The Beginning of the End

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

Andromeda Tonks would never know why she agreed to have her home be part of the plan to move Harry Potter. It all seemed a bit hare-brained, to have several Harry Potters flying around England by various means. She wondered who had thought of it. She told Ted she didn't want any part of it. Nymphadora tried next but Andromeda was unmoved. Remus was convincing, but not convincing enough.

Finally, Ted brought out the unimpeachable authority. Alastor Moody came to dinner one Friday evening. He spoke of nothing very much until Ted suddenly jumped up to take the plates out. Andromeda didn't think about it and relaxed with her coffee for once. Then she felt her hands being pulled between those of the old Auror.

"They need to be able to use this house."

She shook her head. "It's such a risky chance. If the Ministry discovers where this house is, then the Death Eaters will know in minutes. Both my sisters will..."

"The risk of not using it is far greater. Hagrid knows how to get here, and he will be bringing one of the Harrys. You simply have to let them in, and they will take a Portkey out within an hour."

"Are you absolutely sure this is the only way, Alastor?"

"There's something wrong with all of the choices, but this is the best idea we have."

"I don't like it."

"I don't like any of it. I think you have fair chances against either of your sisters or brothers-in-law, though. They don't expect you to know what to do with a wand." He pinched her cheek and winked at her as he always did. She should have hated it, but somehow she didn't. Instead she nodded her head in agreement. The Order of the Phoenix would use her house on the night Harry Potter was moved from his aunt's house.

She watched her daughter and brand new son-in-law adjust the protective spells around the house and property so that certain magical items would be allowed. Ever since Sirius had been in jail, Hagrid had the use of that noisy machine. Arthur Weasley had made some modifications beyond the ones Sirius had, and now that motor cycle would be returning to her house, with all of its smells and noises. It was the best means available for Hagrid and one of the Harrys to travel.

The night before the event, Andromeda was extremely nervous. She wasn't used to such things happening over her head, and she somehow felt that it portended an end to her life as she knew and loved it. Ted teased her. "You're Andromeda, not Cassandra. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

She smiled and nodded her head, letting him slide her dressing gown from her shoulders. For some reason, having the plan come so close to their lives made Ted behave as though he were twenty years younger. She didn't care. He held her close as they slept,69589 and at some point she woke up from a bad dream and reached for him, demanding that he prove they were both still very much alive and well.

They were late. They were late, and the hands of the clock for Nymphadora and Remus pointed at "mortal peril". She looked accusingly at Ted, and he patted her hand. "You know it will be fine, Andromeda. They've been through some bad scrapes in their time."

"They were supposed to get here..."

A horrible noise sounded in the garden. Ted ran out the kitchen door, shouting for whoever had landed near the pond. She followed right behind. They realized that they had the real Harry Potter and found Hagrid, unconscious. The motorcycle was seemingly destroyed, hit by every spell in the book. Andromeda blinked back a memory of Sirius, who was so very delighted to show it off with his "adjustments," as he had called them.

Ted levitated the heavy body of Rubeus Hagrid into the downstairs bedroom. Andromeda brought Harry into the downstairs sitting room by similar means. After she healed the injuries she could, she went to the bedroom and began work on Hagrid. The half-giant was soon more like himself and insisted on going to Harry. After doing some damage to her downstairs hallway, he was reunited with his young friend.

The look on Harry Potter's face as he saw her was, frankly, insulting. After she had just helped him recover from some injuries, and after she had allowed him to come to her home, she deserved a little more respect than this. She didn't look that much like Bellatrix. She remembered in a flash what Severus had once said about the boy's tendency to make rash judgments.

With a new flash, she remembered that Severus wasn't really their friend. She had spent a whole Easter Holiday learning to brew Wolfsbane Potion from him. He was a hard, taciturn man, but she thought they had become friends of a sort. There were few enough from Slytherin House who worked with Dumbledore. Yet another pang went through her at the thought of all the losses, of life and of friendships, that Voldemort had wrought, and she was quite angry.

The question of what must have happened to her daughter brought her up short. If Hagrid and Harry looked like this, what had happened to the others? The look on the boy's face said it all. Andromeda's heart went out to him. She had agreed, after all. He wasn't so much younger than Tim, but Dumbledore had said it must be this way. Thinking of all the terrible things that had happened just in the last three years made her doubt it.

