Andromeda had never loved Pro. Flitwick more in her life. If it hadn't been for him she never would have learned the heat enchantment, and then she would have died of hypothermia before getting to speak with Ted again.

She pulled her cloak closer as the wind whistled around her. Whether she had a heat source or not this was kind of cold you could feel in your bones— refreshing and exhilarating, but threatening of destruction.

They didn't have to meet outdoors, she supposed. They could have met in one of many unused classrooms. But this spot by the lake was where their relationship had started. And after everything they'd been through, it was only fitting that they should meet together here.

She just hoped Ted agreed.

Doing her best to ignore the nervous pit in her stomach, she gazed out over the frozen lake. In the summer time the lake looked like a black diamond, but with the snow reflecting all-around, it was like a slice of heaven. At least how her literature would describe that mystical place.

The sound of footsteps in the crunching snow reached her ears, and she whirled around. Though he was still a few from paces form her, he stopped as soon as their eyes met.

She'd been spending hours pondering what she would say when she saw him again, but now that he stood in front of her mind refused to remember any of it.

Finally, he broke the silence. "Hey."

"Hey," she clenched her teeth at the sound of her own voice. It was raw and terse, not exactly inviting a warm conversation.

Once again, they lapsed into silence, the feet of space between them like canyons.

"Did you have a nice holiday?" She wished her accompanying smile didn't look so forced. What's more, her question had the opposite effect that she'd intended. Rather than opening up, Ted chose to avert his gaze as he merely shrugged.

"And you?" he asked, her gaze fixed determinedly on the tree next to them.

It took her minute to realize what he was asking… she was too focused on him focusing on everything but her.

"Oh? It was…" She thought back to everything that had happened during the party. The gathering she'd witnessed, Bella's confrontation with Rodolphus, her conversation with Rabastan…

None of those, especially the last one, would help her smooth the waters with Ted.

"Uneventful," she said.

"And Rabastan?" His voice was cool, but she didn't miss the way it stumble over Rabastan's name, "Did he have a good break?"

Andromeda let out a long breath. She expected that something like this would come up.

Expected, and dreaded.

Tentatively, she took a step forward. "Ted, Rabastan and I… There's nothing going on between us."

"Does he know that?" Came Ted's soft reply.

She'd been expecting a lot of answers from him, but that wasn't one of them. "What?"

"Rabastan," he said slowly, still avoiding her gaze," does he know there's nothing going on between you?"

She was suddenly glad Ted wasn't looking at her, so he couldn't see the way she flushed. She'd be an idiot not to notice something in the way Rabastan looked at her, spoke to her, in the way he held her hand…

But he was her fiancé. He thought it was his right.

Though telling Ted this particular detail would do anything but help her cause, so instead she just shook her head. "Things are just complicated because of our parents."

"Are you planning on telling him you're taken?" Ted's sounded like he was merely commenting on the weather, but Andromeda could detect the angry edge in his voice. " It might alleviate the confusion."

When Andromeda didn't immediately respond, his shoulders slumped slightly, but otherwise, he gave no indication that he cared.

She wanted to tell him why. Tell him why that wasn't as simple as he made it out to be. But she couldn't. It would only make things worse. She had to say something though, otherwise he would keep drifting away from her.

Her voice sounded far too desperate as she said, "Rabastan and I are just friends."

He glanced up sharply. She'd finally gotten his attention, just not in the way she wanted. "Friends?" He spat out the word like it was a curse. "You're friends with him?"

Andromeda took an involuntarily step back at the venom in his voice. He voice was firm though as she said, "he's not like the rest of them." Defending Rabastan was probably not the wisest thing she could do as this juncture. But she couldn't help; she felt like she owed him. "He's different."

The certainty in her voice gave Ted pause, it seemed. She couldn't tell if he believed her though, about any of it. Especially when he decided to look away again, hiding his face.

