The Price of Nobility
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Summary: Being married to a wonderful man doesn't mean life is perfect, as Ginny realizes. After murmuring the name of an old lover one night, her husband considers his options.
Ginny Apparated home from Quidditch practice to a calm, silent house.
"Hello?" she called. "Darling, are you home?" She heard rustling from the back of the house, so she hastily dropped her equipment in the living room and walked to the bedroom.
Between her career as a professional Quidditch player and his job at the Ministry, their time together had been few and far between. She didn't mind though. She loved her husband very much, but they'd never had a passionate love affair. For her, this marriage was one merely of companionship.
They'd known each other for years, both before and after Voldemort's second rise. After he'd been vanquished and the wizarding world was restored to peace, he and Ginny married.
He'd hoped that after a few years of Quidditch, she'd want to quit and have children, but having just begun her seventh season, no end to her career was in sight. Unbeknownst to Ginny, her husband was desperately in love with her.
Pushing the thoughts from her head, she pushed open the door and saw her husband throwing various items and clothing into a suitcase.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked.
"What does it look like?" he asked testily. "Packing."
"The Ministry sending you away from me again?" she teased. "It's a good thing they pay you well. Where are they sending you?"
"They're not sending me this time, Ginny," he answered. "I volunteered."
"Oh," was her reply. "When are you coming back?"
"I don't know," he replied tersely. He sighed and looked back at Ginny. "Before I go, we need to talk."
"All right," she said and sat on the edge of the bed. At his tense expression, she began to twirl her hair nervously.
"Ginny, it's our unspoken secret that you've never been in love with me. I know you love me in your own way, but it's not the same as I feel about you. Also, you've been quite...distant from me lately, even more so than usual."
"I'm just tired is all," Ginny replied quickly. "I mean, you've seen how much I sleep." Her husband nodded in return.
"Yes, I seem to recall one night a few nights ago when you went to bed early," he replied. "When I got into bed that night, you were already sound asleep. You're always so beautiful when you sleep. I watched you for a while before you started murmuring in your sleep." He stood and began pacing the room while running a hand through his hair.
"I wrapped my arms around you and pulled you to me, but you spoke first. You moaned something. A name." He closed his eyes and willed the tears not to fall from his eyes.
"A name?" Ginny questioned. "Your name," she insisted.
"No," he replied with a shaking voice. "It wasn't my name. It was someone else's name." He paused and looked her directly in the eyes before speaking the name that had been haunting him for three days. "Remus."
Ginny gasped and brought her hand to cover her mouth. After a moment, she slowly closed her eyes as sobs wracked her body. Her husband made no move to comfort her, as his own heart was breaking.
"Who is he?" he asked. "Is he your lover? I think I have a right to know."
Ginny took a deep breath and her cries subsided. "He's not my lover, at least not anymore."
"Is he your past?" he asked quietly. She'd never spoken of any previous relationships, and he'd never asked out of respect.
"Yes," she whispered. "Remus is my past."
"Tell me about him," he demanded. His voice was neither mean nor angry. Instead it was pleading, needing.
Ginny began playing with her wedding ring while she gathered her thoughts. She sighed slowly and began to speak.
"Remus was older than me, even more so than you," she explained. "He was a close friend of my family, and I'd known him most of my life. I don't think I ever expected to fall in love with him. I think he was just as surprised to find he was in love with me as well.
"After I finished Hogwarts, we were thrown together quite a bit. So it was only natural that our friendship progress into something more. Of course, we never had a normal relationship because I knew what everyone's reaction would be. But my family found out anyway, and it was worse than I thought. My parents forbid me to see him anymore and refused to listen to us. I wanted to fight them for him, but he was too noble and politely faded away," she finished.
"How long has it been since you've seen him?" her husband asked.
"Before three days ago, it had been nine years," she answered. "But I saw him in Diagon Alley the other day when Fred and I had lunch. He didn't see me, and I'm glad. I don't think I could have taken it."
"Do you still love him?" he asked.
"With all my heart," Ginny answered as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry."
"Nobility," he began, speaking through her cries, "is a bitch, but sometimes it's all we've got." With that, he picked up his suitcase and left.