Author's Note: So this idea has been in my head forever and ever. I exaggerate: it's been kicking since I finished writing Of Clockwork and Broken Gears which I submitted for the House Cup and realized that I had more to say about Andromeda and Ted Tonks. You don't have to read my other Ted and Andromeda fics to follow along this one; the details of their elopement are outlined in the fic, but if you're curious now you know. If you like Ted and Andromeda, read and review!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: Pureblood supremacy, brief domestic violence, family estrangement.

Stacked with: MC4A; By Any Other Name; Snicket Fence

Individual Challenge(s): Hufflepuff MC; Slythering MC; Bow Before the Blacks (Y); Summer Vacation; Brush; Seeds; Tiny Terror; Booger Breath; Long Haul (Y)

Representation(s): Blood traitors; secret relationship; elopement; in-law bonding

Bonus Challenge(s): Second Verse (Bechdel Test)

Tertiary Bonus Challenge(s): NA

Word Count: 4771

When Happiness Comes Knocking

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life

-Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), Green Day

Dear Mum, Dear Dad;

I hope this owl reaches you in time, but things are moving very quickly on my end. I promise that I'll explain better when I get home, but I got married. Three months ago. We ran away from school to do it at the Ministry for Magic, and under Wizarding Law we're adults at 17. You don't know her, but she's my favourite person in the world, I have no idea how to describe how much I love her, I just do.

I wish I could have told you about her before, but her family situation is really difficult. That's why we got married; she had to get out. When we come home from Hogwarts, she's going to need a place to stay. Both of us got into the Healer Training program at the Wizarding hospital so we'll be able to settle in somewhere closer to London, but before then she might have to stay with us. I'm sorry for asking this of you. I promise I'll explain more. It's just really complicated. I've been at Hogwarts seven years and I still don't understand it all. But I love her, and her name is Andromeda and I think you'll love her too.

Love,

Ted

The train was… well, nearly pure chaos. Andromeda couldn't complain too much, largely because she'd had quite the part to play in concocting the commotion. When news had broken out during graduation that Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks had eloped, well… Andromeda wasn't quite ready to say that all hell had broken loose, but purgatory had definitely acted up.

As Andromeda tried to sneak away for a moment to compose herself, she bumped into Clara Zabini—whose bunk had been next to hers for the last seven years. They had even been best friends once upon a time.

"Hello," Andromeda said. A beat. She chewed her lip, and could hardly meet Clara's eyes. Their chocolate brown had been warm and inviting before, but now they seemed to see right through Andromeda. Funny that they did that, now that she had nothing to hide…

"I don't know what to say to you," Andromeda admitted.

"Are you happy?" Clara asked. "I know you're disowned, for all intents and purposes, but are you happy?"

"My heart is broken, but I'm so happy," Andromeda said. She wasn't sure how both could be true, but she knew that they were—more than she knew many things at the moment.

"How long have you been seeing him?" Clara asked. "Ted?"

"Since fifth year, like the rumours say. Nearly three years…"

"And you've been happy for three years?"

"Yes."

"And you'll be happy for many more?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm happy for you," Clara said. "I want you to know, because I'll only be able to send you mail… in a bit, when it's safe."

"I understand," Andromeda said. "And… I hope you do. I'll reply to every letter."

"I wish I had been a good enough friend to know," Clara said. "But I understand. Narcissa is okay, you should know. Shocked, even if you spoke to her, but okay."

"Thank you," Andromeda whispered. She reached into her pocket for the note she'd written—again, pleading with Narcissa not to be angry. The ink she'd used was still blotted on her hands. "I know this is a lot to ask and I have no right, but could you...?"

"Of course," Clara tucked the letter into the pockets of her dress. It disappeared within the folds. "Good luck, Andromeda."

Clara turned away, back to the carriage the purebloods had locked themselves in.

And Andromeda got dragged back to the party by a seventh year Hufflepuff—which was fine by her, since the radio was blasting a ballad just as she found Ted again.

