Defiance
We fall in love by chance.
We stay in love by choice.
.o0o.
Dear Mister Tunks,
As I am sure you are aware, Professor McGonagall has done me a great injustice by ordering me to tutor you in Transfiguration. Despite this, I shall be writing my mother and asking that she get me out of this inane task as soon as possible. I, as a student taking twelve OWLs this year, simply do not have the time to tutor a common boy with delusions of great magical ability.
Unfortunately for me, helping other students, however abysmal they may be, is the duty of a school prefect. Therefore, until my mother makes a donation to the school, we shall be meeting on Wednesdays in the library, precisely twenty minutes after dinner.
If you are late, I shall simply assume you have realised the error of your ways and decided not to take up my valuable time.
-Andromeda Black
To Miss Black,
Firstly, I'd like to commend you for taking the time and effort to spell my name correctly. It's only five letters, after all. Are you sure you're taking twelve OWLs, because if you are, then I may have to be the one doing the tutoring.
For future reference, my name is Tonks. Normal people call me Ted. You may call me Edward.
Let's be clear, Black. I'm not thrilled about spending my Wednesday evenings with a pretentious, prim, and proper Pureblood who'll no doubt spend the entire study session looking at me as though I'm dirt.
To spare you having to be in the presence of a Mudblood, I've already written an appeal to the Headmaster. Here's to hoping that I'll have my tutor changed before Wednesday, so you won't have to get your corset in a twist.
I do have one question, though.
Is your soul as black as your name? Oh, wait, I forget . . . you Blacks don't really have those, do you?
-E. Tonks
Dear Mister Tonks,
How impressive, you have a spine. I can't say that I've met a Hufflepuff with one of those before.
My mother has written back to me, and she is quite horrified that I've been saddled with you, as well she should be. She has assured me that the matter will soon be rectified. I can only hope that means I'll soon be rid of you and your ineptitude.
Last night, you proved your shortcomings in the ways of magic, right before my eyes. You could not so much as turn matches into needles, so do you really think you're worthy of my time? Or better yet, of my help?
Perhaps you should simply ask McGonagall to let you sit in on the First Year classes. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something.
-Andromeda Black
Black,
You forget that I'm in your potions class.
Seeing as you melt at least two cauldrons a week, I'd think you'd be a little more understanding when it comes to the "shortcomings" of others.
Then again, you're a Pureblood, and worse still, you're a Black. Double standards are the lifeblood of your kind, aren't they? I fail to transfigure a matchstick, and I'm obviously useless, according to your doctrine, but when Lestrange burned down the Charms classroom trying to cast the Summoning Charm, it's obvious that his talents simply lie elsewhere.
Don't bother showing up next Wednesday, Black. I'll do my studying on my own. I may be a Muggleborn, and I may not have your gold, but I'd rather fail than have to spend any more time with someone as vain and toxic as you.
Maybe I'll be able to concentrate better if you're not there to insult me every five minutes.
-E. Tonks
Dear Edward Tonks,
Thank you for your honesty.
To Miss Black,
I just wanted to apologise. I said some pretty hurtful things in that last letter, and after last night, I'm beginning to see that there's more to you than the person you pretend to be.
Look, let's not get sappy about this whole thing. I said some rude things. You said some rude things. But last night you showed up at the library, and I can't believe I'm really writing this with a straight face, but I actually learned a lot.
Your notes were really helpful, and, well, it was nice to get to know the real Andromeda for a few hours.
She's not that bad a person.
-Edward Tonks
To Edward,
I should be the one who's sorry. Everything you said was true, and I don't like knowing that I'm as shallow as every other Black before me.
I've had my doubts, Edward, about the way I am. It's easy to hate those with inferior blood status when you're seeing it all through a distorted looking glass. There's an old wives' tale. I don't really know why I'm thinking about it, but your letters have shaken me.
There was a witch who would wake every morning and order her elves to complete the housework, and then sit at her dining table and await her husband. Every morning, without fail, she'd whine and complain about her neighbour, a poor Muggle woman, because the woman's washing was always brown, dirty, and flecked with grit upon the line.
One day, the clothes were clean, and in amazement, she brought it up to her husband.
He rolled his eyes and informed her that he'd told the elves to clean their windows.
