Title: Ready for Love
Author: Slytherinjunkie
Pairing: Remus/Ginny
Word Count: 4732
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: So much love that you will barf! Hahaha But seriously, no warnings.
Summary: Remus finally accepts his fate with a little help from Ginny.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Many thanks to my amazing beta TC. I love ya baby doll! Also, there is a lovely poem in this fic (marked with an *) that is actually by the amazing India Arie. She speaks so much truth, man. Also, I'm sure that the prompter probably wanted smut. Just to let you know, I tried but this story did not want to go there. I hope you enjoy where it did go, though. What do you all think though? Does this deserve another chapter? Anywho, Enjoy, everyone!
It was a beautiful sight, in Remus' opinion.
His son Teddy Lupin was sitting in a high chair, his chubby cheeks covered with tomato sauce. He was letting out high pitched squeals while throwing the mushy noodles into the air. His hair, which regularly changed on a whim, was bright orange.
In front of him was Ginny Weasley wearing a yellow tank top and incredibly short jean shorts.
She was bent over slightly, making baby gibberish noises to Teddy who squealed with joy at the way she interacted with him.
Ginny rubbed her nose against his, tickling his bib-covered neck with her fingers.
Teddy giggled, dropping any food he had left in his hand on the ground.
"Oh, such a good boy! You ate all of your food," Ginny gushed, standing up straight completely.
Remus watched as she lifted Teddy out of the high chair.
She didn't know that he was there yet. Sometimes, when he came home from work, he liked to simply watch the way Ginny interacted with his son. It brought him comfort and it made him happy to know that the right person was taking care of Teddy.
Teddy gladly went into Ginny's arms, grabbing a fist-full of her tank top.
Remus quickly took his eyes from Ginny's creamy, freckled cleavage and focused again on the scene in front of him.
"Oh, no, sweet-heart—let go of Auntie Ginny's tank top," she said gently.
She took his small hand and firmly pulled it away from her shirt.
No matter how hard Remus tried, he couldn't stop staring at her cleavage. Teddy had pulled down her tank top enough to reveal the satin green bra that she was wearing.
Just when Remus was starting to develop a problem within his trousers, Sirius walked into the kitchen from the other entrance.
"Gin, that's not quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted to see more of that gorgeous body, but I'll take what I can get," he said at the sight of Ginny's slight exposure.
Ginny rolled her eyes and gave Teddy to Sirius.
At the sight of Sirius, Teddy's hair turned black.
"Yes, because everyone knows that the most successful way to seduce a man is to present him with a spaghetti sauce covered one-year-old," she said, fixing her shirt.
Remus felt a blush color his cheeks. It seemed it didn't take much to excite him.
"Can you watch Teddy for a few minutes while I go grab him a change of clothes and a diaper?" Ginny asked.
"Why don't you just use magic to clean him up?" Sirius asked, bouncing the baby on his leg.
Teddy giggled at being jiggled around and tried to grab at Sirius' long hair with his hands.
"Oh, Sirius—I really thought you were smarter than that. Using magic on a baby too early can damage their magical make up. I can't use magic on Teddy until he's at least three."
Sirius shrugged while somehow managing to dodge Teddy's attempts to grab his hair.
"I never claimed to be a baby whisperer."
"Thank goodness—the world is a better place because of it."
Sirius mock glared at Ginny.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" he asked.
Ginny laughed.
"You're right. I should get Teddy changed before Remus comes home."
She crouched down in front of Teddy and tickled him again.
Teddy's hair changed back to orange as he giggled.
"I'll be right back, Teddy," she said standing.
Tickling him one last time, she made her way out the kitchen.
Teddy began to cry at her departure.
"Hey now, mate. I know she's a bonnie girl and has an amazing body but as a junior member of the Marauders, you have to learn that we don't cry over girls."
Teddy ignored him and continued to cry after Ginny.
Remus realized that this was probably the time to take over his parental responsibilities.
"I see you are already well on your way to corrupting my child," Remus said, walking into the kitchen and setting his briefcase on the kitchen counter.
Teddy stopped crying upon seeing him. He put his arms out for Remus, his hair turning brown and a look of joy appearing on his face.
Remus smiled and grabbed Teddy from Sirius.
"I'm not corrupting him—I'm just teaching him the Marauder ways."
"The Marauder ways do not include being a pig towards women," Remus pointed out.
