She knew he was awake when she went to tuck him in that night. She normally waited at least an hour before going in to see him, but standing in the doorway to his room after two, she could sense the symptoms of faux slumber -- and while Remus was much too relaxed, Ginny couldn't help but smile. He wanted to see if she had been telling the truth.


Just because he's awake, she told herself, is no reason not to let him be cared for. She slipped through the small opening of the door very quietly, proceeding to close it behind her. Then, silently, she crept across the hardwood floor, and found herself standing next to his bed for the seventeenth time. He always looked so peaceful there, the lines of his face relaxed to thin creases, his hair falling across his eyes, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Carefully, so as not to disturb his "rest", she smoothed the bedcovers, and sat down on the edge of his mattress as usual.


"Well," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "here we are again. It's funny... I never thought you'd get to sleep tonight." She held back a small sigh as she brushed his hair from his eyes. It was such a bloody shame, she thought, that he had to be the one to go through everything. He was a werewolf, for one, which would be downright painful and also made it near impossible for him to ever have a decent job; and then two of his best friends (Ginny assumed he had been friends with Harry's mum, also) had been murdered at age twenty-one; Sirius had been sent to Azkaban; there was that dratted werewolf legislation; having to go work with Snape, and losing the only job he'd had in a long while because of the slimy git; and now Sirius dying, as well. There was just no end to this man's torture.


She shook her head softly, and trailed her fingers lightly across his face. "It's just not fair." she muttered bitterly. "People aren't meant to have to deal with things like this..."


He stirred, very slightly, at these words. She paused, staring down at him with wide eyes -- she knew he was awake, and that it really didn't matter whether or not he opened his eyes, but the sudden thought of talking to him knocked her guard down... She waited, relieved when she realized his eye had just twitched. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.


"I guess it's time for your lullaby now," she commented, finding a wrinkle in the covers yet again and smoothing it. She caught what she was doing, and smiled. "Some days I think I'll end up just like my mother," She sighed again, and then cleared her throat. "Although nothing could make me want to have quite that many children... But, on to your song...


Before Lord God made the sea and the land
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
And one little star fell alone...
"


Ginny finished a few minutes later, and smiled gently at her "dozing" friend. I don't think I've ever seen him look this calm, she thought. He's usually so worried, or tired-looking.


"I'm going to go to bed now," she said quietly. "Maybe tomorrow you can try pickles on your cereal...?" She chuckled to herself as she leaned down, and gave Remus a small kiss on his cheek. "Always remember there's someone in this house who loves you."


She stood up reluctantly, and headed towards the door; and as she reached for the handle, she could have sworn she heard him whisper back...


"Thank you."


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


There will probably be one more chapter in this. Also, I forgot to disclaim...

I do not own the characters... blah blah blah... Neither do I own the song. It's Lost in the Stars by Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson.