Enjoy! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed/favourited my story. It means a lot to me. J.K. Rowling owns.

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"I told you so!"

"Shh! We'll get kicked out," Andromeda hissed, looking up to check that Madam Pince wasn't about to come over.

"I'm sorry." Catherine grinned. "But I told you so!"

Andromeda couldn't help but grin back stupidly. The two girls were sitting in their favourite corner of the library. Andromeda had just finished telling her everything that happened after Catherine and Anwen had left, the memory of which still sent butterflies to her stomach.

"Ok, what happened? Asked a voice. Anwen swung her bag over the seat next to Catherine, then sat down expectantly. "Ted's grinning like he's just won the Daily Prophet grand prize draw. What did you get up to yesterday?"

"They kissed!" Catherine answered gleefully.

"Really!" Anwen gasped.

"Yes. No thanks to you two! How obvious were you?" Andromeda giggled.

"Well it worked!" Anwen said defensively. "I can't believe it!"

"We only kissed" Andromeda muttered, blushing.

"It meant much more than that and you know it!" Catherine said, earning an admonishing glare from Madam Pince. "You two are completely mad for each other!"

"It's true," Anwen agreed quietly. "It's totally obvious."

"To everyone?"

"No. Just us, who know you so well," Catherine joked.

"Phew," Andromeda sighed. "I didn't mean it like that!" she protested as Catherine raised her eyebrows. "It's just..."

"Your sister?" Anwen said quietly.

"Yeah. Her. It's just… this is really special to me. It's the first time I've ever… felt this way about anyone. And I don't want her to ruin it for me. She'll have something to say about it believe me."

"Well don't listen to her. Since when has she ever had a relationship anyway?" Catherine asked.

"Well, she and Rudolphus seem to be going strong!" Anwen pointed out.

"Yeah, only because they're both twisted muggle-born haters who happen to be pure-blood. There's solid groundwork fro a relationship right there," Andromeda muttered darkly.

"Look who it is," Anwen muttered, pointing. Andromeda turned her head, and it felt like her heart skipped a beat. He was walking towards them.

"Hello you three, hard at work I see," Ted grinned, slotting into place on the bench next to Andromeda. He looked up to see Anwen and Catherine grinning at him like they'd been hit with a cheering charm. "I'm assuming by the insane smiles on your faces that Dromeda's just told you what, er, happened when you left yesterday."

Anwen leaned across the table and threw her arms around him. "I'm just so happy for you two!"

"Keep it down," Andromeda protested. Madam Pince was shelving books not far away and Andromeda could have sworn that she saw her roll her eyes.

"Sorry," Anwen said. "But still! I'm just so glad that you figured it out!"

Andromeda rolled her eyes and looked down at her Transfiguration essay that she had been pretending to do for the half hour before her friends had arrived, whilst really thinking about the happiest Hogsmeade visit of her life. Ted slipped his arm around her, and kissed her on the cheek. She felt the spot burning, but in a good way.

"Hello," he whispered.

"Hi," she whispered back, kissing him gently on the lips. It was all too soon when they broke apart.

"Maybe we should leave you two alone," Anwen smirked, while Catherine giggled. Andromeda hit her on the arm with a roll of parchment.

"Shut up," she said, playfully. But she didn't really mind. For once, they were teasing her about something which was making her happier than it had in a long time.

The next few weeks were some of the happiest Andromeda remembered spending in the castle. The days were growing shorter, but the fifth years were still expected to work in every spare second they had in order to complete deadlines, and in addition to that Andromeda had her prefect duties. However, Andromeda found that the hours she spent with Ted, Anwen and Catherine, and often some of their friends, working in the library seemed to pass in a flash, whereas the hours where they stayed in her own common room, and they in theirs, seemed to drag until she was almost counting the seconds.

