Author's Note: This was an entry into the Wordsmiths and Betas Facebook group's Rare Pairs One-Shot Competition. I'm so proud of the fact that it was voted Fan Favorite, Most Complete One-Shot, Favorite Rare Pair and was the Runner-Up for Best Grammar.
Special Thanks to Kreeblim Sabs and stephalopolis09 for being my awesome Alpha readers! You both were wonderful at soothing my fears.
Dance Amongst the Stones
Moonlight washed over the ancient stones casting long, ominous shadows. Despite being the end of June, there was a distinct chill in the air when Andromeda stepped closer to the stone circle. She was not supposed to be there. Every single cell in her body screamed out at her to turn around and run back home. How many times had her father warned his three daughters to stay as far away from the stones only a few miles from their Dorset manor over the course of their lifetimes? Far too many to keep track of certainly. Cygnus Black claimed that they were locations of primordial fae magic that they should stay away from. No good ever came from traipsing amongst the stones.
"You're not afraid, are you, Andy?" teased Bellatrix.
Andromeda stood to her fullest height, stuck her chest out and sniffed. She would not give her elder sister the satisfaction of knowing she was terrified out of her mind. Bellatrix liked to seek out weaknesses to exploit them to her own benefit. Even immediate family members were not immune to her personal brand of torment. She might have only been seventeen years old, but Bella was not a witch to be trifled with.
"Of course not," Andromeda insisted in her most imperious air. "I am simply bored. Would you please hurry up with your plans so we may leave?"
Bellatrix laughed, no doubt not believing her fifteen year old sister's insistence in the slightest. Since returning from her sixth year of Hogwarts only a few days prior, Andromeda's older sister had spoken of nothing but a spell she wanted to perform as soon as she was able. Honestly it surprised Andromeda to have stumbled upon her sister intently reading multiple books in the school library over the previous year. Bella was a woman of action, not of revision. She achieved passable grades because she had no desire to waste her time with her nose in a book. If applied, she might have even achieved the highest marks of her year. She was far from stupid. Instead she applied herself to being the biggest bully in the castle.
"This spell is supposed to work best two days after the Summer Solstice," Bellatrix explained.
"Trixie, I don't think we should be here. Father will be so angry."
"You can go home whenever you want, Andy. No one is forcing you to be here."
Satisfied with her position just behind one of the largest of the standing stones, Bellatrix crouched down on the ground. Andromeda was too frightened to follow her example. She could feel the magic swirling around them in the air. It was Old Magick, the kind that their grandmothers used to whisper about when they thought none of the girls were listening. Every hair on her body stood up when the waves of energy and power washed over her skin.
Either not experiencing the same feelings that her younger sister was or simply not caring, Bellatrix began to pull vials of random ingredients out of her robe pockets. She had been very secretive about just what kind of spell she was performing. Andromeda could only imagine. Some of the books that she caught her sister reading were clearly from the Restricted Section. Most of what Bella pulled out of her robes were common ingredients she had seen time and time again in a potions lesson. She tried to convince herself that her older sister was simply trying to figure out a more effective way to rid herself of the spots that seemed to plague her otherwise porcelain complexion.
It was not until she pulled out an empty vial and one of Father's silver blades that Andromeda could no longer deny that what was about to happen was much more serious than simple personal hygiene. Just what sort of magic was her sister getting involved with? There were hundreds of spells that required a blood sacrifice, few of them good. Blood magic was strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic for that very reason. A person's blood in the hands of the wrong witch or wizard could be disastrous.
Bellatrix began mixing several of the ingredients in a small glass bowl she pulled out of her pocket. Every single noise Andromeda heard made her jump. Though she was still underage, she had her wand out and ready to curse, if necessary. All of the vials were dumped into the bowl when Bellatrix lifted the sleeve of her robe to expose the creamy flesh of her left bicep.
"What are you doing, Trixie?" her younger sister demanded. She was unable to simply sit by while she watched her sister mutilate her own body without understanding why she was doing it to begin with.
