Propensity

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter Thirteen

Ginny awoke with a start, and for a moment, she thought she was in labor. But her fear stilled when she realized the sudden pain in her stomach was someone kicking her…hard. And the only person who could kick her was her baby. She grunted in pain, but smiled at the same time. She sat up, hoping it would happen again. She waited…and felt another kick.

Ginny giggled to herself as she jumped from her bed and ran out of her rooms above the hospital wing. She quickly found Remus' rooms and unlocked the door with her wand and a spell. She burst through his bedroom door, and he raised his sleepy head up from the pillow.

"What?" he asked.

"Remus," Ginny said breathlessly as she made her way over to his bed.

"Ginny," he said worriedly, sitting up, "what is it? Are you alright?"

She sat down on his bed and grabbed his hand, pressing it to her belly. "I'm fine, but you've got to feel this," she said.

Remus shook the tiredness from his head and looked curiously at her. She kept moving his hand around to different spots on her belly before she frowned and dropped his hand.

"He was doing it before," she said.

"Who was doing what?" Remus asked, still drowsy from his interrupted slumber.

"The baby was kicking," she said sadly.

"Really?" Remus asked excitedly. He sat up fully, a silly grin plastered to his face. Ginny nodded. "Well, maybe you should lie down again," he said, sliding over to make room for her.

Ginny laid down next to Remus and furrowed her brow, almost willing the baby to kick again. Then, suddenly, she felt one. "There!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand again. She put his hand just above her belly button. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

"No," he said sadly. "Maybe you feel it on the inside but I can't from the outside." He went to remove his hand, but Ginny pushed it into her belly slightly and held it there.

Remus was discouraged, however, and was about to pull away again when something hard kicked at his hand. "Wha…oh my!" he cried. "Strong little thing, isn't he?" Ginny nodded enthusiastically. She gazed up at him and grinned.

"Ginny, thank you," he said sincerely, "thank you for coming here and letting me experience this. It's amazing!"

Ginny took her hand from his, still on her belly, and brought it up to his face to brush some hair from his eyes. She then reached behind his neck and pulled him down to her and kissed him on the mouth.

Though shocked at first, Remus responded eagerly to her kiss and prodded her mouth open with his tongue. The two soon-to-be parents became wrapped up in their kiss when their offspring gave a violent kick, as though he thought he'd been forgotten. His parents broke their kiss, laughing.

"Yes, our child would interrupt," Remus mused. Ginny giggled at him, before yawning.

"I need to go back to bed," she said, rubbing her belly. "Your child is still kicking me, by the way."

Remus reached up to her stomach again. "So, he's my child when he misbehaves, is he?"

Ginny nodded, and Remus rolled his eyes at her. "Stay with me," he said suddenly. Ginny looked at him sharply.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I want to feel him kick, and I can't do that if you're not here," he replied simply. He pulled back the covers for her. "Please?"

She responded by climbing into bed next to him. She turned on her side to face him as he caressed her pregnant stomach. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel on his slightly roughened hand on her smooth skin. Slowly, Remus' hand moved from her stomach to her cheek, and Ginny smiled into his touch.

Sensing what he was about to do, Ginny opened her mouth slightly, and he kissed her again. This time, their child didn't interrupt.

A few kisses later, Ginny rolled over, with Remus curling in behind her, and fell asleep. When she awoke the next morning, his arms were still around her.

"Good morning," he said sleepily to her.

"Mmrumpf," she replied.

He chuckled at her as he got up. "Do you want to wait for me before you go to breakfast or just meet me there?"

Ginny rolled over sleepily. "I don't want to get up yet," she said grumpily.

Remus smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Sorry, my dear, but you have to."

She glared up at him. "Remus, you're entirely too cheerful this early. I don't like it."

He feigned a pain in his heart. "Oh, your words wound me!" he cried. "Up, come on."

She unhappily crawled out of bed. "Since your attitude is so poor this morning, I'm going back to my own room, Mr. Lupin."

"Fine, but you'll be back," he said with a wink before going to take a shower.

Ginny rolled her eyes and left for her own rooms.

