A/N: Whoo! Another update! I am typing my fingers to the bone!
Soundtrack: Phoria's "Yourself Still" and "Melatonin"
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Sunday morning brought bright sunlight reflecting off of the frost covered grounds. The pale morning light trickled into the round windows and spilled onto the messy floor of the Hufflepuff common room. Ted groaned as he sat up, looking around at the familiar, bright common room. He had fallen asleep on one of the large couches here last night after a few too many celebratory Butterbeers.
Once he had left the hospital wing Ted just wanted to take his mind off of everything and just be a Quidditch Captain who was celebrating his first victory of the season with his team. He hadn't expected a full on party when he arrived in the common room. Ted had almost forgotten how nice it could be surrounded by his friends, teammates, and house members. And no one threw a party like the Hufflepuffs.
Ted sat up and pulled off his tie that was wrapped around his head. He ran his hand through his hair and leaned forward onto his knees, looking around at the empty Butterbeer bottles and falling streamers that decorated the common room. Confetti littered the floor and furniture along with a large banner with a badger on it that was slowly cheering as the magic faded from it.
He had felt like a hero last night and had been called one more than once by happy Hufflepuffs hugging him and patting him on the back. But while he had enjoyed himself, there had felt like there was something missing. He couldn't help but think that his victory would have been so much better, so much sweeter, if he could have shared it with Andromeda.
Howard came and plopped down on the couch next to him. He had missed hanging out with Howard like they used to and last night had been just like old times.
"Well, you look like shit," Howard laughed as he took in Ted's disheveled appearance.
"Thanks," Ted said sarcastically.
"Do you uh, do you remember much of last night?" Howard asked tentatively.
Ted rubbed his eyes. "Bits and pieces mostly."
Howard laughed. "You were awfully chatty by the end of it,"
Ted looked over at his best friend. Howard's hazel eyes were glittering. "What?" Ted asked seriously. "What did I say?"
"I thought you would have told me right away," Howard sniffed loudly and smiled smugly.
"Told you what?" Ted started to get nervous.
Howard glanced around the common room to make sure no one was within earshot. He leaned in close to Ted.
"That you're fucking Andromeda Black," Howard said in a low voice.
Ted's eyes opened wide. "Howard, you can't tell anyone,"
"I won't," Howard grinned.
"I mean it, you can't say anything, to anyone," Ted said seriously. "Shit," He murmured and held his head in his hands for a moment. "Fuck!" He exclaimed and his head shot back up. Andromeda was going to kill him.
"Mate, I won't say a word." Howard clasped him on the shoulder.
Ted leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes.
"So," Howard copied his movement. "How was it?"
Ted rolled his head to the side and couldn't help but smile as he saw the stupid grin Howard had on his face. "She's incredible," Ted stared to feel his own lips turn up.
"That good, huh?" Howard asked playfully.
"Not just that, it's… everything about her." Ted said wistfully. "I'm surprised you're happy for me though. I thought you hated her."
"Well if she's giving my boy some play I can't be mad at her," Howard laughed.
"She's not…" Ted started. "It's not like that. It's… real." Ted said and was surprised to find that he meant the words. Talking to Malfoy in the hospital wing had actually been a little therapeutic for him. To hear Malfoy say that he knew she didn't love him or care about him… to hear him say that she just kept walking away from him… He didn't know why she had let Malfoy kiss her like that, but he wasn't going to let that doubt her. Not this time.
Howard shrugged. "You've done it," He said simply.
"What?" Ted asked.
"You got a Pureblood girl, and not just any Pureblood, a fucking Black, mate, to fall for a Muggleborn." Howard looked at him, almost impressed by this. "Took you long enough," Howard added.
"Shut up," Ted grinned and pushed Howard's shoulder slightly.
"I bet she loves you," Howard teased, shoving Ted back. "I bet she says 'Oh Ted, you're the most wonderful kisser'," Howard made kissing noises and Ted laughed as he pushed his friend back again.
"Shove off," Ted laughed.
Howard started to settle down. "You've got competition though," He finally said.
Ted sighed, "Yeah, I know," His brows rested heavily over his eyes.
"She didn't seem like she liked it," He commented and kicked an empty Butterbeer bottle on the floor. "When Malfoy kissed her. You didn't see her face?"
