"You look amazing."

Ted stood from his bar stool to greet her as she shook the sleet from her hair and pulled her coat off. The heat wave hadn't lasted, but all the same it was one of the warmest Winters at Hogwarts Ted could remember. Hence the sleet, not snow.

She rolled her eyes as she leant against the bar. "Table under Black?"

The barman nodded.

"Table for two in the back, yes Miss?"

"Yes." She nodded back. The tall, grey haired barman stepped out from behind the counter, grabbed two menus from the rack and showed them through to the back.

Ted had never been into this part of the Hog's Head, he didn't even know it existed. It was smaller, cosier, smelt less of goats but secluded and obviously not for the eyes of the usual customers.

Andi smiled as her chair was pulled out for her, and then tucked in too, Ted a little peeved as he wished to do it for her.

"Anything to drink before you order?"

"Scotch on the rocks with a twist." Andi stated. "And…"

"Another Butterbeer will be fine." He smiled at the man, who looked oddly familiar. After he left, he turned to Andi. "Is it just me or do you recognise him?"

"Not particularly." She looked round towards the doorway he just left through. She shook her head slightly looking down at her menu.

"What are you going to have?" Ted asked, attempting to fill the awkward silence.

"Salmon looks good."

Ted wrinkled his nose in distaste, not a fan of fish unless it was smothered in batter and served with large portion of chips, he decided in his head to go with a standard manly slab of meat and two veg.

The man came back with the drinks and then asked for their food order. As she just stated, Andromeda ordered the salmon and Ted, after consulting his menu, decided on the pork chops. Just as before, he left again without another word.

Why was this so awkward?

He watched her as she sat there, sipping her drink looking down at her lap. It was the first time this evening he could properly take her in. He hadn't really seen her properly since Sunday when she asked him on this date. Date. Oh who was he kidding, this wasn't a date. He had paid her one compliment which she ignored and otherwise they had only spoken about food, the barman and drinks. Maybe the drinks will pick the evening up he thought as she took a larger swig from hers. She honestly did look gorgeous. He was dying to give her a snog. Or even hold her hand. She had her nails painted a deep gold tonight, a deep grey dress on with a black corset and black heeled lace-up boots. She looked very Victorian, obviously the kind of clothes she had to wear at home. It didn't matter to him that her straightened hair, tied up in a ponytail, was slightly curly at the front where her coat hood hadn't shielded it, or that her mascara had also been smudged a little by the wetness in the air; she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"I…"

"Huh?" She looked up.

"Sorry." He chuckled under his breath. "I was just going to say how beautiful you looked."

"Don't be silly."

"What?"

"I'm not."

"Are you actually kidding me?"

"No…" She took another sip of her drink, frowning slightly.

"So you really don't think you're beautiful?"

"No. I don't."

"Well, for the sake of now, will you just accept the compliment?" She took another sip and went to say something but then just shook her head. "What were you going to say?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Right."

Again, a silence as they both took another gulp of their drinks.

"So… Andi… Where did you grow up?"

She spluttered on her drink before laughing. "What?"

"Where did you grow up?"

"Why on earth are you asking me that?"

"Because, despite your rules about PDA's and the fact we've barely spoken, this is meant to be a date, and on dates you get to know the other person."

"But you know where I grew up, Ted. We had this conversation when we first met, like, 5 years ago."

"Fine then." He smiled and leant back against his chair. "Tell me what's changed in the last however many years then. Like what subjects you study."

"Ted, this is the most pointless-"

"Just tell me!" He laughed as she finally began to crack a smile.

"Okay, fine!" She rubbed her brow pushing a small curl out of her face as she turned to him properly. "As you know, Care of Magical Creatures. Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, History of Magic-"

"You actually study that drivel?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with History of Magic?"

"Well I don't know I-" He cut off mid-sentence and collapsed back against his chair in a pretend sleep.

She laughed, and he opened an eye to see bite her lower lip and blush ever so slightly as she looked at him. This was much more like it.

"What do you study then, smartie pants?"

"Creatures," she nodded knowingly, "Potions and Transfiguration too, Charms and err, oh! Muggle Studies."

Andi looked up and paused for a moment, swallowing the mouthful of scotch.

"It's my only guaranteed O you see. Smithy and I practically end up teaching the class every session."

