Sorry for the formatting mistake, it should be good to go now.
It was Lorie's screeching that finally cut through the silence.
"The next time we all decide to play the quiet game, I demand at least 24 hours notice." She glared between Liv and Ted, the main silent offenders. Under different circumstances Ted would have laughed, but he just shrugged. On his other side, Liv did the same.
Lorie threw her hands up in a huff, while Jake placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He glanced between Liv and Ted with a worried frown on his face. When he finally caught Ted's eyes he raised an eyebrow, but Ted shook his head. Neither Liv nor him knew how to act around each other now. He'd thought they'd managed to end their fight on good terms last night, or at least on a note of understanding, but that wasn't enough to bridge the awkward tension between them. Liv must still be mad at him, and he supposed he couldn't blame her. He'd lied to her for months, and she wasn't the type to forget that in a hurry. At least they seemed to agree that Jake and Lorie didn't need to know about this. But the weight of such a big secret between the two of them made it hard to talk with Jake and Lorie as well.
Lorie eventually gave up on them and started talking to Jake only, and soon the two of them were chortling. At least someone in their group was happy.
Ted sighed. He'd thought he'd feel liberated now that everything with Andromeda was officially behind him, but instead he just felt drained. Like all his energy had been sucked away, and he wasn't sure how to get it back.
They were outside, standing under the tree by the lake. Usually Potter and his gang were here, but both he and Sirius had gotten detention, again. Andromeda had always been so prudish about their frequent detentions, but Ted loved it. The moment he or his friends heard about it they would race out to the tree before anyone could beat them too it.
And now he was thinking about Andromeda again.
He couldn't sigh again, or Lorie would start to think something really was wrong with him, so instead he gazed out across the field. If being outdoors couldn't put him in a better mood, then maybe people-watching would. If it didn't he was completely out of ideas. But no sooner he had started scanning the crowds his eyes landed on Teresa.
He felt another stab of guilt in his chest. He still hadn't spoken to her, not since Valentine's day. She still smiled at him in the hallways like nothing had happened, but that only made him feel worse. He owed her an apology, big time. It was now or never.
"Be right back," he grunted as he pulled himself up from the lawn. Liv raised an eyebrow, until she saw Teresa, and then she gave him a look. He didn't bother to return it as he marched over to Teresa. Of course, she smiled when she saw him.
"Ted!" she said brightly, "I've been wondering where you've been hiding yourself." She didn't say it unkindly, but he flinched anyway.
"Sorry, I've been meaning to talk to you." His sober tone pulled the smile from her face as she stared at him in concern.
"Is everything all right?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.
"I just wanted to apologize, for my behavior, during… during Valentine's day," he wasn't sure why he avoided using the word date, it just felt weird.
Teresa breathed out a sigh of relief, and then smiled. "For what's it worth, I still had fun. You are an entertaining drunk."
Ted turned bright red. "What did I do?" He searched his mind to think of what had happened, but his memory of the end of the night was to blurry. Well, he had been trying to forget something.
"You declared your undying love to Professor McGonagall," she said, smiling sweetly.
Ted paled. "What?" This could not be happening. "We have transfiguration first tomorrow! She's going to murder me. What I am going to do? I'll have to be pretend sick. No, I have to make myself sick otherwise she'll march down the Hospital Wing and—"
"Ted, I was only joking." Teresa laughed. "You didn't say anything about Professor Mcgonagall."
Ted felt his mouth open in shock. "You lied to me? You?"
She just smiled sweetly again.
Ted whistled. "I'll tell you what Teresa, you are full of surprises."
She blushed, and glanced at her hands, when she looked up, she was still smiling, but her eyes looked a little more intense. "Ted, I—"
But whatever else she tried to say was cut off by a scream.
Ted felt his stomach drop. He whirled around. There was already a group of students gathering, and in the center of the onlookers was a familiar figure with long, thin, blond hair. She was on her knees and her hands covered her face, but Ted had heard that scream enough to know who it was. Lorie.
Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell something was seriously wrong. Something was pushing through her fingertips, like soup that bubbled over and seeped out of the edges of the pan. What's more, the skin he could see looked raw, and red.
He cursed, and started forward, but someone grabbed his arm. Teresa. He spun on her, wild-eyed and accusatory. She pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the side. He glanced back at the throng of students, and his eyes widened. There was a crowd of onlookers, but they weren't really looking at Lorie, they were looking at the tall, green-clad seventh years standing around her. He couldn't make out all of their faces, but he was sure he saw Rosier, Dolohov, Yaxley, and Rodolphus Lestrange.
"I don't know what you're so upset about, Mudblood," Yaxley said, while the others leered. "You look much better this way."
Liv, who had been kneeling next to Lorie, whirled around, glaring. "You did this."
"I didn't say that," Yaxley said, but his grotesque smile said otherwise.