"Never you mind," she snapped back.
Understanding that she would not get a suitable response from her sister, Andromeda resumed her visual scanning of the location. No one was entirely certain what the massive stones arranged in a circle in the middle of the countryside were for, but there were plenty of theories. Muggles believed them to be outdoor temples made by pagans hundreds, possibly thousands of years ago. Women dressed in bedsheets frequently found their way to the circle and others like them to dance and sing to their strange gods. Andromeda's father warned them that the area was a sacred place filled with faeries who would steal away young witches. She knew enough at her tender age to know that he was simply trying to frighten his daughters away from the area, but she did wonder after feeling the power in the air if there might not have been at least a grain of truth to his words.
The sound of heavy footsteps caused both girls to jump. Bellatrix was on her feet with her wand pointed in the direction of the disturbance within moments. Andromeda's wand arm trembled with fear. When the figure they both recognized from school entered the stone circle at least twenty meters away from their location, they both calmed down enough to drop their wands.
"It's that nutter Lovegood," Bellatrix hissed in a whisper. "The Ravenclaw. Just left Hogwarts."
Andromeda knew the wizard though he was a few years older. He always wandered through the castle with a perpetually dreamy expression on his face speaking about creatures that could not possibly exist. Always willing to have a conversation with anyone, regardless of their age or their House, she had actually spoken to him more than once about some kind of being he called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Though she certainly did not believe such an animal existed, even if the wilds of Sweden, she politely smiled while he described everything about it from their ideal habitats to their favorite foods. When he pressed the latest copy of his father's tabloid magazine into her hand, she accepted it without hesitation. Hidden in the closed curtains of her four-poster bed later that night, she read the publication from front to back. None of her previous opinions that the boy was a bit unhinged were changed from the thorough read.
"He's going to ruin everything. I'm going to hex him."
Her older sister made it three steps away before Andromeda was able to stop her by pulling on her arm. A physical fight with Bellatrix never ended well, but she could not stand by while an innocent person was hexed for being somewhere he had every right to be. The unexpected and simple act of defiance shocked Bellatrix greatly. Neither of her sisters ever stood up to her when she set her mind to something. She almost did not know how to respond. A sharp slap to Andromeda's face made the younger witch's eyes fill up with hot, embarrassed tears.
"Fine. If you can't bear to watch me hex Lovegood, then you can just stay here by yourself. I'm going to find another circle. Roddy told me there's one not far from his house. Good luck figuring out how to get home."
Without listening to a single protest from Andromeda, Bellatrix Disapparated away from the area with a loud crack. The tears that were falling from her eyes because of the physical pain still stinging her cheek were quickly followed by tears of anger and fear. She was underage and did not know how to Apparate. They lived miles away. How was she going to get home? Father would be so angry that Trixie's slap would be nothing in comparison to the pain she would experience when she managed to find her way back.
"Are you all right?"
Andromeda spun around in place swiftly. Too swiftly. She lost her balance and fell directly onto Xenophilius' lean chest. His hands reached out to grasp her arms to push her gently back onto her feet. In the few moments it took her to compose herself enough to answer his question, she focused on the odd, yet comforting mixture of smells invading her nostrils. The sharp scents of citrus, grass and a combination of several floral scents she could not place made her head feel a bit woozy. Who knew that the odd Ravenclaw smelled so heavenly?
"I did not mean to disturb you, Mr. Lovegood. My sister left me abruptly on my own."
"Do you need assistance?"
Andromeda raised herself to her full height once more. With her shoulders back and her chest puffed proudly forward, she thanked him for his concern but assured him she would be all right. As the shock of being left alone began to wear off, she formulated a plan. If she could get far enough away from the stone circle on foot that no one would suspect she'd ever been there, she could summon one of the family's house-elves to take her home. Maybe she could even convince them to lie to her father.
"What are you doing here anyway? My father says this place is dangerous."
"It is only dangerous if you don't understand the forces you are dealing with. I've been coming here since I was a child with my mother."
