Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!

25 Days of December

Chapter Six- Green
Pairing: Andromeda/Ted

6th December 1969

Andromeda usually went home for Christmas. Not because Christmas at home was a particularly enjoyable affair. And not because of the company either (Her parents were strict and old fashioned, her older sister was barely tolerable at the best of times and her younger sister didn't talk much). It wasn't even for the food (for Andromeda doubted that any food could beat Hogwarts food). She went home for Christmas, because… well, it was home.

But this year, Andromeda wanted a change. This year was her first year of school without her older sister, who had graduated at the end of last year. This year, Andromeda was the eldest Black in the school, an authority figure for younger Blacks, a role model, the top of the food chain, the leader of the family's student members. This year, things were different.

Because this year, Andromeda Black had fallen in love… with a muggleborn.

She hadn't noticed it happening. But by the time she realized her feelings for him and hurriedly tried to shove them away, it was too late. She was already head over heels.

He was in her potions class. He was never very good at potions. Up until Andromeda's fifth year, she had known him as nothing more than the Hufflepuff who blew up his cauldron. But then she was paired with him one lesson, and she realized how nice he was, and how well they got on, and how gorgeous his eyes were. And then she asked about his family, and she found out that he was muggleborn. And there it was. Choose her family? Or choose him?

Facing that decision now was too hard for Andromeda. She was only sixteen, she told herself. It could wait. But she decided that one Christmas away from home wouldn't hurt. In fact, it would be good for her. A bit of change. Something different that she'd never done before.

As she woke up on the first day of the holidays (the 6th of December- they started a week later this year), she couldn't help but feel like this holiday would end up topping all of the past holidays she'd spent at home with her family.

She was the only female, Slytherin sixth year staying for the holidays so she had the whole dorm to herself.

She grinned at the freedom of it all, and took her time showering and getting dressed before heading down to the almost empty Great Hall for breakfast. Then, she decided to head to the library to pick up some books for holiday reading.

She found her favourite spot in the library and settled down with a book. She grinned to herself. Finally, a Christmas Holidays she might actually enjoy.

~-6-~

That afternoon, Ted wandered towards the library, extremely bored. Perhaps he should get to work on that potions essay. He blinked and rolled his eyes at himself. Wow, he must be bored if he was resorting to homework for fun- and potions, no less.

Ted hated potions. Actually, that wasn't true. She was in his potions class.

Andromeda Black. She was the eldest Black in the school and a Slytherin. But that didn't matter to Ted. To him it was all just colours: yellow and green. It was just a house. Just because she was Slytherin didn't mean she acted like a Slytherin.

Or perhaps Ted was just telling himself that because he'd pretty much fallen in love with her.

He rounded a corner, into the library and wandered towards the first secluded area he saw. Except someone had beaten him to it. Ted froze at the sight of Andromeda sitting in an armchair, reading a book. Her light brown hair fell in light curls around her face and she kept blowing them away. Her warm brown eyes sped over the writing on the pages in front of her.

A part of Ted's mind was telling him to leave quickly before she noticed him and he embarrassed himself, but a bigger part told him to stay where he was. So that's what he did. He stared at her, his eyes zoning in on the Serpent emblazoned on her robes.

It's just a colour. He told himself.

He spotted a chair nearby and went to sit down on it, but as he did so ended up knocking it over with his foot. Andromeda's head snapped up at the noise and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Oh. Hi Ted." She said in a high-pitched voice, her cheeks going pink. Ted felt his own cheeks heat up and smiled.

"Hey, Andromeda." He said. There was an awkward silence. Ted sat down in the chair next to hers, taking extra care not to knock anything over. "So, um you're spending the holidays here." He said, mentally cursing himself for stating the obvious. Andromeda smiled amusedly.

"Yeah. I wanted a change. I'm sure it'll be better here than at home." She grinned. "Bellatrix isn't the biggest believer in spreading the Christmas joy." Ted almost winced at the mention of her sister.

Green. It's just a colour.

He smiled at her, hoping he looked at least a little amused. Andromeda stared at him, looking at his eyes, but surprisingly, this didn't make Ted as uncomfortable as he would have thought. His smile widened and he stared back at her, examining her eyes too. A light brown curl fell across her face and she blew at it subconsciously.

Almost instinctively, Ted reached out and caught the stray strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. Andromeda's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly as he did so. Then, before Ted really knew what he was doing, he leant in and kissed her.

~-6-~

It happened strangely fast. One moment, Ted was tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, and the next, his lips were on hers. After a split second of shock, she began to kiss back; all conscious thoughts seemed to have escaped her. Then he placed one hand on her cheek, and the touch seemed to bring Andromeda to her senses.

She jerked back slightly, her eyes round. Ted frowned slightly.

"We can't do this." She whispered. Ted looked hurt and she winced inwardly.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I'm a Slytherin!" She said, as if it were obvious. Her eyes were somewhat pained. Ted's eyes softened slightly.

"Does that matter?" He asked. Andromeda bit her lip.

"Well… not to me. But it should to you." She said, shrinking away from him and looking away. She could feel Ted's eyes on her. He lightly touched her shoulder.

"Andromeda?" He asked softly. She glanced at him quickly, then just as quickly looked away again. "You know, Slytherin doesn't define who you are. It's just green. Just a colour. I see you as you. Not as a colour."

Andromeda looked up at him hopefully. He smiled encouragingly. She smiled back shyly.

"Thanks." She said quietly. Ted grinned.

"No problem." He replied, reaching out and taking her hand. Andromeda looked up at him and his eyes like before. Something new registered this time though. His eye colour.

Green.

.

.

A.N- Hmm, I wasn't overly keen about this chapter; I've never done Andromeda/Ted before… But I guess it was as good as planned :)

Next chapter- Sirius/OC (featuring Leila!) Yay!

Toff.x