Once again she thanked whatever it was that had given her the strength to send Tim away and tell him to stay away for a few years. It broke her heart every time she ate a meal and he wasn't there. She wished every day of her life that she could see his face at her table. However, she knew better than to think the Blacks would accept his existence in the Magical world. As long as they were allowed to believe that he just didn't exist, the better off the boy and the whole family would be.

The boy stumbled all over himself in an effort to reassure her, but he couldn't lie. The Portkey would leave soon, so Ted showed them where it was, in the back bedroom. Andromeda wasn't sure she could stand to look at the boy. At least Grandmother Irma's silver mirror was being put to good use.

There was nothing to do for the rest of the night but wait and hope. Ted tried to be reassuring but he wasn't very sure, himself what could have happened. Several hours later, Nymphadora and Remus arrived. He looked disheveled and unhappy; she was weeping. They were chilled through, and the older couple knew better than to ask any questions before getting something hot and comforting into them. Dora finally threw herself into her mother's arms and said, "Mum, they killed him! They waited for us and they killed him right off!"

Andromeda looked from her daughter to her son-in-law and back again. "Who?"

"Mad-Eye," said Remus, quietly. "Bill said that You-know-who aimed at Mundungus, who Disapparated, and Mad-Eye got a Killing Curse aimed straight at him. He couldn't do anything to avoid it at that point. There was nothing any of us..."

"No, of course not," said Ted.

Andromeda felt sealed off, although she continued to pat her daughter's back somewhat mechanically. She remembered so many events... Alastor Moody pinching her cheek the day after her wedding, Alastor Moody making plots and plans with the original Order of the Phoenix, Moody recuperating in her back bedroom after that terrible incident, Moody pinching her cheek for what turned out to be the last time just this past week...

Remus spoke, although even his usually calm voice trembled. "His body was gone by the time we got a chance to check for him." A shudder passed through the body in her arms. Even after spending an evening as an Auror, working and fighting hard, Dora was a young woman, after all. She had seen and done much in fighting the Death Eaters and other users of the Dark Arts, but she had her limits, and Alastor had been a special friend to her from childhood.

After they settled their daughter down and sent her to her bedroom with her husband, Ted and Andromeda went to their own bedroom, to find what solace was available there. They consoled themselves by telling each other that the worst must be over by now, but they both knew that if the Ministry fell into Death Eater hands, it would get worse still. They gave themselves to each other, hoping to find the strength to stand whatever else must come.

Andromeda had not been away from the cottage for ages. With the Lestranges on the loose, Ted had considered it too dangerous. He hadn't even let her go to Dumbledore's funeral, a situation she deplored bitterly. He finally relented and let her go to Bill Weasley's wedding.

"It's highly secured," he agreed. "Besides, with all the Aurors and ministry officials, you should be fairly safe even if your sister does show up."

She dressed carefully, given that it was her best chance to get out and about for a very long time. She wore a dark blue dress robe that Ted told her was especially pretty on her and the sapphires that were her birthright. When her husband looked at her before they left, the smile on his face told her why she had dressed as she had.

"Prettiest witch I ever spoke to," he whispered as he tried to kiss her neck.

"Ted, please," she said, knowing if she let him start that line of activity they wouldn't make it to the wedding.

The bride was radiantly beautiful. The groom bore little resemblance to the sweet little boy Andromeda had met long before when Molly had thrust him into her arms. He was now a full grown man. The ceremony was lovely, and the party afterwards did homage to Molly Weasley's home making skills. She was dancing with Elphias Doge when Kingsley's Patronus came. It started to speak, and the guests started to panic. Before she could focus on the dark-robed figures Apparating into the garden, a hand was on her wrist and she was being taken by Side-along Apparition.

Her feet found the ground in the back corner of her own garden. Ted sighed with relief and pulled her tightly into his arms, holding her closely. "That was too close. Your sister was one of them."

She hugged him as tightly as he did her. "Oh, Ted, you're in at least as much danger as I am. Your blood status will make you a target."

