Andromeda was in the commons room reading when Rabastan approached her. She tried to ignore him as he came up to her, burying herself deeper into the large novel, but he looked persistent. "Andi?" he asks and she slowly lowers the book.
"Oh. Hey, Rabs," she says softly.
"I was wondering if we could talk," he asks. "It's been a while since we've spent time together."
Damn, she was so close. Why did he have to do this now? She had only needed to make it to Saturday and then she'd never had had to deal with this impetuous dark haired boy again. "Of course, Rabs," she says softly, not letting even a hint of her real thoughts seep into her voice. "It's been busy, hasn't it? With all the tests and the hubbub of the end of the year."
Rabastan smiles and nods, happy to excuse it on the two of them being too busy and not the fact that Andromeda had been avoiding him. Andromeda sets aside her book and slides from her seat. She takes Rabastan's hand and nods to him. "Lead the way."
Rabastan holds her hand happily and leads her out from the commons. The two walk through the hallways for a bit with Rabastan rambling on about his classes and how well he thinks he did on each of the tests. Andromeda smiles politely and offers a few "Sounds lovely"s occasionally to make it appear as though she's paying more attention than she actually is. She realizes too late that she wasn't paying nearly enough attention when Rabastan leads her into an abandoned classroom and is shutting the door behind the two of them. Andromeda sucks in a breath. She didn't trust Rabs when it was just the two of them alone. His history of behavior had taught her to be wary.
"I wanted to talk to you, Andi," Rabastan says, turning to her. "You know, about our future. I know you asked for time, but I just… Andi, I think we can be something amazing. I mean, I know it'll take some work, but I think we could do it. I'm glad that our parents told us. Well, I'm glad that mine told me and that you found out. Cus this way, we have more time together. Isn't that a good thing? All those other kids out there are just messing around and stuff until they finally have to get serious. But we can do it all together, Andi. We can be a partnership. And I know that you were caught up on Nick, and I know I'm never going to be as smart as him, but I'm a good guy. And I know I'm not bad looking, so really you could do a lot worse. But I think you're real pretty and smart and kind, too, and I think if you give me a real shot, we could be something swell."
Andromeda lets the silence fall between them for a moment, thinking hard. Poor, stupid boy. Truly he wasn't that bad. A bit insensitive, a bit rude, definitely forceful and entitled, but here he was trying to make an honest go of it. Andromeda hated herself intensely for a moment, but she was in her lies too deep now; the proof of it was growing in her stomach. "Thank you, Rabs," she says softly, hoping the pause wasn't too long before her answer. "Truly, thank you. And it is a good thing. I'm lucky to have a partner like you."
Rabastan grins. He takes her hand and pulls her to him, kissing her. Andromeda kisses him back, as meekly as she can. Just a few more days and she'd never have to lie in her kisses again. A few more days and it'd just be her and Ted.
Rabastan, feeling victorious after his speech, decides to try his luck, thinking that she had finally come around. He kisses her more intensely, pushing her back against one of the empty desks. He pulls against her shirt, untucking it from her skirt, and starts to kiss down her throat. He unbuttons the top few buttons, groping along her body.
Don't feel the bump, Andromeda thinks to herself, trying to keep herself from panicking. Don't feel the bump, but if you do, think anything. Think anything but the truth. Her mind was racing. She had to get him to stop, had to distract him, had to do anything, for his kisses were getting harder and she wasn't sure just any excuse would do this time. Rabastan seemed intent on getting what he wanted from her.
Rabastan's breath was hot against her skin as he pulls her shirt down around her shoulders. He holds onto her hips, sliding the skirt up and nearly bruising her skin. Andromeda's mind was spinning. "Rabs," she says, leaning in and kissing him to distract him from making any more progress. "Wait."
Rabastan groans. "C'mon, Andi," he says. He kisses her neck imploringly. "You're not going to tell me you need more time again, are you?"
"No," Andromedas says, guiding Rabastan's lips back to hers so that they had some common footing. "It's not that. I'm ready. I just… Well, shouldn't it be a bit more special than in an abandoned classroom where anyone could just walk in on us? Let's do this right, Rabs. Make a night of it. Saturday. After the Hogsmeade trip. Let's have a date, maybe set up something for ourselves in the owlery. It's nice and secluded up there. I'm sure Regs will get us a bottle of wine if we asked. Let's make it something special, okay? A start to our relationship." Andromeda holds her breath, hoping he'll take the offer.
Rabastan thinks for a moment, pondering over her proposition. "Alright," he finally says. "Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that sounds nice. I can get some things in Hogsmeade and we can really make it something awesome."
Andromeda breathes a sigh of relief. He seemed appeased so long as there was a solid date to hold onto. She pulls him in for another gentle kiss. "Thank you, Rabs. For making me feel so special."
He grins and kisses her again, helping her button up her blouse. "Can I walk you back?" he asks.
"Of course," she smiles and nods, sliding off of the desk and fixing her clothing. The two of them walk back to the commons room and her hand feels like lead in his the entire way. She kisses him chastely goodnight before heading up to bed. As she lay, trying to go to sleep, she was overcome with trepidation for Saturday. Things had to go right. They wouldn't get a second shot at this.
