I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio / If I achieve not this young modest girl
Counsel me, Tranio, for I know thou canst; / Assist me, Tranio, for I know thou wilt.
"Before you're dismissed for the day, I'd like to remind you that I will be selecting your partners for your potion's final this week."
Slughorn's announcement was met with a chorus of disappointed groans and complaints as students began packing up to leave for the day. Slughorn waved them off, a sign they were finally dismissed, and the room filled with chatter and the sound of scraping chairs on the stone floors as the class began to leave. Ted Tonks slung his bag over his shoulder as he left the room. Double potions with the Ravenclaws was never his favorite, not by a landslide, but it gave him an excuse to head down to the dungeons for an hour and that gave him a chance to possibly bump into a certain Slytherin. He looked around as he made his way to the stairs, scanning the halls through the other students done with class for a very specific dark head of hair. The corners of his mouth turned up into a small, involuntary smile as his eyes focused on the girl he'd been looking for.
Andromeda Black.
Despite sharking a striking resemblance to her older, and much more terrifyingly hostile, sister Bellatrix, Andromeda was definitely the gentlest of the three sisters Black. Her eyes contained a certain kindness that Bellatrix lacked and Ted was absolutely sure that she wouldn't be someone to judge his blood or where he came from… if he ever worked up the nerve to speak more than three words to her, that is.
"Wipe the drool off your chin, Tonks, before you flood the whole dungeon."
Ted heard the familiar voice before he felt an arm sling over his shoulder. He knew right away that it was Amycus Carrow, the only Slytherin who had ever really wanted to be friends with Ted. They'd been best mates since their second year. Ted had fallen asleep in the common room one night as was awoken by a loud banging down the hall. He'd gotten up to check the source of the noise and found a very frustrated Amycus fuming before the kitchen door.
"What are you doing?" Ted had asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Someone told me that this is the door to the kitchens but the git never told me how to open it!" Amycus said, giving the portrait another hard kick to emphasize his point.
"Tickle the pear."
"What the what?" Amycus turned to Ted, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Tickle the green pear." Ted yawned as he walked over, reaching up and tickling the fruit. It giggled before turning into a doorknob, which he then used to open the door to the kitchens. It was one of the first things the older Hufflepuffs had told him in his first year.
The rest had been history as Amycus and Ted bonded over pudding that night. Of course, it wasn't necessarily a friendship the society that Amycus lived very much approved of but it didn't seem to bother him much. That night, Ted had gained a friend and a protector.
"I'm not drooling, Am," Ted objected, his hand flying to his chin.
"She's as shallow as a puddle on flat land, Teddy. Don't know what you see in her."
Ted threw Am's arm off of him rolling his eyes. He'd told Ted this countless times.
"You don't know her any better than I do."
"Right but, out of the two of us, who is in the same house as she is?"
Ted was silent.
"And who spent years and years going to Christmas balls and birthday socials at the Black manor?"
"You know there's probably more to her than the façade she puts on for her parents and all the other Slytherins." Ted's voiced was filled with hope.
"It doesn't seem like much of a façade, my friend," Amycus said, popping Ted's optimism bubble. "She's like all the rest. Might be a little nicer but she's not all you make her out to be."
"Oh, really?" Ted challenged. "You can't prove anyth–"
"Oi! Dromeda!"
Ted saw the dark hair whip around at the sound of her name and he almost lost feeling in his legs.
"Amycus, what the fu–"
"What, Carrow?" Andromeda asked, her voice laced with irritation. She must have been closer than she appeared because there she was, in front of them in all her raven-haired beauty with Emma Vanity at her side.
"Ted's got something he wa–"
"You dropped your quill," Ted interrupted, holding out his own quill to her. "Back there. You dropped it. I picked it up."
Andromeda's eyes shifted from the quill to Ted before she lifted one perfect eyebrow in confusion. She carefully reached out, plucking the quill from Ted's hand.
"Thanks, I guess?"
"No problem," Ted blurted out. "Anytime."
Andromeda gave Emma a look before the turning back to Ted and Amycus.
"I guess I'll see you," she said before turning and walking off with Emma, the two of them giggling over the ordeal. Ted stood, unmoving, as the two girls walked away.
"Was I right or was I right, Ted?" Amycus said, elbowing Ted in the ribs.
"She said she'd see me…" Ted said, a dazed smile had spread across his face.
"Oh, Merlin…"
"She said she'd see me!"
Amycus grabbed Ted by the shoulder, shaking him. "Listen to me. It was a way of saying goodbye without sounding like a bitch. It isn't like she just agreed to bear your children."
"Me!"
Amycus sighed, clearly frustrated with his friend at this point. He pulled back and punched Ted hard in the arm.
"Ow! What the hell, Amycus!"
"You were losing it. I was bringing you back to earth."
Ted rubbed his arm and glared at Amycus as the two of them climbed the stairs out of the dungeons and began to head towards the Great Hall.
"Maybe if she just got to know me…"
"Since you won't shut up, I might as well tell you that I may have a plan."
Ted turned to Amycus, his eyes full of hope.
"Really? What?"
"Later. I'm hungry." Amycus turned with a small wave, heading into the Great Hall for lunch.
"But–"
"Listen, I know you're having a crisis but my stomach is having a crisis of its own and, sorry buddy, but I've known my stomach since I was born. Food before dudes."
Ted sighed, shaking his head. He wasn't feeling to hungry himself. Deciding to just do some homework in the Hufflepuff common room, he waved Amycus off.
"Fine. I'll see you later. And when I find you, I want to know your plan."
A/N: This story, as you can see by the title and Lucentio's quote before the start of the chapter, is inspired by Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew but is also very influenced by 10 Things I Hate About You. Let me cover a few things before you get mad at me in the reviews. You're going to think some people are a bit out of character. I'd like to consider this kind of AU so, yes, they are going to be a bit OOC. Especially Amycus Carrow. Second, I'm quite aware that Blast-Ended Skrewts were not introduced, let alone created, until Harry Potter's fourth year but it went with the title. Bellatrix is supposed to be Katherina and Andromeda is meant to be Bianca. Ted is Lucientio and Amycus is Tranio. If you have any more concerns, you can leave them in the reviews and I'll try and explain them in the next chapter's rewrite. Hope you enjoyed xx