"That's why I need to leave tomorrow, 'Dromeda," he told her. "Dolores has taken over the Ministry. I know Pius will be the new Minister, but Dolores is going to be able to pursue her agenda and use every Ministry agency to do so. I'm sure I'll be one of the first rounded up. She'll finally get even with me."

"I meant to tell you about the way the new roses came in over near the pond," she said, trying, as ever, to change the subject. "There's one over there that's bright yellow until it opens, and then there's a ring of red..." She choked and buried her face in his chest.

He waited for a minute or two. "There, now. We knew it would come."

"Why? Why must we bow to that vicious woman and her desires? All I ever wanted was a life to lead that I could call my own, and that wouldn't be in danger every minute."

"We've had twenty-five good years, dear."

She nodded her head. "I want twenty-five more, and then the twenty-five after that."

"Well, perhaps we'll find a way to make that happen. We got our first twenty-five, didn't we?"

She couldn't let herself think of the people who helped him on that long ago night at the Lestrange estate, but the memories came anyway. There were the Prewett brothers, dear Alastor, Dumbledore, and Kingsley. Now only Kingsley Shacklebolt was still alive.

They ate their dinner quietly, and he sat at the table in the kitchen and watched her clear up. She set aside a small store of things he could take with him. "I don't know what else I can properly do. Maybe I should come with you."

"I couldn't live with myself if you were in danger. Besides, who's going to help our daughter sort through her marriage? I know I shouldn't judge, but it's going to be as complicated as ours was. You could be the guiding hand there."

They shared a smile. He watched the sway of her hips as she sent the dried dishes back into their cupboards. He couldn't resist walking behind her and kissing the nape of her neck as his hands settled at her waist. She turned, and all of their fears and worry quickly became something else.

They moved up the stairs as quickly as they could, pulling at each other's clothes. He was always so careful of her, and tonight was no different. Passionate as he was, he guided her carefully through the hallway and around furniture, until they were in their bed together, giving, receiving, and finding bliss.

"Oh, Teddy"

"My Andromeda."

It didn't end there. Neither wanted to sleep that night. They didn't want to miss a moment of time together. As they touched each other, they imprinted their minds with memories that might never be renewed. Andromeda spent what seemed like hours on the back of her husband's legs while he studied the curve along her side from her waist to her hips.

When they weren't making love, they shared remembrances. Andromeda told her husband of the time she and Bellatrix had gone after the Prince sisters for saying Narcissa was a shrimp. Andromeda had only been about seven at the time. Ted told her of the time he first realized his eyes could shift from brown to greenish and how people would stare at him. He quickly realized he should keep from looking directly at people because of it.

She whispered to him about how she had come to love him. She had been startled by his openness, amazed by his kindness, and impressed by his heroism on her behalf. She had been completely bowled over by his love for her. He told her about the way he felt smitten from the first time he had seen her and how easy it had been to continue from there.

Ted slid out of the bed too soon and went into the bath for a shower. Andromeda threw something on quickly and went to the kitchen to put something together for him to eat on his way. She met him at the front door. He smiled and kissed her. "They'll be here within a couple of hours, but make sure you get some sleep after they've gone."

She followed him down the path and to the gate. "I love you, Theodore Tonks."

"I love you too, 'Dromeda. It will be fine, you'll see." She nodded although she wasn't sure if she believed him. "You'll always be the prettiest witch I've ever spoken with."

"Oh, Ted, really." It was half a giggle, half a sob.

He kissed her one last time, a tender, gentle kiss. She clung to him, aware that it was dangerous to do so, and yet incapable of letting go. He finally pulled away, and then he walked out the gate.

She watched him, knowing that perhaps he might sneak home again once or twice. Perhaps they would have a chance to spend the night in each other's arms. They wouldn't be able to write, of course, and he wouldn't really have anywhere to stay. They would have to trust to the kindness of others or perhaps stray opportunities to keep up with each other. He walked to a curve in the road and waved. She kissed both her hands and waved them back to him. Through the tears in her eyes she saw him Disapparate.

A/N: This is one of the hardest chapters I've ever written. I like happy stories, and although Ted's optimism is infectious, it doesn't change the canon facts.

Thanks go to Trickie Woo for beta reading.