CHAPTER 29:
Time Out of Time
Total surrender, Your touch is so tender
Your skin is like water on a burning beach
And it brings me relief
~Neil Finn
The werewolf and the fire witch walked through the night together and didn't find a house before the dawn light came. That left them with the choice of continuing and hoping to get human attention or sleeping during the day. The decision was finally made for Ginny when she slept from exhaustion. She curled up next to Lupin's furry form while he kept watch over her.
After she had some rest they continued their journey. Though she could melt the snow with her magic, Ginny still lamented the lack of shoes because of what was under the ground. She knew she wouldn't be scarred thanks to Jonathan's spell, but that still did not alleviate the pain in her feet.
It wasn't until late evening after they had been traveling nearly twenty-four hours that the pair came upon the first sign of civilization. It was a small cottage with the owners obviously not home. It seemed absolutely unremarkable, but it was definitely the home of magical people.
Ginny walked silently forward and used her dagger to help let them into the house. They both stepped inside and took a look around the modest home. The owners seemed to be on holiday and not expected back for several days. The wall calendar had some excited notations about the trip, though it reminded Ginny that the last concrete thing she had was Jonathan's Christmas dinner. All else blurred together.
"We don't have to rush away for fear of the owners finding us," she said as she pointed at the calendar.
Remus walked ahead to look at the paperwork near the calendar. "It looks like they don't expect to be back until January 11, and the Floo connection is off until January 10. We can wait here until the Floo comes back, or we can go back out in the elements and try to find another magical house."
When he looked at how exhausted Ginny was, the decision was made for the both of them. Wearily confirming his thought, she said, "I want a bed. So do you."
"That and a bath," he said as if the thoughts were simply orgasmic.
"Yeah," she said. "I'll make something to eat. Why don't you go start a bath?"
He went off to explore the rest of the house because the idea of running a bath was very appealing. Ginny then tried to put something together to eat. She had actually learned a lot from her mother in that area despite her best efforts not to do so.
She was very pleased with the meal she had made once it was ready, but Lupin had not yet come away from the bath. So Ginny went looking for him to tell him the food was warm. When she got to the bathroom she saw him neck deep in a tub full of bubbles. She laughed at the absurdity of seeing him like that and so obviously joyful.
"I thought you'd shriveled up and fallen down the drain," she teased. "The food's ready."
"The food can wait," he said as he gestured for her.
She was looking at him skeptically, but he told her to take off the blanket she still had around her shoulders. At first she was reluctant, but then she let it fall to the floor before getting into the bath with him. It was a pretty tight fit, but it felt wondrous. She leaned back against him as he wrapped his arms around her, and Ginny relaxed for the first time in a long time. Remus thought she might have fallen asleep in his arms, but when the water started to chill, she just used her fire magic to heat it back up again.
"That's a good talent," he said as he put a kiss to her temple. She sighed in contentment as he did it.
"There's only one thing that could make this better," Ginny said after a while.
"What's that?" he asked at her ear, the breath tingling her ears and sending pleasure shivers down her spine.
"A bigger tub and maybe the food in here with us. Two things, then," she said.
"The lady gets what she wishes," he said before wiggling to stand up.
It was awkward with them both in the bath, but he stepped out of it still covered with bubbles in several places. Then he padded into the kitchen to bring in the food. He sat on the floor beside the tub as Ginny ate in contented silence.
"I feel like Goldilocks from the children's story," she admitted. "I've come into someone else's home and am searching for things that are just right. She wanted food and a bed, too."
"Yes," he agreed with dramatic eyes, "but she ate porridge, and we both hate porridge."
"With a passion!" Ginny laughed.
She finished the soup and handed him the empty bowl. He took the dishes to the kitchen while she got out and looked for a towel to pat herself dry.
###
Unlike the cottage for Goldilocks and those three bears, this cottage only had one bed for the both of them to share. Remus looked back over his shoulder to see Ginny wearing a bath towel looking at both the bed and him. He artlessly pointed to it and moved to get under the covers. He made happy noises as he did so because the mattress felt comfortable and the sheets were fresh and clean.
Ginny padded over to the bed and dropped the towel before sliding under the cool sheets. She made her own surprised gasp as if she had never known the simple wonder of having a bed before. It was almost a perfect still moment until Remus shifted his weight and rolled on his side to look at her.
