Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any of these characters, they're all J.K Rowling's lovely creations. I'm just playing with them.**

**Chapter One**

Andromeda sighed, letting her breath out in a slow whoosh of air that misted in the cold atmosphere. Her caramel colored eyes rested uneasily on the dark entrance to Knockturn Alley, where her sister's form had just disappeared into the shadows, clutching a tightly wrapped parcel. She could just make out the wild black curls flicking around the corner. Twirling one of her own dark chestnut curls around her finger, just a few shades lighter than her sister's and neatly combed, Andromeda chided herself inwardly. _It was stupid to think that a shopping trip would change anything, that it even meant anything_. Really, she should have expected this of Bellatrix; the only thing Bellatrix hated more than shopping was Diagon Alley, so it had come as a shock to everyone when she had suggested that she take Andromeda and Narcissa out for their school supplies. Their parents, however, were quick to agree, eager perhaps to avoid the muggle scum who could be found in the busy alley, or perhaps just to avoid shopping with Narcissa – always a draining task.

Either way, Andromeda had also jumped at the idea, secretly hoping that this was Bella beginning to take an interest in her again, like when they were younger, before Hogwarts, when all three girls would chase each other around the yard, shrieking and giggling, hiding from house elves and relatives alike. The sisters had been inseparable then, and even through Bella's first few years at Hogwarts the bond remained strong. Slowly, though, Andromeda had watched as her older sister became more secretive, huddling in front of the Slytherin common room fire many a late night with Rodolphus Lestrange and his cronies, whispering about the rise of a new society, and a master without a name. She watched, too, as Narcissa grew into herself and discovered makeup and boys, and she also moved away from Andromeda, preferring to twirl her hair and bat her eyelashes – though only at respectable pure-blooded males – than to curl up on the couch in the common room with her, as they'd done Narcissa's first year. A sharp tug on her sleeve caused Andromeda to start and pulled her abruptly from her thoughts

"Andy, look there!" Narcissa, standing at her side, hissed more loudly than necessary, nodding her head towards Amanuensis Quills, where a tall, blonde haired boy was just opening the door and stepping inside. "Do you see him? That's Lucius there! I think I need a new quill – oh, isn't he gorgeous - be a right shame if I didn't have a spare and mine broke. Are you coming?"

Mentally rolling her eyes, Andromeda smiled patronizingly down at her sister, though her condescending attitude went straight over the younger girl's head. "No, you go on ahead. Wouldn't want to get in your way. Anyways I think I need to get-" Not even finished with her sentence, and Narcissa was hurrying off in the direction of the quill shop, moving as quickly as she could without actually running, leaving Andromeda alone on the side of the cobblestone road. Another sigh escaped Andromeda's pursed lips as she tugged a hand through her neatly curled hair – a nervous habit of hers that drove her mother crazy. It was ironic, really. Here she was, in the busiest wizarding street in London, and feeling more alone than ever. Blinking a few times, she gave a quick shake of her head. _Snap out of it, Andy. You have things to do_, she reminded herself. Reaching into the pocket of her impeccable robes, she grasped the piece of parchment there, pulling it out and carefully unfolding it. Taking a hasty glance around to make sure that no one was nearby, Andromeda began mumbling to herself as she scanned over the list that had arrived in the mail the week before. "Okay… books, of course, a new cauldron – Merlin, Longbottom, could you be any more clumsy – owl feed, ink, parch-"

For the second time in the past ten minutes, she was cut off, this time by furious shouting across the road. "YOU! You have some nerve! Coming here after what you did!" Irritated at being interrupted, Andromeda flicked her gaze up from the parchment, intent on giving the unknown speaker a piece of her mind, only to find a tall, lanky boy striding towards her. Momentarily losing her carefully kept composure, Andromeda's perfectly shaped eyebrows pulled together in a small frown, crinkling up her forehead. Was he talking to her?

"After what I did?" she inquired coolly, quickly smoothing her face of the flicker of emotion. "And pray, please inform me of this dreadful thing I've done."

The boy was in front of her now, breathing heavily, though from anger or his hasty walk she couldn't tell. He looked vaguely familiar, a face she knew but hadn't deigned to remember. Shaggy blond hair in desperate need of a haircut fell into his face, and he stared at her out of intense blue eyes. Giving him a quick once over, she noted his scruffy, blue and white striped t-shirt, un-tucked of course, and worn out jeans, obvious muggle attire. Muggleborn. That would explain why she didn't remember him. He was speaking again though, and despite herself she was curious to know what she was accusing her of. Had she snubbed him in one of their classes, or called his best friend a mudblood, perhaps? Andromeda couldn't recall any recent conversations with anyone outside her house. "Oh, don't give me that innocent crap. Everyone knows it was you, even though the Aurors might not have been able to directly pin it on you."

Now she was really confused. She certainly hadn't done anything worthy of Ministry attention, not even something as mundane as underage magic. "I really don't know what you're referring to, perhaps you've been having hallucinations. I've heard they're fairly common among muggleborns. Something about them not being able to control the magic correctly. Really, they shouldn't be allowed out in public." Unlike him, she could have been talking about the weather, so disinterested was her tone.

In a sudden movement she wasn't anticipating, he roughly grabbed her arm and she bit back a yelp, instinctively trying to take a step back, but was held in place by his tight grip. His fingers would leave bruises on her upper arm, she knew, and she'd have a hard time explaining to Narcissa why she refused to wear short sleeves indoors. Better that than explain the markings, though. "What kind of person would murder a child? A bloody child! She was barely eight!" he demanded harshly, his grip tightening even further. She felt a flash of fear, and quickly concealed it. Blacks were afraid of nothing. Not even of strange muggleborns towering nearly four inches over them, glaring down at them with those vivid eyes.

She met his stare head on, her gaze not wavering once, though her eyes may have been a bit wider than usual. "Like I said, hallucinations. You really should get those checked out." Andromeda spoke slowly, clearly annunciating each word as if she were talking to a particularly contrary young child who didn't understand why he had to go to sleep. It wouldn't due to let this boy get any emotion out of her; she had to keep the detached air that had been her safety net for so many years now.

"Ted, Ted, stop!" a new voice cut in, panting with exertion, and she broke eye contact only to see whom it belonged to. Red hair, infinite freckles, tattered robes – this figure was one she clearly recognized: Arthur Weasley.

"How lovely. First a mudblood, now a blood traitor. This really must be my day," she sneered, wrinkling up her nose to show her obvious distaste. The slur had slipped out unintentionally, a reversion to years of hearing it flung around the house with ease. The boy's – Ted's – fingers were still biting into her upper arm, and she had to struggle not to wince in pain. No weakness.

Arthur didn't even glance her way, ignoring her insult and instead focusing all his attention on Ted. "Ted, you have to stop. Let go, Ted," he insisted, breath still coming fast. Clearly he'd had to run over here to get the blonde boy's attention. Great, now she'd had a Weasley for her knight in shining armor. Oh, Narcissa would have a ball if she heard about this.

Those steely blue eyes moved from her face to look over at Arthur, and she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Something about his eyes made it seem as if he could stare into her soul, though certainly a muggleborn wasn't capable of legilimency. "Why? Give me one reason why I shouldn't just shake a confession out of her. You saw what she did! It was all over the bloody Daily Prophet!" The words reeked of fury; spilling out and filling the air with a violent aura that made the hairs on her arms stand on end beneath the cover of her sleeves.

Arthur had grabbed Ted's shoulder now, and was pulling him back, away from Andromeda. She yanked her arm backwards, wrenching out of Ted's grip. Her other hand raised up to rest on the swollen skin, a layer of comfort and protection through her robes and the first sign of pain she'd shown, be it a subtle one. "Because you've got the wrong person! Calm down, man! Look at her, this isn't Bellatrix!"

Ted turned back to Andromeda, and warily she took a step back, not risking being within arm's reach of him again. He stared intently at her face, for so long that she felt color rising to her cheeks. All she wanted to do was melt away, fade into the crowds and never be seen again. "Oh," he said at last, dropping his gaze to his scuffed up trainers, his shoulders sagging as all the fight left his body. "Oh. I thought… they have the same face." Raising his eyes to her again, he opened his mouth to speak. "Look, I-"

This time it was Andromeda's turn to interrupt. She couldn't have a muggleborn apologizing to her. Merlin, she was in such trouble as it was; someone surely had seen the altercation, and word would reach her mother by the time she got home. Gossip traveled quickly in pure-blood circles. "Think twice before accusing me, or any of my family, of such actions again. You don't want to raise anymore trouble for yourself," she hissed at the blond boy, a hint of threat in her words. That threat was the first true emotion she'd shown, and evidence of just how shaken she was from the encounter. Then, before either boy could reply, or notice the tears that had started to well up in the corners of her eyes, she swiftly spun on her heel, her midnight black robes swishing around her ankles as she marched off in the opposite direction.

For once, she was grateful for the crowds of people traversing across the alley, muggleborns or not. The day before term started meant that nearly all Hogwarts students and their families were out doing last minute shopping – a forgotten necessity, perhaps a lost book or an overlooked potion ingredient. Either way, the hoards of witches and wizards milling about allowed her to easily blend in with the other shoppers. She needed that anonymity to give her time to compose herself before she ran into anyone she knew, and especially before she met up with her sisters again. Andromeda drew in a few shaky breaths, releasing her bruised arm as she gathered her bearings once more. Using the cuff of her sleeve, she dabbed delicately at her eyes, avoiding smudging her dark mascara. _It's only because I was scared of getting hurt_, she told herself, but she knew that it was a blatant lie. It hadn't been the boy's anger that had gotten to her the most, though he had certainly frightened her, but rather the horrid accusations he had thrown at her while thinking she was Bellatrix. Andromeda knew that Bellatrix had gotten involved with some shady business, business that Andromeda wanted to stay as far away from as possible. It was that damned Rodolphus, she knew. Bella hadn't been so dark before she began hanging around him. But how dark had she become? Murder?

No, it simply wasn't possible. Deep down, Bella was still the same person who had wrapped Andy up in her arms when she came running to her older sister's room after a particularly awful nightmare, the same person who had held her hand all the way to the Slytherin common room on Andromeda's first day at Hogwarts, who had risked being late to show Andy the way to her classes. Despite what she'd been doing recently, Bellatrix couldn't be a murderer. Andromeda just wished she had the conviction to believe herself.

"Andromeda!" a deep voice called from behind her, and she turned about suspiciously, this time slipping her hand into her pocket to wrap her fingers around the handle of her wand. She wasn't going to be left helpless this time. However, the figure threading his way through the crowds was a friendly one. The dark haired boy grinned widely at her, the smile flashing white teeth in his handsome face.

Letting her wand slide back down into her pocket, she did her best to offer up a genuine smile of her own, though smiling was the last thing she felt like doing at the moment. "Evan," she greeted him with a nod of acknowledgement. He reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, beginning to guide her towards the side of the road, out of the paths of the hurried passerby, and she found herself struggling not to flinch away from his touch. This was Evan, Evan Rosier who she'd known practically her whole life, not some muggleborn who had the nerve to attack her.

"I swear, Andromeda, you get prettier every time I see you," he teased her, once they were out of earshot of the crowds. "I'm surprised I didn't find you in the bookshop." Lifting a hand, he tucked one of the curls hanging loose in her face behind her ear and let his hand remain on her cheek for a moment more, his face still lit up with a smile.

