So here's a fairly short fluffy little chapter. I promise the next one will be longer!

Chapter 14 Spring Fever

Saying goodbye to Godric had been very difficult for Ginny. She wished she could have kept him as a pet, but knew it wouldn't be a good idea for several reasons. The main reason being that Godric belonged in the woods free to hunt for food and meet other wild nifflers.

The very long and harsh January finally turned to Febuary, which dragged into March. Upon the arrival of March, the weather slowly began to improve, and each day did not seem quite so brutally cold.

Once April had arrived, Ginny began to get excited for the return of her brothers. Normally she wouldn't be excited for this, because she knew she had to reduce her hours to nearly half of what she was doing now, but she very much wanted Ron to tell her any stories he could about Harry Potter. She had heard about him since she was very little, and it was very exciting to her that her older brother was good friends with him.

May was very rainy that year. Ginny and Lupin would return soaking wet and chilled several times after a scouting trip. Because of this, it wasn't much of a surprise that Ginny woke up feeling like she was wearing a fifty pound vest one morning.

She groaned as she rolled out of bed and stretched achy muscles. She thought there was no doubt that she was sick. But she didn't want to skip the day of work with Lupin. She decided to try her best to keep quiet about it, suck it up, and get through the day anyway. She could be tough.

Of course it was never as easy to fool Lupin as it always was with her mother.

"Ginny, what's wrong today. You're acting a little off," Lupin asked after only about one minute of walking.

"It's nothing," Ginny said quickly.

"Then why won't you look at me?"

Ginny hesitated, unsure of what to do. She had in fact been avoiding looking at him because she knew her eyes were red and her face was pale. She didn't want to make what she was trying to hide into a blatant lie, but she didn't want him to find out she was sick either.

After several moments of silent walking, Lupin stopped. "Alright Ginny. Look at me please. I know you're trying to hide something from me."

Slowly Ginny looked up into Lupin's warm brown eyes. It startled her for a moment to see the many emotions within them. Concern, understanding, a hint of exasperation, sternness, and something else she couldn't place. "See it's nothing," Ginny repeated in the same quiet voice in an attempt to hide the raspiness of it.

"No it's not. I can tell you're sick," Lupin said firmly looking closer at her. "Why were you trying to hide this from me?"

"Because I didn't want to take the day off. You're not going to make me are you?" She tried once more to give him her best puppy face, even though it had yet to show any effect on him.

"Of course I am. We're going back to the house," he said while he stood, turned back to the cabin, and pulled Ginny's hand until she had turned around as well. Ginny didn't complain or resist, knowing it was pointless to do so. She silently followed Lupin back, oddly feeling more comforted by his concern than annoyed at his protectiveness. Once inside, Lupin put the tea kettle on the stove.

Before he could speak, Ginny slumped down on the couch. "I know what you're going to say. I need to relax for the day, take care of myself, and drink plenty of fluids. You're probably going to make me drink something right now and go home."

Lupin sat on the couch next to Ginny, looking amused. "Yeah, you pretty much summed up what I was about to tell you," he said with a gentle smile.

"This is why I was hoping you wouldn't find out. I knew you'd overreact. It's just a cold, "Ginny grumbled.

"About that," Lupin said sounding much more firm now. "I'm warning you now, don't try to hide anything like this from me again. I want to know if something is physically wrong with you. I can tell you have something much worse than a simple cold. Trudging in this cold damp woods all day would probably not be in your best interest. I'm expecting you're not going to be well enough tomorrow to come judging by how you look now."

At that moment the kettle whistled, and Lupin stood to prepare some tea. "I'm betting you're wrong, and I will be just fine tomorrow," Ginny mumbled as Lupin poured the hot water into mugs. Her words were not unnoticed.

Once the tea was made, Lupin sat back down and handed a cup to Ginny. "You say you know me by now, but don't forget I also know you. I can predict you will come here no matter how horrible you feel tomorrow you will somehow drag yourself here. If that is the case you will be sitting very uncomfortably as soon as you feel better. Now drink your tea," he said calmly.

Ginny didn't argue and slumped back into the couch to finish her tea. She must have been more ill and tired than she thought, because next thing she knew Lupin was shaking her awake. She found herself leaned into his shoulder. She felt slightly embarrassed for falling asleep on him, but she also couldn't ignore the warm feeling she had because Lupin had not made her get off him.

"Come, you need to go home to your own bed," Lupin said gently. "I'll come with you to make sure you get home alright."

Ginny nodded, and allowed Lupin to help her up. The flight home went by in a daze. She was cold, exhausted, and achy. It wasn't easy to fly home, and she was glad Lupin was flying next to her in case she fell off.

"Go straight to bed, and do not let me see you again until you are one-hundred percent healthy," Lupin said quietly but firmly.

Too tired to argue, Ginny nodded, and did as she was told. She was asleep within seconds of crawling into bed.

Unfortunately, Lupin had been correct about Ginny's illness. The next day she felt far worse, and slept the entire day away. Her mother noticed she was sick, and spent the day babying her. It wasn't until the next day Ginny had her internal battle. She felt better, but was still not perfect. She wanted to get out of bed and go into the woods, but Lupin's warning stuck with her. Her mother's constant service made it worse, because Ginny couldn't even step out of bed to get her own glass of water. In the end she decided to not risk the spanking. "See Lupin, I can listen to you," Ginny muttered to herself that day as she moped in bed.

The day after that, Ginny was almost perfect, and couldn't stand her bed any longer. She decided she was well enough to go. Only her muscles were slightly achy, but the rest of her felt fine. So she refused her mother's care and jumped on her broom to leave the house. The flight and fresh air felt good. Ginny landed to find Lupin already outside the house.

"I can see you feel better," he said, looking closely at her face. "You have color again, and you don't look tired anymore at least."

"Yup, I thought I was ready to come again," said happily. "I was even good and didn't come yesterday."

"So you feel completely better today? There are no lingering symptoms?" Lupin asked suspiciously.

Ginny hesitated very slightly. "yeah, I'm fine."

Lupin took a step closer, and Ginny took an involuntary step back. "Care to repeat that?" he said coolly.

Ginny gulped. Why did he know her so well. Sometimes she was sure he could read her mind. She tried to make her voice strong and casual, "I mean I only have some muscle aches still. But really, I'm healthy enough to be out of bed."

"I've told you before, I will not tolerate lying," he said calmly. "I also didn't want you to come while you were still recovering. You could have a relapse."

Ginny knew this tone of voice. She was sure she was about to be punished. Then Lupin would send her home, and she would have to spend another day moping. She could only stare silently, her entire body tense and waiting for what was going to happen next.

But Lupin surprised her. He knelt down in front of her and pulled her clenched hands away from her sides. "But I'm also very glad you didn't come yesterday," he said gently, uncurling her fingers. "You would have been in a lot more trouble. I also have missed having your company these last couple of days so it's nice to have you here again."

Ginny looked fully into his warm eyes. "Does this mean you're not going to punish me?"

"No, I believe you are telling the truth about how you feel, and I am happy you listened yesterday. You're off the hook."

It sounded too good to be true. "Can I also stay for the day?"

"Well," Lupin hesitated.

"Please," Ginny begged, giving her best puppy face.

"That look doesn't work on me," Lupin said sternly, but Ginny could hear the amusement in his voice. "You can help me out for a couple hours, but then I want you to head home early."

Ginny decided she was happy with this, and she was glad this day wasn't wasted after all.