Hello, all! Harp here with a new fic, though I do apologize for those of you who followed me especially for Crookshanks the Matchmaker, as this isn't the same ship/couple and is most definitely a different kind of story. It's actually being co-authored, though the friend who's also writing this with me doesn't have an account (or, at least, she can't remember her name here xD) - her name's Niko. Together we're writing this FanFiction as we roleplay these two characters and decided to band together to write out essentially what our headcanon is for the story of Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black. The chapters, as you'll notice eventually, are going to be split up between points of view, whereas some we'll actually collaborate to write it as a combined. We hope you enjoy!

Ted Tonks was not the sort of young man who had it in him to be angry, but he was fairly close to it as he cursed to himself, scrambling up the stairs to the third floor with his wand in his hand and his bag just barely hanging off his shoulder. It was only the first day of classes on that second sunny day in September, and already Orville Fawley was stopping members the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team to let them know when tryouts were going to be held. Because clearly making sure Ted was coming back out as Beater was more important than letting him get to his Charms class that started in five minutes. So, admittedly, and understandably (at least in Ted's eyes), he was a little irritated.

He might have been a Quidditch player and therefore a pretty decent athlete, but that didn't mean that the mad dash from the Entrance Hall to the third floor wasn't a taxing one. By the time he finally reached the appropriate corridor, he was gasping for breath and his chest was heaving, and his eyes flickered along the doors to each classroom as he passed them, looking for room 3H. Lore, if he got a detention on the first day of school for being late, his mum was bound to kill him.

Wheezing and doubling over about halfway down the corridor, he glanced up and grinned in relief when he saw that he'd finally reached his destination. He was going to guess that he was rather late… considering there was nobody else around. But he couldn't just waltz into class looking and feeling like he did - it was a wonder he hadn't just toppled over and passed out right then and there, he felt so breathless. After he had struggled to regain his composure for a moment, he straightened and took several deep breaths before determining he was decent enough to head in.

Shouldering his way through the door with his heart still pounding, he found that the class was already in the process of getting started. Everyone was already seated, apparently shifting around in their bags to pull out the necessary supplies.

"-but not to worry, we won't be- ah, Mr. Tonks! Glad you could join us."

Ted froze and looked up in slight embarrassment upon being called out, having hoped that he might have been able to sneak into a seat before his late arrival had been noticed. But, as eyes all around the room turned to him, the fifth year Hufflepuff just did his best to grin unabashedly up at Professor Flitwick. "No problem, Professor, sorry I'm late. First day and all."

"Quite understandable, dear boy, go on and find a seat and pull some parchment out."

Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, Ted promptly did as he was told, grateful that Professor Flitwick wasn't normally one to give out detentions for being late. Except, as he came to realize while he looked around and shouldered his bag, that there weren't really any seats open.

All but one, anyway, at a table that had but one other occupant, and he couldn't help but feel some of the blood draining from his face upon seeing who it was.

Dark hair famed an elegant, patrician, pale face, a pair of cold green eyes watching him, probably having come to the exact same conclusion that he had. Perfect, unblemished pale skin, an expensive quill in her hand already ready and poised for taking notes. But perhaps most blatant about her features was the green and silver snake's badge that adorned her black Hogwarts robes, and perhaps it was also the most intimidating thing as well. The girl he was looking at was honestly too beautiful to be so scary, but this girl wasn't just any. This was Andromeda Black. So she was terrifying.

Taking a deep breath, the young man braced himself, knowing that there was really no avoiding this situation, and he could feel the judging eyes of other Slytherins on him as if they too were waiting to watch this unfold. Ted shifted uncomfortably on his feet and cleared his throat before deciding that, honestly, he might as well get the whole ordeal over with.

So, with a small smile flashed in Andromeda's direction, he slid haphazardly into the seat next to her and while his bag suddenly slipped off his shoulder, he scrambled to try and save it from hitting the floor of stone (broken inkwells with black ink all over his belongings was never easy to deal with), meanwhile dropping his wand and it clattered obnoxiously to the ground. Cursing quietly to himself, as he settled his back, he snatched his wand up and started to rummage through his things to gather his supplies.

