Ted never would've thought there'd be someone worse than Filch, but he clearly hadn't been thinking it through.

Yaxley, Rosier, Dolohov, and Rodolphus Lestrange stumbled into the room. Dolohov and Yaxley were holding bottles of firewhiskey, though all four of them we're clearly drunk. Wait, all three of them. While Yaxley, Rosier, and Dolohov all collapsed into their chairs with the grace of a mountain troll— Yaxley even missed his chair the first time around— Rodolphus casually leaned against the side of the desk and folded his arms across his chest, staring at his friends with a look of slight amusement on his face. He was either sober or he did drunk better than his friends. Eerily better.

But then, a lot of things about that guy were eerie.

"Did you see their faces?" Yaxley chortled as he took another swig. "Looked like they were being chased by a horde of angry spiders."

"They were being chased by a horde of angry spiders," Dolohov slurred, and the two of them burst into laughter.

"We need to get out of here," Andromeda whispered.

"What? And miss the primetime show?" Ted muttered, but he trailed off as he glanced over at Andromeda.

Piper was shaking, all over. And there were tears streaming down her face. Her breath was coming in short, heavy gasps. It was like she was having some sort of panic attack.

"What's her deal?" Ted mouthed, but Meda only shook her head.

"Would've been e'en better if it was mudblood girls," Dolohov slurred. "One bite and their skin gets all oozy. Thadda make them scream."

"Yeah, wadda ya think, Rolf?" Yaxley called, "Wanna make 'dem mudbloods dance?"

Piper let out some high-pitched cough, like a mix between a hiccup and a sob.

Rodolphus's head whipped into their direction.

Andromeda clapped her hand over Piper's mouth, but it was too late, the damage had been done.

They froze, scarcely even daring to breathe, as Rodolphus's eyes roamed over the corner where they were hiding. There was no smirk on his face this time; just his dark, endless eyes.

As slowly as he could, Ted reached for his wand. If Rolf decided to come and investigate, then their best bet was to take him out. Then they could take out the other three and make a run for it.

Just as his hands closed around the familiar wood, warm fingers wrapped around his wrist. Andromeda shook her head. Ted was about to protest, but something in her eyes stopped him. There was a steeliness there he hadn't seen before, like her brown eyes were flecked with grey. He sighed— inwardly— but nodded. She released his wrist, placing her hand back on Piper's shoulder in comfort, but he saw her other hand clenching her wand under her robes, ready to strike.

"Rolf?" Dolohov prompted again.

Ever so slowly, his eyes turned away from the corner. "Pathetic."

Dolohov's face pinched together, like he were trying to solve a particularly complex problem, or was just constipated. "What?"

"Your plan. It's dull. Unoriginal. Not worth my time."

"He's right." Rosier cut in. "Setting a horde of spider's after them means the spiders get to steal all our fun."

Xayley's eyes lit up, like Rosier's statement was prophetic in nature. "Then what?"

"I know who we should do it too," Dolohov waved his bottle around. "This Hufflepuff girl squeaked when I grinned at her the other day. Bet she'd scream all nice and pretty."

Rodolphus raised his eyebrows. "She got a name?"

"Teresa," Dolohov said. "She's a Hufflepuff, sixth year, I think."

Ted's chest seized up as he slowly glanced at Andromeda. He was sure her pale expression mirrored his own.

Rodolphus tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling like he was thinking. "My dad told me about a spell. Turns a person's insides out."

Rosier raised his eyebrows, but not in horror, the way Ted would have, merely mild surprise. "You want to kill her?"

"That's the beauty of it," Rodolphus's lips spread like he was actually grinning. "It doesn't kill them. All that muscle and tissue exposed and they go on breathing normal. It'll give her plenty to scream about though."

There was a silence as they all pictured, then Dolohov's lips spread into a slow, drunken laugh.

Ted turned away, choking down the bile in his throat. He couldn't take any more of this, or he really would be sick.

"You got any ideas on how to get out of here?" He mouthed to Andromeda, but she held her finger up to her lips. Her attention returned to the drunken Slytherin boys in front of them. She looked almost passive, except she was making the same swallowing motions he was, and her hand was clenched so tightly around her wand her knuckles had turned white.

"I know when we could do it too," Dolohov said. "She always leaves dinner a little early on Saturday's, goes out to the greenrooms. Few people would be out by the greenhouses during dinner, especially in this weather." He chuckled. "No one around to hear her scream."