She really needed to leave. Needed to distance herself from the area before the moon rose too much higher. Her curiosity always got the better of her senses. Perhaps she should have been a Ravenclaw instead of a Slytherin.
"Why?"
Xenophilius smiled at her simple question. He was an odd wizard certainly, but more than a few girls at school had made the comment that he would be an interesting person to take to bed. His blue eyes caught the moonlight making them almost twinkle in the darkness.
"I come here to mourn."
His simple five words were at odds with the smile still exposing two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth. Andromeda did not understand. When her Grandmother Irma died three years earlier, the entire family wore black robes and sat in the stuffy parlor of her Aunt Walburga's townhouse to silently stare at relatives no one had spoken to in years. Xenophilius was dressed in a flowing white robe with no shoes. Perhaps his family mourned differently than hers.
"Muggles believe these circles hold the most power at the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice," he explained. "They're wrong. There is a reason why so many of the old spells call for them to be performed two days after the Summer Solstice…"
Andromeda's thoughts strayed directly to Bellatrix. Where was she? What kind of spell was she attempting? Was it dangerous? Old Magick was nothing to fool around with. There were hundreds of cautionary tales advising wizards and especially witches to be careful.
"Can you feel the magic in the air, Andromeda?"
She was startled by him addressing her by her first name. Somehow she just assumed he would not be able to remember the name of someone so much younger. She was grateful for the darkness that hid her flushed cheeks.
"It does feel strange here," she admitted.
"This is the night that the magic is strongest. I come here every year to remember my mother."
A touch of sadness crossed his distinctive features. All at once Andromeda felt like an intruder on the man's solitude. Remembering one's loved ones was a private affair. Andromeda made her excuses. As she walked away from the circle to the path that would lead to the road Muggles traveled on in their motorized contraptions, she felt a pair of eyes on her back. She turned around right before her feet touched the road. Xenophilius was still watching her, a small smile still on his lips. Andromeda raised her hand to wave goodbye. He returned the gesture.
She was at least a quarter of a mile away from the area when her curiosity got the better of her once more that evening. Andromeda stopped walking away from the stone circle. Without dwelling too long on her decision or on the possible consequences of being caught in the prohibited area, she spun around and headed back. The moment the stones were back in her line of sight, she slowed her steps to sneak back without drawing any notice. There was a large tree not but a few feet away from the stones. She hid her slim figure behind the trunk of the massive elm.
A quiet gasp escaped her mouth when she saw Xenophilius Lovegood once again. She quickly covered her mouth hoping he had not heard it. The assumed mortification the older wizard would feel knowing she was spying on him was too much to bear. In the time that she walked away and returned, Xenophilius at some point removed his robes. With his arms held high above his head, the eccentric wizard danced in circles naked and completely without shame.
Andromeda had never seen a naked man before. It was a bit of a shock. In all of her fifteen years there had never been an occasion to see one. Even when her cousins Sirius and Regulus were babies and they needed their nappies changed, she was always shooed from the room lest her delicate eyes see something they shouldn't. She could feel her face burn the longer she stared at his long, lean limbs.
Xenophilius was perfection chiseled out of human flesh. He was built like the marble statues that lined the gardens of her grandfather's country manor. Eighteen years old without a mark or blemish on his entire body. And Andromeda looked. By Merlin, she looked over every square millimeter of his pale skin on display. Her virginal eyes lingered a bit longer than she would ever admit to on the part of his body she had only seen in drawings in the stuffy, old anatomy books Father kept hidden on the top shelf of their family library. Though she had no real-life experience to compare it to, she felt certain that what Xenophilius normally kept hidden in his trousers was something to be proud of.
