Love Among Muggles

Andromeda was helping herself to pea and ham soup one November lunchtime when Jessie Pucey wandered across to the Ravenclaw table. "Hullo, Andromeda," she said cheerily. "I just want to say thanks for the party invitation. I'll RSVP, of course, but just wanted to let you know I am definitely going. Oh, and watch out for Opal - if rumours are to be believed, her robes are going to be positively indecent."

Andromeda looked at her blankly. "Party?"

"Your birthday party," Jessie said. "Crumbs, I wish I went to so many parties I couldn't remember my own coming-of-age. You must live a nice life." With a laugh, Jessie rejoined her friends in Gryffindor.

Andromeda vaguely recalled her mother saying something about a party, but getting no further than that. She slapped her spoon in her soup in annoyance. She didn't mind having a party - she quite liked the idea - but it was plain that her mother had drawn up the guest list without consulting her. Well, she'd invite one or two guests of her own...

**

"No," said Claire. "I'm not coming."

"But it's my birthday," Andromeda protested. "It's at our Warwickshire place. Have you any idea how many people at this school would give their back teeth to be invited?" On top of Jessie Pucey and Opal Carstairs, a whole string of Andromeda's schoolmates had been invited. Studious Hellebore Smith had declined, but Araminta Mariner and Jezebel Parkinson were driving everyone half-stupid with talk of party robes, and Lucius had already told Andromeda how much he was looking forward to dancing with her.

"Lots," said Claire. "Even half the girls in my house have been going on about it non-stop."

"So you have to come."

"No way. I won't have a proper invitation, and your mother would knock six bells out of both of us. We both know what she thinks about people like me and my parents."

Molly, who'd been listening while applying a nice thick coat of red Muggle lipstick, turned to face them both. "I'll come," she said. She then looked a bit nervous, and added, "If you want me to, Andromeda."

Molly was usually so self-effacing it was hard to remember she was a Gryffindor. Andromeda smiled. "Definitely. I need at least one real friend there."

"Are you inviting Ted?" Claire asked worriedly. "I know you must want him there, but your family really wouldn't like it..."

"Ted's not coming," Andromeda huffed. "I wrote to him and asked him. He's working. On the solstice. On my birthday." She snapped her mouth shut as if to say there would be no more discussion of this. She'd been hurt by Ted's refusal even to meet her that day before the party. She'd already planned how to do it: she'd hide a parcel of Muggle clothes in the woods behind the mansion right at the start of the holiday, then she could walk into the trees at any time and emerge on the other side as Annie Black, just another girl. Claire was relieved enough to let it show, and this annoyed Andromeda. "He's my bloody boyfriend," she burst out, "And he doesn't care. I don't know what I see in him."

"He's going through a rough time," Molly reminded her. "You said yourself, after the trial the Ministry decided to re-assess all Muggleborn staff. He's got to be squeaky clean."

"It's all right for you," Andromeda said. "You see Arthur from morning to night. Ted seems so far away."

"He really cares about you," Claire told her. "He's been with you longer than any of his other girlfriends."

Molly waved at Claire to shut her up, but Andromeda scowled. "For all I know, he's got another girlfriend."

"It's not his fault you're at Hogwarts," Molly said gently.

Andromeda kicked the legs of her chair. "I'm starting to think that if he really forgets my birthday, I might just find someone else." She didn't mean it; she knew that before she spoke. However, she hoped Claire would relay that bit of information to Ted. In a childish way she wanted him to drop whatever he was doing and come to her. She knew she was being spoiled and selfish, but she didn't know what else to do. He claimed to be missing her, but if he missed her all that much he'd find a way to see her, wouldn't he?

Molly tutted and returned to her lipstick. Claire said nothing. She'd asked Ted to send her some Muggle textbooks, and had discovered that if she got to the funny little room first, instead of being filled with recreational items like a record players and dresses as it usually was, it was filled with everything a Muggle student would need for school. With Professor Dumbledore's help, in less than two years' time Claire would be able to attend a Muggle university and study for a Muggle degree. Claire was already making plans to leave the wizarding world behind.

Ted, meanwhile, was indeed waiting to be re-assessed. He had gone for a quiet drink with Michael Osborne in a pub in Hackney, the part of London where Ted still lived with his parents. The two looked a little out of place, both wearing smart suits, but it was well known locally that Mr and Mrs Tonks' boy had done very well, and Ted was popular with the other drinkers. For one thing, his posh job in the government meant he was often happy to buy regulars a drink, and somehow the local police never seemed to notice the lights on if there was a lock-in after hours and Ted was there. Ted found his cockney accent came back more strongly when he was on his home turf. He didn't mean for his accent to change, but it seemed to come and go as it pleased. He'd had to learn proper diction to cast spells.

