An Unusual Circumstance Ⅴ

The living room falls silent again each lost in their own pensive thoughts. Rodolphus is the first to recover and gruffly says, "Should we live, I would be honored to accept the generous offer, Edward Tonks." And he genuinely was sincere and grateful to the muggleborn wizard for his magnanimity, he knew for a fact that he could not have done the same.

Ted solemnly nods his head at the reply, before turning expectantly to stare at his wife. Andromeda squeezes her husband's hand one last time, before withdrawing her hand. She confidently sits up and says, "Before all those that are present this night, I, Andromeda Tonks nee Black make a vow of absolution," she paused and viciously bit into her finger drawing blood.

Ted's eyes widen in shock at his wife's action, but Rodolphus bows his head in rare humble reverence at the actions of Andromeda. A bright red drop of blood wells up from Andromeda's finger. Holding her other palm open, she draws a rune symbol with the blood from her finger onto her palm. It was the symbol of a unicorn, the purest of creatures, and the symbol of unselfish action. She holds up her hand to the air as if presenting her hand before an unseen being.

"I vow before the magic of old and all those that stand here as my witnesses," Andromeda said. "I vow upon my house, honor, and magic that I, Andromeda Tonks nee Black accept the request of the widowed warrior, Rodolphus Lestrange out of my own free will and choice."

A light breeze passes through the room causing their hair and clothing to rustle before the unexpected breeze disappeared as swiftly as it had come. The magic of Old had heard and acknowledged Andromeda's vow. With her finger still bleeding, she reaches over and gently takes the corked dark glass bottle.

"I and my house willingly accept the seed of Rodolphus Lestrange," Andromeda continued solemnly to speak. "I and my house will raise the child with love and care as our own. The gifted seed shall retain the name of the widowed warrior's bloodline, the name of the child be it male or female shall be Delphini Lestrange."

Andromeda ceased to speak and turned to Rodolphus Lestrange. "In exchange, the widowed warrior will provide the means for the child's growth, protection, and livelihood. So, mote be, Accipio Surculus Potio Germen."

Andromeda uncorks the bottle and drinks the potion down in one gulp. She makes a slight face at the bitter, salty taste of the potion, before setting the uncorked potion down on the nearby stand. There is a stunned silence in the room as if none of the parties in the room can actually believe the sequences of events that just took place. They were unbelievable, to say the least.

Ted stares at his wife with a bit of incredulity and finally asks, "Dromeda, how will we know if the potion worked?"

Andromeda and Rodolphus both stare at Ted for a moment before sharing a look that only another pureblood can understand. "It simply will," Andromeda plainly stated. "It may sound strange and even incredulous, Ted, but the potion has never failed, if properly accepted by the one who will carry the seed of the widowed warrior. And I have willingly accepted the seed of Rodolphus."

Ted nods his head numbly and is startled to see Rodolphus rise to his feet and bow his head in a sincere fashion to the couple. "You have my sincere gratitude," he earnestly said, before rising to his full height. "I shall see myself out," and without another word, the tall dark-haired wizard waltzed out of the living room and their home.

The door firmly shut behind him the couple remains sitting in the living room before Ted's eyes are once more drawn to the dark-colored glass bottle that now lay empty on the stand. "Dromeda," he quietly says as his eyes linger on the glass bottle for a moment, before rising to meet his wife's gray eyes. "Is there a reason why you so willingly accepted your brother-in-law's offer? It just seems a bit contrary to your usual nature."

Andromeda pales for a moment, before letting out a soft sigh. Her head tilts downward as her hands fidget in her skirts, before pressing her still bleeding finger to her skirt to stop the flow of blood. It was not an easy topic to discuss even with her loving husband.

"Dormeda?" Ted worriedly asks again as he nears his wife and takes one of her hands. "What is that you can't tell me?"

Andromeda raises her gray eyes that are filled with sadness and worry. "I-," her voice trembles and she glanced away from her concerned husband's gaze. She closes her eyes for a moment, before sighing again, and turning to face him with her gaze slightly downcast.

"Pureblood women at times have difficulties conceiving," Andromeda quietly explained. "With Nymphadora nearly three years of age and seeing how much she loves her cousins-. Well, I thought perchance to add a sibling to the family for our Dora to play with."

Andromeda's voice faltered, before continuing, "I went to see a mediwitch, a friend, after failing to see my womb take to your seed. She said that it was a miracle that I had even been able to have Nymphadora, apparently, my womb is heavily scarred it is impossible for any man's seed to take. Without this potion, Nymphadora will never have a sibling, and we will never have another child in this life."

Ted pulls his wife into his arms and feels Andromeda stiffen against him, before relaxing. Ted sighs into his wife's dark hair, before placing a kiss on top of her head. "I wish you had told me," he murmured into her hair. "I understand that this may be an uncomfortable topic for you, but we are married and things like this need are shared."

"I know," Andromeda whispered into his shoulder. "I just wasn't sure how to go about bringing up the topic. It isn't exactly something that witches talk to their husbands about."

Ted rolls his eyes, but instead says, "Well, at least, we won't need to adopt, a child."

"Adopt?" Andromeda said rather startled pulling out of Ted's grasp.

"Well, I mean, we could have adopted a child," Ted said with a shrug. "I would not have minded. There are plenty of children that are in need of a home."

"Oh," Andromeda murmured with relief and a tinge of embarrassment.

"Wait, what did you think that I mean by that?" Ted asked with a bewildered expression on his face from his wife's response.

"It's nothing," Andromeda blustered, before rising to her feet. "I'll go make us some tea," before rushing off to the kitchen.

Ted had learned an important lesson in his marriage that when his wife needed space, it was best to give Dromeda that space. Although, he could guess as to the reason why Dromeda would have reacted strongly to his words. From what he learned in pureblood society; it was the males that carried the family name. In certain families with daughters, if there were no other male family members in existence, a male child may be adopted to continue the family name. It was almost unheard of, but it did occur and was a perpetual source of shame for the wife of the said household as she had failed to produce a male heir.

Ted loved his wife, Dromeda, and had even grown to like his pureblood extended family that he had gained through marriage. Still, at times like these, it was a constant reminder of just how different the wizarding world was from the rest of the world. It was both a good and a bad thing at times.