Disclaimer: I just borrowed Rowling's characters for a while.

Title: Runaway Bride

Pairing: Ted and Andromeda

Ted was still staring at the letter in his hands, hands which were still trembling. It had been three days since that piece of parchment had come, bound in a heavy cream envelope, carried by her owl, Hermes. And that 'her' here was none other than Andromeda Black.

Three days ago it had come, tied to the legs of the proud snowy owl which came as a black backdrop against the setting sun. All this time, he had become well acquainted with the owl, but never before had it been the bearer of so disheartening a news. Every morning since, Ted pulled the letter out from under his pillow and stared across the words written in the most elegant handwriting in the world... still hoping, still trying to believe that they were false, that the long and repeated readings would change the words written. And every time he did so in these three days, he felt his heart shatter anew, just as his hands trembled uncontrollably.

Dearest Ted, it said, the voice of the one he loved most ringing in his head as if she were in front of him,

Next Thursday will mark almost a year from the day we began seeing each other. I am sure you are excited about it, and waiting to see me once again. Which is why it hurts me to tell this to you.

It will be lying if I said that I did not enjoy spending time with you. Indeed, the hours spent in your company were perhaps the ones which I cherish most in my life. —

At this point, the otherwise perfect, elegant writing had trembled; the ink had splattered across the parchment and the writing warped and hardly legible in places, as if there had been some sort of tussle with the quill while writing.

— But this must be the end, Ted. We cannot continue to see each other any longer. I had known it the first time I held hands with you, but tried to ignore it, foolishly; I had deluded myself to believe that we are one and same. No, Ted. You are a — the next word had been nearly blotted out by the large drop of water that had apparently fallen on it, and could be barely read; and Ted couldn't help wish that it were completely so, because that word written by that hand cut across his heart like a knife — mudblood, and I have defiled the pure blood and dignity of my family more than long enough by interacting with you; this cannot be continued. We do not belong to the same level; my fate lies with someone else.

Here again there was that uncontrolled jerking in the writing, and the next, and last few words were written in tiny letters — I am sorry, Ted.

The letter had not been signed off, but the writing was enough for Ted to recognise the sender. It was Andromeda, beyond doubt.

And yet Ted couldn't believe it. The letter was so unlike anything Andromeda would have sent him. All this time, she had never once mentioned the issue of blood purity. When he fell for a Slytherin, a Black of all people, he had been prepared to get scalded. And he had been hurt, more than once; Bellatrix, her sister, never missed a chance to hurt him in the worst possible way. The white scar that had been left after she split open his right leg a month ago still hurt. But he had made it through, all thanks to Andromeda. Because he knew that she was with him, and with that reassurance, he could brave anything. But now, he felt empty and broken. He has been hoping indeed to see her again soon; they had only just graduated from Hogwarts, and he had seen her last at the King's Cross station.

With a heartbroken sigh, he placed the letter on his desk. Nothing was going to change it; Andromeda was lost to him forever. She would someday marry a rich pureblood (who knew, perhaps she was already betrothed to someone), and he... for the first time in his life, Ted cursed his parentage.

"Ted!"

Ted looked around. Had it been his fancy, or did someone just call his name? The voice had sounded far off, outside the house. And that voice sounded suspiciously like Andromeda...

"Ted!"

Yes, there was no mistaking it. It was Andromeda's voice. Faraway and faint, but still hers. Ted laughed ruefully. Was he so far gone that he was hallucinating, even without taking a single sip of firewhiskey?

"Blacks and their bloody ways," he muttered. "I should never have thought I could get Dromeda. And now she is playing with my head."

And yet the calling continued, becoming more insistent with each passing second. Finally, there came a knocking on the main door.

Ted started. The knock had sounded pretty solid; it couldn't be fake, could it? So he had to go and answer the door. Grumbling to himself, he walked downstairs and wrenched the door open.

Andromeda was standing there, dragging her trunk behind her.

"Ted!" she exclaimed, and took a nervous step towards him.

"Wow, my hallucinating skills have increased tremendously," he muttered, blinking at her owlishly.

She stared at him. "Ted, I'm real. I'm here," she said.

"Well, I guess the Andromeda of my hallucinations would have said the same," he countered with mulish stubbornness.

She sighed, and then swooping upon him, kissed him right on the lips for a long moment.

"That do you?" she asked with a crooked smile.

"That is perhaps more creative than hallucinations can get," Ted admitted. "But what are you doing here when that letter's lying on my desk?"

Her eyes darkened, and unshed tears clung to her lashes as she lowered her head.

"I am so sorry about that. My parents ordered me to do it; they threatened to hurt you and you family if I didn't. Bella dictated it... the middle part. Believe me Ted," her eyes pleaded as tearfully as her voice, "I would never have called you — that."

"I do," Ted replied simply, because indeed, he did.

"But then they announced that they were going to sell me off to Rabastan Lestrange." Her voice shook. "I— I couldn't have that... I couldn't marry that devil, especially not after knowing what my letter must have done to you. So... I left. I told them that I was choosing you over everything else... and left." And then, the tears spilled. "They disowned me, Ted," she whispered, her eyes streaming. "Mother blasted me off the tapestry before I left. They... they are not my family any more."

And with sobs wracking her frame, she fell into his arms. Ted was never very good at consoling, so he did what he could — he kissed her, running his lips softly over her wet cheeks and lips. He knew how she felt; however harsh and unkind they might be, family is family, and to be cast out of it must be terribly painful for Andromeda. At the same time, his heart swelled; she had been through everything, she had lost everything only to be with him. That was a gift to him more valuable than anything he could ever ask for.

Gradually, Andromeda regained control over herself, and her tears ceased.

"So, what now?" Ted asked her, savouring her beautiful features as he feasted on her with his eyes.

"Well..." she smiled through bloodshot eyes, "Do you have a church anywhere around?"