Disclaimer: I just realized that I haven't posted a disclaimer! And all the legal type people probably think I'm some deluded fan who claims to actually OWN Andromeda Black, Cissa Black, Bella Black, Sirius Black, Ted Tonks, and the whole lot. WELL, I DON'T. JKR DOES. So take THAT, legal type people!
Also, I do not own the song quoted at the end of the chapter. It is from "Your Song" by Elton John, and amazingly enough, "Your Song" is not your song, nor my song, it's Elton John's song. So there.
Chapter 6: A Winter of Lurve
Over the next few weeks, I'd often think to myself, Damn, Lily is lucky I am not the kind of seventh-year who refuses to be seen with a second-year.
It was almost guaranteed that Hannah and Scarlett were teasing Jos and I. Really, they were doing everything but saying it to our faces. They'd see us walking with Lily and immediately begin whispering.
Once Josie got fed up with it and yelled after them, "Not enough money to spring for the neon sign?"
Lily looked up at Josie with a plain look of adoration on her face. "Wow…I wish I knew good lines like that," she said wistfully.
"Hey," Josie said under her breath. "Try this one: you ignorant, bullying toerags!"
Lily screamed like a banshee after them. "YOU IGNORANT, BULLYING TOERAGS!" She grinned at Josie and me. "Ooh, I think I like that one…"
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The weeks leading up to December grew colder, but by the way the students were acting, you'd think it was the beginning of spring. Everyone was "going with" someone, except for me and a few other rejects of lurve. Although some clever "gossip maven" liked to make up some new rumour about Ted Tonks and me. Which, I regret to say, were never true.
Josie-and-Fabian, those well-known Siamese twins, quickly replaced Josie as my best friend. They were very considerate about my lack of coupleness and waited until I wasn't around to snog, which I was more grateful for than they knew. Yes, I quickly became the ultimate third wheel to the ultimate couple.
But one pesky second-year was determined to change that. Remus was incessantly knocking on the Ravenclaw Common Room door and yelling over the pounding: "Er, Andromeda? D'you think we could, er, meet at the library tonight? I'd really appreciate it. Could you send, er, Lily with your answer?"
By the time he was done, Hannah and Scarlett were full-out roaring with laughter. No tact, those two. They needed a few years with Capella Stentley; that'd whack them into shape.
"Not only are you best friends with second-years, but now you're going with one!" Hannah "joked," while Scarlett just guffawed that much louder.
Luckily, Fabian came to my rescue. "You know what you two are? Easy toerags! You hear me? Easy toerags!" Fabian led me out of the Common Room, murmuring, "One of them is going to be pregnant before graduation, mark my words, you just mark my words…"
"Thanks for that, Fabian," I said gratefully.
"Oh, no problem. Can't leave my girlfriend's best pal defenseless like that."
I could hearsome very loud whispers on each side of the corridor:
"Andromeda Black and Fabian Prewett? No!"
"Whatever happened to Ted Tonks?"
"Oh, what will Josie Berkhardt think?"
No!When Fabian and I reached Josie in the library, Josie said, "Do you know how many first-year rats have told me you two are together?"
"I can only imagine, Jos," I muttered, too embarrassed to really do anything.
"Sorry, Josie, I just couldn't resist Andromeda." Fabian winked and nudged me. Reluctantly, I gave a smile while Josie rolled her eyes.
"Oh, like I believed it for a second, you two."
"Honestly, Jos, I wish they'd realize that in order to maintain peace with you, I have to be friends with your boyfriend. Those little gossips…it's all out of hand! I can't even give Sirius a clandestine little high-five anymore without some wild rumour of 'Black incest' floating about the next day."
Fabian looked at me incredulously. "Are people actually saying that?"
Josie gave Fabian a "look" and said, "You have no idea about the life she leads." She focused her evil "look" upon me. Uh-oh…nowhere to go now. "Rom, you do know the only way to end all those ridiculous incestuous rumours."
"No, and amazingly enough, I don't especially care to know."
"If you'll just ask Ted to Hogsmeade one of these days, you won't even care about the rumours, because, trust me, they're much less annoying when they're true," Josie said, squeezing Fabian's hand and looking altogether disgustingly cute.
