Like, Oh Say, Ted Tonks

Chapter 2: An Accidental Date

When we arrived at King's Cross, Mum kissed Cissa and I on the cheeks. She absolutely wouldn't let me Apparate there, saying it was "too dangerous" and that she'd like to "bid farewell to Narcissa and you at the same time". Oh, now she's the mother hen.

I sat on the train, waiting for my best friend Josie Berkhardt. Josie and I had sat by each other ever since our first years, when Josie sat by me because she thought that being friends with me, a Black, would make her the grooviest thing since Leif Garrett. It just made her insane.

We were both so certain we'd be in Slytherin. Her because she's absolutely vile (damn right, she always moves my castle when I'm not looking), and me because there's no other option for a Black. Six years later, we're really glad we're Ravenclaws.

I saw Josie's long black hair at the front of the train. Josie has very distinctive hair. It's always down in some sort of shaggy hairdo and it's so black it's almost blue. Once it was blue. But that was for House Spirit Day in fifth-year (it was discontinued when Yolande Addams turned herself into a badger. She did win the contest, however). Her eyes are a light mixture of blue, gray, and green. One year, Ted Tonks called her "zombie eyes", which led to some hard feelings between Josie and Ted.

I fell in love with him.

"Is that Andromeda?" Josie asked me. I nodded and we hugged. We made a pact in second-year to never see each other during the summer. I know, it sounds sort of odd, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. At least, that's the principle we've always lived by. "What's been up in the Black household?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"No, not especially."

"Too bad. Cissa is dating Lucius Malfoy--"

"He's not so bad," Josie said, thoughtfully. She sat down next to me in my compartment and set her owl cage down on the opposite bench. "A bit feminine."

"That's what I told her. That must be attractive . I don't know. I really didn't go over it with her. Bella and a bunch of her creepy friends called the Dark Lord in one of our closets. Then, I spoke out about him, which meant, of course, that I had to die. So I escaped. Pretty dull summer compared to the one where Bella blew up our summer home in Madrid."

"And this all happened over a graduation of months?" Josie asked me. Bradford, her owl, started to hoot, and she gently cooed, "Shut up."

"No, all in one day," I said. Josie's jaw dropped. No offence to any of those wonderful people, but the Berkhardts' lives weren't as fast-paced as ours. I think it helped to have a sister who was a Death Eater.

We sat there silent. Suddenly, a flaxen-haired god walked past us. Oh, be still my beating heart, I told my heart. It was none other than the one who captured my heart, put it on a leash, and let it run around in a fenced yard, Ted Tonks.

"Andy!" he called me. Unlike Cissa, I didn't care whether he called me Andy or Andromeda or even late for dinner. He was talking to me. "Josie! You two!"

"Sit here!" I said almost subconsciously. Ted grinned and sat down right by me. I felt like I was going to have cardiac arrest. Oh, this wasn't fair! Cissa was the silly, love struck, fourteen-year-old, not me. I began to smack my chest to get my heart to stop flipping out.

"Andy," he looked at me curiously, "what the hell are you doing?"

"Listen, I'd like to ask you something, Andy--Andy? Are you listening?" (I wasn't.) "After the whole Sorting ceremony's over, d'you...erm...want to meet me by the set of armour by the kitchen so we can...do something?"

"Suuuure..," I said, dazedly. Ted smiled weakly and left to go sit with some of his other friends.

Josie broke the pristine glass window of silence that had been established shortly thereafter with a gale of laughter. "Rom, you are sometimes the stupidest thing on Earth. I'm even surprised you managed to land a date with him."

"A date?" I said, gingerly blinking my forest-green eyes. No one ever told me I was going on a date. Maybe those vibrations coming out of Ted's throat while I was staring at him had something to do with it...

"He just asked you out," Josie shrugged. "And you said yes. Usually, that warrants a date."

We looked furtively at each other, smirking evil grins. Then we both cackled, hysterical with excitement, until we couldn't cackle anymore.

