My Hero, My Friend, My Love

Black Cherrie- This chapter is for you! It's kind of a set-up, so I'll update another one soon!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot.

Chapter Seven: Weekly Rendezvous and Job Offers

Remus could hardly contain himself as he weakly attempted to get through his morning the next week at work. He kept looking at the clock, silently praying that it was time for lunch. Finally, the clock appeased him, and he quickly darted from his office.

He whistled to himself as the made his way to the pub in Diagon Alley. He tried to think why he was so excited about seeing the Weasley girl again. He merely just enjoyed her company, that was all. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

Ginny, meanwhile, had been on edge all morning. She was nervous about seeing Remus again. She didn't understand her sudden anxiousness, for she'd known him for almost five years. But she looked forward to knowing him better now. She tried to convince herself that she was just lonely for company, having been around only her brothers and Sirius lately. Remus always seemed to stimulate her intellectually, like the other men couldn't. And she smiled at that thought.

She hurried into the pub and found Remus already waiting for her. She smiled at him, and he stood as she came over to the table.

"Good afternoon, Miss Weasley. How are you today?" he asked as he pulled her chair out for her.

"Thanks, Remus. I'm doing well, as well as I can being surrounded by Fred and George."

He laughed at the thought. "Yes, I can well imagine."

"How are you? I read where the strike was resolved," she said proudly.

"Yes, we were all relieved about that. Everything seems to be heading in the right direction now," he said.

"Remus, don't sound so modest!" she exclaimed. "The Minister of Magic, himself said that this couldn't have been resolved without you and all your hard work."

Remus blushed slightly and looked down at his hands in his lap. "The new Minister is too kind, really." He paused and looked back at her. "Of course, he's nothing like your father. He was a great man and a great leader. He's greatly missed at the Ministry."

Ginny smiled at her friend and tried to blink back the tears that had formed in her eyes from his compliment. "That's the nicest thing you could say. My father was also a strong supporter of yours, as well. He thought you were a wonderful man."

Remus saw her eyes glistening and reached over and took her hand in his. "I had no idea, Ginny. That means so much."

Their moment was interrupted, however, when someone came over to their table.

Sirius Black looked at the scene before him. His best friend holding the hand and making gooey eyes at his charge, who was 21 years his junior. He cleared his throat loudly, and the couple quickly dropped hands and looked up at him.

Sirius sat down, uninvited and looked emotionless at his old schoolmate. "Well, well. Fancy meeting you two here. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Remus forced a smile at his friend. "Yes, indeed you are interrupting," he thought to himself. However, he answered, "No, of course not. I hope you can stay and have lunch with us. I know Ginny would like that." He looked over at his young companion, who was shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

Sirius looked over at her as well. "Is that okay, Ginny?"

She smiled nervously at her guardian. "Of course it is. I didn't know you were going to be in town today."

"Well, neither did I. Just had to things to attend to at Gringott's," Sirius said to them and sat down.

The three finished lunch in awkward quiet. When it was time to leave, Ginny said good-bye to the two men before leaving the pub and going back to the shop.

Remus got up to leave as well. He turned to shake hands with his friend, but Sirius stopped him. "Why don't I walk with you for a bit?" he asked.

Remus seemed to expect this and agreed. He mentally prepared himself for what was inevitable.

Sirius, never known to waste words, got straight to the point. "Just what exactly did I interrupt back there, Moony?"

Remus tried to look noncommittal. "Nothing at all. I was merely having lunch with Miss Weasley."

Sirius looked sharply at his friend. "Since when are you two so close? And since when did having lunch entail holding hands?"

"For your information, Padfoot," he spat back, "Ginny and I have been friends for a while now, not that it's any of your business. And as far as the holding hands part, we were talking about her father, and she looked like she was going to cry. I was merely trying to comfort her." He paused for a moment before hitting Sirius below the belt. "Apparently, she's still hurting and not getting enough comfort at home."

Sirius snapped his head up to look at his friend, shocked at what had just been said to him. He was furious at Remus' last remark, but suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. Instead of yelling, he said quietly, "I had no idea. She never talks about her parents."

Remus replied dryly, "Not to you anyway." He sighed. "Look, can we just drop this? I know it must have seemed inappropriate back there, but I promise you it wasn't."

Sirius looked Remus directly in the eye. "Just give me your word that there's nothing going on that I should be worried about."

"Sirius, for Merlin's sake, she's seventeen years old!" Remus exclaimed.

"Yes, and we're both pushing the dark side of forty, perfect time for a mid-life crisis, don't you think?" Sirius half-joked.

The other man was not as amused. "Please don't remind me of my age. I assure you, I haven't forgotten how old I am." He stopped and turned his friend's shoulder to look directly at him. "Let it go, Sirius. There's nothing going on between me and Ginny Weasley."

Sirius sighed, relieved of his answer. "Good. I don't think I have to tell you how absurd it would be for the two of you to get involved."

"No, you don't." Remus' heart sank at his friend's remarks. He hoped his disappointment didn't show on his face. "I'm sorry, I need to get back to the office. You know, meetings waiting for me and all," he said hastily. He walked away without saying good-bye.

He made his way to his office and slammed the door, after ordering his secretary that he was not to be disturbed for the rest of the day. Sirius' words, however right they seemed, had hurt him. "Who the hell is he to tell me who I can be friends with or have lunch with?" he thought angrily. Then it hit him. Sirius was probably going to have a similar talk with Ginny that night. He quickly pulled out some parchment and wrote her a quick note.

Ginny,

I want you to know how very sorry I am for Sirius' behavior today. I honestly don't know what came over him. I hope he didn't make you too uncomfortable. I never meant to put you in that situation and I hope you can forgive me.

Unfortunately, I was on the receiving end of a lecture from your guardian after you left. I assured him that our friendship was nothing more than that, but I'm not sure he was convinced. You may have a lecture of your own waiting for you at home later. Let me know if he is too harsh, and I will speak with him again.

I also want you to know that I have no intention of giving up on our friendship. I thoroughly enjoy your company, and your companionship. I hope you feel the same way. That being said, perhaps we should not continue our weekly meetings right now. Sirius was correct in saying that it doesn't appear appropriate for a man of my age to be seen in public with a young lady who is still in school. The last thing I want is for your reputation to be tainted, no matter how innocent our friendship is.

I know you're leaving for Ireland next week, and I wish for you to have the best time. Please give Harry my best and let me know when you get back, so we can keep up our correspondence.

Yours,

Remus

He quickly rolled up the note, and bellowed for his secretary to get a messenger for him immediately. Almost instantly, a young man knocked on the door. Remus opened it from his desk and beckoned the young wizard into the room.

"Take this to Ginny Weasley at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Make sure you give it directly to her, no one else. And you're not to mention this to anyone else, understand?" he asked, gruffly.

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir," the young man replied. He took the note and left quickly.

Ginny was reorganizing the shelves when an unfamiliar young man entered the shop. He came directly to her. "Ginny Weasley?" he questioned.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you?" she asked curiously. She looked at him and noticed a Ministry patch on his shoulder. She hoped nothing was wrong with Ron.

"A message for you, miss," he said as he handed her the note. "Shall I await a reply?"

She looked at the letter and recognized Remus' writing. She immediately felt nervous. "No, thank you."

"Okay then. Have a nice day!" With that, the messenger left the shop.

Ginny went back to her chair behind the counter and opened the note. She read it and sighed irritably. She knew Sirius would say something about what he saw. But she never imagined that he would raise such a fuss with Remus about it. However, she was happy to know that he enjoyed her company, for she liked spending time with him as well. She just didn't understand why Sirius was so upset with their friendship. She made a mental note to avoid talking about it with him.

Surprisingly, Sirius didn't bring up the subject that evening...or for the rest of the week. They left for Ireland, and she thought she was in the clear. Sure enough, the whole time they were there visiting Harry, he didn't say a word, not even when Ginny gave Harry Remus' message. They had a good time in Ireland, but before she knew it, their week there was up, and they were returning to Grimmauld Place. She only had three weeks until she had to return to school.

Upon returning home, Sirius found a letter with the Hogwarts crest on it, addressed to him. He was puzzled by it and turned to Ginny.

"You didn't get expelled and forgot to tell me, did you?" he asked jokingly.

"Me? Expelled? No, I'm sorry, Sirius dear, but if a Weasley was going to get expelled it would have been Ron or one of the twins," she replied.

He laughed and opened the letter. After reading it, he promptly gasped and fell into a fit of laughter. "That's it! The world is ending! I have the proof in my hands!" he exclaimed through his laughter.

"Well, aren't you going to fill me in? What the bloody hell is it?" she asked him, exasperated.

He cleared his throat. "Language, young lady." She rolled her eyes at him. He ignored it and continued. "Besides, is that any way to speak to your new professor?"

"WHAT?" Ginny bellowed loud enough to almost shake the walls.

Sirius, taken aback by her reaction, answered quickly and as gently as he could. "Yes, this is from Professor Dumbledore asking me to take over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Of course, we'll discuss it before I respond." He reached out to pat her shoulder. "Why don't we unpack and talk in the library?"

She sighed, but nodded before heading upstairs. She wasn't quite sure what to think about Sirius' job offer. On the one hand, she wouldn't mind the company of a friend back at school, especially since her closest friends had graduated last spring. But on the other hand, he had begun to act very...fatherly recently, and she wasn't sure how to respond to that. She unpacked quickly and headed back down to the library to face the proverbial music.

Sirius was already seated on the sofa, a glass of brandy in his hand. He needed to calm his nerves. He'd always wanted to teach, but he thought that it would never happen. And now he had an offer staring him right in the face, and he wasn't sure he could accept it. He didn't want to compromise his fledgling relationship with Ginny by making her uncomfortable. They'd made such headway this summer. He was starting to think of her as the daughter he never got to have, even though he was positive she didn't think of him as a father at all. But that didn't change the fact that he loved her and wanted nothing but the best for her.

He looked up and saw her staring at him, and he smiled, while patting the seat next to him on the sofa. "Well, come on. We might was well discuss this like adults."

She walked over and sat next to him. She spoke first.

"If you want the position, you should take it," she said quietly.

He paused, and spoke hesitantly. "Well, would that be okay with you? I mean, we'll see each other all the time. You'll be in my classes almost every day. I don't want you to feel crowded or like I'm hovering over you."

She appreciated his concern, but she also knew that he could never pass up this opportunity. "Sirius, I want you to accept the job. We've managed to get pretty close this summer without getting on each other's nerves too much. I think it will be okay. Besides, you'll make a fantastic teacher."

He beamed at her. "You're positive? You're okay with this?" he asked.

"Yes, actually I am. I think it will do me good to have you there. It'll be good to have a friendly face," she said confidently.

Sirius' smile faded slightly. "A friendly face, eh?"

"Yes, I've grown quite accustomed to your horrible mug," she said while poking him in the arm.

He nudged her with his elbow in return. "You know, I've grown used to having you around as well. Harry was always too independent for a parent-type figure. I guess I've been thinking of you as my second chance at parenting. I probably shouldn't. But I can't help it. I care about you a great deal, and I want the best for you. I would die if anything ever happened to you." He said the last part rather quietly.

Ginny was overwhelmed at his confession. He also looked completely bewildered at it himself. She put her hand on his and looked into his dark eyes.

"Thank you, Sirius, for being a father figure in my life. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for all you've done for me," she said gently.

Sirius, true to form, quickly became uncomfortable with all the emotion between them. He cleared his throat and abruptly changed the subject.

"So, I guess I'll go send the Headmaster an owl then, letting him know that I'll take the job." He stood as he spoke.

Ginny stifled a giggle and stood as well. She hugged him tightly. "Yes, you should, Professor." He grinned at her acknowledgement.

He was almost out of the room when he turned suddenly and spoke to her again. "Ginny, I've been putting this off, but you and I need to have another dicussion...about a certain werewolf." He quickly left the room, so as not to see her reaction, which wasn't good.

She groaned aloud. "I knew it was too much to ask for him to not bring it up." She flopped back into the sofa and waited for him to return. "Might as well get it over with now," she muttered under her breath.

A few minutes later, Sirius returned to the library, but this time sat across from her in a chair. He shifted uncomfortably. "Now, to start off, I don't want to fight or argue with you. So let's just try and be adult about this."

"Okay," she responded. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Ginny, what exactly is the, ah, nature of your relationship with Moony?" Sirius asked delicately.

"First of all, there is no relationship. Second of all, if there was, I'm not sure it's any of your business," she replied coolly.

"It is my business because you're my responsibility," Sirius interrupted."

Ginny sighed loudly. "Fine, okay, fine. We're friends, nothing more. We've been writing letters since Christmas. I've only seen him a few times since then anyway."

Sirius knew to broach the next phase of the discussion with delicacy. "You do realize that he's my age, right? I'm not saying that you can't be friends with him, but you must take caution about it."

"Sirius, the way you talk, it would seem like Remus and I are gallivanting around town, snogging in alleyways and in the back of pubs. We. Are. Friends."

"Okay, Ginny. I really didn't need that mental image. Merlin, I won't sleep tonight now." She giggled at his red face.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. You're overreacting about this," Ginny said calmly.

"I don't think I am," he said. "Moony is a very important man in the Ministry. He's the new guy on the block, and there's a lot of pressure on him to do well. And him being seen in public with a young girl who's still in school is not going to earn him a lot of respect. Surely you realize that."

She didn't, but Remus had, as he'd said almost those exact words in his letter.

"I do see your point, Sirius. Honest. I promise I'll try to be more respectful of his position. Thanks for understanding though."

She got up to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. "Ginny, if something's troubling you or you need to talk about anything, you know you can come to me, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I know. I promise if anything happens, I'll come to you first." She bent down to kiss him on top of his head. "I'm going to bed. Good night, Sirius."

He smiled up at her. "Good night, Ginny dear."