"This is a mistake," Andromeda said as reached the room Gideon Prewett had mentioned.
Ted gave her a long glance. "This was your idea."
It had been, but she had no idea what she'd been thinking.
"Do you want to leave?" Ted asked. Andromeda opened her mouth, but before she could answer the Marauders came barreling around the corner.
"Andromeda?" Sirius said, then laughed when he confirmed it was her. "You sure take this rebel bandwagon thing seriously." He clapped her shoulder. "Come on, the meetings about to start." Then he and the other Marauders disappeared inside.
Ted gave her a look that said she could still leave if she wanted to, but she just sighed and turned toward the door. She'd come this far, she might as well give it a chance.
Based on the way everyone looked up in surprise when she entered, Gideon hadn't told them he'd invited her. Even Lily Evans, who stood at the front like she was in charge, raised an eyebrow. After a moment she gave them a warm smile and gestured to a couple of empty seats. Andromeda could help but start in surprise. Lily Evans had never smiled at her in the six years Andromeda had known her.
Andromeda glanced around. Most of the people here were Gryffindors. Fabian, Mary, and Frank Longbottom from her own year were here. The Marauders, obviously, along with Marlene McKinnon and Alice prewet, their fellow sixth years. Alice also gave her a warm smile. Alice, along with Frank, had been part of the rescue team with Ted, though Andromeda preferred to not think about that.
In addition to Ted, Edgar Bones and Teresa Podmore were here representing Hufflepuff. Teresa also gave them a welcoming smile, while Edgar opening gawked. There were a few Ravenclaws, though the only one she recognized was Kingsley Shacklebolt, a fifth year prefect.
And representing the noble house of Slytherin, was only her.
"Welcome, everyone," Lily said. "We appreciate your presence. As you know," she got right down to business, "in light of recent events Professor Dumbledore has decided to take extra measures to ensure the safety all students, especially those of muggle-birth. We admire his dedication, but we think we can do more. We think a student-led initiative would show the other students just how committed we are making Hogwarts a safe place for everyone."
She paused, before turning to Gideon, who continued, "We've invited you here because all of you have stood up for muggleborns before, often at great risk to yourselves." If Andromeda wasn't mistaken, Gideon's eyes flashed to her before continuing. "We'd like to continue that work, but in a more coordinated way. That way, we can do a better job of protecting others, and ourselves."
"Some of us don't need protecting," James called out, while Sirius gave him a high five.
Lily's eyes narrowed. "Yes, well," she took Gideon's hand in hers, "not all of us are so unattached."
Ouch. Lily was obviously flaunting her relationship in James' face, and he couldn't take well to that. Sure enough, he was glaring at Gideon like he wanted to hex him himself.
"What we want is the sharing of information," Gideon continued, ignoring James. "If you hear anything, you report back to one of us. We also want eyes on all muggleborns they've targeted in the past. They even spit out the word mudblood, we should be there, ready to push back with whatever means necessary."
Those words were met with a few cheers and some applause. After they died down. Kingsley Shacklebolt raised his hand.
"I don't mean to be a cynic," he said. "But won't this only incite them further? We might makes things worse."
"If you're too cowardly to fight back then why are you here?" James asked, but he was once again shut down by Lily.
"The truth is, Kingsley," she said. "We outnumber them. We always have. But we've lived in fear of them anyway." Andromeda couldn't help but notice she said "them" rather than saying the Slytherins, or "purebloods." Was she trying not to alienate Andromeda? "It's time we changed that. If we present a strong front, others will rise up. We'll prove to them once and for all that we're stronger than they'll ever be, and we're not going anywhere."
The cheers and applause were even louder this time. Even Andromeda felt inspired by Lily's words. There was just one problem. She wasn't like the rest of them. She wasn't some Warrior. She was a survivor. She didn't belong here.
As the applause died down they began discussing various strategies. Ways they could fight back that wouldn't result in detention for themselves. "What's the point of that?" Sirius called out, which earned him another glare from Lily. Muggleborns who they wanted to keep a close eye on. Ted stiffened when Lorie's name was mentioned. And finally, the Slytherins they expected to cause the most trouble.
"The Carrows, obviously." Lily said. "As well as Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Macnair, Warrington…" she paused, her eyes flickering to Andromeda for a moment. "We also want to keep tabs on Narcissa Black. She seems to want to pick up where Bellatrix Black left off."
Her words sent an icy chill over everyone in the room. Even though she'd graduated, Bellatrix Black still terrified them. Andromeda more than most. And Lily thought Narcissa was going down the same path? The thought made her sick. What could possibly make Lily think Narcissa was capable of such things?
"Is that why Andromeda's here?" Edgar asked. "To spy on her sister?"
A tense silence fell over the room, while everyone's eyes turned to him. Apparently the question of why she was here hadn't just been plaguing her all night. It had been plaguing everyone.
"You want her to be a spy?" Ted said, agitated, while his body shifted like he was trying to protect her.
"Actually, "Gideon glanced at Lily, who shrugged. "We had something different in mind for you two."
"If anything going's inspire people to join our cause," Lily said. "It's you. A member of the Black family going out with muggleborn? You two have more to lose than anyone, but that hasn't stopped you. When people realize what you two have sacrificed to be together, it'll be a rallying cry for muggleborns and blood traitors everywhere."
