Blackbird

Chapter 44

Ted had forgotten how creaky old castles were. Every sound had him leaping up from his chair, eyes swirling toward the door, but each time it was a false alarm. It was like the castle itself was taunting him, making him think she was here when she wasn't.

Ever since he'd told her he loved her, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Classes with the Slytherin's were the worst. He didn't dare look at her, since Rodolphus was still breathing down his neck, but he was hyperaware of her presence. He was all she could think about throughout the entire class period, meaning his grades were really suffering. But he didn't care, it was hard to imagine a future in the wizarding world that didn't include her.

He could almost laugh at his own dramatic moment. His love for Andromeda had crept up on him, like a slow poison, only now it had him completely intoxicated. Things had only gotten worse since that moment in his room. There had been something between them, stronger than anything he'd ever felt. In that moment he knew they belonged together. Andromeda had felt it too, she must have. But that didn't completely comfort him. Andromeda wasn't like him, she thought with her head, and her head would tell her to leave him.

What he was hoping for was nothing short of a miracle, and miracles were hard to come by these days.

The door finally creaked open and in stepped Andromeda. It seems no matter how many times he saw her, he was still blown away by her beauty. Why couldn't he have fallen someone a little less heavenly? It would have made his insecurity that much less.

"Ted." She stared at him with that same embarrassed excitement she always did. "I see you finally learned how to read a watch."

"Actually, I haven't, which is why I showed up three hours ago."

Andromeda's mouth dropped open. "Really? That means you missed dinner? How could you have been so—" she didn't make it any further before Ted burst into laughter.

Andromeda turned red and lightly shoved his shoulder. "That's not funny anymore."

"It is as long as you keep falling for it," He grinned, and despite her best efforts, she grinned as well. They'd done that thing again, where they'd slowly gotten closer to each other without realizing it and were now barely a foot apart. Ted felt that familiar longing surge up in him, and it took all his effort not to reach out and pull her against him.

He glanced down, as that was the only way he knew how to control himself. "I can't keep doing this."

He heard her gasp, and saw her body stiffen. "Doing what?" she said, though she must have known what he was referring too.

"Being with you, but not being able to really be with you. I can't take it anymore." He hadn't meant to say that, it had just come out. It was true, as much as he didn't want it to be. Because now, if she chose Rabastan, he would lose her forever.

She sighed. "I can't do it anymore either."

He sucked in, like he'd been punched in the gut, through it really felt like someone had reached in and taken all his guts out in an instant. This couldn't be happening. He'd been so hopeful that for once, she would do what she wanted, not what she thought everyone else wanted her to do. But he'd been wrong, and now thanks to his own weakness, this might be the last time he was ever truly with her.

He kept his head down, so she couldn't see the pain in his eyes. He wasn't going to make this any harder on her than it had to be.

"I sent a letter to my uncle Alphard," she whispered. She was practically shaking. "Asking him if I could come live with him."

At least it was difficult for her to say goodbye too... wait, what did she say? She was moving? What do this have to do with him? He glanced up. She was still shaking, but not with sadness, with excitement, the kind of excitement that spread to every part of her body.