"Really? Then what do you call the behavior of watching the babysitter every day for thirty minutes before actually telling her that you're home?" Sirius asked.
Remus blushed and turned away from Sirius. He grabbed one of Muggle baby wipes that were on the counter and began to wipe Teddy's face.
"I don't get why you don't just ask her out, mate. It's quite obvious to everyone that you like her," Sirius said.
"Because whatever I feel for her is wrong, Sirius. I'm old enough to be her father. It's barely been a year since Tonks has died and I doubt it would be appropriate to start dating anyone else. Besides, she was Harry's girlfriend at some point—I can't go dating his ex-girlfriend."
"Oh bloody hell—it's the Tonks thing all over again. Look, we all hate that Tonks died during the final battle. We all miss her. But that last thing Tonks would have ever wanted you to do is to not only be alone, but to treat the first person you have liked since her death the way you treated her when she was trying to be with you when she was alive. And yes Harry might be a little upset if you decided to date Ginny but he will get over it eventually."
Teddy's face was finally clean and Remus went to work on Teddy's hands. Remus smiled at the way his son laughed. Teddy was one of the few babies that Remus knew who actually enjoyed being cleaned up.
He really didn't want to have to think about what Sirius was saying.
Yes, he was attracted to Ginny Weasley. Yes, he had been tempted more times than he could count to ask her out for the past two months. But Remus knew better. Ginny Weasley was off limits.
Not only did she have a hoard of brothers who would kill him if they found out that he wanted to date her, but he would hurt Harry, a man who was like a son to him. And though he knew that Sirius was right about Harry getting over it, he still couldn't bring himself to ask Ginny out.
"Be that as it may, Sirius, I think it's best if I leave the relationship the way that it is. Ginny is great for Teddy, and I would hate to ruin such a beautiful relationship with a sour romance," Remus said.
Sirius sighed.
"You are such a bloody idiot, Remus. At some point, Ginny will be tired of waiting for you and she will take matters into her own hands."
Remus rolled his eyes and focused back Teddy.
Sirius was making the assumption that Ginny actually returned his feelings. Why would she be attracted to an underemployed werewolf like him?
"Remus? Are you finally home?" Ginny asked, coming from around the counter with baby clothing and a diaper in her hand.
Remus was momentarily tongue tied at the sight of Ginny. She was incredibly pretty with her hair tied up in a bun, her tank top and shorts hugging her figure.
Luckily, Teddy defused what would have been an awkward moment when his hair changed to orange and he reached for Ginny.
Remus snapped out of his stunned state and handed Teddy over to Ginny.
"Yes, sorry I'm late," he apologized.
Ginny kissed Teddy on his cheeks.
Remus was suddenly very jealous of all of the affection his son was getting from Ginny. It wasn't that he didn't want Teddy to have affection, he just wanted a little for himself.
"It's alright—I love spending time with Teddy. How was work?" she asked, shifting her attention away from Teddy to him.
Remus felt his heart beat with excitement. He loved when she asked him about his day.
Before he could say anything, however, Sirius interrupted him.
"Hold that thought, Remus. I'll take Teddy so you two can talk."
"It's alright, Sirius. I have to change his diaper and clothes."
As Ginny said all of this Sirius took the clothing and Teddy out of her hands.
"You've been with him all day. Give me a chance to spend time with him," Sirius said.
Teddy didn't seem bothered to be in Sirius' arms as he finally got the strand of hair he had been fighting to get since Sirius appeared in the kitchen.
Ginny crossed her arms and got the 'I'm a worried mama bear' expression on her face. Remus glared at Sirius. He knew what his friend was trying to do and he did not like his meddling.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Teddy pulled on Sirius' hair.
Sirius winced in pain.
"I'll have to learn how to change his diaper sooner or later—ow."
Ginny giggled, but Remus was not amused.
"Well, good luck, Sirius," Ginny said, visibly amused.
"Thanks, Gin! Ouch! Now, Teddy, we're going to have to talk about your treatment of Uncle Sirius' hair."
Sirius left the room, leaving Remus and Ginny alone.
Remus awkwardly coughed but if Ginny noticed how uncomfortable was, she didn't say anything.
"Would you like some tea, Remus?" she asked walking toward the kitchen sink.
"Tea would be lovely, Gin. Thank you," Remus said, sitting down at the table.
Ginny waved her wand, summoning the kettle and other tea things together.
"I'm sorry about the mess. Teddy was terribly clingy today so I didn't have time to clean your room."
