By the next Friday, Andromeda had almost learned to tune out all of the whispers around her. There had been plenty, but they were more about Regulus' words than her and Ted, miraculously enough. Regulus seemed to have set a new standard for pureblood elitism. Now, hexing innocent students was viewed as "common" and "lowly." Hatred needed to take on a higher brow.

So far it appeared to be just as nasty, but different. It was subtler, and more complex. Instead of stringing the muggleborns up they were providing graphic descriptions of all the things that could happen to their muggle relatives. Some of it was quite grotesque. Andromeda overheard several third year girls crying about it in the bathroom later.

When the attacks did happen, they were much more secretive, less flashy, but equally destructive. A second year boy tripped on the stairs and broke his leg. They fixed him up right away, but it was still a painful injury. Unfortunately, they had no way of tracing it back to the culprit. By "saving" those muggleborns, Regulus had made it harder to protect muggleborns than ever.

Not that Lily wasn't still trying. Every time something happened she was right there, desperately searching for anyone or anything to connect to the incident. Every time she caught Andromeda around she gave her a pointed stare. Andromeda had given in and helped to comfort some of the rattled students, but it was clear from Lily's glare she wanted more.

Lily, however, was not her only concern. Regulus had taken to sitting between her and the rest of their housemates. Whenever one of them would try to go after her he would give them a withering look, like he found their antics annoying. Somehow, it was enough to get them to move on.

He never said anything to her. Never defended her or acted like he cared, but something about it still felt weird to her. She'd never been close with Regulus, even when they were younger. He'd never been close with Sirius either. He always acted like he was smarter than Sirius, Sirius would respond by proving he was stronger, and they would spend the rest of the time glowering at each other.

Regulus had never made a big name for himself in school either. He got good grades, but he didn't participate in any other activities or socialize much with the others. Clearly, being a Black still give him a lot of power, but there had to be reason he'd come out of the woodworks now, she just had no idea what it was.

She supposed she should be grateful, as his attitude had saved her a lot of pain and torment, but even that made her uneasy. Like her luck was going to run.

Like it did when Rita Skeeter trapped her in the bathroom.

"Andromeda, dear, I've been looking everywhere for you," Rita said, her voice casual and familiar, like she and Andromeda were old friends. Andromeda, however, merely gave her a forced smile before turning to leave. Even a hello could be misconstrued by Rita into some form of gossip. However, as Andromeda tried to open the door, it refused to budge.

"Oh sorry, it appears to be jammed," Rita said, while her eyes smiled. "We'll have to wait until someone comes by to rescue us."

Andromeda tried everything, every charm and spell she knew, but it wouldn't budge. The door wasn't jammed, it was enchanted shut. And she had a theory about who had done it and why.

She whirled on Rita. "What do you want?"

"Why so defensive?" No matter what Rita's mouth said, her eyes wouldn't stop smiling. "I don't want anything, though it would be nice to have someone to talk too, while we try to pass the time."

Andromeda's suspicions were confirmed. Rita wanted all the gossip she could get, and she wasn't going to let Andromeda leave until she got it.

"It must have been difficult for you, the other day, standing up to your sister," Rita began.

It wasn't a question, but Rita looked at Andromeda expectantly, waiting for her comment. "Yes, it was."

"What's it like?" Rita asked, zeroing in on Andromeda. "Constantly having to betray your family for the sake of the man you love?"

Andromeda looked away, but Rita reached out and grabbed her arm. "It's alright, you can tell me. I'm sure it must be hard, not having anyone you can talk too."

Andromeda opened her mouth, before realizing it was true. She didn't, not really. Ted tried to be helpful, but she couldn't talk to him about her family, not really. Even Sirius wouldn't have understood, as he had turned his back on his family years ago. Her other friends were all Ted's, and they had suffered too much at the hands of her family for her to ever be able to confide in them.

Though if she was locking for a confidant, Rita would be her last choice. She was going to have to give Rita something though, or she would never get out of here.

