Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling

Chapter 3

"Andie! Come here!" Bellatrix didn't quite yell the words but her voice carried through Flourish and Blott's. It was a was few days after their Sunday brunch, and Andromeda had gone with Bellatrix to Diagon Alley to do a bit of shopping before the back to school rush began.

Andromeda reluctantly placed the book that she'd been examining back on the shelf and went to find her sister. Bellatrix was a few aisles over standing impatiently at the top of the staircase to the top floor. She looked exceedingly bored.

"Yes?" Andromeda questioned her.

"We've been here for an hour. I'm ready to leave." Bellatrix stated.

Andromeda looked the clock on the wall. "Actually, we've only been here for ten minutes," she said.

"Well it's felt like an hour." Bellatrix snapped back. "Let's go."

Andie sighed. "Okay. Just let me buy the book that I was looking at." Andromeda started back through the aisles.

"Hurry!" She heard her sister yell from behind her.

Andromeda almost laughed. Her sister had the patience of a tiny pixie.

When Andromeda reached the aisle she'd been looking in, she stopped. A blond-haired boy, about her own age, was reading a book. His clothes showed that he was clearly muggle-born. The boy didn't appear to notice her, but this was a relief to Andromeda. She'd prefer not to have any interaction with him.

Andromeda took a couple of steps to where she'd put her book down. It was the newest of a series of travel books she adored. Each book was on a different country or city. They highlighted important magical events that had occurred there and recommended places to visit. With the help of these books, Andromeda kept a journal of places she wished to someday see. This new book was on Egypt. She'd been reading about a mummy massacre when Bella had interrupted her.

Andromeda had left the book down just on the ledge of the shelf, she was positive, yet it was not there. Where had it—she paused. Andromeda knew exactly where the book had gone. She whipped her head around to examine the blond boy, and, sure enough, he was reading her book.

She cleared her throat. "Excuse me, that's my book."

The boy looked up slightly confused and then smiled. "Oh, hey Andromeda!" He addressed her as if they were close friends.

Andromeda examined the boy closer, trying to place him. She could not. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

He laughed. "Well, we've gone to school together for the past six years." She looked at him skeptically, still without a trace of recognition. "I sat behind you in Transfiguration last year," he added trying to get response from her. "And I loaned you a quill that one time..." He seemed almost desperate now.

"Right. How could I have forgotten. Can I have my book now?"

He looked down at the book in his hands as if he'd forgotten it was even there. "This book?"

She gave him an impatient look. "Yes, that book." She'd made it obvious enough that that was the book to which she was referring.

He chuckled. "This is your book, is it?"

"Well, no, not technically, but I was looking at it first, and I intended to buy it." Andromeda said indignantly.

The boy looked amused. "Which is why you put it back on the shelf?"

"Only for a minute because I went to go-" she paused. Why exactly was she wasting her time explaining her actions to some muggle-born? "Actually, I don't think I need to explain myself to you. Just give me the book."

"Oh, you want the book? Well, why didn't you say something earlier." His sarcasm wasn't mocking so much as goofy, but Andromeda was not amused. She glared at him. "Okay, okay, I'll give you your book," he held it out to her and she tried to grab it put he pulled his hand back a little. "If you can tell me what my name is."

Andromeda pursed her lips. She had no idea what this infuriating boy's name was. It didn't matter though. This was pointless."I don't have time for this. My sister is waiting for me. Can you be mature for five seconds and just give me my book?"

"Fine, fine sorry." He held up his hands in mock defeat before handing her the book. "It's Ted, by the way. Ted Tonks...is me. I mean, that's my name." The boy, Ted, smiled, and Andromeda hated to admit it, but his grin was almost endearing. It was one of those dorky infectious smiles.

She fought the urge to smile back at him. "Well, I would introduce myself, but it appears that you already know my name. Now, if you'll excuse me." She turned away and started walking back downstairs.

"Wait!" Andromeda heard Ted call and reluctantly she turned back around.

"Yes?" She said, somewhat impatiently.

He looked almost nervous. "Maybe, when we're back at school, you might let me borrow that book sometime?" He smiled again.

