Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. and probably other people too, but I lost count after that. I don't own these characters and I'm not making a single penny off them.

Unfaithful

The bookstore was small, and, with the good turnout, incredibly cramped. I'd been sitting at a desk all day, signing books and making small talk with "fans", and by four, I was feeling ready to curl up in the foetal position. My editor was talking on a Muggle device and I allowed myself a sigh; Max had told me to smile for the people, and I had. Now I wanted to take a few aspirin and lie down.

'Hi! Wow, Mr Lupin, I am a huge fan! I've loved your series for years now! I can't believe I'm meeting you!'

It was a female voice, and as soon as I looked up, I saw it was a pretty girl's voice. 'I can't believe I'm meeting you, too…'

'It's Elizabeth.' She offered, beaming.

'Ok, Dear Elizabeth, thank you for reading my work, hugs and kisses, Remus.' I signed the inside cover and handed it back to her. The line was reaching out and around the corner of the shop. 'How long have you been reading my books, anyway?'

'Oh! Ever since I was ten!' Elizabeth gushed. 'To tell you the truth, I had a crush on you for a while,' she was bright red.

'Is that so?'

ooo

I'd never been faithful because I had never needed to. None of my first lovers had been able to handle the fact I was a werewolf, so I settled on cheap dates with cheaper motels and a quick, unsatisfying satisfaction. Then I met Ginny and we loved each other and everyone said we'd break up, then we beat the odds and stayed together through both our times of the month. Then I saw a girl who I would have loved when I was in my twenties: curvy and pouty and with a sneer that told me she was too good for me.

I made her see otherwise.

And I was so ashamed that I threw myself into writing, but Ginny knew; she knew the moment I came home and wouldn't meet her eyes. She chucked me out, along with all my belongings, but I got down on my knees and pleaded with her that I knew I had done the wrong thing and that I loved her so much I would die without her. It was a year and eight months before another girl came along, and it was in homage to Ginny that she looked exactly like her.

We fought so much that I thought I'd go deaf from her screaming, but I pitched myself at her feet and somehow she found it in herself to forgive me.

And now I was sitting on a toilet in a public bathroom, watching Elizabeth rearrange her clothes. She still looked like she had just had sex. I closed my eyes, trying to blot out the look of her swollen lips and the smell of harsh chemicals, and the overwhelming guilt that made me want to be sick. 'Thank you so very, very much, Mr Lupin,' she whispered, pressing a kiss against my cheek. The door to the cubicle moaned as she opened it.

I walked over to the sink and stuffed the drain up with tissues so I could dunk my head in water. Hair sopping wet, I left the bathroom and caught a taxi home.

The weather had not improved since this morning, so Ginny had given up on her plans of gardening. I walked through the door and she was in the kitchen. My eyes would not move from the floor. I heard the sound of a door slamming and I flinched.

I procrastinated by hanging my coat on the hook and putting away a toy car Jake had left there. Finally, after a steeling breath, I walked out the back door. Ginny was sitting on the steps, her hands shaking so much she couldn't hold the lighter up to her cigarette. I crouched down, with my ancient bones, and held the lighter steady. Once the flame had caught, she snatched it back and glared at me, her eyes cold and hard.

'Max called.'

'Oh.'

'Is that all you're going to say?' She mocked. 'Apparently the people at the bookstore are pissed off at you for leaving in the middle of an appearance. He isn't happy with you either because the publishing house is on his back about it.'

'I'll call him and apologise.' I promised.

She was silent, flicking ash from her smoke. I wasn't looking at her because every time I did, my heart seized up. Eventually, I noticed her shoulders were heaving, and that she was crying noiselessly. I attempted to put my arms around her, but she shrugged them off.

'I hate you, Remus Lupin,' she said quietly and thickly. 'You go and sleep with other women and then promise me that you'll try not to do it again. I wish I could believe you for a change instead of wondering when the next time will be.'

I hung my head in shame. 'I'm sorry.'

'I know you are and I hate you for it.' She threw the cigarette down on to the step and crunched it under her heel. 'And I hate myself more for believing you every time.'

Author's Notes: I'm unsure as to where I want to go with this. I'm retiring from Remus/Ginny soon, and I want to get all the half written fragments completed and off my computer before giving up the ghost. If I get any response from this, I may consider having a series of vignettes with this theme. You know, whatevs. The only "beta-ing" this has had was my friend complaining that all my stories are the same.