Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all the characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

Wrapped Up In You

When the girls arrived at Hogsmeade they headed in the direction of The Muggle Mercantile. Neither girl had ever stepped foot in the place before, their elder sister had boycotted it vehemently during her time at Hogwarts. It was generally believed, and Andromeda was fairly sure it was true, that her sister had been partialy to blame for the mysterious fire that had nearly consumed the building in Bella's sixth year. As a result of the cost of that fire and the current political climate, the building was currently for sale, the store only open until someone bought it and turned it into something that could make a profit. It was not good for business to be Muggleborn or pro Muggle.

It was also the only place Andromeda could think of where Ted could have gotten the Coca Cola.

"We can't go in there." Clutching her sister's arm Narcissa would have rather faced a rabid manticore than enter the Mercantile. She wasn't entirely sure lightening wouldn't strike her down as soon as she crossed the threshold. But there would be consequences, of that she had no doubt.

"And why can't we?" Andromeda shot back, not about to chicken out now. She could all but taste the Coca Cola and she was not going to settle for some Butter Beer. She was celebrating, darn it.

"Because Bella will kill us."

Okay, her little sister did have a point. Bella would likely hit the roof when she heard about this, Andromeda thought with a barely concealed wince. And she would hear about it, people would talk, no question. A Black coming into this particular store was libel to give some people heart attacks. She could only hope they weren't people she liked, the Slytherin thought with black humor. Huh, Black humor... the irony.

Lips twitching Andromeda mentally cursed a certain Hufflepuff for not only introducing her to the seductive drink she sought but also infecting her with his bad sense of humor. Could he be any more irksome? And how stupid was she to think that, knowing that would just tempt the fates against her. Darn it.

"She will, Dromeda, you know she will." Narcissa hissed urgently, her grip on Andromeda tightening at the thought. "And even if she didn't Father would finish the job. You know he tried to stop the man from opening the store in the first place."

Looking down at her sister Andromeda was willing to brave Bella's wrath for a coke, but wasn't about to ask her sister to do the same. Especially if their father really did get involved. She was older and Cissy was her responsibility, Andromeda reasoned. And she really, really wanted a damn coke. "You stay here then." Andromeda announced, determined now to do what she wanted and to hell with the consequences. "I'll be in and out before you know it." And if her family got their robes in a twist over her entering a store that they didn't like well then...well then she'd come up with a damn good excuse once she had that bottle of amber liquid in her hands.

)

It took Andromeda a good five minutes to talk her sister into letting her go in and by the time she'd managed it the Slytherin princess was pretty sure that she'd have bruises from the force of her sister's surprisingly strong grip. Vehemently hoping that her baby sister didn't have a nervous breakdown while she was gone Andromeda finally stepped into the store, head held high as she looked around with barely concealed curiosity. This was the first time she'd ever stepped into a store that catered to the lowly Muggleborns and she hadn't know what to expect. It was disappointingly normal looking.

Almost immediately upon her entry a man the Slytherin didn't know came charging towards Andromeda with a fierce look in his eyes.

"I know who you are!" The man raged, the small store going quiet as everyone turned to watch the show. "You're HER sister. That hateful, store burning, bitch of a witch. Come to finish what she started, eh? Come to burn the place down with me in it? Not enough that you and your kind destroyed my livelihood, ran me off, now you've got to take my life too?"

"Where is your Coca Cola, please?"

"What?" The man blinked, sure he must have heard her wrong.

"Do you or do you not sell the Muggle product known as Coca Cola here?"

"Well of course we sell it." Was his automatic, baffled response. "It's one of our top sellers. That Hufflepuff boy buys enough of it to make it worth stocking as is." Ted Tonks was one of the man's all time favorite customers.

Andromeda had no problems guessing who that Hufflepuff boy was. At least she knew she was in the right place now. "If you would point me in the direction of it I will get what I want and then leave this establishment. I assure you that I have no intention of burning this building down with or without you in it. Though I must say, if this is any example of how you treat your customers then my sister and my 'kind' cannot be entirely to blame for your store's difficulties."

The man's jaw was practically on the ground as he pointed down one of the aisles dumbly, in too much shock to do anything else.

Nodding her head imperially Andromeda strolled around him and headed down the aisle, ignoring the looks she was getting like the other people weren't even there. Head held high she marched up to a strange, rectangle shaped Muggle contraption, able to see the drinks through the glass panels. Figuring out how to slide the door open Andromeda retrieved two of the ice cold bottles, holding them by their necks as her attentions turned to the stacks of the drinks near the machine. They weren't cold…but for later... Picking up a case of six in her free hand Andromeda was pleased with her purchases and headed for the front of the store to pay.

