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As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Leta knew that she'd gone too far. Tina didn't shout this time, or even move. But her eyes were suddenly full of a harsh, burning anger and an eery hardness seemed to spread through her whole body. As if she had frozen, or turned to stone. Leta was not afraid; it would take more than this woman to frighten her, after... well, never mind that. But she would admit to the smallest trace of trepidation- the kind one feels when one looks at someone and realises: perhaps the rumours did have something in them. Perhaps she really did duel with... him.
When she spoke, her voice was very quiet, and much lower in pitch than before.
"Ok. There's something I want you to know, and listen to me very carefully 'cause I'm not gonna repeat myself. Got it?"
Leta tilted her head in a bird-like fashion, and raised her eyebrows a little- to indicate that she was, indeed, listening. For a second she thought Goldstein might have lost her nerve, but-
"Queenie Goldstein. Jacob Kowalski. Credence Barebone. And-" Her breath seemed to catch in her throat, her cheeks flushing scarlet- "And, yeah, Newton Artemis Fido Scamander." Her eyes flashed defiantly as though anticipating an interruption. When it did not materialise, she went on "Those four people- and only those four- are the ones who I care about, who I- love- more, a hundred times more, than anything else in this whole goddam world." As she spoke, her eyes remained fixed on Leta. "I will protect them, at any cost. I will do everything I can to make them happy. I would give my life for any one of them in a heartbeat, and I-"
Catching her breath, she leaned across the table until Leta almost felt an urge to jump backwards.
"And I swear on my Ma's grave that if anyone hurts them, or does even the slightest thing that might cause them pain- well, I will not hesitate to beat the complete and utter magical crap out of that person."
She straightened back up a little, but the fire remained in her eyes. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Miss Lestrange?"
It would have taken an idiot not to understand the true meaning of the question. And whatever else people said, Leta was not an idiot.
Do you understand what I'm saying, Miss Lestrange...
- cold, full of meaning-
Almost as if she knew...
But that was ridiculous. Knew what? What had Tina Goldstein heard... what did she think...
Did she really know something, or was she only bluffing? Or was it some rubbish her stuck-up brain had imagined?
... understand what I'm saying...
... You understand...
Merlin's... was this something Newt had told her? His version of what had happened?
What was his version of what had happened?
Newt- oh, Newt... what did you say? What did you tell her?
What does she know?
She looked into Tina's eyes, trying to meet the other woman's fire with ice and steel- and trying not to look afraid.
"I understand you perfectly, Miss Goldstein."
Then she turned on her expensively-clad heel and began to walk away, hoping against hope that Tina had not seen the fear and shame rising inside her. (No-one could prove anything... and it had been so long ago, everything had been different, and she had been so much younger... and afraid, so afraid...)
(And anyway, who was she to talk, this stuck-up American who'd almost got herself and Newt killed, who had nearly ruined his life and-)
But then, on the threshold, something made her stop. Perhaps it was the fact that, angry and flustered as Tina was, Leta could not ignore the love and pride and care that bled through her voice like a sunrise. Perhaps it was because whatever her mistakes, if half the rumours were true she had risked death both for and with Newt at least once already- had duelled Grindelwald himself, just to buy her old friend time to save a terrified, mad boy. Perhaps it was because when it came to Newt, well... she could hardly claim the moral high ground there.
Or perhaps it was merely because, of what she was about to say, every single word was true:
"Tina."
Tina, who had been standing staring at the floor with her arms crossed, folding down into herself, looked up. Her cheeks were still flushed scarlet.
"I know" Leta said, trying with all her strength to keep her voice from shaking. "So would-"
She swallowed. "So would I."
At first, the small frown that creased across Tina's face was filled with suspicion. Gradually, however, she relaxed, the worry and anger fading somewhat, tentatively usurped by both embarrassment and relief. Neither woman moved, and neither spoke. Yet Leta still felt as if something passed between them: a message? No. A recognition...
Or perhaps a break, a shattering of sorts. A barrier they hadn't truly noticed until it began to crumble. For the first time, they looked at each other not with jealousy or rancor, but with respect. And for the first time they saw each other not as rivals, or potential enemies, but as- well, maybe... just possibly... maybe as fr-
Er, no. Absolutely not; come on now. Not going there. Don't push it, Nice-and-Friendly-Version-of-Me. No, I will NOT smile!
She settled for a curt, but nonetheless friendly nod.
"Well, then" she said. "Now we really do understand each other."
That seemed like a satisfactory note on which to end things, so she turned and left, her skirt swishing behind her. But as she glanced back- it might have been the light, of course- but out of the corner of her eye- perhaps, just maybe- she thought she saw, in Tina Goldstein's still-pink face, the shy beginnings of a smile.