Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

"Piss off, Tonks!"

"Come on, love, it's just a sandwich and a butterbeer."

"I don't date Mudbloods."

"Is there anything you'll do with one?"

His eyes looked at her so intently that she was reminded of the first time she'd seen him at the beginning of this school year.

She was patrolling the lower levels of the school when a voice behind her said, "All right with Slytherin, then?"

She turned and beheld someone who was not the pudgy boy she'd known since first year. Ted Tonks was suddenly a man who'd grown taller, whose shoulders had filled out while his middle had gotten slimmer, and a man whose face held an indefinable something that told the world he knew what he was about.

Andromeda dropped her wand in confusion and then tripped while trying to find it. A statue was in serious danger until Tonks put his hands on her shoulders and helped her up. Then he Summoned her wand and held it out for her. As he did, there was a look in his eye that seemed to contain the entire world and all of time. The wand and the statue were in danger again until he gave her a smile that was full of cheer and mischief. "If everything is fine, then I'll be off to Hufflepuff."

Right now he had that same look in his eye, that told her he would do anything she wanted. Just for that moment, she wanted to do anything he asked, too. She felt warm, she could feel her skin flushing, and she suddenly felt entirely overdressed. Fortunately, he flashed that mischievous smile at her.

"Come on, Dromeda. Don't you really want to, deep down inside?"

She shook off the—whatever that was. "How many times do I have to say 'no,' Mudblood? Don't you know what 'no' means? Do they use that word where you come from?"

"Of course we Muggleborns do, love. As in, there's no way you can refuse me forever."

Andromeda Black stamped her foot and tried to turn away from the boy who wouldn't leave her alone. The problem was that a higher number of seventh-years than usual were taking Potions this year and they were squeezed into the space. If she leaned too far away from Ted Tonks and the Veritaserum he was making, she would be leaning up against Fabian Prewett and his Amortentia.

Her own Felix Felicis was coming along nicely. If it was accepted by Professor Slughorn, he would surely write her a letter of recommendation for the Healer program at St. Mungo's. She believed he would write it anyway, but she wanted any extra luck the potion would bring her—and the pun was fully intended. Tonks was making the Veritaserum as part of his application to Auror training. Why Prewett happened upon Amortentia was anyone's guess. Perhaps he simply got stuck with the last potion on Slughorn's list that wasn't already being made by someone else, but then again, he liked to make interesting potions just for the fun of it.

Tonks leaned over the work surface, getting entirely too close to her. It wasn't necessarily an unpleasant experience. As one of the Hufflepuff beaters, Ted was somewhat big and muscular in that way that girls might find attractive, if they liked boys who were strong and protective. If Andromeda was completely honest, she would admit that she often wished his shoulders onto the Nott and Avery boys her parents wanted her to consider. Fortunately, as a Slytherin, she was perfectly comfortable being less than honest.

"Come on, Dromeda, it's just one lunch on Saturday at that new tea room. I hear all the girls love it."

She didn't turn toward him and only spoke through her teeth. "If I have to tell you one more time not to call me that, Mudblood..."

"Will you come out with me if I call you my love?"

"There's not a term in the lexicon that would induce me to go out with you."

"I love your impressive vocabulary."

Andromeda turned and looked at him for a heartbeat through narrow eyes. Then she turned back to her cauldron.

"Why do you have to be so cold, love?"

"I can't date you. You're—"

"I'm a Mudblood. I believe we've covered that part of the discussion rather thoroughly," he said in a tone that was over-patient but perhaps a little testy. "I'm also head over heels gone for you, Andromeda Black. I look at you and I see my whole life in front of me." His voice came close to her ear. "It's glorious, if you're interested."

Something turned within her, and she looked at him. He was serious. How many times would she wonder why, when she longed for a tall, dark, pureblood prince, she only seemed to inspire this sort of passion in a Muggle-born? On the other hand, why was it that the only time she felt this odd pitter-pat in her chest, it was when his kind eyes seemed to bore into her soul?

She shook her head. "It would never work," she said absently.

"Why?"

"You know why. My family is 'Toujours Pur.' You're a Mud—that is, Muggle-born." He deserved the polite term this once.