She went to say something, but just downed the rest of her drink before placing the empty glass back on the table.

"It's a problem isn't it? Me studying Muggle Studies…" He half-cocked an eyebrow before leaning in slightly towards her.

"Not a problem, I…" Her nose wrinkled again and he had to supress the urge to smile as she looked serious. "It's just… sometimes when I'm with you, like when we're talking like this or when we kiss-" she coughed and shook her head, before raising it again with a seemingly new sense of pride "I forget what, I mean, who you are."

She looked away again, shielding her face with her hand, but not her mouth enough as he heard her swear under her breath, like she had on Sunday.

"Andi…" he reached over and took her hand that was still resting on the table. He was surprised as she didn't yank it away, but instead looked at him through sad, wary eyes. "I know this is really tough for you and I know it's all my fault, because if I wasn't a-"

They looked to the door as it creaked open and that was when Andi pulled her hand away sharply, and she seemed to let out a sigh of relief as the barman brought in their plates of food. They mumbled their thanks, and after Andi ordered another drink, he left once more.

"How's your food?"

"Good." She mumbled through the fish, she half smiled. "Yours?"

"Not as good as mum's back home, but yeah, nice."

"I can't remember the last time mum cooked anything. If she ever did."

"So your dad's the chef in the house then?"

"No." She half laughed. "The house-elves are much better cooks."

"You have house elves?"

She nodded. "Four or five. Changes all the time."

"Why does it change?"

"Well, Father doesn't tolerate disobedience so…" She ate another mouthful, but she had implied the consequences enough.

"And… you're okay with that? What he does to them?"

"I… I don't really know any different."

There was a silence again as they ate a few mouthfuls, Andi's drink arrived, and they ate once more.

"What if I was to show you different."

"Excuse me?"

"What if I could show you a different way of life, Dromeda. Would you want it?"

"Ted…" Her heart beat faster against her ribs. She would be lying to herself if the idea of a new life, a different life away from values, morals, poise and perfection didn't appeal to her in some form. He was right about her Father, it wasn't right the way he took the lives of elves if they did the slightest thing wrong. But her family, her friends, everything she knew and had grown up in, it couldn't all be wrong, could it?

He could see how much she was thinking this through, and how it was affecting her as she hastily scrubbed her eyes.

"If you want to talk about something else, we can."

She nodded slowly.

"Have you done that Creature's essay? I mean, did you get the message from the other Slytherins about it?"

"Oh erm… Yeah I got the message, but I haven't finished it. Gave up at the conclusion."

"But they are the easiest part!" Ted laughed. "That's where you basically re-write your intro."

"You can't just re-write your introduction. The whole point of a conclusion is to sum up what you've written, but add a new idea, like a new concept for the reader to think on after they've finished."

"Sure…" He pondered for a moment deciding the new topic of conversation. "Right, what do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?" She frowned a little.

"Yeah fun. I know it may be a foreign concept to an upper class Slytherin, such as yourself," He winked and she chuckled. "But yeah. Fun."

"Does reading count as fun?"

"No, no it certainly doesn't." He smiled and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay then, I play the piano and I sew a bit and I guess shopping's fun."

"How very girly of you."

She laughed before finishing her last mouthful of her meal. "I like boy things too thank you… I…"

"What?"

She sighed.

"I probably find the boy things more fun actually."

"Really?"

"Don't tell anyone though okay? Image is everything."

"Cross my heart."

She pulled one of the small bread rolls out of the basket and began to mop up the herb butter that remained on her plate.

"What about you? What boy things do you find fun? Quidditch?"

"Never mind me, I know you grew into quite the Chaser. I've seen you play."

"Quidditch is just, well, I guess then it is just fun." She laughed again. "Oh Merlin, do you remember our first match in class?"

"Oh very funny, laugh at my pain!" He cocked an eyebrow and his lips curled into his crooked smile.

"You were so silly though, Ted. That bludger properly went for you."

"Look okay, Quidditch is just weird okay, I like my sports with both feet on the ground. Like football."

"What's football?"

"What's football? My my Andi, you honestly haven't lived." He swallowed his last mouthful and downed the last of his Butterbeer, Andi taking the hint to do the same with her drink. "Come on."

