A/N: OK, most of you know that I was… erm… kidding when I said that last chapter would be the final one. I was also kidding when I posted the epilogue. Yep, all just a practical joke. Anyways, here's the real part twelve. After this there's going to be a more extensive version of the epilogue I posted before or possibly another chapter with a less extensive version tacked on. We'll see. For now, enjoy this bit.
Try to Love Again: Part Twelve
"MUM!! COME HERE NOW!!"
Sirius was awake by now, and a look of sheer terror was in his eyes. I tried to get the door closed, but Ron was holding it open and I was struggling to hold my discarded nightgown to my chest. Finally, I grabbed Sirius's wand from the bedside table and pointed it at Ron's face.
"If you think you haven't done enough damage already… Just close the door and let us get dressed or I'll hex you. I'm serious." I hissed. Invoking Ron's fear of my bat-bogey hex evidently works, because he just glared at me and shut the door, which I immediately locked. When I turned around Sirius was already half-dressed. He glanced at the skimpy green satin nightgown in my hand and dashed to the dresser, throwing me a muggle t-shirt- The Beatles- and a pair of his pajama pants. By this time someone was pounding impatiently on the door. I looked at Sirius, and he squeezed my hand nervously as he turned the knob.
Ron was no longer outside the door. My parents were.
--
I sat in the kitchen with my mum, trying to work my way out of this mess.
"Ginny, how long has this been going on for? What is this, exactly?"
"Since a few weeks after I started staying at Grimmauld Place. We're dating, mum. I know he's older than me, I don't need to hear it from you. We love each other."
"Love? Ginny, you're fifteen! And older than you, yes, by twenty years! He's a grown man, old enough to be—"
"my father, I know, I know!" I lowered my voice, "mum, Sirius was there for me after the Draco Incident, and you weren't. You just kept me out of your life for as long as possible and tried to pretend nothing happened, but Sirius helped me through it."
"I didn't know you felt that way. We thought we were doing the best thing for you…"
"I know, mum! I forgive you, alright? But Sirius was the one doing the best thing for me. And if you ask me, you're being a bit hypocritical. With Draco it 'wasn't my fault', but now that I'm in a real, healthy relationship with someone who loves me it's wrong?" I didn't give her time to answer as I stormed out the door.
--
Sirius hadn't been in this position for many, many years. He no longer felt like an adult who had been through more than his fair share of hardships as he followed Arthur Weasley, a man not too much older than himself, into the parlor- no, now he felt like a nervous teenager, facing a confrontation with his girlfriend's father. Which he was, of course- minus the teenager bit.
He decided to start the inevitable discussion himself. "Arthur, I love your daughter very, very much. We were going to tell you, hopefully in a less shocking way… well, actually, we were going to wait until she had graduated…"
Arthur grimaced. "Sirius, I know that you're a…" he thought better of 'responsible' "… adult, but she's just a teenager. What makes you think that this… 'relationship' is going to last through those two years? This could only end with more pain for her. The age difference is a problem not just on principle- It's hard to keep up a relationship that spans two generations. What do you think you have in common with Ginny?"
"Arthur, we've found we have more in common than you could know. And I'm not going to hurt her. I'm in this to the end. She's The One for me, even though the rational part of me says that this never should have happened. But trust me, Arthur; two years from now we'll be in the same position and I'll be asking you for your daughter's hand in marriage."
Arthur was speechless. So was Ginny, ear pressed to the door between the hallway and the parlor, and so was Molly, in similar position at the door from the kitchen.
--
I took a deep breath, my eyes tearing slightly at Sirius's words. Then I was overcome with the urge to be somewhere else. I pushed the door open, grabbing Sirius's arm tightly and, to my father's shock, pointing my wand at him.
He understood a minute later, however. "Apparate to Grimmauld Place or I'll hex you." Sirius, wide-eyed, obeyed.
When we arrived in the library I missed so much, I released Sirius's arm and let my wand clatter to the ground before collapsing against his chest. He lowered our bodies onto the nearby couch while I held him as though letting go would be the last thing I ever did.
"Shh," he whispered, hand tangled in my hair, "everything's going to be okay."
Sirius's eyes were searching the room, expecting Molly and Arthur to appear any second to take their daughter out of his evil clutches. They never did. He relaxed once more, holding the woman he loved in his arms and hoping that everything would be as 'okay' as he promised her it would be.
A/N: The more you review, the more motivated I am to finally finish this once and for all. So tell me, is this better?