"There are a great many successful marriages between purebloods and Muggleborns."

"Not in my family."

"Are you so sure?"

She thought for a moment about the family tree at Aunt Walburga's house, where a Great-Aunt Cedrella had been blasted away for marrying a Weasley. Most of the Weasleys were pureblood, but that one had a questionable mother, or perhaps was a squib. She shook her head to clear it. All of that was beside the point. Andromeda couldn't allow herself to be blasted from the family tree for any Mudblood, even an amazingly fit one.

Where had that thought come from? She glanced at Tonks through her lashes. He wasn't particularly tall, and although he was muscular now, it might be the sort of thing that turned to chubbiness later. His hair was a nondescript sandy color and his features were friendly and engaging but not particularly handsome. Yet there was something about him that was incredibly sexy. All the 'Puff witches were gone over him, swooning every time he walked past.

Piffle. They could afford to like him. He wasn't a plague to them.

"What does our blood status have to do with what we feel for each other?"

"I don't feel anything for you."

"You're a bad liar."

She shook her head and tipped over a jar of lacewings. "I mean, it wouldn't matter if I felt something."

"Plenty of couples make it work. If there was enough love, we could make it work. We're both very determined people."

"Sure, Mudblood, you're determined to make me like you, and I'm determined that I won't."

Tonks chuckled. Frank Longbottom walked by, brushing up against Fabian, who in turn bumped Andromeda into Tonks. "This is more like it," he said. He held Andromeda close to steady her on her feet, but then held her a few seconds too long. She likewise waited too long to move away. He made her feel safe and comfortable. She found herself sniffing his robe and stifled the desire to burrow into his warm chest.

"Ah, love, this is what I had in mind."

She took a step backwards, a little step because things were so cramped, and pulled herself decidedly away from him. She straightened her robe and looked at her potion, comparing it to her notes. It was perfect. She reached for a vial and filled it for Professor Slughorn's approval. If she could just get to the teacher's desk, she would find a little air that wasn't so full of him.

It was the luckiest thing she ever did in a Potions class. She would never know where Prewett had got to, but as Andromeda stepped around the table to walk to Slughorn's desk, Longbottom walked past again, carrying a stack of cauldrons. Between the two of them, she lost her balance, and Longbottom lost his grip on the cauldrons. They landed on the edge of the table,catapulting three potion-filled cauldrons into the air.

"Andromeda!"

When she realized what was happening, Andromeda discovered that she was underneath a very strong and protective body. Tonks had saved her from being pelted by not only the three cauldrons on the work surface, but the stack that Longbottom had been carrying, too. Based on the way Tonks was wincing, he had saved her from some nasty bruises. What Andromeda had not been saved from was being covered by the contents of the three cauldrons. She and Ted were soaking wet.

"Well, that was something," he said as he helped her to her feet. He took out his wand and cleared away the potion residue on her hair, face and shoulders, but stopped short just below her neckline. "Erm, I think I'll let you handle the rest," he said with a very red face.

Andromeda was able to turn in the potion and received the marks she needed, so she all but forgot about the uncomfortable incident that ended with entirely too close contact with the Mudblood. Her education was drawing to a close, and she was reluctant and ill at ease to see it end. She found herself treasuring every moment of it.

She developed a habit of sitting near the common room fireplace when she did her homework. It was a warm and comfortable spot, but now it was always a homey spot to her, too. She'd never noticed it before, but when she sat there to do her homework, somehow the answers came easier. Whenever she stumbled upon the answer to a problem, it was as if another voice in the back of her mind recalled it for her.

Sometimes she found herself woolgathering a little bit. She would go back over some bit of homework she'd already done and then wonder if she'd gotten some problems correct. After reviewing them in her mind, she usually found she had. She invariably got the impression of warm eyes smiling at her and had to stifle the urge to smile back in her mind. Sometimes, she let herself go. Who would know that she entertained warm thoughts about Tonks? What could it hurt if she admitted, only to herself, that she might feel more for him than any pureblood witch ought to feel for a Mudblood?