Playfully, Andromeda smacked his hand gently away from her face, poking her tongue out at him in a rare childish display. "Oh, shush, Evan. Your flattery doesn't work on me, you know that. I know you far too well to fall for your horrid flirtations. Go try your luck with that Skeeter bird. And I'll ignore that comment on the bookstore; someone has to challenge you for top of the class," she scoffed good-naturedly.

"But Skeeter has nothing on you, Andromeda. Have you even seen her? She reminds me of a bug. I couldn't be seen out in public with _that_," Evan retorted haughtily, giving an exaggerated shudder for Andromeda's sake.

Crinkling up her nose at his absurdity, Andromeda gave his shoulder a light shove. "Oh, drop it, Rosier. She's not that bad. Do you always have to be so foolish?" Despite herself, she found the corners of her lips twitching up with a true smile.

Evan slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tightly against his side. "If it cheers you up, then yes, I do." Suddenly serious, he glanced down at her, concern evident in his dark eyes. "What's wrong Andy? You can't fool me with that false cheeriness. Besides, you're nearly eight shops down from Flourish and Blotts. If that's not an indicator that something's up, I don't know what is."

Wryly, Andromeda shook her head. Of course Evan would immediately see through her faux visage. "Oh, Evan…" A thousand responses floated through her head, all of which would be laughable to voice. _I think my sister's a killer. My parents are ashamed of me because I'm neither obedient like Narcissa nor daring like Bellatrix. I've just been assaulted by a mudblood. I don't want the life of a housewife. _Those kinds of thoughts would only earn her wrathful indignation."I suppose I'm just lonely," she finished lamely. At least it was partially true; Evan would be able to see through a lie as easily as he saw through her carefully masked emotions, but perhaps an almost truth would satisfy him. She was lonely, after all, now that Bella and Narcissa, her two closest friends, had gone their separate ways.

"Lonely, eh?" Evan winked suggestively at her, waggling his eyebrows comically. "Well, you know, I could always help with that, you know."

Rolling her eyes at his crude flirtations, Andromeda shrugged his arm off her shoulders and turned to leave, slightly hurt that he'd laugh off her confession so easily. "Don't be ridiculous. I have shopping to do, Rosier," she retorted, voice turned to the cool tone she used to protect herself.

Before she could get barely a step away, Evan had grabbed her hand, pulling her back around to face him. "I'm serious, Andy. We're a perfect match. Don't you see it? Your parents would be delighted, and mine wouldn't be disappointed either. We could continue the reign of blood supremacy, do our parts," he spoke zealously, his face showing a dark dedication, one she wasn't sure she'd seen before, and it frightened her. Raised in a respectable pure-blooded family, Evan had been her friend since before Hogwarts, ever since he'd helped her nab the raspberry tarts from the kitchen while their mothers had been having tea. Since losing her sisters, he'd become her last friend. He always had an air of carelessness about him; one that Andromeda was simultaneously drawn to and terribly jealous of. Now, seeing him without that nonchalance, she felt something missing, and the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach that everything was changing, that she was teetering on the center of a seesaw and was about to fall one way or the other, grew.

"Evan, that's crazy. We're still in school, we're far too young to be thinking of marriage and the like." She was making excuses; plenty of pure-bloods their age and even younger had marriages arranged for the future. "I… I have to go. I've got to get my school stuff. I'll just… I'll see you on the train tomorrow, right?" she questioned, desperate for reassurance that she was not losing her best friend in that moment, not losing him like she had lost Bella.

"Definitely, Andy." And just like that, he was back to the casual quipster she was used to seeing. "I'll see you in the prefects' compartment. Someone has to make the Heads' job difficult." That contagious grin was back, and he winked lightheartedly at her.

Hiding her relief at his transformation, Andromeda groaned loudly, "Always up to us Slytherin prefects to do that. Why can't someone else take up the job?" She sighed melodramatically before flouncing back into the rush of shoppers, this time to actually get her purchasing done. She was set to meet Bella and Cissy in less than two hours and she'd yet to get anything on her list.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Andromeda lingered on the train platform, hanging back as Narcissa boarded the Hogwarts Express with Yvonne Rowle, another fourth year Slytherin girl. Heads together, the two were giggling over some inside joke, not noticing that Andromeda wasn't coming behind. It felt odd, leaving London without Bellatrix. The first year after the older girl had graduated, and Andromeda had the ominous feeling that things would never be the same now. She scanned the crowds, her stomach turning queasily. The sight of families hugging, students promising to write, parents warning them to behave, didn't help her mood. Andromeda's parents had come only to apparate them to the platform, leaving immediately afterwards with nothing but a curt farewell. She couldn't remember the last time her mother had hugged her. Had she ever even?

No, she couldn't be thinking that way. Her parents loved her in their own way; they wanted to see the best for her, a marriage to a wealthy pure-blood in which she could live a life a luxury. They might show their affection differently, but Andromeda was still lucky in her life. She had never wanted for anything. Every dress, book, accessory she admired was hers as soon as she voiced her desire. She lived a privileged life, one she shouldn't take for granted.

A head of light blond curls popped out of one of the train windows, scanning the platform until her pale blue eyes landed on Andromeda. "Andy! Hurry up or you'll miss the train!" Narcissa called out to her before hastily retreating back into the compartment; there was no way she would risk mussing up her neatly pinned hair – it was surprising she'd leaned out the window in the first place. Andromeda must be really late.

Unable to hold back a quiet snort of amusement at her sister's predictable vanity, Andromeda clapped a hand over her mouth, flicking her glance around to see if anyone had noticed her slip up. Still, families were far too preoccupied saying their last goodbyes to notice the antics of a lone teen. A bittersweet smile found its way onto her crimson lips as she began walking forward, climbing up onto the train. A small twitch of her wand caused her trunk to levitate with ease into the storage units underneath.

Andromeda ambled down the corridor in no particular hurry, peering through the glass of the compartments she passed by; her time spent idling on the platform had ensured that she was one of the last to board the train, meaning there was a severe lack of empty compartments, or even ones where she could spot a familiar face. It wasn't until she was more than halfway down the train that she spotted Narcissa through one of the compartment windows. Sliding open the door, she entered the small alcove, nodding coolly at the students already seated there. Aside from Narcissa and Yvonne, the benches were packed full with other Slytherins who were deemed appropriate to run in their social circle: Evan was there, along with Lucius Malfoy, Anthony Mulciber, Warren Avery, and Tarquin McTavish.

"There you are, Andromeda, we were beginning to think you'd stayed in London," Narcissa ceased gazing adoringly at Lucius to smile tightly at her, clearly embarrassed by Andromeda's tardiness. She had deliberately seated herself next to Lucius, using the tight quarters as an excuse to scoot close to the older boy and was nearly draping herself across his lap as she leaned over to speak to Andromeda.

"My apologies," Andromeda retorted airily, her arched eyebrow a silent communication of her disapproval towards Narcissa's forwardness. "I had some trouble loading my trunk."

Evan rose, taking Andromeda's small hand in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. The gesture was a polite one, but it brought memories of the day before rushing back into her head and she shifted awkwardly on her feet, pulling her hand back as soon as was respectfully allowable. "You should have asked for help, Andromeda. I would have been happy to come to your aid."

"My knight in shining armor," Andromeda joked, hoping desperately that Evan would catch her hint and avoid bringing up their earlier conversation. It was all she needed to have Narcissa playing matchmaker for her and Evan all year, and she didn't want to re-experience the awkwardness in any case. "Would you like to escort me to the prefects' compartment, since you didn't get the chance to come to my rescue earlier?"

"It would be my pleasure. I would hate to risk something happening to you if you were to walk by yourself. A young girl shouldn't be left on her own," Evan bantered back, no sign of the fierce resolve that had her unsettled in Diagon Alley. He flashed Andromeda a suave grin, offering her his arm.

Relieved at the ease of their conversation, Andromeda placed one slender hand on his arm, her pale skin a stark contrast with the black of his robes. "We'll be off, then." Andromeda glanced back over her shoulder, giving Narcissa a last pointed look. The younger girl smirked in return, waggling her fingers in a small wave and making sure to brush her hand against Lucius' thigh as she dropped her arm back to her side.

With another mental eye roll, a habit that was becoming far too common lately, Andromeda followed Evan out into the corridor, sliding the compartment door shut behind them. The walk towards the front of the train was a quick one, though not exactly a comfortable one; Evan chattered on about his summer and Andromeda just nodded and made small noises of approval, though she was barely listening. It was task enough for her to keep up with Evan. Despite being considered tall for her gender, Andromeda was no match for Evan's high stature, and it took her nearly two steps to match one of his strides as they made their way down the train. She was far too proud to mention it, though, and it was to her great relief when they finally reached the prefects' compartment.

"After you," Evan made a sweeping gesture towards the door with his arm, continuing with the damsel in distress façade. Andromeda scrunched up her nose at him, but stepped over the threshold all the same. This year's Heads were already seated, as well as a few other prefects who had arrived early. Andromeda was unsurprised to see that Fabian Prewitt and Rosmerta Howell had been selected as Head Boy and Girl. A Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, both students had been top of the class, and were a running joke among the Slytherins as the poster children for goody-two-shoes. It was rare for Slytherins to be selected as Heads – probably for that reason.

Taking a seat near the door, as far from the assembled Gryffindor prefects as possible, Andromeda smoothed her robes over her knees, easing out any wrinkles, and reclined back against the wood paneled wall. Evan slid into the seat next to her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Twenty galleons that Fabian and Rosmerta are dating by the end of the month."

Andromeda was unable to hold back the giggle bubbling up in her throat. The result was immediate – the entire compartment ceased conversation and fell silent, turning to stare at the two Slytherins. It was rare event to see Andromeda's pretty face contain an expression other than an aloof disinterest, and never had she gone so far as to laugh in public. To be honest, Andromeda couldn't say what had got into her – usually she was much better at containing her emotions. Perhaps it was stress. There was nothing like masquerading as perfect to cause anxiety, especially when she felt anything but. Pretending not to notice all the eyes on her, Andromeda focused her attention on Evan, murmuring back, "You're on. Rosmerta might be nice, but she has absolutely no spine; Fabian won't be able to stand her."

Evan's reaction to the attention had not been so subtle as Andromeda's; rather, he glared darkly around at the gawking students, twirling his wand causally in his hand until they reluctantly returned to their own business. When he turned back to Andromeda, his usual smile was replaced with a satisfied smirk, one that was recognant of the arrogant man she had seen yesterday. Feeling uneasy but knowing she had to play it cool, Andromeda gave his arm a light smack. "Was that really necessary?" She demanded quietly of him.

Shrugging carelessly, Evan placed his arms behind his head and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him. "They need to learn to mind their own business. Besides, the likes of some of them shouldn't even be looking at you."

Andromeda shifted in her spot, the movement adding a little more space between Evan and her. She didn't like this pretentious attitude he'd been displaying lately – it made it much harder to remain neutral in the growing conflict, especially as the line she had been straddling was turning into a growing crevice. Rather than argue, though, she just glanced down at her lap, twining and untwining her fingers together.

Suddenly the compartment door slammed open loudly, raucous laughter spilling over into the quiet chamber. "You didn't!" an all too familiar voice accused, rogue snickering finding its way between his words.

"I did! And she said yes!" came Arthur Weasley's response, and Andromeda was sure he had that stupid ear-to-ear grin of his plastered on his face. She didn't look up, though, appearing to find her fingernails completely fascinating.

