They apparated from Hertford to the landing site in Keswick. All around them were trees and other shrubs.
"Where are we?"
Ted looked around again and smiled. "We're in an alcove on the church grounds. I spent many hours here, reading, when Mum let me off from chores on a slow day."
He stepped away but Andromeda wasn't moving.
"Dear? Are you well?"
She shook her head and sat down. "I need to sit a spell."
"Ok, we can." He led her to a stone bench that was nestled into the greenery of the alcove.
They sat, with Andromeda looking at the fluttering green leaves. Ted looked around, trying to see what she could be thinking and failing spectacularly.
"Galleon for your thoughts?"
Andromeda laughed, a bitter one filled with sulfur. "I couldn't pay you a galleon now since I don't have one to my name."
"Of course you do. You sent a letter to Gringott's last month, transferring money to your own vault."
"But was it enough, Ted? Yes, we have galleons in my vault. But is it enough for more than a bedsit in London, while you work as an apprentice while I train at St. Mungo's?"
"We'll make it work," Ted spoke confidently. "We'll get there and make a life of it. Once we're settled in tonight, you can send an owl from the rectory to Gringott's and get a balance statement. Will that placate you?"
Andromeda sat quietly while Ted watched her. "My whole life, it's been of comfort, if lonely. I never worried about my next meal, or clothes on my back, or even a bed to sleep in. And now," She turned and looked at Ted, who was masked once again, "I know we have a bed with your parents and we won't go hungry. But so much will change, of which I might never have considered when making my decision."
"Do you regret what we have done? Would you like to return to what you knew?"
"No," she stated emphatically and with conviction. "That wouldn't be a life either. I'd rather have liberty, and some risk, than being a pet in a gilded cage, for breeding purposes only, and left to rot in madness of what they wanted for me.
"I'll take freedom, even if it's frightening."
"You're not alone in this. I guarantee it."
"I know. I have a husband to help me. But I also have to consider that I have one sister I abandoned to their mania, and one who might come after us."
"Bellatrix will be wise not to approach us."
"Do you think she'd hesitate to kill you, and me, given the chance?"
"No, which is why she would be most foolish to do so."
"Ted?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Are we going to be ok?"
"Yes. I am of Hufflepuff House. We're eternal optimists while on the inside, realistic pessimists."
Andromeda smiled. "So true." She stood from the stone bench and wiped her robes of any speck of dirt. "I believe you mentioned lunch, did you?"
"I did. Mum on Thursdays make a lamb stew that is quite good, with beans and turnips."
"Did we have that on some days at school?"
"We did when I was hungry for Mum's cooking and I asked the elves to make it."
"Ah, so that delightful dish was your idea."
"A bloke gets hungry sometimes for Mum's cooking."
"Would your Mum teach me that dish?"
"Of course! Mum knows so much about you already. I've been crackers over you for some time and talked non-stop on holidays home. I bet she thought I was mental for years!"
"You're not mental," Andromeda held her hand out for Ted and he took it and led her from their garden alcove. "But you might be after we reside together a fortnight."
"I doubt that."
They walked towards his parent's bed and breakfast with lunch on their minds.