"The rumours about you two are true?" I asked.
"Yes," Josie replied smartly.
"Even the one about Molly sending you a Howler saying if you hurt her brother, she'll hex you into next week?"
Josie shuddered. "Especially that one." She recovered quickly however. "Anyhow, I am sending you on a mission."
"Oh, no…"
"Oh, yes." Josie smirked not-so-innocently. "Get Ted Tonks to be your boyfriend before Hogwarts lets out for the winter."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I want to see you and Ted Tonks dating. Think of it; you'll be able to walk around with Fabe and not be accused of being a scarlet woman."
"You know Cissa will just tell Mum that I'm dating a Mudblood over Christmas, and then you might as well pick out my gravestone," I informed Josie and Fabian.
"My brother Gideon and I will make sure that Cissa knows nothing of the whole deal. Don't worry, Andromeda, you'll survive." Fabian took both my hands and kneeled. "I swear, my pureblood liege."
I pushed on Fabian's back. "Get up, you bastard."
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Lily came up to me in the Great Hall during lunch. "Rom, Rom…I need help. A great deal of it."
I rolled my eyes. Knowing my dear Lily, it was probably something silly like Felicity had stolen her eyelash curler for the umpteenth time or something of that sort. Twelve-year-old girls were remarkably predictable.
Once we were away from the burning stares of the likes of Scarlett Monsworth and Hannah Lovegood, Lily whispered, "I think I have the stomach lurgy."
"A lurgy?" Good grief, what was I? Nurse Andromeda? "When does it come up the most?"
"I'm not telling," said Lily stubbornly.
I looked at her blankly. "You have got to be joking me. You pull me away from my house, and you're not telling me when this lurgy comes up?"
"You'll think I'm silly."
"Well, of course you're going to be silly. You're twelve. Twelve is not an age where you're deathly serious."
"When you put it that way…," began Lily. "Oh, all right. It comes up whenever Remus Lupin comes around." Upon seeing the grin on my face, she screeched, "I told you you'd think I was silly!"
My twelve-year-old stalkers together in peace. Hm…a nice thought. Suddenly the mission from Josie was put on the backburner.
"Oh, Lily, the only lurgy you have is the lurve lurgy!"
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I told Josie about Lily fancying Remus. She was overjoyed, as I anticipated.
"Rom…what does that have to do with anything?" Josie asked annoyed as we walked back to our Common Room for a free period.
"I don't know; I just thought it was ridiculously adorable. And maybe if Remus goes out with Lily -"
"Oh, hell, Rom, they're twelve. Where are they going to go?"
"I have no clue, but apparently dating is an epidemic that is sweeping the second-years."
"But do boys even like girls when they're twelve?"
"I have no idea, Jos. That's the mystery of the whole ordeal."
"So how are you and Ted coming along?" Josie asked rather loudly. Oh, bloody hell, what if someone heard? What if Timothy Lovegood heard and told Ted, and Ted told Timothy to tell me that he was flattered, but not interested? Aghhh!
But no, unfortunately, it was far worse.
Because Cissa heard.
"Who's this Ted?" she asked sweetly. Note to self: KILL FABIAN AND GIDEON.
"Er…," I stammered intelligently. Oh, please, Josie, don't say anything, please
"Oh, I know, Ted Bigsby!" Cissa exclaimed, obviously proud of herself. Ted Bigsby? Who the bloody hell was that? "But he mustn't hear you call him Ted; he's trying to become more grown-up and going by Frederick."
"…Why was he called Ted in the first place?" Josie asked.
Cissa shrugged. "I don't know, family name? Anyway, I have a class with Flitwick coming up, so I'll see you ladies later!" she called as she dashed off.
"Oh, dear Lord, she is high-octane." Josie shook her head. Suddenly, she spotted a folded piece of paper. "Hey, Rom, what's that?"
I looked closer at it. Written on it was "Cissy." "Looks like something of Cissa's."
"Shall we?" Josie asked, looking terribly evil.
Part of me realized that it was probably something private of my little sisters and that I had no business looking through it.