The train was nearly empty since everybody had unloaded onto Platform 9 ¾, and while Andromeda wouldn't have it any other way, she did feel as if her organs had disintegrated inside her chest. She clung to Ted's hand even harder.

"Are you ready?" he asked quietly.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said. She kissed his cheek. "I don't regret it. I know it ruined our plans to slip away quietly, but I'm glad that I graduated from Hogwarts with my name. Your name."

Ted smiled at her. "Slughorn's going to tell that story for generations to come."

Andromeda smiled back at him.

"If you're done being adorable, my lovely little newlyweds," Abbey Bones said pointedly.

"Right," Ted said, getting to his feet. Andromeda held his arm, her legs shaky. She'd sent an owl home that morning. Please call off my engagement to Lucius to the Malfoys; I have already informed him personally. I have chosen a husband of my own. While there is a world in my dreams where you would love him like I do, I know what kind of world this is and will simply ask you to let us leave King's Cross in peace.

Andromeda took a deep breath. She didn't think her family would, but she had asked. She had asked for this to happen without a fight.

Ted didn't let go of her hand as he helped her off the train. And there they were: Cygnus and Druella Black, with Bella nearby. Andromeda swallowed hard when she saw her sister. A year with the Death Eaters had twisted her—she'd guessed so much at Christmas, and she could see it in Bella's eyes now. And Ted was right…

Mum grabbed Narcissa from the crowd and ushered her outside, without meeting Andromeda's eyes. She had only a second to glance at Narcissa on her way out and hoped beyond hope that Cissa would remember her parting words to her sister. I love you so much. Please don't let them make you hard. A distinctly horrifying feeling in the pit of her stomach made her think that they would eventually succeed.

She turned to face her father.

Ted stepped in front of her and held out his hand, introducing himself. Andromeda could have laughed at how candidly he did it, with so much good faith in his heart, because it was so, so Ted.

"I know who you are, you filthy Mudblood," Cygnus snarled.

"Don't speak to him that way," Andromeda said, stepping forwards. Before she could even acknowledge the movement, her father's hand made contact with her cheek, at which point Ted grabbed her and dragged her back.

"Mr Black," Ted said, eyes on fire. "Don't you dare lay a hand on her. I know she asked you earlier. Let us go quietly. That's all we want."

"She doesn't concern you."

"She is my wife whether you like it or…"

"Crucio!"

"Protego!"

Thanks to Andromeda's spell, his curse bounced away from Ted and hit Cygnus back in the arm.

"You bitch," Cygnus hissed, grabbing her by the arm.

"Relatio!" Ted said, drawing his own wand. "Abbey!"

Andromeda scrambled away from her father just as the other Hufflepuffs stepped in, wands up.

"Walk away," Ted said. "We don't want a fight, but we're ready for one."

"At least fifty people here have seen you use Dark magic on this platform, and you do not want the Aurors to get called in," Andromeda said.

"M. Black," Lucius Malfoy called, stepping out of the crowd. He shook his head. "She's not worth it."

Cygnus turned back to Andromeda.

"You're dead to me."

He spat on her and turned back to Ted.

"Enjoy your whore, Mudblood."

He walked away—the crowd parting to make room for him.

Bellatrix looked at Andromeda.

"You'll pay for that," Bellatrix said. "In the new world order."

"There will be no such thing," Andromeda said. "We can make a world where love wins."

"You've weakened," Bella hissed. "Play with your disgrace of a husband if you wish, but know that if you tarnish our bloodline, I will wipe the proof off the face of this earth."

The crowd swallowed her up, and only then did Andromeda turn back to Ted.

"Are you okay?" Andromeda asked immediately.

"My God Andra, are you okay?" Ted asked, taking her hands.

She wiped her cheek, and he whispered a scourgify spell.

"He was going to use the cruciatus curse on you!" Abbey said, outraged. "This has got to get reported to…"

"No, Abbey, it doesn't," Ted said. "We said we'd get Andromeda out of there as quickly and painlessly as we could."

"And we did," Andromeda nodded. "That can be enough."

"Ted?"

They both turned to face a quite obviously Muggle family—a mother, a father, a boy, and four younger girls.