Ted tensed, almost like he was going to spring forward and attack them, but he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and heard Andromeda whispering something.

There was a loud thud as a chair smacked against a wall on the other side of the room.

The three drunk boys stood up quickly— so quickly Yaxley lost his balance— staring pale-faced at the wall.

Rodolphus on the other, glanced casually over his shoulder, like this sort of thing happened all the time.

"What was that?" Dolohov said, like it was the most important question in the world. They glanced around hurriedly as they searched for the source of the noise. Except for Rodolphus's, whose gaze drifted back over to where they were hiding.

Ted would've hissed at her, but that would've made things worse. What the hell was she thinking? Her saw her eyes widen as Rodolphus's gaze turned to them. Her hand began to shake. She closed her eyes, muttering something else.

The chalk by the blackboard rose into the air and began writing on the board. The other three froze as they watched it.

Ted's face went bright red at the word Andromeda wrote on the board, but it worked. A moment later Dolohov said, "Peeves! It's Peeves."

Yaxley pulled out his wand with so much force he stumbled backward. "Peeves! Show yourself."

Rodolphus glanced at the board, but his attention again returned to desks they were hiding behind.

"You coward!" Dolohov shouted. "Come out."

Unless Ted was much mistaken, taunting people while lurking just out of sight was a poltergeist specialty, but it didn't really matter, what he believed. The drunken trio and their much more sensible fourth member needed to believe it was him. Andromeda better have another trick up her sleeve.

She muttered something else, and then a low cackling filled the air. Ted glanced over at her, unable to keep the surprised grin off his face. It sounded exactly like Peeves. How had she done that?

The trio seemed to agree, as they were whirling around again, searching for the source of the noise. Even Rodolphus looked confused as he glanced between his friends and the desks.

"Stop that!" Dolohov shouted. "You don't know who you're toying with peeves." And then, as if to emphasize this point. He set a hex at a coat of arms strung up on the wall. It fell and nearly knocked out Yaxley.

Andromeda grinned, but she managed to keep it under control as she flicked her wand a few more times. More objects began to fly across the room, slamming into the walls.

"He's going to attract Filch!" Yaxley hollored, because that of course, wouldn't attract Filch.

And now Ted understood. It was brilliant. The only problem would be if it worked, and Filch did come. Still, he was pretty sure he'd rather face Filch than these guys. Maybe.

Except it wasn't working completely. Rodolphus's gaze returned to where they were hiding, his eyes narrowed. He stepped toward them. Ted shot a quick glance at Andromeda. She returned it, her eyes widening. Biting back a curse, he began sending objects flying as well.

Dolohov cursed as Ted nearly slammed a desk into his head. He took off running toward the door, with Yaxley and Rosier close behind, but Rodolphus was still coming toward them.

"Rolf!" Rosier called from the door. "Quit messing about. We got to go!" But Rodolphus kept on walking. Andromeda made the cackling sound again, while Ted let his desk land close to Rodolphus's feet, forcing him to jump out of the way.

"Rolf!" Rosier called again. Rodolphus gave the desks another annoyed look, but when another dflying object nearly knocked him out, he turned and ran after his friend. A moment later the door closed behind him.

Ted and Andromeda sat there, breathing heavily. They might've stayed like that forever if Piper hadn't burst into laughter. Ted and Andromeda couldn't help but break into relieved smiles as well. Of course, Ted had to remember his earlier concern and ruin the moment.

"Not to sound like a drunken, sadistic snake," he heaved. "But they're right. Filch could be here in any minute."

The smiles slipped off Meda's face as Ted took her hand and pulled her toward the doorway, Piper tagging along behind. They peered out into the hallway. It was empty, Rodolphus and the other's having disappeared. There was no sign of Filch, but who knew how long that would last.

Ted turned to Andromeda. "You should hide in the girl's bathroom for a few minutes, just to make sure you don't catch up with them."

She shook her head. "We told Piper we'd walk her back to her dorm, remember?"

No, he actually didn't. And with everything that had happened tonight he'd rather get out of the danger zone as quickly as possible, but something in Andromeda's voice told him she wasn't negotiating.

They didn't say anything as they walked up to The Gryffindor tower, and not just because they didn't want anyone to hear them. They all had a little too much to think about.

