AN: Thankyou to everyone who's still reading; it means a lot to me that you actually like what I write. Again, updates will be slow, unless anyone has an amazing insight about how to reconcile feminist views with Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Also, it's surprisingly hard to write about crying without using clichés. Enjoy.

Chapter Fourteen – A Little Less Conversation

It was the end of the last day of term. They just had to get through one night of packing or partying and they were home and dry. Andromeda had already packed. She didn't like having to throw everything in her trunk at the last minute; that was more Bella's style. She took a deep breath, and scanned the room for Titus. He was sitting in an armchair, talking to Malfoy. She slowly walked towards them, and she could have sworn that they stopped talking as she approached, which was suspicious, but they were probably having one of those macho 'I'm a man and must prove it' sort of talks.

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"Ted."

The boy in question turned round, his ever permanent smile on his face in full blast. He'd just been talking to Tom, and the echo of laugh followed him. "Mel. You okay?"

"Yeah." She bit her lip, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just one sec." He turned back to Tom. "Definitely. We have to do that. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to see a pretty girl."

Ruth laughed, putting her feet up on the chair he vacated. "He's saying we're not pretty Anna."

"That's not what I meant," he began, before he saw that they were both smiling. He rolled his eyes, and turned to his girlfriend. "C'mon."

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"Titus? Can I talk to you?" Andromeda was standing next to her best friend, feeling so nervous she thought she might throw up.

He shared a look with Malfoy, but answered, "Of course." She took a seat, and looked pointedly at Malfoy.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to leave?" He didn't seem particularly sorry, but as he left Andromeda let it go. She just needed to focus on what she needed to say.

"Titus." She took a deep breath. "There's no easy way to say this, but as your friend, I can't not tell you."

He frowned and leant closer. "Is everything alright?"

She nodded, her mousy hair falling out of the ponytail she'd put it in. "Its…its Holly."

"What about her?" Suddenly, his concern was apparent, and he looked panicked. "What happened?"

"It's…She's cheating on you," Andromeda blurted out. That wasn't how she'd planned to tell him. There should have been lead up, and reminders of how she was here for him. But it was too late now.

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Mel led him down a corridor, ducking behind a statue. As he followed her, he knew where this was going. There was only one reason for her to take him so far out of the way from the common room. Everything else could have been said in there.

"You want to break up," he said, a slight smile.

She looked shocked, and he suddenly panicked. What if that wasn't what she was going to say? But when she nodded slightly, he breathed in relief.

"I was going to be nice about it," she told him, offering him a small smile. "I was going to explain. It wasn't going to be a 'it's not you, it's me' thing."

He nodded. "I know. You wouldn't do that."

"So is it okay?" she asked, almost timidly.

He nodded again, pulling her into a hug. "Yes, it's fine."

When she started to head back to the common room, he didn't follow. "Aren't you coming?"

"No," he told her. "I'll be in in a bit."

As she walked away, Ted wondered why he wasn't more cut up about the break up. He liked her, and they had fun hanging out. So why wasn't he more upset? It was like he didn't mind if they were dating or not. He shook his head. A walk. That was what he needed. A walk away from his friends.

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"I'm sorry?" Titus' expression was grave, and he leaned back in the chair.

"Holly's cheating on you." Andromeda's voice was barely more than a whisper, as she watched her friend. She felt bad that she was the one telling him this, but he was going to propose. He deserved better than Holly Gamp.

"Who with?" His face was clearing now; moving past serious into serene.

"Leo Gallagher," Andromeda told him quietly. "He's in Ravenclaw."

To her surprise, Titus began to laugh. "Oh my god. You've actually planned it all out haven't you? You've gone to the trouble of researching people in other houses." He was laughing harder now, and Andromeda watched him in confusion. "You're such a liar." He stopped laughing, and his expression was hard. "You're an attention seeking, second best liar!" Silence fell in the common room; everyone turning to watch as the Greengrass heir lay into the second daughter of the House of Black. "All you ever do is spread rumours and lies. A nudge here, a whisper there. Is it because you're not as beautiful as Bella? Because you're not as clever as Narcissa? Is it because you're the pathetic sister, the one no-one cares about?" He'd stood up, and Andromeda watched in horror, as her best friend became someone she didn't recognise. "Holly is worth ten of you. No, ten thousand. And do you know why? Because she's honest! And she cares about people." He paused, a wry smile creeping across his face. "How many people here have you hurt at one time or another?" he asked. "Do you know? Shall we find out?"

"Titus." Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but it was begging him to stop. She could understand why he didn't believe her. He was in love with Holly, and Andromeda and him had been drifting apart for the last couple of weeks, but to kick off in front of the entire House was far beyond anything she had ever done to him.