"I don't really lend people my books." She replied coldly. Andromeda knew the nice thing to say would have been yes. However, "nice" was not a word that Andromeda would use to describe herself.

Ted laughed. "I should've guessed as much. I'll see you around, then." He added cheerfully.

Andromeda looked at him one last time, trying to figure out what had just happened, before turning away.

Downstairs, she paid and then found Bella, who looked like she was going to kill herself or someone else if she had to stay in the bookstore one second longer. Andromeda left the store without a second thought of that whole peculiar and irritating interaction.

Bellatrix and Andromeda went on to buy new robes at both Twilfitt and Tatting's and Madame Malkin's, new quills at Amanuensis Quills, and some strange product from Madame Primpernelle's that would dye the wearer's lips any color they wished.

By late afternoon, Andromeda was exhausted and ready to go home. Bellatrix apparently had different plans.

"I have to make one more stop." She said when Andromeda had suggested apparating home.

"Where?" Andromeda inquired.

"Borgin and Burkes." Bellatrix answered nonchalantly walking in the direction of Knockturn Alley.

Andromeda followed but stared at her sister questioningly. "Borgin and Burkes?"

"I'm meeting Roddy. We have some business to take care of." Bellatrix replied, not turning to meet her sister's face.

Andromeda thought this was information that she could have known earlier, but didn't have the energy to bring it up. "Okay, well I'm going home, then." She said.

Bellatrix still did not look at her sister. "No, you're not."

Andromeda sighed. "I'm not?"

"Roddy and I may be a while, so you're going to keep Rabby company." Bellatrix stated matter of factly.

"Of course I am." Andromeda replied dryly. She would be angry at her sister but wasn't for two reasons. First, arguing with Bella was usually entirely futile and destructive. Two, Andromeda had actually been hoping to speak with Rabastan.

She'd given Bellatrix's points more thought over the past few days, and Andromeda was now quite certain that marrying Rabastan was in fact her best option. Monday night, she'd made a pro-con list comparing Rabastan to some of her other possible suitors—he won every time. In fact, the more she'd thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make.

Andromeda had been considering how she might bring the matter up with him at length last night. She'd written out several valid points that she wished to bring up with him in the discussion and outlined her argument the way she would for a school essay. Andromeda had been thinking she'd bring the matter up with him sometime this next weekend, but tonight would work as well.

She and Bellatrix walked in silence the rest of the way to Borgin and Burke's. Andromeda despised Knockturn Alley. It was so filthy and the people walking around were always highly questionable. If she wasn't related to Bellatrix, Andromeda was certain that she would never set foot in the place. Thankfully for Andromeda, the alley wasn't too crowded today. They reached their destination quickly.

Bellatrix confidently led the way inside the shop. It appeared empty at first, but they both knew better. There were usually people looking around at various items around back. Sure enough, mere seconds after the bell on a door alerted them to the presence of newcomers, the Lestrange brothers appeared from around a corner.

"You were almost late." Rodolphus said to Bella, not giving Andromeda even a glance.

"Well, I wasn't." She snapped back.

"Come with me." He said, and she followed him into the backroom behind the front desk.

While this interaction was occurring, Rabastan was smirking knowingly at Andromeda.

"What are they doing in there?" She asked him, looking curiously at the closed door which their siblings had just disappeared behind.

"Wedding rings. The owner just got a rare collection in." Rabastan replied, almost too swiftly.

Andromeda frowned. "But why-"

Rabastan cut her off. "Don't worry about them. Now, where would you like to go for dinner?"

"I wasn't aware that we would be eating together." Andromeda replied.

He leaned into her and stroked her arm."I wasn't either, but when I saw how beautiful you look-"

She cut him off, stepping away from his touch. "Please stop before I become violently ill."

Rabastan let his flirtatious act drop. "No to dinner, then?"

"Actually, dinner sounds nice," Andromeda replied, "There's something that I would like to talk to you about." She added matter-of-factly.

"Oh, really?" His arrogance started to come out once more.

"Don't get too excited. It's more of a business proposal." Andromeda stated.

"After you, then." Rabastan said, holding the door open for her.

