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

Slytherins Don't Cry

Sitting up in her hospital bed, Andromeda tucked curls of hair behind her ears, annoyed that her hair kept falling out of place. She could take it down and then redo it, but that would be too much like primping and Pomfrey might notice. And Andromeda most definitely did not want the other woman thinking she remotely cared what she looked like when Ted came to visit. The old woman was already giving her looks that made her want to squirm. Not that she was doing anything suspicious, Andromeda silently reassured herself. It wasn't like she was visibly showing the fact that she'd come to depend on and look forward to the Hufflepuff's daily visits.

He was still the only one who'd come to see her. Her parents and sisters had yet to show any signs that they even knew she was ill. She told herself she didn't care about that, that that wasn't even that unusual, but it still hurt. In the past, she'd at least been able to count on her little sister to show some concern. Apparently, Cissy was still feeling bitter.

Doing her best to put that aside, Andromeda turned her attention to pretending not to be watching the door. She was failing horribly.

Finally the door opened and in he came, just like clockwork. Well the hour varied, but he always came to see her. Andromeda imagined that his visits were causing quite a lot of gossip, but being all but locked in the Medical Wing had some advantages. And actually, at this point, she didn't care what they thought of her.

His visits were all she had to look forward to at the moment.

"Hey there!" Smiling his happy smile Ted hurried over to the chair Madam Pomfrey left out for him. "You're looking better today. How are you feeling?"

"Madam Pomfrey says that she'll allow me to return to my dormitory this evening if my temperature remains good. I've reached the point where I can take care of myself."

"Well that's good." And it was, even though he'd miss being able to spend time with her. He knew that she missed being with her own crowd, he'd heard from Madam Pomfrey that he was the only one to come and visit. He'd tried approaching her little sister about visiting her, but the blonde had turned and given her his back every time he'd dared to come near her. Her boyfriend had made it clear too, that approaching Narcissa Black again would have some seriously painful results for him.

Andromeda nodded her agreement that it was good.

Ted smiled, not sure what else to say or do. They'd finished 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' the day before and had spent the night discussing it so that was out. "I guess…we won't be starting the new book I brought." He finally said. "I'd loan it to you, but it belongs to another Muggleborn in my year. You probably aren't an 'Anne of Green Gables' sort of girl anyway."

"What's that story about?"

"An orphan girl with a very big imagination who goes to live with an older couple who are brother and sister and live in a place called Prince Edward Island. I just figured you might like it because Anne's a strong, independent girl like you, but on second thought you might find her personality a little…grating."

"I see. How are your lessons going? You're keeping up without my help?" He had refused to let her exert herself tutoring him.

Ted nodded, grasping the subject eagerly as he launched into a blow by blow of his day and all he'd learned from his various classes. He also caught her up on the latest gossip, though he deliberately left out what they were saying about the two of them. She'd hear it soon enough, he supposed, and she wouldn't want to hear it from him. And since she'd have to face that soon enough Ted figured it was wise to try and brighten up her mood now. "Oh, and I've been keeping your sister up to date on how you're doing, by the way. Or trying to. I'm sure she'll be real glad to see you out and about tonight. She probably just didn't want to get sick, that's why she hasn't come by."

Ted knew how much it bugged Andromeda that Narcissa wasn't coming to see her. Not that she would ever say anything to him, but he was getting pretty good at understanding how her mind worked. Plus, his feelings would be majorly hurt if any member of his family didn't care about his well being. So he'd try to smooth things over between Andromeda and her sister and hope that by thinking her sister cared more Andromeda would find it easier to make piece with Narcissa when they did meet up. That was his plan anyway.

Andromeda stared at him, realizing immediately what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her think that her sister was staying away for a good reason and not because they'd fought before. The Hufflepuff was gravely insulting her by insinuating that she didn't know when he was lying to her. Please, he had more tells than a toddler. He'd been telling the truth about trying to talk to her sister, but he was lying about why Cissy wasn't coming around. It was gross stupidity to lie to a Black. Bad things happened to people who did that.

And knowing that he would lie for her was the last straw.

Slowly, tears began to run down Andromeda's cheeks.

)

Jaw dropping Ted stared at Andromeda in a blind panic. She wasn't making a sound and the Hufflepuff wasn't even sure she knew she was crying. Ted remembered well how she'd reacted to him suggesting she could ever cry, but she was definitely crying this time and she didn't appear to be slowing down. "Andromeda…."

"I'm not crying."