Ginny set the kettle on the stove to warm and put the tea leaves in the tea pot.
"Don't you dare apologize for that, Ginny. You are babysitting Teddy for free. I would never expect you to add housework on top of it."
"Babysitting Teddy is a joy, not a job for me. I just feel so bad about not being able to give you and Sirius money for rent or food."
Ginny finally finished setting the tea everything up and leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to boil.
"Don't feel bad about that, Gin. I know your family gives you as much as they can afford," Remus said.
Ginny sighed.
"It looks like this next month I won't be able to help you or Sirius again. Almost all of dad's paycheck is going to the barrister for Percy. I wish I could help them out but I haven't been able to find a job with the hours that I need," Ginny said.
Because of the people Percy Weasley supported during the war, he was charged with crimes against the Ministry. The Weasleys had spent most of their money getting him out of prison on a bond. Since then, Percy was on house arrest and a good portion of the Weasley money was going to the representatives who were building his case.
This had been going on for about a year. Since then, Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts and had gotten a scholarship to study the Mediwitch program. However, the scholarship only covered her tuition.
Since the majority of the Weasley family money was going to keep Percy out of prison, Ginny had no money to live on the campus nor did she have any money for her books or other supplies that she needed.
Thankfully, both Sirius and Remus offered her a deal. If she babysat Teddy and helped out around the house occasionally, they would give her money for books and let her live at Grimmauld Place for free since it was only a ten minute walk from her campus.
Of course, Remus and Sirius would have been happy to just give her the money and a place to stay without anything in return but Ginny wasn't one to take 'charity'.
The Weasley family hadn't been very happy to hear about Ginny living in a house alone with Sirius and Remus but Ginny's strong will left no room for protest on their parts.
"Please, don't worry about me and Sirius, Ginny. You are saving me a bundle in child care money in taking care of Teddy for me," Remus said.
The kettle whistled. Ginny poured the water into the tea pot and carried it to the table.
She went over to the pantry and pulled out some biscuits and cakes. Putting it on a tray, she carried it over to the table.
She finally sat down and looked Remus in the eye.
"I know, Remus. I'm just so tired of being a charity case. I know you and Sirius really don't need me here."
Ginny looked sad as she said this, and it broke Remus' heart.
He couldn't stop himself from putting his hand over hers.
"You are needed here, Ginny. Sirius needs you here or else he would end up burning down the house. He's my best mate but I don't trust him to live alone without destroying something. Teddy needs you here because you love him as if he were your own son and he needs someone to nurture him when Tonks isn't here to do so.
"And I need you because ... well you bring me quite a bit of joy. I mean, I look forward to coming home to you. You are one of the few people left in my life who is interested in how my life is going without my son entering the conversation. I love my son, but it seems that as soon as I had him, no one cares about me as Remus anymore. You do and you show it every day in the small things that you do for me. It makes me happy, Ginny. Never think for a moment that you are useless here."
As he said all of this, Ginny blushed bright red but she smiled brightly at his words.
Remus smiled back just a brightly, squeezing her hands within his.
"You always did know how to make me feel better, Remus," she said.
"Well, I must admit that I've grown addicted to your smile."
Remus watched with great pleasure as she blushed again.
Merlin, she was pretty—especially when she was blushing at his flirting.
Remus thought about what Sirius said to him earlier. If he asked her out, would she accept? Was he ready to take that step to begin dating someone else? Should he simply leave well enough alone?
Remus absently rubbed her hand while staring at her. The more time he spent around her, the more he had to fight the attraction he had for her and the more he had to convince himself that he shouldn't be with her.
She was so young and beautiful and he was an old man with a child who probably had no hope of ever gaining a better job than the one that he had as a researcher of Dark Arts for a private company.
He let her hand go, smiling sadly as he did so. Ginny smiled back and began to pour the tea.
To stop her from seeing the effect that her smile had on him, he stuffed one of the snacks into his mouth and looked elsewhere.
After Ginny finished preparing their tea, she sat back in her chair and stared at him.
Remus didn't know how to feel about her staring. She looked as though she were trying to solve a puzzle but couldn't quite figure it out.
Remus found this very uncomfortable and set a snack down to take a sip of his tea.
"Would you like to go out with me this Saturday, Remus?" she asked finally.
Remus chocked on his tea at the question.
"Out—as in grocery shopping like we normally do?" Remus asked once he regained his breath.
