A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for your encouragement. You are the reason I love writing this story so much. Also, for those of you who love Rabastan, I promise his role in the story isn't over yet.
"Ted, darling, you've hardly touched your supper."
His mum's voice was hesitant and gentle, but he jumped all the same.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "I'm just not very hungry."
Jean Tonks pressed her lips together. She knew he was lying. She'd made steak and kidney pie, his second favorite dish, as she was saving his favorite dish for tomorrow. He could tell the moment she'd given it to him she'd been hoping it cheer him up.
"Is something the matter?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Yes. "No," he sighed, "I'm just a bit tired, is all."
Once again, she knew he was lying. He could tell she was desperately hoping he'd open up, because she didn't want to press him. She'd already learned he just shut down every time she tried.
A part of him wanted to tell her, but how was he supposed to explain to his mother that the girl he loved was marrying his mortal enemy tomorrow? He wouldn't even know where to begin. And it would open him up to questions he didn't want his mother asking.
"I think I'll retire a bit early," he tried to make his voice sound nonchalant, but the worried look that jumped into his mother eyes made him sure he'd failed. He could feel her eyes following him all the way out, and he felt another stab of guilt. His reclusiveness over the past couple of months had hurt her, he knew. They'd always been so close. One day, maybe, he would tell her, but he couldn't now. Not until it all blew over.
Assuming it all blew over.
Once he reached his room he slammed his door closed and collapsed onto his bed. He knew better than to assume sleep would come though. He'd hadn't been sleeping well since that night with Andromeda, and Bellatrix, and the Lestranges.
Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the memory of being tortured that kept him lying awake at night, though that would've been enough.
No, it was the look he'd seen on Andromeda's face when Rabastan had said she was capable of securing her own happiness. Despair. The idea of spending the rest of her life with Rabastan brought her despair. It was that moment that he knew she hadn't been lying to him when she'd said she wanted to be with him. It didn't matter how happy she'd acted around Rabastan, he knew the truth. He was the one that made her happy. He was the one she wanted to spend her life with. In the end, she just hadn't been strong enough to follow through.
He should probably hate her for that. It would be so much easier if he did. But he couldn't. That was part of loving someone, he supposed. No matter what they did too you, you still wanted them to be happy.
He shouldn't be thinking about her. He should be trying to let her go, but he found his thoughts drifting toward her anyway. The angry glint that came into her eye when he'd called her an elitist. The way her eyes glowed when she talked about Magical Creatures. The way she would sigh and giggle at the same time when he pressed his lips to hers…
It was sometime before his thoughts slowed long enough for him to check his watch, and then gasp in surprise. It was 11:59, he would be seventeen in one minute. An adult, by wizard standards.
He sighed and laid back on his bed. He'd better enjoy this night as much as he could, because tomorrow all he would be able think about was the wedding. And then when their wedding night came…
He glanced at his watch again to keep his thoughts distracted. 10 seconds til his birthday. And then he could legally perform magic. At least that would make his mum smile.
Five seconds. Four seconds. Three. Two. One…
There was a knock at the window.
It wasn't a loud sound, more like a gentle tapping, but it was enough to perk his interest. At first he thought he'd imagined it, but then there it was again. Slowly, he got up off his bed and crossed over to the window. It was probably an owl come to deliver him an early birthday present. From Olivia. Or Jake. If it was the latter then it was most certainly going to be full of fireworks, which was sure to give him mum a start. The thought brought a small smile to his lips as he reached his window and flung open the curtains—
To find Andromeda, dressing in her wedding robes, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.
For a minute, all Ted could do was stare. It must be his imagination. There was no way she could be here.
She didn't say anything, she just stared at him. Her deep brown eyes pleading as she slowly lifted one hand and pressed it against his window.
Still hardly daring to believe it was real, he reached for the clasp and unlatched his window. Andromeda withdrew her hand as soon as the window was open.
Once again, they were thrown into silence. Ted had imagined a moment like this for so long, a moment where they were alone again, where he knew Andromeda wouldn't be pretending to be something she wasn't. He'd thought about what he'd say to her too. Some of it was angry, some of it was pleading, some of it was loving. But now, staring at her, he couldn't bring himself to say any of it.
