Doctor Moody
“I don't get it.” Ted groaned, slumping back on the couch.
Moody huffed. “Oh, please do explain.”
“One minute, we're…whatever we were, then she gets engaged and pretends she doesn't know me and then this?!”
“Such a hard life you live.”
"Don't be an ass, Al," Ted protested. "I'm giving myself a headache trying to wrap my head around this, she broke my heart man. There's clearly something wrong with me."
Moody raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a doctor to you, Tonks? Just give it a while, it'll pass."
“Thanks.” Ted grumbled.
A moment of silence was held in the common room, but it didn't last long.
"You may not be a doctor," Ted said with a smirk, "but your advice is the best I'm going to hear. I guess I'll just have to wait it out."
Ted let out a heavy sigh as he grabbed one of the couch pillows and pulled it tight to his chest.
"In the meantime," he said, "I guess I'll just have to live with the fact that I've been rejected by the most beautiful and interesting girl in the world."
“Oh for the love of-” Alastor groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Shut up, you never stood a chance with that girl and you know it.”
"I know," Ted said, shrugging off his friend's words with a bitter chuckle.
Despite Alastor's cynicism, Ted couldn't help but agree with him. He knew that he never stood a chance with Andromeda, and to admit it would only make it hurt more.
A sombre silence spread throughout the empty Hufflepuff common room. Ted's friends and classmates were all away at classes, leaving him to wallow in his heartbreak alone.
Moody sat quietly, immersed in a book, but unable to concentrate with this poor little lover boy whining across the room. He turned to look at Ted, sitting alone on the couch with his legs propped up, a dull expression on his face as he stared out the window.
Moody knew that his friend was struggling, but he also knew that there wasn't much he could say or do to make it better.
Over the years, he had watched Ted and Andromeda grow closer. There even was a time when Andromeda would spend most evenings and weekends hanging out around Hufflepuff common room. Occasionally, upstairs in the dorms as well but that's none of his business.
It was funny to consider that in the beginning, Alastor actually had hated Andromeda. The prestigious reputation of her family either bought her friends or enemies and Alastor was the latter. But now, he would have probably say he was better friends with Andy than he was with Ted.
“She was going to leave them.” Ted whispered quietly.
“What?”
“She wanted out.”
Ted's words caught Moody by surprise. He looked up from his book, his curiosity piqued.
"Huh?" Moody asked, turning his attention to Ted. "What are you talking about?"
Ted remained quiet, his focus still out the window, his expression unchanged.
"Ted? Are you listening?”
"Andromeda..." Ted trailed off, his voice quiet and almost solemn. "She told me she wanted out of her entire life."
Moody looked at Ted with concern. "What do you mean?"
Ted let out a sigh, his head dropping down in disappointment.
"Andy wanted out of the family," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "She felt trapped, like there were expectations placed on her that she was never going to be able to meet. She felt that she had to live up to the legacy of her family's name.”
“Ted…”
"She hates everything her parents stand for," Ted said, his tone growing softer as he recalled their conversation. "How they're always so obsessed with maintaining appearances, the fact that they're pureblood extremist…everything!”
Ted's revelation hit Moody like a wave of cold water. He had always known that Andromeda was struggling, everyone knew that families such as the Blacks were intense, but he had never imagined that she was so unaligned and desperate to escape her family's legacy and expectations.
"Wow," Moody said, shaking his head in disbelief. It was rare to find a wizard from a Pureblood house that didn't believe in blood supremacy, at least not in Moody's experience. "I didn't think she had it in her.”
"So, Andromeda..." Moody began, his voice soft and thoughtful. "She was really going to leave the family?"
"Yes," Ted said, his tone heavy with sadness. "She told me she had already planned it all out, that she had been saving up her own money, and…and I guess that's over.”
“It's hard to do something like that, leave everything.”
“I know. I never should have expected her to.”
"She'll get married to that blonde prick, have a
his stupid evil kids, and just live the rest of her life like her parents..." Ted trailed off, letting out a heavy sigh.
"But it's even harder to be trapped in a life you don't want," Moody pointed out. Moody sighed, feeling a sense of resignation wash over him. He knew better than anyone what it felt like to be stuck in a situation you wanted to escape from. And the fact that Andromeda had made plans to leave, only to give up her dream, made Moody feel sorry for her.
But he also knew, she didn't remember any of that. It was probably for the best.
“She's made her choice, get over it.” Moody shrugged.
“But what if she didn't!”
“But she has.”
“We don't know what happened, would you really be surprised if her parents were involved someh-”
“Edward.” Alastor cut him off. “Leave it be.”
“Come on, Al.”
“If you wanted the sugar coated version, you should have gone to Molly. Now, get over it.”
Ted fell silent as Alastor's words sank in. He knew that Alastor was right - there was nothing they could do to change Andromeda's mind, and it was likely just a waste of energy to keep trying.
"Yeah, you're right," Ted said with a nod. "It's her life to live, and her family to deal with."
He sighed and turned to look out the window and let out a small chuckle.
"I just had high hopes for her, you know?" Ted said with a shrug. "She was always so different.”
She is different.
“Right!” Ted sat up briskly, brushing off the dull mood. “I'm going to dinner.”
“So early?”
“Need a good seat.”
“It's like a 90ft bench, there are no good seats.” Moody raised a sceptical brow.
Ted just rolled his eyes in response. “Would you like me to save you a space?”
“...fine.”
Moody laughed to himself as he watched Ted roll his eyes and head out the door.
He knew that Ted always liked to get to dinner early, and that he would always save him a spot, even if there were probably a hundred other empty spaces available. It was how it'd been for years now. Alastor never really knew how the two of them became friends in the first place, one day he just turned around and Ted was there like a lost puppy. But in all fairness, Ted probably thought of him the same way.
Moody shook his head with a fond smile, and settled back into his studies, knowing that dinner with Ted would be entertaining as always.