"How's the job?" Ted asked.

Michael took a sip of his bitter and pulled a face - the beer was excellent, but thoughts of work were not. "I'm being assessed by MacNair," he replied. Ted winced in sympathy. "It's making my job both harder and easier. Normally we talk in Goblin at the meetings, but MacNair can't speak it, so he's insisted we all speak English. Of course, that's made the goblins hate him, so if he does butt in - which he usually does; he just can't help himself - they all decide to do the opposite of what he suggests. At the current pace, the new exchange rate won't be negotiated for another year."

"I think I've got Amelia Bones," Ted said.

Michael grinned. "You jammy sod! What did you do to get her?"

"Nothing. She's doing all of Muggle Liaison. I don't think many of the others on the Magical Law Enforcement Squad fancied putting on a pair of trousers and leaving their wands at home. She's the junior, so she gets to assess us. But..."

"But what?"

"I sometimes think she's looking for someone I can't see. As though someone else is assessing me too. It's making me right paranoid; on my way home tonight I could've sworn I saw someone following me."

Michael shook his head. "You're seeing things. Jerry seems happy as a lark right now. If Jerry's happy, we should all be all right for a while."

Ted finished his pint and set his mug down. "I've got girl trouble too," he admitted.

Michael sighed. "Go on. Who is it this week?"

"It's been the same one since the summer," Ted replied indignantly. "Anyway, she's a bit... out of my league, really."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Never thought I'd hear you say that. Didn't you have a fling with whatsername - that film starlet you met in a nightclub?"

"This isn't some chippie," Ted insisted. "She's a real lady. That's the problem. All the others, they were good fun. We'd have a laugh, and when it was over, no hard feelings, no matter who decided it was over. This one... I think she's going to call it a day soon, and I can't stand it. I'm supposed to be working and all I can do is think of her. Or Maggie."

"Have you told her?" Michael was dating a pretty Junior Healer.

"Yes. Well. It's easy when I'm with her; we just have fun. I'm not much of one for writing."

"Go and see her, then," Michael laughed.

Ted picked at his packet of peanuts. "I can't. She's at Hogwarts. Um, another pint?"

As Ted went back to the bar, Michael grinned at his friend's back. Maggie used to tease Ted about his girlfriends all the time - 'I'm the only woman in London who's safe from you,' she'd laugh, and he'd reply 'You and the Queen, Mags, 'cos you're both too good for me.' Michael had always found their banter entertaining. Ted returned and set down two refilled mugs. "Go on," Ted said, "Out with it."

"She's of age?"

"It isn't like that," Ted said. "But that's also the problem. She's going to be of age this winter solstice, and I've got a big job on then. This job could make Muggle Liaison; it could prove we really do deserve to be part of the Law Enforcement set-up. But my girl's insisting that I go to her birthday party. She's from an old family. An OLD family."

"Oh, hell..."

"Yeah. Like they won't be straight on the phone to someone at the Ministry demanding that they fire me. So, she's basically asking me to give up my career. What do I do, Michael?"

Michael sighed. "Girls! Whatever you do, it'll be wrong. Do you really think she wants you to lose your job?"

Ted shook his head. "She doesn't see things like her family. They didn't even ask her who she wanted to come to her own party."

"The old families assume they know who fits in."

"Yeah... so, she's lonely. This is a special day for her, and none of her real friends will be there." Ted put down his glass. "I wish Maggie was here! She always knew what to do."

Oliver rested his head in his hands. "Maggie's never coming back. There's no way back from the Kiss. What would she say?"

Ted thought for a few seconds, and then smiled. "She'd say, Ted Tonks, you twit, write to her as often as you can, visit her before it if you can't go to the party itself, and send the girl something pretty that only she would know was from you so she can wear it to the party... of course, Maggie hated the Black clan."

Oliver stared at Ted.

"Whoops," Ted said. "Forget that, okay."

Oliver took a deep breath. "Old family, you said. Not totally insane and scary family. This is worse than when you dated that gangster's moll..."

"That wasn't a date, that was a bit of slap and tickle."

"Don't laugh it off Ted. This is deadly serious."

"Of course it is. I'm in love."

***

Term passed in a whirl. Andromeda noticed Claire looking tired and wan, as though she was spending too much time studying and not enough walking in the fresh air.

