TRAITOR

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Chapter 3:

Her first night back at Hogwarts hadn't been a restful one for Andromeda. Until the early hours, her brain had been very creative, keeping her awake with nightmarish visions of the Mudblood, Tonks. Her sleep deprived mind had generated fitful scenarios in which he deliberately failed classes just to prolong her torture.

When her muddled head eventually gave in to sweet oblivion, it felt like seconds later there was a hand on her shoulder, delicately rousing her to consciousness.

"Andromeda, time to get up." A gentle voice whispered in the diffused light of the sixth-year girl's dormitory. The Prefect's eyes cracked open to see Amelia Nott hovering above her with a slightly concerned expression. Andromeda, the normally expeditious student, was usually the one to wake up others, not vice versa.

"Thanks 'Lia." Andromeda replied, voice thick with lethargy. Amelia pulled back, slipping through the star flecked curtains that hung around the bed posts.

Andromeda rose, rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't good enough. Already the Mudblood had interrupted her sleep and classes hadn't even begun yet! Mentally berating herself, the witch knew she needed to harden her resolve. She could not simply give in. She was a Black and would rise to this absurd challenge and defeat it. She had to. For her own sanity, for her house pride, for her family. Whatever Dumbledore's twisted, archaic mind had planned, Andromeda vowed that she would have no part in it. If he wanted a Mudblood to be taught, then fine. She would do it just to prove that her little sister Narcissa was right; Mudbloods were worse than Muggles and so deserved to be treat as such. So, she shoved her sleepless night to the back of her mind, determined not to let this repulsive Mudblood win.

Taking cool air into her lungs and pushing herself free from the warmth of the covers, Andromeda glanced around the dormitory, watching her female friends bustle around each other, making trips to the bathroom and pulling on their uniforms. The Prefect padded over to her Hogwarts trunk at the base of her bed and yanked it open. All of her clothes were still perfectly folded and charmed to remain crease-less. Smiling, she began to dress, ensuring that her outfit was completely spotless before securing her polished emerald badge to her robes.

When she was finished freshening up, Andromeda used her wand to define her caramel curls and smooth out any knots which had inevitably come from hours of restless tossing in bed. Then with a final smile at her pristine reflection, Andromeda felt more like herself. More present.

She then proceeded to follow Amelia and her other friends to the Common Room below.

"Morning sister," Bella commented, eyes critically roaming over her siblings' attire before settling on Andromeda's tired features. "Peaceful night?" Her sister commented sarcastically.

"Slept like a babe." Andromeda replied sweetly ignoring her intuitive sister's comment.

Narcissa chuckled, looping her arms through her sisters' as they headed out of the jade drenched Common Room. Andromeda listened as Cissy prattled on incessantly about nonsense all the way to the Great Hall, but Andromeda didn't mind. If anything, it was comforting as if this was going to become their routine.

As they neared their destination, delicious wafts of cooked breakfast filled corridors, making the Slytherin girls' stomachs grumble with hunger. One thing that could be said about Hogwarts – the food was amazing. The kitchen elves always made the most wonderful dishes and in all her years at the castle, Andromeda had never had a poor choice of dishes to choose from. They rounded a corner and entered the antechamber and the combination of carefree chatter and mouth-watering aromas surrounded Andromeda, further soothing her uneasiness.

Heading into the hall, the trio strolled over to their table, sitting in spaces saved by the Lestrange brothers. When they were settled, Rodolphus engaged Bellatrix in an animated discussion about a group called 'The Knights of Walpurgis'. Bella's dark eyes dilated with excitement as she absorbed his every word. Cissy on the other hand was engaged with Amelia, talking about an article in Witch Weekly, that reviewed the effectiveness of beauty spells.

"Do they really work?" The snow haired fourth year asked, oatmeal eyes wide.

Amelia giggled, "Come on Narcissa, you don't need any beauty charms! It's not like you need to make any effort to get a boyfriend."

A deep blush stained Cissy's cheeks. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Amelia scoffed, the movement making her inky ponytail swing. "Oh please, Malfoy dotes on you!"

"Not so loud!" Andromeda's sister hissed, her eyes anxiously shooting down the table to ensure that Lucius hadn't overheard.

Andromeda bit her lower lip to prevent her amused smirk. It was true, Lucius Malfoy was besotted by the youngest Black and had been trying to woo her for almost a year. Cissy often tried to play coy, pretending she had no knowledge of her allure, but Andromeda knew that her sister was completely aware of the effect she had on Malfoy. Narcissa had him completely wrapped around her little finger and she revelled in it.

"Do you mean I can't say 'Cissy loves Lucius'?" Amelia sang and Andromeda giggled.

"Don't laugh Andromeda, it's not funny." Narcissa scolded. Though she and Lucius's relationship was a compilation of discreet glances and distant admiration, the pretty fourth year was easily embarrassed by the mention of him.

