An: We've finally made it! The end is in sight. Well, this is the end. We've made it past missing line breaks, and bad grammar and some odd plot twists, and we are finally here. You know how it ends, (I mean, how it REALLY ends if you've read the deathly Hallows, but let's not dwell on that). Thankyou to everyone who's reviewed, favourited or alerted. If I've never got back to you personally, please accept my deepest apologies, because if you guys didn't like it there'd be no point writing it. Thankyou if you've stuck all the way through, or even if you only read a few chapters (though if you only read the first few chapters then I guess you won't see this thanks...) Thanks to everyone who's given me ideas, inadvertently or not. I hope this is a suitable ending, because I'd hate for you to be disappointed, and that would mean I've fallen at the final hurdle, which would suck. Okay, I think I'm finished with the thankyous and the bad metaphors. Feel free to message me if you think there's anything I haven't tied up or explained, or if you wanna know what happens to any of the other characters Yeah, anything, basically. So, for the very last time: Enjoy.

Epilogue – You're the Only One I Need

Her final day at Hogwarts was beautiful. The sun shone, the leaves on the trees were a brilliant green, and she had her whole life ahead of her. She couldn't imagine anything that would make it better.

The fallout from her announcement had been extreme. She'd lost count of the number of howlers she received; from Bellatrix, from Aunt Walburga, from elderly Mrs Mulciber. When it came down to it they all said the same thing; that she was scum, that she had betrayed them, that she dead to them. She'd had to stop opening non-howler envelopes after she'd almost lost a finger to some vile smelling sludge hidden in one.

She had tried to explain to Bella, telling how much she cared for Ted, like Bellatrix cared for Rodolphus. Bella had simply launched into another tirade on the inferiority of mudbloods, thrown a vase at her sister's head and threatened to maim her if she ever tried to talk to her again. Andromeda hadn't spoken to her sister since that last meeting. Narcissa was slightly different. She had cried almost non-stop for a week following Andromeda's public display of affection, and was currently finding solace in her friendship with Lucius Malfoy. Andromeda didn't doubt that Malfoy was very grateful to her for causing this turn of events. Her parents had had differing approaches. Her mother had merely written letters full of allusions to duty, and obedience and servitude, whereas her father had arrived at Hogwarts to rip her from the school. Thankfully, Dumbledore had stood his ground and refused to let Mr Black remove his daughter, citing that during term time absence from school was almost always not permissible, and that a boyfriend did not warrant such an explosive reaction. With her father gripping her arm, facing down Dumbledore in the main courtyard, Andromeda thought she would die of embarrassment. Thankfully, she didn't and her father left without her.

The rumours and gossip still hadn't died down though. She'd heard that she was pregnant, that her and Ted were married, that Ted was…beating for the other team. All of it was lies, and when she saw Ted smiling at her, she forgot about it all, and left the pain behind her.

Sirius had taken to hugging her everytime he saw her, announcing loudly, "I'm glad they didn't kill you". The first few times it had been fairly amusing, but now it was just annoying. However, as very few people in Slytherin were talking to her, she had begun to spend more time with her cousin and his friends. They were typical first years, obsessed with pranks and fun and avoiding work. Well, Remus seemed to actually do his work, but he was never left out of pranks. On occasion, they asked her to cover for them, reasoning that if a seventh year verified their alibi that the teachers would never doubt it. Most of the time she refused, saying that if they ever wanted to be taken seriously as pranksters that they should perfect their 'it wasn't me' face. However, if she was in a particularly good mood, or Sirius used his puppy dog eyes, or it was an excellent prank then she would acquiesce, and found herself swearing to McGonnagall and Sprout that the boys couldn't have been anywhere near Greenhouse four or the fifth floor corridor, because she'd been helping them with their History of Magic homework.

Ted didn't speak to Ruth anymore. He'd realised that there was too much unresolved business between her and Andromeda for them to ever even pretend to be friends, so he just stayed away. His friendship with Tom had lasted, despite Ted's lies and secrecy, and the two were renting a flat together in London, or at least, they would be as soon as term was over. Ted would be starting an apprenticeship at St Mungo's, whilst Tom would be beginning a career at the Ministry as the Junior Undersecretary of the Upper Secretary of the Head of Muggle Relations. Andromeda would be joining them in their flat, because she couldn't find anywhere that she could afford on the salary of a junior researcher for the National Wizarding Library.

He hadn't asked her to marry him which shocked her. In her old world, it was the natural progression. Courtship for a few months, a proposal, a middling length engagement, extravagant wedding, a child minimum of a year later and happily ever after. Ted had reached the few months mark, but instead of proposing, he said this:
"I don't want to marry you."

"What?" She'd stared at him horror, briefly believing she'd thrown her entire life away on a boy who didn't really care for her.

"No, that's not what I-" Ted backpedalled furiously. "What I mean is I don't want to marry you yet."

She stared at him. She didn't think she'd mentioned marriage at all. She'd like to think that one day he might get down on one knee for a reason other than tying his shoelace, but she hadn't expected it right now. Over the last few months she'd learnt enough about muggleborns to know that they did things differently.

"I'm doing this all wrong." He sighed and pushed blonde hair out his face. "I want you to come to London with me."

"Are you asking me to live with you?" she asked curiously. It wasn't the done thing to cohabit before marriage. But then, it wasn't the done thing to abandon your entire family for a soon-to-be apprentice healer.

"Yes. If you want," he stammered. He stopped before beginning again. "I want you to come to London and live with me and Tom, if you want. I know you might find it weird because of your upbringing and stuff." He smiled at her. "We might not last forever. I mean, not everyone stays with their high school girlfriend forever, but I'd like to think we'll last." She beamed, as he managed to get himself out the hole he'd started to dig for himself. "I want to be with you, but if we break up, I want to know you can actually survive without your family," he said sheepishly. "It's probably some macho protective instinct that you'll find offensive, but-"

He stopped as she hugged him tightly. "I'd love to live with you and Tom," she told him happily. "And just so you know, the protective thing is good. You make me feel safe."

That was what lay ahead of them when they disembarked from the Hogwarts Express for the last time. It was an uncertain future, but they knew that for the moment at least, they had each other.

"Hey Sirius!" Andromeda called to her cousin before he could bound away. "Don't let them bully you, okay? Especially Bella."

Sirius nodded, beaming at her. "I'll be fine. And hey, I can always come and live with you and Ted if they kick me out."

Andromeda laughed, ruffling his hair. "I'll write to you. Just…don't talk about me too much to Bella and Cissa. I don't want to hear that you've been maimed."

Sirius hugged her once last time, and then disappeared into the crowds on the platform. Ted wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her briefly, realising that her goodbye to her cousin had hurt her more than she had shown. "He'll be fine. And so will we."

Andromeda nodded, biting her lip as she realised there was no turning back. "I love you," she murmured, finding his hand and winding her fingers around his.

"Love you too," Ted told her, leading her towards the gateway to London. "Even if you are a spoilt pureblood."

Andromeda laughed, looking around once more before she left the crowded platform, catching sight of Malfoy holding Narcissa's hand. "That's pretty rich coming from a long haired muggleborn."

"If you love me, you love my hair too," he told her almost seriously, as she wrinkled her nose.

Bursting into laughter, they walked through the column into London and the rest of their lives.