Ted practically raced from Transfiguration, and not just because McGonagall was glaring at him. She could always tell when he wasn't paying attention and he was sure if he stuck around she'd give him another lecture about the importance of preparing for his NEWTS. He didn't have time for that. He had preparations to make.

The house-elves had the food he requested all ready to go, and they were giggling and smiling at him. The must've have heard the gossip about him and Andromeda, but he didn't care. Especially since they'd managed to scrounge up a rose for him to give her too. Making friends with the house-elves was the smartest thing he'd ever done.

He also wanted to make sure he beat Andromeda there, though as he rounded the corner toward the lake, he found her already sitting there. Cursing, he dove behind a bush. If he couldn't beat her, then he'd have to make an entrance.

"Locomotor Rose," he muttered, as the rose gently floated into the air, then he let it sail over to Andromeda. Her eyes lit up as it wafted toward her. She gently took it and made an exaggerated motion of smelling, before glancing around, waiting for him to appear. Instead, he sent the next part of his prize, a fresh-made cinnamon roll, floating forward.

Her eyes got wider as it floated toward her, and by the time it reached her, she was laughing. "Ted, enough!"

But he still wasn't done. "Talpa," he muttered, the Illusion charm, which allowed him to disguise himself into the background. They'd finally learned it at the end of last year, and he hadn't quite mastered it. Sure enough, he was still a good three meters away when his body suddenly appeared.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, before remembering Meda didn't like swearing, but she was laughing too much to notice.

"Very elusive," she said, trying to dry up her laughter, "I never would have guessed,"

He sighed as he plopped down next to her. At least she was smiling, a much different look than she'd worn earlier.

And then he remembered their final moment together this morning. Andromeda ignoring every insulting thing her sister said about them, again, so she could run after her and try to win her back. He knew he shouldn't be bitter about that. He knew how much giving up Narcissa had destroyed her. He couldn't fault her for wishing she could have it back. He just thought it was a fool's errand, one that would only continue to rip her up inside.

But he kept all this to himself as he asked, "How's Narcissa?"

At least, he thought he kept it all to himself, but Andromeda flinched anyway, before sighing. "You were right."

He almost raised an eyebrow. He could count on one hand the number of times she'd said that. Now didn't seem like the time to gloat, not with her looking so dejected.

"I wish I wasn't," he said, and he was surprised to find that he meant it.

Andromeda just shrugged, and they lapsed into silence. Except, the last thing Ted wanted was for Narcissa to spoil what little time he had with Meda, so he asked, "How were your classes?"

"They were…" she trailed off, and his insides prickled with concern. Andromeda was usually excited to talk about their studies, she'd only close off like this if something had happened.

"I got a strange invite today," she said suddenly, before he could inquire further.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

She traced her hand along the sweet roll. "The Gryffindors invited me, invited both of us actually, to a muggleborn and supporters meeting, they called it."

Ted coughed a little. "Really?" He was just as eager as the next guy to fight for muggleborns, but the Gryffindors got so intense about it. It was a little stuffy.

"It's tonight," Andromeda shrugged, "if you want to go."

"Do you want to go?" Ted asked, reading into her less than enthusiastic response.

She was quiet for a moment, before she said, "They said we were inspiring."

He chuckled. "We are the Hogwarts version of Romeo and Juliet."

Andromeda shot him a sharp look. "You know how that story ends, correct?"

He did, and the thought sobered him up pretty quick.

He cleared his throat. "My point is… we are, you know, star-crossed lovers. People get all worked up about dramatic stuff like that."

He was just stating a fact, but Andromeda shot him a petrified look. He sighed. In trying to make her feel better, he'd only freaked her out more.

"If it helps," He stroked her cheek, "most of them are jealous."

Andromeda closed her eyes briefly under his touch, and her eyes fluttered. "Really?"

"Everyone keeps asking me how I managed to win the affection of a lady such as yourself." His hand moved her chin, and he gently tilted her head up while leaning closer.

"And what do you tell them?" she asked huskily, but he didn't answer as he pressed her lips to his. After a blissful moment he moved his lips to her ear.

"Love potion, obviously."

That shouldn't have been funny, not after Rodolphus had used that lie to spurn Bellatrix into torturing him, but somehow they both burst into laughter anyway. For just a minute it was just them again, and she wished it could stay like that forever.

Then she sighed, "We should go. See exactly what it is they want from us."

Ted didn't say anything, but he reached out and took her hand. A sign her would be there for her, one way or another.