“Dromeda, I have to ask you something,” Ted whispered into my hair.
“Just another minute, then we can talk.” With me being a Slytherin and Ted being a Hufflepuff, it was hard being together. I snuggled in closer to his chest and sighed.
Never had I been held like Ted held me. My family had never been one for hugs and kisses and the other boys I had gone out with before “ Slytherins “ had always been rough and demanding.
We stood there for a few more minutes in silence until Ted broke it. “Dromeda, really, I have something to ask you.”
I pulled away and smiled up at him. “What is it?”
He took a deep breath. “Will “ will you … No. Er, I love you. I hope you know that … And I want to be with you for a really long time. What I’m trying to say is … Will you marry me?”
My breath caught in my throat and my heart sped up. “Pardon me?” I squeaked.
“You heard me, Dromeda. What will it be?” He brushed his hair out of his eyes.
“Ted, I … We barely know each other. Five months; it’s not that long.”
A slightly hurt look came across Ted’s face. “We may not know everything about each other, but we do know we’re in love. And we can learn; we can have years and years to learn about each other.”
“Ted.” Fright filled his eyes. “Let me think about it, okay?” He nodded and took my hand. “Let’s get back, alright?”
I lay in my bed looking up at the darkness. Marriage; something that I’d thought I wouldn’t have to deal with until I was thirty. I needed to talk to someone, but who? Not Cissy. None of my friends would understand. I definitely couldn’t write Bella about it. Oh, Merlin, my parents! What would they do? I would be disowned! Sirius! He was only twelve, but he’d understand. First thing in the morning I’d talk to him.
I walked towards the Gryffindor table and smiled at Sirius and his friends. “Hello, Sirius!” I greeted him. Turning towards his friends I bid them good morning.
“What d’you want, Andy?” Sirius asked between bites of his toast.
“Could I talk to you? It’s a lovely day out, we could go for a walk, if you’d like,” I said with forced cheerfulness. Sirius gave me a quizzing look but agreed nonetheless.
“Yeah, sure, let’s go.” Sirius put down his toast and followed me out of the Great Hall.
We didn’t talk until we got to the first greenhouse. “You’re the only one I can talk to about this. Nobody else would understand. I’m not sure if I understand.”
“Understand what? What are you talking about?” Sirius asked sitting on a crate.
“It’s all happened too quickly. Five months! Can you believe it?” I put my hand on my stomach like I always did when I was nervous. “And Ted’s so excited about it, how can I tell him that I don’t think I’m ready? I’m only seventeen! I want to get a job first, get settled “”
Sirius’s face was full of shock as he jumped up and grabbed my arm. “Andromeda,” he said cautiously, “are you pregnant?”
My head snapped up and my eyes locked with his. “Oh, no!” I assured him. “Don’t worry, I’m not “ I haven’t even “ no! Ted, he asked me to marry him.”
“So?” Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He’s a Hufflepuff and a Muggleborn.”
“Mom might as well take you off of the wall now. When they even hear that you went out with a Muggleborn, you know they’ll disown you.”
“Sirius, I’m serious. It’s not something to joke about!”
“Don’t worry, Andy. Being different isn’t that bad.”
“Sirius, you’re twelve. You’re not the one being disowned!” I shoved my hands into my pockets and stared down at him.
“Andy, as long as you have Ted, you’ll get through it.”
I only wished I was able to believe him.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Cissy stepped out from behind a statue. “Cissy!” I cried, placing my hand over my heart. “What are you doing?”
“I saw you talking to Sirius,” she told me in a matter-of-fact voice.
“And?”
“I know what you were talking about.”
“Cissy, how do you know?” I asked.
“I was in behind the greenhouse “”
“What were you doing in the near the greenhouse?”
"I was going to meet Lucius there “ look! This has nothing to do with me! You’re the one that the Mudblood proposed to!” She tilted her head and smirked at me.
“Cissy, don’t call him that!” told her angrily, my hands balling into fists and gritting my teeth. “His name is Ted.”
“I don’t care what his name is.” Her mouth spread into a sly smile as an afterthought came to her. “And neither will Mother and Father when they find out.”
My stomach dropped. “Cissy, you won’t tell them, will you?” I put my hands on her shoulders and looked into her blue eyes.
She tossed her pale blonde hair over her shoulder. “Of course I won’t. It’s your problem, not mine. I’m going back down to the common room now, I’m tired.” She turned and walked down the corridor, giving me a wave of her hand. “Goodnight!”
I let out the breath that I didn’t know I was holding. At least I could trust Cissy.