He jumped up, took her hand, pausing for a moment as their eyes met. For the first time she noticed the golden like glint to the blue. They were warm and inviting and she would have completely lost herself in the moment if he hadn't stroked her fingers ever so slightly. She looked down at their clasped hands as she stood herself, butterflies filling her stomach and her heart rate increasing faster than she ever swore it had.

"Live a little." Ted whispered before bearing his teeth in that grin she couldn't help but smile back at.

He dragged her out of the back room with a giggle, before releasing hands as she pulled her coat on and flicked her hood up as Ted asked for the bill at the bar. He went to pay, but Andi handed over a small velvet bag full of coins and she half skipped as she walked out of the pub and into the snow. She looked so seductive as she glanced over her shoulder at him, and- despite the fact he was still in the pub- broke into a little jog to catch up with her.

Ted began to run down the lane, Andi thought at first they were heading back to the castle, but he veered off to the left, not right.

She called his name laughing as she ran after him, hoping not to slip and fall over and make a fool of herself.

You care, you actually care what he thinks of you.

When she caught up with him, he stood there holding, what looked like a small, black and white quaffle. There was a funny looking goalpost too, rectangular in shape, covered in netting and sat on the ground- not raised in the air like normal goal posts.

"Fancy a match, Miss Black?" He threw the ball to her and she caught it looking puzzled.

"Okay. What do I have to do?"

"Get that ball in this net."

"Sounds easy enough." She frowned suspiciously before running towards the net and throwing it in, Ted, just missing it as it hit the top right hand corner of the net. She smiled wickedly, placing her hands on her hips.

"That doesn't count." Ted smiled as her smirk vanished.

"Why not, I got it in, didn't I?"

"The clue is in the name of the game. It's called football for a reason my dear Andromeda."

"What? So you use your feet?"

"Uh-huh." He smiled as he picked up the ball from the snow, then placed it at his feet, giving it a hard enough kick to push it through the snow towards her.

She frowned as she looked at it, kicking it with her toes, it just spun off a little bit to the left. She frowned again kicking harder, but the same happened again.

"Try kicking it with the side of your foot."

She did so and it moved a little straighter and she smiled slightly. She eyed up the goalposts and kicked hard, but it missed just left of the posts.

"Stupid muggle game." She muttered under her breath. Ted moved over to the ball and dribbled it back across to her grinning.

"Don't be a spoil sport, you'll get the hang of it." He smiled and she tried to smile back, but he knew from years ago just how competitive she was.

Ted conjured up another ball, and placed it on the ground at his feet after passing the other ball to her.

"If you kind of twist your hips as you kick…" he did so and it went right into the middle of the net.

She did the same, and whilst it didn't go in the net, it was a much cleaner shot. They practised for a while more, and before he knew it they were playing against each other, kicking the ball around, laughing as they did so. She the managed to tackle the ball off him, and with a hard kick, it went flying into the top left corner of the net.

She screamed and laughed in victory.

"I did it! I can't believe I actually did it!"

"And for the premier league we have Andromeda Black! She's here all night ladies and gents!" He laughed with her too as she bounced up and down, running into his arms, jumping and wrapping her legs around his waist as he spun.

Their laughter cut out as they came to a stop. They caught their breath and she caught his eye again blushing as he slowly lowered her to the floor.

"I… I think it's time we head back…"

"I think you're right." Ted smiled sadly, brushing a curl from her face.

She looked away and pulled out of the embrace, suddenly aware of his arm around her waist. He went to wave his wand and clear the area, but she quickly ran to pick up a football.

"Do you mind? If I keep this?"

"Not at all…" He smiled as she picked it up and clutched it to her chest.

They walked back to the castle in silence, but it wasn't awkward like it had been before, they were quite content to just be in each other's company once again, just like the old days…

Ted walked Andi to the top of the Slytherin steps and smiled again.

"Better make this quick, before we get caught. Wouldn't want that to happen." He winked as he stuffed his hands deep into his pockets leant into her slightly. And for once she didn't pull away, just smiled back up at him, still holding the football in her arms.

"I… I had a really good time tonight, Ted. Had a lot of fun."

"Me too. Thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome." There was a slight pause before Andi turned to descend the stairs, she got about half way before she turned to look up into the corridor again, he was stood there, leaning against the wall watching her go. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Of course."