Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling.

January 1, 1999

She was tired and her time was short. He was irritable from the endless round of parties that demanded his presence. Neither of them meant it, but the quarrel was harsh and mean spirited.

"I'll never understand your position. It's not fair to your husband, and I'm not sure I would want that in a wife."

She reeled as though he had struck her and then looked at him with eyes that accused him of everything he had and had not ever done. "I don't think I can do this any more. I thought I would take as much of you as I could get, but now... It hurts too much, Severus, and I have other things to consider."

He turned to leave but stopped when he heard her say, quietly, "I loved him, you know. With every ounce of my being I loved him, and the night he was killed I wished they had killed me, too. But you were there to draw me out, and I've known my sweet grandson all this time, and I've had the chance to fall in love with you. I am mourning my past, Severus, but I'm also mourning my future because you won't realize you're irretrievably part of it."

"Of course I'm part of it!" He half turned. "You know I l—"

"Don't say it! Please don't say it until you're ready for all of it. My heart has been through a lot in the last year and I can't take any more." With that she slipped into the hallway that lead to the kitchen.

Late March 1998

He woke to feel lips over his breastbone. There was a female form between his arm and his chest and a mist of hair covered his face. "Oh, Ted," she whispered. "I dreamed that they killed you. My sisters came and Trixie... Oh, Ted, what would I do without you?" She wouldn't let him go so he eased up to sit against the headboard of the bed. She curled into him, and he let her tell him all about it. She never woke and simply described her story as the dream she hoped with all her heart it was.

Ted Tonks had sneaked to his house for a short visit with his wife and when he left she insisted on going with him. They had camped well together and even enjoyed their time of roughing it, but unfortunately had Apparated into an area that the Snatcher squads were watching. The Snatchers originally mistook Andromeda for Bellatrix Lestrange and were about to let them go when one of them thought to look for her Dark Mark. When Andromeda didn't have one, they were brought to the real Bellatrix, who greeted her sister by taking out her wand and killing Ted Tonks on the spot.

This had been at Malfoy Manor. Moments later, Narcissa entered the room. It took a while for her sisters to notice her. The elder was smirking and the other was crouched over the corpse. Both were hurling insults as well as jinxes and curses at each other and managed to bring up some issues that dated back to early childhood. All of that ended when the Dark Lord entered. He looked at Andromeda and smiled. He said something to Bellatrix and Narcissa about re-training the third Black sister. He said he knew exactly in whose hands to put it as he moved toward the dead man and new widow. Beyond that Andromeda chose not to remember.

Severus wasn't sure how well she understood what was real. He knew that on some level she was aware that her husband was dead, but he had no idea whether she realized with whom she had just been intimate. He could only hold her in his arms and provide what little bit of comfort he knew how to give. As she got to the end of her narrative, she yawned and fell asleep. He stayed awake a little longer. He had never had the experience of holding a woman as she slept, and though he wasn't sure it was proper, he would enjoy it now.

He was brought starkly awake again by a hand sliding along his body. It started at his ribs and wandered down to his navel, causing him to anticipate what would happen as it got lower. Then it stopped, barely short of his hopes and wakened imagination. The hand started more gingerly feeling along his belly and he knew she had suddenly become aware that she was not in the arms of her husband. Ted Tonks had unashamedly enjoyed his wife's fine cooking, but Severus Snape had not known such a table on a regular basis. There were some decided differences in physique between the two men as a result.

When its owner established that it wasn't caressing her husband, the hand ceased its search and snatched away. She sat up and realized her nightgown was up under her arms. She quickly pulled it down and then pulled the covers up to her chin. She freed one hand to push her hair out of her face and then looked and saw him.

"Severus," she said softly.

"Do you remember?" he asked.

"I—" He watched her replay the various elements of the previous day in her mind. Looking into her eyes he could see her remember the various parts of it. Oddly enough, she remembered him first. She blushed a furious shade of red, but was too busy remembering to look away. Her fingers twitched for her wand as she recalled fighting against her older sister. Suddenly she realized that she had been huddled over the body of her husband, that he was really dead, and her whole face crumpled.

"You need a minute." He stood, getting ready to leave.

"Sev—Severus." She said his name quietly, but he saw her face. He opened his arms and she moved into them.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered. She trembled for a minute or two and then pulled away.

He cleared his throat and stepped over to his wardrobe. "I'll go down to my office, and you can get dressed. The elves will bring breakfast there."

She came into his office wearing robes that must have been borrowed from the Gryffindor Head. They were a bit long on her, but she wore them with dignity. Her hair was braided down her back, and she was clean and presentable even if she was still in a shocked state.

