To Meg: Thanks so much for your review! I'm so glad you're taking this journey with me and I promise to finish strong over these next few weeks. xD

Ted stared at the newspaper, dumfounded. The Headline read, "Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, and Rabastan Lestrange identified as followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

He who must not be named. That was what they were calling him now, on account of how Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan had murdered a reporter who'd written a scathing report about their movement, and declared that anyone else who called their master by his name would suffer the same fate. So now Lord Voldemort would not be known by his name, but by this incredibly long and ridiculous title.

Ted sighed. It wasn't that Lord Voldemort's name didn't strike him with fear. It did. The things he and his followers had done, and the fact that no one in the ministry could catch him, filled him with terror. But denying him a name made him seem inhuman. Like a demon. Immortal. Unkillable, and that was what terrified him.

They hadn't managed to catch Bellatrix, Rodolphus, or Rabastan. They'd gone into hiding along with their master. When Ted had brought his information to Dumbledore, he already knew, as the ministry was keeping him informed, and vice versa. He'd asked Ted how he knew, and Ted had lied and said he didn't know, he just suspected. He feared if he told him what Andromeda had done, she'd be expelled, or worse, and he couldn't do that to her, no matter how much he hated himself for keeping this hidden.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Lorie said, tossing the daily prophet away from and putting her head on the table.

"Are you really so surprised?" Jake asked, rubbing Lorie's back in concern.

"Not about them," she said, "but I am about Rabastan."

Jake and Olivia exchanged looks, trying to decide how best to proceed without hurting Lorie further. "You do remember that they kidnapped you, right?"

"I actually don't," Lorie said. "They wiped my memory. Only Andromeda knows what happened and she didn't tell me."

Me either, Ted thought, but didn't say.

"Do you think she's seen this yet?" Jake seemed to ask the group, but his eyes looked at Ted.

"Don't know," Ted said, looking away. Hopefully his friends would take his shady behavior as concern and not anger.

"I know Rabastan's a touchy subject around here," Lorie said, glancing specifically at Ted, who pretended he didn't notice, "but he didn't seem like a murderer."

Unfortunately, Ted had to agree. Rabastan was many things, mostly things he didn't like, but he'd never seemed like a killer. But none of them had heard Rabastan's broken voice the other day when he said goodbye to Andromeda. Whatever Rabastan had been was gone, replaced with whatever this You-Know-Who guy stuffed inside.

"Speaking of Andromeda," Olivia said, giving Ted a pointed look. Ted stiffened as he looked up. He'd intended to give Andromeda a cold stare to let her know he hadn't forgiven her for any of it, but the moment he saw her, his resolve melted. It seemed no matter what happened, no matter what she did, he would never be able to love her any less. That thought was almost as terrifying as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself.

Her eyes met his, and he saw the same broken expression on her face. A longing. No matter what he'd said to her yesterday, she wanted him. What a twisted game he found himself in. He looked down, suddenly overwhelmed. He should stay away from her. His love didn't mean he was any less angry, and if he was around her now ,he would only say something he would later regret, but then he glanced down at the headline. They needed to talk about what this meant for them, no matter how painful and terrifying.

"Be back in a moment," he said. His friends worried expressions followed them all the way out, but he ignored them. He hated lying to them, again, but this was his and Andromeda's burden to bear, not theirs.

Andromeda started to say something as he approached her, but he shook his head. "Not here." Then he strode out into the hallway. He could feel her trailing behind him, but he dared not look back. If he saw her, he wasn't sure whether he would scream at her or kiss her or run away, and he couldn't do any of those things. Finally they reached a secluded corner of the castle, and he tried not to tremble as he turned around.

As it turned out, he was right. He had both the urge to wrap her in his arms and throw the article in her face and scream that the reporter's blood was on both of their hands. Instead he glanced determinedly at the ground and refused to look up.

"I'm assuming you've seen the Daily Prophet headline?" Ted said.

She nodded. "Did you tell Dumbledore anyway?"

Ted shrugged. "I tried to. He already knew."

Even from his view of the floor he could see the way she stiffened, and he added, "I didn't tell him about you, I just said I had my own suspicions."

"And he believed you?"

His jaw twitched. He knew she didn't mean that as an insult. It was Dumbledore they were talking about, after all, but something in her tone still irked him. "He didn't say otherwise."

They stood there in stiff silence before Andromeda asked, "Did you tell him about… about the date Rabastan mentioned?"

And here it was, the real reason Ted could no longer look her in the eye, and the reason he knew he was still irrevocably in love with her. "No."

She breathed out, then said, "Why?"

He didn't want to look up, but he had too. For better or worse, they were in this together. She looked exactly like he imagined. Grief threatening to spill out, but her fear kept it holed up inside. He wasn't sure which way this would tip her.

"Because I assumed Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan would be locked up once their identities were revealed, but since that didn't happen, I can't risk them finding out you know their secret plans. If they suspect Rabastan, and he reveals your connection…" he didn't finish that sentence, but her imagination did the rest.

The grief won, and tears spilled down her cheeks. "Ted, I'm—"

"Don't," he said, looking down again. "Just don't."

They stood in silence. Neither of them able to look the other in the eye. Ted knew he should leave. Standing her like this was torture, but like Andromeda, he didn't know where this left them, and he didn't want to find out.

Finally, she said, "I'm thinking of dropping out of school."

He looked up in shock. He couldn't help it. She still stared determinedly at her feet. When he didn't say anything, she continued, "I told Slughorn, and he encouraged me not too, but I don't, I don't know how to do this." Her shoulders shook, like she was fighting off a sob.

Ted just stared at her. A part of him thought this was for the best. He loved Andromeda, but that love had come at a price. She'd sacrificed the safety of the whole wizarding, and even muggle, world just to save him from her family. And now he was compromising the safety of the Hogwart's students to save her. Was that right? Did love justify that kind of sacrifice? Maybe the world was better off if he and Andromeda went their separate ways. But he couldn't do that if she was here. He'd run to her like he always did. But if she left, and he stayed here, maybe eventually, he could learn to survive without her.

Except, she wasn't leaving because of what she'd done to protect him. She was leaving because of their child. He could tell by the way her hands moved over her barely protruding belly. She'd told him she couldn't face this without him, and now he couldn't even look at her. And no matter what he felt, he couldn't promise her they could be together like they had been before. But why should she compromise her entire magical future for a mistake they made together? That wasn't fair, and if he let her do this, he might never forgive himself.

He tried to move toward her, to convince her to stay, but then he couldn't do it. He couldn't touch her, no matter how much he wanted too. He wanted to rip his hair out in frustration. He didn't know what to do. It seemed no matter what he did he was a monster in some form or fashion.

Finally, he said, "I'm not abandoning our child, Andromeda. I'll do what I can to protect you. To protect both of you, I just… I can't… I don't know what the future holds for us." He'd said it. Out loud, the words they'd been dancing around.

Andromeda let out a breath like he'd punched her in the gut. He knew he'd hurt more than he ever had before, but anything else would have been a lie. He wasn't sure he could forgive her, or himself, for what they'd done. And without forgiveness, they had no future.