______ couldn't get back to sleep after that, she simply wasn't tired. Newt couldn't get back to sleep for a different reason – he was too happy, euphoric in fact. She was finally awake, she was okay, he could stop worrying.

They sat and talked for hours about everything and nothing. Queenie had decided to go to sleep and no one ever woke Tina up for her shift. So, when she woke up and saw it was light outside, panic struck her. No, she thought, shaking her head. Please be fine, please be fine, she rushed to her feet, running over to ______'s room. She knew Newt would be awake by now, and knowing him, he was probably already by ______'s side. Tina threw open the door, already beginning to apologize. "I'm sorry, I woke up late and I didn't-"

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Newt and ______ just sitting on the bed, talking.

She's awake, Tina thought. That's why no one woke me up.

"Oh," Tina began, feeling out-of-place. "I didn't know she, erm, you woke up. That's wonderful." She smiled and nodded.

______ nodded, smiling back at Tina. She had a feeling before that Tina still didn't like her very much, but she was being pleasant. "Thank you, by the way." ______ told her.

"For what?" Tina asked, confused at first.

"For coming to help me. For helping me get better. For feeding me and making sure my clothes weren't too soiled." ______ listed off. Newt told her how helpful everyone was when she was out, and she felt like she owed a huge debt to everyone. "I know you didn't like me much, but you still came all this way to help me, so thank you."

I did this for Newt, Tina thought. I came for Newt. She kept repeating to herself, but even so, the girl wasn't wrong. While Tina came originally for Newt, maybe that's not why she stayed. She knew, she knew deep inside that Newt didn't feel the same way about her the way she felt about him. She came for him, to comfort him, and possibly... for the slim hope maybe he'd notice her. Notice how hard she was trying, notice how she looked at him, noticed her feelings hadn't gone away, and that they were genuine. Well, if he had noticed, he didn't say anything. He didn't look at her the same way she looked at him, but the way he looked at ______...

Well, it was foolish to think she could ever be the one that he might prefer.

"No problem," Tina told her. "Newt, do you want me to start making breakfast?"

Newt nodded. "That would be nice, thank you." As he finished his sentence, he gasped as if he remembered something and turned to ______. "I almost forgot, I wanted to show you your surprise."

"Right!" ______ exclaimed. "I forgot about that." She turned to Tina. "I can help make breakfast before I see it, if you want. I'd like to help out a little after all you've done for me."

"I can make it myself," Tina told her. "You should take it slow anyways. Go see what your surprise is."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright," ______ nodded. Tina walked out of the room without another word, so she turned to Newt. "So, where exactly is this surprise?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In my case," Newt told her, standing up and offering her a hand. "Coming?"

She smiled and took his hand, and as he intertwined his fingers with hers, she led him to his room, where his case sat by his bed. "Close your eyes," he told her.

"How am I supposed to get into your case with my eyes closed?" She asked, but closed her eyes at the same time. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"You don't have to go in," he told her. "He'll come out to you."

As ______ was left confused, Newt opened his face and stuck his face in the case and whistled. As the Crup launched himself out of the case, it took one look at ______ and started jumping on her legs, wanting attention. "You can open your eyes now," Newt told her.

As she opened her eyes, she looked down and saw a dog jumping on her legs. "Aw!" she immediately cried out. She kneeled on the floor and started petting the dog. It looked like a Jack Russell Terrier, but there was one distinct difference. This dog had two tails, both wagging at a rapid speed. "He's so cute!" she called out, petting the dog.

"He took a liking to you back when we were in the woods," Newt told her. "Followed us all the way home. Usually they're ferocious towards Muggles, but you always seem to be an exception." He kneeled down so he was on the ground too, petting the dog with her.

"What's his name?" she asked, unable to stop smiling.

"I haven't given him one yet," Newt admitted. "I wanted you to name him when you woke up."

"Oh," she spoke, thinking of a name in her head. As she scratched behind his ears, she decided to throw out one of the names that had popped into her head. "How about Morrow?"

