She couldn't believe she'd actually said it. She hadn't been planning on it. When he'd asked her why she came, she'd thought of a million other ways to answer. He made her feel safe. He was her only friend. She knew her family didn't know where he lived. But none of those had been the real reason.

Ted froze. He didn't turn to look at her. She could see the way his entire body was tensed up, like he was ensure of how to react to her words.

"What?" he said, breathlessly.

She knew he'd heard her the first time, he just didn't believe her, so she was going to have to say it again.

"I love you, Ted Tonks."

This time he turned to look at her, and her breath caught. That was how he used to look at her, before everything had spun out of control. His blue eyes were bright with wonder.

He looked away, like this was all becoming too much for him, and laughed breathlessly. "I thought I'd never get to hear you say it."

She frowned. "I never did?" She was certain she must have said it before. But now that she racked her brain, she could only recall him saying it to her, and not the other way around.
Ted ran his hands through his hair, the sign he was flustered. "I mean, I was pretty sure you…but no, you never said it."

He didn't say anything else, but the pain in his voice was clear.

She'd hurt Ted in a lot of ways, so technically this was just another instance in the long list, but for some reason, her guilt was more painful over this than the others.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was so constricted she could barely speak, and she could feel the tears brimming in the back of eyes. But she couldn't break down, she had to say this. "I'm so sorry, for everything."

Ted stared at the ground for a moment, not speaking. Still looking at the floor, he said, "We can't change the past, just the future."

And then he looked up, and this time, neither of them looked away. Almost subconsciously, she found her knees slipping away from her chest. Ted took a cautious step forward, but seemed unable or unwilling to move any closer. She slid off the bed and took a tentative step forward. Soon they were standing right in front of each other, but neither of them managed to make a move. They were both hesitant, like they were going to scare the other one off.

This scene was so familiar to them, and yet, it had been so long. Still, without thinking, their heads moved closer together. Until finally, his lips were on hers.

At first the kiss itself was slow and hesitant, but it slowly deepened. Her body slowly pressed itself to him. She could feel a moan building in the back of his mouth as his arm snaked around her waist.

Eventually his lips pulled away from her mouth and buried themselves in her neck, causing her to let out her own tiny moan. Ted's body seemed to react to the sound of her moan and he pulled her tighter. Soon his lips found their way to her ear and he whispered,

"Say it again."

She'd been so serious the last time she said it, but now she was smiling as she said, "I love you."

There was a low growl in his throat, almost like a purr. He kissed her ear and then raspily whispered, "I love you, Andromeda Black."

And just like that, the hunger they had both been hiding was unleashed. His arms snaked around her waist again, but this time it was to hoist her up. She managed to get her legs wrapped around him just long enough for them to move the head of the bed, and them she came crashing down, with him on top of her.

For a moment, the memory of a different man spread out on top of her flashed through her mind, and she was about to push him away. But then she stopped herself. Ted wasn't Roldophus; he would never hurt her. If she knew anything, she knew that.

As if to prove her point, Ted suddenly pulled away. The question in his eyes was clear. If she wanted to stop, or keep things at this level, he would. The choice was hers.

She smiled and pulled him back to her body. She was just able to see the broad, warm smile that spread over his lips before his lips were on her skin again.

He started at the space just above her breasts and began trailing kisses as he slowly moved his way upward. It was an ecstatic experience, except, she couldn't stop images of Rodolphus from racing through her head. She hadn't thought about that experience since she'd been with Ted. Every time it came up she'd forced it away, but now it was all rushing back.

But she had to stop it. She couldn't let Rodolphus ruin this moment with her and Ted, not after they had waited for so long.

While Ted's lips continued their trek upward, his hands began sliding down her body. Finding the curve of her breast and hips. It was wonderful, and yet, there was a part of her that wanted to tell him to stop, before he got to close too…

His hand moved past her hip and toward her inner thigh, but she couldn't feel Ted. She could only feel Rodolphus, ripping her dress way and exposing her inner thighs to the cold night air, while his hands fumbled with the tie on his robes.

She screamed and forced him away, only it wasn't Rodolphus she was forcing away, it was Ted.

"Andromeda?" She expected him to sound angry, but he didn't. He hadn't stopped her from pushing him away. He was now sitting next to her, propping himself up on his arm so he could get a better look at her. His brows were curled into a quizzical line, though she couldn't blame him. Things had been going so good for them until now.

