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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Aug 26, 2008 22:39:05 GMT -5
Andi blushed at the reference. If she had any say about it, they'd be doing "something like last night" every night. It was amazing how he could make her feel so pretty and feminine and perfect, just by looking at her with those electric blue eyes. And the smile... it never failed to make her melt. She still didn't know why he had fallen for her, but she resolved in that moment never to take him for granted. She had found the man of her dreams, and she had fought to be with him. She wasn't going to let anything keep them apart.
When he came back into the room, she reached up and took the glasses from his hands and set them on the table next to the bed. "Thank you. This really is delicious."
She thought again about the look on his face earlier, and how she thought there was something else he wanted to say. She wanted to ask him again, but she didn't think this would be the right time. Maybe after they had finished eating.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 27, 2008 2:35:08 GMT -5
(I just noticed your location...  ) "I'm glad you like it," Ted said. "It's a family secret, I suppose. And I just let you in on it." He winked at her again, but this one was more innocent than the last. To be completely honest with himself, his good natured teasing this morning was mostly a facade. Yes, he was happy. He had the girl of his dreams complimenting him on his French Toast, not to mention what they had done last night. But he had a sick, worried feeling that he couldn't shake. He climbed onto the bed next to her and balanced his own plate in his lap. "I'm hungrier than I realized, I think." |
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Aug 27, 2008 18:29:35 GMT -5
Andi smiled at him, her mouth full of French toast. Truly, with every bite, she loved him even more. For being there for her last night, for holding her while she cried, for showing her what love really was. She wanted him to know that she really believed it was all worth it. He was worth it. But at the moment, it seemed necessary to keep the conversation light.
"OK," she said. "I know there's got to be a story behind this French toast. Is this something you've always made in your family? Some family recipe that's been passed down for generations? Or was it just you, trying to make the sweetest, gooiest breakfast you could think of?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 28, 2008 15:23:31 GMT -5
Ted laughed. "Oh. You want the story for it?" He shook his head. "It's... well, it's kind of embarrassing. I was maybe eight years old, and it was my parent's anniversary, and I wanted to do something for them, so I had my dad make the basic French toast, and I knew my mum loved chocolate, my dad had a thing for peanut butter, and French toast was supposed to have syrup... so voila. Actually, the first batch was miserable. I was 8, might you. I used chocolate milk, and the peanut butter was just sitting there in globs. Merlin only knows what posessed me to try again."
He didn't mind sharing stories about his family or his childhood with her. In fact, he felt like his embarassing moments and childhood stories were incredibly safe with her. And if it turned out tht one of those stories made her run... well, he couldn't change who he had been.
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Aug 28, 2008 22:51:11 GMT -5
Andi couldn't take her eyes off of him as he talked, telling his story. She could almost picture the little boy, so eager to please his parents and instead making something weird and goopy. Her heart swelled with tenderness for him and her eyes shone with tears. Her childhood hadn't been like that at all. There was no special breakfast in bed, no culinary experiments, and certainly no pleasing her parents. Nothing she had ever done had pleased them. But she didn't feel bitter about it... just a vague sadness for the kind of happy childhood she'd never been able to have, mixed with a powerful feeling of love for the little boy who'd grown up to be a wonderful man.
Her mouth still filled with French toast, she put down her fork. Leaning over, she cupped his face in her hands and turned him to face her before she kissed him thoroughly. She could taste chocolate and peanut butter as they kissed. "That. Is. Absolutely adorable," she told him as she pulled away. "And so are you. Have I mentioned yet that I'm madly in love with you?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 29, 2008 5:56:34 GMT -5
Ted gave her a funny look. He didn't think her reaction quite met the story, but if this was how she was going to act everytime he told some offhand story about his childhood, he'd make a note to regale her often.
"You might have mentioned it," he said, a little loathe to let the kiss end, and tried to catch her lips one more time.
"I have a confession to make," he said suddenly, and on a whim. "The way you saw my apartment the other day is the cleanest it's been since I moved it."
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Aug 29, 2008 21:39:04 GMT -5
Andi laughed as he kissed her a second time. "If we keep this up, I don't think either of us will finish our breakfast," she teased. She knew he probably thought she was silly for being so moved by his childhood story, but she couldn't help it. It was so different from her own childhood that she couldn't help but find it charming. His stories all had such an innocence about them that had been sadly lacking from her childhood. She had grown up hearing about mudbloods and blood purity and watching house elves being mistreated. Her childhood had been dark, where his had not. She had been lucky; she was born of strong mind and will and had managed to overcome the darkness. Many others from families like hers were not so lucky.
