Blackbird

chapter 43

"Remind me again why you got detention?" Andromeda asked, trying and failing to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

"We planted itching powder in Gilderoy Lockhart's trousers," Sirius managed to say it with a straight face, but Potter sniggered behind him.

"And why did you put itching powder in his trousers?"

"Because he's an insufferable dunderhead."

"I'm fairly certain being an insufferable dunderhead is not a crime."

"Well, it should be. And until it is Potter and I will have to take matters into our own hands in our quest to purge the world of insufferable dunderheads everywhere." He and Potter gave each other high fives over their precariously stacked leech tanks they were supposed to be cleaning.

Andromeda sighed. It had been the brilliant idea of their head boy, Amos Diggory, that the prefects be the ones to monitor the detention, as it would allow them greater influence over the vagrants of the school. But Andromeda knew Sirius and Potter well enough to know their vagrant ways were incurable.

"Speaking of insufferable dunderheads," Sirius said, the laughter fading from his voice, "how is your fiancé?"

Andromeda's half-amused smile turned to a scowl. "Rabastan's not a dunderhead."

Potter snorted, "Says the woman who's bedding him."

And then her scowl turned to rage. "I'm not bedding anyone!"

Potter laughed, "All right, All right, but there's no need to declare your virginity to the entire school."

Oops. He was right, even if it was after school hours there would be plenty of students milling about. And she had spoken rather loudly.

Her cheeks turned flame-red, which only made her scowl more. "Would you focus on the leeches? I don't want to be here all day."

"Of course, milady," Potter fake curtsied, making Andromeda scowl more and causing Sirius to snigger. He'd always found the fights between his best friend and his favorite cousin extremely entertaining.

As Potter returned to scrubbing, she distinctly heard him mutter, "Can't believe she chose that pompous fool over Tonks."

She let out an impromptu gasp, almost like a sob. Both Sirius and Potter swiveled toward her. She looked down, her heart pounding, praying they would, just this once, not let their curiosity get the better of them.

"Meda?" Sirius asked, "is there something you'd like to say?"

She should have known better than to hope for the impossible. She shook her head, but her refusal to look Sirius in the eye gave her away.

"Things between you and Tonks are over, right?"

She tried to say the word yes, but it wouldn't come out. Her ability to lie had been annoyingly absent the past few weeks. So instead she just sighed.

"I knew it!" Sirius punched the air. "I knew you'd never go for that twisted snake."

"No," Andromeda shook her head, "You don't understand."

Sirius' face fell. "So you're saying you're not back with Tonks?"

"No," she said quickly, before remembering her last moment with Ted. Lying on top of a man wasn't something she would do with just anybody. "Sort of. It's complicated."

Sirius shook his head, "Andromeda, you've got too..." he stopped, staring at her in concern. She wasn't sure why until she felt the salty, wetness rolling down her cheeks. Great, now she was crying in front of Potter, no less.