Through the Ages:

Seventeen

I was seventeen when we actually both managed to get our feelings towards each other straight.

Even though it was only October, I was already obsessing over NEWTs. Both Winnie and Catie thought I was insane, so I was in the library alone. Which seemed to happen to me quite a lot, actually.

I was holding a giant tome - Numerology and Grammatica - and trying to decide whether to take it back to the dormitory to read at night when I saw Ted in the window. He was creeping up behind me. I turned around immediately, making him jump. It was always fun when I managed to surprise him, since he did it to me so often but I could barely ever do it.

"Hello, Ted," I said amiably. Then I realized that his hair was bright pink. "What happened to you?"

"Your cousin and his friends happened to me," he grumbled. "I was hoping you could help, actually."

"Sirius was always the least serious of all of us," I said as I pulled out my wand. I was quite familiar with this particular hex.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" Ted asked as I performed the countercharm. His hair returned to its normal color with a loud explosive noise. Madam Pince glared over at us from her desk.

"I am ignoring what you just said," I answered loftily. "Now, either help me study or find someone else to bother. I need to work on my Arithmancy."

"Study? What for? There are no tests coming up, are there?" he asked, looking at the book I was holding.

"NEWTs, Ted, NEWTs," I said somewhat irritably. I'd been over this with Catie and Winnie already. "They determine our whole future. We need to be prepared." Even as I said this, I realized that my own future was already determined. I squashed this thought and focused on my book again.

"In Merlin's name, Dromeda, you're already preparing for NEWTs? They're in MAY. They might be important, but honestly, most careers focus more on the interviews than the NEWT scores. I was talking to Professor Flitwick..."

I wasn't really listening to him. It's a bad habit of mine, but I often zone out in the middle of conversations. I was thinking about my own future. There was no career there. A perfect pureblood marriage to a perfect pureblood husband and a perfect pureblood family. It was all decided, too. I could almost hear my father saying "Andromeda, it's been decided. Rabastan Lestrange comes from a good family, and you'll be able to see your sister often..." just as he had said during the summer.

"Dromeda? Dromeda!" Ted snapped his fingers in front of my face.

I couldn't see that, though. All I could see was one of those horrible family pictures. Me, as an adult, standing next to Rabastan Lestrange, with a stiff expression on my face, and two ironed-and-starched children, a girl and a boy, standing in front of us. The Lestranges didn't care about what NEWTs I got. All they cared was that I was female, purefblood, and only a year younger than Rabastan. Ted was right. NEWTs weren't that important. Not for me.

"Andromeda!" Ted grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him. "Are you all right?"

"No," I said suddenly. I was most decidedly not all right. "I'm getting married."

You could have heard a pin drop.

"This summer," I continued. I was getting into my rambling mode. "To Rabastan Lestrange. On August 19th. His parents' anniversary. That's supposed to be lucky or something." I took a deep but quick breath and kept going. "But I don't want to. I really really don't want to, but I have to, or I'll be disowned just like my first cousin twice removed Cedrella and they'll blast me off the family tree and I'll be homeless and alone and not even Bella and Cissy will ever talk to me or owl me because I'll be a traitor to the family but I don't want to marry him because he's a complete knucklehead and I'm in love wi-" I abruptly stopped talking and slapped my hand over my mouth. I'd let slip too much.

Ted was staring at me like I'd gone completely insane.

I sighed. "Just forget I said anything, alright?" I slipped out of his grip and dragged myself a few aisles over to put Numerology and Grammatica back. I was so depressed now that there was no way I could get any work done.

He followed me. I had not been anticipating that. Therefore, when I heard him say "Dromeda..." right behind my shoulder, I shrieked and dropped my very thick book on his foot.

"Ow!" He lifted his foot off the ground and hopped in place. Unfortunately, there was a stack of books directly next to him. He knocked into it and it fell over. The books spilled everywhere and knocked me over. On top of him. This was like the slapstick comedy in bad novels. It was also extremely awkward.

And then he kissed me.

I didn't really react. I just rolled off of him and sat up as soon as it was over. And then I stared at him while he sat up. The silence was deafening.

"With you." I wasn't exactly sure what I was saying, clearly. But it seemed like the right thing to say in this very uncomfortable situation.

It confused Ted a lot. "What?"

"I don't want to, but I have to, or I'll be disowned like Cedrella, who, by the way, is Arthur Weasley's mother, and I'll be a traitor to the family, but he's a complete knucklehead and I'm in love with you." I elaborated. Then I slapped my hand over my mouth again. My tongue seemed to be running away with itself today.

Ted blinked. "Who's a complete knucklehead?"

"Well, I was talking about Rabastan Lestrange, but I suppose the term applies to you too. Did you even hear what I said?" Now I was angry. Couldn't he at least respond to the part that was pertinent to him first?

"I'm attempting to absorb it." he snapped back. "I didn't expect you to say something like that."

"I didn't expect you to kiss me." I retorted.

"Oh, so it's okay to declare that you're in love with someone unexpectedly, but it's not okay to kiss someone unexpectedly?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," I said irritably. Then I burst out laughing. "Oh Merlin... we're arguing about... sitting on the library floor... Merlin, this is ridiculous..." I stood up and slumped against the bookcase, still laughing. I was somewhat hysterical by this point.

Ted simply kissed me again and whispered, "Just so you know, Dromeda, I love you too."

Seventeen was also when I stopped letting my family's philisophies control me.