Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and they have lawyers who will prove it. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoy and review.

The Way of Blacks

Dressed in his everyday clothes Ted walked down the hallway, eager to head back outside and into the fresh air. He couldn't have asked for a better weekend and the only thing he could think of to make it better was to have Andromeda with him. Well a happy Andromeda, he amended, thinking of her recent bad mood. She'd seemed oddly subdue lately, though that was more his feeling than her giving any actual indication of her real feelings. At first he'd thought she was worried about what Rookwood and Dolohov would do to her, but Rookwood wasn't yet out of the infirmary and Dolohov seemed to be avoiding her. The older boy was in a strangely good mood too, despite still having angry claw marks across his cheek. The Slytherin seemed to be waiting for something…perhaps the same something Andromeda was inwardly dreading.

Hearing his name called Ted had a smile on his face as he turned to wave at his headmaster as he walked over to meet him half way. Unlike most people Ted wasn't the least intimidated by the famous Albus Dumbledore, possibly because up until five years ago he hadn't known the older man existed. To him he was simply another teacher and a kind one. "Good afternoon, Headmaster."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tonks. I hear that you received top marks in your latest Charms test. I'm glad to see that the arrangement with Miss. Black is paying off."

"Yes, she's the best, isn't she?"

Amused by the obvious adoration in the boy's words Dumbledore had to resist the urge to pat the Hufflepuff on the head. If only the lady in question knew what she could have in this young man, Dumbledore thought to himself. They would actually make a lovely couple under normal circumstances. The boy was a delight, but he did need a keeper, and Miss Black would certainly keep him in line. And Mr Tonks would see to it that she didn't get too dark and serious, as she was prone to do. They would balance each other out nicely.

Wisely changing the subject to the beautiful weekend weather they'd been having as they walked they both came to an abrupt halt when they caught sight of three individuals who were not outdoors, enjoying the uncharacteristically good weather.

The first was Andromeda, dressed formally and severely with her hair ruthlessly pinned back. The dress was old fashioned and covering, it looked more like something an aged spinster would wear than a girl of seventeen. She stood alone, facing down the two men with her.

Ted couldn't have said why, but the picture before him made her think of an execution, the men waiting to place Andromeda's head beneath the waiting guillotine. So chilling and real was the image in his head that Ted instinctively stepped forward, stopped by a restraining hand on his shoulder. Giving the headmaster a look of frustration Ted's gaze turned back to the men who he sensed meant his beloved Andromeda harm.

The younger man was Nicolai Dolohov, the brothers looked a lot alike and he vaguely remembered the man from his first couple years at Hogwarts. He was tall and heavyset, his face harshly good looking. His eyes Ted remembered well, pale blue ice that lacked any humanity in them. You looked into them and knew their was no pity or soul in him.

The older, distinguished looking man Ted didn't know, but he had an air about him. The Black air. That certain something that set them all apart from everyone around them. Andromeda's father, he would bet on it.

Now that he had the players straight Ted tuned his ears in to eavesdrop, fully intending to get his ass kicked if she needed him to come in and give them someone else to beat on.

)

Cygnus Black stared down at his middle daughter, the Black family eyes showing no sympathy or kindness. He was not a man who had either in his character. While he did love his daughters in his own way, he loved the idea of his family and lineage more. The man at his side was the man he had picked out for his Andromeda and all three of them knew it. Nicolai had just told them his side of the story, now Cygnus waited to hear hers. And it had better be good.

"I did not attack the three because of the Mudblood, Father." Andromeda began softly, looking him directly in the eye so that he would see the truth in them. "I swear to you on the honor of our family. I did what I did because they sullied our great name and forced me to become indebted to a Mudblood."

Eyes narrowing dangerously Cygnus shut Nicolai up with a raised finger. "Explain, Daughter."

"The three Slytherins in question said in front of others, including the Mudblood, that I was nothing but a frigid, useless piece of pure blood waste and that it was a travesty that Nicolai was struck marrying the likes of me." And word for word Andromeda told her father exactly what Antonin and his friends had said about her. And then she dropped the bomb she knew would anger her father even more than the disparaging marks against her character. "And hearing these things said about me, a MUDBLOOD was so disgusted that HE came to my defense. Now everyone in this school and their families know that a Black needed a Mudblood to defend her honor. Now I have to tutor him because I owe him this favor. They snicker behind our backs now, Father. They call me his whore because I must spend time with him. And it's all Antonin's fault. THAT is why I saw him pay. No one disgrace our family name and walks away."