"Okay." Figuring that agreeing with her was in his best interest Ted reached into his robe pocket and withdrew his handkerchief, holding out to her with a hopeful, 'please stop crying' expression. "Uhm…you're….you're sweating and uhm…you can use this to clean up."

Andromeda glared at him through her tears, not bothering to wipe them away as they continued to fall. "I am a lady. Ladies do not sweat. We occasionally perspire delicately, but I'm made of sterner stuff than that. I am NOT sweating and you're rude to ever suggest that I would."

Panicking even more Ted was only grateful that she took the handkerchief from him, using it to mop up her tears now. Since she was still looking at him in between pats Ted felt obligated to come up with another explanation for her condition. "Your cheeks are wet because…because…because there's a hole in the ceiling and the water's leaking onto your cheeks."

Andromeda blinked, than nodded in agreement, latching onto the truly pathetic excuse. If nothing else, it was ludicrous enough to have her tears drying up. "Exactly. But the cool water feels good on my cheeks so I'm not using magic to stop it." She added with a definite edge of sarcasm that went completely over the Hufflepuff's head.

"Makes perfect sense." Ted agreed with a frantic nod of his own. "Absolutely perfect sense."

Once she'd removed all signs of the tears Andromeda stared at Ted over the handkerchief, unable to believe that he had not only come up with such a lame excuse, but that he'd lett her use it with a straight face. He actually looked like he was trying to convince himself that there really was a leak in the ceiling. If she told him that the sky was brown, he'd probably try to believe her, Andromeda realized with a mixture of exasperation and fondness.

That was just how much he seemed to care about her.

She'd done nothing to earn or deserve that, but he cared all the same, Andromeda thought to herself. And she liked him a hell of a lot for that.

Holding out the handkerchief to him, Andromeda smiled somewhat shyly at him, amused at the dazed expression that crossed his face when she did that. He really did go goofy when she forgot herself enough to behave in a somewhat un-Black like manner. She was starting to find that fact incredibly endearing.

In all honestly she was starting to find him endearing, as opposed to simply foolish.

Which should really worry her, she thought, though strangely it didn't. It probably would later, that always seemed to be the case, but Andromeda was willing to admit for the moment that she was actually glad to know the man sitting beside her.

She could learn to like having him around.

)

Andromeda returned to her dormitories that evening feeling all eyes on her. She walked with her head held high, and her back so straight one would think she was doing an impression of a living ruler. But Andromeda didn't care what any of them thought, she was a Black after all. They lived by their own standards and beliefs, the rest of society be damned.

But there was one person in the room whose attention Andromeda wanted, and that person refused to even look her way as she crossed the room. She could see Narcissa off in a nearby corner with Lucius, her sister deliberately not looking in her direction. Lucius met her gaze only for a moment, but it was enough to convey his smug enjoyment that Narcissa was under his thumb. His wintery eyes clearly conveyed that he would be standing between them until he was good and ready to move. He was completely confident in his belief that he was Cissy's number one.

Even worse, Andromeda suddenly had a bad feeling that Lucius was right to think so.

Why was she only realizing the frailty of her family bonds now, Andromeda wondered to herself as she headed for her room. And really, could she even call herself a member of a family? The word family implied bonds after all, a connection that should mean more than the simple sharing of bloodlines. But when push came to shove, was that not all she shared with her closest blood relations?

She liked to believe that her parents loved her, but their love was absolutely conditional and knew it. Bellatrix didn't love her, Andromeda didn't even have to think about that. Her sister appeared to love one person and one person alone. If you could even call Bellatrix's feelings towards the Dark Lord love, she thought wryly. And last, but certainly not least, was Narcissa. Her little sister loved her, no one could convince Andromeda otherwise. But Narcissa was weak, she would go along with the others whether her sister wanted to or not. Her baby sister rarely thought for herself, though ironically when she did, Andromeda was always surprised by her sister's intensity and determination. But those times were rare and far between. Only when Cissy's back was to the wall did the girl show her well hidden spine.

Rubbing her arms absently for warmth, Andromeda let herself into her room, ignoring the looks she was getting from her roommates. They all nodded to her because they had to, but they left the room immediately under the pretext of wanting to get to the Great Hall for dinner early.

Watching them go Andromeda had no doubt that they would shun her if she not for her family and Slytherin behavior. Blacks stuck together and everyone knew that to mess with one was to mess with the whole lot of them. Provided of course that you were still a part of the Black family, Andromeda mentally added. Go outside the family and you would be fair game to anyone.