She opened her eyes and saw his silver gaze. She had known him long enough to know that his eyes weren't always silver, and she found the shift fascinating. He was more primal when he let the inner silver out, and he was more subdued and polite when his eyes appeared grey.
"What is it?" she asked as he wordlessly stared at her.
He admitted to her the fact that the only color he could see while in his wolf form was her. It seemed strange and wonderful, and Ginny put her fingers up to stroke his face lovingly. As she did so, she felt the ever present electricity between them spike again. He did have enough restraint to suggest that they should go right to sleep.
His prudence won out, and that first night in the cottage, that was all they did together in that bed.
###
When morning came to Devon that Saturday, Molly Weasley was sitting down to a cup of coffee at the breakfast table. Everything in their home and with their friends in the Order had been in a flurry since they had a small clue of Ginny's last known location. Tonks had been working diligently on the spells from the Ravenclaw book, but she hadn't come to any results yet. Her positive attitude, though, seemed to get her through temporary disappointments, and Molly appreciated all the help the Metamorphmagus gave them.
Mrs. Weasley looked up at her clock, and saw something in motion that she was sure hadn't been there mere seconds before. Ginny was on her way home. Molly almost dropped the cup in disbelief. She tried to set it down delicately while she calmed herself. The effort to remain calm didn't work.
Molly got up screaming her husband's name. He had been in the foyer before he was going to Apparate to see Fred and George in London. He ran into the room at her hysterical voice, to see her pointing to the clock that had been dormant for over two months. Arthur pulled her into his arms and held her close as they both broke down and cried in relief.
"Tell the boys!" she demanded. "Tell the boys she's on her way back home!"
"I will!" he said as he kissed his wife in relief.
###
When Ginny next awoke, she wasn't sure how long she had slept, but she felt truly rested for the first time since before Jonathan had taken her. She actually felt good, and it was a terribly strange feeling because it had evaded her so long. Then she noticed with some surprise that Remus and all his warm skin was in the bed beside her.
She got up to use the loo while he was still sleeping, and immediately rushed back to the bed when she was done. She cuddled close beside him and enjoyed the freedom to run her fingers over his chest, particularly near his heart where the arrow scar had been. When Remus came to consciousness, he stilled her fingers.
"Good… morning?" he asked as he took a lazy sigh. "Keep the bed warm. I'll be right back."
He returned to the bed quickly and had a very restful look on his face as he sat up against the pillows. Ginny took the chance to touch his chest again at the same place she had been rubbing when he woke up.
"You used to have a scar there," she explained. "I just saw it after the full moon. How is it not there now?"
"I don't know," he said.
There were a lot of things he realized he didn't know, especially about the recent past and the night they got free. He didn't mind the result, but the fact that he couldn't remember was beginning to trouble him. He scowled as he thought of it.
"You shouldn't do that or your face will freeze when the wind changes," Ginny teased him.
Then she leaned over to deeply kiss him. She had been kissing him for days because he had finally broken that barrier with her, and every time they did she tingled inside. His kisses, though wonderful, always had some bit of reserve to them as if he were afraid to break her or cause her further harm. She liked that he was cautious and respectful. He had been waiting for her to show her boundaries, especially in light of what Stewart had repeatedly done to her.
"I want more than your kisses," she finally admitted aloud. She could have been embarrassed at her honesty, but it didn't seem to be the place for lies.
"No," he said guardedly.
"No? What do you mean 'no'? You want me, too! You told me you did, and now that we're both rested and in a bed with little chance of interruption you don't?" she said with the stirrings of anger.
"Oh, I want you," he said on a sigh. "Unfortunately. But I want you to think about it first. If we go to that place, neither one of us is coming back from it the same way. It changes people, and it can be a great change for some of them. With others, it can be a disaster waiting to happen. Ask yourself if you would want to do any of the things in your head with the same man you spilled Wolfsbane Potion on in October."
"That's not fair. We aren't the same people any more," she said. She slumped back to the bed and rolled away from him, giving him her back.
Dark silence passed before Ginny said, "What about you? Would you have wanted me in October? It's your question, Remus."