Ted thought back to the previous morning. He had been so upset, so angry, that he hadn't really stopped and thought about the way she had been acting. She had been trying to ignore Malfoy, trying to get away from him even. And after she had looked so…
"Yeah," Ted said softly. "I did,"
Howard turned towards him slightly. "You know that was all Malfoy, right?"
Ted clenched his jaw. Malfoy's words in the hospital wing echoed in his head.
"She's going to leave you… for me,"
"I'm going to make her,"
"My wife,"
"That's what loving Andromeda is like, just watching her walk away…"
Ted wasn't going to sit here and let Andromeda walk away from him too.
"I've got to go," Ted said and stood up heading for the door.
"Are we ever going to hang out again?" Howard called after him as Ted darted out the door.
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Andromeda paced back and forth at the foot of the stairs that the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs both used to get to the upper levels of the castle. She had hoped that she would have seen Ted at breakfast and wanted desperately to tell him about Candace but he was one of the many Hufflepuffs missing, still reeling from the night before.
"Damn Hufflepuffs," Andromeda muttered under her breath as she turned to pace the other way. Normally she would have stopped one of the many Hufflepuffs that had passed her, eyeing her carefully as they did so, but now Andromeda felt paranoid. She didn't know who might be reporting back to Lucius and watched everyone with a careful eye.
She turned to pace back the other direction and stopped as she saw Ted standing there. His dark blonde hair was sticking in strange directions and he had some yellow confetti stuck to his cheek. His clothes were wrinkled and rumpled and his tie was hanging out of his pocket. But his chocolate colored eyes were locked on her as if he wasn't sure she was really there.
"Ted!" Andromeda shouted and rushed at him, throwing her arms around him. "Are you okay? You fell…" She ran her hands over him and Ted felt his heart swell at her concern.
"I'm okay," He said softly, smiling gently as she stopped checking him up and looked up at him.
"Looks like you had a good night," She jested, pulling a piece of confetti out of hair.
"I won, Dromeda," He couldn't keep the pride from his face.
"You did," She said softly, staring into his warm, brown eyes.
It was almost as if nothing had happened yesterday morning. Ted didn't seem upset or anything but happy to see her. Andromeda almost lost herself in his warm eyes before remembering what she had come to tell him.
Andromeda looked around and pulled him to the side, making sure no one was around them.
"What? What's wrong?" Ted asked as her expression changed.
"Candace." Andromeda said simply. "Candace is working for Lucius."
Ted felt his heart sink into his stomach.
"She's spying on you, on us." She continued. "I went looking for you last night and I saw Lucius talking with her. He's paying her for information. She went through your room-"
"You were looking for me?" Ted interjected, unable to keep the smile from his face even with this disturbing news.
"Ted, pay attention, this is important," Andromeda tried to bring him back to the present.
"What, uh," Ted put his hands on her hips. "What were you hoping to find?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Andromeda couldn't help but smile at his childish manner. "You know…" She said, blushing as she looked away from him.
"Hmm, I don't think I do," Ted pushed her gently against the wall. He looked down at her full lips. The same ones Malfoy had kissed yesterday morning. He wasn't upset with her over that. Not after calming down and talking it over with Howard. She bit her bottom lip and Ted felt a surge of possessiveness over them. Over her.
"Ted, you realize this means we can't be seen there," Andromeda tried to bring him back to the situation at hand.
"Then we will sneak around. I've got a few places that I've fantasized about," He said in a hoarse voice as he leaned down towards her.
"Ted,"
"There's nothing in my room for her to find,"
"Oh my God," Andromeda said, her eyes going wide. "That's how he knew!"
"Who?"
"Lucius! That's how he knew about my tie when he-" She stopped and glanced nervously up at Ted.
"When he what, Andromeda?" Ted asked seriously, taking a step back.
Andromeda hesitated. "He came in the baths. When I was in there."
"He did fucking what?" Ted shouted.
Andromeda shushed him and looked around. Ted realized his mistake and grabbed her hand, leading her under the stairs and out of sight.
"When were you going to tell me about this?" Ted hissed.
"I wasn't going to," Andromeda snapped. "Because I knew you'd act like this."
"You can't keep things like that from me," Ted stated.
