A/N: Because there is a deplorable lack of fics which show Andy, Ted and Nymphadora interacting as a family, I have decide to embark on this project. The plan for this is that each vig in the series will alternate between Andy and Ted. This first one is when they are dating at Hogwarts. I have placed Andromeda's birth year in 1953, seven years older than Sirius (meaning that she would have finished school the term before he started) and Ted in the same year, too.
This one is from Andy's perspective.
Disclaimer: Characters and settings all property of JK Rowling. Plot is at least partly mine. I was JK, I wouldn't be torturing myself with theories on who's going to die... :twitches: I'd already know...
Hidden Rebellion – Christmas 1970If there was one thing I hated about dating him, it was the secrecy. But on the other hand, I knew the reasons for the secrecy lay with me, or rather, my family. I wasn't ready to face that viper pit yet. So we kept our budding relationship under wraps, concealing it from the prying eyes of the Hogwart's gossip mill. And that's no easy task, especially in Slytherin. Everyone seems to want to know exactly what you're up to all the time.
A few clinging kisses in a deserted classroom, an arm slung around my shoulders in the confusion of a quidditch match, surreptitiously holding hands under a desk in class, a secret meeting on a Hogsmeade day.
Of course, we didn't keep it a secret from everyone, that would have been impossible. My close friend Emma - a Ravenclaw seventh year, mind you, not a Slytherin - knew what was going on, as did Thomas, Ted's mate. And Sirius, nosy little cousin that he is. That scared me out of my wits when Sirius found that letter, if it had been Cissy, or even worse, Bella... it doesn't bear thinking about.
But I can see Sirius is like me in the regard that we don't really fit with our family. He's promised not to tell. That normally doesn't inspire much confidence in people when it's coming from the mouth of a ten-year-old prankster, I know, but Sirius knew what was at stake here, and he knew that I trust him to keep his mouth firmly shut.
Both Ted and I knew that we couldn't keep this secret forever, and we didn't want to either. I thought if we kept it secret for too long it would ruin us. People would start to catch on to something eventually, and then it would get back to my family, who would do their nut and throw me out; I thought I'd probably end up resenting Ted for that. Or if we did manage to successfully keep it a secret, the stress of it – and lack of the physical touch we both craved – could have split us apart too.
We had to reveal ourselves in our own time, that much we agreed on.
We'd been together officially for about nine months when the Christmas holidays came around in our seventh year. Holidays were the time in which Ted and I used every opportunity we could get to spend together, and my family certainly raised their eyebrows when I asked to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. As an unspoken tradition, no Black child stayed at school during the holidays, the only people who stayed behind – in their opinion – were those who had no decent place to go, or muggleborns. The Easter holidays last year I had been able to pass off as a fancy to study with ease, but it took a bit more persuasion this time. And Cissy was still looking at me in a slightly suspicious manner as she boarded the train back home.
But the feeling of running around Hogwarts with most of the school gone was just... exhilarating to me. It was an unrivalled sense of freedom, beyond anything I'd known before. Indeed, with the tense state of things in the wizarding world, there was only six students who were staying; Ted and I, of course; Emma, who declared herself our 'chaperone and lookout'; the Prewett twins, seventh year Gryffindors and a young Hufflepuff boy whom I didn't know the name of.
We didn't have to be so secretive now, the teachers all but disappeared during the holidays, and the ones who did see us wouldn't have said anything. Emma, Ted and I found out later, had cornered Gideon and Fabian Prewett after hearing them exchange theories on the two of us. Apparently she threatened them with the business end of her highly jinx-prone wand and made them swear not to tell anyone, or else. The duo agreed and then told Emma that she reminded them very forcefully of their sister, Molly, so they wouldn't dare to say anything before scampering off.
Emma wasn't sure if that was a compliment, or an insult. I told her to take it as a compliment, it meant she could keep those two pranksters under control; that and the Molly Prewett I remembered from my first year didn't strike me as the threatening type, but then again, she is a redhead.
Another benefit of not having any of my house-mates around was that nobody noticed that I moved all my stuff into Emma's dorm in Ravenclaw tower for the holidays. This in itself opened up a whole new array of possibilities for Ted and I, including snuggling up together in front of the fire in the Ravenclaw's cosy – and much more welcoming than the Slytherin's – common room, while Emma would tease us mercilessly.
I woke Christmas morning with a sore neck and unable to feel left hand, but having Ted's arm wrapped around my waist made up for it. Blinking, I managed to half-fall off the sofa we'd slept on, but not without dragging the blanket off of Ted completely. Without opening his eyes, a mumbling Ted reached out to pull the blanket back.
