Forbidden Fate

Chapter Five: Take a Chance

Friday at six o'clock couldn't have come soon enough for Ted. Around the halls, Andromeda looked pale but at least happier than she seemed on the train. Ted didn't want to dwell on what she must have gone through over the holidays.

He had a nice Christmas, with the tree and stockings and gifts. And he loved seeing his family again. They weren't too thrilled about his room, though. After only a week in it the floor was completely covered with clothes. Ted's mother joked that she had forgotten what color the carpet was. He was forced to pick up (without magic!) every strewn sock, shirt, and pants. He was glad to be back at Hogwarts--his roommates weren't nearly as fussy.

He was also glad not to have to face his parent's devious little questionings. "So, Ted...how has tutoring been going lately?" "You and Andromeda must be spending lots of time together..."

His mother was ecstatic that she liked the necklace. "Oh, I hoped she would! What a sweet girl!"

Yet every time Ted tried to talk to them about her, he got tongue-tied. They were sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast the last day before the start of term.

"Now or never," Ted told himself. "Erm, Dad--could I uh, talk to you about, um, something?"

His parents were determinedly looking away from each other. Diane Tonks put her hand over her mouth; after all Ted wouldn't like to see his own Mum laughing at him.

"All right Ted, what is it?" asked Dan Tonks. His son was growing up; obviously he needed to hear "the talk."

Ted hesitated. "Not to be rude, Mum...but shouldn't this be a father-son kind of girl talk...thing?"

"Considering that I am a girl, I would have thought you'd want to talk to me."

He sighed. "Well, it's just about Andromeda, y'know..." He stopped.

Seeing his parent's concerned and interested faces was too much. The three of them had always shared a close, open relationship...until the Hogwarts letter came. Ted promised himself he'd never lie to his parents--but that didn't mean he'd tell them every single thing about his new school. And he didn't. They had no idea what kind of status he held in the wizarding world, or what Andromeda's family thought of him. And he had to keep it that way.

"Andromeda's nice," he said firmly. "But we're just friends. I was only wondering what to do when people a person you care about cares for don't care for you. Should you still care about that person?"

Diane and Dan raised their eyebrows.

"Yeah, that was confusing," Ted said immediately. "But it's a confusing situation."

"Perhaps it would help if you give us some names," suggested his dad.

"Such as a person named Andromeda?" his mum asked shrewdly.

"You haven't been reading my letters, have you?" He gave up. "Ok. Andromeda's family hates me. How can there be any...hope for us?" He blushed.

Both his parents looked stunned. "How could her family hate you?" Diane asked.

He shrugged glumly. "Dunno. I've never even met most of them."

It was silent. His mother went around the table to put her arms around him, ruffling his hair lovingly. His dad looked him straight in the eye and said, "Ted, if you like this girl and she likes you, what her family thinks shouldn't matter. They'll come around eventually, when it's actually time for you to care. Your mum's parents hated me at first too and look how well we get on now. I still don't understand that, by the way."

"It's not as though they didn't have any legitimate concern, Dan. You drove a Harley and played electric guitar."

"See! Prejudice against musicians!"

They checked on Ted. He was smiling, a little bit.

"Thanks Mum, thanks Dad." For the rest of the meal he rambled on about sports, but he wasn't entirely satisfied with their advice. He would need a second opinion, an informed opinion. His head of House, Sprout, was out. He got the impression from Fenwick that this tutoring business was classified stuff. Dumbledore, the new Headmaster, was a possibility. But Ted didn't know him well enough to trust him with information as important as that. Besides, it was intimidating talking to the man who had defeated Grindelwald. That left one person, the perfect person. Kirley.

"Kirley, do you want to meet Andromeda?"

For once, they had their room to themselves and Ted, taking his chances, just blurted out what he thought would be best.

Kirley, clearly surprised, managed to say, "Sure, Ted. But what brought this on? I thought you were just friends. It's a little too early for her to meet the family, don't ya think?"

Ted smirked. "You know Valentine's Day is coming up."

"Coming up? It's in a month and a half!"

"But I need to plan, Kirley. I want to do something really special for her. Something a friend would do, so she doesn't get the wrong idea."

"Doing something 'special' for a girl on Valentine's Day isn't going to come across as very 'friendly', Ted."

"Forget about it then! I do want to know what you think about her, your honest opinion. That way I'll know I'm not going mad."

Kirley sighed. It was quite clear that his friend was going mad, though not in the way he thought. "Are you saying you need my approval? Or my permission?"

"Yes. No. Both, sort of. I mean, I'll be friends with her regardless. But I'd like your opinion."

"All right. You're going through a doubting phase, Ted. Maybe this will sort you out. Where do we meet?"

~~~

Ted rounded the corner to the room of requirement and saw Andromeda. She was beaming; for a second he thought she was going to hug him. His stomach belly-flopped and they stopped awkwardly an inch in front of each other.

"I missed you, Ted."

"I missed you too, Andromeda."

"How were your holidays?"

"Er, pretty good. What about yours?"

"They were...good."

They smiled shyly at one another and got to work immediately on Potions, which went well as usual. Ted never told her of the countless letters he wrote but never sent. They didn't talk much and gave each other sideways, surreptitious glances.

The clock struck nine and Andromeda yawned and got up. "I have to go. Next week?"

Ted reached out and grabbed her arm, then quickly dropped it. She stared quizzically at him.

"I was wondering if you'd like to meet my friend Kirley. He really wants to meet you," he added earnestly.

"Really? Oh--all right. He isn't here now, is he?" She glanced around as if he would Apparate right then and there.

"Nah, he never stays up past eight. He wants to meet us tomorrow at one. See, he can never get up past twelve."

Andromeda laughed nervously. "It's not going to be here, is it? It has to be a private place."

"I've got the perfect one." He grinned. "The Hogs Head."