Andromeda sighed. She was working on considering his feelings more and realized he was right. If the roles were reversed she would want to know. "Okay I'll tell you, but you can't fly off the handle at this. Promise me, promise me, Ted,"
Ted clenched his jaw and swallowed before he nodded, "Okay, I promise."
"He said that he wanted a good luck kiss before the match. I told him no and he… he threatened to strangle you with the tie in your room; the Slytherin tie."
Ted took a deep breath and kept his eyes on Andromeda, the only thing that could stop him from hunting down Malfoy.
"That's why you let him kiss you," Ted said in a low voice, "Because he threatened me,"
"Ted,"
"Don't ever do that again." Ted's voice was hard. "Whatever he threatens to do to me… seeing you with him is worse."
Andromeda's felt herself soften at his words.
"Do you have any idea, any idea, what that was like for me? To see him… do that to you?" Ted asked urgently.
"I do," Andromeda said in a soft voice, eyes fluttering slightly.
Ted paused. She did. She had watched him date another girl last year. She had seen him kiss Thea and be happy with her. Ted sighed. They had been through so much... but they were still here.
He pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. Andromeda melted into his embrace. He smelled like sweat, oak, earth, and Butterbeer.
When he eventually released her Andromeda smiled up at him. "That must have been some party last night,"
"Yeah, well, there's only so many times you can be called a Hero before it starts to go to your head," Ted grinned.
"Hero, are you now?" Andromeda let out a small laugh.
"Yeah," Ted murmured, leaning down towards her again. "And the Hero always gets the girl," Ted brought his lips down on hers, claiming them as his own again.
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The weather began to turn colder as November marched on into December, but Andromeda didn't mind the biting wind, not now that things were good between her and Ted again. They were being more careful and cautious and Andromeda had stayed far away from Ted's dorm, no matter how much she wanted to dive back into his bed with him. Instead she had to settle for stolen glances and occasionally stolen kisses when they could sneak away for a moment.
Their first term of school was winding down and they had a final Defense Against the Dark Arts where they were trying out defensive spells as their practical lesson for the week. Students were moving around the room, picking partners for the lesson. Andromeda was trying to avoid being partnered with Lucius, although a part of her did want to be able to shoot a few curses his way just for fun. She dodged him as he made his way over to her and headed towards the back of the class where Ted was standing.
Andromeda weaved through the crowd, trying to get to him first before Lucius caught up to her but in the hustle and bustle she had ended up across from Howard instead of Ted. Lucius came to a halt next to her, realizing that he had lost his chance and frowned, turning to see the angry, dark eyes of Ted Tonks staring back across the room from him.
Andromeda's mouth opened slightly as she realized what had happened. Ted and Lucius stared darkly at each other and Andromeda felt fear grip her chest as she worried that the two men would do actual damage to each other.
"Trade with me," Andromeda said quickly, turning to Lucius.
Lucius glanced down at her and scoffed. "And give up the chance to teach this Mudblood a lesson? I don't think so," He sneered.
"Lucius," Andromeda began to argue.
"Don't ask again," He snapped, his nostrils flaring.
Andromeda looked at Ted nervously. As his dark eyes landed on hers he gave her a small wink before turning them back onto Lucius, locking them in place.
Howard looked equally nervous and Andromeda felt a camaraderie with him she never had before. He was Ted's best friend and cared about him too. Andromeda decided to go easy on him today.
They raised their wands as the right side of the class, Andromeda and Lucius' side, prepared to attack the left side, where Ted and Howard were, who were supposed to block or defend themselves.
Andromeda lazily flicked her wand and Howard blocked her spell easily. Both of them only half paid attention to each other as they watched the pair beside them.
Lucius jabbed his wand out in front of him like a knife and a stream of light cut through the air, heading for Ted.
Ted swung his wand in front of him, creating a shimmering barrier that Lucius' sparks bounced off of.
Lucius sneered at him and Ted smirked, tilting his head to side for a second and raising his eyebrows as if to say, 'Is that all you got?'
Now it was Ted and Howard's turn to go on the offensive. Andromeda nodded at Howard to let him know she was ready and red sparks shot from his wand. Andromeda blocked it with a swift move and out of the corner of her eye saw Ted lurch forward, his wand pointed straight at Lucius' heart as it emitted golden sparks soaring towards Lucius.
