thanks to tiggs and ck for betaing! go gryffindor!

prompts at the bottom

978 words, by google docs

Andromeda can't help but feel like a mistake. She feels like she shouldn't have been born. She feels like she should've gotten in deep with Ted. And, as she draws her legs to her chest, she remembers that she has a mistake.

She's at some old city, looking out at the sea. It seems too calm for the storm that's raging inside of her. There's only a slight breeze, making some of her hair slap her in the face.

Andromeda hates her hair. It's now just a reminder of how much she looks like her sister—her sister that she chose to lose.

She's not even sure why she came here.

"You're here."

Andromeda turns her head, still hugging her knees to her chest. Ted is standing there, his black hair ruffled and his brown eyes full of concern. He's so plain, she thinks. She could have someone better than him. She could have the person she was supposed to marry. She just needs to—

Her stomach gives a lurch and she knows that she can't.

"I told you to set up a meeting," she whispers. If she felt up to it, she probably would get up and hug Ted. Maybe. She's not sure what to say. Maybe a hug would make it seem better.

She doesn't get up though. Her stomach gives another lurch.

Andromeda looks back towards the sea, watching the calm waves go on. She feels Ted sit down next to her. She can feel his presence, without even looking.

"Why did you want to meet up?" Ted asks, his voice ever so polite. It's his voice. That's what Andromeda liked first. How polite he was to everyone. He was the perfect Hufflepuff, even to younger Slytherin girls. He still is.

Why did Andromeda want to meet up with him? It's two words. Why can't she get them out?

"I—" she says, something stirring in her stomach. Something more. Her face feels hot and she lurched forward a bit, trying to keep everything down. Ted reaches out a hand, ready to catch her.

"Andy, are you okay?" he asks. She spares a look at him and sees the concern written on his face, his eyebrows furrowed and his worry lines visible. She once told him that he was too young to have worry lines. He told her that he was too young to be a father.

He was talking about the first years he was prefect over then, of course. Now it seems ironic.

Looking into his eyes, Andromeda knows that she can't keep it from his anymore. She just needs to say the words.

"I'm pregnant," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. She turns back to watching the sea, not being able to face Ted any longer.

"What?" Ted asks, his voice still besides her. His voice is low and rough.

"I'm pregnant," she repeats. It's somehow easier to say it the second time. It's like a weight has been lifted off her chest, finally. "I'm pregnant," she says again, "and my mother found out it was your child and now they—"

She cuts herself off. It's too painful. She thought that maybe with Ted it would be okay, that she could be fine without her family, but how can she be fine when she's been cut off from the one thing she's ever known? How can she be fine when she's…

When she's not a Black anymore?

Glancing at Ted, she can see that his face is blank. Great. He thinks, just like her mother, that their child—her baby—is a disgrace. Well, Andromeda knows it now: she's not going to let anyone take her baby away from her.

"I figured," Ted says finally, with a deep sigh. Andromeda blinks.

"What?" She's not sure she heard right because 'I figured' was not the answer she was expecting. She had played this scene out a hundred times in her head, since she first sent Ted a letter telling him to set up a meeting for them to talk. None of the reactions in her were 'I figured'.

"I've been thinking about you, and when we—when we were together last and I just—" Ted cuts himself off. He has been looking at Andromeda, but now he wrings his hands together and looks out towards the sea. "I figured that your family would be mad, too, so I wanted you to see here," he finishes, looking back at her.

"Why?" Andromeda asks, slightly in shock. Maybe Ted should have been a Ravenclaw instead of a Hufflepuff. Maybe he just knows her too well.

"This village looks like nothing now, but it used to be a huge port," Ted says, gesturing towards the smattering of small buildings behind them. Andromeda hadn't been paying much attention to them before, but she looks over now. There's a sad type of beautifulness in them, like it's been carrying grief. "It got destroyed a few decades ago and had to be built up from the bottom. I thought it would be a good symbolism for you and your family; you used to be so important and now you're not." Ted pauses and takes a deep breath, his mouth somewhere between a frown and a smile. "But at the same time, now you can build up and start over again and I don't know, really, I just—"

And Andromeda can't help herself; she grabs Ted's face in her hands and draws him close, making their lips touch.

"I only want to start over with you," she tells him, her heart melting at his expression. She takes it back; he couldn't ever be anything but a Hufflepuff—his face is too full of kindness right now. "A real family, you know?"

"Of course," Ted says, leaning over and grabbing her hand with a little squeeze. "I'm here for you."

Something kicks in her stomach.

for:

the houses competition [gryffindor, year 7, short - [setting] a seaside village that was once a port]

auction [andromeda/ted]

assignment 8 [muggle history, task 1 - making a serious mistake]

couple appreciation [excited]

pinata [family]

writing club [character appreciation - family; disney - mother's intuition; amber's attic - 22; showtime - one day in october; days of the month - world health day (10 points); liza's loves - homeless; count your buttons - all for you; lyric alley - 22; aaa - #redrumroses; sophie's shelf - wrong side of the tracks]

guess the name [gemini]

speak like shakespeare day [sonnet 18]