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It didn't matter that he'd expected her to slap him instead of kiss him. The second her lips were on his he opened up to meet them. His hands were around her neck, sliding up to her hair as he tangled his hands in it the way he'd always dreamed of doing. His other hand slid down her shoulder, toward her waist. She moaned underneath him and her hands shot up, running roughly through his hair as she arched up into him. Ted found himself almost growling with pleasure as his hand moved down to her lower back, pressing her hard against him. Their kiss, which had started out slow and longing, quickly deepened into something much, much more.

Ted had seen the way she kissed Rabastan, but he doubted it had been anything like this. This, desperate. Like there was this raw hunger that neither could satisfy but they were going to damn well try. Ted didn't bother to think about what was happening, he couldn't. All he knew is that all he ever wanted was to kiss Andromeda like this, and keep kissing her until…

They heard a sharp rap behind them.

Andromeda pulled away, staring at him with wide, terror-filled eyes. They heard someone muttering, and they both knew exactly what that meant.

Filch.

Ted swore. Why did this have to happen now?

"He's coming." Andromeda looked like it was the hounds of hell coming and not the caretaker and his little kitten. But then, that cat was a piece of work. This one time it bawled at him just because he'd dragged a little too much mud in and then he'd had to make a run for it before…

Andromeda had started toward the door. That was no good. Filch was just on the other side of it. She was going to run straight into him. Ted seized her wrist. "This way," he said through the side of his mouth. They ran off toward a secluded corner of the trophy room and hid behind a couple of man-sized shields. Andromeda's clock had just whipped behind a corner when Filch came bursting into the room.

He looked around, almost like he was sniffing for something.

"Moved on, did they? But we definitely heard yells coming from here, didn't we, my sweet? A dueling game gone awry, perhaps?"

He and Andromeda must have sounded pretty damn angry, but there was no time to dwell on this, Mrs. Norris was coming their way.

Professor Filch had been installed as the caretaker in Ted's third year, and seemed to have a personal vendetta against all students. But he was kind of thick, so by now they knew how to out-smart him. But this year he'd shown up with a kitten, who possessed things filch didn't, like a superb sense of smell and the ability to see in the dark.

The kitten sniffed eagerly in their direction, her cat eyes glowing. Ted raised his wand but Andromeda grabbed his arm, shaking her head curtly. He knew she was right, but he couldn't help glaring at her. Did she have a better idea? He looked around for something to distract the cat with, but it turned out he didn't need it.

He heard a crash on the other side of the room. He looked behind him to see Andromeda with her wand raised, an almost smug look on her face. A small trophy was missing from the shelf next to them.

Looks like she did have a better idea. She caught him staring and gave him a sharp tap, jerking him into motion. The two of them raced forward just as Filch and the cat raced toward the source of the noise, though the cat moved somewhat hesitantly, still glaring in their direction.

"This way Mrs. Norris. Oh! Perhaps it is not students at all, perhaps it is Peeves up to his usual mischief!"

Ted looked over his shoulder just as Mrs. Norris looked over at them. Their eyes met. He was about to stick his tongue out at her when Andromeda grabbed his arm and dragged his arm roughly forward. Once again, it was a smart move, but he would never tell her that. The two of them raced through corridor and down the winding staircase, stopping only when they had reached a shadowy corner by the kitchens.

"Well," Ted said, after an insufferable silence broken only by their rasping breath, "that was close." Andromeda gave him a scathing look, opening her mouth to say something, but instead she closed it. She glanced over at him with wide eyes. His lips still felt warm, and his skin tingled where she'd touched him. He blushed, and she ducked her head, starting down the passageway that leads toward the dungeons.

"Andromeda!" He was surprised that it came out as a shout, but he didn't care. He grabbed her wrist, tugging her back. "No more, you are not running out on me again."

She stared at him with wide eyes as she tried to pull free, but to no avail. The nice thing about working on a ranch? It makes you tough. After a moment she gave up. Her eyes and mouth still looked fierce, but her shoulders slumped and her voice sounded dry and raspy, "What do you want me to do, Ted?"

