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

A few days later, Hermione came early for her study session so that she could help with gingerbread and chat with Andromeda about her parents. "We're looking forward to seeing each other again. I guess you were right. It's been hard for them to send me into the Wizarding world, and the rest of this upheaval has only made it worse."

"I've been thinking, what if someone came with you for the first few days, just to smooth things over?"

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Tim, actually, I've spoken to him about it, and he's willing. He knows Muggle ways and he has his dad's talent for charming people. If it didn't work out, he would be able to help you make arrangements to come home." She saw Hermione's face and changed it. "Of course your Ron is very charming, and you've said that your parents already know him."

The girl wrinkled her nose. "They barely remember me. I don't know if they'll remember Ron."

"Draco isn't familiar with Muggle things, but he's very good at charming people, too."

Hermione laughed. "Tim it is, if you think he would do it. I just don't want to impose. We don't know each other that well."

"He was eager when he realized it meant a chance to visit some warm beaches. Don't worry. It will be fine."

The two witches exchanged a hug, and the younger one got up to go to her lesson. The elder cleared up the baking supplies while the last few gingerbread men baked. She didn't know for sure if she was doing the right thing by helping Hermione go away for a month, but whatever was good for the girl would ultimately be good for Severus. Perhaps he would glower a little less because of it.

When the study session was over, both the professor and the student came to the kitchen for a biscuit and glass of milk. The mistress of the house greeted them with the requested refreshments and listened happily as the two discussed the young traveler's plans. In all, it was a pleasant way to end an evening.

After Hermione took the Floo to Harry's London home, Severus reached for Andromeda's hand. "I should thank you." She shook her head, and he continued. "My affection for her grows all the time. In time it will be clear why she matters so much to me..." He didn't have to explain; she knew. He looked at her for a minute before saying, "I take it as a personal favor to me that you're doing this."

"I'm sure you're both welcome," she responded in embarrassment.

"Not to mention, it was brilliant of you to arrange that we would have fewer distractions for a fair portion of the month." He leaned over to kiss her. He smiled as she tried to regain her breath.

Finally she answered. "It's not like that. It won't be..."

"Everything is coming together, my dove," he whispered. His lips softly touched her forehead, her cheeks, and her eyes. "Our time is coming, and you're helping it along." This time his lips touched hers, and he gently worked her mouth open to receive his tongue. He kissed her for several minutes and finally lifted his head to look at her.

"You seem a bit dazed," he said. "We can't have that. Young Mr. Lupin will be wanting an evening bottle soon."

She stood up, placing her fingertips over her lips, and made her way out of the room.

After she put the baby to bed, she went down to her still room. She needed to look over some materials and plan how she would use the plants that had recently been harvested. She was washing a cauldron and some measuring devices when she felt rather than saw or heard him come in behind her.

"Why won't you say yes?"

"I'm a married woman," she answered.

"I don't wish to belittle what you shared with Ted Tonks," he replied, "but you're a living, breathing woman, Andromeda. I've sensed the passion within you. I know you ache just as I do."

She hugged herself tightly. "No."

"I can tell that's a lie even without looking into your eyes, my dove."

"Please, I don't want to be someone's tawdry fling."

"This isn't some quick shag, Andromeda. I've felt you respond to me. I know that if I pushed just a little harder, our moment could come here and now. I'll wait because I want more than one cheap clinch."

She turned her head so that her chin was over her shoulder. "Wouldn't it be like that, anyway?"

"No," he purred into her ear. She turned her head, so he changed sides and whispered into the other. "We have a stronger bond than that."

"I can't—"

His breath was on the back of her neck and his voice was quieter than a whisper. "When you finally allow me to make love to you, I think I'll start here." She jumped as she felt his lips. "I'll kiss this tiny curl at the nape of your neck, and I'll nibble all along here." She felt him do exactly as he described, kissing her neck down to her collar. "And then, when I'm intoxicated by your essence, I'll remove your hairpins." She heard the sound of the pins hitting the counter top next to where her hands were clutching the edge for dear life. She felt her hair tumble down around her shoulders, burying his head.