But then I also realized it was probably from Lucius, and that was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Oh, yes, we shall!'
As we continued to walk, we, the multitask, read:
Dearest Cissy, ("Oh, yes," I said, "it's from Lucius.")
Hello, my love. You're right; it has been too long since we've seen each other. But I think that our family is talking of spending Christmas at Proxima Centauri, so hopefully I can see your lovely flaxen hair once more. ("He could just look in the mirror," commented Josie.)
Please write back; I so look forward to your letters, darling Cissy.
Love forever,
Luci
We collapsed upon the sofas in the Common Room and died laughing. The winter of lurve had struck again!
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Finally, after years of midterm testing, school was over for the winter, thank God. If I had to put up with stupid, choosy Slughorn for one more day, there would be some "favorite"-killing.
There was one free period between Proxima Centauri and me, which, despite the schoolings of school, wasn't exactly thrilling me. Josie asked me the million-Galleon question: "So, you and Ted Tonks?"
Oh, hell. Ted bloody Tonks again. "Jos, you're not honestly making me."
"Yes, I am! Oh, what impeccable timing because here he comes!" Josie shoved me at Ted, who was walking perpendicular to Josie and me.
Ted looked down at me, because I was considerably shorter than him, and smiled in such away that I fell in love with him all over again.
"Well, hello, Andy," he said, obviously amused.
"Er…hello, Ted." This was so uncomfortable. Oh, bugger it! Why'd I have to do this anyway?
"Hey, you want to go somewhere with me? I'd like to show you something," Ted said, dark eyes sparkling. He was so beautiful, I thought a little randomly. Ugh, I needed my head checked.
He offered me his arm and walked me outside. This was a little unnerving, seeing as I hadn't even worn my jacket. I was even more unnerved when he laid his own jacket across my shoulders. "I can take the cold; I'm a man," was his playful response.
Ted sat me down on a bench that overlooked the frozen lake. "Well," he said as he joined me, "this is it."
I turned to look at him. Snowflakes were nestling in both our hair. "What made you want to show me the lake at winter?"
"I honestly don't know. I was walking with Timothy a few days ago, and it just kind of came to me. It just…hit me, you know. 'You should take Andromeda here.' So I did." He had thought of me? Randomly? Off-the-cuff? Hm, this sounded quite familiar.
Right then, I lost my mind. My middley brown hair was covered with snow, I was mad with love, and he had given me his bloody jacket! So I did the unthinkable.
"Ted, the last few months have been amazing, getting to know you. To be totally and completely honest, no one's ever been that nice to me. No one's ever treated me like I mattered, aside from maybe Cissa. And certainly no one's wanted to show me anything. You're something spectacular, Theodore Tonks."
"You're more spectacular, Andromeda Black," he simply said. And then he kissed me.
I thought I was going to die. The one I'd never get was snogging me. And suddenly, I was hit with a wave of sadness; I could never realistically have a typical relationship with him. No taking him home to meet Daddy.
When we broke, I whispered, "I love you, Ted."
He put his arm around me and said, "I love you too, Andy."
At that moment, a great Muggle song Josie sang once came to mind:
How wonderful life is while you're in the world…
And just like that, the winter of lurve became my winter of lurve.
A/N: Thanks for putting up with that fluffy chapter...I just needed Ted and Andromeda together before the real action started...
intriKate: At 1AM, everything DOES amaze you...once I was looking about my room and I was like, "woah...my walls are light pink!" Thanks for the review!
FanFictionFantom: I reread over that chapter, and I realized that when I said that he hung around w/ Bella, I meant SNAPE, not Sirius. I realized that was a bit unclear, so I apologize for that. And Sirius is going to be prominently featured in the next chapter, so that should be something to look forward to.
GreenEyedMonster: Thanks so much for the review! It means a lot, even if it is just to say, "Very good!" Hell, I'll even take, "YOUR STORY IS A DISASTER!" but "Very good!" is good as well.
AND YOU...REVIEW. Please? I'll give you Sirius...and Remus!
S & R: squirming NOOOOO DON'T MAKE US GO!