His throat felt dry and his eyes wet, but he choked it back, "I want you to tell me what's going on, with you… with us."

She closed her eyes, her shoulders falling, "I don't know,"

"You don't know?" How could she still be playing this game? "Why'd you kiss me?"

"I don't know!" She screamed, renewing her attempts to pull free of his grasp.

"You don't know?" His voice dropped into a quiet, course whisper. "You don't kiss people like that unless you—"

"Unless you what?" Her voice quivered like she was choking back tears, but shefinally managed to pull her hand free.

He turned away, running his hands through his hair. "You're not making this very easy." He said that to the wall, not daring to look at her.

She was silent. Maybe she decided to leave, he thought, shuddering. But then, "Well, if you want to go out with me, you'd better get used to things not being very easy."

He froze. The words didn't register. He turns toward her, shock lining every little crease of his face. After everything that had happened tonight, everything he'd felt, he'd never even entertained the possibility. He'd never thought there was one. But Andromeda, she, she was saying…

She'd come to same conclusion. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. She turned, ready to flee, but his hand snaked around her wrist. He didn't even think about doing it, it just happened. She didn't fight him, she just stared. He didn't loosen his grip on her, but his hands gently caress the soft skin. His thumb rests on the inside of her wrist.

Andromeda couldn't breathe. Her blood raced toward her wrist almost like it was gravitating toward his touch. Her body's turned toward him as everything washed over her. Her words, her kiss. This was real, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the feeling of his hand on hers, the lingering heat on her lips, memories of the way her heart lifted every time she saw him, how he could make her laugh away her troubles…But she really thought about none of that, not consciously, her mind just reacted to what her body remembered.

"We'll have to be really careful," she whispered, too scared to look him in the eye. "We won't be able to acknowledge each other around school at all, even when were surrounded by strangers..."

His hand moved up to her forearm, his grip firm but gentle. He took a step.

"I mean it, Ted," she said. Maybe because she was afraid he wasn't not listening, or maybe because she needed to distract herself from his proximity. "We have to keep it a secret. We can't tell anyone, not our friends, not our families…"

He moved even closer, his hand sliding up above her elbow. Her breath caught. "I just… are you sure this is what you want?"

He didn't answer, just grabbed her chin, slowly lifting it up to meet him. He leaned in and kissed her.

This kiss wasn't like the others they'd shared. It wasn't rough and reeking of desperation and pain, a desire to consume. This time his lips were gentle, caressing, like dove's wings.

"Yeah," he murmured into her cheek, having pulled away just long to look at her, really look at her. "I'm sure."

And then he kissed her some more.

After a few moments she finally pulled away, but didn't leave his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her cheek against his shoulder. Tears slipped down her face. Funny, she hadn't realized she was crying. But she was smiling too, through the tears. She couldn't have this, but she was taking it anyway.

"I, I have to go…" she whispered, not even sure he could hear her, but she felt the air rush through his chest like he was sighing.

She leaned back, and his arms slipped off. She couldn't look in those eyes, those beautiful, blue eyes. It was like falling, falling into a void a darkness she couldn't break out of.

"I, I'll see you…" Her sentence fell, unfinished. "Goodbye, Ted."

She didn't want to leave, and yet she wanted to run and keep on running until she fell off the edge of the earth. Instead she walked away, heading back toward the common room. She expected him to call after her, but he didn't. Good, he wouldn't see her face. Wouldn't see the tears falling down her cheeks like rain. Because now that his touch was gone reality set in. This was wrong. And what's more, it was dangerous. Really dangerous. They were playing with fire. There was no doubt: they will get burned.

Ted couldn't move as he watched Andromeda leave, and even after she left. He didn't want to leave himself, but getting caught by Filch, another teacher or, heaven forbid, a prefect, would be a rotten way to end the evening.

He should be happy. Andromeda wants to go out with him! He'd been fantasizing about this moment for years, but he'd always pictured it differently. And he couldn't forget the way she walked away from him, like she was literally being ripped in half, like she still wasn't sure which half her heart was on. And the way her goodbye had sounded so final…

It wasn't the most promising start to a relationship, but it was something.