A Preserving Sweet

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

Molly and Bill escorted Andromeda to the Ministry but then had to leave. Andromeda stood nervously in the anteroom of the Registry Office and waited. After a while, she heard voices coming down the hallway.

"I don't give my consent!"

"She's of age. She will give her own consent."

"She's been enchanted. She doesn't know her own mind."

"Poppy Pomfrey did a full check of her just last week. She's not under the influence of any spell or potion."

Andromeda heard her father clear his throat loudly. "She's my daughter, and I'll see for myself."

Andromeda had been starting at every sound of her father's voice. Now she looked in fear at the door that was about to open. She looked around the room. Ted hadn't gotten there yet, and she was defenseless.

Father entered the room. "Andromeda Black, it's time to come home and end this. The Dark Lord is willing to overlook your indiscretion. He will honor the marriage contract."

Her father was followed by a kind-looking official, her mother, and Uncle Alphard. The group filed into the room and they were ushered into the main office. Cygnus reached for Andromeda's arm and held it.

"Your mother has been worried to a sick bed, crying over your disappearance."

Andromeda looked at mother, who was impeccably dressed and whose placid face had not been perturbed in decades. "Emotions cause wrinkles, dear," she'd said time and again. Andromeda doubted there had been many tears at all, once the newspaper reporter had left the house.

"It's only the comfort of my brother, here, that has gotten me through the past week."

Uncle Alphard's eyes twinkled, and Andromeda knew she had a friend. "I'm sure there's a way to work through this whole thing," he said.

The official smiled nervously. "Yes, that's what I was saying. Miss Black, have you come of your own volition?"

Father glowered, Uncle Alphard twinkled, and mother looked impassive. Although she was afraid of father, and although she somehow knew Uncle Alphard would help her, it was mother who decided her. Did she want the life Druella Rosier had? No, Andromeda Black wanted to live.

She pulled her arm out of her father's grasp and stepped away from him. Then she looked directly at the official and smiled. "Yes, sir, I fully intend to marry Theodore Tonks."

The official sat at his desk and opened a folder. "All that remains, then, is the groom."

"I won't allow it!" thundered Cygnus.

"This is what I'm going to do, father. I didn't mean to disappoint you, but I simply can't...I can't do what you're asking."

"Please, at least consider a pureblood wizard. I was approached by the Prewetts a few months ago. Gideon was interested in you."

Andromeda shook her head. "They're nice enough, but I can't marry him."

"You're going to marry the Mudblood, then?"

"I love the Mudblood."

"Love!" he spat out. "Useless, and you're a useless little brat if that's all you care about. This is not why I have daughters."

Andromeda stared at her hands and then turned to the official. "Is there any paperwork I can sign while we wait?"

"Oh, yes, Miss Black, I have several things..."

"Andromeda! I'm telling you now. Do not sign those papers."

She walked over to the desk, where her father again put his hand on her arm.

"Let her go, sir."

Andromeda turned and saw Ted. He'd showered, and he was wearing dress robes. He looked amazing. "You're here."

"So are you." Ted walked toward the official's desk and pointed his wand at Cygnus's hand. "Let Andromeda sign whatever she wishes."

"I will not let her throw her life away and further, to become a tool of Mudbloods and blood-traitors!"

"If she marries me, she will be a cherished wife. Let her decide if that's throwing away her life. If she chooses to become a tool of any group, that's her business as far as I'm concerned."

"She'll be giving up her family, her position, and all of the respect of her peers."

Ted looked at Andromeda. "Will you miss it?"

"A little," she admitted. "It's all I've known for almost eighteen years."

"Shall we call it off, then?" He smiled cheerfully, but suddenly, she realized that she had access to his mind again. She could feel how important this was to him. Marriage would bind her for life, yet Ted would give her freedoms she had never known as a Black. Even now, when her choice was desperately important to him, he gave her the freedom to make this decision.

She had a reason to smile for the first time since arriving at the Ministry. "Don't you dare."

Cygnus's grip tightened, and Andromeda winced.

Ted faced the man who would, within minutes, be his father-in-law. "I'm going to be a good husband who will protect your daughter to my last breath, even if the person hurting her is her own father. So please, REMOVE.YOUR.HAND,SIR."

Cygnus saw the look in Ted's eye and let go of Andromeda's arm. He stood back with his own arms folded. "I'm not going to sign the contract."

The officiator cleared his throat and spoke as if this sort of scene happened in his office every day. "She's an of-age witch, sir. We only need your signature as executor of the trust fund, and that is really pro-forma."