She could tell when he caught sight of her. The snickering stopped abruptly and Andromeda could feel two eyes burning into the top of her head. Unwillingly, she lifted her gaze, a hint of pink emerging on her pale cheeks. Her glance connected directly with a pair of vivid blue eyes and she returned the stare, keeping her face completely neutral. Of course Ted Tonks was a prefect. Bugger everything, this was just her luck. He was still gaping at her, his mouth opening and closing as if he was deciding whether or not to speak, reminding her vaguely of a fish. Much to her relief, Weasley elbowed him in the ribs, muttering something in Ted's ear as he guided him to a seat. She wasn't sure how much longer she could have stood the tension without reacting, and she certainly didn't want to talk to Tonks.

"Oi, you lot! Listen up!" Fabian's voice echoed throughout the compartment, his commanding tone grabbing the attention of every prefect, even Evan, though Andromeda could see him trying to pretend otherwise. "We're going to be doing things a little differently this year. I know in past years the prefects from each house have patrolled together, but Dumbledore thinks it'll be wise to promote inter-house unity, starting with the authority figures. I guess he hopes the rest of the school will take their cue from us as role models."

This spurred a good deal of murmuring from all around the area and Andromeda exchanged a mortified look with Evan. This couldn't be happening. She could be placed with a Hufflepuff, or worse, a muggleborn. If her mother found out, she could potentially be pulled out of school. Maybe she would get lucky and be placed with a Ravenclaw – at least most of them were acceptable to associate with. Some of them were even from respectable families. Hiding her hands behind her back, she secretly crossed her fingers for good luck. Andromeda wasn't one to believe in superstitions, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Right, you'll be wanting your patrol schedules then," Fabian was still talking, but Andromeda had missed a good chunk of his speech. She doubted it was anything important, at least not compared to his first announcement. Probably something about being responsible, with some not so subtle jibes aimed at the Slytherins. She snatched at the schedule Rosmerta offered her without a thank you, hurriedly scanning the parchment for her name. _Andromeda Black, Andromeda Black…_ There it was, the small box that would determine her year. Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks. Evan was talking to her, something about Emmeline Vance, but she wasn't listening. She couldn't listen. Her head was spinning, and she felt rather faint. What had she done to deserve this? Of all the prefects she could have been paired with, she ended up with not only a muggleborn, but a muggleborn who had attacked her, and who had some kind of vendetta against her family. Merlin, it was going to be a long year.

"Andromeda?" And there he was. At some point in her haze, Ted had crossed the compartment to stand in front of her. From the vantage point of her sitting position, he looked even taller than the day before, and his loaming figure her gave her an unpleasant sense of déjà vu. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if this was the first time he'd addressed her, or if he had been standing there for several minutes now.

Andromeda swallowed hard, clenching her teeth and forcing herself to look up at him. She hated those deep eyes of his, she really bloody hated them. Steeling herself, she gave Ted her iciest stare. "Don't, Tonks. Evan, we have go. Narcissa's probably pregnant by now." She stood quickly, brushing past Ted without giving him a second glance and hastily exited the compartment, which had started to feel very small to her.

Once outside, Andromeda pressed herself against the cool metal wall of the corridor, her breathing coming out fast. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, trying to compose herself once more. Hardly a second had passed before Evan was beside her again. "Andromeda, what was that?" He sounded worried, but she wondered whether the worry was for her or simply worry that he would be associated with the display she had made. Instantly, she felt ashamed for questioning his motives; a year ago, the doubt wouldn't have even entered her mind.

Slowly opening her eyes, she gave him a half-smile. "Nothing. It was nothing. I'm just worried how my mother will take this. She might take me out of school. Better to be uneducated than fraternizing with muggleborns, she'd say."

Evan brushed the back of his hand against her cheek comfortingly. "Would that really be so bad, Andromeda? You've had five years here, it's not as if you're stupid. And you've no use for NEWTs; it's not as if you'll be out finding a job." He chuckled softly, as if he had made a joke of some sort, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You'll be fine, Andromeda, I'll take care of that. Now come on, you don't want to cause a scene." With that, he was striding down the corridor again, clearly expecting her to follow him without argument.

Andromeda gaped after him, unable to move or even form words. Evan had no right to make assumptions about her future, no right to patronize her like that. It was true that none of the Black women in the recent generations had held jobs, but that didn't mean it be impossible for her to have a career - she certainly had the notes for it. And what did he think he was doing, insinuating that she would marry him? Shocked and indignant at his arrogance, Andromeda finally peeled herself off the wall and began to make her way after Evan. She might be irritated with him at the moment, but surely he didn't mean it and would apologize later. He was, after all, her best friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Tristen – Just to clear up any confusion, I'm writing about Ted Tonks, not Teddy Lupin. Andromeda was blasted off the family tree for marrying muggleborn Ted Tonks. Ted Tonks is Ted Lupin's grandfather and namesake. **

**Chapter Three**

Blinking golden-brown eyes blearily, Andromeda gazed across the Slytherin table, staring off into the space above the other House tables. It was amazing really, how many students were up and chattering incessantly at this hour while she was barely winning the struggle to keep her eyes open. Unintentionally, she glanced over at the Ravenclaw table as she started to zone into whatever Evan was babbling on about. How was he oblivious to her not listening? Merlin, the boy must really like the sound of his own voice.

As her glance skimmed over the blue-laden table, she froze momentarily, catching a pair of deep azure eyes staring directly back at her. Scowling in annoyance, Andromeda tore away her gaze, returning her attention to her own table. Bloody hell, was that boy everywhere? How was it that she had gone through five whole years without even noticing Ted Tonks once and now he seemed to be popping up all the time? And what right did he have staring at her after everything he had done? If she were in his scuffed up shoes, she'd be taking all means available to avoid herself and save her pride.

Andromeda stabbed rather violently at a piece of sausage on her plate, shoving it ungracefully into her mouth and chewing the breakfast meat slowly. Mornings were never her best time and she was not looking forward to a day filled with double Potions and Transfiguration. Add into that Ted bloody Tonks and Andromeda had very low expectations for that day.

With a drawn out sigh, she poked and prodded at the scrambled eggs on the side of her plate, spreading them out across the dish with her fork before sweeping them back into a small mountain. Sitting nearly six seats down, Narcissa's all too chipper voice floated down to reach Andromeda's ears as clearly as if her sister were sitting next to her. Unsurprisingly, the younger girl was gushing about Lucius, clinging onto the boy's forearm. Andromeda groaned loudly, dropping her fork with a clatter and directing her glare at her unfortunate breakfast.

Evan looked up from his own mostly empty plate, his fork halfway to his mouth, surprised by the noise. "Something wrong, Andromeda?" he asked from his spot across the table, apparently having finally realized that she hadn't been listening to a word he was saying.

"Nothing," Andromeda muttered grumpily. "I'm just not hungry. Merlin, I hate mornings. I'm starting to ask myself why I decided to continue with Potions. It would've been two extra hours of sleep if I'd dropped it. Two extra hours of beauty sleep!" She pushed her plate away from her, displacing a couple platters of food in the process and earning her startled glances from nearby students who quickly looked away after realizing who she was.

"I asked you the same thing last year when you announced that you were signing up for Potions, Defense, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, _and_Ancient Runes, if you remember. You could have dropped at least one class, if not even all of them. You have no need for this school anymore", Evan responded airily between bites of food. "So forgive me if I'm not completely sympathetic."

Andromeda shot him a dirty glare for his arrogance, but chose not to respond to yet another housewife implication; it was too early for her to be getting into arguments, and they had too large of an audience in any case. Instead, she dropped her head, hitting her forehead against the table with a resounding smack, dark curls tumbling messily around her. "Can it please be the weekend already?" she moaned, words muffled by the wood of the table.

Chuckling and shaking his head, Evan clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, sleepyhead. Can't be late for your first class of the day. You'll ruin your perfect attendance record two weeks in."

With another dramatic sigh, Andromeda pushed herself off the table, swinging her legs over the bench. "Fine," she grumbled reluctantly. "But you're going to have to hold me up. I don't think my legs are awake yet." She latched onto his shoulder with both hands, resting her chin on top of her knuckles and closing her eyes again. "Watch out for doors and people and stuff. Don't let me crash into anything."

Evan snaked his arm around her waist to hold her up and pulled her into his side, shaking his head with amusement. "No promises, sweetheart," he bent his head down to whisper in her ear, "It's the risk you take for trusting me."

"Black and Longbottom," Professor Slughorn announced in his pompous voice, peering so closely at the sheet of parchment he was holding that his large nose brushed against it. Andromeda gritted her teeth as she bent over to pick up her schoolbag. Every project, Slughorn paired her up with Frank Longbottom without fail, probably in hopes that her knack for Potions would somehow rub off on the clumsy boy. And, while it was only with Andromeda's help that Frank had scraped the notes to even take NEWT level Potions, she wasn't fond of having her potion explode every time she took her eyes off it.

"Sorry," Longbottom muttered quietly as she sat down beside him, dropping her bag of books on the floor with a heavy thud. Andromeda simply gave a slight shrug in response. She might put up a pretty strong pretense of fussing over the pairing, but she didn't mind it that much; she actually felt sorry for the Hufflepuff boy. He was just so utterly hopeless, and it wasn't as if her grades were suffering – Slughorn knew she was ace at Potions and that any fires or explosions were caused by Frank, and Frank alone. The two had formed a sort of truce, being partners for four years. Longbottom didn't mention Andromeda's family or their differing loyalties, and she in turn deigned to speak more than one word sentences in front of him – an honor she didn't even grant to the majority of her House.

"Just go get the ingredients, Longbottom. I trust you can handle that," Andromeda ordered, pulling out her copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ and flipping swiftly through the pages. She wasn't too worried about the potion they had been assigned. The Strengthening Solution was a potion that they had studied in depth last year, and one Slughorn seemed to think would be good for beginning of the year review. Andromeda had received full points on her concoction the year before, and she doubted this year would be much different.

Frank returned, arms cradling a large pile of ingredients from the cupboards, and dumped them unceremoniously on the desk. Andromeda had to lunge forward to catch the vial of salamander blood before it rolled off the table and cracked open on the floor. "Careful!" she yelped sharply, stretching her arm across the edge of the desk to block anything else from hitting the floor. "Merlin, you didn't have to bring everything at once. Two trips wouldn't have killed you!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Frank spluttered, sweeping everything into a messy pile in the middle of the desk. "I'm really sorry, Andromeda!"

Sliding back into her seat, Andromeda held up one slender hand to halt any more apologies. "Enough, I get it. Just watch what you're doing from now on." She began separating the ingredients from each other, organizing them into neat piles. "Do you think you can handle crushing up the griffin's claw, or do you need to sit back and watch me do all the work?" she inquired disinterestedly, not looking up from her sorting.

"I can do it!" Longbottom nodded his head eagerly, and Andromeda was strongly reminded of a puppy dog. "I'll just need a pestle and…" His lunge for the pestle and mortar upset the entire desk, sending Andromeda's careful work back into a messy heap. "Sorry, sorry! I'll just go sit over here with the griffin's claw…" Longbottom scooted to the very edge of the desk, leaving a large gap between him and Andromeda.