Lucius sliced the air with his wand swiftly and the sparks faded into nothing. He didn't wait for the next command, but twisted his wand in the air and shot another spell straight at Ted.
Ted barely had time to block it, bringing his wand up only inches from his face as Lucius' curse barely missed him.
Ted glared at the blonde across from him, hatred darkening his eyes to almost black.
Lucius' grey eyes stormed violently as his thin lips turned white with fury.
Andromeda and Howard both lowered their wands, not caring about the lesson, only about the two wizards beside them who were almost engaging in an actual duel.
Ted narrowed his eyes and held his wand straight and steady as red sparks shot across the room towards Lucius.
Lucius snarled and raised his wand, but just not quick enough. Ted's charm grazed across his arm and Lucius' wand slipped to the ends of his fingers as he barely held onto it. A flicker of fear passed over Lucius' angled face before he glared back at Ted, shoulders tensing.
Ted's eyes blazed in pride as he saw that he had almost disarmed Malfoy. Lucius steadied himself, grasping his wand so tightly his knuckles went white as he raised it high above his head and a stream of blood red light shot twisted out of it.
Ted pushed himself forward as he raised his wand to block it. The dark red light bounced off of his protective shield towards Andromeda, whose wand was hanging loosely by her side.
"Black, watch out!" Howard shouted.
Andromeda dived out of the way, having no time to raise her wand to protect herself. She collided with something very solid and was hit with the smell of mint and cedar. Andromeda saw a flash of blonde hair as she tumbled to the ground, the solid object following her.
Her head bounced off of the scratched wooden floor with a loud thud and she felt a hard weight land on top of her. She lay stunned for a moment before she opened her eyes and recognized the curtain of blonde hair around her and looked up into Lucius' hungry eyes.
"Feels good, doesn't it, love?" Lucius' voice smoothly slid over her.
"Get off me," Andromeda snarled and pushed him back.
Lucius shifted slightly against her hands, but made no movement to actually remove himself.
"What's going on here?" Their Professor started walking towards the back of the classroom, trying to find out what the commotion was all about.
Lucius' eyes widened for a split second before Andromeda felt him thrown off of her and watched as his body flew through the air and crashed against the shelves behind them. A bell jar containing the skeleton of a Grindelow rocked back and forth before slowly falling off of the shelf and shattering into a million pieces beside Lucius, scattering glass and bone across the floor.
Andromeda felt a sharp pain on her cheek and clasped her hand to her face, pulling it back to see the bright red of her blood on her fingertips.
"Dromeda!" Ted called. She turned to see him, wand still outstretched in front of him from jinxing Lucius, and a look of terror on his face at the sight of her blood.
Ted rushed forward, kneeling in the glass at her side. It crunched under his knees but Ted's face did not show an ounce of pain, only concern as he brushed his fingers across her cheek gently, staining his fingers red.
"I'm okay," She muttered.
"Get away from her," Lucius growled possessively as he began to get to his feet among the shards of glass and bone.
Ted glared at the blonde Slytherin, picking his wand up off the floor where he had dropped it to tend to Andromeda.
"Get away from my future wife, Mudblood," Lucius' lip curled and he raised his wand in Ted and Andromeda's direction.
Ted looked murderous, his dark eyes almost black with rage as blood rushed up his neck into his face, turning it a deep shade of red.
"There is no excuse for that kind of language, Mr. Malfoy!" The Professor called out as he finally reached the two Hufflepuffs and two Slytherins in the back of the class.
Ted stood up, his broad shoulders as tight as springs as he raised his wand, aiming it at Lucius. "She doesn't love you," His voice raised, loud enough to cause even more attention to be brought to the four of them.
Andromeda grabbed her own wand, looking back and forth from Ted to Lucius.
Howard rushed forward, trying to physically restrain Ted, but his mind was made up and Ted struggled against Howard, trying to keep his wand pointed in Lucius' direction ad Howard's arms wrapped around him.
"Wands down, NOW!" Their Professor shouted, but neither man lowered their wands.
"Then why did she tell me she loved me this summer," Lucius sneered nastily, "When she was squirming under me-" Lucius did not finish his statement but instead roared out a blood curdling howl, dropping his wand and clutching his face which bubbled and twisted hideously.