He didn't answer immediately, and whatever thought process was going through his head was not shared with her. He finally said, "You're right. It's not a fair question. Ginny, I just don't want you to make a mistake. We'll get back, and you'll have Harry waiting for you. You shouldn't waste your time with me."
"It's not wasting my time, not when I love you," she sighed, feeling embarrassment for the first time in his presence.
Remus wasn't going to tell her she was too young to know what love was. He had been sixteen himself when he and Sirius first got together. The thought of telling her what she could or could not feel seemed a tad hypocritical in that light. He also knew that against all his rational instincts, he most definitely wanted her. Whether or not it was right or wrong or foolish or wise didn't eliminate the real desire he had running through him.
So he kissed her shoulder and opened his mind to her as he whispered, "If you want this, you have to take the lead this first time. I don't want you to have a panic attack because you're having war memories of some other man. I'm not Stewart, but I can be aggressive. It's a quality you may appreciate later, but it might confuse you at first. So right now we'll go at your pace. Do you understand?"
"I think so," she said as she turned her body back to him and sat up in bed.
"Then by all means," he said looking up at her luminous beauty, "take me."
Ginny let her mental barrier down so they could fully be the people they had learned to be with each other, the ones without secrets who knew exactly what each other felt. It made the slow exploration of each other's bodies a unique and delicious torture. She touched every inch of skin that she had longed to feel under her hands and mouth, while he in turn satisfied his own curiosity upon her. As they felt each others' pleasure from within and without, it was a relief of a sort not have to speak out loud appreciation for certain touches.
Remus was patient, and when she was ready she climbed on top of him, sliding his length fully inside her. She paused to enjoy the sensation of him there as he put his guiding hands on her hips. They began to rock their bodies in rhythm, and he asked mind to mind that she look him in the eyes. When she did so, the breath caught in his throat, and he felt everything about their shared experience spiraling. Finally he gasped out his climax as he felt hers shuddering above him.
Ginny fell to his chest as they both tried to recover their equilibrium.
§Wow. Better than flying a broom,§ she thought with amazement.
§And just like flying a broom, the more you practice, the better you get,§ he replied, sounding a combination of sleepy, satiated and very smug.
She echoed his sleepy thought and suggested before she drifted off to blissful post-coital rest that they should try it again soon.
###
Once they had slept some more, the couple spent the rest of that day exploring each other's bodies, and Remus gave Ginny quite a sexual education. She was an apt pupil, but he told her that she was never ever allowed to call him Professor when they were being intimate. Of all his kinks, and he admitted to having several, that was not one of them. He considered it a mood killer since they had once had a real relationship within those parameters.
The days passed in the little cottage before the inevitable return of the owners, during which they would wake in each others arms or he would wake her with kisses and play her body like a symphony. The first time he'd suggested cunnilingus, the idea reminded her of the blushing jokes among the people in her year at Hogwarts. But he had asked her to trust him, and he guided himself down her hips and waited until she was wet and wanting. Then he licked her with his tongue, and his fingers did things to her that she didn't know were possible.
When he had finished, Remus rested his head at the inside of her hip and had his arm slung over her stomach. The light in his eyes was rather devilish as he watched her come back from her orgasm. He blinked slowly a few times as he felt the shuddering after-effects in Ginny's mind. It was intoxicating to truly know exactly how the other felt about every bit of pleasure.
"I'm never going to want to touch another person again, am I?" she had asked teasingly.
"I should hope not," he had said as he pulled himself back up to lie beside her.
So they spent their time learning who they were when the world only amounted to two people who were madly in love with each other. Remus had never thought himself lucky enough to love again after the death of Sirius. He was continually surprised by it and held on to the emotions greedily like a goblin guarding his treasure.
###
"You like doing that, don't you?" Ginny laughed at him one time later as he was preparing once more to show her his skill with his mouth.
Their time together in this strange house felt like a honeymoon of a sort as they continued to get to know each other and find ways to satisfy the desires of the flesh. It felt dreamlike and unreal with every moment a blessing.
"Yes, I do, actually," he spoke with a laugh before mentally adding, §and so do you.§
He was right that she did. He was right about so many things that he had done to her, and she looked forward to what he was going to do. Suddenly, though, an evil thought invaded her mind that hurt her so much in the midst of it that she started crying hot silent tears. It had no place in the middle of his worship of her. It was embarrassing because it was a confusing mix of emotions that bubbled up to the surface all at once and demanded to get out. She tried to shove the thought out and make it go away, but the more she fought it, the worse the battle became.
