ALRIGHT PEOPLE!

So, I was going to post this chapter on monday but then totally forgot about it ^^ then I was busy but things have finally settled down at university (you know those first few weeks of administrative apocalypse), so that's good. However! I, of course, will be busy with schoolwork and all so I won't be able to write as much and consequently, publish as frequently... not that I've been publishing very frequently lately XD Still, I'm not giving up on this story or anything, it's just so y'all know ^^

Anyway, thanks for sticking with this story for all this time (cause we're already 25 chapters in, OMG!), and I hope you'll stick with it some more cause so much is yet to come ^^

Enjoy this fellas! 3

_ sheyamiku :)

PS : do excuse the title... I really can't find chapter names...

The library was a quiet place, brightly lit through the long windows on the walls. The morning sunlight cast an appeasing atmosphere on the room, rendering this moment with the sort of peaceful tranquillity Andromeda usually loved… A shame that the anxious knot in her stomach and the unnatural thickness of her throat prevented her from enjoying it, this morning. Sighing, she clenched her fists. A parchment in her right hand crumbled loudly. She had forgotten about it.

Gently, she flattened the paper between her fingers and let her eyes fall once more on the letter.

"Dear Andromeda," It said in careful, deliberate handwriting that Andromeda knew to be anything but natural to her little cousin. "I do hope that you are well and that your studies are going for the best. I write to you to express the depth of my thanks regarding the lovely letter you sent for my birthday. It is kind of you to hold a place for me in your heart despite your busy schedules. I truly cannot express the pleasure of –"

Andromeda skipped through the next couple of sentences, smiling. With each new convoluted turn of phrase, the lines became tighter and shakier. She could only imagine how many letters of thanks Aunt Walburga had forced the poor boy to write. It was a relief to see the brutal change, a few lines underneath, in which the ink seemed to have found a will of its own and the letters fought against their own shapes.

"Yes! She's gone!", was written with the enthusiasm that belonged only to little Sirius. "I thought I was going to die, this is the tenth letter she's forced me to write today! We've been at it for THREE HOURS! Anyway, now she's left to look for Reg. He's sick again, I think. Don't be worried, though, he always gets better but mom still forces me to go to the Parkinsons, never him." Andromeda smiled sweetly. Sirius's dislike for the Parkinsons was infamous in her family, but it was unfair to blame Regulus for his sickly constitution.

"Anyway, thank you so much for your letter! I can't believe you haven't got me a gift! It's okay, though, I'll give you a chance! Next time you go to Hogsmeade, I want a bagful of sweets and candies from Honeydukes! It better be huge! I swear, if you can hold it in your arms, it's not enough!" Andromeda chuckled aloud.

"But try to be sneaky when you send it, if mom finds out, I'm dead. I'm writing super fast right now because if she reads this, I'm dead. Actually, I'm dead anyway because she'll go mad when she sees I sent this without having her read through it. Anyway, I can't wait for you to comeback for Christmas. Please, please, please, ask Uncle Cygnus to ask my mom to let Reg and I spend the Holidays with you! Mom and dad always ruin it. Just this morning she was beating him again…" Although Andromeda had gone through the letter twice already, she stopped again at those words, her face falling into a gloomy expression. Her heart ached, thinking of life at Grimmauld Place, and she gulped uncomfortably before continuing her reading.

"Send me letters more often so I can use your owl! I need to tell you about that prank I did on Uncle Luxas two weeks ago! He thought cousin Evan did it, it was hilarious! Tell the story to Bella too! Oh, by the way, tell Bella that her birthday letter sucked! My mom forced me to write a proper reply so I couldn't tell her myself. Oh no, I think she's coming back! Love, kiss, bye!"

The letter had been carelessly folded then, and Andromeda had retrieved it from Nebula, while it flew dangerously behind her owl's talons, tied only with a loose and messy knot. It was lucky to have reached Hogwarts at all. Andromeda folded it back and let it slide into her bag with a sigh. She hoped Sirius and Regulus were all right, alone at Grimmauld Place. It was sad to think Andromeda would not be at Hogwarts at the same time as either of them.

