A/N: well here we go again. I started this in 2003 and it's still in that "universe", so no bitching :-p my view of Harry, Ginny and some other characters has changed a bit, ok immensely, so I've found it a bit hard to write it but I decided to take it up again and I'm working on the ending now. So hopefully I'll finish it very soon. I hope you enjoy it and please review.

10. It's all about waiting

Ginny was standing outside a big mansion, it looked dead. She knew it wasn't, but its owner didn't try to make it look alive. To most people he was almost dead himself. He was stuck between two chairs. He had betrayed the ones he knew, and the ones he'd helped didn't trust him. She walked up to the door through the overgrown garden. She knocked, the serpent shaped knocker still gave her the creeps. An abnormally small house elf opened.

"Ow Miss Weasly. I'll introduce you, he's in the library." She walked a couple of steps behind the house elf. "Mister Malfoy, Miss Weasly is here to see you.

"Thank you." He got up from the big armchair as Ginny entered the room. "Ginny how wonderful to see you again, it feels like ages since I saw you."

"It has been ages. You should owl me much more often." Draco took her hands, he was one of the gentlest gentlemen she knew.

"I thought you'd be busy this time of year, you should be." He led her over to an armchair opposite the one he'd been sitting in. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yes please." She watched him, his hair was longer now, and there was no gel to keep it back. It fell over his ears, and eyes if he didn't push it away.

"Pumpkin juice?" He smiled, it was good to see him smile.

"Yes please." She smiled back. They had worked together during the war, they had turned into good friends. She was one of the few that believed he was really on their side. He gave her a glass and sat down again.

"So, what brings you here? I thought you'd be busy with Quidditch and your upcoming exams?"

"I have a couple of days off, so I thought I'd come up an visit you."

"I'm glad you did. I'm not that popular these days."

"You don't try to meet people, that's why you're not popular."

"I didn't exactly have the perfect popularity rating before and during the war either."

"No, I remember. Selfish dirt bag that treated women like trash and was likely to be the next dark lord." Ginny said it with a small smile.

"Yes, that is one way of looking at it. But let's not talk about that. I heard Potter is getting married."

"Is that all people talk about?" Ginny's voice was dripping with frustration.

"Everybody loves gossip. Especially when it's blown up by Witch Weakly."

"What do you mean?" Ginny was more than a little surprised to find out that Draco read Witch Weakly. He threw her a copy of the magazine. The cover was cowered in pink letters: 'Harry Potter's getting married. Read all about his fiancée, their romance and their wedding plans.' It flashed and sparkled against her.

"Merlin, they haven't even sat a date yet."

"It get's worse Gin, look at page 8." Ginny didn't know how it possibly could get worse. She found what Draco meant. A small frame in the left corner. 'Potter not ready to settle down?' and there was a picture of them kissing, a very lousy picture thankfully. "It's you isn't it?"

"Yes, but I don't know how they could make a picture like that, it's a very good manipulation." He looked at her, they both knew he knew she was lying.

"Yes it is. They can make wonderful things now a days." She was thankful he didn't say any more about it.

"Would you mind if I stayed a couple of days?"

"I would be delighted." He smiled, the little gesture took years of him. He'd aged beyond his years, but she had barely changed.

Remus fumbled with the door handle, it was difficult opening the door and kissing Hermione at the same time. He finally got the door open and Hermione pulled slightly away from him. "Gin?" she said while hoping the air would return to her lungs.

"Hi guys," she said a bit more embarrassed than she'd like to admit. "Maybe I should go somewhere else…"

"Of course not, there are other days." Hermione smiled and took Remus' hand.

"Where have you been?" Remus asked at they sat down opposite her.

"I've been with Draco."

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked surprised, Remus squeezed her hand and shook his head when she looked at him.

"He's fine." Ginny continued as if Hermione hadn't asked. "He's lonely, but that's not unexpected, you know Remus."

"All too well." Remus could see there were things going on in Ginny's head she didn't want to tell Hermione about. "You can stay here tonight if you want to, Gin."