When Remus felt her become distracted, he sat up and put his chin on her knee. "What is it? I can't have been very good if you're crying in the middle of one of my best performances."
Ginny tried to squeeze her eyes shut to make the swirling thoughts go away. She finally admitted, "I don't want to leave you, Remus. Ever. I don't want us to stop being us. As soon as we go back, you'll have to be old Professor Lupin, and I'll have to be Arthur and Molly's daughter. It won't be the same, and it's going to kill me inside."
He crawled around the outside of her leg to lie by her left side. He put his arm across her in a possessive gesture and waited quietly while he adjusted from the tonal shift from sensual to sad and then to pensive. Ginny had her face turned away from him while she tried to get control of herself.
"Do you know I have my own home?" Remus finally said with a distant thinking tone. "It's nothing special. I'm sure it's falling apart because I haven't been there since Sirius convinced me to stay with him at Grimmauld Place. But it is mine. I have this fantasy that I take you there, and we hide away from the rest of the world."
"Like we're the last man and woman on earth," she said as if the thought appealed to her as well.
"Something like that," he agreed with sad eyes. "It's a good fantasy."
"I'd love to be that person with you," she said before she tried to kiss him to make all her fears go away.
It took them a while to come back from the sadness, since that was always a part of the relationship they were forging. Once they were both back in a sufficiently intimate frame of mind, Ginny then rolled Remus over on his back to give him fair treatment to be on the receiving end of the same kind of the same pleasure he had been trying to give her before. He didn't mind the turn about at all and surrendered to her mouth that was starting to work wonders upon him.
###
On the day the Floo was to be reconnected to the network, Remus woke Ginny up with kisses at her neck and stubble that scratched her skin. She giggled sleepily as he told her, "Goldilocks, we'll have to clean up our mess before the Three Bears come back home."
Three Bears Cottage is what they had affectionately named the place where they had been staying. It was a little silly, but it fit their sensibilities since he had been the Big Bad Werewolf.
"That probably makes me Red Riding Hood," Ginny had said wryly, but she preferred the fact that he called her Goldilocks.
Lupin watched her wake up beside him, and she still had that dreamy satisfied look on her face. He tried to etch every part of it into his memory because he knew it would be a long time if ever before he would be able to see it again.
Once Ginny was sufficiently awake, they prepared breakfast and did all the cleaning that they could do while still in the house. They did try to leave it better than they had found it, though the food supplies were much lower.
"We can leave a note to offer to pay them back later," Remus suggested.
Then they waited for the inevitable connection of the Floo network that would require them to return to the polite society that they had involuntarily left months ago. It made their day excruciating and frantic as they tried to wring out every last drop that they could claim was theirs. In the evening, after the couple had suffered from being on edge all day, the Floo roared back to life, and they both turned to stare at it.
"I guess this is it," Ginny said as she stared into the scary orifice.
She started to walk forward to the flagstones, and Remus grabbed her arm to hold her back. It was as if he knew the moment they crossed the threshold back into the world of magic that their lives would change.
"I need to do this," before pulling her into his arms to kiss her senseless with the depth of feeling he had for her. Remus then rested his forehead against hers and said, "They won't understand."
"Are you going to give up on me?" she asked, not sure she wanted the answer.
"No, but I can't just walk in to your father's house acting like we're… us, can I?" he pointed out.
"I thought you'd be used to people staring at you by now," she said and grumbled something about him not being ashamed of his relationship with Sirius Black.
He was so frustrated he barked out, "I'm not ashamed of you! But think of it from my point of view. I have people already thinking I'm a sodding poofter because of the relationship I had with Sirius, and now I'll quite possibly be considered a pedophile who mostly likely preyed upon his students because of the one I now have with you. It's not an easy position I'm going to be in, Ginny."
"You can't control what other people think, right?" she asked with a shaky smile. "I'm sorry, Remus."
He grimaced as he looked at the now active Floo. "The heart wants what the heart wants."
"Yes, it does," she agreed before kissing him once more.
When she was done, Ginny nervously took Moony's hand to calm herself. He nodded his agreement, and then she shouted the name of her parental home.