"No out as in, dinner date with just you and me. Sirius already offered to watch Teddy for us."
Remus gaped at her. She was asking him out—Ginny Weasley was asking him out on a date.
"We can't go on a dinner date," Remus finally blurted out.
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Is it because you're old enough to be my father? Because you don't know if you are ready to date after Tonk's death? Is it because you're a werewolf and you don't want to burden anyone with your ailment? Or, is it because you don't want the relationship I have with Teddy to potentially be ruined if bad feelings developed between us?"
Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times and just stared at her. Where was all of this coming from?
"Let me take care of those problems for you. I don't give a damn how old you are. I very quickly realized after dealing with Harry that I didn't want to date men my age anyway. My family will eventually come around to the relationship if we do go that far anyway. I'm just as sad as you are that Tonks died but she made me promise to never let you be alone again. Since I have feelings for you and I know I can make you happy, I have no doubt in my mind that Tonks would be happy with our arrangement if we have one."
Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny held up her hand.
"I'm not finished yet. I don't give a damn that you're a werewolf—I deal with it every month anyway since I've been living here. It's not as bad as you make it out to be. You have to admit that you can be a bit of a drama queen about it sometimes. And nothing will ever make me leave Teddy. I love him with all of my heart. If anything, the only person who can stop me from being with Teddy is you and I know you won't do that because you love him as much as I do."
Remus sighed in defeat.
"I don't know, Ginny. I just don't think it would be a good idea for us to date each other."
"I like you, Remus. And you like me. Life is hard and complex. We can't let the complexities of life scare us away from doing what will make us happy. Just go on one date with me. If there are no sparks, then we will remain friends. If there is, let's see where it goes."
Remus felt his heart beat faster as warmness ignited in the pit of his stomach.
He knew that the mature thing to do was to say no.
Then again, it couldn't hurt to go on one date with her. He was a good man and he deserved some happiness—even if it came in the form of only one date with someone as beautiful as Ginny Weasley.
'Only one date, old man,' he reasoned with himself. 'Only one date and then you end things there.'
"Alright, one date and we'll see," Remus said out loud.
Ginny smiled brightly.
"You won't regret this, Remus. We will have a great time together."
Remus simply smiled back at her. They would have fun together, but he was sure that it was the only fun they would ever have together.
B~*B~*B~*B~*
"Really, Ginny—a poetry jam?" Remus said, raising his eyebrow at the small little café they stood in front of.
Ginny giggled.
"Yes, Remus—because last time you made me go to a bloody karaoke bar. Karma's a bitch, yeah?"
Ginny pulled him into the small café and Remus followed without a fight.
"You have to admit; watching that large group of rugby players singing 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' was quite funny."
Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Singing was one thing—I did not enjoy the way they flashed us their bums at the end."
Remus chuckled, remembering the night.
"That was the best part!"
"Really, Remus, sometimes you're worse than Sirius," Ginny said, leading them to a table near the front of the stage.
"I wasn't a Marauder for nothing. I still have my moments," Remus said with a proud grin.
"Well, I have to admit that at times, you are quite attractive when you are mischievous."
She leaned up on her tip toes and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.
Remus pulled her waist into his body and deepened the kiss a little bit more. Ginny loved when he kissed her. He always made her whole body tingle in places she didn't know existed. When she felt the stirring in his trousers, Remus pulled away. Ginny gave him a smile of understanding before turning away to sit in her seat.
That night was to be their six month anniversary together. Despite Remus trying to be 'responsible' and stop a relationship from forming between him and Ginny, she took matters into her own hands and diligently broke down the barriers that he had built around himself.
After Ginny broke down any resolve he may have had to deny their relationship, she slowly did whatever she could keep the lines of communication open in their relationship and to build trust. It was a very slow process and they were still working on it.
In fact, the process was so slow that they still had yet to tell anyone besides Sirius and Hermione that they were together. They also still had yet to go further than snogging with physical intimacy. And they still had yet to admit that there was any love between them.
Despite this, they both enjoyed their weekly date nights. Either Sirius or Hermione always babysat Teddy for them every Saturday or Sunday evening.
"Why are we here again?" Remus asked, looking around at the other more interesting dressed couples and groups around them.
"It's something different for us to do. You said you didn't care where we went this weekend and Dean suggested that we come here."
Remus frowned at Ginny.
"Someone else knows about our relationship?" he asked.
