My Hero, My Friend, My Love
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot.
Chapter Sixteen: Confessions and Conversations
Ginny awoke the next morning and reached over for her bedmate. However, all her hand found was an empty spot. She opened her eyes and sat up to look for him. He wasn't in the bedroom, but she smelled the faint scent of tea in the air. She got out of bed and found his shirt from the previous night on the floor. She donned it, buttoned it up and went to the kitchen.
He looked up as he saw her coming towards him. "Good morning," he said, coming over to kiss her.
"Yes it is," she replied, giggling. "You look damn cute in your boxers."
He blushed and let his gaze sweep over her. "Thanks," he said. "And you look damn cute in my shirt." He turned away from her to fix the tea, and she playfully swatted his bottom.
He brought the tea things over to the table and sat down in a chair. She made to sit next to him, but he pulled her into his lap and kissed her neck.
Ginny moaned appreciatively and played with his hair. "Remus," she said softly, "where do we go from here?"
He pulled back slightly and took her hand in his. He brought it to his lips and kissed it gently. "Anywhere you want," he replied.
"Well, what do you want?" she asked him. He thought for a moment before responding.
"Well, I suppose if I were to be honest," he began, "I would say that I want to marry you." He paused, expecting to see a look of shock on her face. "But I know that's a bit premature. Obviously we need to spend lots more time together and get to know each other better, but ultimately that's what I want."
She smiled at him and lightly kissed his forehead. "That's what I want too," she told him. "But not yet. I'm not ready for that yet."
He nodded. "I understand."
Suddenly realization hit him. He looked at her, his eyes wide. "You spent the night!" he exclaimed.
"Merlin, Remus," she said teasingly, "I didn't know your memory was already failing." She stood up to start cooking breakfast.
"No!" he said indignantly. "You were here all night! Sirius must be worried sick. Oh, what will he think of me? He'll never forgive me, taking advantage of you like that. He'll murder me for sure!"
He was standing now, frantically pacing the kitchen floor. Ginny went over to him and put her hands on his chest to stop him.
"It's okay," she said soothingly. "He knows where I am. This was his idea."
His eyes snapped up to meet hers. "It was?" he squeaked.
"Well, not that, exactly," she said nodding towards the bedroom. "But he insisted that we talk and tell each other how we feel."
Remus released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Oh," he said, relieved. "Well, at any rate, he's going to pretty much guess what we've been up to, so perhaps you should get home before he bursts through my door with a bevy of hexes."
Ginny giggled at the thought of Sirius hurling hexes at his best friend. "Yes, I suppose you're right. When will I see you again?"
He pretended to think seriously. "Hmm, how's tonight? I'll pop by after work, if that suits you."
"I guess I'll have to live with that," she said grumbling. She kissed him deeply before going to get dressed.
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She didn't make it very far into the house before Sirius found her. "Have a good night, Gin?" he asked boldly.
She turned to face him, blushing. "Yes, I did, thanks."
"So?" he asked excitedly. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
She sighed. "Well, after everyone left, we talked for a long time."
"And?" he egged her on.
"And..." she grinned wickedly, knowing how he would react, "we made love." She watched him closely. All the blood drained from his face and his eyes widened.
"You what?" he yelled.
"Well, you asked," she said simply.
"No!" he yelled. "I meant what did you talk about? Are you together now?" He covered his eyes. "Oh, God! Mental. Image. Didn't. Need. That," he cried shaking his head.
Ginny laughed at him and walked over to pull his hands away from his face. "Oh, come on, Sirius. Lighten up."
He avoided looking at her. "I'll have nightmares now, you know." They both laughed.
"So what happened this morning? Before you left?" he asked, walking into the sitting room.
"Well, we woke up. He made tea and we talked some more," she said sitting in the chair across from him.
"He made tea for you this morning?" Sirius asked, shocked.
"Yes, he did," she said proudly.
"Well, isn't he the gentleman?" he said sarcastically.
"Always," she replied, as he rolled his eyes. "Look, Sirius, just because you duck out of some woman's bed in the middle of the night trying to avoid an uncomfortable situation doesn't mean other men do it."
"Hey," he said huffily, "I take offense to that." She rolled her eyes.
"You'll live," she said. She stood and bent down to kiss his cheek. "I'm going to take a shower. I have a meeting with a publisher today."
"Oh?" he questioned. "For what?"
"Remember that book I started writing, Profiles of War?" He nodded. "Well, they want to see it, even though it's not quite finished yet. I'm pretty nervous."
He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't be. They'll love it." She smiled in reply and left to go upstairs.
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Later that evening, Ginny was nervously awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend when Ron showed up.
"Ron! What are you doing here?" she asked anxiously. Sirius was one thing, but explaining her new relationship to her brothers was entirely different.
"Gin, I told you yesterday that I would be coming over tonight," Ron replied before kissing his sister hello. "What's wrong with you? You seem so nervous." He looked at her worriedly.
