More than a Friend (A Newtina Fanfic)

Part 9

"Newt, do you think we should go Christmas shopping?" asked Tina, from the top of the stairs.

"Oh, sure! We still need to get a tree, don't we?" Newt replied, his wand between his teeth. "Let me finish up here, then we can go."

"Alright, I'll get Nagini and Jacob. Do you have ornaments?" Tina asked.

"No, my last box got stolen by the nifflers. We can get some." Newt said. Tina headed back upstairs.

"Jacob, Nagini, we're going Christmas shopping!" Tina called.

"Alright! We're coming." Nagini called back. Once they were all (Newt included) out of the house, Nagini said,

"I've never actually had a Christmas before. I was born in Indonesia, and my parents sold me to the circus when I was about seven or eight. I had two younger brothers, and we were very poor, so that was the only way my younger brothers would survive. The circus didn't celebrate any holidays." Nagini said, looking down.

"Then we'll make this the best Christmas that we can, to make up for all your missed ones," Tina said, decisively. "Now come on, we're going to apparate." Nagini took Tina's hand, and Jacob took Newt's hand, and they apparated to an alleyway near Diagon Alley. When they walked out of it, they say that all of the storefronts were decorated with Christmas decorations, tinsel and baubles and all. They walked to a vendor on the street that was selling Christmas trees. They looked around for a little bit, keeping in mind that it couldn't be too large. After some searching, Tina called them over. She had found an almost perfect tree. It had lots of branches, and wasn't too prickly, but was just a tad too large.

"We can shrink it a little with magic," Tina whispered.

"It's a really good tree!" Newt exclaimed. It was £20."Perfect. We have more than enough for baubles and gifts." They went over to the cashier and paid.

"Jacob and I should go back to your house, Newt. We can set up the tree and I'll start making lunch." Nagini said.

"I'll apparate you back," Tina said.

"Have Bunty let you in," Newt added. They disappeared, and in a matter of seconds, Tina was back.

"Come, let's go!" Tina smiled. Nothing, not work, not Achilles, not Isa, could distract her. She was determined to enjoy this.

They walked around Diagon Alley, just window shopping for now. A few things caught their eyes, but they didn't point anything out to the other person, or it wouldn't be a surprise. It was very cold, and snowflakes drifted down from the sky, landing on everything. Tina's teeth kept chattering, but she kept insisting she was fine.

"Tina, it's cold. Take my scarf. Your teeth are chattering." Newt insisted, for the tenth time. This time Tina agreed.

"Fine, but only so you'll stop bothering me about it," Tina said, though Newt could tell she was secretly grateful. She wrapped his faded Hufflepuff scarf around her neck. It was soft and smelled woodsy and clean. They walked around for a little longer, but before they made any final purchases, they stopped for a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron.

"I've never had butterbeer before," Tina confessed.

"Really? I don't drink, but this is nice. It makes you feel all... warm and fuzzy inside." Newt blushed for no particular reason.

"Well then, this should warm us up before we go back out," Tina said, and grabbed the mugs of butterbeer and placed them on a little table for two. They sat. Tina took a small sip and smiled. It's really good, she thought. Newt looked up from his own mug. They looked at each other, and they both had foam on their upper lip. Suddenly, they were both trying to contain small giggles. Once they had stopped, they both grinned and kept drinking their butterbeer.

"Do you like it?" Newt asked. Tina nodded.

"It's really good," Tina replied.

"Butterbeer is the stuff everyone who has gone to Hogwarts likes. We practically grew up on the stuff, once we're allowed to go to Hogsmeade." Newt remarked.

"I can see why," Tina said. They were both finished, and their faces were inches away from each other. Instinctively, they drew closer. I want to kiss her, Newt thought. I want to kiss him, Tina thought. A loud bang made them jump apart in surprise. They both looked toward the door. It was just the wind, slamming the door. As if realizing where they were, they both hastily got up from their chairs and straightened their coats, blushing. We almost kissed! Wait, Newt, you can't have feelings for her! Newt thought. We almost kissed! Tina, what is wrong with you? You don't have romantic feelings for him! Tina thought. They hastily walked out of the Leaky Cauldron and split up to buy gifts, still blushing. Tina had already bought something for Nagini, the dress, so she mentally checked that box off. She knew what she wanted to get Newt, so she stopped at Flourish and Blotts. They had a large selection of stationery and notebooks as well as books. Newt used up a lot of notebooks, judging by the overflowing shelf of full ones in the living room. As she looked around, she saw a sign for a set of personalized stationery, with quills, notebooks, a wax seal and ink. It was all encased in a simple wooden box. Perfect! Tina thought. She picked one up and got a spot in the line. The cashier asked her what initials she wanted on the notebooks and seal. NS, she said. The cashier passed it to someone behind him, who tapped the seal and the notebooks with his wand, and the initials formed right on them like they had been there forever. Then he packaged it back up and asked if she would like it wrapped. Tina said yes, and gratefully picked up the box, wrapped in a simple red wrapping paper. She left Flourish and Blotts and was just looking around for a gift for Jacob when a magical apron caught her eye. The advertisement read, Keeps off all stains! 100% enchanted cotton. The shop didn't look sketchy, and as it seemed to be a popular gift, she decided to buy it. It came in a green box. I've got all my presents, Tina thought. 

Newt had gone in the opposite direction. He had his present for Tina, so he didn't have to get that. He didn't really know what to get Nagini, but he knew she loved the baby creatures, so the gift might possibly just be having the creative liberty to name all of the baby nifflers. That's if he couldn't find anything. For Jacob, he decided to get him a set of magical baking tools, he saw them last time at Diagon Alley and thought they would be a good gift. He got those quickly and spent the rest of the time before meeting up with Tina to just walk around. Luckily, it was snowing so he could hide his face without looking shady. He passed by a jewellery store and decided to look inside, though he didn't know why he wanted to. 

"Looking for a ring?" The cashier asked. Newt went positively scarlet.

"Oh no, nothing like that. I'm just looking." Newt mumbled. He looked around, but most of the jewellery was too fancy or flashy for Tina. Tina! Yes. That was why he was in here, to get something for Tina. Even though he had something for her. He spotted a couple of things, after looking at everything. A thin silver chain or a simple silver bracelet. He decided on the chain, after a couple of minutes of contemplating. He paid, blushing furiously as he walked out of the store. He met up with Tina by the Leaky Cauldron.

"You've got everything?" Tina asked.

"Um, yes," Newt answered.

"Well then, let's go home," Tina said. 

"Alright," Newt said. She called it home! She really did! Newt thought. They apparated to Newt's home, each labelling and placing their presents under the tree.