*contains COG spoilers*

London was particularly sunny in September, yet there was a dark cloud looming over a house that its occupants could not ignore.

The aftermath of Grindelwald's rally had left the gang devastated. Newt could feel the guilt and loss radiate out of each of them. Despite the fact that he had felt defeated by the outcome of the rally, he was the first to recover and get back up on his feet. Not because he had fully gotten over it, but someone needed to take charge and make sure all of them didn't sink into a bottomless hole of coldness and darkness. Since it was his home they were all residing in, save for Theseus who had gone back to his own, Newt felt the responsibility to take up the role of being there for everyone, or seeing as he wasn't the best at this sort of thing, at the very least ensure they were still alive and physically well. With a heavy heart but a goal in mind, Newt tried to fulfil his duty.

His creatures played a part in helping him cope as caring for them took his mind off the loss he had experienced. And it was his creatures that helped him coax Nagini out of a dark corner in his menagerie and into the light.

For a week, the Maledictus had taken to hiding in a very good spot that Newt couldn't find for two whole days. When he did, he tried to invite her upstairs for meals, but there was almost always no response. In the end, Newt decided to leave food for her to ensure she didn't go hungry.

The creature that brought her out was the runespoor. The magizoologist was attempting to put on a cone for the right head of the runespoor as it kept biting the other two, but it was proving to be difficult as that head kept lashing out at Newt. Nagini noticed the commotion and, knowing the tongue of the snake, hissed for him to stop. Taking the cone out of Newt's hand, she approached the snake and gently placed it on him, being as calm as possible. From that day on, Newt let Nagini help him feed the runespoor, and that seemed to lift her spirits enough for her to come up for meals and sleep in a proper place, next to the runespoor.

Jacob was, in a way, easier to care for than Nagini. For one, Newt didn't have to look in dark corners to find him. Two, Newt knew where Jacob usually was. He would either be aimlessly walking around London, back in time for dinner, or watching Newt feed his creatures with Bunty, who Newt told not to visit so often now due to the given circumstances. But one of the few visits that Bunty made was the key to cheering Jacob up.

She had brought pastries made by her grandmother to Newt's house one day, and Jacob had taken an interest in them. Newt saw it as a good sign and suggested that Bunty offer Jacob the recipe to try. Bunty agreed, and Jacob was preoccupied with baking for the rest of the week, giving Newt a sense of relief knowing that one of his best friends was feeling better doing what he loved.

The best part was that Jacob had accidentally mistaken crushed Mooncalf pellets for chocolate chips. While none of the humans took a liking to it, the cookies became a favourite among the Mooncalves and that gave Jacob the new goal of creating pastries for Newt's creatures. Seeing his muggle friend smile while feeding the mooncalves his newly invented treats made Newt smile as well.

Theseus was harder to deal with. Newt had tried to invite him over to his house for meals with the motive of caring for him at his convenience, but Theseus had simply refused. Knowing his brother, Theseus would rather lock himself away from everyone else in his home until he would rot away like a zombie, but Newt wouldn't allow that. Both of them had lost someone, and Newt couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

He travelled to Theseus' apartment everyday via the Floo network, making sure he had his supply of food and water. Even in his own home, Newt hardly saw Theseus for he had cast several charms on his room door to keep his little brother out, but Newt was having none of it. He tried to break the charms, making progress each day, until finally the door unlocked. The smell that hit Newt was so bad, he thought his brother had truly started to decay. He almost let the tears welling up in his eyes spill if it wasn't for Theseus shifting in his bed to see who had broken through his charms.

Once he got Theseus cleaned up and fed, Newt took him to his own home to make sure Theseus wouldn't try to let himself decompose again. Theseus didn't have a choice anyway, he was too weak to protest.

He settled Theseus in and once again, his creatures came to the rescue. More specifically, it was the pesky niffler that Newt would occasionally call 'Bugger' for causing so much trouble. The niffler seemed to sense his brother's loss, just as it sensed Newt's, and had taken to cuddling in his arms, sometimes inviting his whole family along. Theseus didn't seem to mind, and it did help lift his mood slightly. When Newt thought Theseus was mentally well enough, he told Theseus the reason why the niffler had taken a liking to him. His little bugger had lost two of his offsprings at birth, which was why the litter was smaller than the usual size of six babies. The night Newt told him, Newt found his brother playing with the whole family of nifflers, and heard him laugh in a very long while.

Finally, there was Tina.

For some reason, Newt couldn't bring himself to help Tina for the first few days. He was afraid of invading her privacy or her thoughts, and he didn't want to upset her any more than she was, so he procrastinated.