The letter fell in line with another in Andromeda's bag; Slughorn's Slug Club invitation. It was to happen in little more than a week, only three days after her birthday. Liantris had been right; they could bring somebody with them.

Great, she thought bitterly. Now she had to wonder who to invite.

Her stomach twirled uneasily at the thought. Reading Sirius's letter again had temporarily ridden her of her anxiety but her thoughts had a habit of going back to it when she least expected it.

Putting her chin in her hand she glanced by the window and squinted to look out in the distance. It was far, but from where she was, she could still see the tip of a ring from the Quidditch pitch. No green things flying around, though, she thought, wishing Michaela was in the library with her instead of training with her teammates. She wished Bellatrix could be here too. Or Narcissa. Or even Maggie. She felt abandoned, alone as she was, bracing herself to face her worst nightmare and his best friend. She could have asked Hailey to accompany her, but Hailey had been glaring at her for the last four days, as if Andromeda had been cheering for Ted to beat her up with a Bludger during their last class of Herbology. She was worried enough at the idea of meeting with him and Wispbelly this morning and did not want to deal with Hailey as well.

Faintly, she thought she heard familiar voices echoing at the back of the library. She turned around on her seat and her breath caught. She was right, it was Ted and Wispbelly – surrounded by another six kids. They walked over to the librarian's counter, asking for, Andromeda assumed, herself. The librarian, a young woman who Bellatrix had often suspected to be a squib, pointed in her direction and Ted and Wispbelly – Adrian – where soon walking towards her.

She turned back around so they could not see her long exhale. Bellatrix is in Care of Magical Creatures right now, Cissy is Potions, and you have every good reason to be doing this…, she reminded herself. You'll be fine, Andromeda, you are not doing anything wrong – besides, that is, not telling Bellatrix that she was grouped with a muggleborn in Herbology, nor that she did not mind all that much…

But it was for the best. Andromeda had internally debated for a long time what she would tell Bellatrix, before deciding that nothing was the smartest choice. She did not want to draw attention to herself and after what had happened with Ted in the Great Hall, she knew that telling Bella most definitely would. It hardly mattered that her parents had specifically asked her not to pick a side, Bellatrix had never been more anti-muggle that those last few weeks and Andromeda was not willing to test the strength of her convictions, nor her willingness to act on it.

At last, Ted and Adrian reached her. Ted was beaming, his hazel eyes shining brighter that the sky outside and his toothy grin digging characteristic dimples in his cheeks. He sat in front of Andromeda, eyes set on her, and she only realised she was holding her breath when Adrian muttered a dispassionate "Hello".

'Good morning,' she replied quickly, and plunged to take her quill and a piece of parchment from her bag, not looking up when Ted whispered a soft "Hey".

Adrian looked around and frowned slightly. 'Your friend is late?' he asked.

'She has Quidditch training this morning,' Andromeda replied, trying not to sound bitter. 'She won't be coming.'

Adrian pulled a face. 'So it's going to be the three of us?'

Andromeda nodded.

Adrian turned to look at a still beaming Ted, then back at Andromeda, then Ted, then Andromeda, then Ted… He sighed deeply. 'Let's get this over with,' he mumbled finally.

Whatever that was, thought Andromeda, opening a book about magical plants she had picked while waiting for them. She found the chapter about the Flitterbloom and turned the book around so that the boys could read.

'This goes in great detail about how to grow it,' she said. 'Although I found some parts a little confusing.'

Adrian nodded thoughtfully. 'Ted will look into it.' He turned to Ted. 'You tell us if something's unclear.'

It was Ted's turn to nod. 'No problem. By the way, I went to check on them, yesterday,' he added, smiling widely.

'And?' Asked Adrian.

Ted looked up to meet Andromeda's eyes. 'Meda's and mine's look the healthiest.'

