Ted stood in the doorway in his work robes, his briefcase tucked tightly under his arm and wearing a haunted expression on his face. He was supporting himself on the door frame and breathing with difficulty, his legs trembling slightly. Andromeda gave a small wince; never had her husband looked this weary, this ill. He bore almost no resemblance to the boy she had fallen in love with 10 years earlier. His face was now gaunt and pale, and his thin frame was prove of the weight he had lost at an alarming speed in the course of the past few weeks.
Andromeda was choked with emotion and searched for Ted's eyes, and when they met each other's gaze, they both smiled a little; he, because looking at her reassured him that the world was a better place when he was around his three 'girls', and she, because in spite of his rather pitiful condition, his smile would not falter, nor did his loving gaze ever change. Their eyes lingered, both finding courage and a safe haven in each other.
"Won't you come in, honey?", Andromeda finally said, her tone merely above a whisper.
Ted stumbled into the entryway, and by doing so, his briefcase slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor, its contents tumbling out of it in the process.
"Oh bloody..." Ted exclaimed and then grimaced. "I'm sorry, 'Meda. Forgot I'm not supposed to swear around the kids, especially Dora." He closed his eyes, and Andromeda came forward to pull him into a tight embrace. Ted stiffened at first, then his body went limp against hers, and Andromeda feared for a split second that they would both slump to the floor. Even after his weight loss, she had to use all her strength to support both herself and her husband, so she reluctantly let go of him, concern written all over her face.
"It doesn't matter, darling. Nymphadora can't hear you. Merlin, what happened at work today? You look-." She became quiet, not knowing how to phrase it delicately.
"Bloody awful, I'd say. Er... you know, the usual, it was pretty much a nightmare", he answered in an uncharacteristically evasive way and started to take off his shoes and cloak. "Where's Dora?"
"Upstairs in her room, I send her there after she threw a fit. Mrs. Barnacle came over about half an hour ago and she wanted to give her chocolate and sweets, and I forbade it."
Ted nodded absent-mindedly, while Andromeda used a quick spell to return the scattered contents of his briefcase back to where they belonged. Suddenly, Ted clutched his wife's hand, the haunted expression back on his face. Andromeda registered it with a frown. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but she didn't know how. It was a difficult time for all of them, maybe with the exception of Nymphadora, who at her age was still blissfully oblivious of the horrors of both the Magical and the Muggle World.
"Dromeda, you mind if we sit down for a bit in the living room? I can barely stand."
Andromeda nodded. "Of course, love. Are you hungry?"
Ted shook his head. "I need to rest for a while, maybe afterwards the three of us can have whatever it is you prepared. I'm sure it tastes delicious, as always."
Andromeda's heart fluttered at his words. She was by no means a good cook. In fact, to put it into her husband's words, she was bloody awful at it, and if cooking would have been a subject at Hogwarts, she surely would have gotten a T for Troll. Luckily, Nymphadora's taste buds were not very sophisticated yet, and Ted loved her too much to say anything. With Daphne at Hogwarts and Granny Tonks having moved back to the countryside, there was nobody around with a refined palate except for herself, but now that ordering takeaway had become too dangerous, her family had to put up with her cooking skills, or rather, with the complete lack thereof.
Ted led the way to their small living room crammed with books, Muggle records and a few of Dora's favourite toys. There was a small TV, which only Ted used; and the furniture was both old and offensively mismatched. Still, Andromeda wouldn't have it any other way. Their whole apartment was the very antithesis of that grisly manor where she had been forced to grow up in, and all of it reminded her of Ted, which was comforting. Maybe she would have preferred a little more tidiness here and there, especially in Nymphadora's room, but it was a small price to pay for feeling at home like she never had during her childhood and adolescence.
Ted sat on the couch and pulled her gently onto his lap, which she acknowledged with a small cry of surprise. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and then nuzzled his nose against her bosom, and Andromeda wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his hair. It smelled of the peachy kid's shampoo Ted and Dora liked to use; the one with a princess, a knight and a dragon on the bottle sold at a Muggle supermarket. Andromeda and Daphne used another one with a scent no less pleasant, but more subtle, which came in a fancy glass bottle and was sold at Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary in Diagon Alley.
"Is there anything you want to share with me, honey?", she asked him carefully, after they both had remained silent for quite a while. Ted sighed into her chest and shook his head.
"I'm your wife, you can talk to me, you know. Maybe I can help..." she offered without the confidence she had wanted to convey.
"You are already helping me, babe. No matter how hard it gets, once I get home to you and the girls, I feel safe. You make me feel that way, 'Meda, and I'm sorry I haven't been there for you as much as I should have." Ted's voice was muffled because he was talking through her sweater, but she was sure a tiny sob had followed his words.