~

At the cobalt Ravenclaw table, Josie and I watched the timid little eleven-year-old demons for the last time. They all walked up to McGonagall, so scared about what they possibly would have to do to determine what House to be in. One of those little whelps was my own cousin Regulus Black. He'd most likely be Sorted into Slytherin like almost every other Black (besides myself and my other little cousin Sirius, who was Cissa's age). I didn't even want to watch.

McGonagall, that old cat, explained to them that all they really had to do was sit under the Hat and wait for it to decide. They all looked relieved, except for Regulus, who had looked like he knew what was going to happen the whole time.

As McGonagall called "Aatan, Midimi," I sipped on my water and casually waited for Reg to get up there. I didn't even notice that Midimi had joined us at Ravenclaw in my casual stance.

Soon it came to "Black, Regulus!"

There was a hush over the whole Great Hall. It was as if a breeze had blown threw the large room and told everyone, Hush up! It's a Black! Traditionally these sods go to Slytherin, but the last Black went to Gryffindor, and another time, some six years ago, a Black girl they call "Andromeda" went to Ravenclaw! The Hat sat upon his crown of dark hair like a crown itself and he looked smug. That was a face I could smack.

"SLYTHERIN!"

He grinned and sat by Cissa at the Slytherin table. I looked at Josie uneasily. Another pureblood fanatic Black.

The Sorting seemed like it'd never end. As soon as I thought it was over, yet another little midget'd get called up to be sorted. Why couldn't they all decide themselves what House to be in? The last first-year was called and Dumbledore did his annual spiel, and instantaneously I felt a light tap on my back. Spinning around, I saw that the one who tapped was none other than Ted Tonks. "Um...d'you want to go now?"

He took my hand and we walked between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. I felt so confident standing next to him. There was something about his features and my features that squared off each other nicely. I had the in-between light brown hair and he had dark blond hair. He had the sapphire eyes and I had the dark emerald eyes. We were definitely a comely pair.

"Well," he said, beginning to look curiously at his feet. My feet began to look pretty good too. "I was thinking that we could just saunter about the campus and talk and things like that. Does that sound decent to you?"

"It sounds good. I like sauntering," I said. The vein in my neck throbbed. Bad news: I was going to die of a heart attack. Good news: I most definitely had a pulse. My throat began to tighten, like it did at Cissa's party. Except I knew Ted. I am really hoping I don't make an idiot of myself tonight.

Which I was most definitely going to.

Ted looked at me with what looked like a look of favour. Yes! I, Andromeda Black, had the favour of Ted Tonks. Although, that could have been pity. Pity for my idiocy. Great. Now I had the pity of Ted Tonks. Or the favour. Most likely the pity.

"So, you're...a Black? What's that like?"

"Utter hell. My mother's hell-bent on my sisters and I marrying into pureblood families--" I shouldn't have said that. Now he's going to think that I'm never going to be able to see him. Or maybe it was good. Maybe it meant that he wouldn't have the chance to lead me on. Why was this so confusing? "--and...we had a nice winter home in Madrid...until...my older sister Bellatrix blew it up." This wasn't so hard. I was actually conversing with Ted.

"She...blew it up?"

"Oh, Bella's always had a knack for the Dark Arts and destructive things like that. That's, in part, why she's a Death Eater."

"A what?"

I hated explaining this to everyone. No one knew what a Death Eater was, but soon enough, I had a bad feeling that the wizarding world would be swarmed and ruined by them. "A Death Eater is a follower of the new Dark wizard Lord Voldemort."

"Guess I need to pay more attention to current events in History of Magic, eh?" Ted joked. There was that grin again. It made me come all undone again.

"I guess so," I said, smiling like a fool.

We came to the entrance to our Common Room. He whispered the password ("Ne Atracne), and gently helped me step into the Common Room. "Watch your step," he said, protectively. He then walked me to the foot of the staircase leading to the seventh-year girls' dormitory. "Now I don't want to anger the spirits of the founders of Hogwarts, so I'll leave you here. I had a...marvellous time and I think we should hang out together more often." I felt a light kiss on my cheek and then my love was gone.

Josie entered the Common Room soon after and smirked. "Did you have a good date, Rom?"

"He loves me," I said, still reeling from the kiss he gave me.

"I'll take that as a yes," Josie pat me on the back and led some of her other friends in the Common Room.