Ted was still in the Great Hall when Andromeda returned. He didn't notice her right away, as he was too busy making faces at Olivia from across the hall. She was snuggled up next to Sirius Black, but that didn't stop her from making several rude gestures every time she caught his eye. Ted chortled, and he was still chortling when Andromeda sidled up to him.
He was surprised to see her back, but not complaining. Maybe she'd realized Saturday was the worst day to do homework and would join in his taunting of Olivia and Sirius, but the look on her face dried up his hopes instantly.
"Andromeda?" he asked, "What's wrong?" Unfortunately in their world, there were a lot of things that could be wrong. Ted tried not to jump to conclusions, but his first thought was that something had happened to his mother. Or maybe Bellatrix had done something. Or the Lestranges. Or Lord Voldemort. There were too many possibilities.
"Not here," she said curtly. Lorie and Jake cast her curious looks, but she seemed to be purposefully avoiding their gazes. Ted only nodded, before practically being drug out by Andromeda. He glanced over his shoulder to see Lorie and Jake, who had gone from curious to concerned. He just shrugged. He doubted this was a shrugging matter, but he didn't want them to worry.
Andromeda had his arm in a vice grip as she led him away from the throngs of students. Ted had always assumed he was the athletic one between the two of them, but Andromeda was practically sprinting. He wanted so desperately to know what had happened, but he knew better than to try to talk to her until they were completely isolated.
Eventually she led him to a broom closet, and only when she was satisfied that the door was locked did she release his hand. He expected her to speak right away, but she didn't.
"Andromeda?" he prompted gently. She was shaking. He gently grabbed onto her arms and lifted her chin up to meet his gaze. "What's wrong?"
The words seemed stuck in her throat. "I'm late."
Ted stared at her, dumbfounded. She'd drug him all the way out her to talk about her insanely disciplined schedule?
"Late for what?" he asked.
She gave him a look that might have been disparaging if she wasn't still quivering. "I'm late, Ted. As in…" she didn't say the words, she just glanced at the space between her legs.
"Oh," Ted said, finally understanding. Sort of. It took a minute to really process what she'd said. Then he did, and his stomach clenched as he let out a much more sober, "Oh."
Andromeda seemed to feed off his sudden panic, as she'd gone completely silent, meaning he'd have to talk.
"But it couldn't be…" he laughed nervously. "We used the potion. And that potion isn't like muggle contraceptives. It's foolproof."
"Except, there was that one time. When we found the magical bed on the fifth floor."
Ted remembered the time she was talking about. His whole body remembered that time. It had been a magical time. Except, now that he was thinking back. It may have been a little too magical. Or at least, magical a few too many times.
"Bloody hell," he said, running his hand through his hair. This couldn't be happening.
"Bloody hell is right," Andromeda said. It was the first time Ted had heard her swear. If he wasn't about to faint, he would have celebrated the moment.
"But that still doesn't mean…. I mean, we don't know for sure, right? It could be just a fluke?" The hopeful note in his voice was piercing.
Andromeda nodded. He could see her trying to match his hope, but being optimistic had never been her strong suit.
"There's a potion we could make to know for certain, but I don't know for sure how to make it. We'd need to get a copy from the library. But we can't let anyone see us. No one…. No one can know about this," she said that all in rush, but at that last word her voice turned pleading. Ted nodded. No way he wanted anyone to know he might be a father at Seventeen.
God, that sounded mad even in his head.
They didn't speak as they made their way to the library. Andromeda looked like she wanted to pass out, and Ted didn't know how to fix it. He settled for taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. That seemed to calm her down, but only some.
Once they reached the library, he asked her, "Now what?"
She bit her lip, nervously eying the other students, before leading him to the back on the library where the potion books were kept. The students there also gave them questioning looks. Andromeda flushed, but then she turned to him and asked, "What was your report on again, Ted?"
