Legal 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.
Content warning: Blasphemy
Author's note: Round 1 of the House Competition AND I get to indulge my Ted/Andromeda obsession? Sign me up! Many thanks to all my teammates, but a special shoutout to Trish, Bailey, and Aya on this one specifically.
Submitting info for the House Competition:
House: Hufflepuff
Year: Second year
Category: Standard, First round
Prompt: [Prompt] Arranged Marriage
Word Count: 1993
Of Clockwork and Broken Gears
And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to blossom
-Anaïs Nin
She'd had ribbons in her hair, the first time they'd properly met. It was silly, really, but they'd been so young and he remembered it vividly. Especially when he thought of how quickly and suddenly they'd later be made to grow up.
When she'd walked into the Prefect's compartment with her new badge pinned to her robes and Lucius Malfoy at her side, Andromeda had emerald ribbons braided into her hair.
Another Muggle-born had warned him about the Blacks in his first year, saying that some families… well, he just knew not to engage. Just because Andromeda didn't flaunt her disregard like Lucius Malfoy or the Carrows did not mean that she was safe. Purebloods all wound up intermarried, anyways— everyone knew they calculated their lineages without factoring for love, it was near-mathematical. So he was shocked when she was the first to speak up as they washed up empty beakers after Slughorn's class.
"What are you humming?" she asked. "It nearly sounds like Vesuvius' Twelfth Symphony."
Ted had no idea who that was.
"It's my favourite composer. Tchaikovsky?"
It was her turn not to know.
"He's great. That's the only bad thing about Hogwarts, I can't keep up with the Royal Conservatory."
"What is that?" Andromeda asked.
And so he told her, and then promised to get his hands on some sheet music for her.
"There's no reason to bully first-years," Ted said, taking little Cassidy McLaggen, Muggle-born, by the hand. She hid behind him. "Shame on you."
Bellatrix laughed. "Mudblood Prefects. What next?"
"Bellatrix."
It was Andromeda: her robes and hair so neat that he was immediately hyperconscious of his untucked shirt, mismatched socks, and unbrushed hair…
"You are making a scene, right in the Great Hall," Andromeda said. "That is inappropriate and unbefitting of Slytherin House. That will be twenty points, and I suggest you move along."
"Andromeda—" Bellatrix hissed.
"I will take thirty," Andromeda said. "And if you keep embarrassing yourself, I will not hesitate to write home, Bella. What would your Mr Lestrange think?"
Bellatrix paled and stormed away. Ted turned to her and saw Andromeda's eyes soften before she darted off.
"Come on," Ted told Cassidy. "Let's get you some hot chocolate, alright?"
He still had no idea how to read Andromeda.
She was exceptionally poised and quiet— like a wind-up doll who could only move, talk and walk a certain way.
He wasn't entirely sure she even liked him, but since he'd started showing her Muggle music, they'd at least had something to talk about when they were paired up for tasks—as they were right now, patrolling.
Ted froze when the portraits in the hallway caught his eye.
"Why are these portraits here?" Ted asked.
"By the looks of the plaques, they're all by the same artist," Andromeda said.
He walked cautiously, identifying the sleeping portraits, one by one.
"Victorianna Pallisa, she robbed graves to try and figure out how Muggle-borns 'stole magic.' Britannicus Oslow, a first-generation Hogwarts professor who supported Slytherin's bid to banish us. Janus Parkinson made it illegal for us to buy wands unattended in the nineteenth century…"
He stood in the middle of the hallway, eyebrows furrowed.
"Ted?" Andromeda said quietly.
He looked up to her, and for whatever reason there was a bad taste in his mouth—blood or poison, he wasn't sure. She looked at him, as if hurt for him.
"I like you, Andromeda," he said. "But sometimes I don't understand how you can reconcile your family and its violence."
"Maybe I'm learning that I do not want my family telling me where to place my love and faith," Andromeda said.
She closed the distance between them with a kiss. His hands made their way to her waist just as she pushed him against the wall. When they finally broke, they rested their foreheads together. He played with her curls. There was nothing to do except stay in place and breathe against each other.
"How long have you wanted to do that?" Ted asked.
"Months."
"Good, me too."
They'd come together and worked like clockwork. That Slytherin cunning of hers was incredibly useful to organize alibis, maintain consistent stories, find creative places in the castle to slip away to... The Hufflepuffs kicked in when someone needed to cover for them—Abbey Bones, the best, best friend ever, was onboard. They had codes, routines, signals, ways of sending messages that their families would never know about. Even Malfoy, always so protective of Andromeda, didn't (couldn't) know.
She worried about loving him properly, since nobody taught purebloods how. Her parents had been matched, after all.
"I wouldn't change a thing," Ted promised.
He worried about how long they could keep this up.
"As long as I chose you, nothing will change," she vowed.
Their first summer apart was brutal.
When they'd seen each other again in the Prefects' carriage (no ribbons this time), it drove him mad that Andromeda listened to the Head Girl's speech so calmly while he smiled like an idiot.
"If you'd like, I can take the first patrol," Andromeda offered.
"I'll come," Ted blurted.
"She doesn't want you," Lucius interjected, glancing possessively at Andromeda.
"What makes you think you can speak for me?" Andromeda snapped.
"It's important for people from every House to go," the Head Boy interrupted. "It'll help the first-years recognize Prefects later. Go ahead."
