I hope you enjoy the roses, Andromeda.
I ordered them in pink, because I know that's your favorite color.
From,
Your secret admirer.
Andromeda Black read the note several times while she brushed her long, dark brown hair. The other girls in her dormitory had giggled and squealed when they saw the roses; a dozen perfect pink blooms set in a white porcelain vase. Their laughter had woke her up – about an hour earlier than she would have liked – and now here she was, left to ponder the strange gift while the other girls went down for breakfast.
"They really are beautiful," Andromeda sighed, allowing the tip of her finger to touch one of the petals. They were soft, almost as soft as her own skin. "I wonder who sent them…"
At first, Andromeda thought they might be from her ex-boyfriend, Hector Mulciber, whom had broken up with her several days earlier. It had been a terrible fight, right in the middle of the Slytherin common room. She had called him out for a particularly nasty prank he and his friends had played on Ted Tonks – a muggle-born wizard who had "cheated" him out of Head Boy. He was also convinced that Andromeda was having some sort of affair with him; as Head Girl, she had been spending a lot of time with the weirdo since the school year had started.
It was absurd, of course; Ted was about as far from her type as anyone could possibly be. The two were acquaintances, at best. Yet, when Andromeda had jumped to the poor boy's defense, it had only confirmed Mulciber's suspicions, and he immediately dumped her. For the first several days, Andromeda had walked the castle in heartbroken tears – no one likes to be dumped the week before Valentine's Day – but after a while, she realized that she was better off without him. Besides, it was unbecoming of a Black to mope around like that. As a member of an important family, Andromeda couldn't help but feel as if it were her duty to set an example for the other students.
Were these roses Hector's attempt at an apology?
Probably not, Andromeda thought as she placed her freshly polished Head Girl badge on her robes. He never cared enough about me to ask what my favorite color was. And besides, he would never do something even remotely romantic.
"That being said – or thought, rather – this might not even be a romantic gesture," Andromeda said to herself, reading the card over again. "A secret admirer could mean anything, really… These could even be from my sister…"
Andromeda was still pondering over this, mouthing her thoughts as she entered the Great Hall for breakfast. It was a Sunday, so the students were buzzing about in a carefree manner, running from table to table to chat with their friends.
"Talking to yourself?" Ted Tonks asked as he approached her, a big, cheesy smile smeared across his acne-covered face. Ted was tall, several heads taller than Andromeda, and was so skinny that she thought a gust of wind could easily blow him away. He had dull, blond hair that was in desperate need of a cutting, and beautiful hazel eyes that were hidden by his glasses, which sat on his nose at an awkward angle.
"I was not talking to myself," Andromeda said, feeling her face grow red as she scrambled for an explanation. "I was just… Good morning, Ted. How are you today?"
"I'm alright," he shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. She noticed that his Head Boy badge was dirty and smudged. Didn't that boy have any pride in himself?
She gulped, "How is your… um…"
"Oh, that was no big deal, really," Ted assured her. "I've been hung up by my underwear loads of times before, and that probably won't be the last time it happens, either."
Andromeda couldn't help but giggle; she always enjoyed his deadpan humor, "But… All those people saw… I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize!" he said frantically. "R-really! You didn't do anything! I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. Mulciber wouldn't have broken up with you if it weren't for me."
"Oh, don't worry about that git," Andromeda said, waving it off. "I don't know why I didn't dump him ages ago."
Ted's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Really?"
She nodded, "Really. I'm sure I can do better."
"R-right," he said, adjusting his glasses. This only managed to put them in a more awkward position on his face, but Ted didn't seem to notice. "So… What else is new?"
Andromeda smirked, "I have a secret admirer."
"Oh, really?" Ted said, his own smile returning. "Do you know who it is?"
"I have no idea," Andromeda confessed. "But, that's why it's a secret, isn't it?"
He nodded, "Yes, I suppose-"
"Yo, Tonks!" Arthur Weasley greeted as he advanced on the duo, shaking hands with his friend. He was like a slightly shorter, redheaded version of Ted, complete with glasses and unkempt hair.
"Hey, Art," Ted said, looking only slightly pleased to see him.
Andromeda cleared her throat, "Good morning, Arthur."