There was a Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff on Friday. Andromeda sat in the stands and cheered for her team, but for some reason she couldn't take her eyes off one of the beaters wearing yellow. Up on a broom, swinging his club, Tonks looked almost graceful in a way that he wasn't on the ground. There was a reason why the other girls were so silly over him. During a break in the game, he stopped and looked straight at her. Somehow she knew he was aware that she had been watching him and was glad. He wasn't impossible about it, either. He just smiled happily and nodded in her direction.

A sense of rightness came over her as they gazed at each other. Andromeda felt warm and relaxed. Tonks suddenly turned and flew away after the bludger. She felt a bit bereft, as if something belonging to her had been snatched away. The part of her mind that she was usually good at avoiding pointed out that it was the way she had felt all week, except at meals when she could catch glimpses of the Mudblood.

Suddenly the game was over. Andromeda wasn't sure who won, and based upon the way Cissy's blond idol was stomping off the field, it could have been either house. Lucius Malfoy had a tendency of being as sore a winner as a loser when he wasn't the star of the game. Tonks's demeanor wasn't any help either. He was looking straight at her, as if the outcome of the game was unimportant.

Andromeda sat where she could watch Tonks eat his dinner. As she had noticed during the Quidditch match, she just felt better when she could see him and make occasional eye contact. It wasn't anything special, of course. He had several girls around him. He talked animatedly to them all, putting an arm around one or another as they slid close to him.

Maybe whatever he claimed to feel in Potions class was a passing fancy. He must have been bored. He could have his pick among girls who were blonder, cuter, and had more—Andromeda crossed her arms. It didn't matter. She didn't want the Mudblood. She just didn't like that someone who claimed to be fond of her was so easily distracted.

It took her by surprise when he looked at her. The reassuring smile he gave her was for her alone. The other girls might sit near him, and he might joke and laugh with them, but his gaze said that he was only interested in her. He looked longingly into her face, indicating that he was fonder of it than the other girls' blonde cuteness. Then he glanced down with a sort of desirous smile that said he found nothing lacking about the state of affairs under her crossed arms. Her chest started that pitter-pat again.

Andromeda had to get up. There was quite a bit of studying she wanted to do this weekend, and tomorrow would be a waste. She had to watch over Cissy, who wanted to follow every footstep of that Malfoy fop. She had better do her revising tonight, just in case there was something she wanted to ask the professors during Sunday office hours. Then she went to bed early.

She was completely naked, but her body was a shadowy blur. Hands touched her eagerly, exploring and searching. She felt her back arch and then became aware of an intense ache. Then she was rubbing, up and against—something blurry. The ache grew stronger and harder, and there was bucking and thrusting. Finally there was relief... and an intense pleasure. Andromeda lay weakly back, aware only of the pleasure...

She sat up, her body feeling completely taut and eager, but for what she did not know. She couldn't get back to sleep for the rest of the night.

She was tired and a little nauseated the next morning. Eating breakfast did little to help her. Her eyes strayed to the Hufflepuff table, but the person she told herself she wasn't looking for was not there. After pushing porridge around a bowl for a while, Cissy was ready to go. Andromeda had to go with her, although she would have preferred to stay behind and rest. Perhaps the walk to and from Hogsmeade would have the same effect.

As she walked out of the Great Hall, she bumped into someone and felt a tingle of calm. "Good morning," she said out of instinctive courtesy. Looking up, she saw that it was Tonks.

"Good morning," he answered, looking away. He seemed to be feeling uneasy about something. He seemed almost embarrassed. That was surprising, since Andromeda was of the opinion the wizard had no shame at all.

Cissy tugged on Andromeda's arm and they were off to Hogsmeade. The walk was torture, making Andromeda feel more and more ill the further they got from Hogwarts. Cissy clearly didn't care. She was chattering about the plans she hoped to fulfill when she met Lucius. He had condescended to agree to meet her, and Cissy was hoping to spend several hours in his company. She confided that she even hoped to receive her first kiss that afternoon. If anything, the conversation only served to increase Andromeda's discomfort.

She sat on a bench outside the Hog's Head and tried to sort out her feelings. Nothing she had done that day had eased the nausea. She felt on edge and frustrated by something. It wasn't clear what was troubling her; she just knew that she wanted to go back to the way things were before... when?