As soon as they'd left Borgin and Burke's, Rabastan had told Andromeda that he knew "the perfect place" for them to dine. It turned out that "the perfect place" was the dining room at The Ignatia Wildsmith Inn—the most expensive restaurant in Diagon Alley. When Rabastan had told her where he planned to take her, she'd insisted on stopping to change into one of the more formal outfits that she'd bought that day. She was now dressed appropriately in elegant blue robes, drinking red wine, and sitting across from Rabastan Lestrange at perhaps one of the fanciest restaurants in London. Andromeda found the situation almost amusing.

"So how much did you have to bribe the hostess to get a table this short notice?" She inquired.

He clicked his tongue. "Now, Andromeda you know that it's impolite to speak about money."

She just looked at him expectantly until he relented. "Actually not a knut. I happen to know the hostess rather...intimately."

Andromeda nodded and looked back to examine the girl in the front of the restaurant. She was a tan, beautiful, tall and looked about five years their senior. "Not bad." Andromeda said turning back to Rabastan. "She's quite attractive."

He shrugged. "Not half as beautiful as you. Did I mention how ravishing you look in those robes?"

She scoffed. "You did. Twice. Tell me, does this normally work for you?"

"Usually." Rabastan contemplated taking a long sip of the wine in front of him. "Now, you tell me. What is it that you wished to discuss?"

Andromeda straightened her posture, taking on a professional stance. "Yes. Well, as you may remember me mentioning at the ball the other night, my mother had made it clear that it is almost time to arrange a marriage for me. I assume, given our siblings' engagement, you are in a similar position?"

He looked at her, trying to figure out what she could be getting at. "Yes."

She nodded. "I've been giving the matter some thought lately, and I'm realizing that I find none of the pureblood men my age remotely desirable."

"You flatter me too much, Andromeda." Rabastan said, knowing that he was included in that list.

"I'm not done." Andromeda stated with a small smirk. "So, knowing that there is no match that I could ever be truly happy with, I began thinking about ones that I could be content with. That is where you come in."

Rabastan almost dropped the glass of wine he was holding. "You're not serious."

"Now, I've thought about terms that would make this agreeable for both of us. Obviously, I would not expect you to be a devoted husband. You could act the way you wish. I would allow you to continue sleeping around, as long as it was done with some secrecy—for the sake of reputations. And all that I'd ask in return is that you offer me the same freedom. I would like to be able to travel as frequently as possible while still keeping up with public appearances. Obviously, we'd have to present a unified front, attend a certain number of events together each year, and I understand that we would have to produce a male heir. Overall, though I think the arrangement could be extremely agreeable for both of us." She finished casually, taking another sip of her wine.

Rabastan just looked at her for a moment expressionless before shaking his head. "I'll admit, I did not expect this." He said, still slightly bewildered.

"I understand that it's is a lot to think about. Feel free to take time to decide. I have already been considering this for a few days now."

Rabastan looked at her as if trying to figure something out. "Alright well, if we are treating this like a business proposal, you won't mind my asking you a few questions?"

"Of course not." Andromeda said calmly.

"I could have my choice of any girl I want. What makes your offer more appealing than any others? Aside from your lenience on fidelity which wouldn't make that much of a difference anyway as I will continue to do what I want no matter who I'm with."

"For one thing, all of the other remotely attractive girls in our year, and the year below for that matter, are entirely insufferable. I happen to actually possess a functioning brain and am capable of holding an intelligent conversation. On top of this, the prestige of my family is unparalleled. As for the topic of fidelity, girls like Cornelia Burke would become exceedingly irritating and needy if they ever managed to figure out that you were being unfaithful to them. I would not expect you to be faithful, thus avoiding that pointless drama." Andromeda stated confidently.

"You raise excellent points, Miss Black." Rabastan replied seriously, playing along with her business-like tone. "But what if I don't wish to, as you said, 'sleep around.' What if I only wish to be with you?"

Andromeda almost faltered but recovered quickly. This was obviously a test. He wanted to see how serious she was. "As I said before, I understand that I would be expected to give a male heir. I also understand what must be done to make that happen."

He gave her a dark grin, and she could only assume that she'd passed his test. "Yes, I suppose you do."

She nodded. "Do you have any other questions?"

"Just one more," he said staring right into her eyes. "Why me?"