She got to know the crowd who she normally sat with. She was the only Slytherin, and found that she rather liked it that way. There was David Macmillan, a slightly pompous young man who was the other Hufflepuff prefect, Hector Turpin and Janie Cadwalader, also of Hufflepuff, and Jeremiah Goldstein of Ravenclaw. Jeremiah was also a prefect.

Christmas began to loom in on the castle. The usual garlands of holly and mistletoe were hung from the walls, candles floated inside suits of armour, which Andromeda, Anwen and the other prefects were supposed to oversee, and on the first Saturday of December, Hogwarts awoke to find itself covered in a blanket of fresh snow.

Andromeda watched enviously from the library window as the reasonably free first and second years engaged in vicious snowball fights. There was the occasional student being sent to the hospital wing with snowball-induced injuries, usually inflicted by Slytherins.

Andromeda was not really looking forward to the holidays. It meant two weeks Bella's mostly undiluted company. Andromeda had managed to avoid her sister for weeks. It wasn't hard, they hardly hung out with the same people, and while Andromeda preferred the library, Bella enjoyed stalking the corridors menacingly, terrifying the smaller students, or lording it over everyone in the common room.

Not only did the holidays mean two weeks of the usual vicious glares and snide remarks usually thrown in her direction, it also meant the company of her aunt Walburga. While Andromeda enjoyed hanging out with Sirius, she didn't know if she could stand spending the entire holiday at Grimmauld place.

However, it was better than spending it with just her parents and sisters. With her blood elitist, almost aristocratic aunt to impress, Bella might cut her some slack and leave her alone.

The first day of the holidays saw a crowded station at Hogsmeade, with students hauling trunks and pets onto the Hogwarts Express, chattering excitedly, delighted to be seeing their families after a busy term. Andromeda sat, not with Isabelle as she always had done, but with Catherine, Anwen, Ted and the rest of the library crowd.

It caused her a tiny twinge of regret that she was becoming estranged from her old friends, but at the same time, she found she didn't really mind that much. She found herself disagreeing with them more and more, and every time that snob Sapphire opened her mouth, Andromeda was overwhelmed by a desire to punch her in the face, or at least, practise silencing charms on her. Besides, she still sat with them in the common room, and they hardly seemed to mind that she had other friends these days.

The train slithered like a scarlet snake through snow filled fields. It was as though the countryside was a just-iced Christmas cake, the only colour being the deep green leaves of evergreen trees that could be just glimpsed under the blanket of snow.

Andromeda leaned against Ted, who was sat by the window, Onyx curled up in her lap. The carriage was full of laughter, and Andromeda couldn't help but notice the way Anwen was looking at Hector Turpin. Andromeda couldn't help thinking that maybe there was something there. He seemed a nice guy, quiet, but nice. They would be very sweet together. The journey seemed to pass in a flash. All too soon they were unloading their trunks from the luggage racks, and the carriage was empty.

Andromeda looked out of the window. All down the platform, parents were hugging their children, and friends were hugging each other goodbye. She watched as a mother held her eleven-year-old daughter close, as though she was the most important thing in the world. It made her realise that she'd never had that sort of a relationship with her mother.

"Hey," It was Ted. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah," Andromeda sighed. Ted reached up and helped her pull her trunk down from the luggage rack.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "Something tells me you're not too thrilled about seeing your family?"

"How did you guess?" Andromeda asked dryly.

"Maybe I'm Psychic?" he joked, pulling her close.

"Who knows?" Andromeda whispered, reaching up to kiss him. How long they stayed that way, she didn't know. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours. She was barely aware of the world just two feet away through the glass. When they broke apart, he whispered "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," He helped her pull her trunk off the train. Her mother and sisters were waiting for her. She pulled her trunk and cat basket towards them.

"What took you so long?" her mother snapped, signalling to the other two to start moving.

"I was just… saying goodbye to some friends," Andromeda replied. She saw Bella give her an evil look, eyes glinting maliciously. Oh boy, this holiday was not going to be fun.

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Just thought I'd throw in some canon characters. Names don't come too easily for me..