Whether there were whispered insults or offensive names muttered as he made himself look like a complete idiot, Ted Tonks either didn't hear them, or he simply ignored them. As a muggleborn, most of the classic wizarding insults honestly had little to no effect on him whatsoever, and he didn't even notice them half the time. While he wasn't a clueless idiot, he honestly didn't give a damn about blood purity or any of that nonsense, so why waste the energy on something he clearly had no interest in?

But Ted was already missing out on notes, and he scrambled to catch up before he got too lost in his own thoughts. As Professor Flitwick concluded their outline for the term and told them to start discussing potential study groups amongst themselves - that they weren't going to be doing any actual spellwork today and that the real endeavors would commence at their next meeting, two days from then.

Which meant that Ted was stuck at a desk with the infamous Andromeda Black, unable to escape and too scared to simply-

"If you think for one minute that you'll get through this class because I'll tutor you, you have another thing coming."

Ted blinked, caught completely off guard by the comment and even more so by the fact that Miss Black had even opened her mouth around him. "What?" he asked blankly, not understanding that she'd said in the slightest.

"I wanted to make it clear that I am not going to be the reason you scrape by in this class. I will not be tutoring you, even if you ask," she said. Perhaps she was being impatient, or maybe she was annoyed, but Ted honestly couldn't tell. He was still fairly caught up on the fact that of all people, Andromeda Black was actually talking to him.

It wasn't that Ted was not a social bloke - in fact, that wasn't the case at all. He had his round of friends, and with his position on the Quidditch team, he had plenty of mates in that realm too, but that didn't mean that he was particularly used to being acknowledged or spoken to by any of the Slytherins really, particularly one of the practically royal Black sisters. Sure, they were sitting next to each other, and he supposed that was probably the only reason she'd opened her mouth, but Ted had just figured she would have ignored him. Most of her other housemates did.

"Why would I need you to tutor me?" Ted asked in response, blanking on a reason why she'd automatically assume something like that. All thought was failing him, mostly because he was still a little flustered from arriving late and also because of their current seating arrangement.

The look that he received in reply was enough to make Ted want to shrink and melt into the floor, and he took it as an effective end to whatever conversation they were having… even though he was completely lost. With a small sigh, he folded his arms on top of the desk and rested his chin on them, trying to appear as demure and harmless as possible. He couldn't help but feel like he'd done something horrendously wrong, but he just didn't know what to do or say.

She said nothing else for the rest of the lesson, and neither did Ted, honestly just trying to make himself as small as possible. There was something about her presence that terrified him, and while a part of him was still baffled by the fact that of all the people he was going to have to sit next to, it was her… while another part agonized over the fact that this was probably a permanent arrangement. And Flitwick was the sort of professor who assigned partner projects and… oh, lore. Ted couldn't help but groan quietly to himself as he buried his forehead into his arms.

How did he have such rotten luck?

It wasn't that he hated Andromeda Black, not in the slightest. Ted didn't really hate anyone, but that didn't mean he was naive enough to deny the fact that there were people who hated him. Even though he didn't understand it, there was all the heat between the purebloods at the school with the witches and wizards like him, the ones who came from Muggle families. And at their head was Andie's older sister, the seventh year Bellatrix Black, and some of the other older Slytherin students. Ted was just one for trying to keep his head low… but it would probably be rather hard to do that when your Charms partner was Andromeda, Bellatrix's younger sister and practically at her same status within Slytherin house.

His thoughts were consuming him to the point where he didn't even notice the time passing, and was heavily grateful when Professor Flitwick finally dismissed them to their next classes. Muttering a quick goodbye to Andromeda (he wasn't rude, after all), he gathered his belongings as quickly as possible and high-tailed it out of the classroom.

Blimey, were the Black sisters as frigid as everyone claimed? One class wasn't a horrific blemish on Ted's fifth year career, but he had never been fond of obviously awkward social situations, including sitting in a class next to a girl who clearly hated him. The very thought that this sort of frozen attitude, with the glares and the silent treatment and the harsh statements, would be something to continue all year… it made Ted squirm a little.

