Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get put in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it will always be. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

A Terrible Spy

If he thought she could be won over by a couple lines of poetry he was sadly mistaken. Refusing to be flattered by his words Andromeda abruptly walked around him to the other side of the desk, taking a seat on the chair he had thoughtfully set on the other side for her. Not that she was going to thank him. Ever.

Folding her hands neatly in her lap Andromeda's dark eyes were emotionless as she waited for him to put aside his drawings and pull out his stuff, which he quickly did once he realized the brief moment of human connection had passed.

"What is it you need help with?" She demanded to know, looking over the titles of his books absently. Potions, DADA, Charms and Muggle Studies. Muggle Studies? "Why would you need to take a class on Muggle Studies? Don't you have at least one Muggle parent?" He had said his mother was an English professor after all. That was Muggle teacher, wasn't it?

"Oh, uhm…easy grade. And I thought it would be sort of neat to see how you guys see us…historically and all. I mostly need your help with Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I think I can probably muddle through Charms, since I know you're busy and stuff."

Potions and DADA were her best classes. She genuinely loved potion making, and with her family she was no stranger to the Dark Arts. She'd been taught them since she was a mere child and it was always wise to know how to counter what the people around you used most in their own defense. At least it wasn't likely he could come up with a question or problem she couldn't solve. It would be unbearably humiliating to have to admit to a possible Mudblood that she didn't know something.

Pulling out the information his teachers had given him Ted silently handed them over to her, getting the distinct impression that the less he talked the better. Which was just fine with him, he wouldn't know what to say to her anyway.

Taking it from him, carefully to insure their fingers didn't brush, Andromeda quickly read over the outlines his teachers had prepared for him, detailing what he had missed and what he was being expected to learn on his own time, as well as keep up with his present workload. His poor Muggle brain was probably ready to leak out his ears from overwork, Andromeda thought with a faint smirk.

"I'll arrange use of the dungeon with Professor Slughorn tomorrow." Andromeda announced, setting the papers down after reading them over thoroughly. "It's pointless to try and teach you potions without actually making them. You'll report there after dinner tomorrow."

She didn't even ask him if he had other plans or consider the fact that Slughorn would say no. Not that he wouldn't have cancelled any plans he might have had in a heartbeat for another chance to be around her. He'd figured on exasperating her to death in the two hours they had now together. He hadn't honestly thought there would be another meeting after this.

"We'll start with DADA then. Open your text book to Chapter thirteen."

)

Twenty minutes later Andromeda could feel a definite twitch developing under her right eye. She'd been lecturing him for the full twenty minutes and his eyes had been glazed over for at least fifteen of it. Was anything getting through, she wondered as he tried to come up with an answer to the question she'd just asked him. If his answer wasn't half way decent she was going to hex him.

"Sorry." Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck Ted didn't think it wise to tell her that he'd zoned out half way through, so caught up in the beauty of her voice to really process what she'd been saying. "I have a terrible attention span."

"How have you made it to your sixth year if you cannot pay attention for twenty minutes?" He was like a goldfish, Andromeda marveled. Once around the bowl and his brain went empty. She'd known Muggles were stupid but still…

Well it helped that none of his professors were remotely beautiful or sexy. "I usually learn best by doing. And my friends help me. One of my best is in Ravenclaw and he's pretty good at breaking things down so I can understand them. That and he bribes me."

"He bribes you?"

"With chocolate. I have a major sweet tooth and he won't give me any until I can rhyme off what he wants me to remember. I'm pretty good at remember things once they're firmly stuck in my head. Then the problem is getting rid of it once I don't need it anymore."

"So the only way I can get you to learn is bribery?" Like that was ever going to happen.

The idea of her giving him chocolate thrilled him but Ted wasn't so stupid as to think that would ever happen. And yet… A glimmer of an idea popping into his head Ted was weary about suggesting it. But it would make him pay attention, and she was probably only going to be his tutor for a night or two now that she knew how bad things were.

"How about a trade?"

"A trade?" She repeated, her eyes narrowing slightly. There was something about his voice that made her think she was not going to like his suggestion at all.

"Yeah. Lecture me for the whole hour we have left and than quiz me on everything you cover. You keep track of how many questions I get right and for every question I get you have to answer a question. Nothing really personal or anything, just basic stuff. And if you don't want to answer you can pass, but then I get to ask you an extra question as penalty."