Ted couldn't stop himself from glancing at Piper every now and then. Her eyes were still red and puffy from her breakdown earlier, but otherwise she looked fine. There was a sort of crooked smile on her lips, like she was picturing something amusing. Probably those flailing Slytherin boys. Had they been the reason she'd broken down in the first place? They were pretty vile, though he never would've imagined how vile until what he'd heard tonight. Still, breaking down didn't seem like the best way to deal with it, but some people just couldn't hack it. At least Andromeda's ploy had made her feel better.

Speaking of which, Andromeda was watching Piper too, a small frown on her lips. When they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room she gave Piper's hand a gentle squeeze, too which Piper responded with a flicker of a smile. Andromeda released her hand, but Piper didn't move; she just stood there, staring at them.

Ted shifted restlessly. "Aren't you going to go inside?"

Piper's eyes widened. "And let you overhear the password? Not likely."

Ted laughed, even though he wasn't feeling amused. "What makes you think we'd ever want to break in?"

"You're a Hufflepuff," Piper said, like this solved things. "You're always jealous of Gryffindors."

Ted almost choked. "Excuse me? Why do you think—" He broke off when Andromeda sharply grabbed his forearm.

"It was great seeing you again, Piper. I mean—" Andromeda blushed like she'd said something really offensive. "I'm glad your—"

"Fine." Piper finished for her, with something that wasn't quite a smile. Before Ted could work out exactly what it was Andromeda was tugging him down the hall.

"And for your information," Ted shout-whispered after Piper before Meda could stop him, "The Hufflepuff common room leaves the Gryffindor one to shame."

"How do you know?" Meda whispered as they descended the stairs. "You've never seen the Gryffindor common room."

"Believe me," Ted said with a tired grin. "I know." Andromeda just rolled her eyes.

"You should be nicer to her." Meda said.

Ted resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was too tired. "I get touch-y with the 'everyone's better than Hufflepuffs' attitude."

"I'm sure it's frustrating," she said.

Silence lingered, forcing Ted to reflect on the night's events again. It seemed like ages ago that they'd been watching the movie, talking about land. Now they had a lot bigger things to worry about than whether Piper had spoiled the ending for Meda. Things they should probably talk about.

"We have to tell someone, you know," he said, "about what their planning to do."

Andromeda sucked in a breath. "They were just drunk. They didn't mean it."

"You do know who it is we're talking about, right?"

Her jaw twitched. "Better than you do."

"So you know they're fully capable of doing something like this."

"No. I know they've threatened to do things like this before, and haven't followed through."

What was with her attitude? "And if they do this time?" He could barely keep the hard edge out of his voice.

She stopped walking, whirling on him. "What if whoever we tell asks how we know about this? What do we tell them? And if it gets out that we were the ones who told on them? Rodolphus already suspects someone was there, it won't take him long to put two and two together."

"So what? Were just supposed to forget about it? And when Teresa gets sent to the St. Mungo's psych ward to recover from having her skin ripped off, we'll just say, whoops sorry, guess Andromeda over-estimated her snakes. Again."

Andromeda closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. "I can't. If anyone finds out. I'll be labeled as a blood traitor a—" she broke off, casting Ted an almost fearful look. "I'll be labeled as a blood traitor."

So she was keeping something from him. That almost explained why she was being so ridiculous. Almost.

"You snog a mudblood a few times a week. You don't get much more bloody traitorous than that."

Something inside her seemed to crumble at that. When she spoke again, her voice was a hoarse whisper.

"We. Just. Can't."

Ted whistled, mostly to keep himself from shaking her, which is what he wanted to do. "Fitting in with the snakes that important to you?"

"Stop calling them that," she said through gritted teeth.

"Why?" Ted almost snarled. "It's what they are."

And now it was her turn to glare. "I just get a little touch-y at the, "all Slytherins are evil," attitude. She gave him a look that resembled disgust before turning toward the dungeons.

"Lestrange and his friends are the reason that stereotype exists," Ted said without moving.

Andromeda stopped moving, but she didn't turn around. Her head was high, but he could see her shoulders quivering.

"Just keep an eye on Teresa," Andromeda said. And then she kept walking.

Ted didn't move. He refused to look down the hallway either, instead staring straight ahead, until he couldn't do it anymore.

He turned around, but she was gone. The heat left his cheeks, while a cold emptiness took its place.

This definitely hadn't been how he'd planned his romantic evening to go.