Realizing she had been staring at the man's penis for much longer than what would have been considered polite, Andromeda forced her head up to watch his movements above the waist. His head was thrown back; his face awash in moonlight. Pure joy radiated from his features. The dance he danced amongst the stones was only a simple waving of his arms and twirling of his body, but Andromeda was mesmerized. She could have stood behind that tree trunk and watched him for hours. He claimed he was mourning his mother. Watching his dance made her believe that perhaps his method of remembering his lost loved one was better than sitting around in starched robes sipping tea in silence. It was beautiful and with the intense magic floating around her, she was overcome with emotion. Tears rolled down her cheeks freely. Afraid she would miss something, she did not dare wipe them off until her eyes grew too full to see.
"Do you need help getting home?"
His soft voice cutting through the stillness of the night startled Andromeda. While she had been wiping her eyes on her sleeves, Xenophilius completed his dance and discovered her hiding place. She did not want to face him. Clearly she had seen him completely naked. He was probably feeling embarrassed and maybe even a little violated. She hazarded a glance in his direction. Immediately she dropped her gaze back to the ground.
Xenophilius was not ashamed of his nakedness in the slightest. He stood proudly in front of the blushing witch without a hint of shame. The tiniest smirk on his lips led Andromeda to believe that he was enjoying making her cheeks flame red.
"I did not mean to intrude," she stuttered. "I should head back home."
He quickly threw his white robe over his head and chased after the fleeing witch. His hand caught her elbow just before she made it to the road again. She did not want to stop and face the man, especially after it was clear she had been watching him in what was a very private moment.
"Let me make sure you get home all right, Andromeda. It can be very dangerous for a young witch on her own."
She could not argue with his statement. It was the truth. How many times had she heard her father warn her of the depravity of Muggles? They were more likely to rape and torture a witch than to help her. She was afraid to be caught alone.
Xenophilius offered his arm. She gripped it tightly, trying and failing to keep her mind from wandering to scenes from a short time earlier.
Three full years would pass before Andromeda even considered returning to the stone circle. She finished her seventh year of Hogwarts only days before the Summer Solstice. Life inside her father's house had grown cold and tiresome. Cygnus Black was of the opinion that all Pureblood witches should be married immediately after finishing school. Andromeda failed to secure a marriage on her own and he felt it was up to him to find a suitable mate on her behalf. She was terrified of what barmy, old coot he might discover hidden under some rock.
At the last minute, only minutes before the moon rose, she made the decision to return. Xenophilius Lovegood found a joy and a solace within those stones. Maybe she could too. Sneaking out of the manor became easier with practice. Andromeda was outside the gates before anyone even knew she was gone.
Xenophilius was already there. Dressed in the same white robe she saw him in years earlier, he smiled when she suddenly appeared just outside the circle. Beckoning her over to him with a simple wave of his hand, he invited her to join.
She wanted to be brave and join him. Frequently her mind traveled back to that night when she was just fifteen. He had been so content, so at peace. Though she longed to experience what he had, she was shy. Only one man had ever seen her naked before and he claimed it was an accident. Over the last winter break her brother-in-law Rodolphus walked in on her in the bath. She did not believe for one second that he did not do it on purpose. He always made her uncomfortable staring at her as if she was some kind of prey and he was the hunter.
Andromeda decided to put all her fear and shame aside. Remembering the pure joy on Xenophilius' face when he was dancing was all the encouragement she needed. She removed every single stitch of clothing from her body before she could talk herself out of it. Xenophilius cleared his throat and almost immediately closed his eyes at the sight of her nakedness. Andromeda felt mortified.
When Xenophilius open his eyes again, his entire expression was altered. It was similar to how she had seen Rodolphus look at her, except instead of feeling afraid, she felt excited. Xenophilius took a few more deep breaths before removing his robe. Andromeda could tell that her presence was having an effect on his body. He was still the only naked man she had ever seen, but she'd heard girls in her dorm talk about what happened when they got aroused.
She could already feel the sheer power rolling through the air around them. It was a heady feeling. Xenophilius seemed to have regained control over his traitorous body once more. Following his lead, Andromeda raised her hands above her head and began twirling in large circles around the stones.