He stared her, his mouth hanging open like a brain-dead fish before he realized what she was doing. "Love potions," he said, the first thing that popped into his head. Andromeda gave him a look, but it was too late to take it back now. The other students raised their eyebrows, but seemed unconvinced.
Ted rolled his eyes. "I told you you didn't have to help me."
A flicker of a smile spread over Andromeda's lips before her look became stern. "If you hadn't left it until the last moment then I definitely wouldn't have."
He made a face at her, though out of the corner of his eye he saw the other students smirk before returning to their other studies. They weren't suspicious, which was good, except they were still here, and might notice if Ted and Andromeda started looking for a potion other than a love potion.
He took Andromeda in his arms and said, "I don't need to study love potions, not when your lips are the most intoxicating love potion in the world." And then he planted a heavy, saliva-inducing kiss right on her lips.
Andromeda stiffened in surprise, but she wasn't accustomed to fighting off his kisses. Besides, it was working. The students around them crinkled their noses before making their book selections and skittering away. No matter who you were or where you were, nobody liked public displays of affection. It was one of those unspoken rules on the universe.
Once they were gone he teased tongue around Andromeda's, giving his display kiss a brief sense of tenderness before pulling away. He was pleased to see Andromeda looking a little dazed as he pulled away, but once she returned she gave him a look. "Your lips are the most intoxicating love potion in the world?" she repeated, looking like she wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or smack him.
He grinned, hoping that would encourage the latter response. "It worked, didn't it?"
The battle raged in her, before she let out a small giggle. Though that giggle faded as she turned toward the rows of books in front of her, and remembered why they were here.
A pit settled in Ted's stomach too. He had the sudden urge to run from the library and chalk this all up to a bad dream, but he couldn't.
He and Andromeda lapsed into another uncomfortable silence as they searched. Once again Ted wished he knew how to make this better for her, but that would require knowing how to make this better for himself first.
At first the titles he scanned where all about healing, though when they started to move toward transformation he figured he was getting closer. He pulled one off the shelf called, Desire: Magical and Natural aphrodisiacs. Not that he and Andromeda needed that, but he couldn't help but flip it open anyway.
"Here," Andromeda said suddenly, pulling Ted from his discovery. It was a small, battered book called, 100 essential potions for the Modern witch. At least it didn't have, How to know if you're expecting, written in bold letters.
Andromeda pulled out a quill and began hurriedly copying the instructions. Ted should be on lookout, but his curiosity got the better of him and he began reading the description, trying to figure out how accurate this potion was and how long it took to get the results.
"What are you two lovebirds up to?"
Ted's head whipped up. Skeeter stood before them, her usual smug smile in place as she peered toward the page Andromeda had open.
Ted had to think fast, again. He "accidentally" dropped the book he was holding, and made sure it tumbled toward Skeeter's feet. She picked it up, her eyes brimming, though when she saw the title she let out a startled chuckle.
"My, my, need a little boost in that department do we? Rabastan never had use of those, but each to his own." Both Andromeda and Ted turned bright red, though probably for different reasons. Skeeter chuckled again before handing the book back to Ted. He had to resist the urge to smash the book over her head at the look she gave him.
Once she was gone, he and Andromeda sighed in relief. At least, mostly. The book had done its job. Skeeter had no idea why they were really here. Yet Ted found he was stuck on the Rabastan comment. What did Skeeter know about Rabastan's… needs… and why did she think Andromeda would care?
"I got it," Andromeda said quietly, shoving the book back on the shelf. She wouldn't look at him, though he tried not to read too much into that. They had too much on their plate now.
"And?" he prompted.
She shrugged. "It's an easy enough potion, though we're going to need to—borrow— a few ingredients from Slughorn."
Ted chuckled. "Lucky for you, I happen to be an expert on Slughorn's stores. See? It was a good thing I got detention."
It was a weak joke, but Andromeda chuckled appreciatively anyway, her warm gaze returning to his. It was enough to wipe thoughts of Rabastan from Ted's mind. At least, mostly.