"Sorry Cissy." Andromeda replied automatically, but above the jugs of juice and pots of tea, she met the amused azure gaze of Amelia and realised she wasn't sorry at all.

What was wrong with a little harmless teasing?

Another smile threatened to bloom so Andromeda distracted herself with the task of finishing her breakfast.

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When breakfast was over, Andromeda parted ways from her sisters and made her way towards Professor Flitwick's classroom down the Charm's corridor. Surprisingly, the Prefect wasn't the first one to arrive. As she approached, Andromeda noticed an agglomeration of Hufflepuffs around the entrance to their classroom. So far, she was the only Slytherin and Andromeda could feel the chastising glares of the other students boring into her. Instead of firing a string of insults at the gormless group, she positioned herself on the opposite side of the door and waited for her professor to arrive.

"Good morning Andromeda."

Looking up, Andromeda met the deep cinnamon eyes of fellow Prefect, Tonks.

"Morning." The snake replied in an impassive tone.

"Are you looking forward to Charms?" It was a pleasant enough question, but it irked her. It marked the beginning of a painful term, spending time with him.

"I'm not looking forward to mentoring." She grumbled, seeing a cheeky grin spread across his face.

"I promise I'm not that bad." Tonks said playfully, in an effort to get her to smile. But Andromeda simply rose an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. He was a Mudblood, meaning he was much worse than 'bad'.

"If you say so." She replied simply, not wanting to instigate a public altercation with her unpopular opinions on blood status.

"You'll probably be free of me in a couple of weeks. It's mostly Potions I struggle with." He said casually, unaware of the weight that suddenly lifted from Andromeda's shoulders.

Only two weeks of him in Charms. She could survive that. Right? If he was being truthful and she only had to tutor him in Potions, then she could put up with that. Not happily of course, no Slytherin would happily work with a Hufflepuff, but maybe it wouldn't be as horrific as she had first thought. Just three lessons a week and Prefect duties of course, but...

A whisper of a smile ghosted across her lips.

"Is that a smile?" Tonks said, feigning a shocked expression.

Whatever droll quip Andromeda would have shot back, was cut off by the sound of a familiarly amicable voice. Over Tonks's shoulder, Andromeda could see her friend Rabastan jogging down the corridor.

"Andromeda, hey." He panted, coming to a graceful stop. "This dropped out of your bag at breakfast." He held out a tight roll of parchment paper and Andromeda took it from his hands.

"Thanks, although you didn't have to come all the way to Charms. You could have given it to me at lunch."

Rabastan ran a hand through his sleek dark hair and flashed her a handsome grin. "What if you had needed it?"

Andromeda returned his smile, ignoring the flutter in her stomach. "Well, thank you. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." He breathed and again ran his hand through his hair. She wondered if it was a habit when he was nervous. But why would he be nervous?

With that, he leaned against the wall in front of her. Andromeda took a step back; he was too close, even for a Slytherin. She noticed then how his moss-green eyes roamed over her face and settled on her lips.

"So, um, I wanted to tell you that you're looking really good Andromeda. Really good."

"I-"

They were rudely interrupted by a loud coughing laugh, making the witch side step her flustered house mate to see the Mudblood stifle a grin.

"Can we help you?" She asked folding her arms across her chest defensively. Rabastan slowly turned around, all warmth disappearing when he spotted Tonks eyeing them with an amused expression.

"What are you looking at Mudblood?" The Slytherin Prefect demanded, anger flaring.

"Really bad flirting." Tonks countered quickly, taking Andromeda by surprise. She refused to admit that the witty retort impressed her.

A faint redness crept up Rab's neck and he whipped out his wand, clenching it tightly. "You really need to be taught some manners."

"Sure you're up to it?" Tonks goaded, wiggling his sand coloured eyebrows.

"I'm more than capable of dealing with you." Rab seethed and Tonks slyly pulled his wand out of his robes, hiding it in his folded arms. Rab hadn't seen it, but Andromeda had. She knew he was skilled at duelling, having beaten several students in the unofficial Duelling Club set up by the two Heads last year. Worried that her friend may get hurt, Andromeda stepped in between the boys. She faced the Slytherin and kept her voice calm.

"Rab, get to your Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. We don't want to lose any house points on our first day."

"Are you sure that-"

"Yes. Go." Andromeda ordered and with a long glance at his rival, Rabastan stormed off. Andromeda released an angry huff of air and turned to her fellow snakes who had gathered behind her.

"What is his problem?" She tilted her head in Tonks' direction. "That's the second time he and Rab have confronted one another."

"No idea." Amelia said softly, playing with the silk ribbon in her blue-black hair.

"Let's just say that they have a history." Evan Rosier said in a clipped voice. "Began in our second year."

Andromeda was intrigued and she made a mental note to question the younger Lestrange about it later, it wasn't a conversation she wanted with eavesdroppers hanging around.