You're making me think of things that I don't want to, that I can't let myself, think about. I won't be able to see you this Wednesday.
Please understand.
-Andromeda
Edward, I know I haven't written in weeks, and I apologise for being so negligent in my duties as your tutor, but I needed time. It's hard to be made to see through the lies you've painstakingly crafted around yourself.
If I cut you, would you bleed? Of course you would. And your blood would be as red as mine.
I may be presuming too much, but would you like to meet? Tonight, at midnight, at the top of the Astronomy Tower – I know it's inconvenient, but I'm sure you've heard the rumours. It pains me to confess this, but they're all true.
It would be better for us both if nobody knows of this meeting.
-Andromeda
I'll be there.
And please, call me Ted.
To Ted Tonks,
I hope you're enjoying your holidays.
Hopefully, you managed to get by in your OWLs. Having assisted you for the better part of the year, I find myself oddly concerned about your academic prospects. See, I will even draw you one of those insipid Muggle smiley faces.
:)
This letter is rather pointless, but I need to send it. If I don't, I'm afraid that I'll go mad in this house. It has never been so stifling, but I wonder if it is really the house that has changed or if it's me.
What are you doing to me, Ted? Why is it that you're turning my entire world on its head?
Some nights I wish that you'd never blown the dust from my gaze, because it seems as though one day I'm going to have to choose, and that's the last thing I want.
I have rambled long enough, though.
Do not reply to this letter. My owl, Celeste, was attacked and killed by Bella's new cat (I suspect foul play, for my sister's suspicions grow with every passing day), and I have been forced to use one of the family owls. Thanatos is loyal only to my mother, and there is always the chance that she will deliver anything you send to her instead.
I will see you when I return to Hogwarts, but we will have to be more careful. I will not let myself be branded a Blood Traitor because of one unorthodox friendship.
-Andromeda Black
Dear Andromeda
I've kept my distance, as you've asked, but I need to know where we stand at this point. You kiss me, and then disappear as though I have the plague. Is it something I did? Is it really just your family's Pureblood ideology?
Or is it that the novelty of befriending a Mudblood has won off?
You can't just play with people's feelings, Andromeda. I know that if you are indeed being genuine, then things will be difficult for you, but I don't know how long I can keep waiting for an answer. I'd like to think that you have let go off your bigotry, but I'm just not sure anymore.
-Ted Tonks
Don't call yourself that.
The usual place, at midnight.
-Andromeda
Dear 'Meda,
I know the risk, and I've tried to keep away from you for, as you put it, my own safety. In the past two months, I've realised that I don't care about the risk, because I want to be with you.
Everyone faces challenges and choices in their lives. For some, the choice is easy, like choosing whether to have porridge or bacon for breakfast. For others, it's harder, like choosing to stay clean once you're out of rehab. (Wizards know about drugs, right?)
We graduate in a month, and as we stand now, there's a chance that I will never see you again. I know about the war, and I know about the difficulty, but I also know you.
At the very least, I'd like to think I know you, seeing that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you. I didn't fall in love with you because of your money or your beauty, just for who you are inside (Though it doesn't hurt that you're pretty).
So I'm going to offer you a choice now, because I can't lose you without at least trying.
Run away with me, Andromeda. Let's leave this all behind, and let's be together, just like we've always talked about on those quiet nights atop the Astronomy Tower. You can be yourself with me. You don't have to pretend like you always do, because I'll never change anything except your last name.
I await your answer.
-Ted Tonks
Dear Ted,
Every girl dreams of finding out that the man they've fallen in love with is also in love with them in a letter. They also dream of being proposed to in one.
My answer is not about my family, because you are not just an excuse for me to be free.
In fact, my answer is the only thing that makes sense, even though the world will look on and call it insanity.
When do we leave?
Love
-Andromeda Black, soon to be, Tunks.
~Fin~
A/N: Written for Round Ten of the Third Season of the Quidditch League. Task, write about a Forbidden Romance between people from different Houses. As soon as I read that task, Ted and Andromeda sprang to mind, because they're just one of the most tragic, forbidden romances in the HP fandom. I hope you all enjoyed.
Special Thanks to My Beta, the amazing Lokilette.
Prompts:
2. (word) free
7. (style) letter-fic
8. (restriction) no using the word 'forbidden'