"Hi, Mum," Ted said, leaving Andromeda a minute to go hug his mother.

Mrs. Tonks let go of her son and looked at Andromeda a moment. Then she opened her arms.

"You must be my new daughter-in-law," she said, hugging Andromeda with such a genuinely earnest kindness, and a fierce embrace... Tears prickled her eyes at this unexpected warmth.

"I am," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tonks."

"Now, now," Mrs. Tonks said. "You call me Laura or Mum, alright dear?"

Andromeda nodded. "Ted calls me Andra, that's a… a bit easier."

She glanced over at the kids curiously, Ted's brother and sisters that she'd seen a million times in pictures and heard a million more stories about. She could connect all six siblings to each other—the pear green eyes, the shape of their jaws, the splashes of freckles… They were looking at her with just as much curiosity.

"Can we hug Ted now?" the youngest sister, Julie her name was, asked.

"You bet, pumpkin," Ted grinned. And all of a sudden, they were all over him and he laughed and tried to hug them all at once.

"I want to give her the tour of the house," Julie piped up.

"Me too, me too," Ben, who was only six years old, said.

"That would be amazing," Andromeda said. When they'd gotten back to the Tonks' house, they'd had a nice and quiet lunch where the younger siblings did most of the talking.

Andromda had changed into the one Muggle outfit she owned—a grey sweater, a pair of jeans, and red shoes that she wore under her Hogwarts robes sometimes to feel adventurous. She wondered what she'd wear tomorrow and chewed her lip.

"I'll come so they don't forget anything," Anna (eleven years old) said, taking Andromeda's hand. She had a sneaking suspicion that she'd been adopted by Anna, presumably because their names sounded similar. Sirius had done the same when he'd learned that both of their names were constellations; he'd declared that they were obviously meant to be favourite cousins forever. The memory stung a bit, and she squeezed Anna's hand.

"What's my job going to be?" Ted asked.

"Just being there because she's your wife," Anna declared.

Andromeda laughed, and Ted kissed her cheek.

"And what a job that is…"

"Ted, that's gross," one of the twins (they were thirteen and identical and Andromeda was very confused) said.

"Sorry about that, Liz," Ted said. "Alright Juju, take it away… where should we start?"

"The front door," Julie said. "Duh."

"She's already seen the front door," the other twin—it had to be Michelle—said. Ted had told her that they were just trying to act cool because they were thirteen, but they'd soften up as soon as Andromeda showed them all the hairstyles she could braid.

"I think it's worth looking at again, the bright yellow door was nice," Andromeda said, smiling at Julie. "Let's go…"

"This is Ben and Ted's room," Julie said, opening the door and barging in.

It was exactly what Andromeda might have expected—well, his side of the room at least. Ben's was messy and littered with plastic trucks and cars and a train set and blocks. Stickers of African animals were on the walls, while Ted's side had football player posters, seemingly cut out from magazines. Their stillness irked her a little bit. Ted's half was tidy but a bit on the drab side since he spent most of the school year away. His sheets were bright blue, and somebody—presumably Mrs. Tonks—had obviously made the bed specially for him, adding spare quilts on the end.

"It's nice," Andromeda said politely, which is what she'd said to every room so far.

"If you ask nicely, sometimes Mum and Dad let us have sleepovers," Julie said.

"Yeah, we'll make sure to ask," Ted said shooting her a grin.

If he hadn't been carrying Julie on his back, Andromeda might have smacked him. She deflected instead.

"Ben are all those toys yours?" Andromeda asked the little boy holding her hand.

Andra was in the backyard, pushing the little kids on the swings and mediating whose turn it was, when Ted faced his parents in the kitchen. Tired, he leaned against the counter, hands in his pockets.

"Thank you," he said. "For everything—for giving her the guest bedroom, for…"

"Ted, she's lovely," Laura cut in. "And if she was in an unsafe place, we're glad she's here."

