An: Apologies for the screw up of the chapter title in chapter three. Not sure what happened. It was called Fighting to Make Peace. Thankyou to everyone who's put this on their story alert and has reviewed, it really makes my day that you like and want to keep reading it. Enjoy.

Chapter Four – Nothing like a Hedgehog

"Ted! No, no, no." The exasperation was clear in Tom's voice. "You don't do her detention for her!"

Ted was lying on his bed the wrong way round with his feet on the pillow, only half paying attention to his best friend's ranting and pacing. "I didn't do it for her. I just didn't rat her out."

"That's what you're meant to do!" Tom throttled the air with his hands, before refraining from hitting Ted. "She's a Slytherin. Get her into trouble. Don't save her doing work."

"We've called a truce," Ted replied." The first thing I do after that is not going to be getting her into trouble."

Yes, but you cleaned all the trophies. All the trophies!" Tom was having difficulty conveying the fact that this wasn't a great idea to his friend. "Where's the revenge? Where's your Hufflepuff spirit?" Ted snorted, and Tom nodded. "Yeah, I know. I should've been in Gryffindor."

"Are you finished?" Ted asked, turning onto his stomach so he could see his friend the right way up. "Because if you are I'd like to discuss Melanie."

Tom rolled his eyes, and threw himself onto his bed. "She has crooked teeth."

The next couple of weeks brought few shocks, apart from the fact that she discovered that Ted was also in her charms class. Thankfully, Titus had chosen charms as well, which meant she did not have to sit next to the mudblood, although he always made a point of saying hello at the beginning of class. She was forcing herself to reply nicely, because he was right; if they were to sit next to each other in Transfiguration, they did need a truce. On the gossip front, there were many things that were changing. It appeared as though Helios was returning Helena's advances, but Andromeda knew his motives. Helena was not the sharpest knife in the potions cupboard, and Helios thought he may be able to persuade her that her virtue was nothing to hold onto. Andromeda knew this because she was the one to suggest it to him. If Helena was "damaged goods", then no well-bred family would allow their son to marry her, which meant, in a couple of years, there would be one less competitor for a husband. At almost seventeen, this was the sort of thing that Andromeda thought about. She was no Bellatrix. She would not be able to ensnare an excellent match without fighting dirty. This meant starting early, hence her involvement in the hopeful downfall of Helena.

On another topic, the notes of admiration were continuing; one each day. 'Your dark eyes bewitch my soul'; 'Your smile outshines the sun'; 'Your hair reminds me of the autumn leaves'. She'd pulled a face at that last one. Autumn leaves made her think of red and gold, not the light brown that was her hair. But overall, they made her blush slightly, and even though she wracked her brain, she could not think who it could be.

"If you an animagus, what would you turn into?" Ted asked as he prodded the plate she had just transfigured.

She snatched the plate from him, turning it over to check that it did not still have a fluffy tail, like the last time she had attempted this transfiguration. "What a ridiculous question."

"No, but really." He stopped to point to a faint line of fur that was on the underside of the plate. "'Cause would you want to be something powerful, like a wolf, or would you rather be small, like a hedgehog?"

She muttered the reversal spell and a confused looking rabbit trembled on her desk. "Who on earth would want to be a hedgehog?" She flicked her wand again and the rabbit morphed into a dinner plate. Non-verbal transfiguration was proving far more difficult than she had expected.

"Well, you're kinda like one," Ted said lazily, before adding. "Your plate has buck teeth."

She scowled and once more a rabbit sat on her desk. "How on earth am I like a hedgehog?"

"You prickle when threatened." He stared at the rabbit and once more it was morphed into a plate. This time it had a lucky rabbit's foot, and just as quickly it was a rabbit again.

"How do I prickle?" She demanded loudly, earning a glare from McGonnagall for her pains.

"You're a bitch," he told her. "When you get scared."

"I am a Slytherin," she replied snidely. "We do not feel fear."

He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Good luck with that. I'm a Hufflepuff. We understand the phrase 'keep your head down.'"

"And where does that get you?" she asked sweetly. "You never win the house cup, you lose at Quidditch, and no one knows why on earth any of you are actually in this school."

He laughed, trying the spell nonverbally again. "See? You just got scared that I would think that you get scared and out came the bitch."

She rolled her eyes, then frowned as she checked the plate. "You've actually managed it," she said in amazement.

"Still think I can't do spells?" he asked with a grin.

She sniffed. "Anything you can do, I can most definitely do better."

He laughed again. "Yeah, but you didn't. 'Cause I managed it first." He stuck his hand in the air, "Professor."

Titus was lounging on one of the sofas in the common room, watching her as she wrote an essay. "You're smiling again."

She glanced at him. "I am allowed to smile."

"But not this often," he replied, scrutinizing her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm writing an essay."

"Yes, but for which lesson?" A small smile was playing around his lips, which he struggled to stifle.

"Transfiguration. And it is due in tomorrow, so I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone."

"It's the Hufflepuff then." Titus frowned, as if he had not meant to say that aloud. "If it's a Transfig essay it has to be. It is isn't it?"

Andromeda cast down her quill, and turned around. "I'm sorry, but what?"

"The Hufflepuff. The one in charms. He's why you're smiling so much." Titus shuddered. "Honestly Dromeda, he's a mudblood. Frankly, I don't understand why you even talk to him."

"Firstly," she began, flicking her hair. "I have to talk to him as he is my transfiguration partner. And secondly, he is not why I am smiling. Furthermore, I do not believe I am smiling more than usual, so I would thank you to stop asking stupid questions before rumours get out."

Titus stared at her quizzically. "You seem way too happy not to have a crush on someone."

She rolled her eyes. "I am perfectly capable of being happy without some pathetic excuse of your gender making it so. I, unlike you, do not have to rely on someone else to bring joy into my life." She stopped, wondering if Ted was right. Maybe she did have a tendency to lash out when she felt threatened. She wondered how he had managed to figure that out, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind, because she was lying to Titus. She did have a crush, but it most certainly was not on Ted Tonks. No, she was developing an exceptionally large crush on whoever was sending her the love notes. It was not often that Andromeda was told she was beautiful. More often than not she was told she was not as pretty as her older sister, so to be told every day that she was perfect in every single way was lovely. She only wished she knew who it was.

Luckily, she would not have to wait long to find out, because the next note she received said 'I know you have a Hogsmeade visit soon. Meet me by the shrieking Shack. I will wait all day if it means seeing you in the flesh again."