"My wife's parents established that trust for proper pureblood husbands. It isn't intended for Mudbloods."

"What they may or may not have intended is not written here. What is very clear is the magic regulating the trust. Miss Black's portion is to be transferred upon her marriage as a dowry."

"I don't want it," said Ted.

"Mr. Tonks," whispered the official, "It has to be transferred upon her marriage. Old family magic is worked into this trust."

"Well, then," said Ted, "put it in the name of Andromeda Black."

"We can do that," said the official, after scanning the faded parchment.

"Tonks," said Andromeda, "Andromeda Black Tonks." She would become a new person, a person with more freedom than she had known in the past.

Ted's face shone with happiness at that, just as it had the first time she told him she loved him. When Uncle Alphard helped her with her cloak, his face got even brighter. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, making her feel like the brightest star. When they knelt together to say their vows, she felt as though a bright light was within the two of them. They clasped their hands to say their vows, much as they had weeks before in the cabin, and once again Andromeda had the feeling that they were merging together.

Her parents left as soon as the wedding rite ended. Druella had sniffed throughout the whole thing about witches who got married in presentation gowns that were obviously too small. Cygnus, having already had his say and having had it ignored, glowered silently. Andromeda wasn't sure why he stayed, unless it was to see if she would change her mind at the last minute. He stalked from the office without even looking to ensure that Druella and Alphard were with him.

After they left, Uncle Alphard frowned as though scolding Andromeda. He placed his hand on hers as though to accentuate whatever point he was making, but in actuality, he handed her an old fashioned key. "It's set to activate at five this evening," he whispered. "You may have the run of the place for two weeks." He let her go with a twinkling wink and then followed his brother.

Ted took her to a quiet restaurant in a suburb of London. "I've heard this is a very good place," he said. "I'm afraid I can't afford it as a regular thing, though."

"I don't expect it," she said. "I think I enjoy cooking. I want to see if you like the things Molly has taught me."

"I'm sure I will."

For the first time, they discussed the practical realities of the future. "I'm not sure if my flat is any sort of place to bring you," he said.

"Will you be there?"

He smiled. "Of course."

"Then it's exactly the place to bring me."

"But when the baby comes, it will be cramped."

"Don't we have time to figure that out?"

"Yes, we do." He took her hand. "What do you want to do about your uncle's Portkey? Is it safe?"

"I think so. He's very quiet when Aunt Walburga and father start talking, and he's Slytherin enough to be hiding different sympathies."

"Then why don't we?"

So was that at five in the evening, they were holding their bags and the key from Uncle Alphard. An instant later they were standing in the hallway of Alphard Black's cottage. A diminutive personage stood on the stair and greeted them.

"Is she Mistress Andromeda?" it asked.

"Yes, I'm Andromeda," she answered with a smile.

"I is Thallia, mistress. I shows Mistress and Master to bedroom."

She brought them upstairs to what was obviously the main bedroom.

"Oh, but isn't this Uncle Alphard's room?"

"Master moves downstairs after Mistress's death. We both waits for new Mistress."

"Oh," said Andromeda, not sure what that meant.

The house-elf worked around the room for several minutes, placing the bags someplace she had prearranged with herself and emptying them quickly. Her last act was to turn down the covers of the bed. Within ten minutes, Ted and Andromeda were alone in a bedroom they could call their own until Ted had to go back to work and Uncle Alphard came home.

Ted took her hands in his and looked at her. "I'll ask you this last time. Are you sure this is what you want?"

She had known that a moment like this one would come, and she knew what she needed to do if not exactly what to say. She knelt at his feet. When he leaned down and tried to lift her up, she put her hands over his lips. "I need to do this," she said.

Something in her eyes must have indicated her seriousness, because he nodded and said, "I'm listening."

"Theodore Tonks, I pledge myself to you for the rest of our lives. I don't know what will happen or how we will manage, but I trust that we will find our way through it together. I love you and you alone, and it is you with whom I will share a bed and children." She wasn't sure what else to say; they'd said everything else when they had exchanged their marriage vows, but it was important to her that she tell him that she was as sure of their love now as he had been in the cottage all those weeks ago.

Ted seemed to understand. His eyes were damp as he reached for Andromeda's hand and lifted her up. "I'm not sure what to do next," he said. "Suddenly, I have all of time to do the things I've always wanted to do with you, and I don't know where to start."

"What was the first thing you ever wanted to do with me?"