"Well, I guess there's no point in hiding it now," she sighed. "Ronnie, come sit down with me. There's something I need to tell you." She led him into the kitchen and sat across from him at the table.
"Ginny, is everything okay?" Ron was beginning to be very scared.
"Yes, Ron. Everything's fine," she began nervously. "I just wanted to tell you some news." She paused and he looked at her with interest. "I've started seeing someone, and I'm very much in love with him, and I really want you to be happy for me."
Ron's eyes narrowed and he looked at his sister warily. "Who is it? Are you back with Malfoy?" he asked excitedly.
"Draco? No!" she said wrinkling her nose. "Why would you think that? Oh, never mind." She hesitated.
"I'm waiting, Ginny," Ron said.
"Okay, okay," she paused. "It's Remus." She looked him directly in the eye, waiting for him to react.
His face grew red and his fists clenched. "You're telling me you're in love with Remus Bloody Lupin!" he exclaimed, slowly rising to his feet.
Ginny, however, remained calm, and noticed Sirius watching the entire exchange from the doorway with an amused look on his face. He winked at her, and she stifled a giggle.
"Yes, Ron, that's what I'm saying," she said coolly. "And you can accept it or not, but I do love him and I will be with him," she concluded firmly.
"But you can't love him! You barely know him!" Ron shouted.
"That's bollocks and you know it, Ronald Weasley!" she yelled back. "I know him better than you think. I know that his favorite color is blue; I know that he hates being called 'Remmie'; I know that his biggest regret is not believing in Sirius when he was sent to Azkaban; and I know that his biggest fear is to be unliked." She paused for effect before continuing. "I also know that he has a scar across his chest, and I assume it's something to do with being a werewolf."
Sirius snickered from the doorway at Ginny's intimate revelation to her brother.
"You would assume correct, my love," said Remus, entering the room behind Sirius. He strode over to Ginny and gently kissed her before turning to Ron.
"Ron, I know this has come as a shock to you, but we do love each other and want to be together. I hope you can respect that," he said to the younger man.
Ron stared at Remus for a moment before answering. "Well, I can't say I'm happy about it, but I might be okay with it...eventually. You have to understand, she's my baby sister, and I don't want her to get hurt."
Ginny rolled her eyes, but Remus just nodded solemnly. "I know, Ron," he said, "and believe me. I will never hurt her."
Sirius cleared his throat. "Say, Ron. Why don't I take you out to the pub for a bit? Clear your head?" he asked. Ron merely nodded and left to get his cloak. Sirius turned back to Remus and Ginny. "And you two, don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said playfully.
Remus winked at Ginny, but said to his friend, "That doesn't leave much does it?" Ginny nudged him and he laughed at her blushing face.
The other two men left and the couple went up to the library and sat down on the sofa. Ginny turned to him. "You look tired. Bad day?" she asked.
He nodded his head. "Yes, there's a situation developing and I fear it will be a bugger."
"Want to tell me about it?" she inquired.
"Well," he began, sighing. "There's not much to tell yet. It seems as though some wayward wizards are buying and selling dragon's eggs and dragon's blood on the black market. Not only is it illegal, it's not always safe. And it's fallen on my department to investigate." He sighed again and reached for her hand. "Enough about that. How was your meeting today?"
Ginny immediately got excited. "Oh! They loved my idea of profiling those who fought in the war, and they loved what I'd written so far. It isn't finished yet. But they seemed pleased with it- pleased enough to make me a book deal."
"Really? That's great!" Remus exclaimed happily. He hugged her tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Ginny." He kissed her lovingly, and she sighed against his lips. They broke apart and she remembered something.
"Remus, about that scar, how did you get it?" she asked gently, not wanting to pry.
He looked at her but didn't immediately answer. She watched as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the floor. The scar that glared at her was at least eight or nine inches long and went from just below his left shoulder and slanted downwards to his sternum. He took her hand and let her fingers trace the length of it.
He softly explained. "Before the Wolfsbane potion was available, full moons were quite painful. During one particularly rough night, I did this."
She left her hand on the scar and looked up at him. "Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore," he answered, looking embarrassed.
She looked up at him and noticed his expression. She leaned up to kiss him slowly. When he pulled away and tried to turn from her, she pulled his face back towards her. She slowly unbuttoned the jeans she was wearing and took his hand. She guided his hand to her lower abdomen. His fingers traced the six-inch scar there, and she began to cry at his touch. "Is this-"he began to ask. She nodded, not wanting him to continue.
"Remus, I can never give you children," she whispered.
"Ginny, it's okay," he said, looking intently at her. "I wanted to tell you this last night, but it's okay that you can't. Any children I would produce would be like me. My children would be werewolves. I don't want that." He paused to kiss her. "Besides, your brothers will have enough kids to go around, won't they?" he smiled at her. She smiled back and allowed herself to melt into the kiss that he was now giving her.