He felt ten times better as soon as he was once again surrounded by his fellow fifth year badgers, laughing and joking around with his friends. For the moment, his tense morning with Andromeda Black was forgotten. A majority of their classes seemed focused on detailing how they were going to be prepared for the O.W.L's - Professor McGonagall had given a rather sharp and driving lecture about the importance of the testing at the end of the year, and Professor Sinistra, their Astronomy professor, also gave a riveting spiel about the exams. It seemed that all but Professor Slughorn were focused on emphasizing the importance of their fifth year, and the tests that awaited them.

The thought of testing wracked Ted's nerves a bit - he had never been a particularly marvelous test-taker, and while practical exams he wasn't so bad at, his practical for Defense, he could tell already, was going to be downright dreadful. He'd never been a particularly skilled student in the Defense classes - many of his professors stated that he simply didn't have the aggressive drive to hold up in a duel of any kind.

Overall, other than meeting Andromeda Black… Ted's first full day back at Hogwarts had felt as normal as a first day could be in the wizarding world.

Even more so at supper, as Ted was eagerly stuffing garlic potatoes down, when he felt someone rustle the hair atop his head, and a familiar voice say,

"Stirring up mischief and giving folks hell, eh, Tonks?"

Nearly choking on the bite he currently had sliding down his throat, he pressed his fist to his mouth to avoid accidentally coughing it up in his eagerness to respond. As he finally managed to swallow, he turned around and grinned cheerfully at Alexander Thompson, a sixth year and also a fellow muggleborn who, in just Ted's first year, had taken the young boy under his wing. They were also on the Quidditch team together, and Ted could honestly say that he was probably Ted's closest friend that he'd ever had.

"Oi now, you're the one practically choking me to death, Thompson, I don't think you've got any right to be making that sort of inquiry."

Alex slid onto the bench next to Ted, starting to heap food onto his plate. "Now, now, Tonks, no need to get snippy. Say, up for a little bit of friendly Quaffle tossing once you're done stuffing your face?"

"You 'aven't efen sftarted sftuffing yourths," Ted retorted around a mouthful of roast chicken. After his friend gave him a half-amused, half-disgusted look, Ted chewed and swallowed. "Hurry up and eat, then. I'm not staying up until all hours of the night for your sorry arse."

Alex smirked. "Not as hungry as you, looks like, if anything it'll be me waiting for your sorry arse. You didn't answer my question, mate - are you up for it or not?"

"'Course I'm up for it," Ted replied. He smiled at his friend. It was a common ritual for the pair of them to head out onto the grounds on some evening and toss a transfigured Quaffle back and forth while they talked. It was a tradition that, for some reason, had a relatively soothing effect on both parties. Besides, after the events of this morning, and the haunting prospect of the experience being repeated every other day for the rest of the year… Ted felt like he needed the comfort.

The pair of them made playful banter while Ted ate and Alex nibbled on some chicken and vegetables that he put on his plate. It was the sort of banter that only best friends could really exchange, laughing and snickering at every other little thing while they continued telling each other about their summers. In a way, it was part of what drew them together and made them so close - for the most part, both coming from Muggle families, there were a number of things that only the other would understand in a school mostly full of kids who were used to a world full of magic.

By the time Ted had finally finished, it was clear that the sun was already getting ready to set outside, so they didn't have much time. Playfully, the two boys followed each other out onto the grounds, grinning.

A simple pebble they picked up near the steps as they headed out into the cooling evening air got transfigured into a Quaffle, and as soon as they found a decent spot to have their fun, they spread out a little ways and started tossing it back and forth, like they'd been doing for almost three years now.

"So - first day of classes go alright?" Thompson asked.

Ted, who had the Quaffle in his hands right then, shrugged before he tossed back the red ball. "I mean, pretty typical, I s'pose, except for Charms this morning."

"Oh yeah? What happened there?"

"I, uh…" Ted thought about how to phrase it - it was like his nerves were turning to ice again just thinking about the way Andromeda had looked at him. He couldn't think straight. "Well, I was late, and there weren't exactly a lot of seats left when I got there, and… I've got to sit next to Andromeda Black."

"A Black sister, eh?" Alex tossed him the ball. "Tough luck, mate. Sorry 'bout that."