"I'd like that, I'm exhausted." Remus looked at Hermione.

"I'll see you two in the morning then. And sweetheart, the Friday meeting, it's tomorrow morning."

"Of course I remember, I know the days." Hermione smiled.

"You forgot last week." Ginny laughed and got an ugly look from Remus. "Good night Gin. I love you, Remus."

"I love you too." She kissed him on the cheek and closed the door behind her.

"So, how are you really?"

"I don't know, I feel lost. I can't believe Harry. He agrees to marry her but he still wants to continue whatever it is we have been doing." Remus had been afraid of this, he was hurting Ginny and he consumed too much of her mind. If it had been closer to full moon he might beat some sense into him. "Not only that, he wants me to run away with him. How old is he exactly?"

"It isn't a question of age, I don't know what he's thinking." Remus was waiting for her to blow up or break down.

"I don't think he's thinking at all. He thinks he's the centre of everyone's attention, the centre of my life. He's driving me crazy. He thinks the world is so simple." Ginny was rambling.

"You haven't exactly made it difficult for him, you should have told him that it was you or them a long time ago."

"I know that, you've told me that before. God Remus, I don't even know what I want anymore, he's messing up my life. Who on earth wants to marry Harry Potter? He's insane, probably has some kind of serious problem. He works 24-7, he's barely ever home." She was on the verge of collapsing. He sat down next to her.

"Relax Ginny."

"Remus…" She took a deep breath. "Why am I not good enough for Harry?" He looked into her eyes and could see that she was hurting. Even if the full moon was a week away the wolf growled inside him.

"Ow Ginny, you're too good for him." She crept closer to him. "If he doesn't want you, or just wants to have you as a secret, you shouldn't bother with him. He isn't worth it." He hugged her, pulling her even closer.

"It's not that easy, I think I'm in too deep."

"I know." He kissed the top of her head. "You need to sleep, let's go to bed." She nodded and he followed her into the bedroom.

"Do you think Hermione is ok with this?" she looked at him.

"I think she trusts us, and she knows how much I love her." Ginny smiled, she was pretty sure he was right. It didn't take long before she was lying next to Remus almost fully dressed. There was something safe about him, she didn't really understand it, she just accepted it.

"Remus?" He could hear that she was half asleep.

"Yeah."

"How did you feel when Hermione didn't want to bring you to dinner, or tell anyone? I know it was her idea." She knew that Remus liked to keep his private life private but Hermione was even worse.

"It was logical, not putting things at risk before we were sure we wanted this." He rolled over to his side and looked at Ginny. "But as things evolved I felt a bit like you, not sure if she really wanted me. But then today when she kissed me at dinner, I don't know what happened, but now it's public." Ginny smiled.

"She kissed you?"

"Yes, as soon as I got in the door. Your mother yelled at me first chance she got, but I think it's growing on her. She wrote me yesterday inviting me to dinner next week.

"I didn't think she had the guts."

"Molly?"

"No, Hermione."

"Nor did I, we haven't told Dumbledore yet. I don't know how he'll react."

"I think he'll be fine, you are adults. And anyway I think I saw him kissing McGonagall once."

"You're kidding?"

"No. You know he was her teacher."

"How do you know that?"

"You'd be amazed at the things I know."

"I wonder if any students have seen me and Hermione…"

"Probably, you're not the most discreet people." They were quiet for a while.

"Gin?"

"Mhm?"

"Do you love Harry?"

"Yes Remus, I do."

"Good, I think his parents would have liked you." She smiled.

"What makes you think that?" she was almost asleep and he knew it.

"I knew them, and I had a dream about them, a very vivid dream."

"Are you sure it was a dream?"

"What do you mean?"

"Good night, Remus." He knew she wasn't going to answer.

"Good night, Ginny."

"Come on Harry, can't you call it a night and come spend some time with me?" Marie was sitting in the coach watching Harry working with some reports on the other side of the room.