"Morrow..." Newt whispered to himself, looking at the dog. He smiled. "I think it fits him perfectly."

"Morrow is then," she said. "You hear that?" she addressed Morrow. "That's your name now, I hope you like it." As if responding to her, the dog leaned up and licked her face. Laughing, she looked at Newt. "He could almost pass as a Muggle dog."

"Almost, but the tails give him away," he told her. "Wizards are usually required to sever one of the tails off when they're a puppy with a painless charm, but he must've gotten left behind before then. Now he's a little old to do that."

"I'm glad," she said. "It gives him character. I don't think I could cut off one of his tails even if I knew it was painless."

"Neither could I," Newt said, standing up. "I should get to feeding the rest of them," Newt gestured towards his case.

"I'll help," ______ said, standing up with him.

"You should eat," he told her. "We've been feeding you, but, well, it'll probably be nice to be eating proper food for once. I'll let you help next time."

"Okay," ______ agreed. She usually would've pressed the matter, but she could tell how worried Newt had been about her. She didn't want to press anything when she knew he was just thinking the best for her.

Newt walked into his case, and ______ turned and left the room, Morrow at her heels. As she walked out into the kitchen, she saw Tina and Queenie having a discussion.

"... why so soon?" Queenie asked Tina, stirring a spoon in four mugs.

"Well, she's getting better, and I imagine they'd want some alone time," Tina told her. "He doesn't need our help anymore."

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't want us around anymore," Queenie pointed out. She couldn't even read Tina at the moment, her thoughts were so mixed and her words weren't making sense.

Tina could tell she was worrying her sister. She gave her a reassuring smile. "Queenie, I'm fine. Plus, it's almost Christmas, and wouldn't it be nice to spend it at home? You could even go visit Jacob's bakery."

Queenie's face lit up, and her sister's odd behavior escaped her mind. "I can?" Queenie asked, excited. Tina usually advised Queenie against going to his bakery. Despite everything, it was sill against the law for Muggles and Wizards to have relations. So, hearing that her sister was going to let her go and see him meant everything to her. She thought about doing it secretly all the time, but at the same time, she didn't want to betray her sister's trust. She loved her too much to do that.

Tina smiled. "Of course you can." As she looked over, she saw ______ standing in the doorway. "Oh, hello ______."

"Hi," she responded, walking into the kitchen. "Is there anything you two need help with?"

"Not at the moment, no," Queenie told her, halting stirring the drinks. "Sorry about earlier, I forgot entirely you don't know who I am."

"It's fine," ______ told her. "Newt explained to me who you were. Still, you did surprise me. I wasn't sure where I was at first, and being rushed into the bathroom by a stranger did give me a weird vibe."

"Well, I'm Queenie. It's nice to meet you," she extended a hand out towards her.

"______," she shook her hand. "I'm sure you already knew that though."

"Well, it would be strange to watch over someone and not know their name." Queenie's eyes drifted to the floor, spotting Morrow, who was sitting by ______. "However, I don't know this guy's name!" she exclaimed, kneeling to the floor and petting him.

"Oh, that's Morrow," she told her. "He's a wizard dog Newt gave me."

"Oh! Tina and I used to want one when we were kids. Remember?" she asked, looking up at her sister.

Tina stopped what she was doing and looked at Queenie and the wizard dog on the floor. "Oh yeah," she remarked. "I wonder if we could get one back at home."

"Maybe," Queenie said, standing up. "It could be like our little Christmas gift!"

Tina dished breakfast and set it on the table, and they each grabbed their own cups. They sat and talked for a while when Newt walked into the room. "Grab a cup honey," Queenie told him. "The food is already over here."

Newt grabbed his cup and sat next to ______, drinking and eating. There was a brief period of silence before Tina spoke out. "We're leaving this afternoon," she told him suddenly.

"You're what?" Newt asked, surprised.

"I figured we should get home before Christmas. I need to get back to MACUSA anyways, we both do. We're using up our vacation, and soon enough, we won't have any more days left."