A rumour was starting to go round the school that Molly and Arthur had done 'it' behind the greenhouses, which made many older boys regard 'Porky' Prewett in a whole new light. She was ginger and a bit chubby, but - she would. Andromeda tried to tell people the real story, that Apollyon Pringle had merely caught the pair snogging and whipped Arthur soundly, but no one would believe her. The gossip was so much more interesting than the truth. In private, Molly swore that Arthur had allowed himself to be captured by the irate caretaker so that she could escape, and adored him more than ever for it.

Andromeda continued to exchange letters with Ted, and missed him terribly. She'd finally accepted that there really wasn't any way he could see her on her birthday. Her mother had mentioned in a letter that her aunt and uncle would be coming up from London for the occasion, and while Andromeda was prepared to risk disobeying her parents, the wrath of Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion was too terrible to think about. She dreamed that one day she'd be able to walk into a room with Ted, and see her family's eyes light up with pride.

Ted was very busy at work, dividing his time between the Mods and Geraldine's hippies. When he'd grumbled to Geraldine that the hippies were her assignment, she'd smugly pointed out that he had their confidence and so he would have to try to find out who, if anyone, was involving them in magic. Ted had not been pleased. He'd hoped to be able to sneak away from work, perhaps to hang around King's Cross when the Hogwarts Express pulled in, but that was impossible.

He enjoyed his days in London more than ever. The sound of traffic, the smell of petrol fumes - even the stink of the fish market. He could walk for hours around his city. On one such day, on his way to meet his Muggleborn friends in the store room at the BBC, Ted browsed in various shop windows. He'd thought of buying Andromeda something as a coming-of-age present, but wanted it to be something she could wear all the time. He felt as though he could please her or her parents, but not both, and it frustrated him immensely. Lack of money was also a serious problem. Ted's family were very poor, and while his Ministry wage was good, after he factored in changing it into pounds sterling - the goblins charged an outrageous exchange rate - and the fact that he gave his mother most of it, there wasn't much left over.

As he was looking at a display of wristwatches, which very few purebloods bothered with despite their usefulness, Ted noticed something reflected in the plate glass. He tried not to let his body language change, because that would let his pursuer know he'd been spotted. Slouching in a doorway across the road as though pausing there on his way somewhere was a tramp. No, Ted thought, not a tramp. The tramp. The tramp who's always in Wales when I'm there. The tramp who I allowed to sleep in Geraldine's barn. Ted recognised the man's distinctive hat, and the mass of dirty grey hair.

Ted walked a little further along and stopped to peer in another window. While pretending to be deeply absorbed in shoes, he watched the tramp shuffle along the pavement. It was definitely the same man. Ted felt as though his blood had suddenly frozen - he had goosebumps down his limbs and wanted to shiver. Would Maggie have seen someone following her in this way if she hadn't been so trusting?

Ted was on the verge of changing his plans when the tramp moved off. Ted was sure the tramp knew he'd been spotted and was trying to act like any other derelict. Keeping a close eye on the streets around him, Ted made his way slowly to the BBC. He didn't appear to have anyone else watching him, but he took a few detours and even nipped into a bookie's on the way to place a few bets in the hope that it would throw any pursuers off his trail. Ted chatted up the middle-aged woman behind the counter, like a good cheeky cockney lad, and was rewarded with permission to leave via the back door, 'in case the girlfriend sees me, darlin'.'

When Ted eventually arrived at White City he was late for the meeting, and the others were already halfway through assorted tales of woe. Michael Osborne's assessment had gone well, but Paula Green was now on probation. She was crying as she explained how her assessor had made her attempt things that weren't in her job description, which she had messed up, and then her boss had taken disciplinary action because she'd made such a bad job of things.

"They got you coming or going," Michael observed. "You had no way out."

"Tell me about it," Paula sniffed. If she made any more mistakes she'd lose her job.

Edward McAllister, an elderly man who worked for Ted's department, looked sorrowful. He rarely came to these meetings, but had journeyed up from Brighton especially, believing things were growing worse for Muggleborns. "I've been reading about the new proposed bills before the Wizengamot," he said. "Orion Black is proposing that all Muggleborns should be licensed to practice magic, and tested every two years."

Jerry Gribbins looked alarmed, but Michael said, "That'll never go through. There are plenty of decent people on the Wizengamot. They might fall for faked evidence about Maggie, being shown lies and told they're facts, but this is a legal debate. They'll never pass that bill."