"She…" Ted sighed. "Yes, yes she was. She, ah, was in an arranged marriage…"

"A what?" Laura asked. "How…"

"Pureblood society is different, Ted said. "That's what they call themselves—the wizarding families who've never married Muggle-borns or half-bloods or half-breeds. It's… complicated."

"Does this have to do with the war your Headmaster wrote to us about?" Pete asked his son. "He—he said we should know, because Muggle families may be targeted…"

"Yes," Ted said. "It absolutely does. Her family, they're sort of, umm… they're part of the people… you saw the end of that fight on the platform. Her dad tried to use illegal magic on me. If there hadn't been onlookers, I… I don't know what would have happened to her. This was the best either of us could do. We were going to wait, and she was going to get out once we both started working at the hospital, but with this arranged marriage…."

"It had to be fast," Pete finished.

Ted nodded and pushed his hair back.

"I love her so much, you have no idea," Ted said. "I couldn't… couldn't not. She's so brilliant. I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you about her earlier, I really, really wish I could have, but I just couldn't. It was the biggest secret, but it had to be. Letting her slip away would have killed me, and it might have actually killed her too."

"We're happy to have her," Laura said. "In the house and in the family. And that's the end of that discussion."

"Stay as long as you like," Peter said. "We'll help her get settled in."

"We'll be okay, I just… thank you."

"Love, it's our pleasure," Laura said, wrapping him up in a hug. "And congratulations."

Apparently, it was a family tradition that, on Ted's first night back from Hogwarts, all the siblings piled into the basement for a sleepover. There were blankets and pillows and sleeping bags everywhere. Andromeda had asked Ted what one wore to a Muggle sleepover, and he'd lent her a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He'd kissed her forehead and whispered how good she looked in his clothes in her ear. She at least had a blanket that had been tucked in her trunk to contribute, and she spread it over their legs as they watched film after film. She was tucked under Ted's arms and all of the siblings surrounded them. It was nice and peaceful, even if the television before them was moving so quickly, Andromeda felt a headache coming on.

She excused herself to the kitchen to get a glass of water and ran into Mrs. Tonks—who was making popcorn in what Andromeda believed was called a microwave.

"Hello dear," Mrs. Tonks smiled. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm alright, thank you," Andromeda said. "I was just…"

"Taking a breather?"

"Of sorts," Andromeda admitted.

"I told the little ones to give you space," Mrs. Tonks said. "I don't know how used you are to tiny humans running around, but you're quite good with them. They can get overwhelming."

"My extended family is quite big," Andromeda said. "And I… I have sisters. One older—she and I disagree on a lot—and one younger, about the twins' age. She's quite sweet."

Andromeda bit her lip. She knew Bella was a lost cause—had made as much peace with that as she could. What else was there to do when your sister walked the paths of hatred and bigotry that Bella was on with such a bounce in her step? But Narcissa…

That morning, a lifetime ago, she'd caught Narcissa on her way to the Great Hall and told her that she'd always love her, but her sister would definitely take this as a betrayal.

"Family comes around for family," Mrs. Tonks said. Then she seemed to remember the sight of Cygnus. Andromeda didn't know what wards, if any, were in place at King's Cross—if Mrs. Tonks had seen and heard everything as it had happened… but Mrs. Tonks bit her lip. "And if they don't, they're not your forever family. They were a step along the way."

Ted draped a blanket over her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She looked up and smiled.

"Your family is so kind," she said. "They're all so sweet, so fun. It's a houseful of beautiful people."

"I quite like them too," Ted said. She laughed and he sat on the porch next to him. Instinctively, she looked around before leaning into him—but it didn't matter anymore. Secrecy was going to be a long, hard, painful habit to break. But break it they would, now that he had the option to stand on a rooftop and shout out his love for her. He told her so.

"Okay love, but please don't. You'll wake up your poor siblings, and probably these neighbors who must be excited enough to gossip about me."

Still; she leaned into him more.

"I still haven't heard back from Narcissa," Andromeda said quietly. "I know, I know, it's only been a day, but… She's the only one I really need to hear back from. To know. The others—well, they hurt, but they dug their graves and if I'm dead to them, that's alright, I suppose. But Cissa's a child. A child who doesn't know better—much like I didn't. Do you think Abbey would mind…"

"Snooping?"

