Chapter Seven:
Andromeda walked silently along the trails near Hogsmeade. She never really engaged with what her friends did here, always walking along the trails nearby, wandering and exploring.
Suddenly, a mischievous voice could be heard. "Well, it's the one and only, gorgeous Andromeda Black."
She immediately pierced Arthur Weasley with a glare. "Are you really so insistent upon being annoying?"
He laughed. "Well, I could always tell you about my new discovery on muggle habits - did you know that they have this thing called elektriseety?"
Confused and scowling at him, she moved her gaze to the rest of the group. Molly had her arm linked through Arthur's, Alice was standing on Frank's toes nearby, and Ted, awkwardly third wheeled, stood off near a tree. Upon catching her gaze, Ted grinned at her. She smiled back timidly, feeling her insides curl up with a pleasant feeling.
"Do you normally hang out and wander by yourself?" asked Alice, innocently curious.
Andromeda shrugged, and then slowly nodded. "Yes, I suppose I do, often. I don't prefer being around people."
"Gasp!" exclaimed Arthur. "The Slytherin Princess does not prefer to be around her people!"
And Molly elbowed him, and Andromeda wondered why. She supposed it could have been that the statement was a little offensive, but instead, she laughed. At this, Arthur and Ted chuckled as well, Arthur rubbing his ribs from where Molly had elbowed him.
"Would you like to join our picnic?" asked Alice with a friendly smile.
"Sure. But if you breathe a word about me having a picnic with muggles and blood traitors to anyone, I'll hex every one of you."
"Yes, and you're not violent at all," Frank said, sitting down criss cross on the blanket.
"I can see it," chuckled Ted. "You absolutely emanate warm fuzziness. It oozes from you, can't you feel it?"
Alice rolled her eyes and flopped into Frank's lap.
"I must ask," Andromeda said. "Do you always invite a few extra people to be third wheels to your lovey dovey-ness?"
Alice blushed, and immediately engaged herself in eating a large sandwich, which she ended up sharing with Frank. Arthur and Ted burst out laughing at the embarrassed look on Frank's face.
"So, are all purebloods like you? Or are you just acting strange for a pureblood?" asked Arthur, sitting down and fixing her a gaze of interrogation.
She chuckled. "Well, Weasley, according to most people, I'm not normal." She was aware that the way she said that was a little bitter and cold, so she encouraged herself to relax the glare in her eyes.
"I think you're - " Ted hesitated, and she realized he was staring. At her. He gulped and finished his statement, "A lot like your sisters, just much, much more likable than they are."
"So do you hate Ted then? Since you're not a normal pureblood," Arthur continued his interrogation. Molly sent him a warning look, and Alice took a huge bite of a sandwich.
"I, uh, well, hate is a strong word," Andromeda replied.
"Well, then, what do you think of him?"
She stared quietly at the sandwich Alice had offered her and took a testing bite. "Well...he's loud, strangely considerate, kind, intelligent, a definite muggle, very odd, kind of strange."
Ted made an indignant noise of disagreement.
"Well, we can sure see that our dear Andromeda is full of compliments towards our Ted," Arthur said sarcastically.
She knew the comment wasn't supposed to be harmful, but it stung. She stood up, the remembrance of Ted's kindness towards her surfacing. Maybe since he was so nice, she should be nice back. The consideration her words could have upset him hurt. Awkwardly, she took a few steps away.
"I think, I think I should be going," she said, as an overwhelming feeling made her head ache. Just looking at Ted - seeing his kind blue eyes, his automatic smile, the way he managed to unravel the secrets of her heart. It wasn't fair - nobody had control over her like that. But somehow, this strange mudblood - no, muggle - had managed it quite well.
Molly stood now and stood next to her. "Arthur didn't mean anything rude by that, I promise. I just think he means it's rare to get a compliment from you. Hey, that's not a bad thing."
She shrugged and narrowed her eyes into a glare.
Ted called, "Hey, Andromeda, you look lovely today, even in a glare."
And for extra measure, she glared at him again before storming off. And then, she could hear Arthur and Frank guffawing with laughter. So instead of leaving completely, she walked a few feet behind some trees with low branches that offered excellent cover and allowed her to listen in.
"Ted thinks Andromeda is pretty," chortled Frank. "Pretty, pretty, pretty."
"You guys sound like girls," snapped Ted, blushing a little.
"Ted, on the off chance she falls in love with you, if you break her heart, I'll kill you. Multiple times," growled Molly, and Andromeda glowed at her protectiveness and made a vow to be more protective towards this girl. "And Arthur, if you dare interrogate her ever again, I'll hex you. We're supposed to be friends, not persecutors. When you invited her here, it was a kind gesture. Now she won't want to be around us. We may have blown our chance of friendship with her."
At this, Ted looked down, sad.
Frank and Arthur burst into laughter again, pointing at Ted. "He's sad! Oooh! Ted and Andromeda, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Andromeda, despite not being involved in the conversation, felt her face heat with a blush.
"Just because I like a girl, doesn't mean you need to holler it to the whole world. Now, shut up before someone civilized hears you," growled Ted.
Dazed, surprised, and gleeful, Andromeda started for Hogsmeade. She tentatively considered the absurd idea that Ted - that wonderful, strange, kind mudblood - could ever fall in love with someone like her. He admitted it - aloud - to his friends! She spun in a happy circle, a silly smile plastered across her face.
Suddenly, she tripped over a tree root, and someone grabbed her by the arm.
"Careful," advised Amos Diggory. "You almost got hurt."
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
"Oh, ho ho!" he said, grinning. "I didn't know Andromeda Black smiled."
"Ah, rarely around people at school. But this isn't school, and I'm not with boring people, and I had a wonderful walk!"
AND, Ted likes me! He likes me, TED TONKS likes ME!
She cheerfully skipped down the street of Hogsmeade, this thought repeating itself multiple times in her head. And for that moment, she allowed herself to completely forget he was a muggle.