"Don't you blame this on my brother you-" Raising his hand it was obvious that Nicolai intended to slap her. And would have if Andromeda's father hadn't grabbed his wrist and painfully held it in an unbreakable hold.

"You will not raise your hand to my daughter." That he was furious could only be seen by those who knew him well. "And my daughter will not be apologizing to your brother or anyone else. You can tell your father I said so. And that he's lucky I don't kill your brother for this."

"Antonin's face may be permanently scarred because of her!" Was Nicolai's outraged response, humiliated that he couldn't break the older man's hold.

"Tell him it's less than what I will do to him if I see him anytime soon." Letting go of the younger man's wrist Cygnus neatly stepped between his daughter and the man he had thought would be her husband. "Now you get out of my sight before I lump you in with him."

Plainly furious the man marched off, leaving the two behind without a backward glance.

Turning his attention back to his daughter Cygnus's gaze was piercing. "I thought you were assigned to tutor the Filthy Mudblood before this mess happened?"

"I was, but I was going to get out of it, especially after the rumors started. Now I'm stuck. I'd much rather tutor him than have him ask for something else from me."

Andromeda had never been a liar, and he knew her tells. She spoke only the truth. Cygnus hadn't truly believed the filthy rumors circulating about his daughter, but he'd had to make sure. He thought he'd known his oldest daughter just as well, and even he felt like Bella was becoming a stranger to him. He considered going to the Headmaster and demanding the tutoring end, but his girl had a point. If that was all it took to erase the debt they apparently owed the Mudblood then so be it.

"You will bear with this as your punishment. This matter is now settled and any actions taken against the Dolohov family will be taken by me, understand?"

"Antonin said that much of his opinions came from Nicolai's lips." And here Andromeda knew she had to tread as carefully as a mouse before a sleeping cat. "I would not have him likewise poison the minds of future Blacks."

Seeing where she was going this Andromeda's father wasn't a fool. He had seen through her veneer and knew that she didn't respect or like Nicolai Dolohov. That hadn't concerned him until now, when he realized that Dolohov didn't have the sense to defend the Black family name. And how dare the impudent whelp think himself superior to the House of Black, he inwardly fumed. The Dolohovs were lucky they'd been allowed in the past to be linked to so pure and noble a line. Why oh why couldn't there be more Malfoys, Cygnus thought with a regretful sigh. Things would be so much easier for him. Or if he'd had sons. Life would have been so much better if the powers that be had only given him sons instead of daughters. But he was stuck with what he had, and it was his duty to see that they continued their bloodlines with men worthy of them.

"We will see." Was all Cygnus would commit to for the moment. After all, there weren't many other suitors to choose from, even though Andromeda was more than intelligent and beautiful enough to steal someone's intended if need be. "I expect you to continue as first in your year and as an example of the greatness of our line."

"Always, Father."

Satisfied the head of the Black family nodded his head and then turning on his heels left without a backward glance or even a good bye.

)

Like Andromeda Ted watched her father leave, shocked at the man's treatment of his daughter. No hug, no reassurance, no I would sooner have you marry a Muggle than that jerk. Not even a frickin good bye. The red haze that started to blur Ted's vision almost prevented him from seeing Andromeda dropped down to her knees, her face in her hands.

But he did and he was kneeling in front of her in a heartbeat, his voice worried as he tried to figure out whether she'd appreciate a hug from him or if that would make it worse. "Please don't be sad. Please don't be sad, Andromeda. I'm sure everything will be fine and you don't have to tutor me anymore and-"

"Hush." Raising her face Andromeda revealed that while her eyes shimmered a little no tears had fallen. "I'm not crying. Blacks don't cry."

But he bet they often wished they could, Ted thought as he continued to crouch there, since she seemed in no hurry to get up.

"And I'm still your tutor. I owe you."

"But I don't think of it as something you should owe me for, I would have done it for any girl." He probably would have attacked with less rage had it been someone else, but he would have still attacked. And he didn't want her to be around him because she felt she had to be.