They sat to eat and she sipped her tea. Then she stared at her toast. "I need to get word to my daughter."

"Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall both know. They were told last night. I'm sure they'll pass the word."

"I need to be with my daughter. They loved each other so much. They used to side together against me—" She lowered her voice again. "I need to be at his funeral."

"I can't let you go, Andromeda. They'll kill you on sight and me shortly afterwards for failure to carry out my orders. It's a war."

"I have to be with her!"

"I'm sorry, but you can't. You have to stay with me. Minerva will make sure Nymphadora gets word about your husband and that you're here. Lupin will watch over Tonks."

You have to stay with me. There was too much encompassed by that. "Severus, last night, I—"

"Don't worry about it."

"I don't want you to think..."

"I think you are a woman who had a terrible shock, who needed to share some comfort."

"Share?"

"You needed comfort, Andromeda, I was here to offer it."

"But you won't let me go to my daughter."

"It's more than my life is worth, and there are other considerations."

"You can figure out how to work around all that."

"Then you're staying with me because you belong to me. The Dark Lord gave you to me."

"And you said yourself that I'm not a cat or an owl that can be given."

"You were paying more attention than I gave you credit for."

She sat in the chair he indicated. "You were very kind last night."

"You needed comfort."

She looked at him in curiosity. "You said you 'shared' it with me. Why did you need comfort?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes became quite cold and she shivered. "Don't tell anyone that you thought I was kind," he finally said.

"If I promise not to tell, will you let me go to Ted's funeral?"

"Andromeda, you grew up with Bellatrix. What do you think she will do when she catches you?"

She looked at her hands in her lap. Finally, she looked back up at him. "I've become so complacent. I was so safe with Ted. Now..." Her face flashed with an unpleasant memory. She looked back down at her hands. "Did I please you last night?"

"What kind of question is that?"

She looked toward a window. "He told my sisters... He said at Cissy's house that he would give me to you, and if I don't please you, he'll take me back... and..." She swallowed and shrugged.

"What I said last night is true between us. You're not a cat or an owl, Andromeda, to be given or taken. I think we could find a great deal of solace together if you share my bed, but only if you want it. I won't force myself on you and I'm not turning you back over to them unless you want to go."

"Then what will I do while I'm here?"

"I'm going to make you my assistant. You will stay over by that window over there while I'm in my office and you will take care of my papers and serve tea for me and do those sorts of things."

"And when you're not in your office?"

"You will be with me."

"In your rooms?"

"Yes, it was made clear to me that I need to keep an eye on you. However, the extent of our relationship is completely up to you."

"Do you care whether we—?" She couldn't look in his eye.

"You're mourning your husband. I don't expect you to fall into my arms."

"I did last night."

"Whose arms did you think you were in?"

"Ted's."

"That's as I surmised."

"But you said..."

"You were very persuasive. I'm a lonely man, Mrs. Tonks. I'm a lonely man in the middle of a war and you're—" He sighed expressively and waved his hand at her. "I'd be a fool to turn you away."

She couldn't find an answer to that and instead looked on the table. The paper was there, and she scanned the headlines. There was a picture of Ted from his days working in the Magical Transportation department. Dear, affable, lovable Ted smiled up to her from the paper. It didn't matter that it was under the headline, "Wanted Criminal Caught," or that the story dredged up the old yarn about how Ted had kidnapped her from her family.

He saw what she was looking at and concentrated on his breakfast and the Quidditch scores. There was a team in Winnipeg that appeared to be racing up the North American standings. He glanced at his companion who was tracing the outline of her husband's face in the picture. Tears were running down her face.

Somewhere in the room, one of Dumbledore's old clocks chirped, indicating that the daily round of meetings would begin, soon. Severus gulped down the remainder of his tea. "Andromeda." He actually said it kindly. He had always been less like his schoolteacher self toward her and under the circumstances was unable to be stern.

She sat up and dabbed at her eyes with a hanky. "I'm sorry. It's time to get to work, isn't it?"

"Yes. Could you summon the elf and get this cleared away? I'll just be a moment."

Severus slipped into the bedroom and watched from the door as she called the elf and worked with him to clear the breakfast dishes and table. He couldn't help but admire the swish of her robe around her hips as she waved her arms and said the charm that cleared everything up, enabling the house-elf to take everything in one trip. He remembered his two week visit in her home, watching her do the same thing at the kitchen table and the way her husband's eyes followed her. He recalled how his host would creep up behind her and rest his hands at her waist, tilting his head to place his lips on her neck. Sometimes she scolded him for getting in her way, but sometimes she turned in his arms and let him continue his affectionate caresses until they remembered they had an audience.