"Miss Black!" The Professor said aghast as Andromeda got her feet, wand still trained on Lucius, amber eyes as hard as gemstones. "30 points from Slytherin!"
Andromeda didn't care about losing points. She watched as Lucius dropped to the floor, clutching his face as the skin swelled into boils. She wanted to make him pay for what he said, for what he did. She raised her wand again, aiming at his groin.
"DETENTION! ALL OF YOU!" The Professor shouted. "Now put your wands down or lose them!"
Slowly, Andromeda lowered her wand and Ted did the same. She knew every pair of eyes in the room was on them right now.
Ted finally wriggled away from Howard, breathing heavily. He had been sure that Lucius was lying until he looked down at Andromeda and saw the distress and trepidation on her face as she looked back up at him.
She had done it. Lucius had been telling the truth…
"Yaxley, take Malfoy to the hospital wing," Their Professor ordered as Malfoy moaned and whimpered on the floor, "The rest of you, OUT!"
Andromeda wanted to say something to Ted, the look of disillusionment on his face almost more than she could bear. She didn't know what to say or how to say it.
"Ted," Andromeda started.
It had been bad enough seeing Malfoy kiss her the other day, but now... his mind spun sickly thinking of what she might have done this summer. He pictured her underneath Lucius, her skin against his, her lips kissing him before softly whispering 'I love you,'. Ted's insides felt like someone had cast a freezing charm on them and the ice was beginning to crack. He had to leave, he had to get out of here, before it shattered.
"Our room." Ted said in a low voice. "Tonight."
And he grabbed his bag from the floor and headed out of the classroom.
Andromeda stared helplessly after him. She caught Howard's eye as he followed after Ted; he looked at her carefully, then gave her a small, sad smile she had not been expecting before following Ted out of the door.
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Ted wasn't at dinner and Andromeda felt too sick and nervous to eat much of anything. She didn't want to waste anymore time and started out of the Great Hall halfway through dinner to head to the old room they had used for HoM meetings.
As she made it to the Entrance Hall she heard someone calling her name behind her and turned to see Howard running up to her.
"Black," He breathed out as she stopped in front of a torch, eyeing him. "Look, I don't know exactly what's going on between you two but he's… Well I've never seen him like this,"
Andromeda's heart seemed to turn to stone and drop to her knees.
"Look, he's my best mate… Just, be honest with him. And if you're going to break his heart, do it tonight. Don't put him through any more of this,"
Andromeda had expected Howard to be a prick about this and call her awful names, but instead he just seemed to want the best of Ted. Andromeda felt that sense of solidarity with him again.
"I… I love him," She said in a small voice. She had only ever told Ted that before; saying it to someone else sent a thrill of freedom through her. Howard's hazel eyes were kind as they held her gaze, understanding even.
"But like, I said," Howard said seriously. "Do it tonight, if you're going to."
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Andromeda made her way to the old HoM club room and paused at the door. It felt like everything had been building up all year, maybe all her life, to this moment. She took a deep breath and opened the door with a shaking hand.
Ted was leaning against the desk, his arms crossed across his chest. His eyes were rimmed with red and his sandy blonde hair fell loosely into them. Andromeda closed the door softly behind her, carefully watching him. He lifted his chocolate eyes to hers, the whites were a pale shade of red and she felt a pang of guilt as she recognized pain and anguish in them.
They rested on her for a moment before Ted pushed himself away from the desk and took a few steps towards her. He sniffed loudly and Andromeda felt a very physical pain in her chest at the sight of him like this. His body language shifted between guarded to fury to agony. He brought his eyes back up to hers.
"What the fuck happened this summer?"
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"Do you love him?" Ted asked in a low voice.
"No!" Andromeda said quickly.
Ted's face curled in disgust.
"Did you sleep with him?"
"No," Andromeda said, hoping against hope that he would believe her.
"Was it before or after you fucked me?" Ted said, a vicious edge to his voice.
She walked towards him, wanting to go to him, but scared that he would push her away. "Ted, I love you. I'd never... you're the only one,"
"Then what the fuck was Malfoy talking about?" He asked, the harshness replaced by pain.
Andromeda let out a small sigh. She should have told him before, she shouldn't have kept this from him. "At his party," She started. "I… I had a few too many drinks," Ted's eyes darkened, his brows heavy over them. "I went upstairs to sit down and… he followed me."