Of course, now that the initial shock of seeing had her worn off, he could take it her appearance. Yes, she was wearing her wedding robes, but they looked like they'd been caught in the Whomping Willow. Her draping sleeves had caught several twigs and strands of hay, and the bottom of her dress was so caked in mud it made it looked like she'd waded in it. Her bodice was loose over her shoulders, with strands hanging down from the sleeves. And the skirt had a large tear down the front, extending from the floor up to the brim of her bodice. Ted did his best not stare. It didn't seem appropriate after everything he and Andromeda had been through recently.
Finally, he drug his eyes back up to hers, to see she was at the same loss of words that he was. There were so many questions he should be asking her. She was, after all, visiting her ex-boyfriend in the dead of night the night before her wedding. It couldn't get any more runaway bride than that.
But he still couldn't bring himself to speak. Speaking would make this whole situation real, and that wasn't something he was ready to process yet.
Eventually, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn't know where else to go."
Her voice was hoarse, and broken. She was running away then. And he got the feeling it wasn't just her marriage she was running from, but something more.
That thought brought a hopeful flicker to his chest, and with that the accompanying fear that this was wrong, that Andromeda was somehow going to end up married to Rabastan anyway.
When he'd stayed frozen, Andromeda collapsed in on herself, the fear in her eyes replaced with despair. That was enough to pull him out of his reverie.
"Here" he said, offering her his hand. She stared at it, then slowly took it with trembling fingers. He tried to ignore the jolt that went through his body as his hand wrapped around hers.
It was difficult, getting her through the window. He was trying to be gentle and firm and unobtrusive all at the same time. The problem was Andromeda wasn't doing the same. She was so limp in his arms, it took all of his strength just to get her through the window without maiming her, and he was no weak individual. She seemed so shaky he found his hands lingering once she was on her feet inside his room, to steady her.
Her eyes glanced down to his hands, which her still placed on her waist. He felt himself go red and quickly pulled away.
And once again, all he could do was stare at her. Andromeda was here, in his room, with him. This was something else he'd fantasized about way too often, but she'd never worn a torn up wedding dress in his fantasies. And she'd never looked so... frail. She seemed to be trying to stop herself from trembling, though that could also be from the cold. His mom didn't use a lot of heat at night, relying instead on the plethora of blankets they had lying around the house.
"I'll umm… find you something more comfortable to wear," he mumbled. Andromeda wasn't saying anything, she was barely even looking at him. She didn't look up as he turned and exited his room.
He tried not to let his mind race as he made his way to the laundry room. His mother always had clean clothes lying around in there, and he didn't dare go into her room for fear of waking her up. The idea of Andromeda wearing his mother's clothes was beyond awkward, but he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't leave in her that tarnished gown.
Finally, he found something that wasn't too frilly or well, mummish, and headed back upstairs. A million questions were racing through his head as he opened the door again, but they vanished as he saw Andromeda standing by the window, ready to jump out.
She whirled around when she saw him, and her mouth dropped open. He just stood there, the pink silk blouse and black slacks he'd found hanging limp by his side.
"I'm sorry," She said, again. "I shouldn't have come here, it was a mistake."
He'd heard that before, and you would think, after everything she'd put him through, this time it wouldn't hurt, but he was wrong.
He waited for her to leave, but she didn't. She was clearly waiting for him to say something, so he said the first thing that popped into his mind.
"I know muggle clothes aren't your favorite, but I promise they're comifer than they look.
In spite of everything—the terror, the shaking, and the despair in his eyes—she cracked a smile. It only lasted for a second, but it was there. And her grip on his window sill lessened. When she still didn't move, he knew he had to man up and just ask the question, so he said,
"Why did you come, Andromeda?"
It seemed long silences were going to be the theme of the night, for it was several moments before she said,
"I couldn't do it, I couldn't marry him." He waited for her to say more, to explain why, she couldn't, but she didn't. Thoughts we're racing through his head. She'd decided she didn't want to marry Rabastan and then she'd come to him, that had to mean something.
Her hand slipped off the window sill, and she took a tentative step toward him.
"I just need… somewhere to stay for the night. Then tomorrow I can figure things out and I'll be… I'll be gone."