Suddenly the crowd parted and little Flitwick came through, charmed books levitating around him as he waddled forwards.

"Good morning class, it's lovely to see you all so eager to start the day!" His voice was all ease and friendliness. He swished his wand, silently unlocking the classroom door and ushered his students inside. "Let's get started shall we?"

Everyone walked in and took their seats.

Flitwick climbed up to stand on the wooden platform at the front of the classroom. As he steadied himself, an enchanted piece of chalk began to write the days lesson in elegant script on the blackboard beside him. Smiling, Flitwick introduced the sixth years to their first subject of the term.

"Until now, you have all cast your incantations by saying the name of the spell you wish to generate. As of today, this changes as you will begin to learn the art of non-verbal spell-work. We will begin with spells you have already learnt to get you started, but next week, you will be experimenting with new charms."

Excited chatter exploded in the room. Flitwick chuckled before tapping his wand against his desk to claim the attention of his students.

"Now, before you start, please place your wands on your desks." Complying, all students placed their treasured possessions on their tables and Flitwick cast his intuitive eye over them. "Very interesting." He mused, seeing a range of wood types and cores. "For the best results in non-verbal practise, I will be pairing you up based on your skills, wand and house."

Andromeda barely suppressed a groan. Why did all the teachers this year want to mix up the houses? What exactly did they hope to achieve apart from pissing everyone off?

The Slytherin Prefect mentally waved goodbye to her hopes of having Amelia back at her side within a couple of weeks.

Flitwick cleared his throat. "If this arrangement works, we shall keep it for the year, if not we will review at the end of term. Now, when I call out your surname, please go and sit next to your new partner: Aubrey and Burbage, Black and Tonks, Bones and Nott, Carrow and Diggory, Finch-Fletchly and Greengrass, Flint and Richmond, Macmillan and Rosier."

With a disgruntled shuffle, the unhappy students moved to their assigned seats. Andromeda took the place of Charity Burbage next to Tonks and she couldn't help but feel repulsed. With a repressed shiver, Andromeda placed her elm wand on the desk as Flitwich began to teach.

"Today, we will start with a simple Accio, the summoning spell. Each of you use your wands and try to summon an object, non-verbally, obviously."

Wands in hands, the students tried to concentrate and invoke their chosen object to obey their commands. Closing her eyes, Andromeda lightly held her wand between practised fingers and thought of the ink pot in her bag. She then mentally focused on one single word. Accio. With an elegant movement of her wrist, Andromeda tried to summon her object. For a second nothing happened, then beside her left leg, Andromeda felt her school bag move. Glancing down, the bag twitched slightly before stilling.

"Well done Miss Black. Please, try again." Flitwick encouraged before turning to Tonks. "Mr Tonks you must relax your grip; look to your partner if you need pointers."

It was then Andromeda remembered she was supposed to be mentoring the stupid git. She felt ill at being in such proximity to a Mudblood, however she was expected to aid him. Recalling the promise she had made to herself that morning, Andromeda turned to the Hufflepuff and she scrutinised his posture. Flitwick was right, he was holding his wand far too tightly.

"Loosen your hold." Andromeda instructed, watching as his fingers eased off from around the red oak. "That's better. Now, make sure you flick your wrist in a short, deliberate arc." The Slytherin demonstrated without using the incantation. Tonks watched her movements carefully. "Now you have a try." The witch's tone was authoritative and stern, leaving no room for discussion.

Andromeda watched him perform a stylish swish of his wand. A few seconds later, his quill fluttered down to the desk in front of him and Tonks grinned triumphantly. The witch felt a stab at her pride and vowed to outdo him. She concentrated on the flow of magic in her veins and felt her wand respond immediately. Accio. Her bag stirred again and with a little more force, her ink pot soared into the air.

"It's an Accio not a Leviosa." Tonks mumbled happily in her ear, much to Andromeda's irritation. Gritting her teeth, the Slytherin guided the glass jar gently down, controlling it, until the round pot rolled across the glossy surface of their shared desk.

"Well done Miss Black and Mr Tonks!" Flitwick exclaimed enthusiastically. "Ten points to both houses. Please keep practising."

Both students complied, and though Andromeda knew she had to aid Tonks, she didn't have to let him have all the glory for her hard work. So the witch was determined to outshine her partner with every flick of her wrist.

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a/n: I sincerely hope you all enjoy this chapter, it was a little hard to write as I was trying to get the right tension between Ted and Andromeda. I hope it was okay.
Thanks again to Amanda and Ikorous for your encouraging words on the last chapter and thank you to everyone who has begun to follow my story :) I am truly humbled!
Asking for advice here; do you think a paragraph/chapter from Ted's P.O.V would be beneficial to the story or would it take too much away from Andromeda? Please let me know what you think in a review, I would like to know your opinions. Thanks again everyone!
- DQ92