Along the way Andromeda spotted several items with interesting names, her eyebrows rising as she caught sight of neon colored sticks that were apparently called Pixy Sticks. Pixy Sticks? Seriously? Muggles ate grounded up pixies? At least that was what she assumed since the packaging showed someone eating some sort of powder from the end of the stick. But why? How could the nasty little things possibly taste good?

Not to mention the fact that they couldn't spell pixie properly. That was just sad.

Intrigued despite herself Andromeda shifted her load around so that she could grab two of them and then continued on her way to the check out. She'd confer with the Hufflepuff before trying them, Andromeda decided, having never imagined that Muggle food sources were so scarce that they'd been reduced to eating pests.

The angry Muggleborn who'd yelled at her earlier was there manning the counter, and he rang in her purchases with a scowl on his face. When the owner went to hand her her change Andromeda waved off the offered coins.

"Keep the change. Apparently you need it." Andromeda turned to leave and then paused, looking over her shoulder at him with icicles practically dripping off her words. "And a word to the wise, it would be most ill advised for you to speak of my sister in that manner again. You being a Muggleborn only excuses your stupidity so much."

)

Exiting the store like she opened the place Andromeda spotted her sister right away, Cissy nervously wringing her fingers as she tried to hide from sight. Obviously her sister didn't want anyone seeing her so close to the store, Andromeda thought with a faint smile. Walking over Andromeda motioned for her sister to follow her, the two making their way over to a bench that was a respectable distance from the mercantile. Andromeda wasn't entirely sure her sister wouldn't faint from the stress.

Thankfully they had bottles like these for their drinks as well so Andromeda knew the spell that would get the stubborn caps off, handing the first opened one to her sister before opening hers as well. Tapping their bottles together Andromeda drank first, Narcissa watching wearily before slowly bringing her bottle to her lips.

"It's wonderful!" Narcissa announced in surprise, after taking a deep drink as opposed to her cautious first sip.

"Isn't it just." Andromeda agreed with a cat that got the cream smile on her face.

The two girls had emptied half their bottles when Narcissa saw her would be fiancé coming towards them with a cold look on his face that spelled trouble. Big trouble. And since Lucius's gaze was focused on her older sister Narcissa didn't have to guess as to what was wrong. He'd heard already, Narcissa thought frantically, having not been given enough time to come up with an excuse for her sister's erratic behavior.

Also seeing him coming Andromeda met his gaze squarely, not about to be cowed by a mere boy with delusions of being a man. She liked Lucius over all, but she wasn't about to let him think he could dictate what she did and didn't do. Only her father could do that.

But telling her that was precisely what the boy intended as Lucius came to a stop in front of them, demanding to know what she was thinking, going into the Mudblood store. He was especially pissed off that she'd dragged Narcissa into the fray, the younger girl immediately dropping her bottle to the ground, kicking it under the bench as he continued to verbally abuse them both for their un-Slytherin behavior.

That hadn't taken long, Andromeda thought as she let him get his rant out of his system before coolly rising to her feet, enjoying the fact that he automatically took a step back as she did so. Smart enough to know when he's bitten off more than he can chew, Andromeda thought with arrogant superiority. But he hadn't realized it soon enough to save himself some lashes from her tongue. And hers was far, far more poisonous.

"First of all, Lucius, you have no right to give me orders. I am older and my bloodlines makes yours look as inferior as the Hufflepuff I'm tutoring. Secondly, don't you take that tone with my sister, EVER. You will show her respect or I will teach you respect." And while his face flooded with color Andromeda continued without mercy. "And finally, how dare you suggest for one moment that my going into that store brings disgrace upon me or my family. Do we not wear jewelry made by goblins and eat food made by elves? How stupid are you, that you don't realize that the purpose of lesser beings is to provide their betters with that which we choose not to do or make ourselves?"

Lucius opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to come up with a rebuttal for that, which made him absolutely furious.

Furious too, at her sister for saying such horrible things to Lucius, Narcissa grabbed the boy's hand and linked their fingers in a show of unity. "You can take your stupid Muggle drink and choke on it." Whirling on her heels Narcissa practically dragged Lucius with her, the boy finally gaining his feet as he turned to send Andromeda a 'so there' look before matching his pace to his girl.

