"Do you always eat like that?" Olivia asked, staring at her. Meda bit back a grimace. So now there was something wrong with the way she ate, too? Of course, Ted used to make fun of the way she ate all the time, reminding her she wasn't having dinner with the Minister of Magic, and she didn't need to be so dainty. She'd feigned annoyance, but it never failed to make her smile. Coming from Olivia, it only set her on edge.

"The foods delicious," Andromeda said to Jean, ignoring the other girl.

"So you've said," Jean said through tight lips. Andromeda, had said that before, but she didn't know what else to say. This silence was even worse that the automobile—truck—ride. Things had even been easier when she'd been here a month ago. That may have been because Jean had so many questions about her son's mysterious new girlfriend. Of course, now that she had her Andromeda-expert, Olivia, she didn't need to ask Meda anything herself anymore.

Andromeda sighed. She knew Olivia resented her, and with reason. Meda had put Ted through hell. She had thought after everything they'd been through together, Olivia might have softened. If anything, she was more cold than she'd ever been.

"So, Andromeda," Meda immediately tensed at the way Olivia said her name. "Do you have any plans post-Hogwarts?"

"Oh, umm…" Jean glanced at her as well, intrigued by this question. Andromeda had scarcely thought about her life post-Hogwarts. Until recently, she assumed it would be as Andromeda Lestrange, docile wife and socialite. Now that she was free of that future, she had no clue what she wanted for her life.

Something Olivia seemed acutely aware based on her smug smile. And something Jean seemed to disapprove of, based on the way her lips turned to a frown.

"I haven't the foggiest clue want I'm going to do," Ted interjected, casting Olivia another look. "You?"

"I was thinking Auror," Olivia said off-handedly.

Ted dropped his fork, surprised. "Really?"

"What's an Auror?" Jean interrupted, perplexed.

"Wizard police," Ted said without looking away from Olivia. He seemed both shocked and impressed by this news.

"More like Wizard special agent," Olivia amended with a sly smile. "I just figured with all the practice we had fighting off Andromeda's family," She gave Andromeda another scathing look. "I'd be pretty good at it."

Andromeda flushed. Jean, however, looked like someone had fed her Stinksap. "What do you mean, fighting off Andromeda's family?"

Oh no. Andromeda had heard that slow, parental drawl enough to know it preceded an angry outburst.

"You didn't tell her?" Olivia said, scoffing.

"Tell me what?" Jean glanced between her, Ted, and finally rested on Andromeda, where her gaze turned accusing.

"That they nearly killed us all in an attempt to get Meda back, and then kidnapped Lorie." At least she no longer looked like she was enjoying this. She stared between Meda and Ted, her face flickering between shocked and angry.

"They kidnapped Lorie?" Jean repeated, her voice rising.

"You seriously didn't tell her any of this?" Olivia settled on angry. "Does she even know what they did to you at school?"

"Olivia," Ted said through tight lips. "Shut up."

"No. Don't," Jean said to Olivia, before turning her glare to Andromeda. "You. Explain yourself."

Andromeda opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She glanced at Ted. He looked pained, for her sake, but what could he do?

"I was engaged," Andromeda said finally.

"Engaged," Jean repeated, her eyes narrowing further.

"I was supposed to get married a month ago," Andromeda tried to keep herself from shaking. "But I broke it off to be with Ted. My family didn't take to it well."

"As in they kidnapped someone?" Jean shook her head again, like she couldn't believe this was real. "Did you go to these... Aurors?"

It wouldn't help," Andromeda said dryly.

"Why not?"

Andromeda bit her lip. This wasn't going to help her case, but she didn't want to lie to Jean. Not anymore. "Because my family has deep pockets."

Jean took a step back. Running her hand through her hair as she processed everything they'd just told her. The gesture reminded Meda so much of Ted. In another moment, that might have made her smile, but she dared not smile now.

"So, your girlfriend's family is like the wizarding mafia?" Jean turned her glare back to Ted. Andromeda had no idea what a mafia was, but Ted's flinch confirmed it wasn't anything good. "And you failed to me this?"

"Can we talk about this later, Mum?" Ted asked wearily, glancing at Andromeda. She wasn't sure what he saw on her face, but whatever it was wasn't making this any easier for him.

"Not really." Jean threw her hands up. "Since you waited until they day before you went back to school to let your friend tell me this." Her anger was so palpable Andromeda could practically feel it.

"They can't hurt us anymore," Ted said quietly. "It's over."

"And how do you know that?" Jean spat.

"Because I took care of it," Andromeda cut in.

Jean slowly turned to her. Andromeda had to keep herself from flinching at the look Jean gave her. "How, exactly, did you take care of it?"

"Yes, Andromeda," Olivia cut back into the conversation. "You never did explain how you walked out of there."

Andromeda shook, but when she turned to Olivia her voice was like acid. "As you said, I'm still a Black."

If she wasn't mistaken, Olivia was almost impressed by this. Almost.