Later that morning at breakfast, Remus stole a few furtive glances at Ginny. He was suddenly quite nervous around her, after their shared snogging the night before. "Why did I kiss her? Yes, I enjoyed it, but what does it mean? Did she enjoy it as well?" he thought as he pushed his food around on his plate.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Ginny couldn't look up from her plate, much less eat anything from it. "Merlin, he's a good kisser. Well, of course he is. After all, he's good at the other things too. Why didn't he mention it this morning? I bet it didn't mean anything to him. He was probably just caught up in the excitement of the baby kicking. I wish it did mean something though," she thought to herself. She managed to eat some toast before disappearing from the Hall to the hospital wing.

It was a long day for Professor Remus J. Lupin. He woke up with a beautiful woman in his arms- a beautiful, pregnant woman. He could barely concentrate on his classes. All he could think of was kissing Ginny.

He avoided her during lunch. The thought of seeing her and not being able to take her right then and there on the High Table was too much for him. While his fourth years that afternoon were reading quietly about the Unforgivable curses, Remus was mentally debating whether or not to talk to Ginny about the kissing…and his feelings. He ultimately decided not to bring it up. Ginny was a strong-willed woman, and if his feelings were reciprocated, he felt sure she would bring it up.

Meanwhile, Ginny was having an equally fitful day in the Hospital Wing. She couldn't concentrate, and Madame Pomfrey had to remind her of simple Healing spells several times. All Ginny could think of was being in Remus' arms and how she wanted to wake up like that every morning.

She took notice that he wasn't at lunch. "He's avoiding me," she thought. "He's embarrassed by our actions and doesn't want to see me." She'd hoped that perhaps this was the beginning of…something between her and Remus, but she was beginning to think he felt otherwise. She vowed to not mention it and act like nothing happened.

So for the next several weeks, Remus and Ginny remained friendly to each other. But neither could deny the underlying tension and awkwardness between them. Every time Ginny looked at him, Remus would blush and look away. He tried several times to bring it up, but all he ever ended up doing was asking how her day was.

It was to the point of making Ginny miserable. She spent her nights crying silently that she was crazy about a man who only saw her as a friend. Finally, she decided to talk to him about it.

He came to the hospital wing late one evening to check on one of his students. As he was leaving, Ginny called to him.

"Remus," she began nervously, "I've been wanting to ask you something." She lowered her eyes to the floor. "Why did you kiss me that night, the night the baby kicked?"

Remus blushed and fumbled for his words. "I don't know. It just seemed to happen. Why? Did it upset you?"

Now it was Ginny's turn to blush. "No, it was nice, actually. But I just wondered if you did it because of the excitement of the moment or if there was another reason."

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but Madam Pomfrey called for Ginny. Disappointed, she returned inside, leaving Remus in the corridor with her question hanging heavily in the air. Mentally pushing it from his mind, he retreated to his chambers for the night.

Remus slept fitfully that night. He couldn't get his thoughts and feelings of Ginny out of his head. He yearned to kiss her; to feel her next to him; to make love to her, like he did those many months ago on the dirty mattress in that cold, dark dungeon. He couldn't, however, do any of this. Yes, they were very close; and yes, she was carrying his child. But they weren't a romantic pair. She didn't want that, he thought. He did.
As he tossed and turned that night, Remus' mind entered a level of sub-consciousness where he hadn't been in several years…since right after his best friend died.

Remus walked into the empty classroom…the same classroom he and his fellow Mauraders planned their many pranks. He looked around him. Everything was the same as he remembered it.

"Gods, Moony, I never thought it'd be you."

Remus turned in the direction of the voice and smiled. "Sirius," he said simply.

Perched casually on a desk in the corner of the room was his old friend. He ran a hand through his trademark long, dark hair. He grinned up at Remus. "Knocked up a girl, eh? Sounds like something I would do," he said cheekily.

"It does, doesn't it?" Remus joked back.

"Ginny Weasley, no less," Sirius replied. "I bet Molly had a litter of Kneazles when you told her."

"Well, she wasn't happy. I was more afraid of her than the brothers, really," Remus said. He sat in a chair across from Sirius, who stared dreamily into space.

