"Andy, just don't show up," said Bellatrix. The haughty brunette was lying on her bed in the Slytherin sixth year girls dormitory on a lazy Saturday afternoon, flipping through a copy of TeenWitchWeekly. "You're from the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black'; you don't need Ned Honks' help at potions."
"She's right," said Narcissa, from where she sat on the floor. The second year was braiding her long blonde hair while waiting impatiently for her older sister's pacing tirade to end. "If you're done being so selfish, can we talk about my problem now? It's waaaaayyyy bigger."
"It's Ted Tonks, Bella, not Ned Honks. You know, that Hufflepuff boy with the long sandy hair?" Andromeda responded. "Leave it to you to find the one name that sounds stupider than his real one."
"Whatever," said Bellatrix. "He's a Mudblood; it doesn't matter what his name is. Now can you just stop pacing and be quiet so Cissy can tell us all about her huge problem and the two of you can get out of my space already?"
Andromeda scowled at her older sister, but obediently leaned against the far wall and directed her attention to Narcissa.
"So," said the baby sister, relishing in the attention, "I kind of really really like with this boy, but I don't know if he knows that I exist. But he's so gorgeous, and funny, and, and perfect.
"Awww, Cissy's in loooove," teased Bellatrix. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Lucius Malfoy," Narcissa mumbled, blushing.
"That third year?" asked Andromeda. "He looks like a white rat in a wig."
"At least he's a pureblood wizard, not like that Fred Donks you're going to be hanging out with," Narcissa responded, sticking her tongue out at her older sister.
"His name is Ted Tonks. TED TONKS. It's not that hard. And he's not going to tutor me; I'm going to go talk to Slughorn about it now." With that, Andromeda stalked out of the dormitory and out of the common room, continuing down the hall until she reached Professor Slughorn's office.
"Andromeda Black," said Slughorn, "what a pleasant surprise. I didn't think your tutoring session was until later tonight..."
"Please, sir, I want to talk to you about that. See, I can't—"
"Some crystallized pineapple, my dear?"
"Um, sure, but Professor, isn't there anyone else who could tutor me? I'm sure Ted Tonks is good and all, but he's a Muggle—"
"And therefore not good enough to even look at one of the Black sisters, let alone be pretentious enough to offer his help?" said a voice from the shadows. Startled, Andromeda looked away from Slughorn and into the disappointed, yet surprisingly beautiful, eyes of Ted Tonks.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, feeling ashamed. "It's nothing against you personally; it's just my family. They'd never forgive me if they knew I was associating with a Mudbl—with a Muggleborn."
"So tell them to sod off or don't tell them anything. Seriously, Andromeda, I know Bellatrix and Narcissa don't think for themselves, but I could have sworn you were smarter than that."
Andromeda thought about that. Her family's attitude had always struck her as somewhat antiquated, and shedid really need the help to avoid failing Potions.
"Okay, you may help me," she allowed. "But no one but you, me, and Slughorn can know about it."
"I may help you?" repeated Ted with a sardonic smile. "Dromeda, you are quite the spoiled little princess."
"Hrmmph," sniffed Andromeda, but she couldn't help but smile as she walked over to a table and took out a roll of parchment. Maybe working with Ted Tonks wouldn't be as bad as she had originally thought...
Two weeks later, Rodolphus Lestrange pulled away from Bellatrix Black as the two sat making out on a couch in the otherwise deserted Slytherin Common Room. He had just had a thought, and, perhaps because they were so rare for him, he always had to share his thoughts when he had them.
"Hey Bella," he said, still breathing heavily from the strain of keeping up with Bellatrix's voracious kissing, "what's going on with your sister and that Mudblood?"
"What?" exclaimed Bellatrix. She immediately hopped off of his lap, and the look of shocked fury on her face made Rodolphus regret saying anything. It didn't look like they were going to get any further tonight, or even continue kissing.
"Rodolphus, you tell me rightnow what you're talking about," Bellatrix demanded.
