"Remind me again why you got detention?" Andromeda asked, trying and failing to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
"We planted itching powder in Gilderoy Lockhart's trousers," Sirius managed to say it with a straight face, but Potter sniggered behind him.
"And why did you put itching powder in his trousers?"
"Because he's an insufferable dunderhead."
"I'm fairly certain being an insufferable dunderhead is not a crime."
"Well, it should be. And until it is Potter and I will have to take matters into our own hands in our quest to purge the world of insufferable dunderheads everywhere." He and Potter gave each other high fives over their precariously stacked leech tanks they were supposed to be cleaning.
Andromeda sighed. It had been the brilliant idea of their head boy, Amos Diggory, that the prefects be the ones to monitor the detention, as it would allow them greater influence over the vagrant's of the school. But Andromeda knew Sirius and Potter well enough to know their vagrant's ways were incurable.
"Speaking of insufferable dunderheads," Sirius said, the laughter fading from his voice, "How is your Fiancé?"
Andromeda's half-amused smile turned to a scowl. "Rabastan's not a dunderhead."
Potter snorted, "Says the woman who's bedding him."
And then her scowl turned to rage, "I'm not bedding anyone!"
Potter laughed, "All right, All right, but there's no need to declare your virginity to the entire school."
Oops. He was right, even if it was after school hours there would be plenty of students milling about. And she had spoken rather loudly.
Her cheeks turned flame-red, which only made her scowl more. "Would you focus on the leeches? I don't want to be here all day."
"Of course, milady," Potter fake curtsied, making Andromeda scowl more and causing Sirius to snigger. He'd always found the fights between his best friend and his favorite cousin extremely entertaining.
As potter returned to scrubbing, she distinctly heard him mutter, "Can't believe she chose that pompous fool over Tonks."
She let out an impromptu gasp, almost like a sob. Both Sirius and Potter swiveled toward her. She looked down, her heart pounding, praying they would, just this once, not let their curiosity get the better of them.
"Meda?" Sirius asked, "Is there something you'd like to say?"
She should have known better than to hope for the impossible. She shook her head, but her refusal to look Sirius in the eye gave her away.
"Things between you and Tonks are over, right?"
She tried to say the word yes, but it wouldn't come out. Her ability to lie had been annoyingly absent the past few weeks. So instead she just sighed.
"I knew it!" Sirius punched the air. "I knew you'd never go for that twisted snake."
"No," Andromeda shook her head, "You don't understand."
Sirius' face fell, "So you're saying you're not back with Tonks?"
"No," she said quickly, before remembering her last moment with Ted. Lying on top of a man wasn't something she would do with just anybody. "Sort of. It's complicated."
Sirius shook his head, "Andromeda, you've got too…" he stopped, staring at her in concern. She wasn't sure why until she felt the salty, wetness rolling down her cheeks. Great, now she was crying in front of Potter, no less.
"Meda?" Sirius asked, his voice soft and tender, a very uncharacteristic feature for him. Another sob escaped from her throat. She tried to choke it back, but that only made her cry harder. Before she knew what she was doing she was weeping.
Sirius stepped forward, taking her hand and guiding her to an empty seat. She collapsed unto it gratefully. Sirius stayed by her, her hand in his and a concerned look on his face. Behind him stood Potter, trying his hardest to look anywhere but at the despairing Andromeda. The sight of him looking so uncomfortable almost brought a smile to her face. Almost.
"I don't know what to do," Andromeda gasped. "I can't bear the thought of hurting either of them, but I know that I have too. I just, can't. I can't choose." She'd promised Ted she would, she would choose. She hadn't said as much to Rabastan, but the guilt of practically cheating on him was almost too much for her to bear. She owed it to Rabastan to make a choice as well. Bur the truth that she hadn't admitted to Ted, or even herself, was that she couldn't choose. No matter how hard she tried.
"Do you love, Ted?" Sirius asked.
Andromeda looked down. The answer to that question terrified her more than anything else, but there was only one truthful answer. "Yes."
Sirius exhaled sharply. He understood the implication of that question better than anyone could.
"And Rabastan?" he asked. Andromeda could see where he was going with this. She'd tried this route too, but it led to a dead end. "I've grown too, yes."
Potter, who had been trying to so hard to pretend he wasn't listening to every word, looked up at her answer. Then he and Sirius glanced at each other. She had not been as firm in her response to Rabastan as she had been for Ted, but that didn't make it any less true.
"Andromeda, you know what the answer should be."
She shook her head. "What future would Ted and I have? Assuming we could even make our feelings publicly known without being destroyed, we'd spend the rest of our lives being haunted by my family. Rabastan and I wouldn't have these obstacles. We could be happy." And there it was, the unspoken truth in heart. Rabastan was the safer, securer way to happiness. Ted was a leap in the dark, where everything was unknown.
"You'll be happiest with the one you truly love," It was Potter, not Sirius, who said that. He met Meda's eyes briefly before glancing away.
Andromeda wanted to believe that, but she couldn't.
For a moment, all three of them were silent. If there was one thing Andromeda thought she'd never do, it was discuss her love life with Sirius and Potter. The world was full of strange and unimaginable things.
"I have a different question for you." Sirius said, he glanced at her, like he was asking permission.
She nodded, if nothing else because she was curious what else he could have to say.
"Have you thought about who you would be, with each of them? Or what you would have to give up to be with each of them? You know what Rabastan believes, Andromeda. Could you really live the rest of your life, pretending you feel the same way?"
She shook her head. "Rabastan isn't like his brother. He sees things differently, like me."
Sirius and Potter raised their eyebrows, before glancing at each other again. She wasn't surprised they were so surprised. They didn't believe a Slytherin could ever be good, Andromeda excluded.
"Are you sure, Meda? Because I'm pretty sure there's no one like you."
She opened her mouth, but she had no response.
"And you didn't answer my other question," Sirius continued, "About who you would become, with each of them."
It seemed like such a strange question, and she was about to tell him as much, when she stopped, thinking. Rabastan didn't see things quite the same way, but he never told her she was wrong for thinking them. He didn't call her a traitor or a disgrace. So long as she kept her thoughts to herself. And that would be her life with him. In private, with him, she could be herself, but whenever they were out in public, she would be forced to keep up the façade that she was a proper purebred girl. She was trading her security for her silence.
With Ted, she would have no security. She might not even have a future with him. But she would be herself. She would have her own voice. She would be free.
Her tears stopped, replaced by something else. The fear was still there, as strong as ever, but also a sense of understanding, a sense of peace. She knew which path she wanted to take.
"I need to go," she said, racing toward the door.
"Wait!" Potter shouted. "You're not allowed to leave until we're finished."
"You don't need me to help you finish," Andromeda said, exasperated. "I'm only here to supervise."
"But without supervision," Potter countered, "who's to say we won't just walk off and leave the leech tanks here?"
Andromeda threw her hands in the air. "Are you really that juvenile?"
"Yes," Potter replied without hesitation, "and you know if they do they won't blame us, they'll blame our fellow peer supervisor who left us unattended."
She scowled the dirtiest scowl she could muster. He was right, and while she had risked her reputation in many ways for Ted's sake, there was no way she was risking her reputation as a prefect.
"I don't have time for this," she nearly screeched.
"If you used magic you would," Potter quickly added with a slight grin. This was clearly the point he'd been building up too.
"You're not allowed to use magic," Andromeda shot back.
"Yes, but you are," Potter said, like it was obvious. Though in restrospect, it probably was.
Andromeda glared at him for another because it made her feel better, then said, "Fine." She flicked her wand, and the tanks cleaned themselves. She'd always had a natural knack for household spells, something her family had found disturbing, as a Black had no place doing household choirs. She'd been a misfit from the start.
"Thank you," Potter said. He even gave her a dramatic bow. "I take back what I said about you being a sniveling broodmare."
Sirius coughed to hide a snort, while Andromeda's glare returned to Potter. At the moment, she wished she had a knack for incineration spells instead.
"I mean," Potter grinned innocently, or as innocent as he could look, which was not very, "I would if I'd ever said anything like that."
Andromeda flicked her wrist again.
Potter's hands immediately went to his face. "What did she do?"
Sirius couldn't contain his laughter anymore, he was doubled over and heaving before he managed to choke out, "You need a mirror mate,"
There were no mirrors, so instead Potter ran headlong toward the window.
"Son of a—" he didn't even bother to finish his curse before he started trying to pry the leeches of his face. Still chuckling, Sirius and Andromeda drifted toward each other. There was something she hadn't seen before. Usually Sirius looked at her in concern, amusement, or even pity. But today, it was pride. He gave her a salute, which made her giggle, before she remembered why he was saluting her. She didn't look back as she raced out the door, but she was sure she could see him grinning all the way out.