Taking a deep breath, Andromeda silently counted to ten. Despite her reputation as the Ice Princess of Hogwarts, she _had_ inherited the infamous Black temper that Bellatrix and even Narcissa so often demonstrated. When she was sure she had regained her cool, Andromeda rifled through the disorganized pile, careful not to tear the violet petals she pulled out and put to the side. A quick glance over at Longbottom showed him slowly and laboriously grinding up the griffin's claw, his round face screwed up in concentration. Convinced that he was occupied and out of the way, at least for the moment, Andromeda turned back to her book. _Stir the potion counterclockwise for five minutes, adding one drop of salamander's blood and one petal with each rotation._

Ten minutes before the end of the class and Andromeda was feeling quite satisfied with how the potion was going. Granted, Longbottom was still rigorously working at his griffin's claw, but they wouldn't need to add that until the potion had simmered for three days; Andromeda had a vial on hand to collect the dust before Longbottom sneezed and ruined a whole class's worth of work. On her part, she had successfully gotten their potion to the bright yellow color advised at this stage, and was feeling rather upbeat – quite unlike her earlier irritated self. "Alright, Longbottom, I think you've done well enough for today. There's nothing more we can do for now, let's pack up." Andromeda nudged him, her words the closest thing to praise she could say to him.

"Oh, okay!" Frank looked rather surprised as he pushed the mortar away from himself. Andromeda quickly grabbed it, funneling the claw dust into the vial. "I… um… have to tell you something, Andromeda."

Pausing, Andromeda gave him an odd look. This was new – she and Frank had thus far kept all their conversations strictly related to Potions. This was probably why the boy looked so anxious, shifting in his seat and drumming his fingers against the desk. "Alright, tell me," she instructed him, tapping the bottom of the bowl to gather the final grindings.

"Okay, um, I don't know if you know – well you probably don't, I mean I'm sure you don't, why would you?" Frank stuttered out, his eyes darting anxiously about the room, looking anywhere but at Andromeda. "I'm… sort of friends with, um, Ted Tonks." Andromeda tensed up instantly, slowly placing the vial on the desk in front of her before her grip shattered the thin glass. "Well, he, y'know, might have mentioned that you were, uh, avoiding him after, well, you know… Anyways, he wanted us to pass on his apologies if we saw you, since you won't let him do it in person, and yeah…" he finished awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Andromeda glowered deeply at Frank, thin brows pulling together; suddenly, her good mood had disappeared. Placing her elbows on the desk, she leaned in on her forearms, causing the boy to blanch and flinch away hastily. "You tell Ted Tonks that he can keep his apologies. I want nothing to do with that bloody blighter. If he continues with this, it will end up very, very badly for him," she hissed darkly. Roughly pushing her chair away, sending it slamming into the desk behind them, Andromeda grabbed her bag and stormed out of the classroom; leaving a pale shaking Frank Longbottom to clean up.

As usual, Evan was waiting for her outside the door. Having opted out of taking Potions, he'd had a free period that hour, and recently he seemed to have taken it into his hands to be Andromeda's personal escort. Brushing by Evan, Andromeda completely ignored him as she stalked down the hallway. Footsteps behind her indicated him easily catching up to her, and he soon fell into stride beside her. "So what's with the sudden urge to get to Transfiguration before the rest of the class?" Evan teased, tugging lightly on one of Andromeda's chocolate curls.

Andromeda shot Evan a glare, jerking the curl out of his grip and brushing her hair over the shoulder farthest from him. "Want to make sure I get the best seat," she answered shortly, keeping up her fast pace.

"Well now, someone's cheerful. That scowl doesn't suit your pretty face, darling," Evan chuckled, ruffling Andromeda's hair.

Whirling around so quickly that Evan very nearly collided with her, Andromeda planted herself firmly in the middle of the corridor. "Stop. Just stop it! Bloody hell, what is with you? I'm not five years old, thank you very much, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop acting like I was. I can take care of myself; I can do whatever I want, and you don't need to continuously patronize me! Maybe sitting around doing nothing for the rest of my life doesn't appeal to me, maybe I think that would be boring, did you ever think of that? No! Just because I have a pretty face and good lineage and I've been raised properly, you just assume that all I want out of life is to be a good little wife! Merlin, Evan, what happened to you?" Her tone, starting off as an angry whisper, increased in volume as she continued, until she was just about shouting. Students of all years had been let out of classes by then, and the two had acquired quite a large crowd around them. A fight was always a good show at Hogwarts, and good for the gossip mill too, but one between the inseparable, untouchable Evan Rosier and Andromeda Black? Well, that was one for the covers.

Evan grabbed her hands, effectively halting her rant, though she still stared at him with wild, infuriated eyes. "Andy, please," he pleaded quietly with her, using her childhood nickname for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Let's talk about this later. After class, someplace quieter. Please."

Andromeda could care less about the scene she was creating. She was tired of being perfect, tired of fitting into a role that seemed five sizes too small for her. But she was going to be late for Transfiguration and she desperately wanted to forgive Evan and believe he was still the boy she remembered. "Okay, yeah. We'll talk later," she muttered, turning away from Evan and shoving her hands in the pockets of her robes as she pushed through the surrounding crowds.

Arriving at McGonagall's class with scarcely two minutes to spare, Andromeda slid into a seat in the back of the class where she could remain unnoticed as McGonagall lectured. Evan stepped in shortly after her and, after glancing quickly back at Andromeda, took one of the empty seats at the front of the class. Andromeda breathed a soft sigh, crossing her arms atop her textbook and laying her chin on them. This had to be the longest day in the history of forever, and all she wanted to do was go back to her dorm, hide herself away in her curtained bed, and take a nice, long nap.

Andromeda tried to focus her eyes on the chalkboard, where the Professor had magicked a piece of chalk to scribble down notes as she addressed the class on the importance of delicacy in nonverbal spells. Andromeda didn't bother to take out her quill; she would simply read the chapter on nonverbal spells when she was feeling up to it. Squinting at the front of the class, Andromeda pinched her arm to fend off the wave of sleepiness threatening to overtake her. Not taking notes was one thing, but if she fell asleep during class she'd be sure to earn herself a detention.

An incessant tapping against the side of her arm jolted her out of another nod-off session, giving her the unpleasant feeling that she was falling and couldn't catch herself. Tilting her head to the side revealed a dainty origami rose bumping again and again against her upper arm. Confused, Andromeda reached out to catch the folded parchment, turning it this way and that between her thumb and forefinger. She was hesitant to unfold it, so pretty was the small flower. It was only a few moments before her curiosity overcame her admiration, though, and she gently pulled at the petals of the rose. The parchment opened easily beneath her touch, exposing two neatly scrawled words, "_I'm sorry,"_ before the paper folded itself back into a delicate flower.

Andromeda couldn't keep back the smile pulling at her lips. The charm work on this creation was exquisite, and someone had gone through a lot of trouble to send her this note. Such an act was incredibly sweet, and Andromeda rarely received such gestures – a result of her reclusiveness. Immediately, she snapped her gaze up to Evan. Of course this would be his way of apologizing – it went against everything she had been repulsed by recently, so it would be the perfect way to make amends. However, Evan wasn't looking back at her; rather, he seemed to be totally engrossed in his notes. Confused, she scanned the classroom. All around, students were staring up at McGonagall in hopes of understanding the material she presented. All except one, that was. One sandy haired boy watched Andromeda carefully, anxiously chewing at his lower lip.

Of course. Of course Ted Tonks would be the one to extend such a charming gesture. She should crush the paper flower inside her fist, or perhaps spark it into a small fire. That would show Tonks just what she thought of him and his attempts at apologizing. Maybe then he would get the hint and give up, and they could both return to their own, completely separate worlds. Just as she had wrapped her fingers around the origami piece to crush it, crumple it up until no one could tell what it once had been, she let go. Without knowing what she was doing, she slipped the paper rose into her book bag, staring blankly down at the pages of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration _for the remainder of the class.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Andromeda lounged casually against the wall opposite the entrance to the staircase leading up to the Ravenclaw tower. She'd been there nearly ten minutes now, as another glance at the silver watch that adorned her wrist revealed. She supposed it was foolhardy of her to assume that Tonks would be timely; if he couldn't keep his clothing in order, what was to say he could keep his hours straight? She breathed out her annoyance in a sigh, folding her arms across her chest and tapping her shiny black flats against the stone floor impatiently.

"Gilderoy, sorry, I totally lost my wand and spent twenty minutes looking for it only to discover that that twerp Edgar Bones hid it again. Third time this week," the voice came eerily echoing down the spiral staircase, followed by the sound of thundering footsteps, until lastly a disheveled Ted Tonks stumbled out into the hallway, shirt untucked and tie askew. Catching sight of Andromeda, he skidded to a hasty stop. "Oh. Andromeda. Hi," he stuttered out, clearly startled by her presence.

"Tonks," she responded haughtily, pushing herself off the wall and giving a slight nod of her head in way of greeting. "You should keep better track of your belongings. Punctuality is a most valued virtue."

"I... um, yeah, I'll work on that, sorry. I just figured Lockhart would be down here, since, y'know, he's been subbing in for you the past, well, all patrols." Ted ran a hand through his hair, rumpling up the already messy curls, an expression of clear bewilderment on his freckled face.

Andromeda bit back a smirk, not wanting Tonks to make the assumption that she was smiling at him. Lockhart had been unbelievably easy to manipulate into taking her rounds these past weeks. Though fluttering her eyelashes and cooing over how she could only entrust her patrol to someone strong enough to fully protect the school had been a blow to her pride and reminded her uncannily of Narcissa, it had gotten the job done. Lockhart's vanity was his greatest weakness, and he'd been eager to prove what a 'manly defender of the school' he was. Andromeda had barely kept herself from snorting when he'd said that, but she needed him and so had to play along, nodding and simpering over his muscularity.

"According to McGonagall, missing more than five patrols because you're feeling unwell is only acceptable if you're staying in the hospital wing. Since I hardly have the time to waste in that germ-infested room, here I am," Andromeda informed Ted, slipping her hands into the pockets of her robes and curling them into balls. The hallways at Hogwarts were poorly insulated, and the draft was turning her fingers numb. "Now, if you're all caught up, we have a job to do."

"Oh, er, right. We've got the first floor today, according to the schedule. Are you feeling any better?" Ted asked, following at Andromeda's heels as she set off towards the staircase at the end of the hallway at a brisk pace.

"I'm fine," Andromeda responded shortly, not looking back at him. One hour and fifty-five minutes to go. She intended to get this patrol finished with as little socialization as she could manage. For once, Andromeda hoped it wouldn't be a quiet night – in fact, she wouldn't mind it if half the students in the school were out and about after curfew, starting fights and snogging in broom closets. Taking away points and scolding students would keep any conversations with Ted at bay.

"Hey, Andromeda?" Ted offered hesitantly. Apparently her lack of response didn't discourage him, and after a moment of silence, he continued. "I'm really sorry, y'know, for that thing in Diagon Alley…"

"So I've heard. Multiple times, each from a different source. You really need to learn when enough is enough," she scoffed in reply, staring straight ahead as she began to descend the four flights of stairs towards the first floor.

"Yeah, maybe. Mum always said I was too stubborn. But I can't… I won't stop trying until you accept my apology," Tonks mumbled sheepishly, giving a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders.

"Fine. Apology accepted. Happy?" Andromeda's voice was emotionless, though she rolled her eyes, removing her hand from her pocket to flick her curls back over her shoulders.

