Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations those characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Hope you enjoy this latest chapter and please let me know what you think!

Dead Men Walking

Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks were the main topic of conversation by lunch the next day. Everywhere the two went they were given special notice, speculative, suggestive glances that flustered Ted and slid off Andromeda like water. The fact that they weren't seen together once didn't even put a dent in the rumors. Andromeda had too many enemies for the story not to continue and grow, so that some people were even suggesting that the two had been found in various compromising positions in an empty classroom. It was these speculations that had Ted blushing throughout the afternoon, unable to think of anything but what was being said. Of course he tried desperately to set the record straight, but they either wouldn't listen or thought he was just being a gentleman.

The one most enraged by the rumors was Narcissa, who covertly got the root of the problem, Annie Miller, sent to the Medical Wing. Those who saw the gossip before she was hidden behind screens reported that the girl's face now resembled a muskrat's.

Aware of what her sister had done Andromeda said nothing, though if need be she'd step in and take the blame for her sister's actions. Sometimes her sister was too reckless of her own good. Or perhaps she was using it all up now, knowing that when she was married to Lucius Malfoy she would have to constantly restrain herself. Not that Narcissa objected to that, even though she and Malfoy were only thirteen. Had he been born earlier it would have been she engaged to him, their families were that close. Lucius had even sought her out to express his cold outrage on her behalf, offering to see to the Mudblood for her. She'd declined, preferring to take care of these things herself. Besides, from what she'd heard, the Mudblood was denying the relationship as much as Narcissa was. She had no reason to want him punished…yet.

But someone other than Lucius punished the Hufflepuff before she could decide if he should be. Someones, actually. Three Slytherins who were relatives of Nicolai Dolohov, the man her father had picked out for her. Since one of the three was Antonin Dolohov, Nicolai's younger brother, Andromeda was expecting the worst as she walked towards the Hospital Wing. Not that she cared what happened to the Mudblood; or Antonin for that matter, but she did want to know whether she would have her evening free or not.

Not making any noise, hoping that he would be unconscious and she could just get a look at his injuries, Andromeda headed for the screened bed on the left. There were several voices coming from that one and none on the right. Miller wouldn't have visitors, if only because she wouldn't allow herself to become gossip.

Grinching her teeth Andromeda reached to push aside the screen, hoping to be in and out as quickly as possible. Her hand stilled though, when she caught the tail end of a comment.

)

"-getting beat up like this for her was stupid." Arthur Weasley was telling his friend, wincing in sympathy at the amount of pain Ted had to be in. "I mean it's not like she'll thank you for it. Hell, she might even thank them for it."

"She wouldn't if she knew what they were saying about her." Ted grumbled, doing his best not to move. He hurt everywhere. They hadn't just stopped at spells. Once he'd been down and wandless Dolohov had kicked the crap out of him. His ribs were repairing, and his bruises were healing, but a couple of the spells they'd used were ones Madam Pomfrey had never seen before. She hadn't figured out how to return his sight either, which meant he couldn't even distract himself with his comics. He could be stuck here for a while, Ted thought glumly. The way things were going he might even have to repeat a year.

"What were they saying?" Colin Dunst, one of Teddy's roomies, wanted to know.

"I won't repeat it."

"Must have been pretty bad for you to actually think you could take on three seventh year Slytherins by yourself."

"I wasn't exactly thinking." He'd basically overheard, saw red, and had charged in without a thought to the possible consequences. And even knowing how much it would hurt, he'd do it again. There were some things a guy just couldn't turn the other cheek to.

"You and your chivalry complex." Shaking her head, Molly Prewett crossed her arms in front of her. "I'm surprised though that that bastard Dolohov let them insult her. I mean isn't she going to end up married to that brother of his? The human gorilla?"

"He was the worst of them. And apparently he was repeating things his brother had said about her. How can she marry that bastard? And how could he have known her for years and not realize what he's got? He's just marrying her for her money, the...the…worse than a Mudblood git. If he were here I'd…I'd…"

"End up dead." Arthur finished. "Nicolai Dolohov might not be as twisted as his brother but he'd just as vicious."

"And it would not be a quick death." Colin added, his face serious. "And a future Deatheater is not worth dying for."

"She's not a Deatheater. She could never be one of those horrible people."

"You don't even know her." Molly pointed out, well aware of her friend's crush on the Slytherin princess. She didn't get it, but it was incredibly hard not to miss the lovesick look that came into Ted's eyes whenever Andromeda was near him. "And look at her sisters. Her friends for Merlin sake. My mum always says you can tell a lot about a person from the company they keep."

"They aren't really her friends though. They just hang around her because of her name." Ted protested. "And she doesn't like them either. She just lets them hang off her because she has to."

