#anonowls

"Er, you really should be asking why my wife chose that name. I didn’t have much to do with it, I’m afraid. I did give Dora her nickname, and her middle name, but Nymphadora was all her mother. When your wife is nine months pregnant and wants something, the right sort of man gives it to her, even if it’s a name you aren’t entirely sure about. It’s not the name I would have chose myself, but I can honestly say it fits our daughter perfectly. Not to mention, I was just thankful Dromeda wasn’t keen to uphold the Black family tradition of naming their offspring after constellations and stars."

PROMPT: Ted Leaves Andromeda || I don’t think this is what you meant, anon, but hopefully it satisfies you regardless. This has been in my inbox for a while now, and I just now got the muse to write it.

DATE: Spring 1981

"Don’t go," she said simply, glaring at him with eyes lit up with the fire brewing within her. His wife was unhappy and her unhappiness cut at him like a knife. He hated doing this, causing her unhappiness. Andromeda had had plenty of that in her life before him, and he’d sworn to never intentionally be the cause of her unhappiness as long as he lived. A promise he was breaking at this very moment.

"I have to, Dromeda. Alastor wouldn’t have sent that patronus otherwise." He reasoned, hating himself more and more for both delaying his departure and arguing with his wife. If there was ever a rock and a hard place to be stuck in, this would be it. "The twins are out there, Drom. Sirius, Marlene, Kingsley, Doc, the Longbottoms, Benjy, countless others… This could be it, Dromeda," he said, his voice aching with need for that to be true. "This could be it and they’re losing, Andromeda. I’ll be damned if I just sit here and ignore Moody’s message. The man never calls for help; I have to go.” Ted tried to go to her, but she jearked away from his grasp.

A pregnant pause, then, “So help me, Edward Tonks, so help me, if you don’t get your arse back here in one piece I’ll make you wish were never born! Do you understand me?” Her tone was fierce, but he saw the tears threatening to spill from her eyes and the way her chin wobbled.

He took the necessary steps to get to her, quickly gathering her in a strong embrace. He nearly lost his resolve when a choked sob shook from her body. Ted grit his teeth and closed his eyes, giving himself one last moment to hold his wife. He’d wasted too much time already, lingered for too long. In battle, seconds could mean life or death, winning or losing. He had to go, now.

He pulled her in for a hard kiss, forcing himself to let her go long before he wanted. Two seconds, three, then he was letting go and grabbing his coat and wand. “Give Dora my love when she wakes,” Ted requested, both of them knowing full well waking their daughter would be a bad idea.

"I love you," he told her as he turned back to look at her one last time, the open door letting in a chilly breeze.

"I love you, you damn hero." Ted smiled at her words, turning away from her with a small, slightly nervous laugh. Maybe he was going to be a hero tonight. He didn’t look back when he shut the door, went down the steps, or as he walked the ten steps needed to reach their apparition point. He didn’t want to see what he was leaving behind, what he might be leaving behind forever.

"Initially? Disbelief and distrust. In all honesty? The only person I’d even consider to believe would be Narcissa. Her parents are too set in their ways, her elder sister too psychotic and unhinged to ever forgive Andromeda for what was, to her, the ultimate betrayal (marrying me and having Dora). There may yet be hope for her cousin, Regulus, but I know him less than I know her siblings. Her aunt and uncle even more set in their ways than her parents, from what Sirius and Andromeda tell me, and be even less inclined to have a change of heart. I want to believe anyone can change, but with the Black Family even I’m not sure it’s possible."

"Er, yeah, I think so. Financially, another baby doesn’t quite make perfect sense, but it wouldn’t break us by any means. Dora’s still young enough that the age difference wouldn’t be too huge, and I think she’d adjust to having a sibling, quickly learning she has someone else to boss around. There’s no question that Andromeda and I have plenty of love in our hearts for another child. However… I don’t think we’ll be adding to our family that way anytime soon. We’re targets, by marrying one another we made ourselves targets to those whom believe my heritage is something filthy, something that needs eradicating from the Wizarding World and in general. We live with the knowledge that there are many out there that would do us harm, do Dora harm. Her family, in particular. By choosing to love one another and make a life together, we have put Nymphadora in a dangerous position. A selfish choice on our part, but one we’ll never regret. How could we do that to another child, especially when it’s still unclear how this war is going to end?"

"If that time comes to where running must happen, then it will.  I won’t let my pride come in the way of my family being safe, but England is my home. I was born and raised here. I was married here and have raised my child here. I belong here just as much as anyone else, and I’ll be damned in a group of racist psychopaths make me, or my family, leave."

"I actually have a pretty laid back view of religion. My parents weren’t heavily religious, which believe me helped a hell of a lot when we found out I was a wizard. I know quite a few muggleborns who weren’t so lucky," he chuckles. "Exorcisms, prayer circles, daily church visits and confessions, the list goes on and believe me when I tell you it’s not pretty. Myself personally, I want to believe. I find that if magic exists, then the fact that there are so many belief systems filled with thousands and thousands of deities that must mean something exists. The universe is indescribably massive --- I’d like to think there’s something out there. I do no believe in the idea one should live a good life for fear of eternal damnation if they do not adhere to the rules of their religion, however. Being a good person shouldn’t be dependent on a reward or lack there of, you should be a good person because it’s the right thing to so."

"I’m a bit of travel bug, trapped in a poor man’s body. Anywhere new would be fantastic, but I have a particular fascination with New Zealand, as well as Arizona, in the United States. I also wouldn’t mind going somewhere warmer, for a while. I think I could become a beach bum very easily, so I’d have to make sure our visit would be an extended one!"

8. Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging.

Sweets, certainly. Ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s, to be more specific. Sleeping in late, curled up around his wife, the blankets warm and their breath tickling one another’s skin, ignoring the need to get up and go back to being a responsible adult.

21. Turn-ons? Turn-offs?

Ted isn’t particularly concerned about those anymore, since he’s happily married to a wonderful woman who is absolutely perfect in every way and has no bad qualities at all. Nothing she does turns him off, because she’s perfect. And he’d never even think about another woman doing something that turned him on or off, because he doesn’t think about other women in that way, anymore.*

*the correct answer for every male wishing to not sleep on the couch that night, or week, depending on how badly they stick their foot in it.

31. Most prized possession?