Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. You can tell I am not she because #transrights

Warnings: NA

All the Time in the World

Change me at all costs

Starlight and star-crossed

Take me so breathless

We could be reckless

Why don't you change me at all costs?

Starlight and star-crossed

Take me so breathless

Yeah, woke up in a safe house singing, "Honey, let's get married"

—Mitski

Andromeda's heart beat in her throat as she split from the friends she'd walked down to the village with.

"Remember," Clara Zabini called. "Don't study too long! Meet us at the Three Broomsticks no later than 4:00, that way you can at least get a butterbeer in before going home."

"I promise," Andromeda said, clutching the strap of her book bag as she walked towards the Hog's Head—the run-down and out of the way spot she'd told them she'd sit to finish her easy in. When she reached the pub, she didn't enter. She walked by it and looked around to make sure that her friends had disappeared into other shops before taking the long way to the tiny chapel at the edge of the village. She tried not to look paranoid, lest it be obvious that she didn't want to be followed, while also being alert and careful enough so that she wouldn't actually be followed.

Hogsmeade's chapel was built of stone and aged enough to fit in with the rest of the village. It had been built centuries ago, before the village had been warded against Muggles so that the wizarding town would blend into the Scottish countryside. It was tall and boasted glowing windows, managing to look both cool and warm enough to be tempting in the spring air. The snow had melted rather promptly this year, winter receding cooperatively instead of putting up a fight, but there was still a chill in the air.

Andromeda did another lap of the village before coming back to the chapel again, just to be safe. Now that she was sure she hadn't been seen, she went down the path to the chapel. Hardy little flowers that shouldn't have been strong enough to bloom so early had already burst from the earth. Andromeda hesitated and picked two or three, which she tucked behind her ear before going inside. Yes, today was a secret. Yes, she had a bookbag full of textbooks and parchment slung over her shoulder to maintain a cover. Yes, she would have to hide and pretend that today hadn't happened for a little bit longer too. But the day would still be special; it had to be.

When Andromeda pushed open the chapel door and peeked inside, her eye went past the rows of wooden benches to the front of the room where Ted was standing with Abbey Bones, his best friend and fellow Hufflepuff prefect who often covered for them, and a stranger Andromeda didn't know.

She slipped inside and closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, hurrying down the alley to join them.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said quietly. She swung her bag off her shoulder and gently set it down, pulling off the cloak she'd been wrapped in too.

"You weren't followed were you?" Abbey asked with concern.

"No," Andromeda said. "No that's why it took me time."

Ted reached out his hands and Andromeda took them, leaning forwards and easing herself on her tiptoes to kiss him. It always felt bold to kiss Ted in front of other people or during the day, even if Abbey had kept their secrets for years now and probably knew more about their romances than Andromeda expected.

Ted's fingers softly touched the petals tucked behind her ear as he pulled back. He smiled and reached into his back pocket, where he'd tucked a bouquet of the same flowers. Andromeda smiled and took them from him, gently tucking them in the front pocket of his crisp button-down. He was wearing his favourite pair of Muggle jeans too, and his brown curls looked especially light and soft today. She wanted to reach up and touch them, but she patted his pocket instead.

"There," she said.

"We can match," Ted smiled. His apple green eyes glinted as he said it and Andromeda couldn't help but smile back. She'd done what she could before coming to look like a bride, even if there was no dress code for a girl secretly eloping five days after she was legally able to. She had braided her hair especially nicely today, her friends had mentioned so much over breakfast. She'd looked through her trunk, which she had packed in a daze after the holidays, and found a dress with capped sleeves, a ribbon at her waist, a skirt that ended at her calves, and a line of buttons running down the back. It wasn't entirely white, since a pattern of gold polka dots repeated itself across the print, but she'd thought it would do the trick for today.

Andromeda turned to look at the stranger, an older man whose hair might have been red before it started greying.

"Hello," she said. "My name is Andromeda Black."

"Yes, I assumed so," he said. "Elias Weasley, Ministerial Affairs Liaison for Hogsmeade."

"A pleasure," Andromeda said, hyperconscious of the fact that Ted hadn't let go of their hand. She supposed it didn't matter, since they had come here for this man to marry them with Abbey as their witness, but it felt significant since she could count the number of people who had seen she and Ted interact affectionately on one hand.

Only for a bit longer, she reminded herself. We're nearly done with the hiding.

"I'm quite sorry for missing the beginning of the conversation," Andromeda said. "But will you be the one performing the ceremony?"

"Well," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Usually we get more notice…"

"But that isn't so much necessary as it is usual," Abbey said.

"Yes, correct," Elias Weasley replied. "I do have the paperwork in the back, I just needed to verify the identity of both parties before fetching it."

"I have my wand if need be," Andromeda said.

"No, no," Elias said. "That will be alright. Give me a moment, I simply need to return to my office…"

He excused himself from a door in the back and Ted turned to look at Andromeda again. He squeezed her hand and cupped her face.

"This is it," he said. His thumb ran in circles, nearly touching her lips. "Are you alright?"

"I've never been better," Andromeda said. She turned to look at Abbey and offered her a smile. Abbey simply shook her head.

"You crazy bastards," she said—though she was smiling.

"It is a little bit crazy," Ted said. "It feels crazy. Good crazy. 'I can't believe this is happening' crazy."

"Don't say any of that in front of the Ministry official," Andromeda said. "He already thinks we're mad."

He emerged from his office a few moments later with a slip of parchment that he brought to them. They all looked at him expectantly.

"One copy is for you two to keep, one is for Ministry records," he said matter-of-factly. He reached into his coat for a bottle of ink, which he set on the altar, a quill, and a pair of reading glasses he set on his nose. "I'll need your full names…"

"Edward Isaac Tonks," Ted said.

"Andromeda Isabelle Black," she said.

"And the witness?"

"Abigail Jane Bones," Abbey said.

He wrote their names down and Andromeda's stomach flipped when she saw the place where her signature would go.

"Are you two ready?" he asked. "Did you… did you want a ceremony?"

They looked at each other and straightened up, looking towards the altar.

"I don't care how I marry her," Ted said simply. "This is… this is already past my wildest dreams."

"I didn't think past having him here either," Andromeda said. "He knows what he means to me and after this, I'll have all the time in the world to tell him."

Elias Weasley smiled kindly.

"That, to me, seems to be a beautiful way to begin a marriage," he said.

"There is a bottle of Firewhisky and some stolen sweets from the kitchen in my purse," Abbey piped up. "Just… I thought someone should be ready for some sort of celebration when it was all said and done."

"In that case, Edward Tonks do you take Andromeda Black to be your lawfully wedded wife, to cherish, to honour, and to hold forevermore?"

"I do," Ted said.

"And do you, Andromeda Black, take Ted Tonks to your lawfully wedded husband, to cherish, to honour, and to hold from this day forth?"

"I do," Andromeda said. The words left her a little breathless and she squeezed Ted's hand, to remind herself that he was here and that this was real.

"Then by the power invested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I pronounce you man and wife," he said. "You may now share your first kiss."

Ted spun her around but she was faster, wrapping her arms around his neck and smashing her lips to his. The flowers tucked behind her ear fluttered to the ground in the midst of it all, and Andromeda didn't care.

WC: 1530