"Are you all right?" he asked tentatively, like he was afraid she'd start screaming again.

She nodded, and forced a smile. "Yeah." But even as she said her heart pounded uncontrollably. She had an overwhelming urge to both run and curl up into a ball at the same time.

"Are you sure?" Ted said again, the worry lines on his face growing.

"Yes," she said again. "I'm sorry, I—"

She started to reach for him, to bring him back her, but her hands were shaking too much, something he was quick to notice.

"Andromeda, wait—"

She shook her head, too violently. "I'm sorry, I'm fine, I just—"

Her eyes were wet. She was crying, but she couldn't cry. That would spoil the moment more than anything else.

She tried to hold them back, but it was too late. Ted saw them.

"Meda," he said softly. She saw him start to reach for her, then stop at the last second. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice breaking. The tears broke free again, and this time she couldn't stop them from falling. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm—"

She would have kept saying sorry, except the choking sob that tore through her body made that impossible.

She felt Ted's arms gently move around her, and when she didn't scream or shove him off, he slowly pulled her against his body. He held her there, in his arms, until her shaking and sobbing subsided. She had no idea how long it took, it may have been only a few minutes, or a few hours.

When her breathing slowly returned to a steady pattern, and her sobs became steady whispers, he gently asked:

"What happened to you, the night before you came to me?"

She didn't know how he'd figured out the two events were connected. Though maybe he was just guessing. She had been pretty mixed up when she'd shown up at his window, just like now.

She took a deep breath. She knew she needed to say it out loud. But saying it out loud would make it real, and she didn't know how to handle that.

"Was it… Rabastan?" Ted prompted, when she didn't speak.

She shook her head, though hearing Rabastan's name brought a fresh pang to her chest. She hadn't forgotten what Rodolphus had told her, but nor had she'd forgotten her own feelings about Rabastan. Trying to sort through all of it was definitely too much right now.

"It was… Rodolphus," Her voice was so raspy she could barely speak, but based on the way Ted stiffened, he understood her.

"Did he… hurt you?" She realized Ted was having almost as hard a time speaking as she was.

She took a deep breath, and then it all came rushing out. She didn't tell him all the graphic details, but she told him enough to get the gist. She felt his grip around her tighten as she shared certain details, but he didn't try to speak as she shared her story.

He didn't speak when she finished either. He just held her. His thumb gently stroked her shoulder.

Tears streamed down her face again, but they were silent this time.

"I'm sorry, Ted," she said, when he saw still silent, "I'm sorry, I—"

He pressed his lips to her temple, briefly. "Don't say that, Andromeda."

She shook her head, feeling the sob build again. Suddenly he pulled away from her, but it was only so he could see her face.

"Look at me Andromeda," he said when she refused to look up. She did. She wasn't sure what she expected to see. Pity. Hurt. Shock. She didn't expect to see fire in his eyes.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," His hand moved her face so he could stroke her temple again, exactly where he had kissed her. "Do you understand me? Nothing that happened to you was your fault."

She didn't say anything, she just stared at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Please, tell me you believe me." He'd never sounded so sincere in his life, not even when he'd begged her not to leave him.

The tears didn't stop, but the way he looked at her seemed to pulling her pain and shame away, like it was leaking out of her bones.

She nodded, and both of them knew she meant it.

He pulled her into him again, and somehow they ended up lying down again. She kept her face and body against his chest. He held her there securely, but not too tight, like he was a warm blanket.

The tears continued to fall as she laid there next to him, but she was smiling too. It was a strange moment, both bitter and sweet. But maybe that was all right. She didn't need to be good or bad, all right or not all right, she just needed to be.

Ted's hand found hers, and he laced his fingers with hers. She found herself smiling amid all her grief.

"Ted?" she said softly.

"Yeah?" He murmured into her hair.

"Just so you know, I really wanted too, you know…"

"I know," he kissed her hair. "And we will. When you are ready."

There was nothing else, but she could read the subtext. He would wait as long as she needed.

She snuggled closer to Ted, and she heard him sigh softly. She wanted to stay like this forever, and she might have, if there wasn't a distinctive click followed by the door swinging open.