"It's difficult." Andromeda tried to make her voice sound vulnerable, but not too vulnerable. "But I have to be true to who I am, and hope my family will someday understand that."

"Do you think that will happen?" Rita pressed. "One day your family will understand?"

Andromeda was starting to feel like she was being interviewed, or interrogated, and she didn't like it.

"I… I don't know."

"You don't have to pretend with me, Andromeda," Rita said. For once her voice was not high and coy, but straight forward. "Believe it not I don't care much for blood purity. It's what a person does, not who their parents are, that makes them interesting, don't you think?"

If she had said that a little differently, Andromeda would have agreed. But it sounded like Rita didn't care much if a person was good or bad, as long as they were interesting.

"Yes. I suppose," Andromeda said, turning away so Rita wouldn't see her disgusted look.

"Do you regret it?" Rita didn't take the hint. "Leaving your family behind?"

Now it was time for Andromeda to choose her words carefully. Rita may claim she didn't care about blood purity, but Andromeda was sure she would report everything Meda said back to Narcissa.

"I don't regret my decisions," Andromeda sighed. "But I wish things could have turned out differently."

"So you don't regret breaking Rabastan's heart?"

Rita's words hit Andromeda like a slap. They'd been talking about Ted and her family, not Rabastan. "That's not… I didn't…"

"You know, there was a time when I believed you truly loved him," Rita interrupted, her eyes glowing, "and he was obviously head over heels for you, but you're more conniving than I gave you credit for."

Her words turned Andromeda's face a deep red. She wanted to correct Rita, tell her that wasn't what happened, but she doubted it would make a difference. Gossip was to Rita the way bloodlust was to a vampire. Once she got a taste she wouldn't let go.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Rita said, either accidentally or purposefully misunderstanding Meda's distress. "It's actually quite admirable. You always seemed so meek and timid." She placed a hand on Meda's arm again. "I'm delighted you hear you've got such killer instincts."

"I'm glad I could satiate your curiosity." Andromeda flicked Rita's hand off. "Now let's get out of here."

"Just one more question."

Andromeda gritted her teeth. If Rita wasn't careful she was going to see those killer instincts in action.

"Who's better in bed?" Rita smiled. "Ted or Rabastan?"

Andromeda turned a deep red again, and looked away, as if that could someone get her of this conversation.

"Instinctually I'd bet on Rabastan," Rita said, forcing herself into Meda's face, "but Ted seems like quite the firecracker."

Andromeda shook her head, her throat tight. "I don't…"

"You don't know?" Rita's eyes widened. "You mean you haven't shagged Ted yet?"

Andromeda didn't answer, but that was answer enough.

"That would have been the first thing I'd done," Rita chuckled, shaking her head disbelievingly. "Otherwise how could you compare him to Rabastan?"

Once again Andromeda didn't answer, and Rita practically choked on her surprise.

"Wait… You didn't shag Rabastan either?"

Andromeda closed her eyes, praying this was just some stupid dream, and she'd wake up soon.

"Andromeda," Rita said slowly, deliciously. "Are you a virgin?" Andromeda bit her lip, but once again that was the only answer Rita needed.

"A prude and a master seductress." Rita licked her lips. "You continue to surprise me."

Andromeda stared at her, breathing heavily. Rita had come wanting gossip on Andromeda, and she'd gotten more than she bargained for. But now it was over. Andromeda wasn't giving her another damn thing.

"Oh, silly me," Rita trilled. "It was just anti-unlocking charm," She pulled the charmed trinket out from under the door, and then opened it with ease. "But this has been such a profitable chat, don't you think?"

Andromeda didn't waste a second getting out the bathroom, and she didn't look back. Her heart was pounding. She had no idea what Rita would do with all that information she discovered, but it wouldn't be anything good. Andromeda needed to prepare herself before she was blindsided by something she couldn't handle.