Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

A Revealing Day

His life flashing before his eyes Ted wanted to protest that the show was way too short, which meant that he should be allowed to live a while longer. At least long enough to see two decades, that didn't seem like too much to ask. But somehow he didn't think that argument would work with Andromeda at that particular moment in time. Nor could he continue to evade or lie, she'd hurt him bad if he tried to lie. He tried the puppy dog look, but it was a no go today apparently. And so, going as red as a tomato, Ted stuttered out the response to her question.

"The girl I like most…is you."

Andromeda studied the Hufflepuff closely and then nodded her head in satisfaction. "That's what I thought. Keep it that way if you know what's good for you." She added, just in case.

And now that she was sure of her top placing Andromeda felt her energy and strength return to her. Enough so that she decided she didn't need to waste her time standing around talking to him when there were other things she could be doing. With a nod in his direction and a short farewell, Andromeda started to walk back towards the castle.

"Wait. What?" Blinking in surprise Ted stared at her retreating back, his brain slowly regenerating as he struggled to understand what had just happened. And unable to do that Ted went on pure instinct, running after her as he sought to find out why she hadn't just cursed his brains out.

Grabbing her by her upper arm Ted spun the shocked Slytherin around so that she was facing him, her surprise written all over her face. "What do you mean, keep it like that?" The Hufflepuff demanded to know. "Why aren't you mad? Why aren't I dead? I don't understand."

"I'm going to get very mad if you don't take your hand off my arm. Now."

"But why are you pleased at the idea that I fancy you? Shouldn't that upset you? I mean popular girls hate it when geeky guys like me fancy them. Unless they need help doing their homework, but that doesn't matter here because you don't need to copy anyone's homework, and copying mine would be pointless." Ted struggled to articulate his enormous confusion over the strange, parallel universe he seemed to have fallen into. "So why would you be pleased about this unless…unless…unless you like me back."

Andromeda's eyes narrowed at his words. "Don't flatter yourself."

He wasn't the type to flatter himself, but for the life of him Ted couldn't shake the feeling that he'd hit the nail on the head. It should be ludicrous and completely unbelievable, but instinct was telling him something else entirely. And he was a man to go with his gut.

"Andy…do you like me back?"

"Call me that again in public and I'll curse you into the next century, Muggleborn." Andromeda shot back, doing her best to hide her uneasiness as the Hufflepuff turned the tables on her. She really didn't like that she was becoming so transparent where he was concerned. Especially to someone as oblivious as Ted normally was. If it was that obvious she was in serious trouble. Because it was one thing for her to know and accept, and another for anyone other to know that she'd made the unbelievably stupid mistake of falling for the geek.

Taking his life into his hands, Ted called her bluff, moving into her personal space big time as he met her gaze head on. "Andy."

Hot color flashing up her cheeks Andromeda stared at the man, shocked beyond words that he'd called her bluff. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't back down, if she backed down then he'd know that she had a…a…that she fancied him. Oh Merlin help her, she fancied this geeky, awkward, silly Muggleborn and so she couldn't hurt him. Not even a little. She just couldn't make herself do it. Not even to preserve her pride.

"I…I…I HATE YOU, TED TONKS!" Andromeda snapped out, blushing like mad as she glared at him. "Drop dead!"

Ted was so taken aback by her response that he stayed frozen in place as he watched her run off.

"Wow." Blinking several times Ted reached up and pinched both his cheeks. "Huh."

)

Arthur and Molly went looking for the Hufflepuff, having heard through the grapevine that Andromeda Black had crushed Ted Tonks like an ant in front of everyone. So, being the good friends that they were, they were prepared not to tell him that they'd told him so and instead comfort in his hour of need. They found the younger man off by himself, sitting under a tree on the school's grounds while gazing off into the distance like he was a centaur in meditation.

The two Gryffindors took a seat on either side of the Hufflepuff, Arthur slugging a shoulder around the other man's shoulder for added comfort.

"We heard about what happened with Andromeda Black. Sorry she…hurt your feelings." Molly began, trying to think of a nice way of putting things. "But don't you worry, I'm going to have a talk with her about talking to you that way. Especially after you were so nice to her, defending her when everyone was saying mean things about her." And to think she'd been starting to think the woman was somewhat tolerable, Molly thought with a bad tempered huff. She should have stuck with her first instincts and continued to hope that some Muggles found a way to actually burn the witch at the stake.

"She didn't hurt my feelings." Ted informed Molly, shocking the woman with a big grin that all but split his face. "And today is the best day ever, so no need to feel sorry for me. I'm just basking in it."