"No. You didn't mean that. But I'll get you to forgive me, just you wait. One day you'll have to give in." He had edged his way beside her in the narrow stairwell and was flashing that goofy grin of his.

Andromeda felt very claustrophobic all of a sudden and she pressed her arms into her sides to make herself smaller and gain more space. For a gawky, skinny boy, Ted Tonks had a presence that made her uncomfortable, made her want to turn and flee in the opposite direction if only to rid herself of the uneasy turning of her stomach. She put it down to reminders of his physical abuse – she simply had to pretend she was fine, and the feeling would disappear soon, once she rid herself of the memories of helplessness. "Don't hold your breath. Actually, I take that back, please do." Somehow she managed to get the sassy retort out without her voice wavering.

He was in front of her now, carelessly walking backwards down the stairs so he could face her as he talked. "I overreacted. I'd explain myself, but I'm sure you don't want to hear the story. I made a mistake, and I'm going to rectify it. I promise, Andromeda, I'll earn your forgiveness." Sincerity was written clearly across his face, his intense blue gaze aimed once more at her.

Andromeda folded her arms across her chest, clenching at the fabric of her robes like a lifeline. She was finding it harder and harder to freeze the boy out, especially when he kept looking at her like that. Generally, Andromeda considered herself quite decent at reading people – they always wanted something from her, and once she figured out what it was, it was all straight forward from there. They wanted in on her money, her reputation, her intelligence, even her affections. She was used to it, she knew what to look for when someone took an interest in her, and she knew how to avoid it. Tonks was different, though. He didn't want anything from her; nothing, that is, except her forgiveness. The idea was foreign to her.

"I don't want to hear it. I want you to stay away from me. I want-" she stopped speaking abruptly, her eyes widening in horror as they reached the bottom of the staircase. The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. Ted, still looking in the wrong direction and not watching the approaching last step, smacked his head straight into the top of the archway.

Forgetting herself, Andromeda rushed forward to grab Ted's arm, offering him support as he swayed unsteadily. "Oh, Merlin, you bloody idiot. Why can't you look where you're going," she chided, more worried than angry. She might not like the boy, might have even wanted him to hurt like he had hurt her, but faced with the reality, Andromeda couldn't bring herself to draw upon her festering bitterness.

Ted blinked dizzily, watching stars dance across his vision. With one arm, he reached out to grab at the doorframe, his other hand landing on Andromeda's shoulder as he wavered in place. He winced as a wave of searing pain cut through the haze enveloping his thoughts and leaned heavily into the doorframe. "I'm fine, don't worry," he tried to brush it off, but the words came out in breathless gasps.

"Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, you're not. Okay, um, you need to… sit down. Yeah, sit down." Andromeda was panicking now, completely out of her element. She could deal confrontation of all types, could stonily block out insults and snide comments. She'd never had to deal with injury, though. When Narcissa had tripped and broken her arm in the gardens, she'd instantly been escorted away by the house elves and appeared within an hour, completely healed. In Andromeda's experience, you were injured and then you weren't; she'd never dealt with what came in between.

Ted nodded and instantly regretted it as nausea swept over him. "Sitting down… sounds good," he managed, sliding down the doorframe to crouch on the bottom step. He propped his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes tightly shut to tune out the quivering world.

Andromeda knelt down beside him, working to keep back the hysterics that threatened to take over her. She should look at the wound – that's the first thing people did, right? Bloody hell, she had no idea, but it seemed like the most logical course of action. Cautiously, she leaned towards Ted with the intent of examining the back of his skull, then flinched, immediately recoiling. His blond hair was clumped together, red and sticky with blood. "You're really, really not okay," she gulped out, fighting down the contents of her stomach. Andromeda really hated blood. She couldn't stand the coppery smell, or even the unpleasant dark crimson color. She _really _hated blood.

Opening his eyes, the first thing Ted saw was Andromeda's blanched face, her terrified eyes locked on him. "It can't be that bad," he smiled weakly, trying to reassure her despite the agony he was in. The haughty girl's overly pale visage reminded him unpleasantly of the face he had stared into weeks before, in Diagon Alley.

"Oh, it's bad. Yeah, it's really not good," Andromeda babbled, her hands shaking in her lap. She needed to do something, had to help Ted in some way. She was excellent at healing charms, shouldn't she be able to do something? The way her head was racing, though, she didn't trust herself to try a basic levitating spell, let alone a complicated medicinal charm. "Hospital wing!" she cried out suddenly, her unintentionally loud voice echoing up the stairwell and making Ted wince again. She must have been extremely freaked out not to think of this earlier; she was acting just as foolish as the boy in front of her.

Sliding herself under Ted's arm, she tucked herself under his shoulder, allowing him to rest his weight on her. Andromeda didn't trust him to walk on his own – he looked like he might pass out at any moment. She just hoped that she could get him to the hospital wing before that happened. "Come on, Ted, you have to stand up. We have to go."

Ted grinned hazily up at her, slowly rising to his feet. Moving too fast sent another spear of pain through his head, and he'd like to avoid that. "You called me by my first name," he accused happily, propping himself on Andromeda's shoulder.

Andromeda snorted, the half-stifled laugh a desperate sound. "Don't get used to it, Tonks. You're still a wanker. Quite literally a bloody wanker."

"You snorted," Ted announced the obvious, sounding very proud of himself. "You're not as perfect as you seem. You're actually human; y'know, I had some doubts about that. I thought you might be a walking doll. You're pretty enough to be one of those porcelain dolls."

"And you're babbling, Tonks. Thank Merlin you won't remember any of this tomorrow." Andromeda rolled her eyes, staggering out into the corridor. Though she had been the one to offer her help, her slender frame couldn't easily support the tall boy's weight. Luckily, the hospital wing was not far from where they'd exited the stairwell.

"I think you care," Ted declared loudly, his face splitting into a large grin. "You pretend you don't, you pretend that you don't care about anything or anyone, but you really do."

"I don't care." Andromeda's icy retort came out immediately, but she didn't stray from her determined path down the hallway. She didn't care, not really. Perhaps she cared about Cissy and Bella, and maybe even Evan, but certainly not about this obnoxious boy. The only feelings she felt towards him were irritation and aggravation. It wasn't her fault that she had a conscience that forbad her from leaving him passed out in a dark corner of the castle. Bella would laugh at her weakness; she would have walked away with ease, not caring about his fate. Or perhaps she would have brought him somewhere public and left him to be found in the morning – Bella had a slightly off-kilter sense of humor.

"Say what you want. You could have left me to bleed out in that stairwell. You care," Ted answered smugly, nearly mirroring Andromeda's thoughts.

She had the strong urge to shrug out from under his arm, dumping him onto the floor. Instead, she clenched her jaw, muttering, "Just make sure McGonagall knows that missing rounds this time was all your fault."

Ted seemed to find her statement infinitely hilarious, his chuckling so strong that Andromeda could feel his body shaking with laughter. "Of course that's what you'd be worried about. Image isn't everything, y'know. You should let loose. I liked that fight you had the other day with that Rosier bloke. You've got fire, you just need the oxygen to set it burning," he drawled sluggishly.

They had reached the hospital wing now, and hardly a second after stepping over the threshold of the room Madame Pomfrey was hurrying over to them, as if she had some sixth sense for noticing injured students. Andromeda took her chance, slipping out from Ted's side and thrusting him towards the young nurse. "Don't talk about Evan," she hissed as she moved away. "He's broken. Fix him. Maybe take out his voice box while you're at it," she ordered the nurse.

Madame Pomfrey had to leap forward to catch the boy before he fell. "What did you do to him?" she demanded harshly of Andromeda, directing a fierce glare at her.

"Nothing. I was merely kind enough to escort him here, seeing as his mobility is currently wanting. Though, it's usually pretty shoddy anyways," she replied coolly, meeting the Madame Pomfrey's gaze with disinterested caramel eyes.

"It's true!" Ted chipped in from his spot nestled against the nurse's chest. Andromeda rolled her eyes; typical boy, using his injury for attention. "I did this all by myself. Andromeda just helped me. She's nice like that." He beamed widely at Andromeda, as if she would reward him for his praise.

"Well, alright…" the nurse muttered disbelievingly, bustling Ted off towards one of the hospital beds with a last suspicious glance over her shoulder at Andromeda.

Andromeda hovered awkwardly by the door, unsure whether to leave or not. Sensibility told her that she should get back to her common room before any more rumors had chance to circulate, but she didn't feel comfortable just leaving Ted there. After her effort to get him here, she at least deserved confirmation that he would be okay, right? She didn't want to have gone through all that for nothing – the boy was _heavy_.

Madame Pomfrey hurried by her again, this time her arms full of a variety of bandages and odd colored potions. Noticing Andromeda, she halted, a scowl forming on her face. "You're still here. Why?" she challenged.

Andromeda gave a half-shrug, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Clearly, the nurse didn't like her, and she wasn't sure why. She'd avoided the hospital wing doggedly for the past six years, so she hadn't had any encounters with Poppy Pomfrey until today. How could the woman be so offended by Andromeda's presence if they'd never even met? "Will he… be alright?" The words were hard for her to form; Andromeda didn't like looking vulnerable and she knew that's how she sounded. She only wished she knew why.

"I'm sorry to foil your plans, but he'll be perfectly fine. He has a rather severe concussion, but with rest and some potions he'll be up and getting into trouble again by tomorrow." The nurse's tone was icy cold, her frigid scowl never easing up any. Andromeda opened her mouth to contradict her, to inform her that the accusation that landing Ted Tonks in the hospital wing was part of her plan was utterly ridiculous, but she didn't manage to get any words out before Madame Pomfrey was speaking again. "How many more students are you going to send here? Are you out to overturn your sister's record of beds filled? Because I'll be keeping an eye on you, and if I notice anything, _anything_ out of the ordinary, I'll report you to Dumbledore without a second thought. I _will _get you expelled. We don't need your sort here."

Andromeda could feel her temper rising, outrage coloring her pale cheeks. "I don't know what you're accusing my sister of, but you have no right to say such things. Bella may have lost control sometimes, but she's not a bad person. And I have never hurt _anyone_. Forgive me for helping an injured student get to the hospital wing. I won't make that mistake again," she seethed indignantly, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

Andromeda couldn't handle all these allegations being thrown around about Bella; it seemed that everywhere she turned, people were insinuating that her sister was a monster, a killer who enjoyed hurting others. They had no right, no right at all to make assumptions without knowing Bella. Andromeda knew Bella, knew that despite her occasional violent outbursts, Bella meant well. She wouldn't do the kinds of things Andromeda had been hearing about.

Andromeda gave the nurse a long, hard stare, placing her hands on her hips. She watched smugly as Pomfrey gulped and took a step back, breaking eye contact. Andromeda 1, Poppy 0. Arching one thin eyebrow, Andromeda twisted on her heel and flounced out of the room, making her way back to her common room where her secluded bed awaited her, away from the irritation of other people.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_Tap. Taptaptap. Taptaptap. Tap. _Andromeda groaned, rolling over and pulling her pillow over her head to block out the sound. _Taptap. Tap. _Still, the tapping continued, the cushion barely stifling it. "Skeeter!" she grumbled, voice muffled by the pillow. "Tell that boyfriend of yours to stop sending love notes in the middle of the night! Some of us enjoy our sleep."

An incomprehensible mumbling came from across the room, followed by silence, aside from the rhythmic tapping on the window. Clearly, Rita Skeeter was in no hurry to retrieve her message.