"Oh," Newt said in a small voice. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, we're all packed up."

"Well, we'll see you off then," ______ offered. "I don't want you to leave so soon, but it makes sense I suppose. It's the least I can do."

"That would be perfect," Queenie told them.

They all ate the rest of their breakfast in relative silence, and afterwards, all began to get ready to go see the Goldstein sisters off the dock. While Tina was cleaning up and Newt was in the shower, Queenie and ______ were having a conversation in the living room.

"Thank you, again," ______ told her. "I imagine things would've turned out so much worse if you two weren't here."

"Oh, no problem. Newt was in pretty bad shape, looking after you alone."

"I wish I could make it up to everyone," ______ leaned her head on her hand, petting Morrow, who was laying at her feet. "I feel like I was completely helpless, and now that I'm awake, I want to make up for it."

Queenie thought for a moment, drawing a deep breath in. "There is one way you could make it up," she began.

"What is it?" ______ asked, intrigued.

Queenie paused for a moment. "I know this may not be any of my business, but I just wanted to say... I want you to love Newt for as long as possible or not at all."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you love him, and he loves you. That much is plain to see. The thing is, though, my sister loves him too. She can see how much he loves you, so she's resigning herself. She's trying to let go, but it must stay that way. I don't want her to be toyed with, I don't want Newt to end up being heartbroken and going back to her if it's only temporary. All I'm asking is for you to love Newt forever or not at all. Do you think you can do that?"

______ thought about it. It was a huge commitment, and now that she knew it was more than Newt that her feelings were effecting, she felt a wave of slight guilt and fear. She slowly nodded. "I'll try," she told Queenie. "But I don't know what to do if he's the one who ends up leaving."

"He won't," Queenie reassured her. "I've seen inside his head. He's in too deep with you to leave you, unless something too terrible happened."

"Queenie!" Tina's voice called from the other room. "We're about to leave! Grab your things!"

As Queenie turned to leave the room, ______ stood up and called out. "Wait, Queenie."

"Hm?" She hummed, spinning around.

"This might be a silly question but... do you use the term 'love' lightly? What if this ends up being nothing, what if it's just a fleeting feeling?"

"Oh honey," Queenie smiled. "You must've never been in love before. If it's not love already, with how strongly you both feel, it will turn into love soon. Real, true, genuine love."

"How do you know how we both feel?"

"I read minds, but even if I couldn't, I've seen the way you two look at each other. I don't have to read any minds to see that you two care about each other more than you care about yourselves."

Queenie turned around and walked out, and ______ stood there for a moment. She tried thinking back, trying to remember if there was any certain moment, anything that made her feel the way she does. She doesn't remember falling in love, she didn't even know if what she was feeling was love.

She just knew that when she was by his side, she didn't want to leave.

And when he held her, it felt like she was home.

Newt walked into the living room, looking at ______. "We're about to go, are you ready?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," she said, walking up to him.

"Are you alright? You seem a little... distracted."

"I'm fine," she told him, giving him a reassuring smile. "I was just thinking."

"Alright," he told her. He paused for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to ask her. He fumbled for a moment, letting his eyes drift away from hers and towards her lips. "May I hold your hand?"

She was taken aback for a moment. She didn't expect him to ask out loud, but she smiled and nodded. "I'd love that."

Newt smiled a little and took her hand, walking out to see Queenie and Tina standing by the door with their suitcases. When Tina saw the two of them, her heart sank a little, but she shook it off. She knew he didn't love her like she loved him, so she shouldn't let these things shock her. "Is everyone ready?" Tina asked, distracting herself.

"Yeah, we're ready," Newt told her, then suddenly remembering, turned to ______. "We're apparating there since it'll be faster, so, erm, do you want to do the same thing we did back at the castle? Did that help?"

"Oh, sure," ______ replied. "It did help, I don't remember feeling bad afterwards. I don't know if it was the adrenaline or not, but I suppose we'll find out."