Her words hit like a slap, though he tried not to let it show. So much for his romantic evening, if she was planning on leaving in the morning.
Now he was the one who could barely look her in the eye as he handed her the clothes. Slowly, she took them from him. Her eyes darted from him, to the clothes, then back to him.
He got the message, and his face flushed again.
"Right, umm… I'll leave, I'll leave you to it, then."
He didn't dare meet her gaze as he practically fled from the room, almost forgetting to close the door quietly in his haste to get out. Once the door was closed he leaned against it, breathing heavily. Images of a changing Andromeda were not doing good things for his imagination. Peeling himself off the door, he lumbered down the hall into the living room. He wished he'd thought to grab a blanket from his room, or at least his pillow. He'd have to settle for the scratchy throw pillow and mothy blanket his mother always curled under when she was watching T.V. There was no way he was going back in there, not when one good Boo! looked like it was spook Andromeda out of her wits.
He had just gotten comfortable, or at least as comfortable as he could possibly get, when he heard a soft voice behind him.
"Ted? I'm finished now, if you would like to return."
His head whipped up from the sofa to see Andromeda standing in his living room, wearing his mother's Pajamas. It was as weird experience as he'd thought, especially since he'd never seen Andromeda in muggle clothes before. It was doing some interesting things to her curves…
He blushed again, even though there was no way Andromeda could have guessed his thoughts. "That's all right. You're the guest. You get the room." He grinned, though it was probably the most pained grin Andromeda had ever seen in her life. The worst part was that she wasn't leaving, she just stood there, staring at him.
Finally, she said, "Actually, could you, stay with me?"
If he'd been standing up he might have fallen over in surprise. "What?" he said, too loudly, based on the way Andromeda flinched. He almost told her not to worry, his mother had once slept through Guy Foxx day, even though there were fireworks literally going off right outside their window.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. Her eyes dropping. "I know I shouldn't ask, it's just that…" She couldn't finish her sentence, leaving him to do it for her. Did she just not want to be alone? Or did she want him with her? Based on her refusal to look him in the eyes, he was going to guess it wasn't the latter.
She had started trembling again, leaving him to wonder what exactly had happened that had made her realize she couldn't marry Rabastan. Now probably wasn't the best time to push her on it though.
"It's fine," he said, even though his heart was thumping in his chest. Andromeda looked up long enough to give him a relieved smile, which only made his heart flutter more.
They didn't speak as they made their way back to his room. Nor when Andromeda made her way wearily to his bed. His single, barely wide-enough for one person, bed. Of course, he was going to give it to her, that wasn't even a question. But he knew her well enough to know she would be awkward about him sleeping on the floor, so he did his best not to disturb her and he pulled the extra blankets out of his closet and laid them on the floor.
He made himself as comfortable as he could before glancing over at her, to find her staring at him.
He smiled. "Don't worry, this is actually much more comfortable than our sofa anyway."
She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" And the next thing he knew, she was pulling the blankets off the bed and settling them on the ground next to him. He didn't dare speak or move as she settled into the floor next him. When she was finished, she said, "You're right, this is pretty comfortable."
Ted had had some pretty mind-blowing events this evening, but this one definitely took the cake. Andromeda was lying next tot him. And she planned to be there the whole night. Granted, there was plenty of space between them, making it much different from the fantasy he'd always had, but still.
He sighed, and fell back on his pillow. It was going to be a long night.
Andromeda had her back to him, so he couldn't tell if she was as—affected— by their current sleeping situation as he was, and he had no way of finding out.
She was so quiet, he thought maybe she'd already gone to sleep. She had been exhausted, after all. He, however, couldn't seem to close his eyes. Like if he did, he was afraid she'd be gone.
But just when he was certain she truly was asleep, she said, "Ted?"
"Mmm?" he said, his shock at hearing her voice keeping him from using real words.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He took another deep breath, then said, "You're welcome."
He couldn't see her face, but based on the way her body relaxed, he had to assume he'd made her smile.
It was sometime before he finally fell asleep, the rhythmic rise and fall of her body being what finally lulled him there. When he woke up the next morning, his worst fears were realized. She was gone.