With a very concern look on her face Molly leaned forward so that she could meet Arthur's gaze. "It blew his brain. Having her tell him she hated him blew his brain. It's not working anymore. What should we do? Should we take him to Madam Pomfrey? Could she help him? Oh I'm going to make Black so very sorry when I'm done with her."

Ted laughed, amused at her reaction. "No, seriously. I'm fine. Better than fine. I'm happier than I've ever been before. Today is the best day ever. And she doesn't hate me. I know that's what she said, but she didn't mean it. If she hated me she would have cursed me until my brains leaked out of my ears. But she didn't, so I know she meant the exact opposite."

"The exact opposite?" Arthur repeated, his shock written all over his face as he tried to wrap his head around the other man's logic. "But, Ted….the opposite of hate is love."

"Okay, not the exact opposite…that's probably pushing it a little." Ted acknowledged, too happy to let the semantics bother him overly as he basked in his good fortune. "But she doesn't hate me. She likes me. She really likes me."

"And you've decided she really likes you because she didn't kill you?" Molly's voice all but dripped disbelief as she marveled at the male capacity to twist a situation to suit them. It was amazing really. And scary as hell. It was no wonder the world was going to the Death Eaters faster and faster everyday. Men were running the damn country Voldemort wanted to take over.

Ted grinned at the Gryffindor, her words not even putting a dent in his happiness. "Think about it, Molly. Think about everything you know about Andromeda Black. Because I told her that I fancied her, me, the Muggleborn, and I deliberately called her, to her face, a nickname she's warned me numerous times against calling her in public. Now think about that and tell me she doesn't like me too."

Staring at the Hufflepuff Molly opened and closed her mouth several times, no words coming out. And for Molly Prewett, that was saying something.

"You did all that and all she did was say she hates you?" Arthur shook his head, amazement written all over his face. "Wow. You're right. She does like you." A grin breaking out over his face the Gryffindor gave the other man a manly slap on the back. "Way to go, Ted. Congratulations. You're living every man's dream."

"What do you mean, every man's dream?" Molly demanded to know, her boyfriend's words snapping her out of her shock.

Paling a little at the look in her eyes Arthur's shoulders hunched reflexively as he stumbled over his explanation. "I just meant…it's not like I've ever fancied…it's just that she's his dream girl. Hardly any guy ever gets a date with his dream girl, much less has his feelings returned. That's all I meant, Molly. I swear."

"And you're his dream girl, which makes the two of us the luckiest men in Hogwarts." Ted added, trying to help his friend out.

"What he said." Arthur quickly agreed, shooting Ted a quick, grateful look.

"Hmm." The fire in Molly's eyes died down a little, but didn't completely abate. "And don't count your chickens before they hatch, boys. Just because she didn't kill him doesn't mean she could learn to fancy him. Even Blacks probably balk a little at killing a puppy." But even as she said that Molly had to admit that maybe that was being a little kind. "Okay, even a Black like Andromeda would balk at killing a puppy. Bellatrix would not only kill it, she'd stuff it and have it returned to its child owner."

"She's that bad?"

"She's that bad." Molly and Arthur said together.

"She'd kill a puppy." Ted repeated, his horror plain as he imagined it.

"I think you should be a little more concerned about how easily she'd kill you if she knew that you fancied her sister. And that her sister wasn't discouraging you. I'm not kidding you, Ted either. She'd probably kill Andromeda before she'd let you touch her sister."

Ted stared at Molly, her words sinking in and registering. It wasn't like this was news to him, he'd gotten that hammered into his head plenty by too many people to count. And several Slytherins had tried to cursing him because of his rumored relationship with Andromeda already. So he knew…and in his bones didn't care.

Andromeda Black was worth dying for.

)

The fact that she'd been tempted to hide out in her bedroom for the rest of the day shocked and embarrassed Andromeda. Which in turn had shocked her enough that she'd forced herself to stay outside the Slytherin dormitories and wander, somewhat aimlessly, through the school instead. She ignored the looks she was getting from her fellow students, would have ignored anyone had they dared to try and speak to her. Merlin help anyone who dared to mess with her, Andromeda thought darkly as she strolled through the hallways, so lost in her own thoughts that she was completely oblivious to her surroundings as the people thinned out and vanished completely as she headed into hallways rarely seen or used by students. When she did become aware of her surroundings Andromeda was embarrassed to find that she had absolutely no idea where she was.