Not that she needed her family to protect her. That she could do quite well on her own.

So just what did she need her family for?

She didn't need their hollow, conditional love in order to survive, Andromeda contemplated as an uneasy chill went down her spine. She rarely felt anything particularly loving from any member of her family unless she'd done something particularly worthy of praise. And she didn't need them to support her financially because she had inherited an inheritance from her maternal grandparents when she'd turned seventeen. It wasn't much compared to her family's overall wealth, but it was enough to support herself with in relative comfort.

If she thought about it, she was a part of the Black family because she'd been born into it. No other reason. Had she been born into another family and then met the Blacks she would have never become a part of their family unless she'd married into it. She would never have known their sparse affection or regard otherwise.

And just why was that such an important thing to have?

Why was that worth her small time upon the earth?

Struck dumb by where her thoughts were going Andromeda sat down hard on her bed, staring off into space as she considered her new, never before, thought.

Even if she were incredibly lucky, she'd only live perhaps a hundred years more. And that would require a great deal of luck since people in her family tended to have short to medium life spans. And as someone who'd always enjoyed history, Andromeda knew well how small a person's life was in the grand scheme of things. Her life span was like a piece of parchment in the school library, Andromeda thought to herself. She was simply a page in a book, her story quickly over within seconds of life's overall history. In less than two hundred years she'd be nothing but a name in some family records.

And since she knew that to be true, how stupid would she be if she wasted what little life she had catering to the wishes of people who had their own lives to live and therefore had no business dictating hers. Who were they to tell her how to live her life when if they truly cared for her even a little they'd want her to spend what time she had upon this earth as happy as possible.

To hand her life over to people who didn't have her best interests at heart would make her as stupid as a Muggle.

Which begged the question, did her parents have her best interests at heart?

They wanted her to marry someone like Dolohov and to have pureblooded children despite the dangers that posed to future generations. They wanted her to be a part of or at least support the Dark Lord's army and finally, they wanted her to promote the importance of blood purity and the Black family. Her life was supposed to be devoted to those four things and those four things alone.

And just what kind of a life was that?

How was that a noble way to spend one's short existence?

As a Black she was supposed to be better than everyone else. Her life was supposed to be worth that of a hundred Muggleborns at least. And if that was the case, didn't she have an obligation to use that life for something more than breeding and boasting about how wonderful her pureblooded family was?

Surely someone as gifted and brilliant as herself could come up with some nobler purpose in life.

And she would, Andromeda thought fiercely, her eyes alight with new determination as she got to her feet. There was nothing a Black couldn't do after all. Her family had taught her that.

)

In the morning Andromeda got out of bed with a look in her eyes that would have done any Black proud. It was day one of her living her life for herself and Andromeda found herself perilously close to giddy at the thought. She would start small, but she would definitely start.

And she knew exactly what she would do first.

Having deliberately risen at an early hour Andromeda was the first to arrive at the Great Hall for breakfast. Standing outside the doors Andromeda ignored everyone that walked past her, not remotely surprised that the person she was waiting for was making her wait.

He had never struck her as the early riser type.

Finally, when the stragglers were finally arriving as the hour drew late, Andromeda caught sight of Ted Tonks running towards her, robes flying out behind him as he raced against the clock.

"Hi!" Waving at her wildly Ted came to a grinding halt in front of her, panting for breath as he smiled at her like the idiot he so often was. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Ted."

The Hufflepuff blinked, not quite believing what he'd just heard her say. Not only had she wished him good morning, but she'd called him by his first name. In public. And the Slytherin didn't look upset that she'd done either. Of course there weren't many people around, but still…

Had Madam Pomfrey decided to try out a new potion on the girl?

And now that he thought about their present circumstances Ted became even more confused. "Why aren't you already inside? Were you…waiting for me?" That couldn't be it, could it?

"Yes. I wanted to remind you that now that I'm better I expect you to show up for our tutorial lessons as per usual now that I've recovered. It would not be in your best interests to keep me waiting." She added with a steely look. "Your week of slacking off ends tonight."

"Yes, ma'am." Ted agreed, all but standing at attention under her dark gaze.

"Good." And now Andromeda smiled at her almost friend, just to play with his head some more. "Have a good day then. I'll see you later."

Turning on her heels Andromeda headed into the hall, thinking to herself that maybe, tomorrow, she'd say good morning to him with a lot of people around. But that would probably be too much too soon. She'd work up to that.