With a sigh, Andromeda stretched, arching her back as she sat up in bed. There was no way she would be able to sleep until the owl had delivered whatever news it was bringing. Pulling the bathrobe hanging on the end of her bed over her thin nightgown, she padded barefoot over to the window. The just rising sun sent a stream of bright light directly through the glass, causing spots to dance across her vision. She squinted, fumbling with the latch of the window until the hinge swung open. Immediately, a regal looking owl flew into the dormitory, perching on one of her bedposts and extending its leg, where a scroll of parchment was neatly tied.

Andromeda gingerly removed the note from the owl's talon, and the creature flew swiftly off through the still open window. Glancing at the addressee name, she was surprised to see the note was not, as she had expected, addressed to Rita. Rather, her own name was scrawled on the parchment in spindly handwriting. Who was writing to her? Unless she did something notably out of line, Andromeda got mail only once a year; right before the end of the year feast, her parents sent a form letter informing her which house elf to look for at the platform.

Crawling back into her bed, she tucked her knees up against her chest, curling into her pillows and pulling her comforter up over herself. Only once she was comfortably settled did she look at the note again, rereading the name written across the front to make sure she hadn't somehow misread it. Confirmation gained, she frowned bemusedly down at the parchment as she started to unroll it, spreading it out on top of her knees.

_Dearest Andy,_

_I'm sure Mother will be sending you a formal letter soon enough, but I thought you would prefer to hear the news from me first. In any case, I had to tell someone, and you were the first person I thought of. I have the most wonderful news, Andy. Rodolphus Lestrange has asked Father for his permission to marry me. Well, of course Father agreed – you know very well we've been seeing each other for awhile, and the Lestranges' have a nearly perfect bloodline. We're to be married this summer. Mother is having a field day with the wedding plans – you know how she is. I know you'll be delighted for me, and I trust you'll be my maid of honor. Otherwise I'll have to ask Cissy, and she'll make it all about herself._

_You're almost out of school yourself; I'm sure you've started thinking about suitable matches. Mother certainly has. With me out of the way, you're next in line. I've heard whispers of that Goyle boy. Now I know he's not the best looking bloke, but his lineage is pure, he has money, and he's terribly weak. You'll be able to walk all over him, Andy. Personally, I think it'll be brilliant for you. You can finally have that library you've always wanted, all to yourself. I doubt Goyle even knows how to read._

_Oh, Andy, I have so much I want to tell you, but I can't, not yet. Events are happening, important events. Things are falling into place, and there will be changes, necessary changes, very soon. I'll tell you about it as soon as I can, I want to be the one to tell you, they know that. I can't wait for you to join me, Andy. I miss you terribly. We'll be reunited again, soon. Once you graduate, it'll be the two of us again. We'll go so far together. I wish you the best of luck making it through your last that horrid school. Merlin, the muck you have to associate with there makes you want to bathe in bleach. But you're so close to being done. Life after Hogwarts is incredible. There's so much more freedom, I feel like I'm actually making a difference. I love you, Andy. Stay well._

_Your dearest sister,_

_Bella_

Andromeda blinked back the tears welling up in her eyes. This was the first she'd heard from Bella since that day in Diagon Alley and she wasn't sure how to react to the note. All at once, she was hurt, outraged, terrified, and warmed, and she felt like the feelings might cause her to explode. She knew that Bella's marriage was cutting of the last string between them. Despite Bella's assurances that they would be together, she knew that Bella was no longer hers. Bella had moved on and didn't need Andromeda anymore.

Still, she clung to the reassuring words, wrapping herself in them in a desperate attempt to bring herself to believe them. She did not want to let herself focus on the chilling suggestion that something big, something world shattering, was building up. And she certainly didn't want to focus on the idea of marrying Goyle. She'd met the boy once, at a Christmas party her parents had hosted. He was an ugly, lunk of a boy who'd spent the entire night gorging at the food table. The idea of a marriage to him made her want to throw up.

A lump formed in Andromeda's throat as in trying to avoid those thoughts, she unintentionally submerged herself in them and she swallowed hard, scrubbing at her eyes with her robe sleeve. She was going to start crying soon, really crying, and she had to get out of the dormitory before any of the other girls noticed. She couldn't afford to let them get any dirt on her. She was Andromeda Black, and she was untouchable. Crumpling up the parchment and sticking it into her pocket, she slipped out of the curtains surrounding her bed. Shivering, Andromeda pulled the bathrobe tightly around herself and tied it at her side before tiptoeing out of the dorm. It was still early – 7 AM on a Saturday meant that there was a good chance the common room would be empty.

Andromeda was not disappointed; the frigid common room was void of students. She climbed onto the couch nearest the barely burning embers of the fire, curling into the corner by the couch arm. It wasn't surprising that the room was poorly kept – the house elves had a tendency to neglect the Slytherin common room, and the fire there was often out. She was surprised it was burning at all; it must have been a late night for some students.

She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and nestling into the cushions. Her head rested on the arm of the couch and she finally allowed herself to crumple, salty tears streaking down her cheeks. How had everything gotten so out of control? She used to have Bella, Cissy, and Evan to turn to and to support her. She didn't use to feel so alone, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. What had happened in the past few years? Was it her fault – had she pushed everyone away?

Andromeda didn't realize that she was no longer alone in the room until she felt the couch cushion sink down underneath her. Wiping roughly at her tear-filled eyes, she turned to give whoever had interrupted her a sharp piece of her mind, only to freeze up, her mouth half-open, as her glance landed on Evan.

He offered her a tentative smile, and without thought she caved, forgetting their past fight and throwing her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Evan's arms came around her, pulling her in close. She sat there for she didn't know how long, until her tears had fully soaked through his robes. Finally, Andromeda lifted her head, heavy sobs reduced to sniffles. "I'm sorry," she hiccupped, her voice rough from crying. "I… I don't know what's come over me."

Evan stroked her hair, pushing wet, stringy strands back out of her face with one hand as he held her tightly with his other arm. "Shhh," he murmured. "It's okay. You don't need to explain anything to me, Andromeda."

She gave him a watery smile, grateful for Evan's company but unsure what to say to him. She hadn't spoken to Evan since their fight in the hallway, going out of her way to never end up in the same spot as him at a time when he could approach her and try to talk. She knew his schedule well enough that it wasn't hard to coordinate it. Now, their first encounter in weeks, and she was bawling all over him. It was awkward, to say the least.

After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Evan sighed, looking wistfully down at Andromeda. "You've been avoiding me." he said simply – a statement, not an accusation.

"No, I…" Andromeda began, then stopped, realizing that any excuses would be fruitless. "Yeah, I have," she admitted, ashamed. "I just… I don't know. I guess I couldn't face you."

"I'm sorry," Evan muttered, releasing Andromeda and folding his hands together in his lap, twining and untwining his fingers. "I shouldn't have said those things. I suppose… I just assumed that you wanted a life like your mother, like my mother, like Narcissa is going to have. I mean, isn't that what most girls want? To be taken care of, to have everything they could dream of? I just want you to be happy, Andromeda. I want to make you happy."

Andromeda wrapped her arms around her stomach, leaning back into the couch cushions. "I'm not most girls, Evan. You know that. I can't just sit around doing nothing. When have I ever done that? I have to do something. I need to feel useful."

"I do know that." Evan smiled wryly at her. "There's a reason you're top of the year. I've seen how hard you work. It was foolish of me to assume you'd just want to stop. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have made assumptions, especially without talking to you."

Twirling a strand of loose hair around her finger, Andromeda offered a half-smile in return. "You're right, it was foolish of you. We've been friends for years, Evan, you know me better than everyone except Bella and Cissy. And they both could tell you that I'm not the housewife type. I thought you'd know that too."

Drawing in a deep breath as if steeling himself, Evan spoke again, "This probably isn't the most opportune time, but I have to say this. I still think we'd be a good match, Andromeda. We like each other. We get along well. I know I liked spending time with you. Plenty of couples from families such as ours don't even have that, it's just all about breeding. We could be equals, partners. I know better than to underestimate you, Andromeda. You're smart and savvy, as well as beautiful. If that doesn't convince you to at least think about it, imagine some of the boys your mother could try to set you up with."

The image of Goyle flickered through Andromeda's mind and she shuddered reflexively. "Okay, I see your point," she conceded, her smile growing a little.

Evan took his cue from that and full out grinned at her, that perfect, breath-taking grin of his. "One day you'll have to tell me what went through your head just then. Clearly it was something awful, judging from your reaction. You full on flinched right then." He nudged her playfully with his shoulder, chuckling quietly.

Andromeda made a face at him, scrunching up her nose. "Oh, hush." She snickered a little, shifting closer and nestling into Evan's side. "How did things get so mucked up?" she mused.

Evan snaked his arm around Andromeda's waist, leaning his head on top of hers. "I don't know. I suspect it was my fault, though. Even if it wasn't, I volunteer to take all the blame."

"That's why I keep you around," she joked, pleased that they had slipped back into their previous good-natured relationship. "I need someone to be there to take the fall for me."

"Glad to know I'm good for something. I'd hate to be expendable," Evan teased back, his fingers moving to her ribs, tickling her side.

Andromeda squealed, shoving Evan's shoulder as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. "Stop that! Stop, you know how ticklish I am!" she giggled, ducking under his arm.

Evan laughed, letting go of her and arching back on the couch, stretching his arms behind his head and proping his feet on the table that sat between them and the fireplace. "Alright, alright."

"So…" Andromeda bit her lip, chewing anxiously at the skin there. "Where do we go from here? What do we do now?" She flicked her gaze to Evan's face, watching his expression carefully.

He met her gaze, his dark eyes warm and reassuring. "Now… I ask you to accompany me on the Hogsmeade visit next month." His grin remained in place, only the slight tremor in his voice revealing his uncertainty of her answer.

Andromeda dropped her eyes from his face, picking at a thread on the cuff of her sleeve, her lips curling up in a small smile. "I suppose I could do that," she drawled nonchalantly, not looking at Evan.

Evan leaned in, placing a light kiss against Andromeda's temple. "Good. I think we're on the same page now. And I hope we stay that way." Abruptly, he sprung nimbly to his feet and extended his hand to Andromeda. "Breakfast? I know how moody you get when you don't eat enough."

Sticking her tongue out at Evan, she took his hand, sliding off of the couch. "You're just worried that I might hex you. But fine. Breakfast sounds good."

"Hey, those hexes of yours are deadly. Can't blame a boy for wanting to live." Evan slung his arm over her shoulder as he spoke, leading her out of the common room.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! Finals had me going crazy, but with winter break here, hopefully I'll be able to post more often.**_

**Chapter Six**

When Andromeda arrived at the staircase to the Ravenclaw dormitory, she was surprised to find Ted waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, sprawled out on the last step. His robes were neater than usual, and it looked like he might have even attempted to take a comb to his mop of sandy blonde hair. In the past few weeks of patrolling, Ted had consistently been at least five minutes late to meet her, usually coming flying down the stairs with ink on his face or tripping over the laces of his untied trainers. Though she'd be loathe to admit it, Andromeda no longer dreaded these patrols. Even if she might put up the pretense of hating spending time with Ted, the boy was amusing, in a clumsy, awkward sort of way.

"Andromeda!" the boy in question beamed at her, springing to his feet so suddenly that she nearly jumped. She folded her arms across her chest, fixing Ted with a stern look until she determined that he looked appropriately sheepish, stuffing his hands in his pockets and scuffing the toe of one of his trainers against the floor. "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically. "I just feel like I've been waiting for ages and ages."