"I was going to say 'doing what Abbey does best,'" she said.

"So snooping," Ted said.

Andromeda laughed. "I wouldn't be here if she wasn't so good at it, so I suppose we can say it lovingly."

Andromeda hadn't meant for her mother-in-law to find her crying—she'd tried to find a quiet place when she'd realized that she couldn't hold in the tears anymore, but Mrs. Tonks had had to come into the pantry for something.

"Oh, dear," she said. She wrapped Andromeda up in a hug. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"My little sister's birthday was yesterday and I—I completely missed it," Andromeda said, wiping her eyes. "I… I'm sorry, it's just so silly, I shouldn't, I shouldn't…"

"No, no," Mrs. Tonks said. "Let it out, sweetheart."

Andromeda eventually settled down.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to… I don't mean any affront, you've been so, so hospitable."

"Of course not," Mrs. Tonks said, brushing her hair soothingly.

"Don't tell Ted, I don't want him to worry, it's just…" Andromeda swallowed hard. "I've left my entire family and life behind. I don't regret it, I had very good reasons for doing it. They were mostly terrible people, and they would be terrible to all of you… But I'm seventeen years old and my world's upside down, and that's…"

"Of course it is," Mrs. Tonks said. "Of course it is, don't be sorry my dear…"

They stood quietly in the pantry for quite some time. Mrs. Tonks kissed her forehead.

"Is there anything we could do to make it more comfortable here?" Mrs. Tonks said. "I know we can't wipe everything away, but if we could…"

Andromeda hiccupped again and wiped at her eyes.

"You're going to laugh at me Mrs.… Laura."

"I promise I won't," Mrs. Tonks said.

"How does the microwave work?" Andromeda said. "Right now, it scares me a bit."

Laura bit back a smile.

"I told you you could laugh," Andromeda said, laughing herself.

Laura couldn't help but join her, and squeezed her hand. "Teaching you how the buttons work is something we can definitely do."

Soon, Mrs. Tonks realized that Andromeda was running short on clothes. She blushed when Mrs. Tonks brought it up as they did dishes one morning.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I…. only some pureblood clothes make sense in the Muggle world…"

Today she'd managed to pair one of her uniform blouses with a long floral skirt. She didn't look too bad, but she was running low on creativity at that point.

"You look lovely," Mrs. Tonks promised. "That braid is beautiful. I just thought, well, you mustn't have much—whenever we had to go to Diagon Alley, the people looked different…"

Andromeda nodded.

"I have the one set of clothes," Andromeda said quietly. "I bought it for Ted one year—they were a secret."

"Well dear, let's get you more secrets," Mrs. Tonks smiled. "There's a charity shop in town, and we'll drive into London later if there's something we can't get... We'll bring Liz and Michelle and make Ted watch the others; it'll be fun!"

That night, Ted spent an hour and a half sitting on his bed and watching her change in and out of every single outfit and falling a little bit more love as they cycled through denim skirts and t-shirts and a pair of overalls that was to die for.

Dear Cissa,

I hope these are getting to you. I hope you're okay. I hope you don't hate me. Things are going well on my end but every now and then, in the middle of a beautiful day or when I'm laughing at a joke, it's like my blood chills and I shut down and I worry about you. About the little sister I love so much and may never see again. Ted has sisters around your age, and they make me laugh—but not nearly as much as you did.

Please take care and don't be mad.

All my love and more,

Andromeda

They spent the summer at Mr. and Mrs. Tonks' house, occasionally popping into London to browse flats or meet with friends. They found their first flat as July wrapped up; a shoebox that had a balcony they promptly fell in love with. Ted's little siblings were more than happy to chime in on paint colours when they visited the hardware store, and Andromeda forbade the grown-ups from telling them that their lease forbade painting.

About a week after they started nesting, Mrs. Tonks kept them in the kitchen after supper.