Practically growling under his breath, Ted lurched forward, but Teresa's hands snaked around his arm.
"You'll only make things worse," she hissed. Ted turned his glare on her, but she didn't seem to notice as she motioned to Susannah to go get help. Susannah's eyes went wider than a house-elf's, and Ted was certain her fear would keep her rooted in place. But he had to eat his words as she whirled around and raced toward the great oak doors.
"Who knows how long it will take her to find someone!" Ted hissed as soon as she was out of sight.
"Ted, you can't take on that many by yourself," Teresa tightened her grip on his arm. He knew she was right, trying to take them on would land him in the hospital wing himself, or worse. But doing nothing might be worse still.
Liv had apparently given up on getting a confession out of Yaxley, because both she and Jake stood on either side of Lorie and were guiding her toward the castle. But they hadn't taken more than a few steps when the gang of Slytherins stepped in front of her.
"Get out of my way," Liv snarled. Her hand reached into her robe pocket, no doubt searching for her wand.
"We're doing you a favor," Rosier said lazily, "Medicine will only make it worse. Don't you know that, Mudblood?"
"I'm not a mudblood!"
"Could've fooled me," Rosier drawled, glancing over Lorie, who whimpered, "with the riff-raff you hang out with."
Liv's nostrils flared. That was a sure sign she was on the verge of losing it.
"Move," she said finally, her voice quivering with rage. "I won't ask you again."
But they only smiled and stepped closer to her. Their hands were in their robe pockets as well, ready to strike.
Ted couldn't take it anymore. "That's it!" He ripped his arm out of Teresa's grasp and raced forward. But he had barely taken more than two steps when someone else stepped onto the stage. Someone with beautiful, cascading dark hair that glistened a warm-wood brown in the sun. Ted felt his heart actually stop as Andromeda knelt down next to Lorie.
He wasn't the only one who looked confused. Several people looked like hell had frozen over. Liv looked as though she were seeing James Potter declare his undying love for Professor McgonaGall. The Slytherins themselves were beyond shock, all except for Rodolphus, whose eyes were dark and menacing. Ted felt his pulse race for an entirely different reason now. It couldn't be good, seeing Andromeda Black tend to the friend of Ted Tonks, the man Rodolphus knew had a crush on his future sister-in-law.
But Andromeda seemed oblivious to the confusion around her. "Let me see," she said softly, gently tilting her face up and pulling her hands away.
Several people cringed or made retching sounds at the sight of the pus-filled boils on Lorie's face, but Andromeda didn't even flinch. She viewed her with an almost clinical detachment before declaring, "It's not as bad as it looks. It's just an infusion of Wolfsbane and Ragsweed. It'll fade in a few hours."
Next, she glanced at the boys. Ted expected her to offer-up some sniveling apology. He might've, in her place, considering they'd gotten over their shock and were now staring at her murderously. If she hadn't been a Black they probably would have hexed her by now.
But Andromeda, once again, did not flinch as she said, "You need to move. The Professors will be here soon, and even if they can't prove you were the perpetrators, I'm sure she, will inform them of your meddling in her recovery. I'm from what I've heard, you can't afford to get into any more trouble right now."
If people were shocked at Andromeda's behavior before, it was nothing compared to how they looked now. The Slytherin's didn't move, they just stared at her, their shock returning to hear the normally prim and proper Andromeda behave so boldly.
"Well, don't just stand there, get on with it," she repeated, when none of them moved. Slowly, still casting her dirty looks, they left one by one, until only Rodolphus remained. He still stared at her with that dark, penetrating look, like he was trying to see down inside her soul. Andromeda met his gaze calmly and levelly, but Ted could see a tightness in her shoulders and a slight tremble in her hands. Finally, her turned away. Andromeda visibly relaxed, as did Ted. It was only then that Andromeda finally noticed the ciricle of gawkers standing around her. She no longer stared around at them boldly, but rather uncomfortably, like she wanted nothing more than to disappear. She reminded him of a beast trying it's best to hide from the nosy onlookers in a zoo.
"In case you haven't noticed, the show's over, you can get back whatever frivolous activities you were previously engaged in." She tried to say this in the same bold tone she had used earlier, but her voice was too shrill and desperate. It was nonetheless alarming, which is why the crowds around her quickly scattered. Let out another sigh of relief, she turned to leave, and that was when she finally noticed Ted. She didn't say anything, and neither did he, they just stared at each other, locked in a silent communication. The only problem was, he wasn't sure what she was trying to say to him, nor what he wanted to say to her. He just knew he wanted to say something, anything. But there was nothing they could do, which was Andromeda ducked her head and moved away.
Liv was staring between the two of them as well, her mouth still hanging open. She caught Ted's glance eventually. He wasn't quite sure what he saw there. It wasn't guilt, or an apology, it was just confusion, like she had no idea to make of what had just transpired.
That made three of them.