"It's not even ten yet, for Merlin's sake, Tonks. Now you know how I always feel, waiting for you to come down – after ten, I might add," she retorted after a quick glance at the timepiece on her wrist.

At least Ted had the good sense to look abashed at that. "Oh. Yeah, sorry. I'm working on that, though. I had Amelia remind me five minutes early!" He sounded so proud of this fact that Andromeda had to force her lips not to twitch upwards in a smile.

"That you have to be reminded for you to be on time says something about your character, Tonks," she scoffed, albeit good-naturedly, starting off down the hallway, knowing he would follow at her heels, as per usual.

"What, that I take responsibility for my imperfections?" Ted demanded, grinning lopsidedly at her, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked.

"Okay, I'll bite, though I'm sure I'll regret it. What's got you in such a tizzy today?" Andromeda inquired, curious as to his excess energy despite herself.

Ted's grin widened, his blue eyes sparkling with a childish excitement. "I've got an idea," he announced loudly, despite the fact that she was standing right next to him. "I think we should play a game. To help pass the time, y'know."

Andromeda narrowed her eyes at him, warily repeating his words, "A game?"

He nodded eagerly and Andromeda half-expected him to do a pirouette in place. "Yeah, a game. Twenty questions."

"Twenty questions?" she mimicked him again, looking baffled. This wasn't one of the games she had played with Cissy and Bella growing up, nor one she was even familiar with the name of.

"Well, you're original today," he mocked her cheerfully, dancing down the corridor at her side. Andromeda felt utterly mortified as she imagined someone stepping out of one of the doorways they passed and seeing her with the fool. "I know I'm brill, but you can say your own stuff too."

She scowled at him, not taking the teasing well. "You look ridiculous. Stop skipping, we're supposed be patrolling. Merlin, to think _you're_ one of the school role models. Bella might be right when she says this school is going to the dumps."

"Someone's grumpy today," he singsonged, though he toned his pace down to a slightly springy walk. "What'd you do, wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Get only an E in Potions? Don't you want to know what the game is?"

"No," Andromeda shot back immediately, then sighed. "Okay, fine, yes. Tell me," she admitted grudgingly.

Ted gave her a knowing wink and she growled slightly under her breath. Smug bastard. "Knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Well, it's pretty simple. We just take turns asking questions. You can pass on a question, but then I get to follow up with two questions."

"That sounds boring," Andromeda scoffed. "Why would we ask questions? That's a stupid game."

"To get to know each other! It's a great game! You've never even played so you can't just write it off like that." Ted's good mood seemed to be resilient to Andromeda's snide remarks.

"We could just patrol in silence, you know. I'd much prefer that. I don't want to get to know you. You're muggleborn, I know enough." The words were out before she could stop them and Andromeda instantly regretted it as she watched Ted's face fall.

"But I want to get to know you. You're always so reclusive, Andromeda. We've been patrolling for weeks and all I know about you is that you're a pureblood and you have sisters. And I knew that before we started patrolling," Ted pouted, looking so put out and pathetic that Andromeda had to cave.

"Okay, fine. You can ask questions, and _maybe_ I'll answer," she begrudged him, though she put emphasis on the maybe, sighing melodramatically.

Just like that, Ted was all goofy smiles again, bouncing in circles around her. "Great! Okay, just let me think of a good one to start."

"Ted! Ted!" she hissed, alarmed. "Stop that crazy jumping! And Merlin's beard, don't walk backwards again!"

"Worried about me, are you? I told you that you cared." He winked at her, chuckling to himself. "Alright, I think I've got a good one now. Favorite color!"

"Favorite color?" she snorted, arching an eyebrow at him. "That's a _good_ question?"

"It's a classic," Ted explained patiently, as if he were talking to a young child. "Now stop stalling and answer."

Andromeda thought for a moment, images of the color wheel flashing before her eyes. "Pass," she said at last, avoiding Ted's gaze.

"Pass? Pass?!" he exclaimed loudly, his tone clearly indignant. "That's the easiest question in the book! You don't get to just pass on that!"

Andromeda glowered at him, annoyed, but his face remained set, waiting on her response. "Fine," she grumbled, hesitating a moment longer before mumbling out, "Lilac." As soon as she said it, Andromeda could feel her face heating up, color rising to her pale cheeks. Even Bella and Cissy didn't know that was her favorite color; they were under the impression that she loved the emerald green of the Slytherin crest, which was what she'd told them a few birthdays ago when they'd been dress shopping together.

"Lilac? Really?" Ted didn't seem to be making fun of her answer - he actually appeared to be genuinely intrigued. "Huh, I didn't see that coming. I would've pegged you for a red girl, or maybe green. Mine's yellow. It's just such a bright, happy color. You can't help but smile when you see yellow. I like that, making people smile."

Caught off guard by his spiel, Andromeda cocked her head, fixing him with a piercing look, an odd emotion showing in her caramel eyes. "You're a good person, Ted Tonks," she said finally, glancing away from him and back towards the path she was walking.

"I… er… um, thanks?" Ted spluttered, obviously not expecting the off-hand compliment and unsure what to do with it. "Um… yeah, so next question," he hurried on. "Favorite flower?"

"So this is really just a game of favorites, not questions," Andromeda snarked at him to cover up her earlier slip up. "Okay, okay. Daffodils. The white ones." She'd resigned herself to telling the truth; embarrassing though it might be, Ted didn't seem to be judging her answers. Maybe he genuinely wanted to know her. She nearly snorted at the ridiculousness as the idea floated through her mind.

"Those are pretty. My mum grows some in her garden. I'm rather partial to lilacs myself." Ted grinned playfully at Andromeda and she gave his shoulder a light smack.

"Rude wanker. Here I am revealing my deepest secrets to you and you just mock me for them!" she accused jokingly, sticking her nose up in the air and quickening her pace to get ahead of him.

"Sorry," he apologized, not sounding the least bit repentant as his long strides allowed him to easily catch up with her again. "But I really do like lilacs. They're awfully underrated, I think."

The rest of the patrol went on like that as Ted fired question after question at Andromeda, some of them mundane and easy, others deeper and making her think for awhile. Favorite animal? Earliest memory? Favorite subject? Most spontaneous thing she'd done? Biggest regret? What would she do with three wishes? Favorite season?

Before she realized it, the clock was stroking midnight, the loud peals echoing through the castle walls, and they'd reached the dungeon level of the castle.

"Um… Tonks?" Andromeda started hesitantly, unsure how to broach the subject. It was rather chivalrous of Ted to try and walk her back to her common room, but the lowest levels of the castle were hardly safe for a muggleborn, whereas she, as a well-known, statused pureblood, would encounter no trouble. "You should probably head back to your tower. Patrol's over, you've got no alibi for being out and about now. Wouldn't want Filch to catch you, y'know." Even as she said it, her glance flicked back over her shoulder, watching for any shadows. Malfoy, Mulciber, Avery, and perhaps even Evan were known to skulk about at these hours, though she preferred to ignore the rumors circulating about their nighttime activities. Gossip blew things far out of proportion; she knew this firsthand, having been on the wrong end of more than one rumor throughout her school years.

Ted followed her gaze and she could see he understood the real meaning behind her words as his body tensed up, his hand reaching into his robes to access his wand. The boy was smarter than he let on. "Yeah, you're right. Ravenclaw's all the way across the castle. I'll have to be like a ninja to get back there without running into anyone." He smiled at her, but the gesture was strained, not the usual easy grin he carried with him.

"I'm sorry," she answered sadly, her slender figure slouching in a sudden wave of exhaustion. The ambiguous apology could have been referring to the risk Ted took in returning to the common room, but the look that the two exchanged showed clearly that they both understood that wasn't what she was apologizing for. Her remorse was for something much bigger than that, something she wasn't at liberty to voice aloud. She was sorry he was treated like this, sorry that he had to fear for his safety in a spot that she called home.

Instead of turning, heading back to his common room, though, Ted took a step towards Andromeda and she was all too aware of his presence not an arm's length from her. "One more question," he whispered to her, his words barely audible.

Andromeda nodded slowly and gulped. This was going to be a different question – she could tell from the serious expression taking over Ted's visage.

"You and… Rosier. Are you… a thing?" Suddenly those blue eyes were intense again, void of the mischievous sparkle that had lit them up all night.

Andromeda bit down hard on her lip, wincing as the coppery taste of blood seeped into her mouth. She shouldn't feel this uncomfortable; news of the perfect pureblood couple was sure to get around sooner or later. But coming out of Ted's mouth, the words sounded wrong and she wished it had been later. She swallowed hard again, steeling herself before giving a short nod. "Yeah," was her answer. "We are."

Ted nodded as well, stepping away from her, his face oddly blank and unreadable. "Yeah, okay. I hope you guys are happy, y'know?"

Something was off with his tone, but Andromeda couldn't place it. She almost felt as if the world were spinning around her, her head feeling light and dizzy. She wished that she could just sink into the ground; this wasn't a conversation she wanted to be having with Ted, nor one that she had anticipated, though that may have been naïve on her part. Ted had turned around by now and was making his was down the damp corridor, away from the danger of the Slytherin territory. "Wait!" she called out suddenly, unsure why she felt the need to end the night on a different note. "Tonks!"

He glanced back over his shoulder, the only feeling on his face that Andromeda could recognize confusion. "What?" His voice was bordering on harsh, just teetering on the edge.

She smiled at him – really smiled at him, for what might have been the first time. "Goodnight, Ted," was her only answer. Just before she turned to continue into the depths of the dungeons, she caught sight of the slightest hint of a smile on Ted's face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Andromeda stood in the Great Hall, watching as groups of friends and couples alike made their way through the castle doors and out onto the grounds. She frowned, feeling a little put out as she moved to the side to avoid the chattering students. It wasn't like Evan to be late normally, and with this being their first date she hadn't expected that he'd make her wait. She tucked her hands into the sleeves of her slightly oversized sweater, avoiding any curious looks directed her way. Though it might not fit her perfectly, the dark green garment was one of her favorite tops. It had been a Christmas present from her Uncle Alphard, on one of the odd occasions that he'd shown up for the holiday. It was finely knitted, with a tricky heating charm woven into the wool, and Andromeda always felt more comfortable when she was wearing the sweater.

She watched as the entranceway slowly emptied, a sigh trickling out from between her lips. Perhaps Evan wasn't going to show. He'd been acting off recently, always in a hurry to be somewhere and hardly having any time to stop and talk with her. She wouldn't be shocked if he had disappeared on one of his errands and completely forgotten about her. Merlin, Skeeter was going to have a field day with this. Andromeda could hear the poorly concealed whispers already. _Did you hear? Evan Rosier stood her up on the last Hogsmeade visit_. Sulkily, she folded her arms across her chest. What did she care what people said about her, anyways? It wasn't like it was any of their business.

Just then, Evan came bursting into the hall, slightly out of breath and cheeks red as if he'd sprinted all the way there. "Sorry, Andromeda," he said, the words coming out only a little breathy. "I had to finish something up before coming here. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

"No, not long at all," Andromeda lied smoothly, giving him a tight smile as she stepped in to straighten his tie. "Merlin's beard, Evan, you look a right mess. Tuck your shirt in, you're starting to look like Ted."