Ted wasn't sure what it was, or why, but something about his friend's tone suddenly made him feel like defending his new seatmate in some way. He rolled the newly caught Quaffle around in his hands, looking down at it as if it was going to help him do just that. "I mean, the Black family isn't all evil, right? Surely it won't be all that bad. There's a Black in Gryffindor, isn't there? Sirius, I think his name is."

His best friend looked at him sympathetically. "There isn't any changing a snake into a lion, mate," he answered as he caught the ball Ted had just thrown. "I think that Sirius bloke is some kind of weird exception. The rest of the Blacks aren't so, er, kind. You know I got into a scrap with the oldest one last year? Right evil witch, she is. I'm sorry, mate, but I don't even know if you're going to make it out of Charms alive."

Ted paled. Even in the dimming sunlight and at the distance they were at, Alexander seemed to notice the expression on his face and laughed. He tossed the Quaffle back. "Calm down, mate, you'll be fine. Just keep your head down, yeah? I'm sure none of them are gutsy enough to actually kill you in a classroom."

"Oh, so she'll just wait until after class, then? When I'm alone in a dark corridor? Because that's so reassuring," Ted grumbled, throwing the Quaffle to Alex a little harder than he probably should have.

His friend caught the ball in his middle, wheezing as it hit him. "Blimey, Tonks, really. I was just joking. You'll probably be fine, though the whole alone-in-a-dark-corridor thing is sort of their style." His last comment seemed a little wary, almost bitter. "I mean you've still got to be careful, obviously, but I was really just kidding."

"Wait, whose style?" Ted asked, unable to deny the morbid curiosity that welled up at his friend's daunting words.

"That Death Eater crowd, obviously," Alex replied. He gave his friend a look that suggested he was being ridiculously clueless, and in the back of Ted's mind, a thought crossed it that even coming from his friend, that sort of look didn't bring him nearly as much shame and fear as it had coming from Andromeda Black. Maybe it was her reputation, or maybe because it was simply because she was a pretty girl (Ted was a teenage boy, not a statue).

"She's not one of them," he answered after a moment of pause. He didn't know what made him confident in that assertion, but somehow he was.

Alex snorted, and threw back the Quaffle. Ted caught it with ease. "You don't know that," came the response, sounding more like a warning than anything else. "You don't know her. Most of them Slytherins are all gearing up to join You-Know-Who after they leave school, it's not even hard to see that. Things are getting worse, Ted."

"How would you know that? Got a subscription to the Prophet, do you?"

"Actually, I do," Alex replied. "Got one at the end of last year, when that Hammington family was murdered. Been reading it over the summer. The wizarding world isn't what it used to be, and I'm telling you, half of those Slytherins are right at the heart of it. Them thinking that they're better than wizards like us all 'cause their families got magic."

"Oi, now, no need to be gettin' angry over that sort of thing. We're safe here at Hogwarts, aren't we?," Ted tried to assure him. He had no idea how their conversation had taken such a dark turn, and he was starting to feel uncomfortable with the stormy expression on his friend's face.

"For now, Ted," came the haunting words that Alex gave in response. "For now."

The two friends lapsed into an uneasy silence. No more than a few minutes later that, even though they hadn't been out for very long, the two Hufflepuffs decided that they'd been out long enough, and headed back inside. Before they ascended the steps, Ted was careful to undo the charm placed on the fake Quaffle, and as it turned back into a pebble, he tossed it back into the grass. Alex was silent the whole way in, and Ted couldn't help but wonder if maybe his subscription to the Prophet had been such a wise idea, if it was going to worry him this much.

They headed back down to the Hufflepuff Common Room, a warm and den-like dormitory by the kitchens. While Alex tapped the barrels that guarded it, Ted glanced down the corridor. Down that way, he knew, the Slytherin dormitories were, a little deeper into the dungeons. He wondered if, by any chance, Andromeda was down there, and he wondered what sorts of things she was hearing in the den of snakes. The last thought he had, before following his friend into their Common Room, was whether or not Andromeda Black was a Death Eater. A large part of him sincerely hoped that she wasn't.