Title: Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: If it were mine, I don't think I'd be posting it online as fanfiction.

Universe: Canon.

Time: About the first/second year of MWPP and co.

Characters: Andromeda, Ted, and Nymphadora

Ships: Ted/Andromeda. Need to think of/find a neat word for that one. I mean you have to hand it to the Spork's, the Harmony's, Gabby's, and even the Snarry's that they have a cool ship name.

Genre: Family, tad bit of romance

Summary: Birthdays are a great time for reflection on what could have been.

He was twenty-one years old with a wife and six-month-old baby. He hadn't seen his family since his daughter had been born and he was doubtful he would see them anytime in the near future; it was better if they truly had no idea where he was. This year he had lived in four different places: a flat with his now ex-roommate Brian, two places with Dromeda, and now this place, the flat they had moved into yesterday. Ted stared down moodily at the street far below where cars were rushing on their way. He took a gulp of the beer in his hand as he heard the door behind him open. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Dromeda holding Dora.

It was a tiny balcony, one of the minute things that were more for outdoor decoration than for actually standing on. But Ted liked it; he liked being outside. There was frightfully little of that while living in the city, but of course it was easiest to be lost in the city. He and Dromeda wanted to be lost. They were staying ahead of her family who might track after them if things got boring on the war front.

"I must love you," he told her, "to have given up a normal life for you." At least his job stayed the same. There was little threat in public places.

Andromeda stole the bottle out of his hand. "I think I win. I could have been living in a large house with house elves to cater to my every whim," she reminded him before taking a swig. He rolled his eyes and grinned, stealing it back.

"Since when do sophisticated society witches drink beer straight from the bottle?" he asked her, still leaning against the rail of the balcony. He took another drink and returned to watching the cars. "Besides, you left so you could become a healer, not because you were in love with me."

"That was my priority I suppose," she admitted. He heard the smile in her voice. "But at the time I decided to leave, being in love with you was a close second."

"And now I'm a closer second I'd suppose," he said, standing up straight again and catching her eye. He raised the mouth of the bottle close to his lips but didn't tilt it. "Being a single mother without a family looks fairly trampy. It's better for perceptions to have a husband slinking around." He grinned and took another drink before leaning back down on the railing.

"Mmm, well Nymphadora rather threw my priorities for a loop, yes. There are some days she might even make you my number one reason for leaving."

"Really? Glad to know half my genome is good for something," he answered smirking. He looked over at Dora who was staring at the cars down below, utterly fascinated.

"It's rather unfortunate. I could be in that large house right now and later produce children who wouldn't flash neon colored hair at the neighbors." Ted snorted as Dromeda brushed at Dora's hair. The baby turned to look at her mother and Ted grinned; Dora had taken a fistful of Andromeda's hair.

"But how boring would that make life," Ted replied, standing up straight again as Andromeda untangled Dora's hand from her hair. A good chunk of it had been pulled from her ponytail and was hanging around her face. "Imagine not having to stick hats to your daughter's head every time we need to go anywhere."

"Very dull life indeed," Andromeda chuckled as Ted reached out and pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting it all fall from its ponytail. She glared at him and refused to shake her head, letting her hair stay misshapen along her back. He looked back at the busy street beneath. "Sorry you had to give up your normal life," Andromeda told him, a slight smile in her voice but not enough that she was entirely joking. He turned to look at her.

"I'll live," he informed her, smiling warmly. He reached out his arms and took Dora from her, shifting her to his left side, holding the beer bottle in his right hand. Dromeda ran her fingers through her hair, freeing it of its ponytail-like shape. "I'll only be a little sentimental sometimes. I've never been a huge fan of moving."

"Neither have I," Andromeda replied, rather distantly, leaning against the railing herself. Dora squirmed on his side. Ted smiled and returned to watching the cars. "Happy birthday again, Ted," Dromeda told him quietly. Ted smiled and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his shoulder sweetly and stole his beer again. Ted laughed to himself. It wasn't a perfect birthday, and it wasn't at all what he would have imagined two years before, but it was, as Dromeda wished, a happy one out on a too-small balcony with the two girls he loved the most in the world.

Andromeda Tonks came home around two in the morning and stood in the doorway, kicking off her shoes, her feet sore. Something had happened and she was presuming that it had something to do with Dumbledore's Order of the Nutcases. At any rate, there were a bunch of hurt people who would give no true explanation for their injuries, leaving Andromeda and her trainer to try and guess what spells they had been hit by. Andromeda growled as she pulled her robe over her head, folding it in her arms as she walked across the small house to the bathroom, dropping her robe on the towel rack and starting the shower. It took a while for the water to heat.

