An: You may have noticed that it's taking me longer to update than it used to. Please blame school work. Thankyou again to everyone who's reviewed and/or favourited and/or alerted. I know I say it a lot but it does make me smile. Enjoy.

Chapter Twelve – Always Have Good Staging

Valentine's day was always a big deal at Hogwarts. It had become an unofficial holiday for most of the students. The oldest students would abandon their classes to visit Hogsmeade - the only time most of them would set foot in Madame Puddifoots - and the youngest would giggle furiously at the couples who were suddenly occupying every nook and cranny. Flowers suddenly appeared everywhere and owls delivered letters all day. It was an exciting time for all concerned. At least, it was an exciting time for all the girls involved.

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"Oh Titus," she breathed. "It's stunning." Holly was holding up a necklace that was encrusted with rubies; something that Titus had asked Andromeda's opinion on. If it had been left to him he would have bought her something thoroughly useless like socks. It wasn't through lack of trying. He loved his girlfriend, he really did, but he was hopeless at buying gifts.

As he fastened the chain around her neck and she leaned in to kiss him, he was struck by the thought that maybe this was love. Maybe this fascination with Holly, the way he admired her, the way he felt about her, maybe this was love. Maybe this was it. He smiled.

"What?" Holly smiled back at him, her face so close to his, he could have counted every eyelash if he wanted to.

"Nothing." As he kissed her again, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, the next piece of jewellery he bought her would be a ring. A ring with a large diamond.

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Ted took Melanie to see the unicorns that he'd discovered grazing at the side of the lake. He'd hoped desperately that they would still be there come Valentine's day, and to make sure he'd woken up at dawn to check. When she met him in the common room before breakfast, he'd almost dragged her down the stairs in his haste for her to see them.

She adored them and as they'd watched the creatures, he'd held her hand. Then when he hadn't responded to her cleverly engineered body language, she had been forced to take the initiative and start a make out a session that meant they missed the rest of breakfast and their first lesson.

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Dolohov had money, everyone knew that, but when Andromeda opened the jewellery box she was taken aback. The bracelet was simply dripping with jewels, namely diamonds. "Oh my-" She looked across at him and beamed. "Thankyou. It's gorgeous."

He smiled. "I thought so." He glanced around. They were sitting in a side booth in The Three Broomsticks. Being restricted to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts meant that he couldn't take her to a good restaurant, or to the theatre or the opera. He knew what was expected of him, but due to the school rules he couldn't fulfil his duties. So they were at The Three Broomsticks because it was more attractive than The Hog's Head. When he was certain that no one was near enough to over hear what he was about to say he continued, "I'm very grateful to you for suggesting this…arrangement."

Andromeda smiled at him and, unsure of how to react to his statement, she asked, "Would you do the clasp for me?" She extended her arm across the table, and pushed the box towards him.

"Of course." He gently secured the bracelet around her wrist, and then kissed her hand before letting go.

Their relationship was solid; neither of them wanted anyone else to find out why they were together, so they would protect each other's secrets. Dolohov was an attentive boyfriend, holding her hand in the corridors, kissing her gently as if he were afraid she would break. Naturally, this was only when someone was around to take notice. This was not a romantic relationship, but a business one. And it only mattered when someone was there to see them.

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A broom cupboard was not Holly's first choice for a romantic liaison. Oh no, her first choice would be somewhere warm, preferably with a private beach. But here, with him, she didn't mind. Holly Gamp was new money rich; she preferred Spain to France, she wanted red wine not champagne, and she had no time for the school of thought that said she should withhold certain favours until a ring was on her finger. What she and older families had in common, was that they both agreed on the tradition of marrying well. It was to this end that she was currently dating Titus Greengrass. The Greengrass family were well established in the wizarding community and Holly was no fool. Titus was a catch, and he was wound right round her little finger. Which meant if she spent a little cupboard time with a strapping Ravenclaw, even if Titus found out, he wouldn't believe it, unless he walked in on them. Which was why she was particularly good at several different locking charms.

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At dinner on Valentine's day, the rules concerning House tables were somewhat relaxed. Of course, this wasn't the professors' decision, but merely the students taking matters into their own hands. Slytherin, of course, remained a single entity, because no self respecting Slytherin would ever date someone from one of the other houses. But the Hufflepuffs, the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws were all jumbled up, sitting at each other's tables.

It was in the midst of this hullabaloo that they were heading towards each other, simply going to pass by with a smile and perhaps a 'hi'. As it was, one of them was distracted and they collided.

"Sorry." Ted offered her his hands to help her from the floor. "I wasn't concentrating."

"It's fine," Andromeda replied as she got to her feet, running a hand through her hair. "It's not like I moved out the way. Are you having a good day?"

"Yeah. It beats being at B and Q." He shook his head at her questioning face. "Don't ask; it's a long story." He laughed at her expression, then pushed a lock of her hair back to its proper side. "There you go. Having a good Valentine's day?"

"Yes." She held up her wrist to show him her bracelet. "Antonin gave me this."

He whistled approvingly. "Must've cost a bomb. Did you go to Hogsmeade?"

She nodded. "To the Three-"

"Dromeda!" Her eldest cousin crashed into their conversation, with a complete disregard for the fact that she was talking. "Seven! I got seven."

She frowned at the excited boy, trying and failing to understand his cryptic exclamation. "Seven what?"

"Cards!" The energy radiating from him was almost tangible. "Valentine's cards Andy! I got seven."

"Seven? Wow," she replied with a smile. "I didn't realise girls could have such bad taste."

Sirius stuck his tongue out. "James only got four and Remus got one," he explained, a smug grin plastered across his face. "So I win."

She laughed, tousling his hair. "Well, I only got one, so yes, you do win."

"I got two," Ted offered, "but one of them was from my mom, so I don't think it counts."

Andromeda laughed at the sheepish grin that was creeping across Ted's face. "Really? You got a Valentine's day card from your mom?"

"Of course," he replied, almost seriously. "She doesn't want me to feel unloved on Valentine's day."

As Andromeda began to laugh again, she noticed that Sirius had walked away, but turned back to make a heart shape with his hands, before running away so she couldn't curse him.

"He your cousin?" Ted asked with a smile.

"Yes," she said, watching Sirius rejoining his friends. "But I'm going to kill him so don't get too attached."