"So you're certain, then?" Jean asked, "My son is safe?"

She didn't sound so accusatory this time. More like she was pleading.

"My family, and my ex-fiances family," Andromeda said as gently as she could, a sharp contrast to how she'd spoken to Olivia. "They won't do anything to him."

"Well, that's nice," Olivia laughed sarcastically. "And I guess we'll just assume the other snakes will follow suit."

"Other snakes?" Jean sounded exhausted now, like this had all become too much for her.

"The rest of Andromeda's classmates," Olvia, however, still had plenty of fire left. "They hate muggles and muggleborns just as much as Andromeda's family, but I'm sure when you two show up as a couple, they'll just be hunky-dory about it."

"Liv, enough," Ted said again, sounding almost desperate.

"No, not enough," Jean said, though she closed her eyes and gripped the table before asking. "What is she talking about? What will these people do to you?"

"They're all talk," Ted said as stably as he could considering how volatile this conversation had become. "None of them will actually do anything."

As he said this, his eyes darted to Andromeda, and her eyes darted to her lap. They both knew that was a lie.

Olivia followed this interaction with narrowed eyes. "Do you believe that, Andromeda?"

"Yes, Andromeda." Jean hopped on. "Do you believe that. Do you believe you can keep my son safe?"

"It's not her—" Ted started, but Jean cut him off. Her eyes never left Andromeda's face. She wanted to say yes, she wanted to say it more than anything.

But she'd decided not to lie to Jean anymore.

"I'm think I'll retire for the evening," Andromeda said. It was a cop out. She was running, rather than facing the truths that were smacking her in the face, but she just couldn't do it anymore. She needed to get out.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Olivia said, only without the word freaking.

"I'll go too." Ted started to stand up, but Jean threw her hand out at him.

"You, stay." The fire in her eyes forced him back into his seat. His eyes met Andromeda's as she left. He was pleading with her too, though for what, she wasn't quite sure. To wait until he could come to her? To not believe what Olivia was saying? Olivia may have been a prat about how she went about it, but she wasn't wrong, not by a long shot.

Which was why Andromeda looked away and scurried from the room. She managed to close the door behind her before the tears began to fall. She bit back on her tongue to keep a sob from escaping. The last thing she needed was for them to hear her cry, but she couldn't move either. Instead she collapsed against the door as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

They weren't the first people to bring it to her attention. Lily Evans had that honor. But something about hearing it from his mother, someone who obviously loved him as much, if not more, than Andromeda did, left a guilty pit in her stomach that she couldn't shake.

"How could you keep this from me?" Jean asked shrilly. Andromeda froze. She was sure Jean had waited until she thought Andromeda was gone, meaning this conversation wasn't meant for her ears.

"I didn't want you to worry," Ted said wearily.

"I'm your mother." She shot back. "It's my job."

"Mum—"

"I already lost your father," That statement was met with a pause. "I can't lose you too."

"You won't. I promise." He sounded like he meant it.

"I need some air," Jean proclaimed. Andromeda tensed, waiting for Jean's footsteps to draw closer, but instead she heard the kitchen door open and slam. Jean had gone outside.

"Bang up job you did here, Champ," Olivia said. "Really. 50 points to Hufflepuff."

"Why did you have to bring all this up, now?" Andromeda couldn't see him, but she could imagine his scathing expression.

"Because I knew you wouldn't," Olivia said. She didn't even sound defensive, just self-righteous. "Have either of you thought about what this year is going to be like?"

"So, what, you want us to break up?" Andromeda's heart clenched, but he didn't mean that. He was just trying to cut through Olivia's argument, right?

"I want you two to graduate," Olivia's voice broke, just a little. "And to do that, you have to survive this year."

"We've survived this long," Ted argued.

"Barely." That statement was met with a marked silence. Andromeda couldn't see, but she could imagine they were locked in some silent battle of wills. She hardly dared to breathe as she waited to see who would win.

"Fine," Olivia sighed. "Don't break up. Just, you know, pretend to."

"Go back to being a secret?" Ted replied haughtily.

"It might be the only way you two get a future."

Then was another marked silence, then. "No, I'm not hiding again."

Andromeda let out another breath she'd held for a little too long.

"I'm not asking you to hide," Olivia said, exasperated. "I'm just asking you to think ahead, for once in your life."

Another pause. She waited, breathlessly, for what Ted would say to that, but he was uncharacteristically silent.

"Look, love doesn't mean you… blindly jump off a cliff. That's all I'm saying."

Andromeda felt a shudder at her words. She'd compared their relationship to standing on the edge of a cliff more times than she cared to count. She'd thought they'd already plunged off of it, and this is what came up on the other side. Olivia could be right though, maybe they had yet to make the jump, and see what really lay in the darkness.

She had no idea what Ted thought, as he was still silent.

"Just think about it, all right. If not for my sake then for your mum's."

She heard footsteps, and she hastily moved away from the door and toward Ted's room. It didn't matter though. She couldn't unhear anything she'd heard tonight.