He tugged her closer. She leaned in and lifted her face, expecting to be kissed. Instead, he brought her hand up to his face and kissed the inside of her wrist. She wasn't prepared for the way it made her knees wobble.

"What are you doing?" she asked without breathing.

"When I first realized I love you, it was because I saw you holding your wand in Charms class and I wanted to kiss your wrist, just below where your wand ends. You've always had such sweet wrists."

"What year was it?"

"We were learning Cheering Charms in third year."

"I'm clearly a slow learner," she said.

"Why?"

"Because," she said, reaching her hands up to his shoulders, "the first time I realized I fancy you was not even a year ago. It was the beginning of last year when we were patrolling the dungeons. I saw your shoulders and I wanted to snuggle up to your chest."

"Did you?"

Andromeda very deliberately unfastened his tie and whispered a charm as she traced the line down the front of his shirt. Buttons gently unfastened themselves and his shirt parted. Humming with delight, Andromeda slid her hands around him and pressed her face against his warm skin.

"Oh, love," he said, "I'm going to lose all control."

"Isn't that the general idea?" she asked.

"And here I thought you were demure and shy."

"Do you want me to be shy with you?"

He tapped her nose and then let his finger trail down her chin and then between her breasts. "Not in the least." Now he slid his hands along her face and brought her close for a kiss. He groaned. "It's just that I want to gently undress you and slowly become one."

"Does it matter?"

"This is our first time as husband and wife. I imagine there will be many different ways of expressing our love over the years, but I want this time to be one we remember as special."

She didn't know how to describe what she was feeling. "Ted..."

He smiled teasingly. "Ah, love, is this passion or worry?"

As it so often did, his mischief rescued her. "Shut it, Mudblood, and love me."

He chuckled at that as his hands moved along the satiny surface of her dress, sliding up her ribs and around her breasts. Her body instantly reacted, and she could feel a corresponding reaction pressed up to her middle.

"I want you," he whispered.

"I want you, too."

His fingers were tangled in the laces of her dress. "May I?"

She nodded, and then held her breath as he unfastened the tie and loosened the strings. He slid first one breast and then the other out of her bodice, holding and caressing them in his hands.

"Ted..." she whispered as his thumbs traced her nipples.

"Definitely passion this time," he whispered against her lips.

She reached around to pull him closer to her. She pressed her body up against his and enjoyed the feel of his skin to hers."Oh," she sighed, blissfully.

"Do you like this?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, yes."

"I do too," he slid his hands up over her shoulders and pushed the dress the rest of the way down her arms and over her bum. It pooled around her feet. He ran his hands over her waist and down to her hips, which he pulled close to his own. "I love you, Dromeda."

"Oh, Ted..."

"Yes?" he prompted her.

She couldn't speak. His hands were... and they were somehow moving across the floor and over to the bed... and they were clasped together as they settled down among the turned-down sheets.

Rather, she was settled onto the bed. He stood next to it for a few seconds to remove his clothing. She stared at him in wonder.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I do love you, Mudblood."

"I know you're not lying to me when you say it like that." He smiled at her as he got on the bed beside her. "I know it's real when you look at me like that." He brushed her hair back and caressed the sides of her face. "You are so pretty, love. I could look at you all day."

Her insides turned to jelly. "You always do this to me."

"Do what?" he asked as he moved closer to her.

"You make me feel such amazing things."

"Such as?" he whispered as he kissed her.

"All you have to do is look at me, just like that, and I can't breathe. Nothing matters but that I be as close to you as possible."

"That's all that does matter, love." His hands were stroking her back, calming her, while the the hairs on his chest stimulated her.

She lay in his arms as he kissed her. Her body started trembling, eager for more, and he smiled down at her. He ran his hand from her shoulder to her knee, causing her to shudder with desire. "I want you..." she whispered.

"Do you?" he asked as he kissed her neck.

"I want to feel you...inside me."

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded. He gently nudged her legs further apart as he settled his body between them.

"Oh, Ted..."

"Yes, love..."

Andromeda hadn't expected much difference between the act from before they were married, yet there were subtle changes. There was no fear of discovery, there was no bittersweet worry that they would be parted soon. They belonged together, now. An attraction had existed for a very long time; it became a compulsion after the accident brought them together until it was love. Now, as Andromeda was brought to bliss for the first time as a married woman, she felt Ted become an extension of herself.

A/N: Thank you to Kyria of Delphi and Pennfana for beta reading!