Shaking her head Andromeda turned and used her wand to retrieve the discarded bottle, sending it soaring out from under the bench and into the nearest trash can. Retaking her seat Andromeda retrieved her own bottle from where she'd set it down and resumed her sipping, her good mood tainted by the confrontation with Lucius. What the boy thought of her really didn't matter, but she hated the fact that her little sister had turned on her so easily. But then Cissy really did fancy herself in love with the Malfoy boy. People did stupid things when they were in love or so she'd heard.

Andromeda was nearly finished with her drink when she saw a familiar figure rush towards her, a bottle identical to her own in one hand and a shopping bag in the other.

"Hi there." Grinning widely Ted walked over to take a seat beside her, a bold mood that he normally would have never dared to attempt. Just to be safe though, he kept a foot's worth of space between them. "I heard you were over at Mac's store. I've got you hooked on the stuff now, haven't I?"

"Hmmmm." Was all she had to say about it.

Taking that as a yes Ted set his bag down on the ground and retrieved his own wand to open his bottle, chugging down a quarter of the bottle before coming up for some air. "Ahhhhhhhhh. Nothing better."

"You might enjoy it more if you savored it a little." Andromeda pointed out dryly.

"Probably." Grinning at her Ted's gaze was caught by something bright sticking out of her coat pocket. "What's that in your pocket?"

It took Andromeda a moment to realize what he must be referring to. Reaching into her pocket Andromeda drew out the two colorful sticks. "I wanted to ask you why Muggles eat ground up pixies."

"Why we eat…oh...OH!" Laughing Ted shook his sandy blonde head merrily. "That's just the name of it, Silly. Tisn't made of real pixies. What's in there is a powder, mostly sugar, that Muggles think resemble pixie dust."

Taken aback at being called silly Andromeda didn't quite know how to respond to that. No one had ever accused her of that with such…affection before. He wasn't making fun of her or berating her, he was, by Merlin's beard, teasing her.

"What you do is cut off the end and let what's inside slide into your mouth. You've only got the two, right?"

Andromeda nodded. "Why?"

Ted's grin grew, his eyes twinkling behind his shaggy bangs. "Well you don't strike me as the type that eats a lot of sugar. You'd kill me dead after you came off the sugar high if I let you have too much of it. I don't think the world is ready for a hyper Black."

"A hyper Black?" Andromeda repeated, not liking the sound of that at all.

"Yeah. People who have too much sugar and aren't used to it can get really wired on the stuff. There's sugar in the coke too so that plus two Pixy Sticks is all you should have before dinner tonight." Seeing that she wasn't quite getting the idea of a sugar rush Ted opted to give her a visual. "A sugar rush, or being hyper, is like being a kid the night before Father Christmas comes. You can't sit still, you talk too much, and you really annoy people who aren't in the same boat as you."

"Oh." She could see why it would be a bad thing for that to happen to a Black. Just imagining what her elder sister would be like was too terrifying for words. It would not be a pretty sight to see.

Absently reaching up to push a couple stray locks of hair behind her ear Andromeda winced when she tried to return her hand to her lap, her bracelet having caught on her intricately braided updo. Tugging on it she couldn't seem to get it loose.

"Here, I've got it. Don't want to wreck the rest of it." Setting his bottle down Ted scooted closer and then knelt on the bench so that he could see what he was doing. With infinite care he slowly unwound the captured strands from the metal of the bracelet, wincing every time he had to tug.

Staying perfectly still Andromeda knew she was being silly, but her heart didn't seem to care about that as it picked up speed. It was stupid, since it was just the Hufflepuff, but it felt oddly intimate and personal, for him to be touching her this way. And his sorry after every accidentally tug was actually quite endearing.

Finally he was done, Ted breathing a sigh of relief when he'd visually confirmed that he hadn't done any damage to her hairstyle. Women were damn picky about their hair in his experience. Though he would have liked to have seen it down, Ted thought wistfully to himself as he shifted so that he was sitting on the bench normally. She'd be at her most sublime with her hair down and tousled around her unparalleled face. Just picturing it had him sighing again.

Fingering the bracelet that had caused all the fuss in the first place Andromeda stared down at it as she spoke. "Thank you. Does my hair need to be fixed?"

"Nope. It looks as beautiful as always."

Looking over at him Andromeda smiled, just a little. "And I suppose you know some poem that would adequately describe just how beautiful it is?" The man had a poem for everything.

Ted shook his head. "Nope. There aren't any words that could adequately do that."

Dammit, Andromeda thought as she looked away. She was blushing again.