"Ted, are you okay?" Andromeda leant back a little to look at his face. "I worry about you... And please don't say you haven't been doing enough, because the exact opposite is true. Don't continue to overexert yourself, please. It can't be healthy."
"Hey, I was comfortable in that position!" he protested with the hint of an impish smile, which faded when he looked at her face.
"Ted, please try to be serious. There's only so much worrying I can take.", she said with misty eyes. "I'm scared for all of us, but at least I know how to protect the girls. With you I-" Her voice trailed off and she turned away from him. Ted swallowed hard, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the big lump in his throat. He reached for her face and cupped it in such a loving way that Andromeda started to cry.
"Shh, my darling, it will be alright," he tried to sooth her, brushing away her tears with his calloused thumbs. They felt rough against her skin, but his movements were so gentle that she cried even harder. Ted put his arms around her waist and let her sob against his shoulder, softly stroking her back in circular patterns.
"It's my job to protect you, Dromeda, not the other way around."
Andromeda sat up straight and shoved him playfully, her eyes red and swollen, her lips pressed together in disdain.
"Nonsense", she huffed. "We are partners, and as such we take care of each other. Thinking I need more protection than you because I'm this fragile, delicate creature that can't possible survive without a strong male is such an archaic-". She stopped mid sentence, noticing the cheeky grin on Ted's face. "You said that on purpose, didn't you?" she asked in feigned indignation.
"I might have," he replied sheepishly, leaning in to give her another kiss. "Shall I go and get Dora?"
"Yes, please, I don't want her to see me like this. If she wants to see me at all after I denied her those sweets.", she sighed. "I'll be in the kitchen."
After dinner and after having read Nymphadora a bedtime story, Ted and Andromeda Tonks fell into bed, utterly exhausted. Andromeda lay on her back, silently gazing at the stars through their bedroom window. Ted was lying by her side, his hand resting on her stomach. His touch sent a tingling sensation through her body, and Andromeda realized Ted and her hadn't been intimate in a long time, guilt washing over her. Honestly, she hadn't felt up to it, and she had turned him down every time he tried to get physically close, except for some innocuous kisses and hugs here and there. Was she failing Ted as a wife in that department? She tried to brush that intrusive thought away, but failed to do so.
'Remember, it is your duty to keep your husbands content in every possible way.'
"A knut for your thoughts?" Ted said into the darkness.
"I was just thinking... my mother always told us we... Ted, are you satisfied with... with our, er... with our sex life?", she spluttered and blushed heavily.
"Your mother? What does she have to do with our sex life? I don't understand... 'Meda, what's this about?", he said in genuine confusion.
"We never make love anymore, Ted.", she slurred timidly. "And I feel like a disappointment because of it."
Ted snuggled up against her. "Is this okay?", he asked. "It would be nice to cuddle, but I don't want you to feel pressured..."
"It's not that I don't want to be close to you, Ted..."
"You don't have to apologize or explain anything to me, love. And just for the record, you are NOT a disappointment for not wanting to sleep with me. You don't owe me anything just because you're my wife. I'm sorry for not noticing this was weighting so much on you..."
"You're a man.", she stated the obvious. "You have... uh... urges."
"Dromeda, me being a bloke has nothing to do with it. Archaic views, remember? Of course I enjoy being with you in that way, Merlin's beard I really do, but we're both under a lot of stress and we've always coped differently. I'm sorry for making you feel inadequate and for adding to your worries..."
"And I'm sorry for even mentioning this. You didn't do anything wrong, it's my blasted upbringing, sometimes it messes with my head... My parents were breeding us to become the perfect, dutiful little wives of some pure-blood misogynistic prats."
"I know, and I'm glad you got away in time." Ted shuddered at the thought of his wonderful wife being married to some sadistic fanatic, forced to bear his children in order to produce a suitable heir.
"Let's not talk about it any longer..." A cold shiver ran down Andromeda's spine, and she instinctively moved closer to Ted, who contentedly wrapped his arms around her.
Suddenly, he chuckled.
"What is it?", she asked, just a tad irritated.
"You said prats.", he answered happily. "And blasted, too!"
Andromeda laughed. "Well, talking about my parents sort of calls for this kind of... vivid language, don't you think?"
Ted grunted in agreement, and Andromeda's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until she finally fell asleep in her husband's arms.
So, originally Ted and Andromeda slept with another after talking in bed, but somehow that didn't feel right anymore after Andromeda said she didn't really want to and Ted being understanding... I felt that them having sex would undermine this somehow. Also, the first few chapters will introduce the characters, even though we all know them, I wanted to interpret them my own way without making them too out of character. After that, I'll get to the actual story, or actual compilation of fluff :P