"Alicia," he began, indicating a girl nearby. "You spread the rumour that she was sleeping with her brother. Oh and look, he's just over there. Helena. You encouraged her to sleep with Helios. You told her he would definitely propose if she did, and look, no engagement ring. Hannah, there was that business with the waiter that you blew out of proportion. Gloria, oh that was a good one, two girls with one stone wasn't it Andy?"

"Titus, please." She too was standing now, backing away from the onlookers who were growing ever more angry with her.

"What did you do? Oh, yes, you told people she was meeting Lucia for…how did you phrase it? Lessons that weren't on the syllabus." There were gasps all round as that one came to light. The sexual revolution that had swept the West in the sixties had never made it to the pureblood families. It was hushed up, pushed under the carpet, and never spoken of.

"That was you?" Lucia stepped forward, fury inscribed across her face. "Do you know hard it was for me to persuade my parents not to send me to Durmstrang? They were going to send me away, to have it knocked out of me. And it was you all the time."

Andromeda started to back towards the door as more and more of her crimes were listed by Titus and her victims stepped forward. "I'm sorry," she cried, feeling her way to the door, away from the threatening figure of Bertrand Mulciber. "I'm not- I didn't."

"I think you should go," Titus said coldly. "We don't need people like you." She looked at him pleadingly, but when he raised his wand she fled.

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A place to hide. Her thoughts were frantic as she fled through the corridors. She shouldn't have been out; it was past curfew and the prefects, if not the teachers, would be patrolling. Anywhere. Just somewhere safe. Titus' words were echoing in her head, and with tears blurring her vision, she almost missed the door on her right that she never remembered seeing before. She cautiously pulled it open and stepped inside. It looked like a small common room. There was a fire, a sofa and book cases. Then she realised someone was sitting on the sofa, and she almost left.
"Dromeda?" It was Ted. Non-Slytherin Ted. He frowned in the half-light. "Are you okay?"

"What, what're, what're you doing here?" she asked, as she pushed her tears away, refusing to let him see her cry again. It never occurred to her that he'd already noticed.

"Hiding." He turned back to the fire, as she slowly crossed to the sofa, and sank down on it next to him. "Mel dumped me," he explained with a sigh. "And Ruth will want to bitch about her, Tom'll want to talk about it and Anna'll refuse to take sides because Mel's one of her best friends." He tousled his darkish blonde hair and sighed again. "So, if I hide here, I don't have to talk about it."

"Where is here?" she wondered aloud. She pulled her feet up under her, and ran an unsteady hand through her hair, trying to smooth it.

"Room of requirement," he told her, watching her as she gazed around the room. "It's in Hogwarts a history."

"You've read Hogwarts a history?" she asked, sounding impressed.

He laughed slightly. "Yeah. I think I'm the only one who has though." He offered her a smile. "Why were you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she murmured, looking away and focusing her gaze on the crackling fire. There was silence for a few minutes, before she said, "Am I really a bitch?"

Ted looked at her in surprise. "Yeah. I thought that was part of your carefully crafted personality." He looked hurt when tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way-" He stopped, and pulled her to him so her head was on his shoulder. "Obviously someone didn't just call you a bitch," he mused, "'cause you're far too upset for that. C'mon, what happened?"

The whole sordid story spilled out of her, how Titus had turned against her, how she'd hurt almost all of Slytherin House at one time or another, how she'd been afraid for her safety. When she had finished, he stroked her hair, almost absentmindedly. "Dromeda, you're amazing. Why does it matter that people who probably didn't like you to start off with, don't like you now?"

She sat up, turning so she was facing him. "It's my entire house, Ted. It's like my family suddenly hates me."

He smiled sadly. "So you made some mistakes. You've got two choices. Either hide away all the time, or apologise and brave it out. And this room can't do food, so you'll have to leave at some point."

"I guess."

He laughed. "Well, at least my problems seem tiny now."

She watched him as he laughed, feeling a smile creep across her own face. What if she were to kiss him? Wait…where had that come from? He was Muggleborn; he probably tasted like dirt. At least, that's what she'd always believed. But what if he didn't? The only way she would find out was by actually doing it. Summoning up her courage, she leaned forward and gently pressed her lips on his. To her surprise, he didn't taste like dirt, but of toothpaste. His lips were soft and she could feel the shock written across his face. She pulled back, afraid suddenly, that she may have just destroyed the only friendship she appeared to have left. "I'm sorry," she muttered, avoiding his gaze. "I didn't mean-" Her apologies faded into nothing, when he pulled her closer and kissed her back.