'Good job,' sighed Adrian unenthusiastically, although he was smiling for once.

Andromeda would have been more curious about that fact were she not too busy trying to regain her calm.

'Don't call me that,' she blurted to Ted's attention. She had tried not to sound too harsh but the words had still come out a little aggressive.

Tonks looked taken aback. 'What?'

'Meda. Don't call me that.'

'Everyone calls you that,' he pointed out.

She gritted her teeth. 'My friends, only.'

Ted opened wide eyes. 'Oh,' he said. Then, confusingly, surprisingly, illogically, inexplicably, he smiled. 'That's right.'

Andromeda was careful not to look too perturbed by his reaction and turned back to an exasperated looking Adrian instead. Although she found it was growing harder to register his presence when Ted's eyes bore on her so heavily. No matter how hard she tried to look away, there was something magnetic about him. It was nearly angrily that she forced herself to focus on the prefect.

'Right,' Adrian said when he saw her pointed look. He put a hand on a journal next to his quill. 'This is a Herbology report from Hogwarts' alumni. Sprout gave it to me to use as an example for ours. Ted and I started on the introduction, if you want to go through it, give us your perspective. But before that I think we should distribute roles for each of us. Ted can take care of the Flitterblooms, since he's already taking care of yours, as well as his,' he gave Andromeda an emphatic look of his own whilst Ted nodded enthusiastically. 'I don't mind being the Scribe,' Adrian continued. 'Since you're the best in Charms and Transfiguration, Andromeda, you can be responsible for the experiences. As for Michaela…'

'She'll take care of the research,' Andromeda proposed. Not that Michaela enjoyed researching or anything of the like, but Slytherins had a knack for getting what they wanted when they wanted, including knowledge.

Adrian nodded thoughtfully. 'Good,' he said. 'Today I suggest we go through the introduction and the structure of the report.'

They all glanced at each other, Ted lingering on Andromeda, Andromeda hating to admit that she might also have lingered on Ted, and Adrian looking so exasperated his sighs could start a storm.

They quickly got down to business. Papers flew and quills quivered and Andromeda had never worked quite so seriously. Not even Maggie had ever managed to make her focus so thoroughly; her Ravenclaw friend would be quite hurt in her pride if she knew. Unafraid of toil might be an understatement, Andromeda thought, exhausted. She never really had to work hard when it came to Hogwarts. Magic came easy to her and what presented difficult, she usually found ways around it. This time however, she was, so focused, that she did not notice Adrian had left the table.

She looked up from her piece of parchment, about to ask for an outside opinion, but tightened her lips instead when she saw his chair empty.

'Where is he?', she asked, almost to herself.

Ted looked up from the journal he was reading and Andromeda could have sworn he was blushing slightly.

'He's gone to the loo,' he said.

'Oh.'

'Yup.'

Silence.

Awkward silence.

And out of the blue: 'How about "Andy"?'

A chill ran down Andromeda's spine and suddenly, she felt very uncomfortable. Ted was not supposed to mention anything related to her family, it felt wrong somehow, as if breaking an unspoken rule of the natural cycle of life. The very thought made her hair stand on the nape of her neck.

'Definitely not,' she managed to say between clenched teeth.

'Why not?'

'Andy is for my family.'

Ted nodded and remained silent for a while. When Andromeda finally dared look up at him, she saw he had put his chin in his palm and was thoughtfully watching the landscape that extended behind the glass and far into the horizon.

Outside, the sun shone brighter than ever in the blue sky. The trees and grass of Hogwarts's grounds sparkled like fairy dust as the beams reflected on the water drops remaining from the night's soft rains. It seemed to mirror into Ted's eyes as well, and his skin glowed a soft, light golden tone. From where she sat, she could see the stubble of a beard on his strong jaws. Damn, she thought, and coughed slightly.

'So what does it stand for?' she asked. '"Ted", I mean.'

Ted looked surprised for a second, before delivering another one of his broad, brilliant smiles.