"Do you get sick?" Queenie asked in a sympathetic voice.

"She almost threw up the first and second time we did it," Newt told Queenie. "But that happens to lots of people the first few times they apparate."

______ wrapped her arms around Newt's torso, resting her head against him. "Alright, I'm ready," she said, a small laugh evident in her voice. Hearing that made Newt subconsciously smile, he still couldn't believe he was finally better.

Newt rested his head on her head, wrapping one arm around her and pulling out his new wand with his free hand. "Alright," Tina spoke. "Let's go."

As they all waved their wands, ______ squeezed Newt and felt her head spinning. Since she taught herself that trick though, she focused on Newt and Newt alone, and her head only span for a moment after they landed on solid ground. "Are you feeling alright?" Newt asked, looking at ______.

She nodded, opening her eyes slowly. "I'm getting better," she told him. "Doing this helps a lot."

As she let go of Newt, they heard a boat whistle. "I think that's ours," Queenie spoke. They all headed over to the ship and saw people still boarding. Queenie and Tina turned to look at Newt and ______.

"Thank you for coming," Newt told them. "I wouldn't have been able to do this without you two."

"Anytime," Tina told him. "Send us a letter every now and again, especially if you need us for something. We'll be there. I-" she began, but stopped herself. "I'll see you again. It was nice to meet you under different circumstances, ______."

"You too," ______ told Tina. "I'd love to see you every now and again. I'll be sure to write the two of you, I'll make Newt write too."

"I was going to write," Newt pitched in. "I'm always writing anyways. Or, I have been."

"Don't forget to bring me that copy," Tina told him. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Sounds like a book Ilvermorny could use."

"It'll reach Hogwarts first," Newt told her. "The best wizarding school of all."

"Hogwash," Queenie told him. The boat whistle rang again.

"We should get going," Tina said. "I'll see you again, Mister Scamander."

As Tina and Queenie boarded the boat, Newt and ______ waved as it left the dock a few minutes later. ______ turned to Newt. "They kept bringing up Christmas," she told him. "How far away is that?"

"Oh, erm, three days away I think." Newt told her, scratching the back of his head.

"Three days?" ______ exclaimed. "I didn't think I was asleep that long!"

Newt shrugged. "I don't usually celebrate Christmas," he told her.

"Well, isn't that because you've been travelling for years?"

"I guess so, yeah. I didn't really have the time to slow down and celebrate."

"We should celebrate!" ______ exclaimed.

"I don't know," Newt began. "I think it might be too late. Christmas is a lot of work."

"I'm sure we can do it! I'll be fun! Your first Christmas in years, and my first one in Britain. C'mon, please?" she asked, looking into Newt's eyes.

He always did have a hard time saying no to those eyes.

"Alright," he told her. "Where do you want to start?"

"Really?" ______ asked, her face lighting up. "Thank you!" she threw her arms around him by instinct, and in slight shock, he wrapped his arms around her too. She pulled away slightly, her hands still on his shoulders and his arms around her waist. "We should get a tree first. A real tree."

"Where can we get one this last minute?" he asked.

"Um, I know tree lots are always open until Christmas back in America, but do you thing one would still be open this late here?"

"It's worth a try," he told her. They let go of each other, but Newt hesitated for a moment before taking her hand in his. It still slightly embarrassed him. It was silly, but just holding her hand meant a lot to him. It reminded him of the first time they met, her hands were so warm. Yet when he tried reaching up her sleeve, well, things went downhill in his plan very fast.

They walked away from the docks, walking around the busy streets for a while. After walking for what seemed like an hour in the cold, they finally found a tree lot. It looked almost bare, most of the trees already gone. "There's one!" ______ exclaimed, starting to run towards it. Newt squeezed her hand and ran next to her to keep up.

They walked into the lot, seeing only workers scattered here and there. They all gave the two of them strange looks, thinking why they'd get a tree this late in the game. Nevertheless, one worker approached them. "Is there anything I can help you two with?" they asked in a cheery voice.