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Chapter Nine
"Ready to see Slytherin get slaughtered?" Ted teased, ruffling his yellow and black Hufflepuff scarf in Andromeda's face. She scowled and shoved him playfully.
"You wish, Tonks."
He merely chuckled heartily and threw his scarf over his shoulder proudly. "You just wait, Black. Isaac Hewitt is the best Chaser in the league by far!"
Andromeda rolled her eyes. "It won't matter how many goals your precious Hewitt scores, Selwyn will catch the Snitch before Fawley even has a chance to blink!"
Ted snorted and threw his head back in laughter. The two of them headed down to the Quidditch pitch, looking quite the odd pair. Andromeda, all green and silver, looked a little dreary compared to the bright yellow of her companion's scarf. But she wore her House colours proudly, her nose pointed haughtily in the air as was expected of those with Slytherin blood.
It was the seventh Quidditch match of the season; Slytherin versus Hufflepuff, and Andromeda had no worries whatsoever about her team. Slytherin had walloped Ravenclaw in the previous match and had proven their prowess against Gryffindor's power house team; only losing by twenty before Sturgis Podmore had caught the Snitch to seal Gryffindor's victory. Andromeda knew the badgers wouldn't stand a chance. Yet, Ted had insisted on betting her three sickles on the outcome of the match.
"Better have those sickles on hand, Tonks," she taunted, flicking her mahogany hair. Ted didn't have time to retort back, because the pale figure of Rosella Avery came rushing towards them.
"Meda!" she cried, spitting strands of blonde hair out of her mouth as she approached them. "We'd better go it we want to get good seats!" Rose's eyes flicked to Ted, who smiled jovially. She didn't return the gesture.
Andromeda nodded. "Coming, Rose," she said before turning to Ted. "See you after the match?"
Ted grinned. "Be ready with those sickles, Dromeda."
Rolling her eyes, she went to join Rose, who was dressed similarly in her Slytherin scarf and a grey beanie over her blonde hair. She smiled at her, but Andromeda frowned.
"You could actually acknowledge Ted's presence, you know," she scolded as the two of them made their way to the Slytherin end of the stands.
Rose shook her head, her blue eyes emotionless. "Just because I tolerate your... relationship with that Mudblood, doesn't mean I agree with it."
Andromeda sighed. "Could you not use that word? It's vulgar."
"Fine," Rose huffed. "Come on, there's a few spots over there."
She took Andromeda by the hand and pulled her over to where Bellatrix and her friends were standing. The older girl looked up from under her tangle of raven curls and waved her younger sister over. Andromeda followed Rose reluctantly, not feeling in the mood to socialise with her sister. But it seemed she had no choice. Ophelia Burke and Alecto Carrow were present, much to Andromeda's disappointment. If she thought Bellatrix was horrid, she was a bright ray of sunshine compared to her two friends. Alecto's face still looked squished, much like her younger brother's, Andromeda noticed with distaste – perhaps their mother had dropped them at birth. Andromeda wouldn't have blamed the poor woman – Alecto and Amycus were vile. Ophelia was pleasant looking; but her height made her seem intimidating and she constantly wore a sneer upon her face that frightened most people away. The two girls glanced over Andromeda and Rose slowly, inspecting them like they were jewellery in a store window and not two first year students.
"Ah, Meda, is this your friend you were telling me about?" Bellatrix demanded curtly, fixing her cold, grey eyes on poor Rose. Rose shrunk under the harsh glare and Andromeda reached down to give her hand a comforting squeeze.
"Yes, this is Rosella Avery," she told her sister. "Rose, this is my sister Bellatrix and her two friends, Ophelia Burke and Alecto Carrow."
Rose smiled at them weakly, nodding her head in respect. "Alecto? You must be Amycus' brother?"
Alecto snarled, showing a set of disgusting, yellow teeth and barked a cruel laugh. "Know me brother, do yeh? 'E's a bit rough 'round the edges, that one. Swore 'e was dropped on the 'ead when 'e was born."
Rose laughed uncomfortably and flashed Andromeda a horrified look. She answered with another squeeze of her hand.