Andromeda closed the carriage door and whispered, "Follow me."
Ted had never thought of where the Trolley Witch kept her candy and had no idea how Andromeda knew where her little storage nook was. He didn't ask—once they got there, he was too busy.
He was going to tell her he'd missed her, but Andromeda tipped her head back, meaning he could now kiss down her neck. She slipped her fingers through his hair and took a deep, satisfied breath.
She knew.
He'd snuck her into the dormitory where his friends were preparing for tomorrow's Quidditch game. The girls were painting his nails black and yellow.
"Here, we got you this," Abbey told Andromeda, handing her a bottle of green nail polish.
Andromeda smiled.
"You're so kind... but maybe I can paint my toenails yellow."
The cheering and clapping made Andromeda blush and smile. Ted caught her eye and thought to himself, Oh God, I'm in love.
His friends noticed.
"We love her, too," Abbey said, gently. "But you need to remember, she's a Black."
"She's good—" Ted protested.
"Of course, but it's not just about her," Abbey said. "How long do you think you have before something breaks? Before her family..."
"It doesn't matter, I want everything we can have," he said.
They were (mercifully) alone in the Prefect's lounge when he asked her to spit out whatever was bothering her.
"Bellatrix is a Death Eater," Andromeda told him over coffee. "I saw her Mark, when we were wedding dress shopping."
"She's getting married?"
"It's arranged, always is," Andromeda said dismissively.
Ted didn't really say anything. When there wasn't anything nice to say, he tended to say nothing at all.
"Be honest. What would you say if she weren't my sister?"
"That I'm not surprised," Ted said.
Andromeda nodded.
He hesitated, but reciprocated her honesty and candor.
"If Muggles didn't write beautiful music that you didn't recognize and wanted to learn more about, do you think you'd be any different from her?"
"No," Andromeda said, frankly and immediately. "But I'm thankful that I'm better and getting better every day that I'm with you."
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, but didn't let go.
"I know this is touchy. But… this secrecy…"
"Is difficult and painful, but not altogether optional," Andromeda said. "Ted, you… you see a version of me nobody else does. You see a version of me whose every move isn't regulated, a version of me that I didn't even know. I can't pick what's more extraordinary: that you've seen me naked, or that you've seen me slouch. Pureblood society is… complicated. Pureblood relationships are… are not always in our control."
"That's why I'm afraid," Ted said. He had never admitted that. "What would happen to you if this gets out? I know Bella's your sister, but if we're in Death Eater territory now… That's different, Andra."
"I feel sick when I think of what they would do to you." Her breaths got shaky. "Ted—"
"You are not breaking up with me because of Bella, of all things," Ted said. "I've been sneaking around this castle with you for two years and I'll sneak around for a hundred more if that's what it takes."
"I love you," Andromeda smiled.
"I love you, too," Ted said.
"And I think that love is the strongest thing in the world, the strongest thing we have..." Andromeda said. "But I will never let it hurt you."
"Nothing would hurt me more than being without you," Ted said.
She moved to sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Something had happened during the holidays. In the halls she looked pale and gaunt and desperate, on the verge of either passing out or giving them away and he had never seen her lose control like this before. But something had broken. So he recklessly pulled her into an empty classroom after Charms because he loved her, and he just had to.
Andromeda rested her forehead against his chest, shaking.
"They told me," Andromeda said. "I couldn't say anything against it, Ted, they just told me, and Lucius has known for years apparently, I'm so mad he never told me, and then there was an engagement party and I haven't been able to breathe since."
"Shh," he said numbly, squeezing his arms around her. "Andra, it's okay. It's okay, we'll…"
To be honest: Ted wasn't sure. Their system had shattered, and their system was his world.
"Ted, I know that pureblood life doesn't quite make sense to you," Andromeda said, looking up. "Truthfully, it's making less and less sense to me. But an arranged marriage isn't something I can refuse. It's just not, Ted, especially with a family like the Malfoys, and someone like Lucius… I should have known this was coming. There's no way I can get out of this, I'm trapped…"
"Okay, you're right, I don't understand everything, but I need you to breathe..."
She collapsed against him, spilling weeks' worth of bottled tears. He lowered her to the floor, kneeling before her, squeezing her hands, trying not to panic… Seeing her cry made him want to cry too, but he managed to keep it together.
"It's not fair," she said. "I love you and you love me and that should be enough, but I'm stuck, it's not enough, I'm stuck, Ted, you have to… Forget about me. I can't say no to this wedding."
"Maybe. But, you know, legally, you can't get married twice."
"What?" Andromeda looked up.
"I mean, you can't marry someone if you're already married," Ted said. "Technically speaking, of course."
She put a hand on his cheek. He put his hand over hers.
"Marry me," Ted said. "It's unplanned, but if you chose me, we'll face this together. I'll get you a ring later, I promise. I'll ace my NEWTs, get into St. Mungo's right away, we'll move to London, be safe…"
Andromeda let out one last sob, looked up, and smiled through her tears.
"I'm so lucky that Muggles write good music," Andromeda said.
She caught his laughter with a kiss.
She'd had ribbons in her hair when he'd first met her.
And when they ran away from Hogsmeade and Disapparated to London to get their marriage license, the only white thing they'd managed to find on the way were little flowers from a street-side florist. She tucked them in her curls and in his shirt pocket.