I walked up to the top of the stands with Clarisse. It was the last Quidditch game before Easter break and the last game between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. I knew that Hufflepuff was going to win, because two of the Slytherin Chasers were in St. Mungo’s with Dragon Pox and they had to use their two reserved players.
We sat down with the rest of the Slytherins who cheered as the players took to the sky. I wasn’t really into Quidditch. To tell the truth I was only there to watch Ted who was the Hufflepuff Keeper and co-captain.
The Quaffle was tossed between Vanity, Flint, and Andrews; they dodged the other players and the Bludgers making their way to the hoops. Flint threw the ball at the right hoop, but Ted blocked it, hitting it to one of the Hufflepuff Chasers. I had to hold on to my seat to stop from jumping up and cheering. The Hufflepuff Chasers flew to the other side of the pitch and tossed the Quaffle through one of the hoops, scoring ten points.
The Slytherins cheered as Nott spotted the Golden Snitch. He flew after it with the Hufflepuff Seeker on his tail. The Hufflepuff Chasers scored another ten points. I gasped as Wilkes hit a Bludger towards Ted, who dodged it. Another gasp came from my throat as the other Bludger was hit towards him, this time by Rosier.
The Bludger hit Ted’s shoulder, sending him flying off his broom and hitting one of the hoops. I ran down to the pitch, getting there just as Ted’s best friend Amos Diggory and a few other Hufflepuffs were picking him up to take him to the Hospital Wing.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” I asked Amos as I rushed after them.
“I think so. He’s not dead yet, so that’s good.”
“Is anything broken?”
“His shoulder defiantly is “ nobody’s shoulder should be in the position, and I think his skull might have a few cracks.” Amos smiled at me as we reached the fourth floor.
“Why are you smiling? Your best friend could have died!”
“Eh, I wasn’t worried about ol’ Ted here. He’s had worse than this.”
I stopped and looked at him. “How can you have worse than this? He fell over fifty feet!”
Amos stopped and told the others to take Ted into the Hospital Wing. “When we were twelve, just before we came to Hogwarts for our second year, we were playing Quidditch. Ted fell off his broom. He broke his arm and three ribs. The next day he was over at my house and I was up on the roof. He decided that he wanted to come up too, despite me telling him not to. He climbed up the ladder and started to walk towards me, only to lose his balance. He fell off the roof and landed in my mum’s rose bushes. You know what, Andromeda? I’m glad you’re with Ted. You might calm him down a bit. ”
I blushed and smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
I sat next to Ted who lay, unmoving, in the hospital bed. Amos and the other Hufflepuffs had left hours ago when he didn’t wake up. The rest of the Quidditch team had come to see him, bringing me news that they had won. I asked how, since they had no Keeper, and William Smith, the Captain, told me that their Seeker had caught the Snitch ten minutes after Ted left. I was happy that they had won, despite their loss of a player, but I dreaded being in the Slytherin common room that night. The team had left a few minutes ago, leaving me alone with Ted.
“When are you going to wake up?” I asked his unanimated body. “You’ve been out for five hours. Don’t you think that’s been long enough?”
“It’ll probably be longer than that, sweetheart,” the matron, Madam Stebbins, told me as she walked by.
I let out a defeated sigh. “Do you think he can hear me?”
“It depends. I’ve seen some wake up and know everything that was said around them. Once a boy was knocked out and his girlfriend told him about the other guy she was seeing. Didn’t think he could hear her. Heard every single word she said.” The matron shrugged and started to walk away. “With some of them you can tell them a whole story and they won’t be able to tell you anything you said.”
“Can you hear me?” I asked Ted. “Hopefully you can. I have a question for you. How did Amos know about us? I thought we promised not to tell anybody.” I waited for Ted to show some sign of walking up, but it was no use. He just laid there with his eyes closed.
My stomach growled and I blushed. “I’m going down to dinner. I’ll be back tonight.” I gave Ted a kiss on his forehead before leaving the room.
Madam Stebbins promised to leave the Hospital Wing open for me when I told her that I had to see Ted and that it was very important. I pushed open the big oak doors and tiptoed over to Ted’s bed. He was still as I left him, but now there was a small smile on his face. I reached out a held his hand.
“Hopefully you’re one of the ones who can hear everything,” I said quietly. “I have something really important to tell you. I guess this could wait until you are conscious.” I went to stand up, but Ted’s hand tightened around mine. I smiled and continued to talk. “I been thinking and after an … interesting conversation with Sirius; I’ve made a decision. Yes, I will marry you.” I whispered the last part.
