The onset of winter could be clearly felt in Hogwarts as the school prepared for Halloween with its usual gusto. The frost covered grass crunched under Sirius's feet as he sauntered across the grounds, no particular destination in mind as he let his mind wander. He had to admit to himself, he was a little disappointed with his time at Hogwarts so far. He hadn't seen a single dragon, troll or any other dangerous creature! All he had were more lessons, rules, detentions… it was just another school really. He gave a fed-up sigh and kicked a nearby pebble hard, sending it flying into the Great Lake. His twelfth birthday had been and gone without much celebration. When were things gonna get exciting?
The Slytherin Quidditch team were in fine form as always; winning their match against Hufflepuff 90-30 before their seeker caught the snitch fairly easily. Down in the team's room, Andromeda slipped out unseen by the other celebrating players and crept swiftly down the corridor to the opposing team's area. He was already standing outside waiting for her as planned, a wide smile spreading across his face as he saw her. All she wanted to do was run to him, tell him all her problems and then watch him solve them one by one. But she settled for smiling back, even if it didn't quite meet her dark brown eyes.
"Nice playing out there, Black," he joked running a hand through his sandy coloured hair, a nervous gesture she often teased him about.
"Coming from you that means a lot, Tonks," she countered with a smile of her own as she kissed him. "I just wish I could return the compliment."
He smiled ruefully, but as always his heartbeat began to speed up. "Yeah, me too… ah well, there's always the next game, eh? Plenty of time to get some more practice in."
"You're going to need a lot," Andromeda replied. "Hmm… speaking of getting some practice in…"
Ted raised his eyebrows and feigned shock. "Miss Black… you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting… are you? A respectable Pureblood lady such as yourself?" He realised the words were a mistake as soon as they left his stupid mouth. Maybe she'd let it pass seeing as she seemed to be in a good mood? Nah.
"You know what, forget it," she snapped, dropping the facade as she turned on her heel and marched away from the bemused Hufflepuff chaser, who started to chase after her out into the cold afternoon air.
"'Dromeda, come on, wait!" he pleaded. "You know I didn't mean it in a bad way! I was joking!"
Still mindful of who might see them, she turned to face him and dragged him into a secluded corner. "Ted, I have grown up with the Pureblood mentality my whole life, first at home with my family and now here in Slytherin, and…" she trailed off, struggling with how to put what she wanted to say to him, how they'd both be in possible danger if anyone found out about them. No, how he'd be in danger. "I don't care that you're a …"
"Mudblood," he supplied, no hint of venom in his voice. He said it matter-of-factly, like it was as if he heard it every day.
"Muggle born," she insisted. "I… love you. But you reminding me of my own blood status all the time… it's as if you want me to remember that I should hate you like the other Slytherins. L-Like you want me to hate you."
"Whoa, whoa, 'Dromeda, you're reading way too much into a little joke," Ted said reaching out to hug her. She shied away.
"No, no I'm not, Ted. It's not 'a' little joke, you make digs like that all the time," Andromeda argued, starting to get worked up as she warmed to her argument. "It's as if you are prejudiced against me because of my blood status!"
"Are you aware of how crazy you sound right now?" Ted asked, going into defence mode. "A mud blood dating a pureblood, yeah how bloody bigoted of me."
"Merlin, you make yourself sound like such a charity case!" she hissed.
Meanwhile, Sirius, having had enough fresh air, was just about to head back inside, thinking of the stash of Chocolate Frogs hidden in his trunk, when he heard the clear sounds of an argument from just round the corner. His curiosity piqued, and with nothing else to do, he paused, waiting to hear if it was anything interesting.
Ted's expression was a mixture of hurt and defiance as he stared down at his girlfriend of just over a year. God she was gorgeous, even when she was angry, her brown curls were still wild from the game and her dark eyes were sparkling. And if he looked down further- He firmly tried to push those thoughts out of his head as Andromeda glared at him. He should be angry, not turned on! He pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb and tried to breathe deeply.
"Okay, clearly you're upset about something else and you're taking it out on me," he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear, much to the annoyance of the hidden eavesdropper. "So why don't you tell me what's really bothering you?"
Andromeda felt tears prick at her eyes and she willed them to fade away. She wanted to tell him everything, how she was scared what falling in love with him would affect her family, how her little sister was falling for a total bastard, how her little cousin could stand up for a halfblood he barely knew while she couldn't stand up for him, the boy she loved. But she was a Black; and Blacks don't get emotional. Eventually, she shook her head. "There's nothing wrong."
"Come on, 'Dromeda, you can tell me whatever it is," Ted pushed. He ventured a step closer, so they were now standing toe to toe and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't hug him back, instead she rested her head on his chest and let the tears start leaking down her face. In Ted's arms was the one place in the whole world she felt safe, ironic considering he was the one person who could bring her life as she knew it crashing down around her.
It was this point that Sirius decided it was just a boring lover's tiff and he started on his path back into the school, surreptitiously glancing at the partially hidden couple as he passed. His mouth fell open in shock. Andromeda? ! With a Hufflepuff? !
The Gryffindor common room was totally deserted, save for one lone student who sat in what he considered the best armchair of the school, his head bowed over his parchment. The crackling of the fire and the scratching of his quill were the only sounds that could be heard. Remus enjoyed the quiet. James had been dying to go see the Hufflepuff-Slytherin game ("Any possible chance to see the snakes get beat!") and Peter had naturally offered to accompany him, while he had begged out under the excuse of too much homework. The rest of the Gryffindors were presumably also at the match, the Quidditch games something of a novelty to many of the first years still and the rest were like James, just hoping to rub a defeat in the Slytherins' faces.
The truth was, the essay he was currently slaving over wasn't due in for another week. The disbelief over being allowed to attend Hogwarts still hadn't faded for Remus. He still half expected after every full moon for Professor Dumbledore to change his mind, to say that they now fully realised just what kind of monster he turned into and it could no longer be accommodated at the school. But as of yet, it still hadn't happened. He dipped his pen in the inkwell beside him and got back to his essay. So, he'd come up with a plan before he left for Platform 9 ¾: Be the best student there was. Make sure Dumbledore and all the others would never even dream of sending their star pupil away, because of a minor health problem.
Well, it was worth a try. And if he had to miss out on an insignificant game of Quidditch now and again to stay at school, that was a price he was willing to pay.
Aww poor Lupin. I realise not a lot happened in this chapter but I wanted to throw Ted in to the mix.