"I just have to finish this." He'd been working around the clock the last couple of days. He'd been acting strange since some time last week, and especially since the dinner with the Weasley's, Marie felt as if she was walking on eggshells.

"Come on Harry, you've been working all day, it will still be there in the morning." He looked over at her.

"5 more minutes and I'll be with you. I just have to finish this." He knew he'd been distant lately, especially since his visit at Hogwart's, but he had no idea what to do. He'd tried finding Ginny, but every owl he sent came back with the letter. He knew she had returned the letters herself, that hurt. He heard a knock at the window, it was probably the letter he tried to send Ginny earlier.

"I'll get it." Marie let the owl inn and took the letters. "There are two letters, one for Ginny and one for you." She looked from the letters to Harry and back again.

"The one for me, does it have a sender?" He didn't look up, he wasn't handling this well at all.

"It's from Malfoy…" Marie sounded as surprised as Harry was. "Shall I open it?"

"Just the one from Malfoy." She took out the parchment and read.

"Potter. Gin has left. Stop bothering her all the time. It is clear that she doesn't want to speak to you, so leave her alone. Whatever you've done to her, someone should have your head for it. Malfoy." Harry sat there half frozen. He'd just let Marie read a letter that came with one of the returned letters, he must have lost it completely. He got up, took the letters from Marie, he looked unsure what to do with them until he threw them in the fire.

"Are you always like this when you haven't seen her for ten minutes?" The way Marie said 'her' surprised Harry, it sounded like the way he once had said 'Malfoy'.

"I've been looking for her. She's one of my best friends and we've been arguing. You have no idea how bad that makes me feel." He could see how frustrated she was.

"I get that you feel bad, but sometimes it feels like she's more important to you than I am. Your job and her. I get that your job is important but I'm not going to share you with some other girl." 'Nor will she.' Harry thought, his blood was boiling and by the look of it Marie wasn't any calmer.

"What do you mean by that? How often will you let me see Ginny? Once a week? Once a month?" He walked over to the window. How often Marie let him meet Ginny probably didn't matter, Ginny probably didn't want to see him if he got married anyway.

"I didn't mean it like that. Sometimes you are so stupid. But you won't even tell me what was between you and Ginny, but I'm supposed to be fine with you running around with her all the time."

"Ginny and I are friends, old friends, nothing more." Harry went into defensive mode.

"I found a picture in Ginny's apartment saying something else, a picture taken two years ago." Harry's heart sank, his birthday present for Ginny, this would go to hell. "I asked Fred and George if you and Ginny ever had been an item, but you haven't, have you?" He'd been looking for a way to tell her, but now she'd found one on her own.

"Yes, Ginny and I have been lovers." His voice was calm, so calm he surprised himself.

"When? Why haven't you told me?" he turned and looked at her. He wouldn't lie to her, it was now or never.

"It started when we were at school." He swallowed. "And ended last week." She was stunned.

"You mean you've been cheating on me all this time?" he could see she was angry but it felt good to finally tell someone.

"Yes."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend you haven't cheated on?"

"No, I've always had Ginny." He'd never before thought there was anything to the saying that the truth will set you free, but he could say it was true now.

"You cheated on me when I proposed?" she was desperately trying to get a grip. "But it's over, right?" It was Harry's turn to be stunned.

"What?"

"You broke it off with her and want to be with me, right?"

"She broke it off with me because we said we were getting married."

"She was pretending to have morals all of a sudden. I can't believe it. You, Harry Potter, you are a cheater. Aren't you supposed to be brave and loyal and pure hearted or whatever they say?" He felt lost, a small voice in his head was screaming for him to end it now.

"I hope you haven't been living with the media's fantasy image of me all this time. I've never been everything everyone thought I was. And my friends know that."

"You know Harry, I thought I knew you but I didn't know this and I'm not sure I can live with it." Marie was fighting back the tears. "You have to choose, me or Ginny, and that will be it, you'll have to live with that forever."