It was a good thing Narcissa had decided to ignore her elder sister, or she would have noticed Andromeda's constant staring. It was like Andromeda expected the dark mark to suddenly flash over her sister's head, a sign that Lord Voldemort had already claimed her as one of her one of his own.
Instead, she saw only the same sister she'd ever known. Radiant, surrounded by the adoring and envious looks of her friends, while equally adoring and forlorn boys lurked just outside her inner circle. Narcissa had told everyone and anyone that she was dating Lucius, and though he wasn't at Hogwarts anymore, no one wanted to mess with his girl. Since Lucius had become a death eater, that seemed a wise notion.
Is that how Narcissa had ended up on Voldemort's radar? Because of Lucius? Yet Rabastan made it seem like Lucius wanted to protect Narcissa from Voldemort, making it harder for her to place the blame on him.
"You okay?" Ted asked, a frown on his lips as he nudged her shoulder.
She quickly flashed him a smile. "Of course." But when his frown continued, she knew he wasn't convinced. She sighed. She'd gone straight back to the Slytherin Common room after her conversation with Rabastan. She'd told Barty that she was tired and he'd agreed to finish out their shift alone. Concern and interest had been etched in his features, but she'd offered him no further explanation.
She'd found Ted the next morning and apologized for not meeting him, offering the same excuse. His eyes had sparkled with the same concern… but maybe something else too. Doubt? If he did doubt her, he didn't say anything about it. When she'd asked him about detention, he shrugged.
"It went about as well as could be expected." He didn't quite meet her eyes as he said that, instead choosing to study the ground in front of him. Andromeda may have felt something like doubt flicker across her mind as well, but she pushed it away. Ted had been through into an impossible situation between her and Narcissa. At least now the two of them would know to steer clear of each other.
Ted was still staring at her, but per her desire to keep her boyfriend and her family apart, she couldn't tell him, so instead she said, "I don't know. I just haven't been sleeping well lately." It was true. She hadn't been sleeping well. She'd been sore and achy and sometimes even nauseous. Her worries about Narcissa had only made it worse.
Ted ran his hand along her back and moved his lips to her ear. "You seem to sleep just fine when I'm around. Once we finally get to the sleeping part, that is."
Despite everything, Andromeda giggled, and Ted rewarded that giggle by nuzzling her neck.
"Rule Number One," Olivia said, without even looking up from the book she'd brought to breakfast. Now that their entire friend group was more or less in a relationship, they'd finally decided to set some ground rules about Public Displays of aAffection. Rule One was nothing gross or intimate at mealtimes. They all needed to eat.
Andromeda and Ted chuckled again, but as soon as Ted returned to his breakfast, Andromeda's eyes darted back to her sister. Most of her friends and admirers had cleared out as breakfast ended. Now that she was all alone, Narcissa didn't look so radiant. She looked drained. Like she'd been putting on a show, and now she was all spent up.
She glanced up, and Andromeda quickly averted her gaze. Sitting a few spaces down from Narcissa was Regulus and Barty, who appeared deep in conversation about something. Barty caught Andromeda's eyes and gave her a small wave, which she returned only half-mindedly. Her gaze was stuck on Regulus. Perfect, pureblood Regulus, who a few months before had interrupted Narcissa's attack on some muggleborns to tell her it was undignified and beneath her. Hadn't that been Rabastan's exact suggestion? That she convince Narcissa she was too high-born for such behavior?
"Andromeda?" Ted said again, noticing her intensity.
She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I've got some last-minute studying to do, but I'll see you at lunch." Then before he could protest she made her way out into the entrance hall. Fifth years had potions right after lunch, meaning Regulus would be heading to the dungeon. She just needed to sneak one moment with Regulus long enough to tell him the truth. She didn't see any point in denying it, but if he truly felt Voldemort's way was "undignified" to say the least, then maybe he could help her get through to Narcissa. It was her only shot.
In her haste to make sure she was in the right spot to meet him, she crashed into the rest of the 5th year Slytherin boys. They shot her annoyed looks, which turned to disgust when they realized who it was, but none of them bothered her. Probably out of fear of Lily and the Marauders.
Unfortunately, she'd dropped her bag, and now her things were spilling everywhere. She hurriedly gathered them, hoping to still catch a moment with Regulus. He should be walking through here at any moment. Her hands brushed across a soft bundle, and she stopped. It was her feminine cloths, the ones she used for her time of the month. Only she hadn't had to use them in…
Her stomach dropped. Five weeks.
Yet even as the panic hit her, she forced it away. That had happened before, even before she'd… before she'd met Ted. Stress could bring it on. Or a change in diet. Or a lack of sleep. She certainly had two of those covered.
Besides, she and Ted had been careful. They'd taken the infertility potion. Every time. At least, she was pretty sure it was every time, but there was that one time when they'd stumbled into that strange room on the 5th floor that just happened to have a king bed with the softest sheets she'd ever felt. They'd spent quite a long time in those sheets, intoxicated by each other's touch. Somewhere buried in her intoxicating memories she seemed to recall an empty bottle, but it hadn't seemed important at the time…
Her panic started rising again, and without further thought she raced toward the Great Hall. All other thoughts had been pushed from her mind. She needed to find Ted, now, before her panic overtook her mind completely.