Chapter Four:
As they walked out of class, Andromeda reluctantly agreed to duck into the empty classroom to speak with Molly.
"Hey," Molly said finally, sitting down on a desk. "I'm sorry about Arthur."
"Don't be. He can't help the way he is. All Gryffindor boys are like that."
Molly looked up with her sharp and accusing blue eyes. "Does that make Slytherin boys better?"
Andromeda thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Not by any means. Slytherin boys are cold, and mean, and harsh, and they are always so used to getting their own ways."
Molly seemed unsatisfied with this answer. "Why do you have a Slytherin boyfriend?"
Andromeda walked to the door, unwilling to continue this conversation. "Because," she said venomously. "Like everything I'm forced to do, it's part of being a Black."
"But, you're not -" Molly's voice stopped her from leaving and she turned to look at the other girl. She was watching her, her hands outspread a little as if to show she didn't mean any harm by her statement. "But you're different, Andromeda. You're nicer than your sisters, that's a good thing! Maybe -"
"No, it is not," Andromeda said, with a voice that betrayed too much emotion. "That's just me, being the weak one."
She turned and stormed away, determined to never again speak to those in the compartment. She walked quickly into the Great Hall and nearly sprinted over to the Slytherin table.
With her chest tightening with the want to be away from the Slytherins, she knew she also shouldn't go away. Evan Rosier saw her and motioned her over. Although she was disinclined to, she did anyway.
He pulled her onto his lap, and she had to fight her urge to run away from him.
"Hello," greeted some of the Slytherins.
"I don't think she's met you all," Evan said, kissing her cheek. "This is my new girlfriend, Andromeda Black."
Andromeda glared.
"Severus Snape," said a second year with ruffled black hair.
Lucius Malfoy glared back at her. "We've already met."
"Yeah. You're my sister's -" She paused before she could say something she would regret later. "Boyfriend."
Malfoy glared at her again. "I heard you are closely affiliated with blood traitors and mudbloods, Andromeda Black."
She felt frightened and hid it behind the sneer and scowl that she barely managed to pull up. "Blood traitors? Mudbloods? Are you kidding me? They don't even belong here, why would I affiliate myself with them?"
"Has it ever occurred to you that I've never trusted you?" asked Lucius Malfoy with his awful smirk. He leaned close to her, touching her waist.
She scrambled backwards and fell on the floor. Rubbing her back and wincing slightly, she backed up quickly.
"Come on, Andromeda. Lucius is my friend," Evan Rosier said calmly.
Andromeda stood up, scowling resentfully. "Oh? Well, I'm a proper and obedient daughter of Cygnus Black, and that duty comes before being a people pleaser for a dull boyfriend."
"DULL?!" shouted many voices at once.
"Dull!" she shouted back, spinning on her heel and rushing away. She abandoned the Great Hall and rushed up as many flights of stairs as she could before resting against a wall.
One of the portraits, an old lady, asked, "Why, what are you running from?"
"Idiots," she replied coldly. "Ones that think I'll bend every which way to please their friends."
"I thought the Slytherins were your friends, Miss Black."
Andromeda walked to the window, sighing. "I don't know anything anymore."
"Neither do I," said a new voice cheerfully.
Andromeda whirled around, only to see Ted Tonks. She almost smiled, but managed to hide it behind a scowl.
"You know, scowling does nothing for your appearance," he said, smiling. "But you don't need help looking beautiful."
Andromeda found herself almost speechless. "Well, Ted Tonks, have you come here to bug me or what?"
"I was actually going to ask, what was that all about? I mean, in the Great Hall. And I brought you lunch." He handed her a bowl of soup.
With a sigh, she started sipping the soup. "I suppose," she said between sips. "well...Lucius Malfoy was being plain rude. I suppose I shouldn't've raised my voice, Narcissa will upset with me. But I'm not here for everyone's pleasure, you know? I hate it when Bella tries to set me up with anyone, normally it doesn't work, but I want someone someday to appreciate me for me, and not for, well...you know."
"Yeah. I know." He was silent now, standing next to her at the window.
She couldn't believe she had just opened up part of her life to the boy, so she quickly returned to indulging herself in the wonderful soup and casting her gaze across the Hogwarts ground that could be glimpsed from the window.
"I must admit, Andromeda Black," Ted Tonks said slowly. "You're the most contradictory, confusing and confused, and strange person I've ever met. First you hate mudbloods. Then you hang out with the likes of me. Why?"
She set the bowl down on the window sill. "I really don't know." Her voice was so soft and frightened that she barely heard it herself. It could be just a quiet thought, floating among the sounds of the air. She cast her gaze to him, her scared and guarded eyes allowing emotion only this one time. "My life is a mess. I am confused."
Andromeda picked the bowl up and started to walk away. Ted touched her arm, holding her wrist. She looked at him quickly.
"Let me take the bowl. I brought it up here," he offered.
She released it into his hands and whispered a quick, "Thank you" before hurrying down the hall.
"Miss Black is fraternizing with muggles!" whispered a portrait near her.
Choosing with difficulty to ignore the portrait, she quickly started running down the hallway, as if running would help her escape the problem that escalated from simply sitting in a compartment with five people that had managed to change her life and stress her out in less than a week.