"You know," Mrs. Tonks said. "Well, we know that once September comes around you'll be off to London and busy as bees at the Healer's Academy, and then it'll be those internships… so we wanted to do something to celebrate your wedding beforehand."

"Oh," Ted said. "Mom—Dad—that's really sweet, but you don't have to. We're already married."

"We know, but it would be a celebration of that," Mr. Tonks said. "And we want to."

"This is important for our family," Mrs. Tonks said, reaching up to brush a lock of Andromeda's hair back.

She blushed, but was smiling when she looked up to Ted. He was waiting for her lead, so she nodded.

"What were you thinking?" he asked his parents.

"Just something small," Mrs. Tonks gushed. "Something fun. We talked to Pastor Murphy and he said we could always use the church basement, bring cake, bring some food, play music, have some dancing… family could drop by and the people in the village who are quite…"

"Curious?" Andromeda suggested with a smile.

"Well… yes, dear, they'd be able to drop by too," Mrs. Tonks said.

Ted looked to Andromeda, who took his hand.

"Dancing is always fun," she said.

Andromeda had a white sundress she'd promised Mrs. Tonks she could wear—and apparently her mother-in-law still had her old veil that she could borrow. Muggles had a rhyme for that—something borrowed, something blue, something something, something else… Andromeda forgot parts of it, but it seemed quite crucial.

Currently, they were sitting in the grass outside—looking after the kids while Mr. and Mrs. Tonks were at work. Liz was painting Andromeda's toenails blue, on account of how Ted's new dress shirt was blue and that was probably what Mum was going to tell him to wear. Andromeda had gotten her first pair of Muggle high heels for the occasion—a gift Mrs. Tonks had insisted on purchasing, and had taught her how to walk in—and they hid her toes, but this seemed important to Liz. Now, Michelle was painting Ted's toenails to match too.

Meanwhile, she and Ted had found tiny white flowers at the market yesterday quite like the flowers they'd found while eloping—so Ted had bought a bunch and they were teaching Anna and Julie how to make flower crowds for everyone to wear. They'd set some aside to pin to Ted's shirt.

"You have to wear flowers too, mate," Ted told Ben, ruffling his hair. "You're my best man, we have to match."

"Fine," Ben related. But then he knocked over Liz' nail polish bottle and while Andromeda caught it, Liz sprinted off chasing Ben around the backyard while he screamed. For a variety of different reasons, most of the little kids took off running at that point.

Ted leaned back on their picnic blanket and smiled at Andromeda.

"Is this what you expected your wedding day to be like?" Ted asked her.

"No," Andromeda smiled. She kissed him lightly. "I wouldn't have dreamed of this in a million years."

Dear Cissa,

I wasn't expecting to hear back from you after I left, but part of me still crumbles at the thought, every now and then, that perhaps you truly think I don't love you. And so I wanted to write again, just in case, and I hope that this letter reaches you. Nevertheless, I am not naïve. I'm sure that you are reading these letters and casting them aside, so this will be the last one because this is the most important thing, I could possibly tell you as your big sister—which I always be, no matter what, whether you like it or not.

Tonight, I'm having a five-month wedding anniversary celebration. My parents-in-law insisted on organizing it; it was important for them to do this before Ted and I started our careers. I've never been to a Muggle wedding before and Ted tells me that even this celebration will be quite small. I'm wearing a dress I already had and borrowed jewelry, but I'm excited to dance all night and even more excited because of who I'll be dancing with.

And I supposed that this is what I'm writing to tell you, Cissa. When you close your eyes and imagine your life, you should be excited. Small things, strange things, new things, scary things—they should all be exciting because you have surrounded yourself well. Choose your dance partner wisely, I suppose. Happiness comes in a million different ways, just like heartbreak, but the memory is sweeter on its way down. When happiness comes knocking, you have to do everything that you can to answer and grab onto your fate—even when they try to make you let go, and even if it burns.

Losing you burns, my Cissa. It will never stop burning. Maybe one day you'll understand why I had to leave. I know it's difficult because you're still at home and you're still so young; so for now know that I will find my happiness and I hope you do as well.

With all my love,

Andromeda Tonks