"Sorry," Ted whispered, as Andromeda scraped her toe turning a corner again. "I really thought we avoided that one."
Andromeda didn't say anything, but he imagined she was glaring at him underneath the blindfold. He should probably count himself lucky she was so good at masking her pain, otherwise her cries would've brought Filch down on them by now.
Finally, mercifully, they reached the room he'd picked out. He waited until the door closed behind them to slip her blindfold off.
He held his breath as she first blinked at the change in light. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly as she beheld his surprise, but her eyebrows quickly pinched together in confusion.
"What is it?" She said, staring at the chairs, projector, and white screen he'd set up.
"It's a movie," he said, but that only raised her alarm. Rolling his eyes, Ted led her to one of the chairs before moving behind her to start the projector.
He pushed a button, and the grainy screen appeared as white noise filled the room. Andromeda jumped, and he let out a string of cuss words as he frantically pressed one of the other buttons until one stopped it.
Andromeda looked at him, one eyebrow raised. He gave her his most dignified expression, and she snorted to hide her laugh. He couldn't help but grin as well. It was so refreshing when she behaved like a normal human being instead of a perfect little princess.
"What are these?" she asked, as he hesitantly pressed a button again. For the most part, electrical appliances didn't work at Hogwarts, as he'd discovered. Though for some reason this older movie projector did. Maybe it was because it was simpler, he wasn't sure. He wasn't going to wonder about it too much, in case that made his luck run out.
He pressed a black button that looked promising and then glanced at Andromeda.
"It's popcorn," he said, as she examined the oddly- shaped food particle, "It's a muggle food."
Andromeda smiled at him, but gingerly replaced the popcorn kernel. Ted Immediately picked it up and popped it in his mouth, flashing her a grin.
"And these." She held up the two bottles of Butterbeer. "Are these muggle food too?"
"I didn't want you to be entirely out of your comfort zone," he said with another shrug, but she eyed him shrewdly like she didn't quite believe him. Thankfully, the movie chose that moment to actually start, sparing him the problem of answering.
Except, he'd forgotten about the five minute overture they liked to include in movies like this.
"So, this is a movie?" Andromeda asked, her eyebrows pinched and her head cocked. He couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not.
"One of them. They're like books, so there's more than one." Of course that perked her interest. "This one was actually a book before they made it a movie, Gone with the Wind. Have you heard of it?" She shook her head. "Oh, you'll love it. It's a love story set during the American Civil War. Are you sure, you've never heard of it?"
She shook her head again, a small smile on her lips. "My parents were never fond of my reading muggle fiction, but American muggle fiction was an entirely different story."
Ted nodded, but his eyes were glued to her. She always seemed different when she brought up her parents, a little stiffer, though he'd never found a way to comment on it.
They lapsed into silence as the movie actually started. Ted couldn't help but glance at Andromeda every so often. He watched as her stiff, uncomfortable posture seemed to relax, while her eyes became glued to the screen. She watched the story unfold with an almost rabid attention, like she could almost absorb it. He was afraid she was going to notice him staring, but she never looked away from the screen, so he didn't stop.
"Is that how you feel?" she said as they finished Mr. O'Hara's speech about land.
"Yeah, course," Ted said without really thinking. When Andromeda's look of interest turned to a glare he added, "I mean, I probably wouldn't die for my land, or kill for it, but umm…land's constant. You take care of it, it takes care of you, unlike people who can be… less… constant…" Andromeda was giving him a look, a look she had never given him before. "What?"
She blushed. "It's just, you get this funny look on your face when you speak like a philosopher."
And now it was Ted's turn to blush, though he tried it hide with a glare. "Just watch the movie, you're missing the best part."
He could only see her out of the corner of his eye, but he swore she gave him another look that wasn't a glare or a suppressed smirk or even a smile, but something else entirely, but a moment later she was looking at the screen, and the look was gone.
She didn't look away from the screen for the rest of the movie, which was getting problematic. He'd assumed, as a movie virgin, she wouldn't have the attention span to sit through a four-hour movie. That she would get bored, or overwhelmed, and ask him to turn it off, and he could've come across as the cultured, artistically-superior one for once. But he should have known not to underestimate her.
But when they got to the scene, the one his mother quoted at the mirror when she didn't think Ted or his father were listening, he got an idea. He leaned over, as slowly as he could, but Meda was still too engrossed in the screen to notice.