)

While the four of them argued over whether she liked her 'friends' or not Andromeda slowly backed up, not wanting them to know she was there or that she had been listening. That Nicolai had been talking about her to Antonin came as no surprise, the brothers were as close as she was to her own sisters. That Antonin would speak badly of her in front of others and was confident his brother wouldn't care didn't surprise her either. The Dolohov men were not shy about expressing their low opinion of women. And as the Mudblood had said, he was after her money, not her. She could even imagine what Nicolai had said about her. What did surprise her was the fact that the Mudblood had apparently attacked rather than been attacked. He'd attacked in defense of her honor. He, who had to be one of the most idiotic and bumbling morons she'd ever come across, had taken on three vastly superior and infinitely more dangerous Slytherins for her.

She didn't know how to feel about that.

She was saved from having to think about that too deeply by the familiar sound of sensible shoes stepping on stone floor. Andromeda had just enough warning to back up enough that it wouldn't be obvious she'd been nearby before Madam Pomfrey stepped into the room from her office.

"Can I help you? If you're here to see Miss. Miller, she's refusing all visitors for the moment." Madam Pomfrey called out, her tone of voice indicating that she was less than thrilled to see Andromeda. She'd patched up enough of Bellatrix's victims to have a healthy dislike for the Black family. Andromeda herself had never been implicated in anything, but she could simply be smarter than her older sister. Bellatrix had known how to cover her tracks too.

"I could care less about her. I simply came to see if my student would be showing up for tutoring this evening." Was her cool response, easily staring the older woman down.

"YOU CAME TO SEE ME?"

Both women turned their heads with similar expressions of shock at how delighted Ted sounded behind the screen. His three friends poked their heads out with similar expressions of shock. Everyone was shocked but Ted, who was absolutely delighted. Pain smain, he thought with a wide, goofy grin. Andromeda Black had heard he'd been messed up and had come to see him! How sweet what that!

Naturally Andromeda was the first to recover her poise. "Will he be up and walking around this evening?" She asked Madam Pomfrey, deliberately ignoring the others.

"No. He's here until at least tomorrow, and that's if we can figure out how to repair his eyes."

"His eyes?" Andromeda repeated, recalling the comic he'd been drawing the night before. An artist couldn't draw if he couldn't see. Not that she cared of course, she hadn't asked him to stand up for her. She had nothing to feel guilty about.

"One of your Slytherin friends blinded him somehow." Molly informed her before Madam Pomfrey could answer, the redhead's tone indicating she blamed Andromeda even more than the actual perpetrators.

Rookwood probably. That was a favorite of his. Before she questioned what she was about to do Andromeda walked towards the screens, Ted's friends instinctively moving out of her way so as not to be trampled. Ignoring the dumb ass smile on the boy's face Andromeda took in the eyes which were pure white with no trace of the irises. Yes, this was Rookwood's handiwork. Raising her wand Andromeda performed the counter curse, all of them watching the irises slowly reappear and return to their usual blue brilliance.

"I can see again! Wahoo!"

Rolling her eyes Andromeda was already regretting what some people might misinterpret as kindness. "I will be here directly after dinner. We'll continue where we left off last night since you won't be able to practice potions. I will expect you to have read chapters five and twenty and be able to summarize the main points, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ted assured her, forgetting himself enough to salute her, wincing at the pain that caused. Stupid ribs.

"And don't forget you have that paper for Defense Against the Dark Arts due tomorrow."

This being all she had to say Andromeda was gone before anyone could think to question her as to why she'd bothered to remind him or fix his eyes.

She wouldn't have been able to tell them.

)

It wasn't hard for Andromeda to confirm what had happened with the Mudblood. She knew Rookwood was involved so it was a simple a matter to slip him some Veritaserum between classes. Then she got him alone and made him spill every little detail from what had been said about her to every spell casted upon the Hufflepuff. Once she'd gotten a complete run down of things she left him in the rarely used corridor, the man bruised, bleeding and broken on the floor. She liked to invent spells too sometimes and she was particular proud of that one, which caused the victim to beat the hell out of himself even after losing consciousness. She hadn't stopped him until the damage was worse than what he and his friends had inflicted. Fair was fair after all.

She'd also used a memory charm to insure he didn't remember who he'd spoken to before the spell hit. It wasn't even a challenge, with a mind as weak as his. She probably hadn't even needed the Veritaerum, but she didn't have time to waste intimidating it out of him. He was only one of three.

The previously unknown third was Mutt Watson, the underling type who bowed and scrapped at Antonin's feet. For him she waited until Potions, having learned earlier from Professor Slughorn what they would be working on. It was simple enough to take a seat behind him and Antonin, to act like she wasn't aware of what they'd said as they greeted her. And she played along, her greeting just as cordial, her mood just as untroubled throughout the lecture and potion brewing. She bided her time, keeping an eye on where Watson was with his potion, and when it was at the right stage she casually pulled out her wand and out of view of everyone caused the contents of the caldron to explode up into the Slytherin's face.