Once a girl in her dorm snuck in an entire bottle of fire whiskey. Having no experience with spirits, Andromeda gulped down more than she should have. Her head spun and she felt giddy. Dancing in the stone circle was similar to being intoxicated except infinitely better. All worries and cares fell off within moments. Her face split into the widest grin she could remember ever having. Magical was not a strong enough word to describe what she was feeling.
Time had no meaning as they danced. Minutes might have passed or entire days. Their movements began to slow the longer they were exposed to the Old Magick. Andromeda reluctantly stopped when Xenophilius placed a gentle hand on her bare shoulder.
"My mother said that if you dance too long, the faeries will make it so you can never stop dancing."
"How do you know when to stop?"
Xenophilius cleared his throat again. He actually seemed uncomfortable which surprised her greatly. Part of her believed he could never feel awkward.
"You know to stop when it starts to feel too good, like you're about to…"
She witnessed another event she never thought to see in her lifetime. Xenophilius Lovegood was blushing. It took her a moment to understand why. Suddenly grasping exactly what he was trying to say, she joined him with her own blushes.
"Oh," was all she could say in reply. How exactly was one supposed to freely discuss orgasms with a practical stranger? That was certainly not how proper Pureblood witches were raised.
All redness gone from Xenophilius' cheeks, he stepped closer to his dancing partner. Andromeda felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. Could he hear it pounding too? He lifted his hand to brush against her cheek. She held her breath.
"Dancing is not the only way one can experience the magic of this place," he whispered, leaning his head down closer to hers.
Andromeda would never be sure even years later if her breath was completely stolen away by his first kiss or the swirling, ancient magic filling the night air. It did not really matter. Xenophilius' lips caressing hers caused a tingle to flow through every single cell in her body unlike even the dancing was capable of producing. She ran her hands up his firm and toned stomach and past his lean chest to rest around his neck. Feeling emboldened by her hands on his body, Xenophilius did the same. His hands snaked around her waist to rest on the small of her back.
She had kissed a boy or two but they simply did not compare. He gently nudged her mouth open to invade with his tongue. Just as she could not identify the sweet scents that clung to his clothes and long, blond hair, she was unable to describe how he tasted. All her incoherent mind could come up with was he tasted like she never wanted to stop kissing him.
Maybe it was the magic causing her to feel intoxicated and her inhibitions lowered. Or it was the latent streak of rebellion she felt defying her mother's repeated admonishments that good girls never allowed a man to take liberties before they were properly wed. Maybe it was how Xenophilius looked at her when his blue eyes looked over her naked body. Possibly it was a combination of all three. Andromeda broke the heated kiss much to Xenophilius' apparent disappointment. Removing her hands from where they were entangled in his hair, Andromeda reached for one of his hands.
She lay down in the thick grass, pulling Xenophilius down with her. Realizing her pulling away was not a rejection at all but a clear invitation to more, the wizard's kisses grew more ardent and more creative. He started with her lips, moved to her neck and licked down to her chest. She could never be sure which sensations he caused with the flick of his tongue and which ones the magic was responsible for.
A deep moan shattered the silence of the sacred circle the moment his warm mouth closed over one of her hardened nipples. She felt a stirring within her belly that she had never experienced in such intensity. Encouraged and perhaps emboldened by her cries, Xenophilius' mouth travelled from left breast to right breast and then back to left. As he repeated the ministrations that were making the young woman writhe beneath him, his hand slipped down her taut stomach to the part of her body she had been instructed to shield at all cost her entire life. She flinched only slightly when the first digit swept through her folds. It surprised her to find that the act she had performed on herself more times than she could count felt so completely different when done by another hand.
Xenophilius' mouth continued its downward journey. Gossip amongst the girls in Slytherin House only slightly prepared her for the moment his mouth latched onto her sodden core. She had always been told to never expect the act to be performed on her and if it was, she was not to anticipate that it would be any good. Her expectations were blown away within the first minute. Every sensation was heightened in the whirling magic. Andromeda fisted two handfuls of grass in an effort to remain grounded. She was certain with each swirl of his tongue, each suck of his lips that she was going to float away never to be seen again. One finger and then a second inside her tight body combined with the fervent attention with his mouth were too much to bear. A guttural scream tore through her body. He wrapped his arm around her hips to keep her rooted to the earth while she rode out the tremors on his proud, smiling face.