"Yes, Ginny was a pretty girl, if memory serves me right, even at fourteen," he said. "I knew she'd be a looker." He threw his friend a roguish look. "But you, Moony? Shagging Ginny Weasley? I never knew you had it in you!"

"It wasn't like that, Sirius," Remus replied tersely.

"Calm the hell down, Remus," Sirius said. "I was only kidding. I know all about how it happened. What I don't understand is why you're still not with her."

"What the devil are you talking about?" Remus asked, irritated.

Sirius sighed and stood in front of his friend. "Remus, look at me." Remus looked up into Sirius' eyes. "You know I'm not real, right? I'm merely the manifestation of your dreaming mind's interpretation of your subconscious emotions…or some shit like that." He sighed again. "You know your heart, mate. You know what you feel in it. It isn't just friendship or lust. Your feelings for this girl run so deep that you don't even realize how long it's been going on."

Remus looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've cared about this girl since she was your student so many years ago. No, not in a sexual or perverse way, but I know that you fought like hell to get her past the experience of the Chamber. And look how she turned out. She's a remarkably powerful witch, very bright and extremely capable…all thanks to you."

"No, not thanks to me," Remus replied modestly. "She had all those abilities on her own."

"Yes, but you helped her to realize it. She admired you, looked up to you, respected you," Sirius continued. "You helped her that night in the Department of Mysteries after she broke her ankle. You fought next to her in battle, protected her from evil and helped keep her calm throughout your capture." Sirius knelt down before his friend. "Do you dare deny that you love her…after all you've been through together? Are you going to lie and tell me and yourself that you don't love her?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer, only to be shaken awake by an extremely weary Professor Snape. Remus sat up straight in his bed and momentarily wondered if he'd talked in his sleep.

Severus just glowered down at him. "Lupin, you're needed in the hospital wing immediately. It's…Miss Weasley."

Remus' eyes widened in horror and his heart dropped into his stomach. "The baby?" he asked stupidly. Snape merely nodded. Remus leapt from the bed and threw his robe on as he ran out of his rooms.

He darted down the corridors with the Potions master following closely. They burst through the doors of the infirmary and were met by Madam Pomfrey. She held up her hands to stop the two men.

"Severus," she said quietly, "will you please prepare a sleeping potion for Miss Weasley while I talk to Remus?" Severus nodded and hurried off to the patient.

"Remus," the mediwitch said, taking his hand, "Ginny's fine. She didn't even want me to wake you."

Remus began to calm slightly. "What happened?" he asked.

"She began having false contractions. They're not dangerous, just more bothersome than anything," Poppy explained. "They were very painful, however, and she got dizzy and fainted. She's fine now, though. But I want her on bed rest for the next few days."

"Fine, I'll get Severus to take my classes. Can she stay with me? You know how she hates the hospital wing," Remus asked hurriedly.

"Yes, of course. We'll talk about her care later," Poppy replied with a small smile.

"Can I see her?" Remus questioned.

"Certainly." Poppy led Remus to Ginny's bed. She was quite pale and glassy-eyed, but she smiled up at Remus, nonetheless.

"Remus," she breathed. "I told them not to wake you."

"Don't be silly, Ginny," he said, taking her hand in his, "I'm here for you."

"The baby's fine," Ginny told him.

He smiled at her and smoothed her hair across her forehead. "I'm glad, but I'm more worried about you."

"But the baby…" she began.

"Shhh," Remus soothed her. "You're my main concern right now. Can I do anything for you?"

Ginny yawned broadly. "Will you stay with me? Please?"

"Yes, of course," he replied. He pulled a chair up next to her bed, but she stopped him, a determined expression on her face.

"No," she said firmly, "with me." She attempted to pull him onto the bed with her. He chuckled before he quickly transfigured her bed into a larger one and crawled in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled into his chest.

"Remus?" Ginny asked sleepily.

"Hmm?"

"Why do I feel so safe in your arms? I feel like I'm home…" her voice drifted off as she drifted into sleep.

"Me too," Remus whispered into the darkness of the hospital wing before attempting to sleep himself.