Never Again

"I love you, Dromeda."

She was always Dromeda to him. Since the day they met, he had called her Dromeda. To her family she was Ande, and to the rest of the world she was Andromeda Black; respected and feared by many. She knew the right people, was related to most of them, and she behaved in a way befitting a Slytherin princess.

But to Ted she was Dromeda. It was the sound of her memories of him. His laughing voice singing her name and joining it with a light chuckle.

"Hey there, Dromeda."

No one had ever spoken to her like he did, and she had loved the change. He brought out the best in her. A side even she hadn't seen much while in the Black family home.

"I call you Dromeda, cause I like that name for you."

Had anyone but this stubborn Hufflepuff called her by a nickname, she would not have hesitated to hex them.

"I wouldn't want to be confused with your sisters."

Ted always had a way of making her laugh. He always knew the right things to say.

"It's a pretty name; Andromeda Black. But I'd much rather call you Dromeda Tonks. What do you say? Will you marry me?"

It was the sound of her memories. If she didn't hear him in them, were they really worth recalling?

"She may have pink hair, Dromeda, but I can see you in her. She's a beautiful little one."

Ted made her feel beautiful, something she had never felt around Narcissa. He made her feel powerful, something she had never felt around Bellatrix. And he made her feel loved, something she had longed to feel all her life.

"Don't worry, Dromeda. You've got a new life now. You've got me."

He was her rock. In times of struggle she could always rely on Ted. Sometimes he was all that got her through.

"It's for the best, Dromeda. I've got to protect you the best way I can. I need you too much to lose you."

He had saved her. From her sisters, from her family, from herself and the woman she might be today if not for him. And maybe he had even saved her from death. That's what he had wanted.

"I love you, Dromeda."

Ted's last words to her. A declaration of a love she would treasure until she joined him. A last testament to the love they'd shared in life and the one they'd find in death.

She was never called Dromeda again. But on the day they met again he called out from still a long ways off.

"I love you, Dromeda!"