Both Andromeda and Ted shifted uncomfortably under all the eyes that suddenly landed squarely on them.
"So you want us to be your mascots?" Ted said, translating Lily's pretty words.
"More or less," Lily said, though she didn't seem to be a fan of Ted's simplification.
"When you say, more to lose," Ted continued. "You realize what we could actually lose, right? The Slytherins hate us. They've already gone after both of us, multiple times, and they're not going to stop." Ted paused for a moment, giving Lily a long stare. She'd been there, when he'd been tortured. She knew how close he'd come to losing everything. "And you want us to flaunt our relationship anyway?"
"We can protect you," Gideon said, though Andromeda didn't miss the look he gave them, like they were soldiers he was sending off to war.
"If we agree to be your it couple," Ted translated again, and then his toned darkened, "but if we don't?"
"Of course we'll still protect you from harm," Lily said, though Gideon didn't quite meet their eyes.
"Just think about it, all right?" Lily asked.
Ted opened his mouth like he was going to argue some more, but Meda said, "All right." He glanced at her in concern, but didn't object.
"Meeting adjourned," Gideon said. "We'll contact you all about our next meeting. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and wands up."
"Ted, Andromeda," Lily said, as everyone began to file out, "can we speak with you?" Andromeda could guess what Lily wanted to discuss, but she nodded. Gideon gave Lily a questioning look, but she waved him on. Soon, all that was left was Ted, Andromeda, Lily, and the Marauders.
Lily gave them a long look. "Do you need something?"
"I'm just looking after my cousin," Sirius said, coming up to stand beside Andromeda. Andromeda rolled her eyes, but secretly she was grateful. She always felt more sure of herself when Sirius was around. He was the one person who understood both sides of her.
"And you?" Lily said, her nose shriveling in disgust as she looked at James.
"She's basically my adopted cousin," James said. Andromeda made a face at him, and he made a face right back. He was lucky she owed him, or she would have called him out.
"Fine," Lily gave him another glare, establishing her dislike, but her expression softened as she turned back to Ted and Andromeda.
"We're sorry we sprung that on you," she said, sounding like she meant. "In front of everyone, we didn't intend to tell you like that."
"But it's true," Ted said, cutting to the chase. "That's why you invited us."
Lily sighed. "All everyone has been talking about, all morning, is you two. Some of its… trivial, but some people are really impressed. They're calling you heroic, even." Her eyes took on the same glowing quality it had before when she'd given her rousing speech. "This could be the push we need to finally make some real changes around here."
"You were the one who said we should break up," Andromeda finally spoke up. "Do you remember that?"
A shadow passed across Lily's face. "I was wrong." Andromeda was taken back. She'd never heard Lily Evans admit she was wrong before. "About you, and about all of it."
It wasn't quite an apology, but it was closer than Andromeda ever thought she'd get.
"We know it's a lot to ask," Lily said again. "Just think about it. And we promise, whatever you decide, we'll do our best to protect you." She gave Andromeda and Ted another warm smile, did her best to ignore the Marauders, and slipped out the door.
"You know, no one ever remembers I'm a Black too," Sirius said once she was gone. "And I've dated loads of muggleborns."
"Are you actually complaining about that?" James asked, eyebrows raised.
"I'm just saying," Sirius puffed his chest out ever so slightly. "I did this whole blood traitor thing back before it was in." He chuckled at the faces his friends made, then sobered up when he saw Andromeda's face.
"Hey, you all right?" he asked, all his bravado disappearing.
"I'm fine," Andromeda said, her automatic response whenever anyone asked her that question. "It's just… it's a lot to take in."
"For what it's worth," Sirius said. "You've already done more for muggleborns that most people, so if you decide to keep your head down, I understand." His face brightened. "But Lily's right, people are really starting to admire you. You might have already started a revolution, regardless of what you do next." He chuckled a little bit, though his words made Meda's heart pound. "And you know we've got your back, right?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We won't let anything happen to you, or Ted."
She smiled, a real smile this time. "I know."
Sirius gave her another squeeze before leaving. Remus also clapped her shoulder as he passed. James gave her and Ted a solemn nod, and Peter looked slightly less terrified of her than he usually did. So that was something.
After they left, Ted turned to her. "So, we came, what do you think?"
She shook her head. "I don't know." She sank back down into a chair, while Ted quickly sat next to her, his hands sliding into her hers. "Having them watch out for us would be a huge comfort, but I can't help but think that by doing what they ask, we'll only be fanning the flames. And they can't protect us all the time." Especially me, she thought. All those nights in the Slytherin common room, she would be alone. No one to protect her but herself.
"So we tell them no," Ted said.
But Andromeda shook her head again. "But what about our friends? Teresa, Lorie, you? If we stay in the shadows, something bad might happen to one of you anyway. What if Lily's right?" She turned to him. "What if we could really change things?"
Ted sighed. "Sirius is right, we've done enough. And I can't… I can't risk losing you again."
She wanted to say, "you won't," but the promise sounded false in her own ears. Their future was an uncertain as the times they lived in. Instead she dropped her head on Ted's chest, and let him wrap his arms around her. She couldn't decide right now, she needed time to really think about what she was willing to risk, and what a decision like this might cost her. Might cost them.