And so the questioning begins. Of course she hadn't expected Dumbledore's spy to be so blunt about it, but there was no doubt in Andromeda's mind that this was the real reason Dumbledore had asked her to tutor the Hufflepuff. He was probably only pretending to be stupid, lulling her into compliancy so that she would be willing to make this little trade of his. Clever enough, she supposed, for a Hufflepuff. Child's play for a Slytherin though.

Watching him watch her Andromeda weighed the pros and cons of agreeing to this little game of his. She was curious as to how he thought he could trip her up. Did he honestly think he had brains to match hers? Please. He would barely be able to keep up with her.

"All right. I agree to your terms."

)

And so for the next hour Ted paid attention like his life depended on it and when it was time for the questioning he did much better than either of them had expected, earning himself the right to ask twenty three questions.

Braced for anything Andromeda didn't know what the hell to think when his first question was what was her favorite color. "You want to know my favorite color?" She repeated, sure she must have heard wrong.

"Yup." She didn't wear a lot of color and he rarely saw her wearing anything other than her school uniform. Pink was way too girlie for someone like her and he couldn't see her as a pastel sort of girl. Bold, jewel tones maybe, but nothing too bright.

"Blue." Was he trying to soften her up with easy questions first?

"What shade of blue?"

The twitch was back. She didn't want to tell him what shade of blue. It would go to his head. Or would he even know what shade she meant? Men were usually pretty clueless about that sort of thing. But he did draw, so maybe he would know more than most. Oho, was that his plan, Andromeda wondered, her quick mind suddenly seeing another possibility. Maybe he wanted her to pass on the question, counting on her finding the question beneath her. That would earn him more questions. Clever, she thought, but not clever enough.

"Cobalt blue."

Cobalt blue, he mentally repeated to himself, making a mental note to find out just what that was. The name didn't tell him anything. He'd ask one of his girl friends, they knew stuff like that for some reason.

Pleased when he didn't comment Andromeda lost some of her smugness as the rest of the twenty one questions proved just as pointless as the first two. Why should he care whether she liked cats or dogs better, or which school subjects she liked best or hated. Her favorite foods, her childhood pets, little things about her life that were so ordinary she didn't even have to think about any of her answers. What the hell kind of spy was he? What could any of this possibly tell him? Was he as dotty as Dumbledore pretended to be?

By the time the classroom clock chimed out the lateness of the hour Andromeda had a huge headache brewing from trying to understand him while Ted was ecstatic to have learned so much about his dream girl. Who would have thought that they had the same favorite flower, irises, and that she didn't know whether she liked Coke better than Pepsi, having never had either. He was going to have to remedy that, though it went against the grain for him to buy Pepsi, even just to prove its inferiority to his beloved Coca Cola. Since she was his dream girl, and therefore perfect, Ted had no doubt her sensitive palate would be able to not only tell the difference between it and Pepsi but see that Coke was superior to all soft drinks.

Not even wanting to guess at what was going through his twisted little head Andromeda rose to head out, not wanting to spend another moment in his company.

"Hold on a minute!"

Surprised Andromeda barely got out of his way in time as he rushed to open the door for her, grinning at her sheepishly again. Grinching her teeth Andromeda stepped through the doorway and headed in the direction of her dormitories, the twitch returning when he fell into step beside her. "Your dormitories are not this way." She didn't know exactly where they were, but logic dictated they were nearby since her own were in the opposite direction.

"I'm walking you back. It's late." Actually it wasn't that late, and she was twenty times more dangerous than he was, but it was the principle of the point. He might do it clumsily but he did have good manners, especially where girls were concerned.

Every time he opened his mouth her opinion of his intelligence dropped that much lower. What did he think she could possibly run into that wouldn't run in the other direction rather than fight her? Even among the other Slytherins she was the most feared and respected. That that had a lot to do with the legacy her older sister had left behind wasn't the point. She was as tough as Bellatrix and she was a Black. She was the one to inspire fear, not feel it.

"I don't need you to walk me back." She finally said coldly, when her ignoring him didn't work.

"I insist."

How dare he disobey her. Who did he think he was? She was so used to being automatically obeyed that she wasn't sure how to proper express the outrage she was feeling. And to add insult to the injury he didn't look the least bit worried either. Had the whole world gone mad when she wasn't looking?

"You do know how easily I could kill you, don't you?" She finally asked, wondering if he was too dim to realize the dangers of talking back to her.

"Yup. Still walking you to your door."