When he spoke again, his voice was that same controlled, bitter tone. "Is that why you didn't want to tell anyone about Teresa? You didn't want to get your friend's older brother in trouble?"

His voice was barely above a whisper, but she flinched like she'd been slapped. "You really think me capable of something like that?"

Ted didn't respond, nor did he return his gaze to her. That was answer enough.

She practically lunged forward so that she was standing right next to him. "Ted, you know me." She could barely keep her voice from breaking.

"I know who you are around me." Her close proximity forced him to look at her, but his eyes were cold and distant. "Around them it's an entirely different story."

"But I'm not like them, Ted." She wanted so desperately to touch him, as though she could convince him through her touch, but she dared not. "I don't do the things they do."

"Being a good person doesn't count if you only do it when it's convenient for you."

Andromeda took a step back. Her mouth opened, but she had nothing to say. His words reached down somewhere deep inside her. The part of her that knew he spoke truth, but also knew the rest of her was too fragile to handle it.

She shook her head again, forcing those thoughts away. "I had to say those things to him Ted. If Rabastan suspected anything—"

"Because it's all about Rabastan, isn't it?"

Maybe it was the déjà vu of having this conversation once before, but something about his statement made her snap. "Do we really have to go through all this again?" Her pleading tone evaporated as she seethed, "We can't tell anyone about us."

"Standing up for a muggleborn once in a while is a far cry from telling everyone our secret."

Once again, Andromeda had no response. Her fire evaporated as quickly as it had come, leaving her only her weak pleas. "You don't understand."

"Except I do. Finally. When it's me against them. You're always going to put them first."

She shook her again, as though that could somehow make Ted's words go away. This conversation wasn't going at all how she imagined. "That's not true."

Ted's eyes flashed. "Tell me one time. One time you haven't done exactly what they wanted you to do."

There was one time. At the end of her fifth year, when she'd gone up against all of them; her housemates, her parents, even her sister. And she'd nearly been destroyed because of it.

And since then, she'd let her fear of them overtake her. She was so afraid she wouldn't protect her little sister.

So, in essence, Ted was right, about everything.

And she was pretty sure, in this moment, she hated him for it.

Her head snapped up, eyes flashing as she spat, "When I agreed to go out with you, you said you understood why we had to keep it a secret. You said you—"

"It's not about me!" Ted almost seemed to explode. "It's about Teresa!"

The controlled detachment he'd been trying so hard to cling too seem to have finally shattered. Everything he'd been trying to suppress came bubbling to the top.

She'd always said Ted reminded her of sun, and he still did. The fiery hot kind that blinded her and scorched her skin.

"How long it's going to be, Andromeda? How long's it going to be before someone gets caught in the crossfire because of us?"

He was barely as hairsbreadth away from her, her scorching ball of fury, and yet she had no desire to move away. Even if his words were ripping her apart.

"How long is going to be before someone gets hurt, permanently, because you were too afraid to do anything?"

His words reached that place deep inside her, where she put things she wasn't strong enough to deal with. Only now, she didn't even have the strength to keep it down.

Her voice broke. "What do you want from me, Ted?"

For a moment, the fire drained from his eyes, and she caught a glimpse of Ted, her Ted. His voice shook as he said, "I want you."

"You have me," Andromeda breathed.

And just like that, the light disappeared from his eyes entirely, leaving only something empty and cold.

He stepped back. "No, I don't." And then he turned to go.

Andromeda had known this was coming, but she couldn't stop herself from calling out, like a bird with broken wings refusing to accept it could no longer fly. "So that's it? You're just going to walk away from us?"

Ted stopped, but he didn't turn around as he said, "There wasn't an us to walk away from."

He continued walking, and this time he didn't turn around.

Andromeda watched him go. She didn't say anything, or move, she just watched him. It seemed the further away he got, the more her insides turned to ice. Soon it was so cold she could barely breath, her breath coming out in raspy gasps. The chilling darkness was filling up inside her, drowning her.

And then it just stopped, and she didn't feel anything at all.