Ted’s hand squeezed mine tighter before he let go and rolled over. I kissed his cheek before I got up and left. Now I just have to have a word with Wilkes and Rosier.
I entered the common room to find Wilkes and Rosier sitting on one of the sofas. I walked to them with my hands on my hips.
“Ah, Andromeda, just the girl I wanted to see,” said Edwin Wilkes, a smirk on his handsome face.
“And same to you, Edwin.”
“What do I hear about you and that filthy Mudblood?” The last two words rolled off his tongue with disgust.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Don’t you dare play that game with me, Black. I know that you’ve been seeing that boy “ Tonks is it? We all know.”
I bent down so my face was inches away from him. “Who told you, Wilkes?” I whispered fiercely.
“Why, your dear sister Bella did.” My face must have shown how angry I was for he started talking again. “Don’t worry, love, I wouldn’t tell anybody.” His fingers started to curl and uncurl my hair, but I hit his hand away.
“Don’t touch me!” I spun around my eyes scanning the room for long, blonde hair. Narcissa sat by herself at one of the desks studying.
“Narcissa, I need to have a word with you,” I told her angrily.
She spun around a smirk on her lips. “Yes, dear sister?”
“Don’t you ‘dear sister’ me, you little bitch! Why did you tell Bellatrix about Ted and me?” I hissed. “You promised you won’t tell anyone!”
“No. I promised I wouldn’t tell Mother and Father. I didn’t say anything about Bella. And how was I supposed to know that she would tell Wilkes and Rosier?”
“It was because of her that they went after Ted, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it was. Do you think they would pay any attention to him otherwise?” Narcissa retorted, standing so she was the same height as me. “It’s just a matter of time before Mother and Father find out. I’d be holding my breath if I were you.” She got up and walked into the girls’ dormitory.
I stood outside the Hogwarts Express looking at Ted. This was going to be the last time we would see each other until after Easter break.
“Are you sure your parents won’t be mad?” Ted asked as he took my hands in his.
“No. They’ll be furious. If I’m lucky, they’ll only disown me.” I laughed at the little joke that Sirius and I shared.
“Andromeda!” Narcissa shouted at me. “Hurry up, I want to go home.”
Ted’s brow furrowed and a frown came to his lips. “I hope they don’t do anything too terrible.” He kissed my cheek before slipping me a piece of paper. “If you need a place to go, you know where I am.”
I smiled and kissed him one last time before putting his address in my pocket and heading towards my sister. “Hold on tight.” She grabbed my arm with one hand and held her trunk in the other.
Everything went black and it felt like I was getting pressed on from every direction. I could feel Narcissa being pushed into my side and my trunk digging into my knee. I always hated Side-Along Apparition. We landed with a crack in front of our manor house. I got up off of my trunk and helped up my sister.
“Home sweet home,” I joked darkly and walked towards the front door. I opened it to reveal the dark foyer. “Mother? Father? We’re home!”
“Andromeda, stop that indecorous yelling at once!” Mother yelled from the sitting room. I walked in, leaving my trunk to the house-elves, to find Mother speaking with Mrs Murphy, the kindly old widow from down the lane.
“Hello, Mother. Hello, Mrs Murphy.” I gave a slight curtsy and smiled sweetly.
“So nice to see you again, dear. How is school?” Mrs Murphy asked as she sipped her tea.
“Simply wonderful, Ma’am,” I answered smoothly. I turned my attention to my Mother. “Mother, I have to speak to you.”
“Can’t you see that I’m busy? It will have to wait.”
“No Mother, I don’t think it can.”
“Very well. Narcissa, come keep Mrs Murphy company while I’m gone.” Mother stood up and followed me out of the room.
“Where’s Father?” I asked quietly. I felt as though I was going to vomit.
“He’s in his study.”
I nodded and led her up the stairs to my father’s study. I rapped on the door twice before entering.
“Ah! Andromeda, my darling, how are you?” Father asked as he took off his glasses and smiled at me.
“I’m fine, Father. May I speak to you and Mother?” I squeaked this out, my cheeks turning red.
“You’re already here, aren’t you?” He motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs.
I sat down and looked at my hands that lay folded in my lap. “I’m in love,” I said quietly, slowly looking up at Father’s tired face.
“In love? You took me away from my company to tell us that you are in love?” Mother snapped looking down her long nose at me.
“Druella, please. Let the girl speak. Who is it, darling?”
“It’s a boy named … Ted Tonks. He’s a very nice boy. Smart, sweet, funny, and handsome. I really like him.”
“Tonks … I don’t think I heard of a wizard with that name before,” Father mused rubbing his stubbly chin.
