DISCLAIMER: Same as before.
Andromeda Black glanced at the crisp new parchment attached to the notice board in their common room.
Head Boy and Head Girl accompanied by Prefects must report to empty classroom on the second floor next to the Charms staff room at 1.30.
Andromeda sighed softly, and stuffed some of her books into a bag, and headed off towards the second floor. There were twenty minutes to the meeting, but the pretty brunette decided she could finish some work before the meeting commenced.
"Miss Black," said Minerva cordially as a slender girl entered the classroom.
Andromeda Black looked up, slightly surprised that the room wasn't empty. "Professor," she acknowledged.
"Have a seat."
Andromeda nodded politely and sat down on the nearest chair that happened to be rather uncomfortable.
"Professor McGonagall," came a rushed, out of breath voice from behind her.
Andromeda whipped around to see a tall boy standing at the doorway, his bright eyes fixed on the Transfiguration teacher as she made her way towards him. He hasn't noticed her yet, or so she assumed.
Minerva made her way towards the boy whose golden brown hair was carelessly tousled and had his shirt half tucked in, and raised one eyebrow sternly.
"Yes, Tonks?"
"There's a problem. Professor Flitwick asked me to inform you. Bellatrix Black and Rabastan Lestrange were caught almost using the unforgivable cur –"
Minerva looked at the boy strangely as he looked away from her, and instead to the other occupant of the room, who was leaning towards them, trying to catch every word. Minerva noticed he gave her a small smile, before proceeding to talk to her in hushed tones.
"- Curses on second years. So they've been assigned detention with you today at 7.00."
Minerva nodded curtly, and thanked the boy, who smiled politely back, and chanced a glance at the girl in the room, before jogging off towards the library.
Minerva noted as she sat down that there was a faint pink tinge in the cheeks of the girl sitting opposite her. There was also a trace of a smile on her face, and Minerva was rather sure that she wasn't the cause of it.
"Miss Black?"
The elegant looking girl shook her head, as if to break herself out of the reverie and looked at her teacher.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Did you happen to hear what Mr Tonks just said?"
Andromeda turned the colour of beetroot but Minerva didn't break her penetrating gaze.
"I-uh...I wasn't trying to...I sort of heard it...I'm sorry."
"No matter. No matter. I suppose it is better that you know the truth, rather than garbled versions others may give you."
Andromeda forced a smile on her face.
Minerva cleared her throat slightly. "I know this may be none of my business, but, do you agree with what your sister believes in?"
Andromeda sighed and looked around the room tiredly.
"No, I don't. And Professor, I know you're going to think I'm just saying this because I'm taking to...well, a teacher. But I really don't."
"Well, just as well. The white sheep of the Black family," said Minerva, with a trace of a smirk.
"Funny," said Andromeda dryly. "My mother calls Sirius that."
"Well, that's hardly unexpected of her," said McGonagall wryly.
"Did you know her, Professor?" asked Andromeda, faintly curious.
Minerva closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Andromeda noticed that despite being in her thirties, Minerva seemed to be much older. The skin around her eyes hung loosely, as though too tired to be taut. The lines near her lips had increased indefinitely over the few years, and in that moment, Andromeda wondered if her teacher had ever been a young, carefree girl once, at all.
"I did. She was a year younger than me. Slytherin, of course."
Andromeda nodded, with a small laugh.
"She had a well – peculiar – shall we say, idea of the wizarding world, and blood purity and whatnot."
Andromeda scoffed. "Well, I assure you Professor, she hasn't changed. And Bella is just like her."
"I take it she isn't too happy about you, and...uh...your feelings towards...a certain boy?"
Andromeda almost broke her neck as she looked up rapidly at her teacher, her face slowly turning a deeper shade of red than it already was. 'Salazar, was she really that obvious?' thought Andromeda hastily.
"I...uh...she doesn't really know," replied Andromeda nervously.
"Well, that's hardly the problem, is it? The dear boy doesn't know either, does he?"
"I…uh…I – er – I've sort of –"
"Miss Black, the woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one's ever been before."
It took Andromeda a while to understand what her Professor was trying to convey. When she did understand it, she shook her head sadly, and said. "I know. I know, I just...I'm scared. My family. They won't...won't accept him for who he is. And –"
"Sacrifice is inevitable. But, know this, no one likes a rebel without a cause. Before you do something, you must always think about it. But in the end, it does well to follow the heart."
Andromeda closed her eyes and couldn't help but smile. She stood up, smoothening the creases on her skirt.
"Professor, do you...do you know the boy?"
Minerva looked like she was about to smile, but instead she raised both her eyebrows and spoke solemnly.
"Well, I wouldn't be so arrogant as to assume that I know exactly. But I have a fair guess, and I'm guessing," she said, glancing at her watch, "that you'll find him in the library if you leave soon enough."
"But Professor, the meeting," said Andromeda nervously.
"Well, I'm sure there are plenty of excuses, but if you need some help, I'd suggest the Prewett brothers. Merlin knows they have some excellent ones," replied Minerva with a trace of a smile.
Andromeda positively beamed and ran out of the classroom, yelling a thanks as she left, before racing towards the library with her chocolate waves bouncing behind her.
Minerva sat back down, and waited as the Prefects and Head students filed in, the mood abuzz, as she started handing out the instructions for the week. The whole while, there was a pleasant expression etched on her face as she figured she had helped someone listen, and perhaps, follow their heart.
A/N: This one shot is for Williukea. (: And my PM isn't working today, so I'm sorry if I haven't replied to any messages yet.
Well, some Tedromeda! I'm all for forbidden love this week. It sounds so amazing, doesn't it? Which is why I've started a story called Forbidden, that is a Scorose story, so please check it out.
Right, so for next chapter, prompts, ideas, couples you want me to do? Please request something, so I can come up with the next chapter for you!
Oh, and don't forget to review this chapter! I really do love reading them. (:
