So this evening I actually did a weird thing and went and checked out what the ratings actually meant. I had assumed this story was a hard PG and that seems about right, but this chapter probably isn't. Still, nothing beyond PG-13, so no one should be offended. If you're offended…umm, well, you can yell at me I guess.

Chapter 29 - Advanced Muggle Studies

I don't remember anything about the few hours after I apparated away from Grimmauld Place and showed up on Ted's doorstep. I explained what had happened in a rush of confused thoughts and images, but he seemed to understand the basics of it, and the fact that I was really in no condition to think about the future or the consequences. He did what was probably the best thing for me at that particular moment- made me take a dreamless sleep potion.

I woke up with a headache and burning eyes, but my mind felt clearer. I was in bed in an unfamiliar room in shades of pale green that had the un-lived in look of a guest room. I blinked at it in confusion for a moment, and then saw Ted, sitting in an armchair with his feet propped on the end of the bed. He was resting his head on his hand, what looked like a textbook open in his lap, but his eyes were closed.

"Hey," I said, weakly.

He jumped, blinked at me for a second, and then smiled.

"Hey…how are you feeling?"

"Okay…I have a headache. Where…when is it?"

He closed the book and set it aside, rubbing his eyes.

"The where- my house. Guest room. Obviously you weren't going to go home, and you really needed to sleep. The when…" He glanced at his watch. "About noon."

"On Thursday?"

"Yeah. You were asleep for about twelve hours."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"A bit. I'm fine."

I started to sit up but that just made my head pound, I pressed my hands against my temples. He bit his lip worriedly. I tried to smile. "Just a run-of-the-mill headache. Crying will do that to you."

"Lay back down, I'll get you something for it."

I raised an eyebrow. "I could get used to this being waited on…"

He gave me a little bow. "At your service, Miss Black."

I laid back against the pillows and tried to organize my thinking. Everything felt slightly surreal. I had done it, I had finally told Bella and everyone would know. I had more or less run away. By now Bella would have contacted Mother and Father. It was done, and there was a strange sort of comfort in the finality of that. The uncertainty of my position hadn't really hit me yet…the simple logistical realities of it- money and school and where I would stay- seemed too real when I could still hear Bella's "I hate you" in my ears. That should have hurt more, and eventually it would, but I didn't really believe her then. It hadn't sunk in yet, and for the moment that was a blessing.

I couldn't avoid the realities of it, even the clothes I was wearing were his sister's, I didn't even have clothes other than a very pretty set of wine-colored dress robes with some simple gold jewelry to accent the gold thread embroidered into the sleeves. While quite lovely, it was hardly practical, and I didn't actually have any money, which was a completely new and incomprehensible idea to me.

Ted came back balancing a number of things, and I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees, considering the strange situation, and then it occurred to me, really occurred to me, where we were.

"Where is your family?"

"Newcastle. I have an Aunt up there. Well, a great Aunt really, she's quite old and she cant get down here, so they dragged poor Mike off to visit her for the holidays. They'll be back tomorrow. And Jess is still at University. She's coming back tomorrow as well, I think. Here, take this, for the headache."

He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at me carefully.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Not yet. I know I need to think about what I'm going to do, just not yet."

He nodded. "That's fair. Are you hungry?"

"Actually, I am, a bit."

"Then let's just think about that for a moment," he said reasonably, holding out a hand. I accepted and he went on cheerfully. "What will it be then? A sandwich? Soup? Er…I can make toast. That pretty much covers the extent of my culinary skill."

I started to follow him, but then stopped him with a touch on his arm. "Ted?" He turned back. "Just…thank you."

He stopped and put his hands on my shoulders. "I know you don't want to talk about it, and I know there are a million reasons that you made this decision, but don't imagine I think this was easy for you."

"I love you."

He looked momentarily surprised, and I realized it was the first time I'd said it. I'd thought it, but it was so against what I was used to, to say something that emotional out loud. And yet it really was that easy.

He trailed his hands down my arms and let them rest on my waist, pulling me closer and kissing me deeply. His palms slid up my sides, came to my breasts, a feather-light touch that distracted me from little kisses he was tracing along my jaw. He started to say something, my name perhaps, and I pressed a "Shhh" back against his lips. He pulled me hard against him, a sudden urgency in his hands.

I suppose I had imagined perfection- soft candlelight and champagne and silk- for that first time. Yet it was perfect anyway, the sunlight sneaking through the gap in the curtains and the soft counterpoint of our voices…

"You're perfect…God, you're perfect…"

"Oh, God, Ted...quickly…"

"Shh, now be still for just a moment…"

"No, no, kiss me now…"

For awhile, he was the only thing that existed in the world.

I slept for awhile and awoke slowly, for a moment confused about where I was, and then remembering. Judging by the faint light behind the drawn curtains, it was nearly dark outside. Ted was still asleep, a hand resting on my hip possessively. I stretched, luxuriating in little new aches I'd never felt before, and when I shifted his hand slid across my stomach, an echo of a few hours before. At my movement he woke, blinking at me serenely, eyes trailing over me.

"I've had this dream a million times, and now is always about when you turn into a talking hippogriff or the maths teacher I had when I was nine."

"Just out of curiosity, what do these talking hippogriffs say to you?"

"We discuss philosophy."

"You have some really bizarre fantasies…"

"Hm, in the dreams the hippogriffs never make fun of me so I guess this must be real," He reached for me and pulled me closer, so my head was resting on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, and feel him playing with my hair. "Andy, I know maybe this wasn't the best time…I wasn't trying to…" he trailed off hesitantly

"Take advantage of my emotional turmoil to seduce me?" I suggested.

I felt his chest vibrate when he laughed. "Something like that."

"Surely by now you know me well enough to realize I wouldn't be coerced into something I didn't want?"

"How true."

"There is this one thing though…" I said, pretending to hesitate, affecting a troubled expression. He looked panicked.

"What?"

"Well now I'm really, really hungry…."

He laughed. "Right, point taken, let's get something to eat."

I was relieved that there was no sudden awkwardness between us, no new complications. At that point I hardly needed anymore complications. Ted was something that I needed to be solid and constant for a little while, and it seemed that he would be.

"I think you should stay with Sirius," he said without any introduction of the topic. "My parents will be home tomorrow I doubt they'd be entirely happy with this arrangement. And I reckon you could stay with Marlene, but her parents tend to hover and Sirius would just be simpler."

And Sirius would understand the situation better than anyone else, for obvious reasons. I nodded.

"Living with Sirius Black…I'll be the envy of every girl at Hogwarts."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Sirius exclaimed as soon as I stepped out of his fireplace. "Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?"

I gave him a look. "Yes Sirius, I planned this, and in all my careful planning I thought I really wouldn't need anything but a five hundred galleon set of dress robes and some really uncomfortable shoes."

"What happened then?"

I shrugged, wondering how many times I was going to have to explain it. Marlene put her arm around me and shot him a dirty look.

"Can't you see she doesn't want to talk about it?"

"It's okay. Mrs. Lestrange saw me with Ted in Diagon Alley. She told Bella about it during the party at Grimmauld Place."

"And suddenly lying went against your deeply ingrained values, since you've been doing it for years?" he pressed.

"I tried that, but Reggie waited until that particular moment to back up her story, and it all just kind of exploded…"

"Bellatrix? Explode? Surely not!" he replied in mock surprise, then turned serious. "So that's that. Of course you should stay here, plenty of space, and I have an idea how we can get to your school things and some clothes and all that." He patted my shoulder sympathetically. "It'll be okay."

Surprisingly enough, it was okay. The next day was Christmas Eve, and though Sirius and I would have no inclination to celebrate this, Lily Evans showed up, bearing James and cookies. Apparently James had been explaining the fact that Sirius had his own place, and Lily thought it an absolute tragedy he wasn't going to be with his family on Christmas. Given his family, and Lily had presumably seen evidence of that at Hogwarts, James had tried to reassure her that it was entirely for the best and Sirius himself was fine with the arrangement, but she continued to insist that they "had to do something."

"Are they going out?" I whispered to Sirius as Lily marched into the kitchen and took charge.

"I don't really know," he admitted. "They started acting all couple-ish, but whenever I ask James about it, he tells me to shut up. My best guess is she decided they're going out and he's afraid to say anything for fear she'll start hating him again."

Lily turned his kitchen upside down, sending James out several times to fetch things, while Sirius and I watched in a kind of bemused confusion, knowing that if we tried to help it would really just end in disaster. Marlene showed up in the middle of all this and proved to be more helpful.

"If Sirius is going to the Potters tomorrow, what are you doing Andy?" she asked.

"I'm going to Ted's," I said. "Apparently his whole family will be there."

"Ooooooh, meeting the parents…" James gave a low whistle. "Stressful."

Lily gave me a thoughtful look, and then zeroed in on the really important point: "What are you going to wear?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, you'll need muggle clothes," Marlene pointed out.

"You're about my size…" said Lily thoughtfully. "You could borrow something from me. In fact, I think…" She gave a sort of satisfied nod, and disapparated.

James sighed. "They never should have taught that one to apparate, she can't stay in one place for five minutes."

A few minutes later she appeared again, arms full of clothes. "Now this dress, it's quite pretty, but it's a bad color for me. Red hair, honestly, goes with nothing. But you could pull it off."

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying things on, while they all gave me conflicting opinions on what looked best, and conflicting advice on meeting a muggle family. It was nice, not entirely different than afternoons I had spent with Bella and Cissy going through clothes, and yet Marlene and Lily didn't let me linger on that.

"I think you should go with this one Andy," she said finally, pulling up the funny muggle zipper on the back of a dress. "The color suits you.

"You don't think it's kind of short?"

"Muggle dresses aren't like robes. You know that Andy. Your hair like this, back from your face but not up…" she fussed with my hair for a moment then frowned. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm dealing with it."

"Don't think I didn't notice that you left Grimmauld Place on Wednesday night and didn't show up here until Thursday night."

"Oh."

"I'm not lecturing…if anything I still think Ted is exactly what you need. But go easy on the big decisions, hm? You need to think about what you're going to do. I doubt your sister is just going to let this go."

"I know. Just let me deal with one thing at a time."

"Okay, then the red dress. It suits you and it works for the holiday."

I took a deep breath, and knocked on Ted's door. When it opened, I had to direct my gaze down several feet at a little girl, no more than four or five, wearing a confection of white lace and red ribbons.

"What's your name?" she asked officiously. I'd had very little experience dealing with young children since I had been one. The pureblood world held to the rule that children should be kept out of sight, in a nursery and cared for by house elves, until they were old enough to behave properly in company.

"My name is Andy. What's yours?"

"Emily. How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen, how old are you?"

"Five. Where do you live?"

That was a more complicated question than she could imagine, but I went with the simple version.

"I live here in London. Where do you live?"

"Manchester. Do you go to school?"

"Yes, In Scotland."

"Me too, I know how to read."

"That's brilliant."

"Your dress is pretty," she went on cheerfully, clearly unaware that it was quite cold there on the step.

"Thank you, so is yours."

She beamed. "My cousin Ted goes to school in Scotland. Do you know him?"

"Actually I do, is he here?"

While she appeared to consider this, someone else opened the door from behind her, saying "Emily, Dear, who are you talking- Oh, hello!"

It was Ted's mother, I remembered her from the day we have run into them outside Diagon Alley, and she gently moved the little girl out of the way so I could come in.

"Hello, Mrs. Tonks…"

"Oh Dear, call me Katherine, no need for formality. You must be freezing. You must excuse Emily, her parents told her "don't open the door for strangers" so she interviews everyone who knocks."

"Thank you for inviting me Ma'am," I said, forgetting she had asked me to call her by her first name. It was just a little too deeply ingrained. Adults in my world did not invite children to address them informally.

"Oh nonsense, we're so glad you could come! We hardly see any of Teddy's friends from school. We met that nice boy, Frank, he came for a few days, but it can be hard." She leaned a little closer. "Do remember mums the word on magic Dear, since only immediate family can know about it and lots of Teddy's Aunts and Uncles are here."

"Of course."

"Teddy's right over there then."

He was, talking to an older, balding man. I came up behind him and touched his arm, and he turned.

"Andy!" He drew me forward, putting an arm around me in an obvious gesture. "This is my Uncle Rich. This is Andy, she goes to school with me."

The man shook my hand politely. "Nice to meet you Andy. So the mysterious school does exist! I must say we've wondered. I suppose you must be a top student as well, Andy?"

"She is," agreed Ted. "Besides me, of course."

I had expected it to be nerve-racking, trying to come up with answers to questions that didn't really apply in my world, but it was surprisingly easy. Without technically lying, I said that my parents were in France, and I was staying with relatives in London for the holidays. I suspected that my parents were back from France now, having likely been summoned to deal with the social fallout of yet another Black child running away, but it made for a relatively simple explanation. Ted didn't abandon me among his family either, but kept a steadying hand on my back.

Dinner was a loud, confused, and colorful affair, made more so by the presence of several small children who were tired and had far too much sugar. It couldn't have been more different than the strictly formal dinner parties I knew, but it was fun, and dizzying in the constant conversation and shouted comments and easy banter.

"So, how much did Teddy pay you to pretend to be his girlfriend, because you're way too cute for him."

We were sitting on the couch, dinner finished and someone had started a fire. That did remind me a bit of my own family, the way we used to be allowed to sit in the study while Uncle Alphard told stories, and fires burned all year in our home, but I hardly had a moment to dwell on it when that comment came. I remembered what he'd told me the night we had gone to Trafalgar Square, and turned to the boy who had spoken.

"Let me guess, Chris?"

"My reputation precedes me?"

He had a cheeky smile that reminded me of Sirius and Cailean, and I liked him immediately.

"I didn't say if that was a good or bad reputation."

His grin widened. "So what is a pretty girl like you doing with a boy like Ted?"

I rose and kissed Ted's cheek. "I'm really just using him for sex," I said sweetly, quietly enough that only the two of them heard me, and walking away. Behind me, I heard Chris laugh.

I had an intention besides just delivering a great parting line, I had seen his mother carrying a stack of dishes into the kitchen, and stuck my head in there, just trying to be polite, I never really thought she'd say yes. "Do you need any help, Ma'am?"

She looked as though she was going to say no, then paused. "Thank you, Andromeda, that would be lovely. I'm just rinsing things, I hate to leave a mess."

I noted the slight hesitation on my name. "You can call me Andy, everyone does."

"Teddy says it's a family tradition, the names after stars."

"Yes, Ma'am."

I could have cleaned much more quickly with a wand, but I somehow understood it would be an insult to suggest that, so I settled into the surprisingly pleasant and relaxing task of rinsing dishes.

"You know, when that letter first came, we weren't sure we should let him go," she said suddenly. "It sounded ridiculous, a magic school. But then there were always those strange things, as much as you try to tell yourself your child is normal, there were always those things. Breaking glass usually, and that boy at his school. Well, it explained a lot. But we were worried about sending him away to school, we were afraid we would lose him, in a way." She didn't say anything for awhile, but I didn't interrupt, feeling like she had more to say, and eventually she went on. "We did lose him in a way. He's part of a world that we really can't be involved in, and maybe even can't understand. You're a part of that world, and you'll take him farther away."

I froze, and she reached over and touched my shoulder. "Don't worry, that's as it should be. I want him to be loved, that's what everyone wants for their children."

"Not everyone," I said, hardly thinking, and then bit my lip, wishing I hadn't spoken. "I'm sorry Ma'am, I…"

"It's all right. Teddy doesn't say much, but he has suggested your family doesn't entirely approve of him or this relationship. I hardly know you, my Dear, but I'd like to think I know my son, and if he's serious about this, then it's worth it. Worth losing him even, if he's meant for you." She paused in the task and turned to look at me. "I think you make him happy. But just promise me you'll come visit us sometimes. Because whatever the situation with your family, Teddy will always have a family, and so will his friends."

"Sirius, I think…it's not supposed to smoke like that…"

Sirius stood back, frowned at the pan. "But I followed the instructions Lily gave me…" He picked up the scrap of parchment Lily had written her recipe on ("It's so easy Sirius, even you can't screw it up!") and studied it.

"Um…Sirius…It's a little bit…on fire."

"Damn!" he slapped at it with a towel, and when that only made it worse, finally doused it with water from his wand. "Stop laughing, it's not as though you'd do any better."

I made an attempt to stop laughing, because that was true. "Perhaps Blacks have some sort of anti-cooking gene?"

"Isn't it nice how we can blame all our faults on the family? That works out nicely."

Staying with Sirius was actually turning out to be fun. I imagine that beyond a few weeks we would have started to drive each other crazy, but since it was only until school started again and Sirius had taken it on as his job to keep me from brooding too much. I wasn't sure how he had lived for the previous summer, but he had suddenly decided he should learn how to cook, at least enough to not have to order takeaway for every meal. It wasn't going well, but it was providing me with some amusement.

While he was cleaning up, an owl fluttered through the window and landed in the middle of the table, ruffled it's feather importantly, and looked at us expectantly. I felt my stomach twist, and Sirius looked at it suspiciously.

"Isn't that…"

"Bella's owl," I agreed.

"Probably for you then."

"Yeah."

"Want me to get rid of it?"

"No, it's okay, I'll read it."

I took the letter, and Megaera flew off, clearly not waiting for a response. I wasn't surprised to see that the writing was Narcissa's, not Bella's. If Bella had something to say to me she would do it in person, not in a letter.

Dear Andromeda,

I'm not sure if you're staying with Sirius, but that seemed most likely, and I suppose Megaera will find you in any case. How could you do something so foolish Andy? Aren't you even thinking about the future? This isn't Hogwarts where you can toy with improper boys and people will let it go as a school fling. There is a world beyond school, and there's a war going on Andy. How can you throw away your life? I don't care what happens to that boy, but I don't want to watch you throw away everything for him only to end up a widow in a year.

It's not too late Andy, Mother and Father will still let you come home. If you realize that you were wrong, if you agree not to see him again, they want you to come back. In a few months no one will remember this, it will all be just a stupid misunderstanding, a silly fight between you and Bella. You don't have to give up everything, but you don't have much time, if you let this go on after you graduate, it will ruin everything.

Please think about this Andy, even if you're mad at Bella,

Narcissa

I folded it up and shrugged at Sirius. "As expected. If I come to my senses Mother and Father will let me come home."

"What an offer," he took it from me and glanced through it, and then shrugged. "For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice."

"Do you think she's right about the war? I mean it's dangerous. What if something happens to Ted in a year?"

"Well, what if it does? Would you wish you'd gone back and played your parents' rules? Or would you be glad you'd spent that year with him?" he balled up the parchment and tossed it toward the fireplace. "We've got a lifetime kiddo. Only the good die young."

"I don't want to go back to school."

The night before we were going back to school, we were sitting on the Tonks' back porch looking at the stars, which was not nearly as romantic as it sounds when you consider that his mother came out every ten minutes or so to if we'd like something to eat, if we'd like something to drink, if it wasn't just a bit too cold despite the charm, and was I quite sure I didn't want a sweater? It was making detached and disinterested parents look rather appealing.

"What's this? Andromeda Black, prefect and all-around outstanding student expressing a lack of interest in her studies?"

"I have no idea how Slytherin in general is going to react to me," I admitted. "I mean, if they just ignore me and gossip about me that's fine, but that's a bit passive-aggressive for them. They tend to be proactive."

"I think you underestimate how many people in that school are afraid of you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You're scary. You scare me."

"It's only one term, after all, no matter how bad it seems."

"Wow, that's insane…one term. Half the time I feel like I'm still in first year. I was so convinced when I started first year that this was all some huge mistake. Or a really bizarre and detailed dream."

"And when did you realize it wasn't?"

"I haven't entirely," he said easily. "Do you think about it, finishing school?"

"Mhm, sometimes. I guess we have to."

"What do you want? After school?"

I leaned my head back against his shoulder and considered that. "I want a job. I want to do something. I want a house. A small house."

"Why small?"

"It's nicer, I think. I hate big, cold houses. I want a small house, with lots of light. With no cold, closed-up rooms. No dark, dusty furniture. Everything warm and light. No snakes or silver or green. And a garden too. Kids, someday, when the war is over. Four would be nice, I think. I suppose that's all rather typical and boring, isn't it?"

"I don't think it sounds boring. I think it sounds nice…" he trailed off, and then cleared his throat nervously. "Andy-"

"What are you guys doing?" a cheerful voice interrupted.

"Michael, go away…" Ted growled.

"It's a free country. I can be on the porch if I want. Hi Andy."

"I can beat you to a pulp if I want. Now get lost."

"Ooooh, I'm real scared. Whatcha guys looking at? Which star is it you're called after, Andy?"

"Come here, and I'll show you. Do you see the bright star right in line with the point of that roof? That's Alpheratz, now…"

Ted gave a long-suffering sigh, and though I didn't mind giving Mike an impromptu astronomy lesson, I did wonder what he had been about to say.