Turning back to her breakfast, she took a few more bites of French toast, but stopped when he confessed to a messy apartment. Laughing, she shook her head. "I knew it!" she said, her eyes dancing. "It's OK, though. I still think you're adorable."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 30, 2008 0:18:34 GMT -5
Ted's mouth opened for a second, like he was trying to grasp at words, before he said, "What do you mean, you knew it?" He asked. "I'm always very well kept. Well, except the beard I was sporting when I came back into town, but I hardly think that counts as being messy!"
He wasn't offended that she assumed he was messy, rather just shocked that he had been seen through. He was going to try and keep that facade for her, even if he had just admitted he was messy.
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Aug 30, 2008 0:29:33 GMT -5
Andi laughed. "No, of course you keep yourself well. I don't think one necessarily has to do with the other. And for the record, I didn't mind the little bit of beard you had when you first got back. It gave you kind of a roguish charm. But like I said, the only single male I knew, my uncle Alphard, always kept his place a wreck. He just didn't have a talent for cleaning, and he didn't have anyone to help him do it. And even though you're nothing like him in any other way, I just had a feeling this was something you had in common."
She studied him for a minute while she chewed a mouthful of French toast. She already felt like she knew him so well, almost as if they'd always known each other. And yet there were so many things she still didn't know. She wanted to know everything.
"So tell me," she said, pausing to take a sip of water. "How did you first start to realize that you might be different? That you could do things others couldn't?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 3, 2008 0:28:41 GMT -5
Ted shrugged. "It's a single guy thing, I think. There's no one around but us, so why waste the energy? I keep things clean enough that I can get to what I need, and that's enough for me," he explained. "But when someone else enters the picture... things tend to get cleaner," he added.
It was here that he paused to think about her question, and he shrugged. "When I was around six years old, cupboards and drawers and things used to bang when I was scared... generally after a nightmare or something. My mum thought our house was haunted for the longest time. I think part of her might still think it is. But after a few years, it started to be more and more obvious that it was me."
He thought of the differences between them... how she must have always known it was in her. She never had the surprise of discovering it, or the muggle sense of awe when you realized maybe you were just like Merlin, or Mickey Mouse in that one cartoon.
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Sept 3, 2008 22:57:09 GMT -5
Andi laughed. "Well, the truth is, I'm not always totally neat, either. I'm very good at cleaning charms and things like that--almost too good, actually--but I don't always bother. I mean, when you live alone, a little mess here and there doesn't really bother anyone. As long as it doesn't get too bad. Then I'll get to the point where I have to clean, for my own sanity."
She was nearly finished her French toast, so she put another forkful in her mouth and chewed it slowly, savoring it as he talked. She almost wished she'd had a life more like his--innocent and carefree. Or maybe that was just how she imagined it. But she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to not know you were magical, to not grow up in that world, expecting to be magical. She almost ached for the sense of wonder he must have felt upon first entering the wizarding world. She had grown up with it, was always surrounded by it, and was almost jaded by the time she started Hogwarts.
"I have this theory," she said slowly, "that you were the cutest little boy ever. I hope your mum has tons of baby pictures of you, so I can prove my theory."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 7, 2008 13:01:16 GMT -5
Ted made a face, but his words didn't really match it. He had been told he was cute all his life, and he blamed that darned smile of his. He couldn't get rid of it.
But to her, he only nodded a little. "My mum's got baby pictures. And I know she'd be beside herself if you asked to see them."
Once again, he found himself lamenting that he wouldn't get to share the equivalant of all of these things with her family. Yes, he would miss them, but what he was more worried about was that she would miss them more.
"Have I mentioned yet how much I think my mum is going to adore you?"
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Sept 7, 2008 23:17:31 GMT -5
Andi smiled softly, but she felt a little quiver of nervousness in her stomach. She'd never met a guy's parents before. And Ted's parents were muggles. What would they really think of her? She was a girl who'd been raised in the magical world all her life. Would she fit in with Ted's parents? Or would they think she was strange?
"I hope so," she said seriously. "What do your parents know about the magical world, anyway? Is it strange to them, or do they sort of understand it? You don't think they would think I was weird, do you?"
