Ted looked up at Professor Slughorn too, gave his wand a small flick, and let Andromeda catch the note. He winked at her and hastily pretended to copy the notes when Professor Slughorn turned around.
Andromeda rolled her eyes. The note read:
When is that
Transfiguration essay due?
She wrote ‘Tomorrow’ underneath his message, crumpled up the scrap of parchment, checked that Professor Slughorn had turned around again, and chucked it at the back of Ted’s head.
He turned to face Andromeda. She stuck out her tongue at him. Ted grinned at her and read her response before pretending to take notes again.
The girl sitting next to Andromeda glared at her for a few seconds, and exchanged looks with the girl on the other side of her. Andromeda was used to this. The aisle separating the Hufflepuff desks from the Slytherin desks was more like a deep trench. Nobody crossed it, and nobody bothered with what was on the other side.
Andromeda ignored this, though. She and Ted tossed notes to each other in Potions almost every class since the beginning of the year.
Slughorn had turned towards the board again, and Ted had another note ready. This time he let it soar right into her hand.
She unfolded the second note. It read:
exactly was that
essay even on?
Andromeda smiled to herself and replied ‘Animagi’ before crumpling the note and throwing it back to Ted, who caught it this time but-
“Miss Black! Please refrain from throwing things around my classroom,” said Professor Slughorn. The whole class was staring at her.
The bell rang.
“Oh, dear, is class finished already? Twelve inches on the side effects of Shrinking Potions! Due Tuesday!” Professor Slughorn yelled over the noisy crowd leaving the room.
“Thanks a lot,” said Andromeda sarcastically, now among the crowd heading to the Great Hall for dinner.
“At least he didn’t take any points off you,” Ted reminded her, slightly jostled by the crowd in the dreary dungeon corridor. “So … first Hogsmeade trip this weekend. I can’t wait. You’ve got to show me everything. We have to make sure I try butterbeer.”
“Of course, Ted. You made me promise.”
While most of the third-years were visiting Hogsmeade for the first time this Saturday, Andromeda had visited several times before. Her mother had taken Andromeda and her sisters to Gladrags Wizardwear for robes countless times. She’d also been to the Three Broomsticks for the butterbeer and Honeydukes for sweets. Ted’s parents, on the other hand, were Muggles.
Andromeda found Muggles to be interesting. She often had Ted explain things like electricity and Muggle post. She would sneak peeks at the odd Muggle Studies textbook someone had left in the library. She had gazed interestedly at some Muggle parents shopping in Diagon Alley before her mother whisked her away to Gringotts.
Her mother was the reason she kept her interest in Muggles quiet. The Black family was, and had been for generations, obsessed with keeping the family pureblood. Anyone who married a non-pureblood was removed from the family tree. They looked down on Muggle-borns, which they considered to be just as bad as Muggles. This is why Andromeda hadn’t even told her mother that she was friends with Ted.
Lost in thought, Andromeda was surprised that they had entered the Entrance Hall. Students were coming down the marble staircase, joining the crowd slowly making its way through the doors of the Great Hall. Andromeda and Ted followed the crowd to dinner.
The ceiling showed a cloudy sky, which somewhat dampened the warm atmosphere given off by the candles hovering over the students. Chatter and the chink of knives and forks filled the air.
“Bye,” said Andromeda, turning towards the Slytherin table.
“Bye, Dromeda.”
She watched him walk towards the Hufflepuff table as she sat down. Bellatrix, Andromeda’s older sister, glared at her from across the table. Luckily, Lucius Malfoy sat down next to Bellatrix and started chatting with her, saving Andromeda from the nasty remark Bellatrix was sure to have up her sleeve.
Later that night, Andromeda sat curled up in a large green armchair in the Slytherin common room. She was trying to finish her Charms essay, but she was having trouble paying attention to The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3. Abrupt bursts of laughter kept interrupting her concentration. Lucius was telling a loud story about humiliating a Muggle-born second year to an even louder audience surrounding him.
Andromeda glared at the avid listeners. Lucius’s boasting voice made her cringe. It was disgusting, the joy they were getting from humiliating a Muggle-born. She didn’t understand how so many of her fellow Slytherins could get so much pleasure from victimizing innocent people. Who cares if someone’s parents are Muggles? That’s not a reason to resent them.
Andromeda couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up, packed away her half-finished essay, and left the common room. She took a walked down a small flight of stairs and opened the door labelled Third Years. Then she climbed into her drab green bed and fell asleep.
Ted was tossing dozens of crumpled notes to her, but before they reached her, they turned green, and then burned to ashes. Ted became frustrated. “Why aren’t you catching them?” Ted kept repeating. Andromeda was panicking, jumping around, trying to catch the notes. She looked up at the board. Bellatrix was the teacher, and she was writing out instructions on how to use Muggles in potions. When she saw Andromeda’s horrified face staring at her, she just laughed and laughed.
Andromeda woke abruptly, with laughter ringing in her ears and her stomach grumbling. She turned over, looked out of the window and saw that she had just missed the sunrise.
Eager for some breakfast, she dressed and left the common room right away and was greeted by a surprise when she reached the Entrance Hall.
Ted was walking by the archway leading down to the dungeons and stopped when he saw Andromeda. “Great, you’re up! I think Filch is letting people out in about ten minutes,” he said quickly, checking his watch.
Andromeda smiled. “Maybe I’ll even have time to eat breakfast,” she replied sarcastically.
They walked into the Great Hall together. It was almost empty; only about a dozen people were seated. The Slytherin Table was empty.
Andromeda sat down and started buttering a piece of toast. Ted stood next to her awkwardly.
“Oh, just sit. No one’s around to bother us. I’ve always thought this ‘house tables’ thing was rubbish anyway.”
“I think you’re right.” He sat down next to her and helped himself to some bacon. “So- shall we visit the Three Broomsticks first? Or Honeydukes? Which do you like better? On a scale of one to-”
“Tonks.” Bellatrix had arrived. “I don’t remember asking if any Mudbloods wanted to sit at our table.”
“Bellatrix! Come on now, don’t be so-” Andromeda protested.
“No, it’s okay, I’ll just leave-” said Ted, getting up from his seat.
“No, don’t go-”
“I’ll meet you in the Entrance Hall.” He gave Andromeda a small smile and headed towards the door.
Andromeda shot Bellatrix a nasty look and followed Ted out of the Great Hall.
She caught up to him in the Entrance Hall. “I’m really sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything.”
“But - I feel, kind of…I don’t know…responsible, I guess…”
“What? That wasn’t your fault at all…listen, don’t feel guilty for other people’s attitudes. Don’t feel bad about being a Slytherin. You’re my best friend, and no Sorting Hat can mess that up.”
Andromeda looked up at him and nodded.
“Come on, let’s go before the queue gets too long,” suggested Ted. They started walking towards the front doors. “We can have the rest of our breakfast at Honeydukes.”
Andromeda chuckled at his joke as they reached Filch. Andromeda was surprised by how relieved she felt. What did she expect? That Ted would blame her? Not talk to her anymore?
Maybe she just needed know that it was all right to be in Slytherin. Maybe she needed Ted to be the one to tell her.