Every single time he worked up the courage to stand at her door, his heart would start beating uncontrollably fast that he could hear it in his ear. His hand would start sweating as it neared the door knob and at the very last second, he would withdraw it and think to himself, maybe she needed some space. She'll come to him when she's ready.

Yet, he couldn't help but worry about her every second of the day.

She did come down for her meals but that's about the only time she would leave her room. Whenever she made her presence, Newt tried to study her and guess what she needed. He always offered her whatever he had to give, but Tina would always kindly reject and say the same thing.

"I'm fine, I'll be in my room."

He's gone through her words over and over again in his head, but he didn't think she was telling the truth. If Theseus was in a better state of mind, he would have gone to him to ask for advice, but he wasn't, leaving Newt to deal with it on his own. Newt tried, he really did, but nothing he did seemed to help Tina. The loss of Queenie, her only sister and family member, to the darkest wizard of the century had hit her hard. She must think she's alone, but Newt wanted to let her know she wasn't. He wanted to be there for her, but he didn't know how.

After a month, Newt realised he had to take some form of action. Not that he didn't realise it long ago, but he had to put his foot down, push aside his shyness and worry of her pushing him away and gather the courage to help her. In the middle of a cold night, Newt, despite his clammy hands, turned the door knob of Tina's room.

Ever since Tina and the other started staying for Newt for the time being, Newt had not entered the room Tina occupied. Stepping inside it after a whole month made him think if he had stepped into another house altogether. The air in the room was stuffy and warm, and the curtains looked as though they hadn't been moved at all. As Newt gave his eyes time to adjust to the darkness, he gingerly made his way over to the bed, each of his footsteps ever so light.

Tina was sleeping, which in Newt's opinion, seemed to be the only thing she has been doing since the incident. Her light snores were the only sound in the room. Newt stood over her, debating in his head if he should wake her up. He couldn't possibly turn back, he's already made it so far.

The longer he stood there, the longer he felt like a creep for watching the girl who he...admired and cared for very deeply. Finally, he made up his mind and exhaled. Tina was probably too deep into her sleep and he shouldn't disturb her. Besides, she would have woken up by now, seeing as the last time he found her in the sewers, she woke up almost instantly upon his arrival. Her ears were always sharp and she was always very alert.

Well, he guessed he could just talk to her, since she wouldn't hear him anyway. It might help him get some things off his chest. Quietly, he sat down on the floor with his back against the bed. Then, he felt slightly uneasy because he couldn't see her, so he shifted his position.

Her body rose and fell steadily with each breath she took. Newt watched, staying silent for a few more minutes to make sure she was truly asleep. Just a while ago, Newt thought she was sleeping peacefully but upon further observation, the wizard noticed how her eyes moved below her eyelids every once in a while, and her hand was clenched slightly rather than being relaxed. He had to fight every urge in his body to wrap his arms around her or lay beside her. He wanted her to be happy, even for a second. He just didn't know how to do it.

Finding his voice at last, Newt whispered her name.

"Tina."

Getting the hint that she was definitely not going to wake up, he tried to continue, but suddenly all the words in his head was swept away. He searched his brain for anything to say, but all he could manage was, "I hope you're alright."

Tina couldn't hear him, yet he felt as though he had offended her by saying so little.

"I-sorry, I really do hope you're alright, after...after, you know," Newt knew he was hopeless but maybe he could save himself like last time, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up, sorry."

He laughed quietly to himself, "Sorry, this is a bit strange since, um, well, I'm not sure if you can hear me but I'm fairly confident that you can't, so...sorry. I'm not making sense. Sorry Tina, in case you, uh, hear me in your dreams."

As she continued to sleep on, Newt said, "I suppose I'm just...worried for you. I hardly see you because you're only ever in your room or in the dining area, and well, I really like seeing...you. Oh Merlin."

Newt mentally slapped himself.

"What I meant to say was I do hope you could talk to me just as much as I want to talk to you. I want to know you're alright and if you're not, I want to help. I know you need someone, and I...I uh, I need you. So could you help me help you?"

The magizoologist didn't know why he was expecting a reply when he clearly knew Tina was asleep. Merlin, he was losing his mind.

Deciding that it was enough for the night, Newt got up to his feet. He took one last, long look at the sleeping auror. Noticing a strand of hair on her face, he gently moved it and tucked it behind her ear. Just as he did, his hand brushed against her skin, and it was only then that he realised how warm she was. He placed the back of his hand on her forehead, and the heat he felt radiating off her confirmed his suspicions.