"After that, I'm going to slide my arms around you and pull you against me." His left arm was around her middle as his right hand held her lower belly, pulling her whole body against his. "We'll continue from there." Her mouth was dry, and her head leaned back against him, almost of its own accord.

He judged the moment wasn't quite ready, so he took a step back and turned her into his kiss. It was a hard kiss, quite passionate, yet as it continued, she felt him pulling back. He softened it until it was almost chaste. When she opened her eyes, Andromeda found that she was standing on her own two feet and his fingertips were barely touching the sides of her face. He pulled the rest of the way apart from her and tapped her lips with a finger. "Good night, my dove," he said as he stepped out of the room.

She had to sit down in the closest seat. She leaned on the workbench and pressed her face to the surface. Did he know how close she was to letting him do just what he described? Did he know how she ached to feel a man's touch, how much she desired his touch?

When she went to bed that night, she stopped beside his door and lifted a hand. What if she tapped on the door? What if she let him make love to her? What if she made love back to him? What would Ted think? She could hear Ted's voice in the back of her mind. I said from the beginning that if it doesn't work out you could find someone else. She choked back a sob. Surely he didn't mean something like this. It had worked out beautifully for twenty-five years after all. She just couldn't—not tonight.

Her dream lover came to her that night. He kissed her until she was dizzy. She allowed her head to fall back, and he kissed her neck and chest, leaving her to hope he would continue. Then he started working at the buttons on her nightgown, his hands touching her everywhere as he moved down her body...

She sat up, her chest heaving. How did she come to this pass? She was a grandmother, for the love of Sal. This man had stumbled into her life and set it on its end, where she teetered and tottered. He stood below her with open arms to catch her when—if, she told herself, if—she fell, but who would be there to pick up the pieces when he dropped her again to start his future with Hermione?

She was left sleepless for the remainder of the night as she fretted over the question. She didn't think she could make love with the man without falling in love with him. Yet he was clearly looking just to fill an interlude before he began the rest of his life. Could she knowingly allow herself to be nothing more than a nice memory for him?

She turned her pillow over and realized that the other side was already damp with her tears. The problem was that her heart was already attached to the wizard. Oh, Ted, she thought, I wish you had the answer to this one for me. She recalled her wedding night and how she had approached it almost as a business transaction. Ted had changed it, had changed her. He had insisted on making love to her until she enjoyed it as much as he did. After that, he had won her heart, and now she couldn't separate the action from the emotion.

Severus watched her as she brought his breakfast the next morning. "You don't look well," he observed. "Didn't you sleep?"

"What do you think?" she snapped.

His response matched his facial expression. "Ah, my dove, you need only say yes and I will promise you sweet dreams every night."

Her face crumpled as she laid out the various plates and cups on a side table. "And how will I sleep after you leave me for your future? What will become of me after that, and what if I become—attached—to you in the meanwhile?"

His hand on her wrist was gentle as he held her close. "Andromeda, who says I plan to leave?"

"Don't you? They've all left for one reason or another. All I've got left is that baby, and it won't be long before he leaves me, too." She sighed. "It's probably no more than I deserve. It's what I did, after all."

"That was completely different." He tilted her face over to meet his lips. The kiss was just a whisper. "I don't want to hurt you, Andromeda. I just want to share moments with you that we can both enjoy."

The kiss she gave him in response was much more passionate. Something deep within her opened and flowed out. She wanted him in every way possible, and not just for an interlude. She knew she would be hurt; it was clear from what he had just said that Severus could not want more than a few months at the most. It was impossible for her not to be hurt now. At some point during the previous night she had become attached to him. What difference would it make if she gave him her body?

He felt her acquiescence and kissed her, still softly. "Ah, my dove, what we will share together..."

He lay her back into the pillows as he continued to kiss her, his hand creeping across her waist and pulling her close. More than anything he wanted her to feel safe with him. Given the way she clung to him as he pulled their bodies closer together, he knew this was right.

She opened her eyes for just a moment to look into his. She traced his face and looked at him. "Please be kind to me. I worry about what will come after..."

"You will not suffer at my hands, for any reason," he promised.

She turned away and stifled a sigh. It was clear that he didn't understand. She didn't have time to think about it, because the full force of his passion was turned on her during the next kiss. Her lips would be sore from the pressure, she thought. He kept kissing and kissing her until she sighed with delight, her worries momentarily forgotten.