He'd somehow managed to time it perfectly. His mouth was right next to her ear when he said, perfectly in sync with Rhett Butler, "You should be kissed. Often. And by someone who knows how."
Andromeda let out a tiny squeal, almost like she was too surprised to scream. Her body was a different story. She jerked so violently Ted's body jumped back out of reflex, which caused him to lose his balance, which is how he ended up with his cheek pressed to the floor.
"Well," he said as he propped himself up on his elbow, "that wasn't quite how I wanted that to go."
She blinked. "What were you trying to do?"
"You have to ask?" He rolled over so that he was lying on his back, staring up at her, "then I failed more epically than I thought."
It was almost worth it though, watching her confused look change to a warm blush as she figured it out. "Oh."
He flashed her a grin. "Guess that means you'll have to come down here an join me."
Her blush deepened, but she hid with a nervous laugh as she said, "we're missing the movie."
"So turn it off." He moved his arms behind his head to make himself more comfortable. "Push the button on top of the projector."
She moved, with almost painful slowness, toward the projector. With the way her face pinched up, you'd think this button would end the world and not turn off the movie.
Though when instead of turning off, the screen made that same obnoxiously loud white noise, you'd think the world had ended, at least based on her face.
To be fair, loud noises that attracted unwanted attention could be considered the end of the world for them.
"The other button," Ted said, as calmly as she could. This time she didn't hesitate.
He couldn't stop himself from laughing at the look on her face.
"Stop it," she said, her voice still tense.
"I think you're going to have to make me." He somehow managed to say that without freaking out.
Andromeda didn't blush this time. She even managed to smile as she walked forward and knelt down next to him.
No matter how many times it happened, his heart still pounded and his brain grew fuzzy every time her lips came close to his.
But he'd barely had time to respond when there was a scraping sound, like one of the many desks in the room had been moved.
Andromeda's lips left his as quickly as they'd come, but somehow, he still couldn't get himself to think. Which is how, by the time he sat up, she was halfway across the room.
He raced after her and slammed the door closed just as she opened it.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"What are you doing?" he hissed back.
She didn't respond. Just stared at him with wide eyes before reaching for the door again, which he closed again.
He swore he could feel the air whoosh out of her nostrils as they flared. She reached for the doorknob again, but this time he beat her to it. Her hand remained there though, on top of his.
"Someone was watching us," she hissed again, "that means they know—"
"Maybe it was just Peeves," he said bracingly.
"And if it's not?" she was staring at him like he was mentally incompetent. Was she really not thinking this through? Was he, Ted, really thinking more clearly than she was?
"If it's not," he shifted his hand on the doorknob so that his palm was pressed to hers, "then leaving now won't make them forget what they've seen, but it will mean we won't know who they are," he trailed off, waiting for her to connect the dots. She stopped trying to open the door, but her eyes were unfocused, like she wasn't processing what she was saying. What was with her tonight?
"And if we don't know who they are, we'll have no way of— look Andromeda, we need to know who's in here." She started a bit at his abrupt change it tone, but at least it worked. Her hand slipped off the doorknob. Then, together, their eyes drifted toward the side of the room, where the sound had come from.
They walked toward the desks, and then stopped.
"Right," Ted said, scratching his head. It was one thing to talk about figuring out who just saw you snogging your secret girlfriend, it was another thing entirely to do it.
There was a sort of muffling sound, like someone was stifling a cough. Ted gulped and glanced at Andromeda. Her eyes started to get wide, but stopped as she let out a huff of disgust.
"For the love of—" she grabbed the nearest desk and through it out of the way, revealing the person crouched behind it.
"Huh," Ted said, as he cocked his head, trying to see what she looked like from this angle. "This is…"
Unexpected wouldn't exactly cover it. Before him was a small girl, no more than a fith year. Her face was mostly covered by long, blond hair that looked it hadn't been brushed in a few days. Underneath her mop of were these, bulging brown eyes and several freckles of a matching color. As far as threatening went, she definitely didn't take the cake, except underneath those little freckles was a mouth, a mouth that could repeat what she'd seen to some far more threatening people.
She had her knees drawn up to her chest, and sitting on her lap was a tattered, moleskin notebook, on which she'd written something. Had she written what she'd seen? How much? And how in depth? Had she written about the part where'd he fallen over after trying to kiss Meda? Because that would be…
Not what he should be worried about right now.
He glanced at Meda to see if she was as perplexed as he was, but the color had drained from her face.
"Piper," she breathed.