But his fingers met thin air. I clapped my hands over my mouth in a vain effort to keep from bursting out in laughter. Ted blinked at me slowly, looking at me through sleep-fazed hazel eyes, taking in my sprawling, dishevelled form on the floor with the blanket besides me.
"Oh, so you're the blanket thief," he yawned, "Can I have it back, I still want sleep..."
I raised my eyebrows. "It's Christmas morning," I reminded him incredulously, "Who sleeps in on Christmas morning?"
Ted bolted up. "Oh, yeah, forgot," he mumbled.
I stared at him suspiciously, he'd been acting a bit... twitchy lately. And I swear I could see a flicker of fear in her face for a moment. But the moment passed and I headed towards my small pile of presents. My family's presents, I supposed, were back in the Slytherin common room. Most of them I'd chuck away later anyway. But there was presents from Emma, Thomas, Sirius – sneaky thing – and two from Ted.
I turned towards Ted, who had stopped unwrapping on of his presents to watch me, what seemed to be apprehension touching his handsome face.
"Ted," I asked slowly, "Why have I got two from you?"
"Open them and you'll see."
Looking at him curiously, I opened the larger one first. I ripped the paper off to reveal a beautiful dark-green, leather bound book, Modern Healing Anecdotes. I leapt up and hugged him enthusiastically.
"Thanks, Ted!" and I was relieved to hear him chuckle for the first time this morning.
"No problem, but you won't thank me if it ends up putting you off your Healer Studies..." he trailed off before clearing his throat. "Why don't you open the other one?"
The second one was much smaller, a box a bit smaller that my palm. Peeling off the wrapping, I was still lost as to it's contents. I looked at Ted who grinned.
"Go on, Andy, open it," he encouraged. I opened it.
A golden ring encrusted with a single diamond and two smaller sapphires either side of it lay nestled inside. My mouth gaped. No way, this couldn't mean what I thought, hoped, it meant...
Ted gently prised the box from my grasp and went to kneel down in front of me.
"Andy, I know you'd have to sacrifice so much, but I love you. I can't imagine myself in the future without you. I love you, Andromeda Black, and would feel like the luckiest man alive if you agree to be my wife."
It felt like ages that I stood their blinking at Ted. This was why he'd been jumpy recently? Did he honestly think I'd say no? I managed to shake off my stupor and pull Ted up and snog him frantically in response. After a few breathless moments, Ted grinned at me.
"I'll take that as a yes than?" he asked, eyes twinkling in delight.
"Yes, you idiot! Did you really think I'd say no!"
Ted mumbled under his breath, and managed to hear the words "family", "sisters" and "disown you". I frowned.
"Ted, I don't care about that. In many ways, it'll be a relief to be away from them. And I love your family to bits," I assured him. Ted was about to reply when Emma's voice sounded down the staircase.
"Oi, is it safe for me to come down, or will I stumble across something I really don't want to see?"
Ted and I looked at each other. "It might be fun to keep her up there for a while..." Ted murmured mischievously in my ear. I snickered, but took pity on Emma.
"It's safe, Em," I called out. Emma emerged into the common room and looked at us suspiciously.
"Somethings happened, what's going on?" she asked. Then she saw the ring - still in it's box – and gasped. "It that what I think... Are you two..."
For once, we actually rendered her speechless. Speechless Emma is a rarity beyond words. I nodded at her, no doubt ginning like a fool.
She screamed and hugged us wildly, "Oh, Merlin! Congratulations!" she exclaimed. Then she stepped back from us and mock glared at Ted. "Well, Tonks, are you going to put that ring on her finger, or does she have to do it herself?"
Grinning, Ted slowly slid the beautiful ring onto my finger. As soon as he'd done that, I kissed him once more. "No more hiding," I whispered into his ear. "The rest of the school – and that twisted entity known as my family – be dammed."
He looked at me worriedly. "What about the people in your house?"
I shook my head. "Not really a problem, I... already talked to Professor Dumbledore about moving out of the Slytherin dorms..." I admitted.
"Oh..." Ted blinked in surprise. "You could stay where you are then?"
I shrugged. "I guess," I replied.
Emma interrupted then. "Brilliant! Me and Carrie score a new roommate! And I can stop threatening people to keep their mouths shut..." she actually seemed regret the loss of that last one, which was how Ted and I found out that she'd threatened Gideon and Fabian.
Walking into the Great Hall, hand in hand with Ted that morning, I was on such a high that I doubt even Bella or Cissy, or our parents, could have punctured it. And of course, when the rest of the school came back, Being able to 'come clean', so to say, made me feel like I was flying.
My rebellion was no longer hidden. We didn't have to hide, which was what we wanted.
AN: Like? Tell me, please. I personally don't like the ending, I knew what I wanted to do, but it didn't translate like I thought it would...