Chapter Eight:

Andromeda gazed at her watch quietly, wondering briefly whether to finish her homework here in the library or up in her commons. The library was mostly empty, excepting herself and the librarian, who was sitting behind her desk.

"Well, hello, there," said a boy with a wonderful grin.

She fought not to smile at him, but the glare in her eyes was much more gentle and relaxed than before. "What are you doing here, mud- mug- Tonks?"

Ted raised an eyebrow. "I came here to hide behind a book shelf and spy on Arthur and Molly. I was going to surprise them. They thought they were being sneaky, but I overheard them."

"You are such a - " she broke off and couldn't say anything.

He winked at her. "Mudblood? Muggle? Idiot?"

"I, uh, I never meant to call you a mudblood, Tonks. I'm..."

Now he looked even more amused, which did nothing for her squirming stomach. She fidgeted uncomfortably. "Are you trying to apologize to me? Is the gorgeous Andromeda Black trying to apologize to me, for calling me a mudblood?"

She smiled and shrugged shyly. "Ted, I have to admit something."

"Oh? Now, what is it?" he asked, with a warm smile.

"I...I, uh -"

"Andromeda!" a loud shrilly voice cut through her sentence, and eyes wide, she shot up from her seat behind the book shelf and nervously motioning Ted to stay hidden behind it. Her sister, Narcissa, glared at her with her gorgeous blue eyes. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Bella wants to see you."

Andromeda's heart dropped. "About what?"

"She's found you a new boyfriend."

Immediate denial rose up in her. "Cissa, I told you I'm in love. I'm not interested in having a boyfriend."

"Bella thinks you need a pureblood boyfriend, and lots of boys like you. Rodolphus's brother, Rabastan, will be taking you out next week," stated Narcissa.

Andromeda sighed, looking away from Narcissa. "Alright, Cissa. Go on. Tell Bella I'll listen."

Narcissa looked sorry. "Meda, I really do not want to make you date him. He's dangerous, Meda. I'm worried he'll force you into something, or you'll lose everything to him."

"Don't worry about me," Andromeda said glumly. "I just wish that the boy I do love, loved me back."

She had almost forgotten Ted's presence when Narcissa walked away and Andromeda had curled back to the ground. The doors of the library swung closed. She refused to look at Ted, until his hand gently touched her cheek.

She looked up to him in surprise, and he started to drop his hand, but she reached up and held it to her face as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"Oh, Meda," Ted murmured when her tears touched his fingers. He started to rub the wet from her face. "What is wrong?"

And his questions, his gentle probing, just caused her to sob even more, trembling with her tears, crying because she was ashamed to be upset, because she had to date a pureblood that just wanted to take advantage of her, crying because she feared this kind muggle would never take her, crying because she was scared, and because she desperately wanted to leave her family but didn't know how.

She slowly reached up and touched his face too, shyly. His arm curled around her waist, and she leaned forward and he did too.

"Ted, I heard you guys talking about me after I left you guys in the forest," she whispered.

Ted replied softly, "You did? What...what do you think? About what you heard?"

The space between their lips was disappearing. "I think that...I don't want Rabastan to be my boyfriend."

He spread his hand over her cheek, and she could feel his breath against her lips, she could feel him breathing against her.

"I want you to be my boyfriend."

"Good," came his simple reply. For it was then that his lips touched hers, and she reacted with fervor, twisting into his embrace to make sure she felt every part of his kiss.

It was gentle, and sensitive, and warm, the kiss spreading through her lips and into her mouth, igniting a light in her chest and causing her to passionately kiss him back. It wasn't like anything she had experienced before - all other kisses she had experienced were rough, sloppy, demanding. His were soft, unassuming, loving.

When they parted, she refused to move very far from him. She curled into his lap, her nose barely an inch from his.

"I want you to be my girlfriend."

And then they were kissing, and she wouldn't let him go. Luckily for her, he wouldn't let her go either. He curled his arms around her waist to tuck her into his embrace and hold her lips to his.

When they broke apart, he nuzzled her neck, causing her to moan with delight. Her insides squirmed just briefly with the deep reminder that she was being pleased with a mudblood - but he was a mudblood she desperately wanted to keep pleasing her.

"Ted?"

"Mm?"

She felt his lips touch her neck and she felt a pleasant flutter of her stomach. "Why do you like me so much? I'm really an awful person."

She felt him chuckle, his chest moving with his deep breathing. "Andromeda, you are absolutely perfect. Haven't you ever seen it? You look at muggles differently than Bellatrix and Narcissa do. They look upon us with absolute contempt and hatred and loathing, and they know and act like they are better than us. You...you are kinder. You don't yell so much. You are mean when you're around other Slytherins, but it's not within you to be deliberately mean no matter who you're around."

Ted gently touched her hair, moving it away from her face. "I've always noticed. I don't think you always noticed me though. The more you did with us, the more I noticed. When you argued with me in the compartment, when you healed my face, I absolutely knew for sure."

"Ted, my sisters don't bother to get to know the names of muggles. I've tried to forget names so I don't seem different, because I've always been different, but I've always remembered yours. I know I'm not supposed to, but I've always remembered yours."

Now, Ted was grinning. "You are different. You're also more beautiful, and more kind, and more wonderful." His fingers tenderly hooked under her chin and he kissed her again.

The distant library light flickered off, and the doors shut.

Andromeda moved away from him quickly. "Ted, we're locked in here!" she whispered.

"Don't be upset," he replied, amused. "It's not locked from the inside, we'll be able to get out. It's only locked from the outside to prevent people from getting in. So, if you'd like to stay with me?" He winked at her.