this time. "I'm sorry, Mister Scamander," she whispered. She felt guilty, but a part of her was secretly happy. He wasn't allowed to have a relationship with a no-maj, he should've known. It was better for him to be in a relationship with a witch.

Like her.

Newt didn't even reply to her, he just turned around and walked away, heading back to ______. When he was back in her line of sigh, right away she could tell something was wrong. His head hung low, and it wasn't his usual "avoid eye contact" kind of head hang, it was sad. When he got close enough to her, she took a step towards him. "Is everything alright Newt?"

As he opened his mouth, about to reply, he heard Tina come around the corner and look at him. He glanced back at her before lifting his head and looking at ______'s lips. "I'll tell you later," he whispered to her. "Let's just pay for what's in here and go make lunch, eh?"

______ smiled and nodded. "Alright," she told him, heading towards the counter. Usually, she would probably pry more, but under the circumstances she decided not to. He already told her he'd tell her later, and something about that Tina woman made her uncomfortable. Newt had looked so sad after talking to her, so defeated. She wanted to know what was wrong.

She wanted to know if there was any way she could help.

They bought the groceries, and heading out, Newt looked around. He remembered, walking out into the cold, that he was going to show her what apparating was. "Follow me," he told her in a low voice. He took her empty hand, they each had one bag of groceries, and led her into an alleyway before she had a response.

"What is it?" ______ asked, smiling slightly at the secrecy of what was happening. Newt's face seemed more animated than it had been before, like he was about to show her some magic.

Which was exactly what he was doing.

"Hold onto my arm," he told her. "Remember how I was going to show you how I apparate? Well, we can't just do it out in the open."

"Oh, yeah!" ______ exclaimed happily. She took his arm, looking up at him and smiling while looking into his eyes. "Didn't you say that some people get dizzy their first time?"

He nodded. "Yes, a lot of the time people can get sick. I guess we'll have to find out if you're one of them."

Newt drew out his wand, and with a swish, everything seemed to go dark. ______ felt immense pressure pushing on her from every angle and every direction, and the world turned around her. She closed her eyes, fearing if she opened them she'd start to get more motion sick than she was already feeling. All she could really feel besides the pressure of everything around her was Newt's arm, which she subconsciously began to squeeze harder the dizziness got more intense.

Once the pressure seemed to stop, she slowly opened her eyes. The sudden readjustment of landing caused her to start to drop her bag and fall down, and luckily, Newt saw this. "______!" he called out, dropping his bag and catching her. "Are you alright?"

It was taking a moment for ______ to readjust. "I'm fine," she slowly got out. "Just super dizzy."

As she tried to stand up again, she began to tip over, and Newt caught her again. "You should sit down," he told her, concern in his voice. "Come on."

Keeping her in his arms, he slowly walked her over to the couch, and he didn't let go of her for a second before sitting her down. He let go of her only slightly, his hands still on her shoulders as he looked at her eyes. She had shut them again to attempt to slow the dizziness. "______?" he called out her name softly.

"Hm?" she asked, slowly starting to open her eyes. She was still dizzy, but looking into Newt's eyes suddenly gave her a new feeling of stability. Her head was still spinning, but her vison was now only focused on looking into his big, blue eyes.

"Making sure you're still conscious. Seems like you had a little bit of a bad reaction to apparating," he told her. "You sit down for a while and I'll put everything away and make us lunch, okay?" he offered. Even if she said no, he planned to persist. He didn't want her standing up right now, she didn't have to push herself.

She nodded slowly, leaning back on the couch. Newt let go of her shoulders and stood up, grabbing the dropped bags. Lucky nothing broke, he'd feel bad if something had cracked. Taking them to the kitchen, he looked over at ______ every so often to make sure she was still okay. She was laying across her couch now, eyes closed. He started to make one of the simple things that they had bought: soup.

He had disappeared into his suitcase just for a short while to grab some medicine for her, coming back up and taking two bowls of soup into the living room. "______," he called out her name. "I made us some soup and brought you some medicine. It should stop the dizziness.

She sat up, rubbing her head and taking a bowl. "Thank you," she said, smiling and beginning to eat. She took the medicine Newt gave her, and as she finished the soup, her headache slowly began to go away, replaced with another thought. "So what was it you wanted to tell me earlier?"