"This match is going to be a blood bath," Ophelia noted, matter-of-factly. "Hufflepuff lost to Ravenclaw, and we thrashed the knickers off them."
Bellatrix yawned dramatically and shook her head. "Oh, Ophelia, who cares about Hufflepuff? They are a waste of good, magical blood, that lot. Full of Mudbloods and blood traitors. They're worse than Gryffindor."
Andromeda felt her blood boil and gripped Rose's hand tighter, to keep from reaching for her wand. "That's not true," she said through gritted teeth. "There are plenty of Pureblood Hufflepuffs; the Abbotts, the Macmillans, the Bones' – the whole lot of them have been in Hufflepuff for centuries and they're Pureblood."
Four sets of eyes turned on her; grey, black, brown and blue all in mirrored, wide-eyed expressions. Andromeda swallowed uncomfortably and cast her eyes to the ground, kicking at a few loose stones. Suddenly, Bellatrix burst out into loud, high-pitched laughter that made the hair on the back of Andromeda's neck stand on end.
"Hah! Those middle-class scum?" she cackled. "They aren't even worthy of the title, Pureblood! How dare you compare those blood traitors to us; descendants of the most noble and ancient house of Black!"
Thinking it foolish to argue with her sister, Andromeda snapped her mouth shut and turned her attention to the Quidditch pitch below. The game was about to start and Madam Hooch had stepped out onto the field with the game balls. The commentator; a Ravenclaw by the name of Fawcett, began welcoming everyone to the match. It wasn't until he introduced the teams that Bellatrix stopped laughing and paid attention.
"First up we have Slytherin, being lead by Ralf Selwyn. And here comes the team; Selwyn, Malfoy, Rosier, Burke, Lestrange, Lestrange and Goyle!"
There was a roar of cheers from the Slytherin end as seven green blurs flew onto the pitch and took their positions. Next to them, Ophelia sighed dreamily.
"He's just so dreamy!" she stated, her black eyes glazing over slightly. Andromeda was surprised by such an emotion from the intimidating girl.
"Oh please," drawled Bellatrix rudely. "Ralf Selwyn is a pansy. If you ask me, Rodolphos is a much better object of affection."
Andromeda snorted into her scarf and bit back a smart remark about Bellatrix's apparent lack of interest in boy's, which she had declared before they departed to Hogwarts. She knew it was wiser to remain silent.
"And now we have Hufflepuff, lead by Isaac Hewitt," Fawcett continued into the megaphone. "Probably the best Chaser in the whole tournament and, according to many fifth year girls, the best looking player too. And the Hufflepuff team; Hewitt, Porter, Jarvis, McDougal, Wentworth, Nichols and Fawley!"
Seven yellow blurs zoomed out onto the pitch and joined the Slytherin team. Andromeda laughed at Fawcett's remark; although she would never admit it to her sister, Isaac Hewitt certainly was good looking. With his curly brown hair, dashing smile and dimples, it was no wonder he had thousands of girls chasing after him.
Madam Hooch first released the Bludgers and the Snitch, which instantly became invisible to everyone's eyes. Andromeda had a lot of respect for Seekers; how they managed to see such a tiny, fast ball she would never understand. Then, the Quaffle was released and the game began. Andromeda watched in anticipation as the two teams collided in the air, fighting for possession of the Quaffle.
"And Malfoy rises from the pack with the Quaffle," Fawcett remarks, making Andromeda focus in on the beautiful, blonde Chaser, currently speeding towards the Hufflepuff goals. Wilhelmina Malfoy was a sixth year that Andromeda had only seen in passing, but admired her brilliant Quidditch skill. If only her father could see how spectacular Wilhelmina was, perhaps she would be allowed to play Quidditch, even if she was a girl.
Wilhelmina narrowly avoided a Bludger from Clive Wentworth and passed to Nathaniel Burke, who fired the Quaffle towards the goals. Andromeda held her breath in anticipation and groaned loudly along with the rest of her House when Murray Nichols blocked the shot. The Quaffle was thrown into the hands of Susanna Jarvis, Hufflepuff Chaser, who quickly passed to Hewitt. He dodged the two Bludgers from the Lestrange brothers and Andromeda bit her lip as he prepared to score.