Before he sat back up from his reclining position, Xenophilius kissed the inside of each of her thighs. His mouth moved down each of her legs, nipping at the sensitive spot behind each knee. He did not stand completely, simply sat up on his feet. Andromeda watched him through her heavy eyes, almost afraid to discover what he planned next. Tapping her on the stomach with his wand was not what she expected. Repeating the same movement on his own stomach, Xenophilius tossed his wand back to the general direction of his discarded robe.
"The magic here tonight makes everyone fertile," he explained.
"Oh. Oh!"
She tried to sit up when the implications of his words made their mark. The last thing she needed to worry about was an unplanned pregnancy. She would be thrown out of her father's house for certain. Sensing her anxiety, Xenophilius lay on the grass next to her and pulled her frame into his arms.
"We do not have to go any further than this if you don't feel comfortable."
"No, I want to. I just… I just have never…"
He covered her mouth with his before she could worry herself into a full-blown panic. Only a few short kisses and she was no longer afraid. Somehow she knew that he would never hurt her. Xenophilius carefully lowered her to the ground on her back. More kisses down the length of her body followed. He settled himself between her legs. She was anxious that it was going to hurt.
"Just look at me, Andromeda."
Staring into his blue eyes helped with her fear. He slid into her body slowly, never rushing his movements. She gasped at the initial intrusion, but quickly discovered that all of the girls she roomed with were wrong. Or perhaps she had a more thoughtful partner who cared more for her discomfort than just jamming his cock into her body at his own pace.
"Are you all right?"
She nodded without hesitation. Slowly with his hands on her hips, he tenderly began a rhythm of almost completely exiting her body and then sliding carefully back in. It felt strange at first, but as the minutes ticked by, as he never took his eyes from hers, she was no longer afraid. Her body adjusted to him before much time had passed. She was hesitant at first to meet his thrusts with one of her own, but the first time she made him moan with only a simple motion of her hips, she found her confidence.
Exactly as it had been when they were dancing, time had no meaning while their bodies were joined together. It did not take long before they were held within the thrall of the Old Magick. Sensations were much stronger. Xenophilius intertwined his fingers with hers and held her hands to the ground on the outside of her head. The intensity and the passion steadily grew. They gave over to the magic of the stone circle, losing themselves in each other until their mutual screams ripped through the night air.
Andromeda carried the secret of the only time she made love with Xenophilius Lovegood around without ever divulging it to anyone. Every single year she was tempted to return to the stone circle when the Summer Solstice came and went. Some years she gave in to the call of the magic.
Two years after her Nymphadora was born she had her first miscarriage. She and her husband had been overjoyed with the prospect of having another child in the house. Within the first couple of months of her pregnancy she knew something was wrong. When she came to at St. Mungo's covered in her own blood, she feared her heart would not recover from the break. She danced within the circle for the first time since she was eighteen. Out of respect for her status as a happily married woman, they danced for the first time still wearing their robes.
Four years after that she returned to dance away her grief at the loss of her day old son. She almost did not go, but the aching anguish became too much to bear. Six months after she and Ted buried their child, she twirled and twirled as if her heart would break. Though she still mourned and would never forget the beautiful baby boy, she could feel some relief. At least enough to keep her head up and keep herself strong for her husband and her daughter.
She would not go back for another eleven years. A small article in The Daily Prophet described the tragic death of a witch named Pandora Lovegood. Her heart ached for the wizard and their young daughter. For the second time in her life she hid behind the trunk of the elm tree watching the man in his flowing white robes dance in the circle with his tiny little girl. It no longer felt like a place she should return. She felt like an intruder once more.