As quick as he could, he exit her room to grab a bowl and cloth, ignoring the noise he was making. The others had gone off to bed, including Theseus who had taken his own room, so he hoped he hadn't woken anyone up. Closing Tina's door, he dimly lit his wand up and filled the bowl with water using a simple 'Aguamenti' spell. He soaked the cloth and wrung it dry, placing it gently on Tina's forehead.

Perhaps it was because there was no light earlier as Newt only just realised how flushed her face was under the dim lighting from his wand. He should have noticed this sooner, he should have done something, but blaming himself wouldn't help. All he cared about now was reducing her temperature.

—

Tina was having a really strange dream.

It started out terrible, she was back in the amphitheater where the blue fires raged and wiped out every auror who tried to escape. Then, she was forced to watch her sister walk through the fire for the hundredth time, taking Grindelwald's hand and apparating to the other side. No matter what spell she cast to defy the fires, she could never reach her on time to pull her back or convince her otherwise.

The fires extinguished, and she was left alone in the cold, empty space with no one to turn to and no sister to get back. She sank to the ground and hugged her knees. At that moment, she heard a voice that made this dream different from the others. A calm, soothing voice that was music to her ears. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Tina couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to. All she knew was that it was offering her help, and that it needed her.

Why would a voice need her when her sister didn't?

Then, she heard a shatter of glass that pulled her out of her dream and into reality.

Her eyes snapped opened and she sat up immediately, reaching for her wand at her bedside table and aiming it at the intruder.

"Who's there?"

"It's me," came the voice at the door, "Sorry, I dropped a mug. I didn't mean to wake you."

The intruder flicked his wand and grabbed the mug as it fixed itself in midair. From the lights outside, Tina recognised the messy hair and set her wand down.

"Mercy Lewis, Newt, you scared me. What're you doing here?" she whispered sharply as the wizard placed the mug down beside her wand.

Ignoring her question, Newt reached for her forehead and pressed the back of his hand lightly against it. Tina had no idea what was going on, but she didn't stop him. Instead, she watched as he turned to the mug and grabbed a leaf sticking out of his pocket. Using his mouth, he tore the leaf and put half of it into the mug. He swirled the mug and handed it to her.

"Here, drink this."

"What is this supposed to be?"

"You're running a temperature," he answered directly.

Tina didn't realise until then that her head was feeling heavier than usual and the chills being sent throughout her body made her uncomfortable.

"It'll help cool you down hopefully." 

"Hopefully?"

"Well, it works for me. My mother used to make me that," Newt replied and smiled awkwardly before proceeding to bend down to pick up a cloth.

As she drank the liquid inside with small sips, Newt moved over to a bowl of water and put the cloth inside. Her mouth twitched into a smile as she realised what Newt had done for her. It was nice to know that someone still cared for her.

As soon as that thought came to her mind, Newt's hand was on the door knob and it was clear he was going to leave. Usually, Tina wouldn't have stopped him, but for some reason the fever she had was messing with her brain and she didn't want him to leave.

"Where're you going?"

Freezing for a second, Newt turned around abruptly and said, "Oh, um, I thought you might want some privacy and sleep, seeing as I..."

He didn't finish his sentence, instead he smiled sheepishly and apologised again for waking her up.

"I'll just, um, go. Good night, Tina."

"Newt, wait."

Tina didn't even think through what she had said, or what she was going to say. The words just came spilling out of her mouth.

"Could you stay?"

"Sorry?"

Tina could see Newt withdraw his hand from the door knob. She repeated herself, the confidence in her voice dwindling, "Could you stay here, just for tonight? I prefer not to be alone."

When the wizard didn't respond immediately, Tina quickly said, "Sorry, you probably need some rest yourself. It's okay, Newt, you don't have to, thanks for the-"

"I'll stay."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I'll stay," Newt repeated, "If you want me to, do you...do you want me to?" 

"Yes," she breathed out, her voice hinting at her desperation for him to stay.

Seeing as Tina's bed was only made for one person, Newt suggested, "I'll sleep on the floor."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about me," he said with a smile, conjuring a mattress and a pillow on the space next to the bed, "You're the one that's ill."

She stared as he took the mug out of her hands, setting it on the table once more. He gestured for her to lie back down as he grabbed the cloth from the bowl and wrung it dry again. Placing it on her forehead, Newt placed his hand on her cheek, lingering longer than he should. Tina didn't seem to mind, but she didn't know how to respond. Realising that he might have crossed a line, Newt removed his hand and lay down on his own mattress.

It was quiet for a while, the two of them knew the other was awake, yet they didn't know what to say. Finally, Tina found her voice again.

"Good night, Newt."

There was a pause before Newt responded, "Good night, Tina."

The rest of Tina's night was dream-free.