"Oh, Andromeda," the redhead said, smiling nervously at her. The two were actually relatives, though Arthur's mother had been disowned for marrying a blood traitor, Septimus Weasley. Andromeda, unlike her sisters, always tried to be polite to Arthur despite all that, though he always seemed just as anxious around her no matter what she did or said.
"Andromeda was just telling me about her secret admirer," Ted said, in an awkward attempt to fix the tension. "Isn't that right?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes," she said. "They left me a vase of roses this morning."
"That's really… er, romantic," Arthur said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, I think I have an idea!"
"What's that?" Ted asked eagerly.
"Why don't you come to our movie night, Andromeda?" Arthur asked, smiling at her for the first time she could ever remember. "Professor Flitwick said we could set up the projector in his office, it's going to be really neat."
"Yeah, you should come!" Ted agreed. "Muggle movies are really cool; I bet you'd get a kick out of it!"
"Um… I don't know if I'll have the time… homework, you know," she said, fretfully tugging at her long hair. This wasn't really the problem, Andromeda knew; she always got all of her work done with time to spare. It was that, while she tried to be a little open-minded, something like watching muggle movies (whatever that was) with a bunch of muggle-borns and blood traitors was the first step on the path to getting blasted off of the Black family tree. That was the last thing Andromeda wanted.
"Yes, of course you're busy," Ted said, looking quite deflated. "We shouldn't have asked you at the last minute."
"But if you change your mind, you should still stop by," Arthur insisted. "It starts at seven thirty, in the Charms room."
"A-alright, I'll see what I can do," Andromeda lied. "Thanks for inviting me."
A pair of first years darted past them, one chasing the other so wrathfully that he nearly knocked poor Ted Tonks right over. Andromeda wasn't sure who the second boy was, but the one being pursued was one of her favorite cousins; Sirius Black.
"Sirius, get back here!" the other boy hollered after him. "Give me back my glasses!"
Sirius knows my favorite color is pink, Andromeda thought suddenly. And he knows how upset I was about the breakup. Maybe he sent those roses to cheer me up?
"Wow, they sure are lively," Arthur said, in admiration rather than rage.
Ted sighed, "Ah, the simple joys of youth."
"I'll talk to the two of you later," Andromeda said, waving goodbye to the two nerds before she followed after the boys. She joined them at the Gryffindor table, where it seemed that the boy who had been running after Sirius had retrieved his glasses. The rest of their friends were still laughing about the incident.
"That wasn't funny," he was saying to them. "You guys know I can't see without my glasses!"
"Hello, Sirius," Andromeda said, placing a loving hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Andromeda!" he said, sounding overjoyed for a fraction of a second. Then, he seemed to remember that he was in the company of friends, and his enthusiasm quickly melted away. "W-what are you doing here?"
"I was hoping I could talk to you," Andromeda said pleasantly. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
"She's a Slytherin," the boy with the glasses spat, glaring up at Andromeda in a hateful way. She had been Head Girl for almost six months, and no one had dared speak to her like that since she had taken up the post. If she hadn't been so shocked, she might have slapped him across his cheeky little face.
"It's alright; she's my cousin," Sirius said, as if that somehow made everything okay. "I guess you can sit, if you want."
"Thank you," Andromeda said, taking her seat next to him, at the edge of the table. She folded her hands in her lap, waiting patiently to be introduced.
"Oh, right…" Sirius said, his cheeks turning an adorable red hue. "These are my friends; James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," she said, offering the boys a polite smile.
"You're Head Girl, right?" the boy with light brown hair - Lupin – asked, sounding just a tad suspicious.
Andromeda nodded proudly, "Yup."
"Wow," Pettigrew gaped. "Why didn't you tell us your cousin was Head Girl, Sirius?"
He snorted, leaning back in his chair, "What? It's not like she's important or something."
Andromeda laughed, covering her mouth with her delicate hand, "Sirius, can I as you a question?"
"Hmm?" he grunted, looking over at her with a cocked eyebrow.
"Did you send a vase of pink roses up to my room this morning?" she asked.
He looked puzzled, "No. Why?"
She sighed; so she hadn't solved the mystery, after all. "Oh, no reason. Someone sent them to me, but there wasn't a name on the card. I thought maybe you'd sent them."
"It wasn't me," he repeated, very sternly this time. "Sorry."
Drat, Andromeda thought, snapping her fingers in frustration. Then who could it be?