She couldn't help but think there would never be a time when she would take Ted to meet her parents. It just wouldn't be possible. And even thought she told herself she wouldn't miss it, a part of her still wished things were different. She didn't wish anything was different about Ted... but she wished her parents could be more open-minded. It ached a little to know that the people who were supposed to love her and support her never would.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 9, 2008 22:52:34 GMT -5
Ted sighed and shruggd, wondering if he should really go into it, or just promise her that they thought the magical world was really neat.
"My dad thinks it's pretty wild," He said. "He tries to get me to teach him spells and things, but I end up having to make them work. He thinks he's done it, though, and he gets a real kick out of it. My mum's all right with it. It's taken her a while."
He looked at her, trying to gauge just how interested she really was. "She's a devout Catholic... muggle religion. Anyway, magic and witches and things kind of go against everything she believes in. But she's a wonderful woman, and she's come around. She won't think any less of you for it."
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Sept 9, 2008 23:25:49 GMT -5
Andi tried to imagine how odd it must have been for a muggle woman to learn that her son had magic in his blood. Something that was against her beliefs, the opposite of everything she ever believed to be true. It was probably a lot like learning that your daughter was dating a muggleborn, she thought. Maybe their parents weren't quite as different as they thought. Except that Ted's mom had come around, and her parents never would.
"I hope not," Andi said softly. "My upbringing couldn't have been more different from yours. And even though I oppose most of what I was raised to believe, there's still a lot of the magical world ingrained in me... it's part of me. I wouldn't want to say the wrong thing and ruin her impression of me."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 9, 2008 23:32:17 GMT -5
Ted laughed. "Just wait. I can pretty much garauntee that she'll love you," he promised.
"And if the planets align the wrong way and she doesn't, it doesn't matter. I'll still love you, and that's enough for me."
He hoped that would be enough for her too... but unlike Andi, he didn't have to worry about it. His parents would be amazing with her. "If my mum gets any inkling of what you're parents are like, she's going to adopt you as her own daughter."
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Sept 10, 2008 16:21:26 GMT -5
Andi finished the last of her French toast, and set the empty plate on the table next to her bed. "My parents are pretty bad, it's true," she said softly. "But I hope you don't think my childhood was too awful. I realize I've only ever told you the bad parts, but there were good things, too. I have a lot of cousins--Molly is one of them, actually--and we were allowed to visit them often. My cousin Alice is really sweet; you'd like her. The best holidays we ever had were the ones where we got to visit them. And even though I used to fight with my sisters a lot, we had our moments, too. I just wish..." She sighed. "I wish things could be different. I wish they could see you like I do."
She leaned against his arm, looking up at him almost shyly. She really hoped he understood what he meant to her.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 12, 2008 13:59:45 GMT -5
"I have this theory that your childhood was miserable, and only now are you realizing how wonderful life can be, because you've found me," he said, his voice completely serious, though he gave her a quirky smile. "I realize, of course, that I'm dead wrong. But if you wanted to be a doll about it and inflate my ego, you could play along."
"I still have hope for your sisters, Andi, that they'll come around." He knew how much she loved them and he didn't want to be what came in between that.
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Post by Andromeda Tonks on Sept 13, 2008 0:20:22 GMT -5
*hugs happy thread*
Andi smiled sadly. "Well, you wouldn't be that far off," she said. "My childhood was pretty bad at times. But there were moments of light. And it got a lot better once I started Hogwarts. It's a lucky thing, though, that we Blacks are made of strong stock. It's one of the good things about being a Black. We're strong, and we know how to survive. And if pain builds character, then I guess that's how I got to be the person I am now. So it's not such a bad thing, right?"
She leaned up and kissed him softly. "I hope you're right. If I can salvage my relationship with at least one sister, I'll feel a lot better. But believe me when I tell you, this split with my family was inevitable. With or without you, it was going to happen."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 15, 2008 3:09:53 GMT -5
"I still wish we could have done something to stop it," Ted told her. It broke his heart still to think that she had just given up her family. What if, one day, she woke up next to him and decided he hadn't been worth it afterall? By then, she wouldn't be able to go back to the Blacks... and where would she be? He wanted to provide for her and care for her, but even more, he wanted her to want that.
Putting his plate asside, he reached up and tucked a strand of her hair aside, before pressing his lips to hers in a second kiss.
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