Severus had come back to Hogwarts last April convinced that he was smitten by the fact of her. Such witches must exist and he would be glad that they did. Watching her now and knowing how close at hand she was, he wondered if he could keep himself from touching her. He didn't want to force her; he wanted her as eager for him as she had been when he was a surrogate for her husband. Perhaps he could get through this round of meetings and the subsequent paperwork quickly. Then, perhaps--what?

After that morning, he would never again be amazed by anything a Black did. He was well aware of the grief Andromeda was feeling, but no one else who came to his office that day could see anything but a witch who was coolly efficient. She took the parchments he signed and did something with them. He would learn that she filed them away when he was required to leave his office. She never said a word during his meetings, although she could be relied upon to remember exactly what was said when he wanted to go over a point later.

He wasn't sure exactly how, but she projected something that made the Carrows behave better as well. He glimpsed at her at the end of that meeting and saw an icy version of Bellatrix Lestrange that made him shiver involuntarily, too. It occurred to him that an Andromeda Black who became a Death Eater would have been as cold and calculating as her older sister was passionate. Working together they would have outgrown the Dark Lord and perhaps overthrown him to be something more beautiful, but also much more terrible. He found himself wishing that she could have come to Hogwarts sooner. Her assistance allowed him to get through his duties much more efficiently. The work was complete by lunch time, and he found himself enjoying a cup of coffee with her and a conversation about the day's issues.

"Today was a light day. The students go home after lunch," he told her. "They come back in two weeks and then there's a month of hard work before O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. testing. There shouldn't be too many issues that come before me in that time, but it seems that there's something new from the Dark Lord or the Ministry almost every day."

"So we're done for the day?"

"Yes."

"I don't suppose we can go to my home so that I can pick up some things—"

He was shaking his head vehemently and she stopped. "Your daughter and her husband are likely to have it staked out. In a duel, I could easily beat both of them and you in the bargain, but I would prefer not to cast hexes at a pregnant woman."

She looked dejected then, perhaps at being reminded that her grandchild would soon arrive without her to witness the event. "Well, then, can we go to Hogsmeade? I'm sure Gladrags will still take my credit. I've got to have some clothes, Severus."

He looked at her and pondered the situation. "We can go to Hogsmeade this afternoon. In fact, why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks for lunch?"

An almost smile came over her face. "Certainly."

He watched her over their meal. Several Death Eaters walked up to the table to greet her in a manner that was almost reverent. She handled it with aplomb, yet somehow he knew it sat badly with her. There were some whom she had known before her marriage whom she greeted kindly and others whom she had never met before to whom she was polite. Yet she was not happy about the way they were treating her due to her family and blood status. She would trade it all for having her husband back. It was a relief to her when they left the inn and moved on to the boutique down the street.

The shop manager of Gladrags greeted Andromeda as royalty as soon as she was aware of her. Upon learning that Mrs. Tonks was looking to outfit herself for possibly several months, the manager was eager to help. Severus watched in boredom as she tried on several simply but well cut robes in somber shades of black and gray. She selected one set of dress robes in dark green and then a good cloak for springtime. When she turned her attention to underwear, Andromeda was surprised to see her companion step in and point out several styles he found interesting.

She took him aside. "What are you doing?" she whispered up into his ear. He was several inches taller than Ted had been and she found it disconcerting.

"Thirty minutes after we go back to the school the entire list of your purchases will be in the hands of the Dark Lord and your sisters." He made a show of nuzzling his chin around her ear as he responded.

"What is it to you? I thought you said—" He could feel the panic rise in her as she tried to interpret his behavior.

"That's your choice, but for your sake, they need to believe that we're intimate."

Her hand fluttered to her chest and he took that as a sign of her agreement. He kissed her ear and then took over the selections. He paid close attention to her and somehow knew which items crossed a certain line that she couldn't accept. Finally he was done, and she arranged the payment from her Gringott's account with the proprietor. They made further arrangements for one of the Hogwarts house-elves to come for her packages and then left. Severus couldn't stop thinking about the ivory lace nightgown he had chosen and had a difficult time remembering to place her hand within his arm as they walked. His companion seemed likewise lost in her thoughts.

As they approached the school's gates, however, she moved closer to his side. Several Dementors prowled around the gates. He slid his arm around her and moved his wand to his hand just as Amycus Carrow bounded up to them. The Death Eaters had specific plans for the return of the Hogwart's Express when this holiday was over and the professor wanted to discuss them with the Headmaster.

A/N: Thanks again to Trickie Woo for beta reading!

Thanks also to Herbologist and Alabaster Princess for reviewing; it was quite welcome during the weekend when the stats were down!