"Seriously, for every meal?" Ted asked.
"Well, not every time, just when we have guests over, which is most of the time."
"Huh." Ted leaned over, seemingly examining her side. He had a sort of twisted, contemplated look on his face, the same look he got whenever Professor McGonagall went over advanced theories in transfiguration. Not that she'd been looking. "If you have an eight course meal that many times a week, how are you still this thin?"
She threw a role at his face, which he blocked his arm, and then grinned. It'd had been a week since their first meeting, and they'd met three times since then.
"I could say the same about you, you know." She glanced over at his now empty-plate, which had been overflowing with food moments before.
He grinned. "I probably would've been, with all my mom's cooking, if I hadn't had to work on a farm."
"You're a farmer?" She asked, even though she wasn't surprised.
"Well, technically, I'm a wizard," he said bracingly. She blushed, thinking she'd offended him, but he only smile and he shifted where he was sitting, so that he was closer to her.
He kept his eyes on her, until she was forced to look away.
"So, Andromeda…"
"Meda, Please." She smiled, and he returned it.
"Right. Meda, you know who you look like?"
"No?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Audrey Hepburn."
She blinked. "Who?" Where was he going with this?
"She's this actress, or singer. You know, for muggles. I only know who she is because my mom adores 'My fair lady.' She used to make me watch it all the time." His words start to rush. "Not that you're anything like Eliza. Well, maybe a little, after she… I mean, you look like her, except she wears her hair up, like…" He reached for her, and she froze. His hand brushes across her cheek as he started to pull her hair up.
She flinched, and Ted quickly pulled his hand away, his jaw dropping.
"Sorry, I don't know why…" He turned crimson, and quickly buried his hand in his hair, like that would keep him from reaching out to her again.
Another silence ensued, only this time, Ted didn't try to break it.
She finished her food, which meant she had no reason to stay. But as tense as things were she didn't want to leave just yet. She reached into a bag and pulled a brush, but stopped when she caught sight of his expression.
"What?" She sounded more defensive than she meant too.
"It's just… you're constantly fixing your hair."
"Well, it's constantly getting messed up."
He flinched, and even though she hadn't been thinking of him when she said it, she flushed.
"Don't you're being a little obsessive?" he asked.
"You think I'm obsessed?" She laughed, trying to ease the mood. "You should see Narcissa; it takes her over an hour to get ready most mornings."
"Huh." He said that a lot. "I would've thought both your sisters would've been like that."
Andromeda's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"
Ted seemed to realize he was treading dangerous waters, but he wasn't one to stop once he started.
"You know what I'm talking about. I'm surprised they can see where they're going with their noses sticking up like that. They're the queens of snobs. They act like they're superior to everyone else they meet. And not just muggleborns, everyone. Although they make it clear that the muggleborns are slugs while they're goddesses walking on earth, or something."
Andromeda shot him a sharp glance. "Excuse me?"
He returned her hard stare. "You know it's true."
Her jaw clenched. "That's not the issue, Mr. Tonks. I won't tolerate my family be spoken about in such a manner. Do you understand me?"
His mouth twitched and his eyes narrowed, he looked like he was about to retort, but he just shook his head and looked away. "Fine."
A tense silence followed. She wondered if she should leave, if she made him angry. Maybe he even wanted her to leave. She returned her brush to her bag.
"So, do you want to hear about the time I mistook a raccoon for the angry spirit of a medieval criminal who'd been drawn and quartered?"
Andromeda couldn't help it; she smiled. "Of course."
After Ted had mentioned her sisters and Andromeda had semi-exploded at him, she'd thought their meal and possibly even their whole friendship was ruined, but once again she'd underestimated him. By the time they parted they were laughing hysterically and grinning at each other. That was one thing she liked about Ted. His brightness was infectious. He never seemed to stay down or angry, and you couldn't either while you were with him.
However, from that day on there'd been an understanding between them, Andromeda's family was not open for discussion, ever. But it was more than that really. Whenever they talked their seemed to be a branch of conversation that remained untouched between them, questions neither of them dared ask, probably because they didn't want to know the answer. There were moments where Andromeda could feel those questions creeping up on them, but Ted usually knew how to derail them with a story or joke. She wasn't quite sure why it was this way, maybe it was because neither of them wanted to end up angry at the other again. But it felt like something else. Maybe somewhere, they knew there was something forbidden about what they were doing. Some rule that said this wasn't allowed. And to bring it up was too acknowledge it, but if they didn't mention it they could go on pretending it wasn't there.
Ted also didn't try to touch her again, but she could see the way he always made sure his hands were busy when she's was around, though she tried not to think too much about it.
"Andromeda!" She'd turned. She'd been so cut up in thoughts of Ted Tonks she expected to see him. But it wasn't Ted. It was her fiancé.
She hadn't seen much of Rabastan since their engagement was announced, though he made a point of catching her eye in the common room and the halls.
"I'm glad I caught you before you had a chance to sneak away again." He smirked at her. Hopefully he'd been talking to her sisters, and was referring to her frequent trips to the 'library,' and not to her other endeavors. "Will you walk with me?"
She hesitated. She'd been on her way to meet Ted. He'd promised if she came today he'd explain to her how telephones worked, something she'd always been curious about. But something in Rabastan's voice told her this excursion wasn't optional, so she followed him.
He took her outside. He seemed to be angling for the lake, but she steered him toward the Forbidden Forest.
"How have you been? I trust you're keeping up with your studies?"
"Of course." She matched his polite tone. "And you? How is your seventh year treating you?"
"Not well," he chuckled. "The amount of homework they lay on us is insufferable, and we can't all be perfect little student like you." He winked. "And with the way the teachers are always talking, you'd think our exams were next week, and not in seven months."
"I see." She wasn't quite sure how to broach the next question, but she felt it must be asked. "But you didn't bring me out here to discuss school, did you?"
"No, you're right." He looked uncomfortable now. "I wanted to apologize for being such an inattentive fiancé."
She wasn't quite sure she wanted to discuss this, but there didn't seem to be a way out of it.
"I've just been so busy with school, and in truth I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea of being married."
Andromeda stopped walking. "Oh, I see."
Rabastan seem to realize his mistake. He stopped as well, turning to look at her. "Wait, that's not what I meant. It's not you." He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them.
"You are one of the most beautiful, sophisticated, stunning girls I've ever met, and I've met a lot of girls," he attempted another joke. "So it's not that I don't want to marry you, it's just a lot to get my head around."
His words seem to echo her sentiments exactly.
"It's all right." She took a deep breath, "I understand you completely."
He half-smiled, then he lifted his arm and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. He left it there, and she closed her eyes, breathing deeply.
"I want to get to know you Andromeda, away from the formality of our family gatherings." He paused, and then said, "are you going to the dance?"
She opened her eyes. "Yes."
He leaned in, brushing his lips across her cheek.
"Save a dance for me, okay?"
He didn't wait for her to response, though he must have considered the redness in her cheeks to be a positive sign, as he walked away smiling.