Evan gave her a puzzled frown, though he did move to tuck in the tails of his shirt. "Tonks? Ted Tonks? What has he got to do with anything?"

Inwardly cursing at her slip up, Andromeda shook her head, aiming a falsely cheerful grin at Evan. "Nothing. We've just been patrolling a lot and his robes are always a total mishap. C'mon, let's go. I still need to find a present for Cissy and all the good tables will be taken at the Three Broomsticks." She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm, guiding him towards the exit.

Evan was distracted the whole walk over to Hogsmeade, oddly silent and spacey. Rather than face the awkward silence that fell between them, Andromeda was forced to make enough conversation for the two of them, prattling on about the most mundane things, from her studies to what she'd eaten for breakfast that day. Still, Evan just nodded every so often, uttering small 'mm's of agreement. She suspected that she could have announced that she'd snogged Ted Tonks that morning and Evan would just incline his head and tell her that was nice. By the time they'd reached the wizarding village, Andromeda was running out of steam and growing annoyed. "So, I was thinking that we could stop by Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions first and look for something for Narcissa. She's just opened up another location here and Cissy absolutely loves her stuff. I swear, she has more makeup than anyone I know. In any case, after that we could head over to the Three – " Andromeda babbled, still trying to get Evan's attention.

Seemingly oblivious to her speaking, Evan interrupted her midsentence. "I have an errand I have to run. I'm sure you'll agree that the Three Broomsticks is far overrated in any case. Come on, we'll go to the Hog's Head."

Andromeda wrinkled her nose in disgust. "The Hog's Head? What's that, a butcher's shop? It sounds utterly revolting," she declared distastefully, but Evan didn't even deign to respond, instead continuing down the street, heading straight past the Three Broomsticks.

It _was_ revolting, Andromeda thought later, perched on a tall chair. She ran one slender finger across the top of the table, wincing as she examined the thick layer of dust and grime collected on the tip of her finger. Scowling, she wiped it off on the side of the table, her gaze flickering over to where Evan had wandered off to just a few minutes earlier, mentioning that he just needed to go talk to someone briefly. He'd headed to the corner of the dirty pub, sliding into a seat across from a dark-robed figure, face obscured by a long hood. Tapping her fingers in an absent, rhythmic pattern on the table, Andromeda watched with a sense of morbid curiosity as Evan pulled a small parcel wrapped in brown paper from his robe, placing it on the table in front of him as he leaned in to mutter something to the hooded figure.

Andromeda frowned, her head cocked slightly as she tried to place what was so off with the picture. Something was flickering in the back of her mind, hovering just out of reach of conscious thought. It was the package, she realized. Where had she seen that before? Futilely, she wracked her brain, trying to place the familiarity of the brown paper parcel, coming up short with each idea she tried out.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice Evan return, two glasses of a dark liquid in his hands. He slid one across the table to her, smiling conspiratorially. "Drinks on me."

Absentmindedly, Andromeda took the glass, glancing speculatively at Evan. He was more at ease now, his shoulders relaxed and his eyes containing poorly hidden relief. "What was that?" she demanded, determined to get some answers.

"What, that?" Evan inquired airily. "Oh, nothing important. Just a friend of Mum's. Working out Christmas plans and that sort of thing." He waved a hand as if to brush the topic off.

Andromeda gave a disbelieving snort, arching one eyebrow. She seriously doubted that Mrs. Rosier would ever consort with the likes of the hooded figure. Glancing back over to the corner, she was startled to see he had disappeared. Giving herself time to assess the situation, she raised her glass to her lips, taking a large sip. The retort she had been working on was lost as she sputtered and choked, the burning liquor sending spears of fire down her throat. "Evan!" she hissed once she could breathe again. "What the bloody hell are you thinking? This is firewhiskey! We're underage and on a school trip, for Merlin's sake! Do you _want_ to get expelled?"

Evan just chuckled, leaning back in his chair so that it was balanced precariously on just two legs. "Oh, lighten up, Andromeda. It's not like anyone's going to find out. Just take a few more sips, you'll feel better," he coaxed suavely.

Shoving the glass away from herself, Andromeda glowered deeply at him, crossing her arms resolutely across her chest. "No," she stated flatly, leaving no room for argument. "This is ridiculous, Evan."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Evan let his chair down with a loud bang. "Your loss," he responded carelessly, reaching for Andromeda's glass and downing a large gulp with practiced ease. "More for me."

Four drinks later, and Andromeda remained motionless in her seat, her arms still folded in front of her, watching Evan with disapproval. When he flagged down the bartender for yet another glass of alcohol, she decided she'd had enough. "I'm done," Andromeda informed Evan frostily, slipping down from her chair. "I don't need to sit here and watch you get sloshed. I have things to do."

"Don't be like that," Evan drawled, his words tumbling into one another. "You need to loosen up, Andromeda."

She turned to face him, already halfway across the room, hands moving to her hips. "We're Prefects," was her flat response. "Act it."

Rolling his eyes, Evan downed his new drink quickly before he tumbled out of his chair, wobbling unsteadily over to Andromeda's side. "Oh, wait for me at least. Merlin," he complained. Andromeda pressed her lips together in a thin line, but allowed him to slide his arm around her waist, pulling her possessively to his side, biting back the immediate refusal that rose to the tip of her tongue.

The two staggered out into the street, Evan leaning heavily on Andromeda. "Alright, now I told you I needed to find a present for Narcissa. You can come with me or – " she was interrupted once more, this time by an unpleasant shudder. Evan's fingers, previously resting on her waist, had somehow managed to slip under her shirt, making their way inappropriately high up her side. Tensing up instantaneously, Andromeda took a step away, surprise giving her the strength to jerk out of Evan's grasp. "What the hell, Evan?" she demanded tersely.

Evan scowled, the loss of her support causing him to teeter dangerously, though he regained his balance after a moment or two. "Why d'you have to be such a prude, Andromeda? I just want to have some fun," he slurred, looking rather put out and not the least bit ashamed at his behavior.

Blinking at him, Andromeda could feel her eyes burning as tears began pooling up in the corners. Whirling around quickly, hoping Evan hadn't noticed her reaction, she strode off down the street without looking back. All she wanted to do was return to the castle and spend the rest of her weekend alone in the library, but she really did need to buy Narcissa a Christmas present while she was down here.

"Andromeda!" a familiar voice called out, and she halted, startled. As she looked around, a rosy-cheeked, grinning Ted appeared in her field of vision. "Surprised to see you here. Thought you had a date with… Rosier." He said the last part slowly, an odd undertone to his voice.

"I did," was Andromeda's cold response, and she could feel Ted's deep blue eyes sweeping over her. She could only imagine what a mess she looked like, mascara streaked down her face, her sweater askew, her nose red and her eyes puffy.

Immediately, Ted was beside her, reaching out to carefully wipe away a tear that had squeezed itself out of her eye in the time she'd been standing there. "What happened?" he inquired gently, concern oozing from every fiber of his being.

"Nothing," she answered shortly, his consideration causing an uncomfortable lump to rise in her throat. She avoided his gaze, finishing the short walk to Madam Primpernelle's and hoping Ted wouldn't follow, or at least the sight of the unarguably girlish boutique would turn him off. However, shortly after she'd entered the small shop, Andromeda heard the bell on the door go off, signaling someone's entrance. She ducked behind a row of hair products, watching as Ted entered, looking entirely out of place in the frilly shop, and scanned the aisles of beauty supplies. Andromeda slipped down the aisle, knowing it was just a matter of time before Ted found her, but trying to put off the encounter nonetheless. Sure enough, as she turned to enter the next aisle, she found Ted waiting at the end, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Andromeda, you can tell me that it's none of my business, or that you don't want to talk about it, but don't you even try telling me that nothing happened. That's a flat out lie." Ted's reprimand was somewhat spoiled by the degree of warmth contained in his voice. "Now, I'm going to try this again. What happened?"

Andromeda opened her mouth to let out another sharp retort of, "Nothing," then suddenly closed it. She was tired of mind games and tricks, of lying and sneaking around. Wearily, she slumped down to the floor in front of a display of color changing eye shadow (_A shade to match every outfit!_), barely noticing as Ted came to crouch down next to her, his arm slipping around her shoulders.

Swallowing hard, Andromeda began to tell him everything, starting with the waiting in the Great Hall and ending with her hasty escape from Evan, not leaving anything out. It was easier to talk as she went on, and she found herself feeling better, as if she wasn't carrying some great weight anymore.

Ted listened in silence, allowing her to tell her story at her own pace. It was only once she was done talking that he said, "Rosier's a jerk. You should've slapped him."

Andromeda blinked bleary, dry eyes at him. "Evan's my best friend," she objected, a small frown creasing her forehead.

Ted gave a bark of mirthless laughter. "Some best friend, eh? Treating you like that. Andromeda, you deserve better than that."

She shrank into herself, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. She knew that Ted was right, but all the same she felt an urge to defend Evan against his words. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered unhappily.

Ted gave her shoulder a light squeeze, smiling warmly at her as he rose to his feet, offering a hand to help her up. "And you don't have to. C'mon, you said you needed to find a gift for Narcissa. I'm sure you can find _something _here."

Andromeda spent a good amount of time browsing the shelves, making sure not to overlook anything as she searched for the perfect present for Narcissa. She was sure she must be boring Ted to pieces, but he assured her otherwise every time she mentioned it. Ted made it his mission to find the wackiest, most bizarre items in the store (_"Mood lipstick? What, so your bloke knows if it's okay to kiss you? Oh, I hope you don't run into anyone you fancy, else you'll have purple lips all day!")_, trying to cheer Andromeda up. He did succeed in drawing a few giggles out of her on occasion, though by the time Andromeda settled on her purchases (a rose-scented skin cream and lip color in a shade that would horrify their mother) the salesgirl was glaring daggers at Ted. Obviously she didn't appreciate him poking fun at her products.

The sky was growing dark when they finally left the store, and Andromeda felt a sudden rush of gratitude towards Ted. She wouldn't have wanted to make the walk back to the castle herself, and Ted was like a solid wall of comfort walking beside her. He continued his efforts to raise her spirits all the way back to Hogwarts, rattling off horrible joke after horrible joke until Andromeda was laughing freely, the events with Evan pushed to the back of her mind.

When they reached the entrance hall, they started to part paths by way of some unspoken agreement. Ted needed to go upstairs, while Andromeda was headed down to the dungeons. She'd only taken a few steps when she paused, turning back to watch as Ted ascended the main staircase. "Ted?" she called out hesitantly.

He turned, his face twisting into his earlier expression of concern. "What is it?" he asked, sounding worried.

Andromeda offered up a smile to reassure him that she was okay. "I just wanted to say… thanks." Her voice sounded meek even to her own ears and she inwardly winced at the vulnerability she'd shown today.

Ted returned the smile with the goofy grin that Andromeda had come to associate with him. "No problem. What else are friends for?" And with that, he was climbing the stairs again, soon disappearing down the hallway.

_Friends,_ Andromeda mused as she made her way down to the lower levels of the castle. Strange as it was, she supposed that at this point, friends was the best way to describe their relationship. After all, she felt nearly as comfortable around him as she did around Cissy or Bella, and perhaps more so than with Evan. The idea was almost foreign to her. She'd never imagined establishing a friendship outside her House, let alone with a muggleborn. Merlin, if Bella caught wind of this, she'd surely have a cow.


End file.

Harry Potter, Drama, Romance