Lucius arrived and offered Cissy his arm. The two wandered away, toward some tea shop or lunch room somewhere. Andromeda decided to stay where she was, hoping she would feel no worse when it was time to go back to Hogwarts. She tried to will herself to feel better, but so far it wasn't working.

Some sort of breeze drifted through, and she felt an easing of her symptoms. It seemed to be coming from a street just on the other side of the book shop. Andromeda decided it was worth getting up to see if anything could help her. Something in the air in that street was refreshing. She felt better with every step she took, walking carefully as the street became an alley and the shadows grew deeper. A part of her was sternly telling herself not to enter this maze from which she might never return, but she couldn't deviate from her path. A sort of desire had filled her, and instead of feeling ill at ease, she felt content and safe.

Suddenly she walked into a body. Instead of being flooded with embarrassment and explanations, she felt full of reassurance. The arms that moved around her exuded comfort. She felt so much better that she didn't notice the hand that cupped her face. Instead, she unknowingly obeyed the nudge that tilted her lips up to accept his kiss.

Whatever Narcissa might have hoped for today, this was Andromeda's first kiss. Others had pushed her into corners and placed their hands and lips on her, but this was a real kiss, full of affection and soft promises. If only it could last forever. Andromeda would often look back at that incident as one of the perfect moments of her life, the way they simply fit together that morning. It was her dream prince, here to rescue her from... whatever it was she needed to be rescued from.

"Ah, Dromeda," he whispered as he let her up for a breath and kissed her again.

It was pure magic, the tingle of his lips against hers. His mouth was gentle but firm, just like the arms that encircled her. She realized that this was the body that had been pressed against her in her dream, and that the gentle way their bodies were swaying against each other was reminiscent of the way they had been moving in the dream.

Wait... Dromeda?

She pulled away, even as her whole body screamed in complaint. "Mudblood!"

"Yes."

"How—why—what are you doing here in this alleyway?" She couldn't decide whether to slide her body against his again, or stay at arm's length, where the nausea threatened.

"It was a short cut to the book shop I wanted to go to." He lit his wand and held it between them. "Have you been feeling sick?"

She nodded. "I noticed it this morning."

"It's been growing since those potions spilled on us," he said. "I think the combination has affected us."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? What were the three potions, again?"

"Amortentia, Veritaserum, and Felix Felicis."

"Love, truth, and luck."

She looked at him, her mind racing wildly. "So what, you're supposed to be my true love?"

"You are for me. You always have been."

Typical. She rolled her eyes. "And I suppose you expect to get lucky."

His hand slid along the side of her face again. "I couldn't stand to dishonor you that way. The only luck I want is the chance to marry you."

Something far deeper than nausea drifted down and settled at the very pit of her stomach. "I've told you, Mudblood, it's impossible."

"Then I'm going to have to get used to feeling sick for the rest of my life," he said. "It's a shame, because I think we'd be amazing together."

"I have to marry someone else," she said, annoyed with herself for making it sound like an apology.

"Then what? You'll be forced to lie under someone like Avery while he grunts on top of you, so you can be a baby factory for the rest of your life?"

"That's all I know. It's what I'm supposed to be!"

"Then why are you working so hard to get into the Healer program?"

"Because..." She looked up at him. How could she explain it?

"It's because you're not supposed to be a baby factory, and you know it."

"Now you're going to tell me you actually want a wife who's a Healer."

"If that's what makes you happy, it's what I want."

She turned away from him, noticing that every movement away from him was difficult.

"What would make me happy is to make the effects of these potions go away."

"I know one way to do that, at least for a while," he said. He turned her back into his arms and lowered his face to hers.

Her traitorous body nestled into his as she kissed him back, at first tentatively but then with greater intensity. It was all wrong, but it felt wonderful. This was better than anything she'd ever experienced in her life.

Later on, Andromeda poked at her dinner, now sure it would make her sick all night. She didn't watch Ted Tonks through the meal at all. She told herself that she didn't notice the look he gave her from time to time, and she told herself the pang of disappointment when she never looked back was just indigestion.

A/N: Thank you to Kyria of Delphi and Pennfana for beta reading, and the whole TPP chat group for help with troubleshooting and cheerleading!