Ted walked through the front doors and across the front lawn, towards the Quidditch pitch. It was late September and the Whomping Willow's leaves were starting to turn brown. It had been raining all week, and the grass squelched slightly under his booted feet. Today was the try-outs for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and he was determined to get in. As the tall, fabric-clad towers of the stadium approached, Ted's stomach started to churn, until he was pretty sure he would be sick before he could even get on his broom.

Ted had half convinced himself he was doing the wrong thing when almost he collided with her. He stopped with a jolt, and shuffled side to side, unconsciously mirroring the girl's movements. Laughing, she grabbed hold of his shoulders and turned them around. She had dark, curly hair, vivid green eyes and a beautiful smile. Ted started laughing too- and then he realised who she was. Her name was Andromeda, the middle Black sister. The Blacks had a reputation as people who should not be messed with, ever. He flinched away from her touch slightly, the natural Hufflepuff reaction when encountering a Slytherin.

Andromeda's smile wavered. 'I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not like my sisters. Look at my robes if you don't believe me.' Sure enough, it was blue and bronze decorating her uniform, rather than the silver and green of Slytherin. He started to splutter apologies and she laughed again. 'Don't worry. I get it a lot.' She shrugged. 'I'm sorry; I can't remember your name…'

Ted laughed nervously. 'I'm Ted. Ted Tonks. A Hufflepuff.' He mentally groaned and kicked himself. Why did he need to add that? It was pretty obvious from his canary yellow borrowed Quidditch robes.

'No… Ted Tonks is this short little dumpling of a Hufflepuff. You're… tall.' Andromeda said disbelievingly. It was true. Over the summer Ted had shot up about 3 feet, and he hadn't been lazy either. Although had only had 3 or 4 weeks, there was already the starts of a 6 pack showing through on his stomach.

'Oh! Are you trying out for the Quidditch team? I'm on the Ravenclaw team- I'm a Chaser. I hope you get in- we need some decent competition! What position do you play?' The Ravenclaw team had won 3 years in a row, since Gwenog Jones had been made Captain. It was rumoured she had already got offers from loads of teams, including the Holyshead Harpies.

Ted laughed and ruffled up his hair. 'Keeper. I doubt I'll get in though. I'm not all that good really. I just figured I'd have a go.'

Andromeda shook her head. 'I refuse to believe that. The very fact you're trying out shows you're better than you think you are. Come on, I'm going to watch you.'

Ted and his companion got a lot of stares as they approached the stadium. Andromeda said good luck, and disappeared up into the stalls. Ted waited, mouth dry as the other wannabe- Keepers took their turn in front of the 3 hoops. In his mind, he couldn't help critiquing them. Too slow… too eager… leaves the left hand hoop open far too often. When it was finally his turn, he kicked off far too hard and shot up like a firework. Loud whistles resounded from the Ravenclaw stalls, and looking down, he saw Andromeda, her thick black hair whipping around her face, standing right at the front.

He played better than he had ever done that day. He caught every single shot, and even managed to hurl the quaffle half way down the pitch. It was a surprise to no one but Ted when he was pronounced the new Keeper. And although he never said it aloud, from that day on, Andromeda held a special place in his heart.