Ted stared at her, speechless. He had known for months that there was something she wasn't telling him about Malfoy. Some reason she was holding back, pulling away from him and finally she was opening up; she was letting him in.
"He found me. He… He tried to…" She said softly, breaking eye contact and looking at the floor.
Ted felt like someone had poured ice water down his spine.
"He didn't though," Andromeda said in a small voice. "But I had to… to get him to stop I had to make him think that…"
"That you loved him. That he had a chance, a real one," The words tasted awful in his mouth.
Andromeda looked up at him with those large honey eyes, full of turmoil, and nodded.
"He made me cancel HoM club. He said that if he saw me with you that… that…" She trailed off.
"That he'd rape you." Ted finished for her. The ice water had been poured over his heart now. He remembered the things that Malfoy had said in the hospital wing when he had been inebriated.
"Loving her… sucks. Because… because she doesn't love you back,"
"I'm going to make her,"
Ted had never felt this type of fury before. It was almost calming, in a way, as every part of him was engulfed in flames of rage. Simple, clear, and pure.
But it faded as he looked at Andromeda. She stood before him, eyes pleading with him, tormented by this truth for so long. She had suffered under Malfoy this whole year, under his threats, and Ted hadn't known… he hadn't known…
"Why did you?" He asked suddenly.
"What?" Andromeda gasped.
"Why did you keep seeing me? Knowing what he would do to you… Andromeda," Ted moved forward, closing the space between them. His heart swelled with love of her, every other emotion, even his anger, was pushed to the side as Andromeda took him over. He placed his hands on her arms, searching her eyes. "Why would you risk-"
"I told you," Andromeda breathed out, "Nothing can change the way I feel,"
Ted shoved a breath out in disbelief.
"I don't want to marry him," Andromeda whispered as tears pooled in her amber eyes. "Teddy, I don't want to marry Lucius, I don't want to,"
"Then don't," He said urgently. "I want to be with you, really be with you. I know you love me, I know you want that too," Ted's voice was full of emotion. "I can make you happy, I know I can…" He felt himself close to tears watching the turmoil on her face and in her eyes.
"I don't care that your family thinks I'm scum. I don't care that I can't give your Father anything for your hand, I don't care…" Ted leaned down towards her. "I only care about you,"
"You don't know what they do to Blood Traitors," Andromeda said painfully. "I'd lose everything. We'd have nothing, Ted,"
"We'd have each other. I'll do whatever it takes, Dromeda. We can be together, just say you want that too,"
If she said yes she would be turning her back on everything she had ever known, everything she had grown up with. Her fortune would be taken from her along with every possession she had in the world. She would be destitute. More than that she would lose her family, her sisters… She would never see them again.
But if she said no she would lose Ted, maybe not today, but by the end of the year. She would lose him when she got married and it would almost certainly be to Lucius who would lock her away and make sure she never laid eyes on Ted again.
She knew this was coming; it had been for a while now. She knew it when she kissed Ted by the lake last year, she knew it when she snuck into his bed... That one day she would have to choose. There had really only ever been one choice, she had just been scared to make it.
"What… what am I supposed to say?" Andromeda asked hopelessly.
Ted laughed nervously, his heart in his throat. "Well, I hoped you say yes,"
"No," Andromeda let out a sobbing laugh.
Ted pulled back slightly. His heart stopped beating. It began to crack in two.
"I mean to my family, to my Father. What am I supposed to say to him?" Andromeda looked up at him with her large honey eyes.
"You mean," Ted said breathlessly, "You mean… Yes?" He choked out.
Andromeda nodded, tears spilling from her eyes and onto her cheeks as she did so. "Yes," She laughed as she cried.
Ted wrapped his arms around her middle and picked her up, spinning her around. Andromeda threw her head back and laughed.
"Do you mean it?" Ted asked. He slowed and Andromeda wrapped her arms around his neck. He lowered her back to the ground but kept his arms around her. "You really mean it?"
"Yes," Andromeda said as happy tears spilled from her eyes.
Ted grabbed the back of her head and pushed his lips onto hers then pulled back, staring at her in shocked wonder.
Andromeda looked up at him from under her heavy lashes, "I'm yours," She said softly.
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A/N: Y'all. You know I deserve a review after this chapter.
Next update is imminent!