Disclaimer;; If any of this was mine, Harry would be dead and everybody else alive. Yes, including Voldemort.
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"Andy!"
Andromeda kept walking, ignoring the person running behind her.
"Andy, wait up!"
She wrapped her scarf a little tighter around her neck, without so much as a glance backwards.
"C'mon Andy, why aren't you waiting for me?"
"Don't call me Andy," she shot, whipping around to face her pursuer.
"Fine. Andromeda, why didn't you wait up?"
"Why should I?"
"Because, I asked you to."
"And since when should I do whatever you ask of me?"
She was getting annoyed. She was nearly late for her date with Evan anyway, and Tonks sure wasn't helping her by stalking her and pretending he didn't know she hated him. But that was Tonks.
"I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying, if you had asked me to wait up for you, I would've."
"In your dreams."
"C'mon, why are you being mean like that?"
"Obviously, ignoring you doesn't make you go away. So maybe being mean will make you realize you're not wanted here."
Leave me alone already! She wanted to scream, preferably accompanied by a hard slap on his cheek. Not that she really had any reason to- all he was doing was asking stupid questions. But of all things annoying- and there were a great many- Ted Tonks' stupidity was perhaps the most.
"Oh, sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Just go away."
"But I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because, I need to ask you something."
"Well, ask already!"
"Do you want to go with me to the Christmas party the Slytherins are throwing tonight?"
"Idiot, you can't take me there if you're not invited."
"But you are."
She sighed inwardly. There was no getting rid of him, was there? They were nearly in Hogsmeade right now, and if anybody saw them walking together through the village… Well, she would probably die of embarrassment. And then come back to deny ever going on a date with him, because she definitely did not want people's last memory of her to be so shaming.
"So? You're the one taking me, not the other way around."
"We'll just pretend you asked me."
"That might work, if I even wanted to go with you…"
"So that's a rejection?"
"Sure as hell."
"But why?"
"For the same reason I've rejected you a million times already, Tonks. I can't stand you, and you know it."
"Ah well. You'll come around."
He turned away with a cheerful "Cia!", leaving behind an extremely perplexed Andromeda. Ted Tonks was such a- a- she couldn't quite find the word. You'd think him cocky, the way he was so sure of himself and his eventual success in getting her to go out with him, but there was something in the way he was sure of himself, that wasn't cocky in the least. And yet, it was much, much more annoying than cockiness.
"Yo, 'Dro!"
"I wish you'd stop calling me that."
She turned to face her new walking companion with a smile. Sirius was much more welcome than Tonks, for sure, though he could be a pain sometimes. For example, whenever he started making up weird nicknames for her.
"Do you prefer Andro? Or maybe 'Meda? How about just Eda?"
"What about Andy?"
"But that's what everybody calls you."
"Exactly."
"But I want to be unique."
"Whatever. Just never, ever call me any of your weird names next to Mum. She's already annoyed enough that we don't use our proper names, without you making up more nicknames."
"Like I would ever be found next to dear Aunt Druella. No offense or anything."
"None taken. Though, I feel it is my duty to remind you that you have four more years until you are of age and have the liberty to avoid family events."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll just fake sick or something for the whole summer."
"You can try… Anyways, there's Evan, I gotta go. Let's hope he doesn't ask me to tonight's Christmas party. He's good looking and all, but I don't really want more than one date with him... Bye!"
And she hurried off, leaving Sirius behind, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
---
"How were your dates?"
Andromeda had just taken a seat next to the fire, windswept and scowling. Narcissa sat across from her, a quill and a scrap of parchment lying in front of her, where she had dropped them when she saw Andromeda nearing.
"Horrible. Evan is the worst kisser you can imagine- I ended it after barely a minute. I had to make up some lame excuse about detention, he's really sensitive, and the last thing I needed was him blubbering all over me. So anyways, I had to hide out in that stupid coffee shop, you know the one, for some hour and a half until it was time for my date with Walden… And he started straight out by asking if I wanted to go with him to the Christmas party, and I told him I'm not really looking for a serious relationship… And he just walked off! Walked off, can you believe it? Nobody told me he was such a romantic… Dora Crouch actually says he snogged her and fifteen minutes later she walked in on him and what's-her-name, the blond girl from our year in Ravenclaw, and then he said he didn't get what was the big deal, Dora knew it was only a one time thing… But then again, that was last year, so I guess he's just matured a bit since then. Pity, really, he's supposed to be a great kisser. And I have no idea what I'm going to do for tonight's party. I was planning on catching whoever under the mistletoe, but after today's disasters, I'd like something a bit more promising... But I just have no idea who I want to go with. Yaxley is one option… I dated him for like, two weeks in fourth year. I don't think he remembers, though… He changes girlfriends more often than he does socks-"
"Like someone else I know," Narcissa couldn't help but comment, though she very well knew that interrupting one of her twin's rambles was rather unwise.
"Better than not having any boyfriend at all," the redhead shot back, though her annoyance was only half-hearted.
"What's it to you how much I do or don't date?" Narcissa replied angrily. She didn't appreciate it when the small number of her boyfriends was cast up to her.
"Calm down Cissy… I didn't mean it like that. I honestly couldn't care less about your love life. Wait, that came out wrong. If you did have a love life, I'd be happy for you, of course, and you know you can always ask me for advice and whatnot. But if you don't have one, or don't want to share it with me or whatever, fine."
Narcissa was silent. How was she supposed to explain to Andromeda how she felt? Bella had Rodolphus, and Andy had her 'boyfriends of the day'. And she was supposed to be marrying some old Malfoy creep that was older than her by at least ten years, but she wasn't like Andy, have fun now and worry about the future when it comes. If she ever did get a boyfriend, he would be someone she genuinely liked. But what would be the point of that, if in five years time she would be married to somebody else, whether she liked it or not?
Andromeda hadn't notice her sister's increased silence, or the small sigh that had escaped the latter. "I'm going to sniff around, see who still doesn't have a date for tonight… Keep your fingers crossed for a good catch, yeah?"
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A/N;; Yeah, another boring one. I've been having horrible writer's block this week… So I just set up the next chapter, which will definitely be fun. Hint? The Christmas party. And that's all.
On another note, there's no Bella at all in this one, I know. She's the least interesting for me to write, both as a character and a romantic plot. She'll be a much bigger part of the story as soon as everybody's favorite dark lord comes recruiting… For the meanwhile, she'll just be scolding Andy. And maybe something else… But I've said too much.
I have a thing for long A/Ns, don't I? So I'll just end this one here, by encouraging you to review. And if that doesn't work, I'm pleading.