The finished potion was designed to repair flesh after extreme magical damage. At the stage his potion had been at, however, it mutated the flesh, causing it to shift and misshape itself so that his eyes were practically lost under the newly bulging eyebrow ridge. His whole face had taken on the appearance of some horrible hunchback freak and it would stay that way for a while. The antidote was incredibly hard to make, expensive, and took two months to prepare correctly. The antidote also had a shelf life of only two months, which meant it was only made when needed. A harsher punishment than Rookwood's some would say, but then they wouldn't be aware, as she was, that Watson was largely responsible for doing the homework of the other two. And since the boy had just earned himself a long stay at St. Mungo's the other two would be on their own school wise. And they were not nearly as intelligent as they liked to think they were. Plus she just didn't like underlings in general. They disgusted her the way they fawned and flattered their leader while refusing to have an original thought in their tiny brains. Above all she despised those who were content to be led.

The final Slytherin would have to wait until just before dinner. Luckily she didn't have a class before then, so that she could have everything in place before anyone left for the Hall.

Sitting calmly in the common room Andromeda very slowly and very carefully applied one last coating on her long nails, the polish a yellowy gold. It had to be wet after all, she thought coolly.

When Antonin came into the common room after stowing away his school supplies Andromeda was ready for him. Calmly screwing the lid back on the bottle Andromeda placed the bottle back into her robe pocket and then stood up. With everyone getting ready to head for dinner the room was adequately full of Slytherins for what she had planned.

Crossing over to him Andromeda waited until he turned to look at her before she drew back her arm diagonally and than whipped her hand out, her nails raking across the left side of his face as her hand connected.

Crying out in pain Antonin desperately clutched his face, the room going silent except for his painful whimpers as the rattlesnake venom entered his bloodstream.

"Did you think I wouldn't hear?" Andromeda hissed, her dark eyes cold and unforgiving as they stared into his, the Slytherin kneeling at her feet now. "If I ever hear you've sullied my name again that will seem like a sisterly kiss on the cheek."

And finally turning her gaze to the rest of them Andromeda's eyes conveyed that the threat applied to them all.

)

Madam Pomfrey watched Ted with a mixture of amusement and sympathy. The boy had had her quiz him earlier in anticipation of Miss. Black's arrival, which he was now eagerly awaiting. He was like a child waiting for Father Christmas to come. The poor, poor, deluded boy. How did he not see what she was? Though the girl had surprised her earlier, fixing the boy's blindness. But still, a Black and a Muggleborn? How on earth did the boy think it could ever happen? And how was it that the entire Slytherin population hadn't killed him yet? Pomfrey could see the boy coming to see her often in the near future.

When Andromeda arrived she went straight over to the chair Ted had asked Madam Pomfrey to put out for her, appearing to be completely unaware of how happy the sight of her seemed to make him.

Watching Pomfrey wondered in amazement how the girl could be so completely unaware of the boy's feelings for her. Then she reminded herself that Blacks were champions when it came to seeing only what they wanted to see. And even better at ignoring those they considered beneath them.

"Did you read the chapters?" Andromeda asked in lieu of greeting.

"You betcha. Quiz away."

Taking him at his word Andromeda began to rather ruthless quiz him on the information he was supposed to have learned, reluctantly pleased when he was able to answer most of them somewhat satisfactorily. Apparently he hadn't spent all his time lazing about. Once they'd gone through the chapters to her satisfaction Andromeda asked to see his essay assignment.

Taking the rolls of parchment from him Andromeda handed him several sheets of parchment which she'd brought with her.

"What this?" Ted asked wearily, mentally exhausted from all the questions. That and he hadn't thought to ask about a trade like the day before, which now made all his earlier work seem like a let down.

"Read it and make sure you understand it." Was all she said, her eyes already reading over his assignment. While the amount of research done to back up his arguments wasn't up to her standards he did seem to have a gift for phrasing things in a convincing manner. His spelling, grammar and penmanship were flawless. It was even, as much as it grated, possibly better then her own. She was obviously going to have to work on changing that.

He meanwhile was goggling over the sheets of paper she'd given him, which contained study notes. He had a test in a couple days for Charms and with these notes he would probably be able to complete it no problem. He might even ace it. It was broken down to the extent that even a Muggle could understand it, which was probably deliberate on her part. But still, she'd bothered to go to the trouble, just for him.

Wasn't she just the greatest thing ever?

Looking up from the pages Andromeda met his gaze and felt a strange tightening in her gut. She couldn't begin to understand what she saw in his eyes, no one had ever looked at her like that before. It made her heart rate pick up and she felt strangely lightheaded, like she'd gotten up from a sitting position too fast. And while she didn't understand the reaction, she knew she didn't like it one bit.

Damn, troublesome, Mudblood.