Andromeda sat in the field. She picked at the long pieces of grass and let them go into the wind. There was no noise, not even a bird singing in the distance. Everything was quiet. Everything was peaceful. But although everything looked perfect, in the inside Andromeda was a disaster site. Andromeda had not yet told her husband about their child. She knew that he would be pleased, ecstatic even, but Andromeda knew that her child would have a very hard life, especially in a war such as this. Andromeda was an outcast from her family; she didn't want that for her baby! But Ted wouldn't look at it that way. He would say that it was the perfect timing; it was great because since she didn't have her old family, she had her new family! Andromeda silently laughed. Sirius would be pleased though; she and her cousin were quite close. He would be the second person she would tell, just after Ted. If it was a boy, she would name him Ted, like his father. But a girl? Andromeda loved long, flowing names like Andromeda, and she had always loved the name Nymphadora. It was gorgeous, and rolled off the tongue. Nymphadora Tonks. Beautiful. And if she didn't like it, they could always call her Dora or something like that. Andromeda looked at the horizon. It was beautiful. Ted really did know how to pick the most remote yet gorgeous place on the planet. All of a sudden she heard footsteps.
"Hey Andy," Ted said, sitting next to his beloved wife.
"Hey Ted," Andromeda said, and leaned into her husband as he put his arm around her. Normally she would have yelled at him not to call her Andy, but she didn't mind so much coming from him.
"Looks like you got a lot on your mind," Ted told her, looking down at Andromeda.
"Looks like it," Andromeda agreed. "Just been thinking."
"Bout what?" Ted asked, smiling.
"Life. The future. Family. All sorts of stuff," Andromeda smiled up at him.
"And why are we thinking of all this now?" Ted asked her.
"No reason," Andromeda said, all too quickly.
"Ahh, sweetie, there must be a reason," Ted said. "Lay it on me." Andromeda laughed.
"Are you sure?" Ted nodded, like a little puppy, eager to get a treat. "Well, Ted, it's just…I'm pregnant!" she blurted.
"Really?" Ted said his grin widening. "Oh Andy that's wonderful!" He hugged his wife, who, though reluctant, started smiling too.
"You think?" Andromeda asked.
"Definitely," he said. "Oh, this is so amazing! We are so blessed to be able to have a family!" Ted was grinning from ear to ear.
"I guess we are," Andromeda said.
"There's no question!" Ted said. "And we have this whole clearing they can run around in, and play in, and invite there friends over to, and…" Ted looked at her. "This may be the very best thing that ever happened to us." Andromeda smiled, tears in her eyes.
"You don't suppose" Andromeda took a breath. "She'll be looked down upon by members of the Noble House of Black?" Ted smiled.
"Of course she will!" he said, rubbing her back. "All the more fun. He or she can be outrageous, flamboyant, and crazy, and we won't have to worry about your family disapproving because they already do!" Andromeda laughed. "And you know what? Soon this war will be over. And we will all be happy, and when they goes to Hogwarts we'll all cry, and when they get married we'll all be at their ceremony. And when we have grandkids we'll be there every step of the way too." Andromeda smiled.
"I was thinking if it's a boy the name could be Ted," Andromeda said. "And if it's a girl, Nymphadora." Andromeda smiled.
"Oh what a lovely name!" Ted cried, smirking. "Although Nymphadora's a mouthful, shall we call her Dora?"
"Or anything else she wants to be called," Andy told him. Ted laughed.
"Although I forbid anything but Ted," he said, pretending to be serious. "Or perhaps Teddy. Although we certainly don't want the Hogwarts girls calling him a Teddy Bear."
"Oh, come now," Andromeda laughed. "I think Teddy Bear's a rather dashing name, I certainly have nothing against it!"
"Yes but his school mates would," Ted told her, smiling. "Course, all the girls would think of him as some plush animal."
"Well maybe it won't be a boy," Andromeda laughed. "And Nymphadora will be thought of as a fairy, a stunning little nymph."
"Don't nymphs ted to cause trouble?" Ted asked. "Little mischief makers?"
"But of course!" Andromeda laughed. "She'd have to be a handful. It's only fair. She'd make us go grey, and bald, in your case." Ted rolled his eyes. "And we'd reprimand her when she got in trouble, after all, Sirius would definitely teach her his tricks, and she would be grounded for months. Until a few days in and we let her off the hook."
"You really have gone through those parenting books," Ted said sarcastically. Andromeda smiled. "I'm so happy," he said, looking into his wife's eyes. And at that moment everything stopped again. Even the wind stopped blowing. The trees stopped swishing. The bird that had flown by had stopped singing or moving even. Just Andromeda and Ted. They looked at each other for a moment, and Ted leaned in to kiss her. The kiss lasted for only a moment, but it seemed to last for eternity. Everything they were happy about. Everything they were excited for. Everything that was nerve-wracking to them. Everything was in that kiss. That kiss out in the clearing. The clearing that would be shared with their new child, and would be full of cherished memories. Starting with this moment. That one kiss that just made the whole world stop. That made everything bad vanish. And all there was were two people, and an unborn child. And there wasn't anything in the entire world, no the galaxy, no probably the universe, that could have been better.