The group muttered to one another about endless supervision and scrutiny, and how terrible it was.

"I'm being watched," Ted announced. The others looked at him in horror.

"You mean 'assessed'," Michael said. "Right?"

"No," Ted said. "I've been assessed. Passed with flying colours. I took my assessor to the cinema, then for a late dinner and on to a nightclub. I must say, Amelia Bones has a lovely pair of pins in a miniskirt... No, there's someone who's been watching me in Wales and back here. He could've been doing it for weeks."

"Has he followed you here?" Paula said.

"It doesn't matter if he has," Edward pointed out. "We're entitled to meet wherever we choose. We're friends."

"I made sure I threw him off before coming here. He could be any one of a number of things," Ted said, counting them off on his fingers. "One, he's been watching me since Maggie was arrested. That means he's Magical Law Enforcement. Two, it could be part of an assessment that I wasn't told about. MLE again. Three, he could have something to do with a group I'm investigating - someone's breaching the Magical Secrecy regulations, and it might be him. A Dark Wizard, perhaps. If it is, he's spotted me and might pull out before I catch him."

"Four," said Michael. "He's one of the lot who framed Maggie, and he's after you next."

Ted thought about it. "No, I was worried about that, but he moves too easily through Muggle areas. I can't see many people with an anti-Muggle bias being that adept at following me."

"Keep your nose clean, then," Edward advised, "And you'll be okay."

"I'm onto him now," Ted said. "Whoever he is, he's not getting me."

**

Ted had one additional fear: that his mysterious shadow had been hired by the Black family. While they wouldn't lower themselves to set foot in the Muggle world, they probably wouldn't hesitate to pay someone else to follow him. Getting other people to do their dirty work was what toffs always did, magical or Muggle. He warned Andromeda that he, and possibly she, was being watched. It would make meeting up over Christmas difficult.

Andromeda had grown used to the feeling of being scrutinised, however, and had taken Lucius Malfoy's warning at the start of term to heart. She felt constantly as though her pureblood schoolmates' eyes were on her. Until she'd started taking risks, wearing Muggle clothes and going out in Muggle London, she'd never realised just how much attention the purebloods paid to one another. It was a very small society, and everyone knew everyone else, even people like Arthur Weasley who Lucius wouldn't look at if he could help it. Now she had something to conceal, she was aware how much people paid attention to. Being pureblood worked in her favour, though: because she was as guilty of watching others as they were of spying on her, she knew how to misdirect their attention.

Once back at home she felt trapped. Narcissa and Bellatrix were so grown-up now, both having had birthdays while Andromeda was at school. Bellatrix would be starting at Hogwarts in another year. Already she showed signs of a strong personality. Her current favourite game was tormenting Narcissa. After Andromeda had had to Accio Narcissa's storybook down from the chandelier in the entrance hall yet again, she told Bellatrix off. "Why do you do that to her? She doesn't take your favourite things from you," Andromeda pointed out.

"That's because she can't," Bellatrix jeered, dark eyes blazing. "She's not strong enough. She shouldn't have that rot, anyway. She says she's going to marry a prince. It's warped her brain."

Andromeda laughed. "Lots of girls have that dream. Haven't you ever longed for a handsome prince?"

"No. I'm going to marry a wizard, and so is she. Witches marry wizards. That's the way it's meant to be." Bellatrix turned and stuck her tongue out at Narcissa, who was clutching her treasured book to her chest as she watched Bellatrix being scolded. "Stupid Cissy! You have to marry a wizard. When I know how to, I'm going to burn that book and all your silly princes."

Narcissa took a brave step forward. She'd take any insult from Bellatrix to herself, but not to things she loved. "If you touch my book again, I'm going to make you so ugly, only a Mudblood will want you!"

Andromeda was aghast. Her little sisters rarely fought. Bellatrix, however, laughed. "I'd like to see you try."

"Behave yourselves," Andromeda scolded. "I don't know what mother would think of the pair of you acting like little heathens - little Muggles, she'd call you."

Later that day, Andromeda took a long walk in the woods. On the last day of term she'd sent an owl with a letter to Ted from Hogwarts, knowing her parents would want to know where the family owls were going during the holiday. She hoped Ted had got her letter. As she pushed her way through the trees brambles snagged her robes and dead leaves caught in her hair. Interesting-looking toadstools grew among the leaf-mould; she picked a few as this was her pretext for rambling in the woods.