“No, Father, you wouldn’t have. You see Ted is a …” I paused and looked back down at my hands. “A Muggleborn.”
The silence that came from my parents frightened me so I looked up. Mother stood still, her chest heaving and her nostrils flaring. Father was now standing, a pained look on his face.
“My daughter. My own daughter is in love with a Mudblood!” Mother bellowed taking a step towards me.
“Why would you even find yourself in the company of such filth?” Father asked, shaking.
“I didn’t mean to. It just sort of … happened.”
“’It just sort of happened’?” Mother was in my face now. “This sort of things does not just happen! You have to encourage it!”
I was now on my feet looking Mother in the eye. “Mother!” I shouted, startling myself. “Stop it! I didn’t ‘encourage’ him. He just kept trying and trying and I like that about him! He isn’t like Wilkes or any of the other boys you keep pushing at me!”
There was a loud crack and my cheek throbbed. Mother still had her hand raised. “You will never speak to me that way again. I am your mother! You will stop seeing that boy at once.”
“No, Mother. I love him and I will continue to see him! He proposed to me; we’re getting married!”
Father took a step towards me. “Get out! Pack your possessions and get out of my house. I do not want to see you step foot into this house for as long as I live.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it was filled with anger and disgust.
Tears sprang to my eyes. I didn’t care if Mother spoke to me like that, I was used to it, but I had never heard Father speak to me in that tone. I was his little girl; we had always had a strong connection.
I ran out of father’s study and to my room. My trunk sat in the corner, not yet unpacked. Through the tears I managed to pack all of my favourite possessions in my trunk. I would have to put the rest in suitcases. I called for Mitzy, my favourite house-elf, to help me pack.
Half an hour later I was standing in front of my family’s house, my things piled around me. Where would I go? I had barely any money and I had a hunch that my relatives wouldn’t let me stay with them. Father was always the one I went to when everything went wrong. Now with my life in ruins, who would I go to?
Ted. His name ran through my mind. Of course! What was it that he had said? If I needed a place to go, I know where he is. I remember Bella telling me about a bus that would pick a witch or wizard up, no matter the time. The Knight Bus, she had called it. Now how did you hail it? My wand hand! I lifted my wand hand like I saw Muggles do when hailing a taxi.
I heard a loud rumbling and gasped as a purple, triple-decker bus came speeding towards me. It stopped with a squeal and the doors opened, showing a smiling lady.
“Welcome to the Knight Bus; emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. I’m Nancy Dobbs and I will be your conductor for the evening. Please step aboard, watch your step. Don’t worry about your luggage; I’ll take care of that.”
I stepped on to the bus and stared in awe. There were beds everywhere, curtained windows and candles next to each bed. The beds seemed to have wheels, which confused me. Nancy came back and told me to pick a bed. I sat on one near the back and she followed.
“Where to? We can take you anywhere you would like to go.” I passed her the piece of paper with Ted’s address and she took it to the young driver.
We started to drive, speeding faster and faster, the beds rolling everywhere.
“What are you doing with all of those things?” Nancy nodded towards my luggage. “Running away from home?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m … moving.”
“Aren’t you a bit young to be moving? Where are your parents? Wait a minute … you look awfully familiar. I saw you in the paper, didn’t I?” She looked out the window at the buildings speeding by. “Yeah, yeah, I did. You’re one of them Blacks, aren’t you? I’d know your family anywhere.”
I looked down at my feet and nodded. “Yes, I am.”
“Well, Miss Black, we’ll be at your destination soon, you should get ready.” She bit her nail. “I hate driving in Muggle communities.”
The bus came to a stop, flinging me off of my bed.
“Well, get up now. You don’t want to miss your stop.” Nancy followed me off the bus and helped me carry my luggage into the neat little yard of small house. “Eleven sickles, please.”
I passed her the eleven silver coins before bidding her farewell.
Ted lived in a small white house, with a red door and two front windows. A little face peaking out the window and the flutter of the curtain caught my eye. A little girl looked at me and waved. I waved back and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately revealing Ted in a pair of pyjamas.
“Dromeda, what are you doing here?” He looked worried as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I have nowhere to go,” I muttered into his shoulder. “They hate me.”
“They can’t hate you, you’re their daughter,” Ted tried to comfort me.
“They hate you too.” I wiped a tear from my eye and tried to smile at him. “Can I stay with you?”
“Dromeda, you can always stay with me.”
I sniffled and looked up at him. His eyes were thoughtful, worried and full of truth. “I believe you,” I whispered.