Ted only *seems* ordinary.  :)  Fortunately, Andromeda is a fast learner and, as a proper Slytherin, she knows to take advantage of a good thing when she sees it.  He was always attracted to her, and now she's starting to realize that instead of wishing the pure-blood wizards were like him, she is attracted to *him* as he is.Thank you for the lovely reviews!

She's slowly coming around to the idea of Ted.  I think she's starting to enjoy the side-benefits. ;)I don't think her family will ever quite forgive her, and they'll look for ways to get back at her for the rest of their lives.Thanks for the review!

I hope RL is interfering in a good way.  Thank you for the review!  Dolores is one of my favorite characters to write.  She's "so deliciously ee-vil," as a current cartoon character says.  I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Thank you, so very much!Yes, Andromeda was approaching this thing as a business transaction, where the "bottom line" with Ted happens to be better than with Rabistan.  It's only lately that she's started to think about things like love, poor dear.I think they're grateful to Dolores, but she will be feeling differently.Arabella had to be somewhere before Dumbledore moved her to Privet drive.  Based on that task of keeping an eye on Harry, I can easily see her as a sort of house mother for safe houses.Thank you, again!

Thank you!  I got all the way to that part of the wedding rite and realized, oops!  Fortunately, Ted was prepared and Alphard never stopped loving his late wife, LOL.  I fell a little in love with Uncle Al when I wrote him.Who, indeed, could be breaking in?  I agree, the ceremony was completed just in time.

Thank you!That's how I see them all, too; I'm glad it works.

Yes, I agree, she was headed for a life of abuse.  Hopefully, she won't have to return to it.When I started to write this story and think about what might have happened and how, it seemed first of all that no self-respecting Black would have the Metamorphmagus gene; and that second of all, Ted could probably use it more than Andromeda.  So I gave it to Ted.I don't think these two had a normal courtship, but I do think there must have been a strong attraction.Anyway, thank you for the lovely review!

Don't worry... everyone will be in his or her proper place in your heart by the time we're done, LOL.Few evil people were born that way.  I think Trixie had certain predispositions but started out nice enough.  It's my assessment that Voldemort only attracts those whom he can "help."  Otherwise why would the pure-blood witches and wizards give him the time of day?  They all know he's not in _Nature's Nobility_.Alphard is a bit of a rascal, just like Sirius.  With an older sister like Walburga, he probably had a good reason for shouting out something like that curse.  No one can make you madder than your own blood relatives, especially siblings.

I think Dolores is a whole other type of evil, but she makes use of the DEs and their phobias.  It is a good thing Kingsley saw Ted and was able to make something good out of it.I love weaving in and out of canon.  From where I sit, there's a lot less imagination necessary, so it lets me "cheat".  :)Thank you, again, for your reviews and your promotion!

Thank you!  I love to write Dolores.  All that Muggle-hate had to stem from somewhere; I picked unrequited love for the purposes of this story.Poor Trixie hasn't started to be miserable yet, and of course her years at the Azkaban Spa will complete the job.

I knew going in how this story would end.  Actually, the scene in the last chapter is the first one that came to mind.  What I didn't realize was how I would feel about it.  I didn't realize how much I would really like Ted.  It's a good thing, since I might not have bothered with the story if I had known.  :/

I'll be sorry to see this end, myself.  I really started to care about these characters after starting to write this story and it hurt to get to this part.The last chapter is in queue.  Thank you so much for all the great reviews!

Part of the fun of figuring Ted and Andromeda out is looking at the little bits we've seen of them plus what we've seen of her sisters and cousins and then extrapolate what they might have been like.Thanks, again!

Yes, the story doesn't really improve from this point, on.  Of course, between Sirius going to jail and Ted's death are a good 15 to 16 years that I don't show.Thank you.

That scene with Tonks and Remus made me giggle and I couldn't resist.  Of course, no one except the Maraurders knows what a "furry little problem" is at this point in the canon, but little Tonks is absolutely sure she wants one because she wants to marry Remus.I think Lily/James would have been like the Football captain marrying the head cheerleader.  If they lived past their twenties, they both would have had to do a lot of growing up and changing to actually stay married.  Maybe it would have worked out, or maybe not.I'm glad you've enjoyed this story so much!  Thank you!

Everyone expects some doom for poor Tim, usually at the hands of Auntie Bella, but I couldn't do that.  I'm really bad with sad stories as a rule.Thank you!

If there's only about 40 or so members of each Hogwarts class, then the Wizarding world is probably pretty small and everyone eventually runs into everyone else, probably.I had another way for Nymphadora to come up with her name, but it was too convoluted for this story.  This sort of Ted is the kind of dad who would stick a kid with a name because he liked the sound of it and not worry about kids beating her up on the playground.  So Andromeda has to be the practical one and advise her to learn some good hexes.  ;)

One of the most chilling fics I read described Bella after Azkaban and how she couldn't remember anything good from her life before.  So it seems to me that Bellatrix was two distinctly different people before and after the Tedious One entered her life.I loved giving Andromeda the chance to stretch her legs a bit and to show that, after all, she's still a member of the family and a Slytherin.  ;)Thank you!

She's certainly been drawn to him since that day at Hogwarts, she trusts him, she's attracted by him... she just wasn't willing to make the leap and say she loved him until she realized what she could lose.  Now she knows.Thank you, again!

They would have been at Hogwarts around the same time, although they wouldn't have acknowledged each other from the houses they were in.  Tonks always says her mother is good at household spells, but I doubt Andromeda learned them growing up... so I had to invent a way for her to learn.  Thank you!

She doesn't seem to realize she's doing it, either.  He's the one person she trusts right now. 

Thank you!  :)

I like the way it's happening in your version, too!  They're all very fun!  This way made sense given the fact that I was tying the whole storyline to the mythology and the constellations.  If I were to write it again it might be more like yours, or I might delve into the universe where Bellatrix is at Hogwarts at the same time as her cousins so Andromeda must have been an unwed student mother.  There are so many options!Thanks!

I appreciate that you stopped to drop a line!  I'm glad you found it exciting.  Thanks!

Forgot to mention, while I was reading this, it brought to mind one of my favourite Ted and Andromeda pictures. http://th05.deviantart.net/fs14/300W/f/2007/057/6/7/_HP__Because_This_is_Not_a____by_LadyBelial.jpg

Hee, hee... That offer was almost a dare, wasn't it?  He gave her plenty to think about, though.I've never seen that picture, but it's perfect!Thank you!