"AND HE SCORES!" roared Fawcett from the commentator's box. "TEN, ZERO, TO HUFFLEPUFF."
"Bloody Hewitt," Bellatrix cursed under her breath and a loud chorus of boos erupted from the Slytherins.
Hufflepuff scored three more times, resulting in louder cheering from the Hufflepuffs and louder cursing from the Slytherins. But, there was a sliver of hope when Rabastan Lestrange aimed a perfectly aligned Bludger at Hewitt's head, knocking him out cold and forcing the Quaffle into Odette Rosier's hands.
"SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES! TEN POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!"
With Hewitt completely out of the match, Slytherin were unstoppable. They gained a seventy point lead over the next ten minutes and Andromeda's voice was hoarse from cheering. Just when all hope for Hufflepuff was lost, the unbelievable happened. With all the commotion regarding the Chasers, Andromeda failed to notice Ralf Selwyn and James Fawley soaring down the side of the Quidditch pitch; neck and neck with each other. All of a sudden, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Fawley rose up into the air, Snitch clutched proudly in his hand. The Hufflepuffs cheered and whooped loudly, rising up in the stands as the Slytherin team shamefully made their way off the pitch.
Andromeda's heart sank at her teams' loss, but it was nothing to how she felt about her defeat to Ted. She plunged her hand into her skirt pocket and her fingers touched the cold metal of the three sickles reluctantly. She followed the rest of her angry, disappointed Housemates out of the stands, listening to Bellatrix's string of obscene curses about 'filthy Mudbloods' and 'Hufflepuff scum'.
As she and Rose were heading back up to the castle, she heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw the proud, smug face of Ted grinning at her, his hand outstretched in anticipation.
"Hand it over, Black," he demanded, wiggling his fingers at her. Andromeda scowled and roughly thrust the three sickles into his palm, before turning away in a huff. But Ted, apparently, had more boasting to do. "Even without our superstar, we still beat you!"
Andromeda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Only because of a lucky catch by Fawley. We were whipping you the entire time."
Ted brushed her aside with a wave of his hand. "Trivial detail, my friend. We still won, therefore, we are the better team!"
"Careful Tonks," she threatened darkly, narrowing her deep brown eyes. "Keep up that high and mighty attitude and people might think you're a Slytherin."
He grinned at her slyly and waggled his eyebrows. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" he jibed, earning him a swat over the head with Andromeda's scarf.
"Oi, Tonks!" A small, skinny Hufflepuff bounded over to them, his House scarf flying out behind him madly. He came to a halt when he noticed Andromeda and she didn't miss the sly grin he gave Ted. "Who's this?" he asked, waggling his fair eyebrows.
"This is my best friend, Andromeda Black," Ted announced proudly. "Dromeda, this is Emmett Macmillan."
Emmett beamed at her and held out a skinny, pale hand. Andromeda shook it politely and tried to return his smile, though it was less enthusiastic. Although Bellatrix had scorned the Macmillans for being middle-class, Andromeda noted that Emmett had the same, straight, Pureblood nose that she herself had – a trait of all Pureblood descendents passed down through the generations. He was pale skinned, with a cheery, freckled face and a mop of shaggy, yellow hair that fell into his bright blue eyes. All in all, he seemed an extremely agreeable boy. It made sense that he was in Hufflepuff.
"A Black, eh?" Emmett teased, flashing Ted a smirk. "What are you fraternising with the enemy for? Come on, there's a victory party in the Common Room."
He gave Andromeda a respectful nod and then hurried off up to the school in a flurry of yellow. Ted ran a hand through his sandy hair and gave her an apologetic face.
"Don't mind, Mac, he's just a little enthusiastic."
Andromeda shook her head and smiled. "He seems nice," she assured him. "You'd better go. Don't want to miss the victory party. I'll see you later."
Ted grinned and ran off to join his House in celebration of their win. Andromeda smiled after him and trudged up to the school with her hands in the pocket of her skirt.
A/N: I thought this was a cute chapter, and it kind of defined their relationship a little better. Please read and review :) xx