My Hero, My Friend, My Love

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Language warning in this chapter!

Chapter Twelve: The Weasley Temper and Its Repercussions

Ginny stormed through the front door and slammed it loudly behind her. Luckily, the only person home was the person she meant to hear her anger.

"Sirius Michael Black! Get your arse down here now!" she bellowed.

He came running into the foyer with a worried look on his face. "Ginny, dear, are you okay?"

"Don't you 'Ginny dear' me. You know exactly what's wrong with me. I'm pissed as hell, Sirius, and you know why," she hissed at him. She glared at him, seething in her anger.

"So that's where you ran off to- to see him, didn't you?" he asked, getting as angry as she was.

"You bet your bloody arse that's where I went. He's my friend and I was worried about him," she retorted.

"Ginny, I'm putting my foot down. You'll not see him anymore," he said firmly.

"And just who in the blazes of hell and damnation are you to tell me who I can and can't see?" Ginny spat back. "You may be my guardian, but you're not my father and you're not any of my brothers. Besides, I've known Remus Lupin longer than I've known you."

"Ginny, you don't know him. You don't know what his intentions are," he said, calming slightly.

"Intentions? What the hell, Sirius?" she said throwing her hands in the air. "We're not getting bloody married. We're friends. He cares about me and wants the best for me. He's there when I cry and when I'm happy. And he knows me better than anyone and understands me better than anyone right now...even you," she replied.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you going to stand there and tell me that you don't see him as anything more than a friend, that you've never done anything...inappropriate with him?"

"With Remus?" she asked with a smirk. "Not in the least. He's your age for heaven's sake. Plus, he's known me since I was a child. That would be weird. And not to mention, he would never think of me like that. Sirius, really. I can't believe you're having such a fit over this."

He raised his eyebrows at her. Surely she wasn't that oblivious as to how Remus felt about her. "Perhaps Moony was telling the truth then, about keeping himself in check," thought Sirius. He sighed loudly.

"I want to believe you, Ginny," he said. "But I am only looking out for your well-being, and like I said before. People are watching both of you, whether you know it or not, and they will take notice of anything that appears inappropriate, no matter how innocent it may be."

"I understand, Sirius, but it's not like we're snogging or anything. Friends don't do that with each other. And Remus would never intentionally put me in an uncomfortable situation. He's really terribly broken up over what you saw yesterday."

"Yeah, I'll bet he is," he muttered under his breath. If she heard him, she didn't acknowledge it.

"You should apologize to him, Sirius," she said earnestly. "Don't let him lose his best friend because of your overreaction." With that, she went up to her room. She was still angry with him for being so overprotective and wasn't ready to forgive him completely yet.

Meanwhile, Sirius wasn't completely sure he believed his friend. Remus loved Ginny, and Sirius knew that he couldn't keep his desires hidden forever. And for that, he was still afraid of Ginny getting hurt. He couldn't imagine that any relationship the two of them could have would work, and the poor girl had suffered enough heartbreak for one lifetime.

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Three days later, Remus sat in his office staring at a blank piece of parchment. He'd promised to talk to Sirius, but every time he tried to talk to him via the Floo Network, Sirius dismissed him or had conveniently been out. He ran his hand through his hair and started writing:

Sirius,

We need to talk. But seeing as how you won't speak to me, I'll have to write what I want to say to you.

I've gotten over being angry with you. I can see things from your standpoint. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be happy with this. But the thing is, I have no intention of giving Ginny up. I care about her, and yes, I love her. But regardless of that, she is my friend, and she needs me to be there for her in that capacity. You can accept it or not, but it will happen.

We've been friends for most of our lives, Sirius. Please don't turn away from me because of this. Believe it or not, I need both you and Ginny in my life. I don't want to have to choose because I don't think you will like my decision.

I know Ginny's talked to you about me. And I know how she feels about me. You were right when you said nothing could ever happen between her and me. I know that now, and I will live with that. So I hope that you can trust me. I will not hurt her or allow anything bad to happen to her. I know you are with me on that.

You've always been my best friend. Don't leave me now. Ginny needs both of us, whether she'll admit it or not. And if you keep pushing her away, you'll lose her.

Talk to me, Padfoot.

Remus

Sirius read the letter twice before balling it up in frustration. He tossed it into the fire. He wanted to believe in his friend, but his newly found parental instinct was forcing him to shield Ginny from any pain Remus might cause her. He decided to ignore his friend's letters and pleas for now.

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Upon returning to school, Ginny threw herself into her studies. She ignored Sirius as much as she could, but that was hard to do, being his prized pupil. When she did speak to him, her voice was icy and she always referred to him as "sir" or "Professor Black," never by his first name.

Ginny also missed Remus immensely. She was so lonely at school. Colin and Luna were together most of the time, leaving Ginny to fend for herself. She hadn't minded last semester because she'd had Sirius, but she was still angry with him. She knew from Remus that he had refused to talk to him and had ignored his letters. And this broke her heart even more. Her only solace was journaling and writing letters to her friend.