Newt froze mid-putting his bowl down. He nearly forgot about everything that just happened with Tina. What am I going to tell her? he began to think. He really didn't want to obliviate her, it was the last thing he wanted. He was sure it was the last thing Pickett wanted to, he seemed to be very attached to her, in more ways than one. Pickett was upset when he thought Newt was going to give him away, how would he react if he was forcefully taken away from his new friend?

Then there was the fact that Newt just couldn't fathom obliviating her. He didn't want her to forget all about magic when she's done nothing wrong, when she loves it so much, when it wasn't her fault she got dragged into this. Most of all... he didn't want her to forget about him. He didn't want to sail away from New York know he'll never cross her mind once, while she'd cross his mind often. He couldn't handle the idea of her forgetting about every time he made her smile using magic, how he saved her, how she saved him. He couldn't let her forget. He couldn't do the deed himself, and he didn't want anyone else to either.

Well, what other choice did Newt have?

He was going to have to break the rules.

He finished putting down his bowl, turning to ______. She'd never seen him with such a serious look on his face, and his sad demeanor from earlier returned to his face. Whatever he was about to tell her, she knew it wasn't going to be good news. "Remember my friend from earlier, Tina?" he asked her.

______ nodded. "What's going on?" she asked. She didn't like not knowing what's happening, and the look on Newt's face only made her even more worried.

"Well, you see, she works for a major magic cooperation here called MACUSA. They make sure that wizardry doesn't get exposed here in America. To make sure of it, they have very strict, very backwards laws against Muggle and wizard relations here. You're not allowed to be friends with them, you're not allowed to date the, you're not allowed to marry them. Well... she knows you know about magic. She told me... she told me I need to obliviate you."

He said the last part in a whisper, but ______ still caught it. "Obliviate me?" she asked slowly. "Like what you did to my foreman?"

Newt nodded. "All of your memory of magic would be gone. It would be like you woke up and it was all one big dream." As he said this, he could see the expression in ______'s eyes change. They went from curious and shining to devastated. The shine left them, and their color seemed to dull. No, he thought. No. I don't want to see her like this.

"You mean... I won't remember any of this? I won't remember any of your beasts? I won't... I won't remember you?" she asked. Newt's heart shattered, hearing her speak like this. He could see that subconscious tears began to well up in her eyes, and he couldn't stand it. With every 'I won't' her voice seemed to break a little more. She didn't want to lose her memory, she didn't want to be obliviated.

She didn't want to forget Newt. Above all else, she didn't want to forget him. In a short amount of time, he already did so much for her, and she... she...

She couldn't forget him.

"No," he began. "You wouldn't." he thought over his next words for a second. He feared telling her this, but he already made up his mind. It was a bit of a stretch, but he needed to ask. He couldn't leave without asking. Even if she said no, he wouldn't be able to leave happy unless he at least tried to ask. "_______... there is a way that we might be able to get out of it."

"How?" she asked quickly, suddenly sounding desperate. The tears threatened to spill over, but she looked up, trying to avoid them falling.

Newt took a breath in. "Come with me to Britain."

There was a long pause. "What?"

Newt continued. "The laws there are different. They allow Muggles and wizards to interact, to be friends, to have relationships. They're allowed to know about magic, as long as they don't go around telling everyone about it. I know it's a lot... but you said yourself you've always wanted to get out of New York. That your job was keeping you here, you couldn't get other work. You've lost your job, and... I don't want you to have to deal with having to find a new one alone. Not when you want to leave. So, come with me. My ship comes in two days, we can get out of here. We can avoid you having to be obliviated."

______ paused. This was a big decision, and she needed to think about it, even though all her impulses were telling her same thing. They all seemed to be telling her to say yes. She needed to stop and think for a moment though.

She didn't have any friends she'd be leaving in New York. She didn't have a job she'd be leaving in New York, not anymore anyways. She had no family she'd be abandoning. The real question was: what was keeping her here? She had told Newt just the other day that she wished she could leave, but things were keeping her here. Well, now all those things were gone, and he was offering to take her away. Why would she say no? What was keeping her here?

Absolutely nothing.

She liked being with Newt. He made her happy, and he was able to make her feel better when she felt down. He had managed to protect her, he was there for her. She really did like being with Newt... more than she could say.

"Why are you doing all of this for me?" she suddenly asked. She didn't even think about it before it came out of her mouth, it just did. She regretted putting him on the spot like that as soon as the words left her lips but... she was curious. She would admit that much.