Her eyes caught on her image in the mirror, a frazzled, tired looking creature of twenty. She sighed and sat down on the closed toilet seat, pulling off her socks. She noticed Ted's socks in the corner along with some clothes of Dora's; Ted's socks looked soaked and she guessed he had forgotten to take them off before giving Dora her bath. For a moment, Andromeda debated picking up his socks and throwing them in a hamper but then only rolled her eyes and threw her socks into the small pile as well. She would deal with it later.

"Wotcher." She turned to see Ted leaning on the doorway, his blonde hair sticking up all over, giving her a sleepy smile. "What has you so thoughtful?"

Andromeda shook her head. "Only a long night," she replied. "I like healing but people can be such idiots. Everyone involved knew they obtained their injuries being vigilantes. A little honesty might have helped us heal them faster." She made herself smile, knowing she only looked tired. "I'd probably be getting married soon," she informed him. "The Black family normally likes to marry off girls around the age of twenty if they can unless circumstances are different."

"Circumstances?" he asked, walking into the bathroom, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes still looking sleepy.

"Younger fiancé, pregnancy, thinking there's a possibility someone may oppose the match soon," she rattled off, waving her hand as Ted stepped closer.

"So you had too of those three," he told her.

"You don't count," she informed him. He didn't answer, but picked her up and set her on the sink counter. She looked at him in his boxers and a sleeveless shirt. There were no pureblood features in his face. His eyes were a bright blue, not the cool blue that sometimes cropped up among purebloods; his nose was somewhat large and not pointed or well shaped; he smiled easily; and he had that blonde hair, golden not platinum. Andromeda smiled. "I love you Ted," she confessed, running her fingers through his hair.

"I love you too Dromeda," he returned, his hand moving from her back to her face, guiding it closer so he could kiss her. She felt herself slipping from the counter and Ted's hands moved to her waist, helping her down, her back staying pressed against the side of the counter as he opened her mouth and began to explore, her hands roaming over his body. The water was still running in the background although it was actually starting to get warm; there was steam beginning to waft from the showerhead. It was the cry that broke through and Andromeda was going to ignore it. Nymphadora was old enough to cry herself back to sleep. But then it registered through her brain; it wasn't her daughter's 'I want out' cry but her 'something hurts' cry. Andromeda sighed and began pulling herself away as Ted realized the same thing she had and stepped back.

Her daughter's cot was out in the living room and Andromeda hurried more as she saw what mess Nymphadora had gotten herself into. "Were you jumping again?" she asked, not expecting an answer from her daughter who wasn't quite fourteen months old. Bouncing was a new habit Andromeda and Ted thought Nymphadora had picked up, though they'd been unable to catch her thus far. Andromeda worked to free her daughter's leg from where it had somehow gotten caught between the bars as Ted walked up behind them. Nymphadora's cries subsided a little but she kept crying slightly, recounting her whole tale in a sobbing language Andromeda figured she was crazy enough to half understand after over a year of hearing it. She picked Nymphadora up and rubbed her back as her daughter continued, her hair slowly turning from an aggravated bright green to a calmer pink. She found her fingers and began to suck on them, her cries disappearing.

Andromeda turned and smiled lightly at Ted who grinned back. Nymphadora looked at him with big eyes, not taking her fingers from her mouth. Andromeda gently put her back down in the crib and she fussed slightly, but her eyes were heavy; she would be asleep in a moment. "Happy birthday, Dromeda," Ted told her as he grabbed Nymphadora's blanket from the ground and covered their daughter with it. Andromeda raised an eyebrow and walked back toward the bathroom, knowing Ted would probably follow.

Wow, I forgot how much I like writing Ted/Andromeda. They're fun to write. Hopefully it's somewhat amusing to read as well. Anyway, when I was writing The Call, I put Ted's birthday sometime in March though I can't remember the right day; maybe we'll call it the 19th. Andromeda's is in November, the 26th I believe. Not that it really matters but I'm babbling.

And yes, I know the legal drinking age is 16/18 in the UK. Ted's not drinking because it's his twenty-first birthday. He's drinking because when the idea of the scene came to me, he was drinking from a brown, glass bottle. And yes, I know it's rather unlikely but Nymphadora would be the type of baby to get her leg caught in her crib bars at an early age. Wow, I need to stop arguing with myself… Uh, thanks for reading! Hopefully you didn't read this author's note.