disclaimer: Not mine.
dedication: To awkward (turtle) silences. :)
note: Hello again! :) First quarter of school is officially over. I think they'll be announcing Honors this week. I'm excited!

…

He was floating in between dreams and reality, fully enjoying his state of half-awareness when a relatively rough knock sounded on his door. It jolted him awake; his parents had gone on a trip; he was supposed to be alone.

"Ted! Ted, open up!"

Andromeda.

In all the years he had ever known her, she had never raised her voice. She was always soft-spoken, unlike Bellatrix and Narcissa (those harpies). But now that she did… there was something wrong.

So he all but flew to the door, wrenching it open to find a very shaken Andromeda. Her long brown hair was frazzled, her face pale and very gaunt, and her eyes rimmed red. She was dressed in only a thin nightgown with a white coat that had obviously been thrown on at the last minute.

Ted's mind was racing: was she hurt? There weren't any visible signs of injury, at least not from where he was standing. Had someone died? Was it her mother? Her father? And even in the midst of this he couldn't help thinking that if either of her sisters died, he wouldn't really give a damn. Hmm… What about her cousins? Regulus, what if it was him? Or worse, oh no, what if it had been Sirius —

"My parents don't approve of us," she sniffled. "And they said that if I were to choose you, they would disown me."

And Ted's mind abruptly stopped. They disowned her? It didn't mean much to him, but it certainly did make him upset. He knew it meant a lot for a pureblood princess like Andromeda; it was a shame to be disowned. And to think — it was all because she had chosen him.

"You chose me." Ted licked his dry lips. His voice was raspy and rough and he was still half-asleep, but if he knew Andromeda's sisters, they'd come at him like banshees with wands —

"Of course! I love you, Teddy."

"I love you too, 'Dromeda."

She fell forward into his arms and murmured into his chest, "You know we're going to have to run, right?"

"From your sisters? I'm not surprised," replied Ted, and he pulled her into the room.

"We have to run now, Teddy."

He pulled back the covers on his bed and tugged Andromeda's coat off. "We can run in the morning, 'Dromeda, when I'm fully awake and have had something to eat."

"But Teddy — "

He grabbed her arm and pulled, chuckling slightly as she landed on the mattress with a squeak. Bunching the covers up around them, Ted pressed a kiss to Andromeda's forehead and whispered, "Your sisters can wait another day, Andromeda. Sleep."

Andromeda huffed, then closed her eyes, knowing she really couldn't do anything now. Ted always had this way of charming her — and she found she didn't really mind as she fell asleep in the warmth of his arms.

…

footnote: I love Ted & Andromeda. :D Fluffy. R&R?