"Here we go," she said before they stepped into the fire.
###
On the other side of the fireplace, the Weasley family had been holding a vigil since Molly saw Ginny's clock change. Arthur had started sleeping on the sofa in the room with the Floo, and Molly only went out to errands when there was someone else to stay and watch the house.
That night, Arthur was already in his sleeping clothes getting ready to take his post in front of the fire. He tried to read the newspaper, but he was extremely restless. Since Molly saw the clock moving, people had been barraging him with questions about when he expected his only daughter to come home. It hurt not to have any definite answers.
He had lunched with Bill, and no one in the bank had heard anything from Jonathan Moss. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Arthur reckoned he had disappeared into ash, and he was almost rude enough to say so out loud. He just didn't want to open his mouth about it because he feared he would never be able to close it again if all his rage came rushing out.
His eyes were tired, and he was about to turn off the light when he heard the sound of the Floo roaring to life before an entrance. At nearly the same moment, the Weasley clock in the kitchen chimed with the sound of Ginny's unique bell. Then within seconds he saw his daughter and Remus Lupin hand in hand falling out of the fireplace onto the flagstones of the Weasley hearth.
Though he had been waiting for them, Arthur couldn't speak. His throat was constricted, and his eyes were watering. He knew one thing, though, and that was his beautiful Ginny was home.
After his moment of shock had passed, Mr. Weasley charged forward and took his daughter in his arms, hugging her so close as if to do so would be the balm to all the pain he had suffered while she was missing. She held him back tightly, too, with tears in her eyes that she was actually back home with her loving father.
Remus watched the reunion and wondered idly if anyone would be so happy to see his return. It seemed the days before he went to find Ginny had not been good ones with his small circle of friends. Either way, the only person whose love he really cared about at this point was being crushed by her father's embrace.
As if to reprimand him for even thinking it, Arthur let Ginny loose only slightly and pulled Remus closer to him, too. Once he felt composed after much more hugging, Mr. Weasley called up to his wife.
"Molly, she's home." The voice he used was soft and scratchy, reminiscent of many nights spent with tears both shed and unshed as he waited for news of his daughter.
Mrs. Weasley had already rushed down the stairs in her night dress and cap and stopped midway to look at them where they stood being hugged by Arthur. Once her husband had set them free, Molly let out a cry that was almost unrecognizable as human. She practically jumped from the stairs in the haste to get to her daughter.
She gave so many hugs and kisses and asked so many questions on top of each other that Ginny couldn't even respond. Instead, she was smothered with her mother's love. Arthur reached for Lupin's hand again to shake his arm off, but then decided to hug him again. Remus took what was offered and stored it in his well of good feelings.
"Are you hungry?" Molly finally asked, pulling away from Ginny. "You've got to be hungry. You're both skin and bones!"
"Food would be nice, mum," the younger witch said softly.
"I'll make you something right away!" she agreed. To her husband she said, "Arthur, get her brothers and Albus. We're going to have a celebration!"
"Dad," she called. "Make sure Fleur comes. Please."
"Fleur?" he questioned before promising her whatever she wanted.
"I thought you didn't like Fleur," Molly whispered like it was a state secret.
"I changed my mind," Ginny said as she followed her mother into the kitchen.
She reached behind her to take Lupin's hand in her own as they walked there, and he could not refuse her. Then the two slid into the inside of the table and were sitting so close together their legs and forearms touched without any effort. To make it easier when eating, Ginny dropped her hand to rest on Moony's knee under the table.
They were both quiet while Molly was chattering about recent events and avoiding questions about how and why they had been gone and how they had returned. Perhaps she was not sure how to approach the subject, or perhaps she was waiting for the rest of the family to show up. In either case, Ginny was grateful. She was not sure she wished to enumerate her sins.
Allowing himself to show affection for her, Remus put his arm around Ginny's shoulder and left his hand gently stroking her arm. She could just lean into him and hear his heartbeat. She could sleep like that and be perfectly happy. Remus was touching her, and she was home. That made everything right in Ginny's world at least for that small moment.
Soon the rest of her family and the close friends from the Order would show up. Then the inquisition would begin.
A/N: The lyric for this chapter is from "Nails in my Feet" performed by Crowded House on the album Together Alone.