'Edward, actually,' he replied. 'Most people think it's Theodore, but it's Edward. Like my grandpa on my mother's side if you want to know.'

'I don't,' Andromeda said casually, leaning back on her chair.

Ted chuckled. 'No, I didn't think,' he said, shaking his head before looking up at her again. 'But I like Ted better.'

Me too, she thought. 'Edward is much more refined,' she said haughtily.

'But incredibly common,' he replied in the same tone.

They stared at each other and smiled.

'True,' admitted Andromeda.

There was a beat during which Ted gulped uneasily and coughed and otherwise very obviously braced himself for what he was going to say next.

'I like your name. A lot. It's very beautiful.'

'Thanks,' she said. 'I agree.'

And she did. She had always liked her name. She was used to hearing compliments about it. So why those reckless butterflies causing a ruckus inside her stomach?

Ted laughed slightly and leaned forward on his seat. 'Can I ask you something?'

Again with this? She chose not to reply.

'Do you like Quidditch?' He asked.

She almost let out a sigh of relief. Can he not just ask right away?

'No,' she replied simply.

He snapped his fingers. 'Man...'

'Disappointed?', She asked teasingly.

He grinned. 'Very disappointed; I really thought you were a reasonable person, there. The betrayal...'

Andromeda actually laughed. 'You can't talk of betrayal when you're still using this,' she replied, pointing an accusatory finger at Ted's pen.

Ted raised his hands up and gasped overly dramatically. 'Oh no! I've been caught!'

Andromeda laughed again. 'You better have a good excuse,' she threatened playfully.

'I'd say good is a matter of point of view.'

'You're right.'

'So no excuse will be good enough, am I wrong?'

'At least you catch on quickly.'

Ted winked and Andromeda suddenly felt light and warm and good. That is when Adrian decided to come back from the bathroom.

'I assume you're laughing because you've finished all the work?' He sighed.

Andromeda and Ted exchanged a look.

'We can finish that later,' Ted said after a few seconds. 'We've already done a lot, we have six months left, and we'll have to debrief everything for Michaela next time so… I think we're good.'

Nearly two hours had passed since they had started studying and Andromeda could not help but agree.

She rose from her chair. 'Me too,' she said and started calmly putting her stuff back in her bag.

Adrian roller his eyes. 'Wait,' he said. 'When do we see other again?'

'Not next week,' said Ted. When Andromeda and Adrian looked at him confusedly, he added: 'It's the Quidditch match. Slytherin against Hufflepuff, we can't miss it.'

Andromeda sighed. She would have protested but Michaela would be playing that match. She truly couldn't miss it.

'Fine,' said Adrian. 'The week after, then?'

It was Andromeda's turn to say "no", but when the boys asked "why?", she hesitated, biting her lip. She gave up in the end and mumbled.

'It's my birthday…'

Ted opened wide eyes. 'Is it? When?'

'The twenty-third.'

Ted started nodded passionately and Andromeda was reminded of those cute dogs with big bright eyes and flappy ears.

'Anyway,' intervened Adrian. 'I guess we'll settle a date after your birthday's passed then.' He picked up his bag. 'Ted, you're coming?'

Ted rose, looking as though he had just won the Quidditch World Cup, and stretched his arm. 'Yeah! I'm famished!', he exclaimed before turning to Andromeda. 'Wanna come with us to the Great Hall.'

'No,' answered Andromeda in a voice that sounded distinctively offended.

Ted only shrugged. 'Alright. Later then!' He said with another smile.

And just like that, the boys were gone. Andromeda exhaled profoundly once they were out of earshot. For once, it was not out of relief or exasperation, or frustration, it was… It was a satisfied sigh. This has gone well, she thought. And truly, it had been nice, and again she found herself wishing her sisters or Michaela could have been here. Not to support her against the Hufflepuffs, no, but just to have a good time.

Andromeda gave one last look out the window, thinking November had never shone so bright. Maybe she did worry too much, after all.