Schoolwork Can Kill You || Andromeda and Ted
It wasnât bad. She could talk to him properly later. At some point, when everyone else was in their common rooms or attending to their own business elsewhere, she could be Andromeda. Andromeda with Ted. A little time with him was better than nothing, surely, and until then she could just sit tight. Trying to get rid of that unsettled stomach wasnât working, though she tried to clear her head and her fears. Before, sheâd always associated this with her fear of being discovered, which it must be. But it was only now that she considered it was more to do with herself. It was pushing him away that was hurting.
Her smile was meant to be warm, but maybe sheâd forgotten how. After being with her family again, maybe it had killed her. âRegulus, my cousin, is the same. Itâs a dangerous sport. Iâm sure spending so much time in the hospital wing must beâŚâ What had she been going to say? âCutting into your study time.â
Smiling at him felt like stretching after Flooing somewhere. That was embarrassing. âNot quite everything. Just most of my things.â There wasnât any particularly good way of explaining it. âI like having everything on hand in case I need it. Itâs not too heavy.â It was the one thing that she didnât have completely organised - unless it was the reason that her room and her trunk was so clean and tidy.
Feeling like something was off herself now between them, but not realising it was her that had caused it really, Andromeda gave his hand a tight squeeze, letting her fingers trail across his palm as she let go. She always did that.
Normally, Andromeda would have paid no attention to such innocent looking Hufflepuffs. But she gave them a quick side glance - just to check they werenât staring. âCome on, I have time.â That felt abrupt, even to her, and she almost cringed away from the sentence. âThereâll always be time for us, TedâŚwhat do you want to talk about? We can just go round this corner.â Her hand autonatically stretched out to take his again, before she awkwardly retracted it again; her hair fell from being tucked behind her ear to hide her pained expression. She went from being sure she could do this, to feeling like she was barely being held together by these seams of her life.
A short burst of laughter escaped his mouth. "Yes, Andromeda, I think we all know Regulus is the same, not to mention your cousin." He said a tad patronizingly. Regulus Black ended up getting regularly beat up on the Quidditch Pitch. As one of the smaller guys on the Slytherin team, many of the other houses targeted him because he was the easiest to take out first. The Slytherin sixth year more than deserved it, in Ted's opinion; if not targeted first, and left completely unharmed, he was a bloody menace on the field. His way of playing Quidditch was barbaric and nasty, and more often than not Ted even wondered how he was allowed to stay on the team. "Study time? More like cutting into the time I'd rather be spending with you." He gave her a shy smile, slightly embarrassed by his words and how cheesy he sounded.
Ted nearly asked her if she was sure, she sounded so flippant about it. He rather hated the fact that they couldn't speak openly. Watching what one said and being on the look out for people spying on you really did something to how you behaved. It made things awkward, to say the least.
Whatever was bothering Andromeda was nearly killing him. He wanted nothing more than to take the hand she had begun to offer him, wrap his arm around her waist and squeeze her tight. The need to reassure her and comfort her was nearly too strong to ignore. Since he decided that doing those things where anyone could see them would be counteractive to his intentions, Ted just gave her a huge smile instead. "Round that corner sounds smashing." Despite her awkwardness, he was reassured by her telling him there would always be time for them. He wasn't sure if that was one hundred percent true, but the idea warmed him none-the-less.
Ted stet off at a quick pace, turning every so often to check that she was following and that they weren't being followed. So far, so clear. As they rounded the previously discussed corner -not even ten feet from where they'd been- he answered her. "Private matters, my love. You're probably not going to like them, which is why I wanted to make sure you had the time to discuss them. But no worries," Ted added hastily when he saw the look on her face, "I can take care of it. I can take care of us."
His hand lifted on its own accord and he cupped her cheek in his hand briefly. His desired to kiss away the worry etched on her face gnawed  at him, so much so he decided it was time to find a deserted room. At this point, a broom closet would suffice. He turned away from her and scanned the deserted hall, his eyes narrowing at a small door to their left. "Wait here," Ted ordered quietly before trotting off to investigate. As it happened, it was a ridiculously large storage closet and he couldn't help but giggle. It was three and a half metres by two and a half metres at least. He turned back towards Andromeda and motioned for her to follow him in.
Once she was inside, he locked the door and cast a privacy charm around the room and ward on the door. He then created floating balls of light so the room was pleasantly lit. Much nicer than a torch, in his opinion. As they lit the room, floating near them but never touching either him or Andromeda, Ted couldn't help but grin at the magic he had created. "Now we can talk, yeah? I could, um, transfigure us something to sit on, if you like." Ted was suddenly nervous again and he fidgeted with his wand.