How sad her life was, when the closest thing she had to a knight in shining armor was a skinny little Muggleborn, Andromeda thought as she listened to him go on and on about how he didn't owe her a thing. To shut him up she reached out and placed a finger over his lips, this shutting him up like a flipped switch.

"Because of you I might not have to marry Nicolai. He still might insist, but my father is angry and Nicolai's father is known to have a temper worse than a centaur's. I can hope now. Tutoring you is a small way I can say thank you. I won't let you say otherwise. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a headache."

And with that Andromeda got to her feet, brushed out the wrinkles in her dress, and headed back in the direction of her dorms with her back straight and pride in every step.

Standing off to the side, having left the comforting to the Hufflepuff, Dumblefore watched the girl go and hoped that the girl did indeed have reason to hope. And she had allowed the boy to show her sympathy and kindness, he thought, absently stroking his beard as he thought that one over. Most interesting indeed.

)

When Andromeda arrived for their scheduled meeting in the Potions classroom she saw immediately that not only had he beaten her there but that he appeared to be up to something. On the desk he stood behind there were two identical glasses, both clear and containing a dark brown liquid. He looked as eager and hyper as a child facing a visit to a candy store, was her first thought as she walked over to stand in front of the desk, giving both glasses a cursory look. The liquids were only slightly different in color, and she didn't recognize either of them.

"What's this?"

"Well you said you'd never had Coke or Pepsi." Ted explained, a goofy grin on his face. "So I went and bought both for you to try. I won't tell you which is which until you pick your favorite though."

With anyone else Andromeda would have hesitated, wondering if one or both of the unknown liquids was poisoned or laced with something. She was suspicious by nature. But she trusted this idiot Muggleborn for some reason. That and his face was generally an open book, his thoughts written there for all to see. You'd have to have nerves of steel to poison a Black. And being a Black Andromeda hoped she liked Pepsi more, knowing from their first lesson how much he liked his Coca Cola.

So she picked the first one up and took a delicate sip, the flavor settling on her tongue as she considered it. It was too sweet and sugary Andromeda decided, setting the glass down. Probably the Coca Cola, given the boy's apparent love of all things sugar, she thought in satisfaction.

"And the next one." Ted encouraged, wondering which one she'd tried first. He'd labeled the bottoms of the cup, not wanting her to pick Pepsi just to spite him. That's why he'd put them in the same glasses rather than just leave them in their bottles.

Andromeda briefly considered explaining to him how one was supposed to taste test and sample beverages. One was supposed to approach such things with a clean palette, not even really drinking the liquid so much as getting a sense of its bouquet and flavor. Of course any liquid created by a Muggle was probably meant to be consumed as quickly as possible so that they didn't have to taste for long the sugary garbage they produced. But such knowledge would be wasted on him, Andromeda decided, reaching for the second glass. Raising it to her lips she took a sip, her eyes widening at this new flavor.

Why it was wonderful, Andromeda thought as she instinctively took another, longer drink. It was the most wonderful thing she'd ever tasted in her life.

Watching her drain the glass Ted picked up the other glass and lifted it up so that he could see which one it was. The label he'd stuck there said Pepsi, which meant the one she was currently draining was Coca Cola. Grinning like an idiot Ted went and retrieved the half empty bottle of Coke and returned to her side. "Would you like me to top you off?"

Andromeda didn't understand the terminology, but she got the point. "Yes, please." Watching him as he refilled her glass she didn't have to guess which of the two drinks she'd picked. He looked like a cat that'd landed in a barrel full of cream. It was actually rather endearing, as well as amusing.

Once her glass was full Ted retrieved his own bottle of Coke and toasted in her direction before taking a swig of his own. "Ahhh. The drink of kings." He said with a sigh of satisfaction.

"Just what would you have done if I'd picked the other one?" Andromeda asked curiously, absently wondering why the boy's mother had never taught him how to properly drink something. One did not gulp it down like it was going to run away, one sipped and appreciated. Especially when one was drinking something so perfect as Coca Cola.

"I'd have been very, very sad." Was his serious reply.

Amused Andromeda just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes at him. "Well we can't have that, can we?"