Apparently she'd been insulting goldfish when she'd made the comparison. He was even dumber than they were. And why was he being so damn insistent? It wasn't like he needed to learn where the Slytherin dorms were, Dumbledore would certainly already know that. Was this simply a test to see whether she would show him or not? And was she reading way too much into all this? She was starting to think this wasn't a test at all but a punishment.

)

They were half way to the Slytherin dorms when she caught sight of someone she most definitely had not wanted to run into. Annie Miller was the Slytherin female prefect for the sixth years and Andromeda thought as little of her as she did the Hufflepuff beside her. Annie was one of the most two faced people Andromeda had ever met and that was really saying something. The younger girl had such a kind, pleasant face, completely at odds with her real, incredibly cruel personality. Most people didn't see her for what she was until the little viper had her fangs in their necks.

"Hello, Andromeda." The girl said sweetly, a gleam in her muddy brown eyes as she looked Ted over, recognizing him from their mutual classes. Now what was the filthy Mudblood doing with the Queen of Pureblood, she speculated, mind already forming the rumors she would start. It would serve the uppity bitch right, Annie thought viciously.

A curt nod of her head was the only recognition Andromeda would give her. The hatred was completely mutual. When the girl had first come to Hogwarts she'd done her best to kiss up to Andromeda, trying to worm her way into the elite crowd to which Andromeda belonged to. Andromeda had made sure that didn't happen. She hadn't been subtle about it.

Feeling rather invisible Ted wondered if wands would be drawn shortly. He'd put twenty, no a hundred galleons on Andromeda. He didn't like Annie Miller either. Well that and it was given that Andromeda would win and he could use the hundred galleons.

"You're in some of my classes, aren't you?" Annie asked, finally acknowledging Ted's presence. "I can't remember your name. You're a Muggleborn, right?" She'd need his name in order to lend credibility to the stories she was cooking up.

Since they'd never spoken this really didn't surprise him. Ted wasn't sure he wanted to tell her his name though. Something about the look in her eyes made him weary of telling her even that much.

"His name is of no importance to you." Andromeda stated before he could open his mouth to give a reply. So he was a Muggleborn, it figured. "I assume you are heading back to our dorms, you should get moving." There was no mistaking the fact that it wasn't a request.

"Aren't you going the same way?"

"Yes, but as you can see I have an escort. And three is a crowd." That's right, Andromeda thought smugly, watching the verbal slap register. I'd rather spend time with a filthy Mudblood than you. Now run along like the bitch you are and start your stupid little rumors. She was so far beneath her Andromeda couldn't have cared less. Her family would never believe it of her and they were the only ones whose opinions she cared about.

Watching the other girl march off Ted looked over at Andromeda questioningly. That Miller was a gossip was well known, and he'd imagine that everyone would know by the end of breakfast tomorrow that he and Andromeda had been seen together. The Slytherin girl was bound to include plenty of falsehoods too that would make this seem way more sordid than it actually was. Not that he was worried about himself; he would be flattered as hell if anyone actually believed he would have a shot with a girl like Andromeda Black. She definitely wouldn't be flattered though and he didn't want her upset because of him.

Feeling the questions in his stare Andromeda chose to ignore them. She didn't need to explain herself to him. She didn't need to explain her actions to anyone.

They were almost at the passageway that led to her dorms when she finally spoke again. "This is where you head back in the other direction. Argue with me and I'll simply use a body binding curse."

Seeing that she was serious Ted figured he should consider himself lucky to have been allowed to come this far. Her dorm couldn't be that far away after all. "All right then, pleasant dreams. Thanks again for your help." Smiling as charmingly as he knew how Ted took it as a good sign that she didn't inform him there wasn't going to be another session.

Nodding stiffly Andromeda didn't return the good night but simply started walking again, doing her best to forget that's she'd ever met him. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the human headache.

)

On his way back to his own dorm Ted ran into Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout, both obviously surprised to see him out and about. Quickly explaining his reasons for being there they both accepted his explanation, though very surprised to learn just who had been assigned as the boy's tutor. What had Albus been thinking? Was he trying to get the boy killed?

Wishing them both a good night Ted paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him. "Hey, you're both girls."

The women gave him looks that said they didn't appreciate the note of surprise in his voice.

"What I mean is…do either of you know what cobalt blue looks like? I mean is it a light blue or a dark blue?"

Raising an eyebrow Madam Pomfrey tried to think of something she could give him as an example. Then it occurred to her… "Aren't your eyes cobalt blue? A dark, sapphire sort of blue, that's cobalt."

"My eyes?"

"I think so."

Why this should make the boy give a war whoop of joy was beyond both of them.