He was gently working the fastenings of her robe and kissing her eyelids when the sound echoed through the house: the front door bell. Andromeda jumped up as though stung and readjusted her clothing. "That will be Hermione and maybe Harry. I believe I should go." She looked at his breakfast, lying forgotten on the table. "I'll bring you some fresh coffee, too."

She watched as the girl's face lit up on the threshold of Severus's room. When she came back with fresh coffee and an additional cup, she watched the two talk excitedly. She withdrew down the hallway, toward the still room. She remembered what had nearly happened the night before in that room and continued to the kitchen. Perhaps she should see about dinner.

She stood watching the garden through her kitchen window for a long while, forgetting the time until a clock's chime reminded her of her housewifely duties. She wasn't a housewife, she reminded herself, and then thought for a while about what the proper term would be. She finally decided she didn't know.

She remembered, when she was peeling onions, that an affair with Severus would hurt his future wife. She couldn't do that to Hermione. Andromeda put down the onions and looked unseeingly into her back garden. She remembered his hands on her and imagined them going farther. Then she imagined him sneering his goodbyes to her as he left with his young bride.

She didn't know how long she stood there, but it must have been a couple of hours. The shadows shifted a little bit and a clock in the hallway chimed an hour. The next thing she knew was Severus's hands on her shoulders and his lips on her neck.

"I think she grows on me more with every visit, but I couldn't wait for her to leave this time. Where were we?"

Andromeda used a dishtowel to wipe her eyes, and she turned and spoke overly brightly. "We were going to do something terrible, but fortunately we were interrupted." She put a hand on his cheek and said, "I do want it, Severus. I can't tell you how much. If we give in to our desires though, we would regret it eventually. It would hurt too many people."

He took her hand in both of his and brought it to his lips. "Andromeda, how can anything like what's between us hurt anyone?"

"How can you ask that?" Those stupid onions were still making her tear up. "If you don't care about how this affects anyone else, Severus, please think of me. I do believe this thing has the power to destroy me utterly."

He pulled her close and held her. "I won't let that happen."

She pulled back away. "I don't see how you can prevent it. If we start... I know that I'll probably fall in love with you." There wasn't any value in mentioning that she was most of the way there already.

Her whispered comments had an effect on him. "Do you have any idea what your voice does to me? Have you any idea how much I want you?"

She thought of the ache in her own body and wrapped her arms around her middle. "I think I can guess."

"Why would falling in love be so awful?"

"Because eventually the affair would have to end."

"Who says it must end?" He reached for her.

She looked up at him in horror at the thought of continuing after he was—she pushed away. "You can't mean to... I can't possibly... It would be wrong..."

She escaped from his grasp and ran up to her bedroom. Vestiges of the snake's venom that had settled into his joints made stairs still difficult for him. It took him several minutes to follow her, but eventually she heard him scratching at the door. "Please, my dove, tell me what worries you. I assure you that I have no intention of seeing you hurt."

"Damned Slytherin!" she hissed to herself. "He'll say anything to achieve his goal for the moment." Louder she said, "Please leave, Severus. One thing that is sure is that it won't happen in this room, where my husband and I shared our marriage. Please... go..."

She heard him make his way down the stairs and into his own room. A part of her knew she should go down after him to look after his comfort, but another part of her knew that she put herself at risk if she did so. Another part wanted desperately to go down the stairs and help him into the bed as a prelude to joining him, but the loudest part of her couldn't face the possibility that he would hurt her. She knew he wouldn't hurt her on purpose, but the thought of him carelessly tossing her aside was almost as bad as that of him doing so with malicious intent. Worst of all was the thought of him leaving her sadly, well aware of the pain he was causing. She didn't want him to regret her.

In the midst of this indecision, the baby cried. She was grateful to have a duty to attend. She made her way to the nursery to change a diaper and prepare a bottle. Within an hour she and Teddy were ensconced in the sitting room. The child went to sleep against his grandmother's chest. In that position, after a night of scant sleep, there was little for her to do but fall asleep, too.

A/N: Thank you to Trickie Woo for beta reading!