"Oh, Remus—you can be so dramatic at times. Yes, I told Dean I needed a place to bring my date. I didn't say it was you."
Remus felt his pounding heart calm a bit.
"I'm sorry, Gin," he said, offering her an apologetic smile.
Ginny felt her heart melt at Remus' smile. Gods, she felt so much for this man. It made her sad that he was so afraid to open up completely to her. She was hopelessly in love with the bloody man though she hadn't told him yet.
She hoped that her plan for that night would work in her favor and that he would finally realize that it was okay for them to be together as long as they loved and cared about one another.
The MC for the night jumped onto the stage and began the night of poetry.
Ginny really enjoyed a lot of what was performed. Remus seemed to be enjoying all of the performances too. Ginny felt as if she were falling in love even more when she noticed his contentment. She would be happy for the rest of her life if she could see that look on his face every single day.
The audience clapped, snapping Ginny out of her trance. The MC jumped back on stage.
He began to speak when the snapping died down.
"Alright, everyone. Next we have a lovely young lady who needs to get a few things off her chest—ladies and gentlemen, Ginny Weasley!"
B~*B~*B~*B~*
Remus eyes widened when Ginny's name was called on stage.
Ginny gave him a reassuring smile and stood, walking to the stage.
Remus began to feel uneasy at the sight. He had a feeling that whatever she was going to do on stage was going to have to do with their relationship.
He had to admit that he hadn't been a very good partner to her. He wouldn't touch her sexually nor did he want anyone to know that they were together.
It wasn't that he was ashamed of her. Quite the contrary, he loved their weekends out where he could proudly have her on his arm and show the world what an amazing woman she was and how enchanted he was with her.
When it all came down to it, Remus was afraid of loving again. He loved Tonks and she died. He didn't think he could go through a pain like that again—he feared losing Ginny. And not just with death—he was afraid of her deciding that enough was enough and leaving him. It was one thing to lose his wife in death. It was quite another to lose someone because they no longer wanted you.
Remus would only admit to himself that he loved Ginny so much it scared him. He was afraid of telling her. What if she decided she didn't love him the same way back?
The sound of the snapping dying down snapped Remus out of his thoughts.
Ginny stood in front of the microphone and looked out at the audience.
Her eyes travelled until they finally rested on Remus. She took a deep breath and then began to speak.
"*I am ready for love
Why are you hiding from me?
I'd quickly give my freedom
To be held in your captivity
I am ready for love
All of the joy and the pain
And all the time that it takes
Just to stay in your good grace."
Ginny's voice was strong, filled with convention. There was no doubt that what she was saying was true and real. And it was all directed at Remus. Remus felt as if he were swimming in a pool of emotions. Was she admitting that she loved him—in public?
"*Lately I've been thinking
Maybe you're not ready for me
Maybe you think I need to learn maturity
They say watch what you ask for
Cause you might receive
But if you ask me tomorrow
I'll say the same thing
I am ready for love
Would you please lend me your ear?
I promise I won't complain
I just need you to acknowledge I am here."
Remus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she really think that he found her to be immature? That he didn't value her presence in his life? Gods, had he really been that much of a shit to her since they had begun to date?
"*If you give me half a chance
I'll prove this to you
I will be patient, kind, faithful and true
To a man who respect's the spirit world
And thinks with his heart."
Ginny paused and looked away from Remus. He could see the tears shinning on her cheeks. The crowd began to throw out words of encouragement.
This seemed to help Ginny. She took a deep breath, looked back up into Remus' eyes and continued. She held her hands out towards him, smiling at him, her face brimming with emotion.
"*I am ready for love
If you'll take me in your hands
I will learn what you teach
And do the best that I can."
Remus stood from his seat, forgetting there was anyone else around him. All he could see and hear was Ginny."*I am ready for love
Here with an offering of
My voice
My eyes
My soul
My mind
Tell me what is enough
To prove I am ready for love
I am ready."
Remus walked to the stage and pulled her into his arms, kissing her on the lips. The crowd behind them were cheering but he didn't care. He heard her—he understood. She was ready to give herself to him—now she was just asking the same from him.
He was so tired of fighting against himself. He had been fighting all his life. He had convinced himself that because he was a werewolf, he didn't deserve to be happy. But he didn't believe that anymore.
Life was giving him a second chance to love again and he would be damned before he gave that up. He would give himself up to Ginny Weasley with no regrets.
When it all came down to it, he was as ready for love as she was.