"Well, I'm always seeing her with that blonde Mudblood, you know, Ed Conks or something? And they seemed really friendly, kind of like you and me. But it doesn't really matter, babe, let's just go back to what we were doing."
The look Bellatrix shot him quelled both his remaining desire and any notion he'd had that they could go back to what they'd been doing. Rodolphus sheepishly walked up the stairs to the boys' dorms, wishing that he'd kept his big, fat mouth shut. Bellatrix, meanwhile, stalked up to the fourth year girls' dorms, where she rudely tore back the curtains of her sister's bed.
Andromeda stirred, hating the interruption to her pleasant dream. Ted had been moving closer to her in the dark library, his hand cupping her face, and he'd just begun to say something prefaced with his nickname for her when a hard shake awoke her.
"Andromeda Walburga Black, just what the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Bellatrix. "You said you were going to blow that Mudblood off, not turn into a bloody blood traitor!"
"Bella..." Andromeda moaned, "You don't understand. Ted's a really good friend, and he's helped me so much with Potions. Besides, he's way nicer than all of the pure-blood boys I know, and a lot better-looking too. Maybe you're just jealous because you spend all your time snogging the Lestrange brothers."
SMACK!
Bellatrix turned and stalked out of the room while Andromeda reached up and touched her burning cheek. Around her, her roommates were beginning to stir, awakened by the sound of the slap and slamming door. Andromeda couldn't remember the last time Bellatrix had hit her; they'd gotten into squabbles as kids, of course, but generally the Black sisters got along well.
The next morning, Andromeda went to meet Ted in the library to study potion ingredients. She was distracted throughout his quizzing, though, and after she replied that a bezoar was a poison that caused endless sleep Ted closed the book he was reading from.
"Dromeda," he said, "what's wrong? You've been out of it all morning."
"Bella and I got in a fight last night. It's stupid, and it might not even be a big deal, but she got mad because we've been studying together. I thought she could be a little more open-minded than my parents would be, and she let me down."
Ted was quiet after this explanation, and then asked, "Is that all that happened?"
"No...she slapped me too. We don't hit each other, Ted."
Again, Ted was quiet, before saying, "I'm really sorry,'Dromeda. If it makes you feel any better, I think you're a better person for choosing to work with me when you knew that something like this could happen, but I understand if you don't want to any more."
Before Andromeda could figure out how to respond, an interruption in the form of a twelve-year-old girl arrived.
"Andy," said Narcissa, "Bella wants you to know that if you're ready to come back to your senses and get rid of the Mudblood, we'll welcome you back. She's not going to apologize though, because you deserved it."
"Cissy, dear," replied Andromeda, "you and Bella and Mother and Father are just going to have to figure out how to live with the fact that I love Ted Tonks, Muggleborn or not."
"You can't do that!" said Narcissa in a horrified voice.
"I just did," responded Andromeda. "Now, either accept it or go back to Ratboy and Bella and hating everything."
Narcissa opened and closed her mouth a few times, then walked away.
With the rush of the moment coming to an end, Andromeda realized what she had actually said. She buried her head in her hands, trying to block out the memory of saying that she loved Ted Tonks. Of course he didn't love her back, so he was going to get uncomfortable and stop tutoring her because it was too awkward, and then she was going to fail Potions, lose a friend, and lose her sisters for no reason.
Tears rose to Andromeda's eyes, but before they could betray her and splash down on the table, she felt Ted's hand patting her back.
"Hey 'Dromeda," he whispered, "I have something to say to you, but I'd rather say it to your face."
She sat up, hoping the tears in her eyes weren't sparkling too badly. He reached out, cupping her face in his trembling hands and making her look up at him. Andromeda's heart continued to tremble from a mixture of fear and excitement.
"'Dromeda," Ted said, "even though you have both a crazy family who I don't entirely trust not to murder me in my sleep and the most ridiculous middle name I've ever heard, I'm in love with you."
She felt a smile begin to spread across her face, and it was mirrored in his face as he drew closer and closer to her. Whatever the Blacks threw at her, Andromeda would happily endure it with Ted by her side.