Cheeks flushing with color Andromeda would have cursed under her breath if she'd been the type to curse. But being a lady she had to settle for stomping her foot in annoyance. Looking around her the Slytherin sighed and started heading back the way she'd come, able to tell which way that was because of her dusty footsteps on the floor. Lovely, Andromeda thought darkly as she studied the ground. She was sure to pick up all sorts of lovely things on the bottoms of her shoes now.

Yet another sin to lie at Ted Tonk's door, Andromeda thought as she mentally cursed the Hufflepuff into oblivion.

Heading down the hallway Andromeda slowed down a little, deciding that the situation wasn't so bad after all. Nobody would bother her here. Nobody would find her here. She could do as she liked without anyone watching her except maybe a ghost or two. And Ted had already embarrassed her beyond belief in front of the Baron and Friar. What was a couple more at this point?

To amuse herself Andromeda opened the doors as she passed them, sticking her head in to see what was in them. The first three were empty, but the forth had something within it that had her walking into the room, approaching the floor length mirror with interest.

It was all by itself, this one adornment in a large room surrounded by windows. The mirror wasn't overly ornate, but there was something about it that called to her on some basic level. A siren's call, Andromeda considered, wary now as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. She knew too much about the darkness that could hide in the most innocent of inanimate objects. And it must be kept away from the student population for a reason.

To buy herself some time Andromeda walked over to one of the windows, drawing out her wand to splash the filthy panes with water. No way was she wiping them off with her coat sleeve. It wasn't happening.

Looking through the somewhat clean window Andromeda got her bearings, pulling out her pocket watch so that she could check the time too, just in case. She still had a couple hours before dinner, so she was good there. No way was she missing dinner and letting anyone think she was too scared to face the Hufflepuff after all.

And now that she was sure of her time and place Andromeda allowed her eyes to turn back to the mirror.

Keeping her wand in her hand just in case, Andromeda walked over to approach the mirror, watching her own reflection carefully for signs of impending trouble. And as she stared into the reflective surface Andromeda watched with growing apprehension as the image on the mirror changed and altered before her eyes.

Her face changed, aged a little, but her expression was one she couldn't recall ever making. She couldn't recall ever looking so…happy before. And as she watched another image appeared, one of a man with ordinary features, but an equally happy face. In the mirror the older version of Ted wrapped an arm around her waist, turning his head to place a kiss against the side of her head. His other arm was holding up a little girl of perhaps two, her blonde hair pulled back in pigtails, her resemblance to her father uncanny.

The woman who looked like her smiled even wider, leaning against the other Teddy while reaching out to stroke the little girl's cheek.

Placing a hand over her mouth as she stared at the mirror Andromeda didn't know what to think as the woman in the mirror didn't do the same.

The woman just smiled and wrapped her arm around Ted's waist instead, her eyes knowing as she met Andromeda's squarely.

)

Dumbledore was certainly surprised to find himself showing Andromeda Black into his office at her insistence. She was Head Girl so she'd been to his office before, but he sensed that the girl's visit had nothing to do with the school and was of a far more personal nature. Motioning for her to take a seat Dumbledore knew something had to be up when she took the offered seat without protest. In the past she'd always insisted on standing unless made to sit.

"So what can I do for you, Miss. Black?" He asked genially, taking his own seat behind his desk.

"I have a question about a mirror, Sir. One that resides within this school." Andromeda answered, quickly giving him the correct floor and wing while her dark eyes watched him intently, waiting for some sign of recognition on his part. "Do you know it, Headmaster?"

"As it happens I do. But I'm surprised you were out that way, Miss. Black. You're not one to go off the beaten path so to speak."

Ignoring the insinuations Andromeda asked the question she'd come to ask. "What does the mirror show its viewer, Headmaster. What is its purpose?"

Lacing his fingers in front of him as he considered her question, Dumbledore couldn't help but wonder just what the girl had seen in the mirror that had rattled her so badly that she was willing to come to him for help. She never approached him unless it was school related, it was actually fair to say that she avoided him like most of her house.

Being the genius that he was the headmaster knew better then to ask her what she'd seen.

"The Mirror of Erised shows its viewer what they desire most. A person completely content and happy with their life would see nothing but their reflection. Or I would imagine that is so. I've yet to meet any individual who does not see more in the reflection of that mirror."

Fighting the urge to wrap her arms defensively around herself Andromeda made herself hold the old man's gaze. "I see."

"Is that all you wanted to know. Miss. Black?"

"Yes, Sir. That's all."

Doomed, Andromeda thought as she remained seated in the chair. She was doomed.