Ted raised his eyebrows. "Wait, you know her?"
"No," she shook her head, "Yes. Sort of. This Piper Dawson. She's a fourth year Gryffindor. Piper what are you doing here?"
"Writing," Piper said, her voice slightly nasally.
"Writing?" Ted repeated. "Here? After hours? What's wrong with your common room? Or, you know, the daytime."
"I like the quiet," she said, like that answered all his questions.
"How long have you been here?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I saw you setting up the projector."
She called it a projector, which meant she was probably a muggleborn, or at least a half-blood. How did Andromeda know a non-pureblood Gryffindor?
But he waved that aside. "Did it ever occur to you to, I don't know, move?"
He'd done a pretty good job of keeping his voice level, but she glared at him anyway. "I was here first."
"So what you were just going to watch while Andromeda and I—"
"Does she end up with him?" Piper asked, cutting him off. "That girl from the movie? Does she end up with the man with the mustache?"
"No," Ted said automatically. Andromeda shot him a mutinous look. "Yes. Sort of." He turned back to glaring at Piper. She'd just gotten him to spoil the end of one of the greatest romances ever-written to his romance-obsessed girlfriend. "But that's not the—"
"Is he your boyfriend?" Piper said, cutting Ted off again as she turned her attention to Andromeda. Ted and Andromeda shot each other another quick look before Andromeda sighed.
"Yes."
Piper didn't smile exactly, but she got the same look on her face Ted got whenever he saw figgy pudding. And it made him distinctly uncomfortable.
"Have you been dating long?" Piper asked, her eyes glowing.
"Not really." Andromeda knelt down beside Piper. "You know you can't tell anyone, right?"
Piper stared at her for a moment, before snorting. "I'm not stupid."
"I know." Ted thought he saw her give Piper a sad smile, but it was too brief for him to be certain. "But I need to make sure you understand."
"I understand." Piper nodded vigorously, but she dropped Andromeda's gaze. "You don't want Bellatrix to know."
"Among others, yes," Andromeda sighed again. Ted however, felt something a little stronger was in order.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he said. Andromeda looked up at him and nodded. He led her far enough away that Piper couldn't hear them before saying. "Look, I have nothing against Gryffindors." he could see Piper giving them a pointed look, but he chose to ignore her. He'd known the girl for a minute and he didn't like her, not a common thing for him. "Most of them anyway, and they're far preferable to the Slytherins," He ignored the small glare Andromeda shot him, "but the number of Gryffindors who are running around knowing our secret is starting to make me a little uncomfortable."
"Can I eat the rest of your popcorn?" Piper said as she crossed over to their chairs.
"No," Ted said, while at the same time Meda said, "Yes." Piper watched them for a minute before shrugging and continuing toward the popcorn.
Andromeda sighed. "I know. We'll have to be more careful."
"That's not it," Ted shook his head. "It's just, are you sure we can trust her?"
"Of course," Meda blinked, like she was actually surprised by his question. "She's a muggleborn, and a Gryffindor. She has no reason to tell them."
"Maybe not on purpose," Ted chuckled, even though he didn't think this was funny, "but she lets the wrong thing slip to the wrong person and—"
"She won't."
He almost threw his hands up in frustration. "How can you be sure?"
Andromeda looked at him, full on, the way you do when you want to make sure someone knows you're not lying. "Because she knows better than anyone, better than you, better than me, what will happen to us if people find out."
Ted wasn't done, but Andromeda clearly was as she sighed and said, "We should pick this stuff up now."
It didn't take them long, as they just had to put the chairs back and return the projector and sheet to his bag. Piper watched them, eating her— their— popcorn. She didn't say anything, thankfully, but she had this knowing smirk on her face, like she knew she was the reason Ted and Meda weren't currently speaking and was thoroughly delighted about it. As she reached for the one remaining butterbeer Ted snatched it out from under her and placed it in his bag.
"We should go," Meda said, coming up from behind them. She turned to Piper. "Would you like us to walk you back to your common room?"
Piper was still watching Ted as she nodded.
"Great," Ted muttered, hoisting his bag up on his shoulder. They'd just turned toward the door when they heard voices.
They froze, glancing at each other. Filch? But no, they distinctly heard voices, which meant more than one person was coming. Maybe Filch was with a teacher.
"Come on," Meda hissed, when neither Piper nor Ted had moved. The two of jolted before quickly following after her. The all managed to squeeze behind the desk when the door opened.