The war had been over for a little more than a year when she thought of the stone circle again. There had been so much tragedy in her life in such a short time that if she did not have her little grandson Teddy to rely on her, she might have been tempted to do something foolish, like fling herself into the Veil. Two days after the Summer Solstice she felt an odd tingling in her nerves. Almost as if the stone circle was calling out for her to return. All day she tried to ignore the feeling to no avail.
After dropping off her grandson at his godfather's house, she stood on the London pavement and tried to convince herself to not go. Finally, she closed her eyes and with all of the determination she could muster, spun in place. The instant she opened her eyes she felt a wash of peace flow over her entire body. She could have burst into tears right then. The strange tingling dissipated. She was where she needed to be.
"I waited for you last summer."
Xenophilius' familiar voice startled her out of her own mind. Andromeda turned towards the wizard. He stood alone in the center of the circle dressed in the same white robe she had seen him in every time she made the same journey. A small smile on his face made him look every bit the eighteen year old boy waving to her as she ran away at fifteen.
"I was not ready to come," she answered.
In an almost identical move to the first time she danced with him, Xenophilius beckoned her to him with a single wave of his hand. She felt almost powerless to resist moving her feet. When they were close enough to touch, he reached out to kiss both of her cheeks. The rush of heat to her face made her think of what a silly girl she once was. She was too old to blush like a schoolgirl.
"Are you ready now?"
Four words that held more meaning than she could describe. Was she ready now? Was she ready to release the anger she had been hoarding like a miser hoards his gold? Was she ready to let go of the pain that ate at her gut every second of the day? Was she ready to forgive her sister and every single person responsible for wreaking havoc on her life? Was she ready to move on and learn to live again?
She bent down to grasp the hem of her robe. In one swift motion she pulled it over her head. Standing naked and exposed in front of the man for the second time in her life, she did not miss the way his blue eyes raked over her flesh with a smirk of appreciation.
"I don't look the same as I did thirty years ago," she said, feeling self-conscious with every second that passed.
Xenophilius removed his own robe. He might not have been as firm in some places as he once was and he had developed a hint of a belly, but to Andromeda, he was still lovely. Once undressed, he reached for her hand. She did not hesitate to take it.
"You were an attractive girl, but you are an even more beautiful woman."
They danced longer than they had ever danced before. There was more pain and sorrow than there ever had been. She opened herself up to allow the Old Magicks to flow through her body, healing where it could. It was almost possible in those all too few moments within the circle to forget the pain she had endured since the moment her Ted walked out of the door. Almost possible to forget that when she went home it would be to a house empty of every single person she once shared it with. Except for Teddy, of course. He brought her joy with every giggle and every change of his hair color. Placing the burden of her happiness on the small child was not fair to anyone.
Xenophilius was the one to stop her from dancing herself into eternity. A soft touch on her shoulder brought all of the memories crashing back on her at a staggering rate. She was the one to kiss him first, the one to push him back to the ground. Just as they lost themselves in their dancing, once again they lost themselves in each other.
When they lay on the ground afterwards recovering from their exertions, she felt the past reminders of her pain begin to creep up on her once more. She feared that they would never leave her alone completely. Would she be forced to walk the Earth forever doomed to feel nothing but emptiness and sorrow? Xenophilius' arm wound around her waist, pulling her against his chest. He kissed her ruffled hair.
"From the second that Pandora died, I have felt like less of the man I used to be," he declared, his voice soft and quiet. "I will always miss her. I will always love her, but when I am in this circle with you, Andromeda, it doesn't hurt as much. Is it just the magic of this place? Or is it you?"
She kissed his bare chest with a swift peck. Her own treacherous mind had been wondering the same thoughts about him.
"I'm not sure," she replied. "Perhaps we need to leave this circle to figure that out."
Hours later when the sun began to peek over the horizon, they disentangled their naked limbs from each other. They had lost count the number of times they made love under the light of the moon. Neither one of them wanted to give up the chance to experience the lessening of their pain if it was all just related to the magic. After dressing in their simple robes, Andromeda placed her hand in his. Together they stepped out of the stone circle.