He was waiting for her, as she'd known he would be, and he had collected a big pile of toadstools as her alibi. All arguments about him having to miss her party were forgotten. They held one another close, and she felt his warm breath in her hair. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed. "My family are driving me spare."

Ted smiled, and didn't let her go. "You're all right, Annie."

"I'm going to hex my sisters if they don't stop fighting," Andromeda laughed. "I'm going to hex you if you don't come to see me before the holiday ends. Mother's got me on a diet, too. She says I need to lose at least a stone."

Ted looked down at his girlfriend. She was slender as a reed already. "It's a good job I brought a treat for you, then." Ted had brought a picnic of sorts, and they sat on the blanket.

"What's this?" Andromeda asked curiously, looking inside a funny container.

"A flask. Muggles use it to keep hot things hot," Ted explained, pouring tea for both of them. He opened a fancy-looking picnic basket, which he had borrowed from Michael for the occasion. "Of course, I used a charm for these."

Andromeda giggled at the plate of hot food he handed her. "Pie and mash?"

Ted puffed out his chest. "It's real East End food, darling."

"What's this stuff?"

"Liquor - it's a sort of parsley gravy. Ah, don't pull that face. Try some."

Andromeda, desperately hungry after having half a grapefruit for breakfast and an apple for lunch, tasted a forkful. "It's good," she said with surprise.

"One day you and me will go to a proper pie shop," Ted assured her. They both tucked into their food. Ted chatted away about his hippies, being very careful not to mention Gladys, who he felt Andromeda would not want to hear about. He also didn't tell her about the mysterious tramp. His shadow had vanished, which meant he was either not following Ted or had a different disguise and was taking a lot more care.

Andromeda talked about her party. "...And heaven only knows where mother's getting the flowers, but she's ordered enough pink roses to fill St Mungo's, I'm sure. The dancing will be in the ball room, of course, and the buffet in the dining room."

"Just a buffet?" Ted teased. "No proper meal? That's a bit shabby."

Andromeda flicked parsley sauce at him. "I think she wants to give me a chance to circulate among the eligible men, rather than sticking me with just two."

Ted laughed. "I don't know if that's better or worse! Two blokes chatting you up for an entire evening or lots in drips and drabs."

Andromeda looked serious. "It wouldn't make any difference either way, Ted. I'd swap the roses, the buffet, the presents and the band for an evening with you."

Ted brushed her hair from her face. "Shh, Annie. Don't go all glum." He started putting the plates back in the basket, and said, "We'll have a night out in the West End one day, I promise. For now, you'll have to make do with this."

He handed her a little box. Andromeda took it tentatively. It was so light! "Should I save it for my birthday?" she asked.

"No, open it now," Ted insisted. "It's not much, Annie, I know, but..."

"Now you shh, Ted Tonks," Andromeda told him. She knew he was feeling embarassed because she was rich and he was not. She opened the box and smiled. She stroked the string of pearls with her finger, feeling how smooth and warm it was. "They're lovely."

"I mean, I know a girl like you has probably got hundreds of necklaces, but..."

"Ted, it's lovely," Andromeda repeated. "And I don't have one like this. All the family jewellery tends to be a bit more showy - no, that doesn't mean I think it's plain. It's elegant."

"I asked my sister, June," Ted confessed. "I said, what do you get the sort of girl who can go anywhere and talk to anyone, and she said, if I 'ad the cash, I'd buy pearls because they go with everything. You really don't have one already?"

Andromeda kissed him on the lips. "Definitely not. Um... you did pay for it, didn't you?"

Ted winked. "I Transfigured a tin of peas, if you must know." He laughed when he saw the shocked expression on her face. "I'm winding you up. I won a bet on the ponies - and before you ask, I only went into the bookies to make sure I wasn't being followed. They had a horse called Magic Lady running, so it seemed like a good omen."

"My mother would be horrified," Andromeda said. "Bets should be placed between gentlemen. Going to some dingy shop..." A wicked grin crossed her face. "Will you take me to a betting shop one day?"

"No, they really are seedy places, but I might take you to the races," Ted laughed. "It'd be like My Fair Lady in reverse - you can ask Claire what that means."

"Now, this blanket's clear of plates - what use do you suppose it will be now?"

Ted was scandalised. "Annie, you're a young lady! First betting shops and now this."

"I bet you've shared a few blankets in your time."

"That's not the point. I want to treat you properly."

Andromeda pulled on her robes so the fabric started to slide up her leg, revealing more and more of her shapely limb. "In that case, I expect you to know what you're doing."

A blanket in the woods is always useful, no matter what the time of year.