Blackbird

Chapter Ten

Rodolphus almost smiled. "He cares for a lot of women. Truly, my brother has terrible sense when it comes to the female sex."

Andromeda presses her lips together. What was she supposed to say to that?

"But you, you seem different." His voice barely had any inflexion, and his face was near expressionless, making it impossible to determine his meaning.

"You play the pretty, simpering, obedient daughter, but there's something else in you, isn't there? You're not nearly as airy as you seam."

She blushed, though she wasn't quite sure why.

The song ended. Rodolphus released her and walked away. She stared after him, a slight frown on her lips. That conversation felt like it was missing something, like he'd left before he'd actually gotten to the point. She shook her head. Trying to understand Rodolphus seemed like more trouble than it was worth. At least the strangest part of the evening was over.

She was wrong. Her next dance was with Antonin Dolohov. There weren't even words to describe what that encounter was like. Antonin was a thickset man with sweaty hands who towered over her. He didn't say anything, he just stared at her, the whole time.

After that she excused herself to get a breath of fresh air. She went out into the entrance hall, letting out a long breath as the much cooler air washed over her. The air inside was beginning to thicken from the sweat of dancing bodies.

She couldn't hide out here forever, as much as she might like too. But it was nice not to have to talk or dance with people for just a moment.

"Hey."

She looked over. Her heart seemed to lift a little at the sight of Ted, even though that didn't make any sense. They'd just had their second fight in a week. Who was to say he hadn't come back for a third?

Nothing. Which was why she needed to leave.

"Wait." He grabbed her sleeve. She stopped, even though they'd already been through this before tonight. It wouldn't lead to anything good. She knew this, yet she still didn't pull her arm out of his grip.

"I'm sorry. About what I said. It was wrong." That lightness returned to her chest, making her feel like she was floating. Still, all she did was nod, pulling her sleeve out from under his grip.

"Will you come with me? There's something I want to show you."

"Oh." She glanced back at the Great Hall. She really needed to head back inside, before someone wondered where she went. Yet the prospect of returning to the dance was so uninviting, whereas as the idea of going with Ted. Well, what harm could one more little venture together do?

He didn't smile when she agreed to come with him. By contrast he turned his back to her and walked away, forcing her to follow after him. He didn't look back at her at all, and the hair on the back of his head turned shiny under a line of sweat. What on earth was he doing?

As their venture grew longer she grew more impatient. What if someone noticed her absence and decided to come looking for her?

Ted finally stopped in the space underneath the grand staircase before turning to face her.

"What is it?" she asked, her frustration mounting.

He looked her over again, slowly, taking in every little detail of her body. His eyes lingered on the curves of her dress, her lips, and finally her eyes. There was a longing there she had never seen before. Raw. Desperate.

"This," And then he rushed forward, grabbed her arms...

And kissed her.

At first his lips were slow, hesitant, but when she didn't push him away he deepened it, like he was slowly pulling her out, into him.

Her entire body shuddered, and she reached up her arms to push him away, but instead placed them firmly on his chest, and kissed him back. His breath caught as she responded, and he pulled back, only to come back and kiss her harder. Her hands slipped off his chest, moving up to wrap around his neck, pulling herself closer. He moaned softly, his hands running down the length of arms, towards her waist.

Someone behind them laughed. The two of them pulled apart just as two people, a boy and a girl, came barreling around the corner.

"Oh," the girl stopped laughing the moment she saw them. They were still standing rather close, and their hands were still on each other. The girl grinned sheepishly, looking over at her boyfriend. "Looks like we walked in on something, sorry." She giggled, then grabbed the boy's hand and sped off down the hallway.

Andromeda looked at him, her breath coming out in raspy gasps. She dropped her hands as she turned away. They flew to her mouth, and then she slowly forced them to straighten at her side. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, but she could still feel where his lips had been. She looked back, thinking, hoping, that Ted wasn't really there, but he was. He was staring at the floor, his hand tangled up in his hair, again. He looked up to meet her gaze. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, wide-eyed, breathless, lost. She kept thinking he was going to say something, but for once, he was silent.

Finally, the silence had reached a bursting point. He stepped forward. "Andromed—"

"Go."

He stopped, eyes widening in shock.

"I need you," she took a deep breath, "to go."

His shoulders slumped and the light in his eyes seemed to literally go out. "Andromeda, please—"

"Just get out here." The tears were getting closer to the edge of her eyelids. "Please."

He stumbled back, like a bird with broken wings. Finally he managed to turn around. He took a few steps, then glanced back at her. She turned away, so he wouldn't see her tears.

When she looked back, he was gone.