My Hero, My Friend, My Love
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot.
Chapter Ten: A Moment at Christmas
Ginny awoke early in the morning. She had been too excited to sleep soundly, for today was the day. It was one week before Christmas break, and Remus was coming to Hogwarts today. She hoped that she would be able to at least say hello, but she knew that with her class load and him being with Sirius all day, she would probably not get to see him.
She made her way down to breakfast. Upon entering the Great Hall, she looked up at the staff table to say good morning to Sirius. She was surprised to see Remus sitting up there next to his friend already. Sirius was busy talking to Professor Flitwick, but Remus noticed her. He smiled warmly at her and winked. She returned his smile and sat down.
As she was finishing her breakfast, she looked up to see Remus motioning subtly to meet him in the Entrance Hall. She quickly got up, and followed him out. When she saw him, her whole face lit up, and she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.
"It's good to see you too, Ginny," he grunted, recovering from the force of her hug.
"When did you get here?" she asked hurriedly.
"Very early this morning. Sirius' third year class is his first one this morning." He paused and looked down at the floor. "And...I was hoping to run into you before classes began."
Ginny smiled sweetly at him. "I'm glad you did. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you today." She knew their time was running short and she needed to get to class. "You're coming for Christmas, aren't you?" she asked nervously.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I can't wait to see your brothers and Harry, too," Remus said.
"Well, I can't wait to see how big Hermione is now," she said giggling.
"Ah, yes, the baby's due in early February, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, but I think Hermione is ready any day now," she said. They stood in silence for a moment before Ginny noticed the time. "Blimey, I have to go, Remus. I'm glad I got to see you. I'll see you next week." She hugged him once more before disappearing down the corridor.
As he watched her walk away, he thought of the Christmas gift he had for her, and he hoped she would like it
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Sirius and Ginny stayed at Hogwarts until two days before Christmas. She had a lot of homework and preferred to do as much as she could at school. She knew if she went home, other things would occupy her time. Not long after they arrived at the house, it began to fill with people and guests. Ron left his flat in London to spend his time at the house with his sister. George arrived as well, bringing his girlfriend Katie Bell with him. Harry had decided to spend Christmas with his fiance's family in Glasgow. Ginny had met the soon-to-be Mrs. Harry Potter, also known as Shaine McGuire, when she and Sirius were on holiday last summer. Shaine had interviewed Harry soon after his arrival on the Ireland team, and the two began dating shortly thereafter.
Christmas Eve brought more guests to the already full house. Remus arrived and immediately took to his room to wrap gifts. He was very mysterious about his gift for her, only winking at to indicate that he had indeed gotten her something. Bill and Fleur arrived with their baby son, Arthur, and he quickly became the center of attention. Fred and Hermione entered the house loudly arguing with one another. Hermione had definitely gotten bigger, and she was most certainly tired of being pregnant. She kept swearing that she wasn't having any more children, but Fred always said that he wanted to best his mother and have eight kids! Whenever Hermione heard him say this, something was quickly thrown in Fred's direction. Everyone would have laughed had they not been afraid of Hermione's wrath.
As she was getting ready for bed, Ginny's stomach ached, both from eating too much and laughing too hard. She loved having her brothers around. She'd spent the better part of the evening catching up with Ron, since he'd been so preoccupied with his Auror training and hadn't written much while she was at school.
Ginny tossed and turned in her bed before growing frustrated. She remembered last Christmas and how she couldn't sleep, so she decided to walk downstairs, hoping that history would repeat itself.
Sure enough, there was a firelight glowing from the library on the first floor. She peeked inside and broke the silence.
"Well, well, Mr. Lupin. Once again, we meet on Christmas Eve."
Remus looked startled at the sound of someone's voice, but he smiled when he recognized who it was.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"Nope, too much excitement. Working again, I see?" she returned.
"Always," he said, somewhat bitterly.
She giggled and went over and sat next to him on the sofa. It was a little cooler in the room than she expected and she shivered a little.
"Cold?" He looked around the room for a blanket but didn't find one.
"Just a little," she replied and shrugged.
Remus hesitated, and then he took off his robe and put it around her shoulders. She inhaled his scent of aftershave, fire and peppermint and smiled at him.
"Thanks." He smiled back at her. She looked at his parchments. "What are you working on?"
"Nothing that can't wait until later," he replied stretching a bit. His neck and shoulders crackled as he did this.
Ginny giggled again at him. "You're too tense. Turn around, with your back to me," she said. He looked puzzled. "Just trust me." He obliged, nervously.
She pulled back the sleeves of his robe, as it was a little big on her. She put her hands on his shoulders and started massaging them. "Goodness, Remus! You have knots all in your shoulders."
"Do I?" he asked, closing his eyes and trying to think of anything other than being massaged by this beautiful young woman.
She found a particularly tight spot near his neck and went to work on it. He moaned softly, both in pleasure and in pain. He didn't realize how tense he'd been. He knew he was stressed, but as she moved her hands across his shoulders and his neck, he began to relax.
After a few minutes, Remus felt like he was jelly. "There, that's better, hmm?" Ginny breathed into his ear. He nodded and turned to face her. He looked into her eyes and felt like he could melt into them. He unconsciously brought his hand up under her hair at the base of her neck and tangled his fingers in her crimson tresses.
She shivered slightly at his soft touch. She momentarily thought of leaning towards him for a kiss, but stopped herself. She reached up to gently pull his hand away. This was Remus, after all, her good friend.
He was disappointed when she pulled his hand away, but it was short-lived as he was brought back to reality. "Thank you," he said softly.
She smiled brightly at him. "It was my pleasure."
Remus couldn't help thinking to himself, "Actually it was entirely mine." He blushed at his own thought.
She got up to leave him with his work, but he caught her wrist. "Stay and keep me company...like last year," he said.
She happily agreed and sat back down. She leaned her head on the back of the sofa and stared at the ceiling, listening to his quill scratch on the parchment.
Remus worked for a while longer, occasionally glancing over at her. She would catch his eye every now and then and smile at him. He loved her smile. Finally, when he could hardly keep his eyes open, he put his quill down. Suddenly he felt something soft, yet firm leaning on his shoulder. He looked to see Ginny, sound asleep, right up against him. He didn't have the strength or the energy at that moment to carry her back to her bed, so he just put his arm around her shoulders and leaned his own head back on the sofa. They stayed like that and slept all night.
Sirius Black was the first one up Christmas morning, and almost had a heart attack when he walked past the library. There, on the sofa, was his best friend, snuggling soundly with Ginny. Granted, they made a handsome pair, but Sirius couldn't see that. His stomach instantly became queasy and rage rose up in his chest. Suddenly, Remus awoke to find Sirius staring at him from the doorway with a look of contempt on his face. Remus looked down at Ginny, who was still asleep under his arm. When he looked back up to explain to Sirius what had happened, his friend was gone. He gently shook Ginny awake and told her to go upstairs and get into her bed. She nodded sleepily and retreated to her room.
Remus sighed and got up and went in search of Sirius. He knew this wasn't going to be good, but he wanted to get everything cleared up before everyone else woke up. He found his friend in the kitchen, banging around, making breakfast.
"Sirius, what you saw-" Remus began, only to be interrupted.
"I'll tell you what I saw, Moony," Sirius said looking angrily at his friend. "I saw a seventeen year old child in the arms of a thirty-eight year old man in my house. I saw what I've been dreading for months. I saw my best friend betray her honor, my honor, right under my own nose." He turned away from Remus. "God, I can't even bear to look at you right now."
"Please, let me explain," Remus said firmly.
"Fine," Sirius said as he slammed the teapot onto the stove. "You've got two minutes."
Remus sighed and began. "First of all, she's not a child. She's almost eighteen. Second of all, she came downstairs last night and couldn't sleep. I was up late working. We talked and fell asleep. It was an accident. I swear, just an accident."
Sirius turned around slowly. His black eyes bored into Remus' hazel ones hard before he spoke very quietly and very calmly. "Yes or no, Remus Lupin, right now. Just yes or no- do you love her?"
A long silence passed between them before Remus answered very hoarsely. "Yes, Merlin help me, I love her. I'm sorry, but that's the truth."
Sirius looked at him with disgust. "You bastard!" he hissed. "She is a child, I'm her guardian. I won't allow it. You are not to see her anymore. How dare you! How dare you compromise her feelings and her reputation for your own selfish lust? She respected you, she trusted you, and this is how you treat her? By toying with her emotions?"
Remus was furious, but tried to remain calm. "I haven't done anything wrong. Nothing has happened between us. I've kept my emotions and my physical desires completely in check. She doesn't even know how I feel. She only thinks of me as a friend. And that's what I will remain. I would never do anything to hurt her. You must believe me," he pleaded.
"Get out of my house," Sirius said. "Now. Get out!"
It was a choice between punching his best friend's lights out and forcing him to understand or leaving now in hopes that they both would calm down. Remus chose the latter. He silently left the kitchen to get his belongings from his guest room. On his way back down to leave, he paused at Ginny's door and quietly opened it and set his gift for her just inside the room. He looked up at her sleeping form in her bed, and his heart wrenched. He loved her, God help him. But he couldn't do anything about it. He slowly shut her door and left the house without a word to anyone else. He decided he would give Sirius a few days to calm down before attempting to talk to him again. He would also write Ginny later to offer some sort of explanation.