Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.
"Go from me. Yet I feel that I shall stand henceforward in thy shadow."
He couldn't stop it running through his head, like the ticker at his uncle's brokerage. It had been like that for weeks. She never acknowledged him, and why should she? She was a princess, of privileged lineage and wealth. Ted wasn't exactly poor; his family knew how to support themselves and set a little aside as well, but she was born to it. As N.E.W.T.s approached, her fiasco of a fiance became more and more possessive of her. Malfoy was always grabbing her hand or pulling her close to his side. It might have been Ted's imagination, but it seemed as though the princess found inventive ways and reasons to escape his grasp. He could only hope that she would eventually escape him altogether. He knew he wasn't one to judge, but he was sure the kisses Malfoy tried to snatch were inept, and she never seemed to kiss back.
He couldn't stop thinking about their one kiss, and the others that should have followed. Sometimes in Charms class Ted thought he caught the princess staring at him. Perhaps it was only because he'd been called upon to speak. She seemed listless in Potions, chopping her herbs or stirring her mixtures as if she used her last bit of strength to do so. Altogether, it was as though a light had gone out within her. Had he inadvertently caused this by his kiss? Could he somehow make it better?
It was during the Arithmancy exam that he caught her looking at him. The way she held her fingers to her lips, caressing them, suggested to him that she remembered. Perhaps the light had been banked, hiding behind ashes, waiting to be kindled. She realized he was looking at her and quickly looked away. She smiled too much at Malfoy and turned on her princess face.
Ted was running out of time. He'd looked for her after class, before and after meals, and even in Hogsmeade. Where she'd been perfectly visible in the Charms classroom or at the Slytherin table, it was as though she had evaporated otherwise. He'd spent hours studying in the library, hoping to catch a glimpse of her and perhaps to speak to her. Nothing he tried worked. She must have wanted to be impossible to find if she was willing to give up what seemed to be her favorite place in the school up till now. The fact that he usually saw Malfoy looking for her in the same places was somewhat heartening.
Thus it happened that classes ended and after a couple of weeks exams also ended. This day had seen the last of their N.E.W.T.s, tomorrow would be the day to pack and the Leaving Feast, and the day after they would return to the outside world. It seemed that for whatever reason, Ted would have to leave school without speaking to her.
He trudged around the outside of the castle in the gathering dusk. It was a task he was given as prefect and because he would be training with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement soon, he recited his hopes to himself. She couldn't possibly marry Malfoy. He was impossible. Ted could tell that the princess was well aware of that fact, too. The princess was pure-blooded, and unlikely to disappear into the Muggle world. Since she would be staying within the much smaller Magical world, his chances of seeing her around London were quite strong. He would have plenty of opportunities to perhaps catch her and share a table and tea or coffee. She would find out about him, and he could find out if she were all that he believed she was.
A scratching noise grated out above him. Someone was opening a window well above his head. Tipping backward, he realized it was a library window. A head was leaning out. Twilight was almost over, and he couldn't make out a face. As he watched, he saw whoever it was first climb to a sitting position onto the windowsill, and then put a leg over.
"Oh, shit!" he gasped. Someone was going to jump. "Wait! Don't!" he hollered up, but there was a breeze and he couldn't be sure his voice carried up to the fourth floor. He dropped his wand as he tried to figure out what stance would be best to break the fall without killing either of them.
An instant later, he was rubbing the back of his head and wondering what the rest of him was feeling. He was able to sit up, so he did, and discovered the princess in his lap. "'Serenely in the sunshine as before,'" he murmured. With all the thoughts and feelings running through his mind and body, he couldn't seem to do anything but kiss her. She was so soft, and it felt so right. About the time he tasted the fresh strawberries from the dinner pudding he realized that it might not have been the best idea. He pulled back, a little cheered by the way she clung to him. "Are you hurt?" he asked. "Can you get to the Hospital Wing?"
She nodded, and they somehow found their feet. Ted found his wand, and they made their way to the door of the castle.
"Good gracious!" said McGonagall as they passed her in the hallway. "What happened?"
"She fell from one of the upper story windows, pretty hard," answered Ted. "I was underneath."
"Both of you get to the hospital wing. I'll fetch Horace." McGonagall ran to the nearest staircase.
They continued on their path, and Ted couldn't help himself. "'And what I dream include thee as the wine must taste of its own grapes.'" He touched her hand, but she snatched it back.
The Matron met them at the door and sent them to adjacent beds, where she cast spells quicker than a person should be able to talk and asked what had happened. Ted spoke first. "I think she must have been trying to get some air and somehow fell from an upper floor window..."
"Aaarghhhh!" The princess suddenly got up and walked over to his bed. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then bit her lip and then slapped him, hard. "You damned idiot!" she hissed.
There was a gasp from close to the door.
"After he no doubt saved your life, Miss Black!" said McGonagall. "Ten points from Slytherin, and..."
Malfoy was suddenly there, no doubt after having searched for the princess everywhere. "She can't serve a detention," he whined, "Professor Slughorn?"
Slughorn cleared his throat. "Quite right, Minerva, she's in no condition for detention tonight, and they're to be married tomorrow night."
McGonagall shrugged. "A detention probably wouldn't do her any good, anyway. Very well. She's to be under the care of the Matron until she's well enough to leave, and then whatever plans she has can proceed."
Malfoy looked unbearably pleased. Ted felt the crackle of uncontrolled magic directed at himself and glanced over to see that the princess was looking at him with murder in her eyes. Ted felt his soul fill with dismay. His hopes of seeing her and courting her in some form of normalcy disappeared in less than an instant. Why had she climbed out that window, and why were neither of them significantly injured? Suddenly he had a better guess, but the opportunity was lost, perhaps gone forever.
"'Doom takes to part us... sees within my eyes the tears of two.'"
Author Note: As the chapter title suggests, the sonnet bits here are from #6 of Sonnets from the Portuguese.