Andromeda thought about this for only a moment before responding. "I don't despise you as much as I do others like Rowle or Malfoy. I would even go as far as saying that I sometimes enjoy your company. You are reasonable, intelligent, and attractive too, which helps your cause. You come from a respectable family with plenty of money. Also our siblings' relationship would be convenient for me as I would be able to see Bellatrix rather often. It makes sense."

Rabastan stared at her for almost a full minute without saying anything. Andromeda was sure he was waiting for her to back down, to say that she'd been joking, even to look away. She did none of these things. Eventually, he broke their gaze and down the rest of his wine. "I accept your offer."

She smiled. "I thought you might."

"I do have stipulations though." He added.

"I thought you might." She repeated.

"We won't tell anyone of the arrangement. When the time comes, we will draw up a contract ourselves that we'll sign in secret. Our parents will not understand or respect our conditions so whatever contracts they have us sign will be separate. Tomorrow, we will tell our parents of our relationship which, of course, we've been keeping a secret until we were certain that it was serious. This way, they will stop looking to arrange us marriages elsewhere for the time being. By next summer, we'll have already been dating publicly for an appropriate amount of time so we can announce our engagement." He finished, satisfied.

"That all sounds reasonable. Any other requests?"

"I think it will be best for us to have this all finalized clandestinely before we go back to school next month. We can have Rodolphus perform the unbreakable vow as soon as tomorrow."

Andromeda recoiled slightly at this idea and shook her head. "No, unbreakable vows."

Rabastan pondered this for a moment. "Fine. I can think of another way to finalize the agreement." He smirked at her.

"We will finalize it with a handshake." She offered plainly, ignoring his seductive tone.

He chuckled. "Well, my idea was a bit more fun, but a handshake will do." Rabastan reached his hand across the table and she took it in her own.

They continued to talk for several courses. Mostly they spoke of their classmates. Andromeda was astonished by the amount of gossip Rabastan knew. Her own dorm mates harbored more secrets than she'd ever realized. He was currently telling her about the time last year when Celestia Yaxley had slept with Lucius Malfoy at her brother's engagement party while Angus Goyle, her date, was downstairs. She and Goyle were still dating now and he apparently still had no idea.

"And now she's still completed infatuated with Malfoy, but he won't so much as look at her. He only touched her in the first place because he was drunk and bored."

Andromeda scoffed. "Well that was idiotic of him because she's been obsessed with him since we were first years."

Rabastan paused. "Really? I didn't know that. How did you know that?"

"She and Carina gossip for hours every night. I've learned to tune it out by now, but for a few years there I heard every single one of their mindless rambles." Andromeda thought for a second. "Actually now that I think about it, Carina was infatuated with you for a while there in third year."

Rabastan smirked. "That I did know."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Of course." She looked around the restaurant aimlessly. Mostly she saw couples, but that wasn't surprising. With the romantic ambiance, this was an incredibly popular spot for dates. In the corner however, Andromeda spotted an unexpected and familiar face staring blatantly at their table.

She turned back to Rabastan. "Don't look now but Rita Skeeter is sitting in the corner by the door."

He nodded. "I've seen her here a few times. She comes to get stories for her gossip column in Witch Weekly."

"Well, I'm pretty sure we're going to be her next story. She was staring right at us."

He thought for a moment. "We'll be in next week's issue if that's the case."

Andromeda had an idea. "We could use this."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked with a dark glint in his eye.

"Well, if we did want to make our 'relationship' public, then this is ideal. We'll wait for the article to come out and let our parents read about it first and then 'reluctantly' tell them—it will appear more realistic this way." She said, making a conscious effort to smile now that she knew she was being watched.

"Excellent. Let's give her something to write about, then." Rabastan said through a flirtatious smirk. He then leaned across the small table, and stroked his fingers along her jaw.

Andromeda felt chills through her body, but not necessarily in a pleasant way. She found the action almost unsettling coming from him, but still she played along, ignoring what her body was telling her. She gave her best infatuated schoolgirl smile and then leaned even further across to table to press her lips to his. It wasn't a passionate kiss, but it was all that was appropriate given their public setting.

As they parted, Rabastan smirked at her. "Oh, this is going to be some story."