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"James?"
"No."
"Janus?" she asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
He looked up from his book to stare at her in surprise. "What? No!"
"So not Jove or Jupiter, either?" She had often tried to guess his middle name. It was one of those curiosities she'd had as long as she'd known him.
"Definitely not," he said as he closed the book he had been trying to read.
She sat beside him as she continued to guess. "Joshua? Jason?"
"Nice, but no. Keep trying," he said as he played with a small lock of her hair.
"Jordan? Jericho? Jerusalem?" She ticked the three names off with her fingers.
Gently folding down each of her fingers, he replied, "No, no, and no."
"Jebediah?" she said randomly.
"Yes," he said in mock seriousness.
"Really?" Her eyes filled with disbelief that she had found his name.
"No," he answered and shook his head with a laugh.
In exasperation she asked, "John Jacob Jingleheimer?"
"That's my name, too..." he sang happily off-key and smiled to her saucily.
"Prat!" she said to him with a teasing smile and playfully swatted his shoulder. "How about Jiminy? Jack? Jonathan? Jondolar?"
He made a face of distaste. "No, and what is Jondolar?"
"I read that in a Muggle book," she said with a shrug.
"A-ha. So no more real guesses then?" He covered his smile with his hand.
"Actually yes." she said as she importantly sat up beside him. "I know, and you've been hiding it from me the whole time!"
He nodded once to her. "If you say so. What is it?"
"Jennifer. Your middle name is Jennifer," she accused in mock seriousness.
"Yes," he said in agreement. "You found out my deepest and darkest secret. That's why I didn't tell you sooner. My parents named me Jennifer, truly and completely."
She kicked her foot in irritation at him. "You're as infuriating as my brothers! Well, what is it?"
After a long quiet moment, he leaned over and whispered softly in her ear, "John."
"John?" she said in surprise as she turned to stare into his grey eyes. "It can't be John! I already guessed that one."
"It is John, and no, you didn't really guess it." He smiled and hummed the little children's song as his eyes twinkled with humor.
"Remus John Lupin?" she tested out loud. Finally she declared, "I like it."
"I'll be sure to tell my parents," he said as he sat back and continued to smile.
"When you're telling your parents how much I like your name, don't forget to tell them how much I like you."
"I've already told them all about you." he teased her. "So now it's your turn."
She pouted prettily and then offered, "M."
Remus thought about it and concluded, "Good letter. I'll skip the obvious. Michelle?"
"No." It was her turn to smile now.
Remus ran his fingers through his hair as he listed some more women's names beginning with M. "Melissa? Melinda? Millicent? Myrtle?"
"No, no, and are you insane?" she said with a nasty look. "I can't believe you think my middle name would be Millicent or Myrtle."
Remus shrugged his shoulders at that. "Miranda?"
"Oh, I like that one," she cooed appreciatively, "but alas, no."
"Morgan La Fey? She was a powerful witch. Considering your father's name, he might be partial to it." It was a logical conclusion in his mind, but that didn't mean her parents had thought the same way.
"That, too, is a great name, but it's not mine," she said with a sigh.
Randomly picking a topic, he asked, "Melisande? Mixolydian Mode? Misericordia?"
She shook her head once. "I think not."
He looked at her. "So no musical names?"
"Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, Remus. Do you give up?" Her smile was soft and teasing.
"Never," Remus said stubbornly. "Mary Margaret? Madeline?"
"Neither of those. Not too impressive so far, are you?" she said as she rubbed her foot on his leg.
"I should call you Minx for all that you do to me!" Remus answered her in frustration as he reached to pull her closer to him.
"Quit wasting time.," she sing-songed. "Do you have a guess?"
"Heavens to Murgatroid, Ginny! Just tell me," Remus said in exasperation.
"Murgatroid. That's funny," Ginny mocked him.
"Okay, then something more common. Is it...?" he pondered aloud. "No, it can't be that..."
"What?" she asked as she wiggled closer to him.
"Molly?" he asked as he stroked her face and searched her eyes.
"Yes," Ginny replied and smiled warmly at him.
"You mean I actually guessed it?" Remus wrinkled his nose in wonder and surprise.
"Yes, Remus John." Ginny said to him, taking his hand in hers. "You guessed, and you win."
He smirked in satisfaction. "Ginny Molly. So what do I win?"
"Me, of course!" Ginny smiled at him.
Remus hugged her close to him. "I thought I already had you."
"Now you have all of me!" Ginny giggled back.
His expression showed mischief in the making. "Oh, the possibilities in that."
"I'm thinking of a few possibilities right now," she winked. "Come closer and let me tell you."
He bent his head close to hers and Ginny kissed him. Remus nodded afterward as if he were listening to speech. "Could you repeat that a little louder?"
She smiled and obliged him many times over.