Dear Remus,

I gather by now you've heard the happy news. Fred and Hermione had a baby girl. They named her Molly after my mum. They sent me a picture of her, and she's beautiful, with the slightest bit of red hair on her head. Fred is so happy and he's already pestering Hermione to have another baby! I don't think she's too happy about that, but hopefully she can hold him off for a couple of years at least!

I hope you are doing okay. I know the full moon was last week, and I barely slept. All I could do was think of you and wish I was keeping you company. I know you don't want me to ever be around for that, but I can't help loving the wolf inside you. It's part of who you are and part of what makes you the man I so greatly respect and adore.

I miss you so much. I don't know how I'm going to hang on until the summer to see you again. Sirius and I are still barely speaking. I'm just so hurt by him. I don't understand why he doesn't trust me, trust you and what our friendship means to me. I wish that he would recognize how important it is.

There is a Hogsmeade weekend coming up next Saturday. I dare not ask if you can meet me. I know you won't as long as Sirius is like this. And I respect you for that. But for once, I wish you wouldn't be so noble. I need to see you before I go crazy. Please try...

Love,

Ginny

She sighed and tied the note to her owl's leg and watched her fly off to deliver her master's note. Ginny left the Owlry and went down to dinner.

She didn't really eat, just picked at her food a little and tried to ignore Sirius' worried looks in her direction.

It broke his heart that she was not speaking to him, but he still felt that he was doing the best thing. But he also knew they needed to talk and soon.

As he was dismissing class the next day, he asked her to stay after. She nodded once in his direction and sat back down at her desk, carefully avoiding his gaze.

"Ginny, we need to talk, clear the air," he said to her.

She looked sullenly out the window. "There's nothing to talk about, Sirius. You're keeping me from the best friend I've ever had."

He sighed and looked at her depressed face. "Ginny, please try to understand where I'm coming from."

She finally looked him in the eye and glared at him. "I have, Sirius. I completely understand your view on the situation. But you refused to see mine." She stood and gathered her things together. "And until you do, I have nothing more to discuss with you." With that, she turned and left the classroom.

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Remus' heart wrenched painfully as he read Ginny's letter. She sounded so sad. He wanted to make her pain go away, but he knew that this had to do with Sirius. And try as he might, he couldn't get her guardian to understand their friendship. His anger at the other man boiled in his chest and he quickly scribbled a note back to Ginny.

Ginny,

Against my better judgment, I'm chucking my nobility, as you call it, out the window. I'll meet you in Hogsmeade next Saturday at 10 a.m. I'll be waiting for you near the entrance to the village.

I can't wait to see you, for I've missed you as well, very much.

Always,

Remus

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For the last week, Ginny had barely been able to contain her excitement. She was so happy that she was going to see Remus. She'd barely been able to concentrate on her schoolwork that Friday, just knowing that in twenty-four hours she would see him again.

In the carriage to the wizarding village, she nervously fidgeted. "Why am I so nervous?" she thought to herself. "It's only Remus." Finally, the carriages stopped and she quickly walked to the village's gates. He was there, waiting for her, looking very dashing in brown robes that brought out his eyes.

She smiled at him when he bowed slightly to greet her. Always the gentleman, he offered her his arm. "Where to, my lady?"

She giggled as she took his arm. "Well, my sweets supply is low, so...Honeydukes?"

"Excellent choice," he replied. "I could always do with more chocolate." He winked at her.

They spent the whole day together, talking, shopping and laughing. He told her of his childhood and his early years at Hogwarts. Over lunch, he told her of his parents and how they died during the first war with Voldemort. He got choked up and she held his hand as he calmed himself. She, in turn, told him of growing up with six brothers and always feeling left out, but never unloved. She told of how she'd been closest to Charlie and had locked herself in her room for two days straight when he'd died. She was also proud that Percy had finally come to his senses, only to be killed two days later. When she allowed one solitary tear to fall from her eyes, he softly brushed it away.

In the afternoon, they shared funny stories at the Three Broomsticks. He told her of the Mauraders and how James and Sirius always seemed to get him into trouble. His eyes clouded over when he spoke of Peter, but he didn't allow his anger to show. She told him of growing up with the ultimate pranksters, Fred and George and how proud she was of their success. She learned that Remus loved his job, even more than teaching. He loved that he was actually making a difference for people who had been persecuted and ridiculed for so long.

The day couldn't last forever, and soon they were saying good-bye as she went to catch the last carriages back to the school. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "How will I survive until June without seeing you?" she asked him.

He smiled at her. "You will survive because you're the strongest witch I know. And I'll write to you more often, I promise. The summer will be here before you know it."

She hugged him again. "Remus, you're the most wonderful friend I've ever had." She pulled away and squeezed his hand before climbing into the carriage.

"Ouch," he thought to himself. "That hurt. Friend?" He sighed, letting his shoulders sag, reflecting the disappointment he felt. "I guess that's all I will ever be to her." Shaking his head slightly, he quickly apparated back home.

Sirius watched from his own carriage as the two said good-bye, and his heart broke as he saw how much Ginny was going to miss Remus. He knew what he had to do. So when the carriages pulled up to the castle, he walked quickly to his office to compose two letters that he dreaded writing.