Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or the characters involved save for my own personal little characters I love to play around with.
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Thank you to: LuckyShamrock for the correction of Madam Pomfrey's name. My stupid computer had me spelling it wrong. Sorry for the misspelling everyone!
WARNING! Sexual situations in this chapter; nothing descriptive, but strongly, strongly implied.
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Blue Flowers of Celestial Years
Chapter 13: "Flames of the Fire"
Remus was out of the hospital wing by the third week, despite the protests of Madam Pomfry. Though he was still sore, Remus sat at his desk, determined to get the lesson plan going for his seventh years when they got back from vacation.
The teacher idly played with the symbol in his hands. He stared at the gold; the same gold color as his eyes turned when Romulus came out. Remus sighed, thinking of the wolf in the back of his mind, whom was still prowling.
Remus remembered this symbol, a long time ago during the First War when he saved an old man from death. The man's face was aged, as was a few strands of hair, and he called himself Rasputin.
The same old man that is "chief" of the werewolf village that accepted him. Remus remembered Rasputin offering the same symbol; the symbol that guided the wolf. Yet Remus could not accept the gift because he could not accept his werewolf side.
There was a knock on the door and Remus briefly looked at the clock; late noon. The door opened and a very, very familiar and beautiful redhead walked in, looking at the floor.
"Hello." Ginny whispered, although Remus could hear her perfectly.
What was she doing here in the classroom?
"Hello." Remus greeted back, noticing their lacking on conversing.
"How have you been… since you were in the hospital wing?" the redhead asked, still looking at the floor.
"I've been fine." Remus lied, not knowing where this conversation was going, even though he wished that Ginny would sit in her usual seat next to him.
"No, you haven't been fine." Ginny argued softly. "I saw you in the hospital wing; you looked like death was a muggle truck, and it ran over you seven times."
"Well, it's a good thing I didn't become road kill, huh?" Remus half joked, but did not laugh at his pun.
At long last, Ginny looked up at him. Her eyes were solemn and filled with sadness that was not like the Ginny that Remus knew. Yet, she gave him a small smile that made Remus' heart jump in his chest. He would go through hell and back if he could only see her smile, even if it was just a small one.
"I'm just happy that you pulled through." Ginny said, taking one small step forward.
Remus nodded, looking at the symbol she gave him.
"Thank you for the Christmas present." Remus thanked, tucking the piece of jewelry away. "You didn't have to give me one, you know."
"I know, but I wanted to."
Silence fell between them once again and they were slowly, slowly, starting to get comfortable with each other's presence. But, of course, when they get comfortable, something always interrupts the peace.
"I've been thinking a lot during the time that we were apart." Ginny began, casting her glance over at the wall. The step that she took forward was now lost when she took a step back.
"You have been very kind to me," Ginny continued. "And I thank you deeply for that. You are probably the best friend I've ever had in my life, and that is saying something. I now realize I reacted in a very childish way when you told me that you don't and you can't love me; I'm very sorry about that.
"Yet, I still can't deny how I feel towards you, and I will say it again: I love you. Now matter how many times you push me away, I will still feel that powerful, unstoppable emotion towards you. Now, enough about me, I want to talk about what I was thinking of during our time apart.
"I analyzed your personality, and I think that you, Remus J. Lupin, are a man of honor. You cannot allow yourself to fall for someone twenty years younger than yourself. When I realized that, I finally came to terms with it; I accepted it."
Remus did not say anything in return because he did not know what to say.
"I also accepted all of your faults." Ginny continued, this time looking at Remus. "I accept all the mistakes you have made in your past, all the ones you told me about, and even all the ones that you did not tell me about. I accept your werewolf side as, not a weakness, but strength."
Remus was bewildered about how his werewolf side could possibly be viewed as strength.
As if knowing what Remus was thinking, Ginny said, "Think about that, and you will realize how much of a strength Romulus is to you."
Remus nodded, not knowing if he should get up from his teacher's desk, walk over to Ginny, and hold her tight, not letting her go until she told him to.
"I also realized… that part of my childish behavior was not accepting your rejection. Truth be told, I was, and still am, deeply hurt. But, I now understand that if you do not want to be with me, then it is okay. Truly, it is okay, because I want you to be happy; and if happiness is not with me, than I hope it is with another who will make you happy."
Ginny finally gave Remus a sincere smile before her eyes started to tear up, and she turned her back on him.
"Ginny—"
The girl turned around, unshed tears sparkled and danced in her eyes.
"You'll be alright, Remus; I will now let you go."
And Ginny left out the door.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Once again, Remus found himself holding the present Ginny gave him. Two days had passed since she came to tell him that she will let him go. That should have made Remus happy, but it did not; it made him even more miserable, and it made Romulus snarl at him even more, if that was even possible.
Romulus had proven to Remus what was thought to be impossible to accomplish: the wolf made Mrs. Black's cursing seem like nursery rhymes.
After Ginny left, Romulus spewed a stream of curse words at Remus that made the man's eyes grow wide. The wolf covered his character, his parents, and ancestry; it was bad enough to make Hogwarts crumble at one hundred yards away, and fall by the sheer words.
Romulus did not forget to include all of Remus' attributes, even hinting that he was the reason Remus' lower regions were so, hem, huge.
Finally, after endless hours of Romulus spewing curse words, Remus had some quiet time to think over what Ginny said. What she did was a very courageous, honorable thing to do; but why did it make him feel so miserable?
Remus traced his finger over the symbol that Ginny gave to him as a gift. She proved what only true love is capable of: forgiveness. She had forgiven him for hurting her, yet he could not bring himself to forgive himself.
Remus sighed deeply, trying to convince his self that this is the way it should be; this is the way it has to be. Yet every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ginny smiling at him. He saw, and heard, Ginny laughing.
He needed her…
Remus opened his eyes to his new knowledge; he needs Ginny. He cannot live without his life with him because Ginny is his life.
"I love Ginny." Remus blurted out in a high whisper. "To hell with the rules!"
Well it's about time, you stupid wanker!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
He found her outside, sitting on a bench. Her back was facing him as he slowly and quietly crept up behind her. Ginny gave a startled gasp when Remus gently tapped his index finger on her back. She looked up at him; her expression instantly changed to deep hurt.
Even though Ginny said she was going to let him go, she was still hurt deeply because of his rejection. She turned her gaze back to the setting sun, which was casting red hues over the earth, making the snow look red.
That made the earth look like it was covered in blood.
"Ginny, you've been out here all day." Remus said, worried about if she would get sick.
"I'm fine." Ginny snapped, not turning around. "Just leave me alone."
"Ginny—"
Ginny suddenly stood up and ran across the field. Remus did not know why, but he chased after her, calling her name, but she did not stop.
Finally, after they were so far down the field and Hogwarts was practically a model in the distance, Remus gently grabbed Ginny's wrist, causing her to stop with her back still to him. They breathed heavily for a few minutes, their lungs tight and aching for air, and their throats burned from the cold air. Still, Remus kept Ginny's wrist in his hand, and Ginny kept her back to Remus.
"Ginny…" Remus breathed, trying to say what he wanted in one breath, but found himself short of air.
Ginny slowly looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes burned with tears that danced and sparkled on her eyes. She snapped her wrist out of his hand, and whirled around to face him.
"I hate you!" Ginny screamed as she closed her eyes, causing her unshed tears to finally fall down her cheeks. "I hate you I hate you I hate you!"
Remus stumbled back as a sharp, jarring pain ripped through his chest. He smiled sadly at Ginny as she wiped the liquid off her face before it solidified on the skin. Her tears streamed down her face and the sun's light reflected off of them, making them look like glittering jewels.
"I understand…" Remus whispered as he turned, defeated, back to Hogwarts. He did not even walk two steps before Ginny's voice stopped him.
"But… I love you, too."
Ginny shook her head at herself, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. She sniffed, wiping her tears away again as she stared at Remus' back.
"Ginny," Remus said with deep emotion as he turned back around to face the young woman.
He said he name again as he walked up to her, and suddenly wrapped his arms around her. He breathed in her sent; she smelled like blue flowers.
To most human senses, certain flowers smell the same, no matter what color they are. To one that has heightened senses, those flowers with a certain color have an individual sent of their own; and Ginny smells like blue flowers.
Blaithin.
"Ginny…" Remus whispered, holding her tighter.
Ginny shivered as she hugged Remus tightly to herself as well; the couple looked like they were trying to blend their bodies together. Ginny started to shiver as a cold wind passed over them.
"Ginny, you've been out here too long; we should get you inside."
Too numb to protest, Ginny nodded, allowing Remus to practically carry her over the Hogwarts' field.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When they got to Remus' bedroom, Remus used his wand to light the fire and gave Ginny a cup of hot tea.
"It has warming potion in it to keep you warm." Remus informed.
Ginny nodded and shivered even more when the frost on her clothes thawed out, making them soaking wet. She pulled off her snow boots and socks, both very wet, and her outer jacket, also wet.
Still, Ginny was freezing because of her wet clothes and the coldness in the room did not help, despite the warm fire. Remus got a blanket for Ginny and he put a spell on it to constantly give off heat.
Ginny accepted the blanket with a smile that warmed Remus' chest. She set the blanket on the couch.
"Please turn around, Remus." Ginny requested.
Remus, confused, turned around and he understood why; he heard Ginny undressing out of the wet clothes, and she wrapped the blanket around her naked body, making sure nothing was exposed even when she sat down.
"Okay, you can turn around now."
Remus slowly turned around, making sure his eyes did not see anything that would be inappropriate. He sat down on his couch, watching the flames dance on Ginny's face as she was wrapped up in the huge, thick blanket.
"Remus," Ginny started, not taking her eyes off of the flames of the fire. "Why did you follow me after I ran from you?"
Remus did not give Ginny an immediate answer so silence hung around them. The only things that could be heard was their soft breathing and the flames licking the wood, causing it to snap.
"That is a difficult question for me to answer, Gin-Gin." Remus whispered.
Ginny looked at Remus with those soft brown eyes that could make a man melt into a puddle of goo. He opened and closed his mouth several times, searching his mind for the correct answer. Finally, he decided that he could not tell Ginny, but he could show her.
Remus got on his knees before Ginny, their lips a whisper away.
"Ginny…" Remus whispered before he covered her lips, using his own.
Ginny's eyes widened, but she kissed back. It was soft and gentle, just like Remus' personality, but it was deeper than the first kiss they shared together, which was an "accident."
"Remus…" Ginny whispered against his lips.
They kissed again, this time even deeper, holding each other; the blanket slipping off of Ginny's body….
Both Remus and Ginny did not know how it happened, or how they ended up lying on his bed as sweet sensations flowed through them.
Their breathing increased, their eyes met, looking deep into each other's soul. They held each other desperately, forgetting everything, including the world. All that mattered to them was each other, no one else and nothing else.
It was just them, holding each other, touching, hands caressing the other's soft skin. Lips touching, their perspiring, naked skin rubbing against each other.
In his past during the Marauder years, Remus had a few run-inns with girls. He did not sleep around, and he only slept with the girl who was his girlfriend at the time, and he did care about them. But never in his experience had it been as wonderful as it was with Ginny. It took him a moment to think through the sensations flowing through him to realize that, while he did care about his past girlfriends, he did not love them like he loved Ginny.
Love can make the act they were doing something very powerful; and it amazed Remus, as well as frighten him, that this young woman under him could make him vulnerable. She made him weak, yet strong as well; he yearned for her, ached for her, and he gave her every part of him, including his werewolf side.
"Ginny…"
She knew by the look in his eyes that what he was showing her was real. This was not just a one-time thing to be declared and accident; this was a promise of forever. What Remus felt for Ginny was real, and if she ever doubted him, all she had to do was look deep into his eyes.
Ginny could feel that Remus loved her; he had to. The way he whispered her name between kisses, the way he touched her in a way that could make her squirm deliciously; there was no way that he could do all of that, make her feel that way, and not be in love with her.
They did not know how long it lasted, nor did they care, because they could go on forever. They could forget the world and all of the evils in it as long as they could hold each other.
"Ginny…"
And Remus saw her smile with bright, smiling eyes. It was that smile that he would give his life for if he could see it on her.
"Ginny…"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Remus woke up to the blinding light coming in through the window; the blinding light was caused by the sun reflecting off of the white snow. Groaning, he blindingly reached over to his nightstand for his wand, trying not to wake Ginny, and used a spell to close the curtains.
Remus put the wand back and looked down at Ginny; she looked like a redheaded goddess. He felt happy, joyous, yet also ashamed; he was twenty years older than her and he felt like he molested her, yet he was happy because it was the first woman he, technically, made love to.
He did not regret what they did last night; but would she regret?
As if to answer his question, Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled at Remus and he smiled back. She leaned up and kissed him deeply.
"So you don't regret it?" Remus asked after their lips pulled away.
"Never; I will never regret it." Ginny said, shaking her head each time she said never.
Remus smiled again, twirling her flaming-red hair in his fingers.
"Will you regret it?" Ginny asked with a tinge of fear in her voice.
"No, I don't regret it." Remus answered in a strong voice; no matter what happens, he will never regret making love to Ginny.
Ginny smiled and she hugged him close. Remus breathed in her sent; blue flowers mingled with pine, which was his sent. In the back of Remus' mind, Romulus was quiet, satisfied that the wizard man finally caved in a mated with the witch.
That made Remus chuckle.
"Remus, what are you laughing about?" Ginny questioned, stroking back the grayed locks of hair out of his face.
"Nothing, I was just thinking of something."
"Only a few more days until Christmas vacation is over." Ginny announced, rolling over on her back.
Remus jumped up at the sudden announcement.
"What?! I was supposed to have those seventh year essay papers graded already! I have to get started on them!"
It was quite amusing for Ginny to see a naked man jump out of bed, and race to his teacher's desk to grade papers while he was still bare naked. It took a while for Ginny to stop laughing, put one of Remus' robes on, and go out into the classroom.
Even if there was no one there besides Remus, being in the classroom with only a robe on made Ginny blush. There may not have been anyone there, but it was still the classroom.
"Miss Granger, an 'O,' Mr. Weasley, an 'O,' Harry, an 'O'…"
Remus took one paper and did not bother to look over it; he decided to slap 'O's on them. He was down to the last paper, Miss Lavender, when he caught Ginny in his robe, blushing deeply, and looking around the room.
Ginny looked at Remus and blushed more as she sat on his desk, unknowingly on poor Lavender's paper. Through the thin robe, Remus could see just how huge Ginny's bosom is. Suddenly, Ginny was starting to look tasty to the wolf's senses…
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Christmas vacation passed, and all the seventh years were in their last quarter of the year before they are thrusted out into the world. The class was murmuring, excited at the results of their essay grading that Professor Lupin just passed out.
"I don't think Professor Lupin graded fairly." Hermione huffed, upset at the fact that she spent hours on her essay, and Ron only slapped something together but they both ended up with the same perfect grade.
"Who cares?" Ron retorted, looking proudly at his 'O' grade.
"Um, Professor?" Lavender said as she raised her hand. "The ink on my essay is smeared, as if some kind of liquid was dripped on it…"
Remus looked at Lavender's essay and let out an uncomfortable cough; memories of Ginny on his desk with the poor assaulted assay beneath them came back in his mind.
"Oh, yes, sorry about that, Miss Lavender, I, um, spilled my tea…"
(AN: He spilled his tea alright!)
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AN: (blushes uncontrollably) I can not believe I wrote something like that. I assure you readers that I usually don't have a perverted mind… I think. Nope, this is not the last chapter, although everything will be winding down and going downhill from here. The next chapters are going to get darker and darker just to forewarn you readers, okay?
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aikakone: Thank you for your complements. Sometimes Harry and the gang can be a little thick headed about some issues, and I'm sure Ginny is not going to come out and say, "Hey! I'm not crying about Seamus! I'm crying because our thick-headed werewolf professor rejected me after I told him that I love him!" Just imagine poor Ron's reaction to that… (shudders). So, Ginny just went along with the flow. And the whole Colin-has-a-crush-on-Ginny is still going on but will be resolved in a later chapter. Remember, it was only Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny at Hogwarts for the holidays. Thank you for your review!
Elora Nova: Wow, besides Branmuffinpower and Lupinfan227's reviews, I've never had such an enthusiastic review! Thank you so much; it truly means a lot to me! The symbol is sort of a creation of my own. Think of a pie, or a perfect circle, split evenly four ways. That is the Sioux Indian symbol for ceremonies of calling upon their ancestors for help, or a "Ghost Dance." It is a symbol for spiritual guidance. I added the other perfect circle in the middle where the four lines meet, or in the middle of the four way cross. I took that from the Navajo Indian symbol from the symbol that guides the animal spirits. So put all that together, and it has a meaning of its own. That was a very good question; can I use that question in an explanation in the next chapter, give you credit? Thank you for your review!
LuckyShamrock: Thank you for the correct spelling. I thought my computer was telling me right; I should have known better. Merlin, I wish I had all five books so I can look it up! But thank you so much for the correction, and thank you for your review!
Tante: This chapter really isn't that long either, but they will be getting longer after this. So, please don't give up on me now; I just need to space out Remus and Ginny's time apart. Actually, it wasn't Remus who gave the jewel symbol to the shop keeper; it was Rasputin, who will be explained in later chapters, and make an appearance in the sequel. Yay! Thank you for your review!
Dangerous Soul: Well… would you call making love a way of groveling? (blushes deeply again) Blaithin is Ginny, because that is her middle name, at least in this fan fic. No one knows, except Mrs. Rowling herself, what Ginny's middle name is, so this is just a fill-in. Thank you for your review!
Andromida-1971: Yes, Romulus was always a jerk, even in mythological Rome (remember, mythological Romulus killed his brother, Remus, over a little dispute. If that isn't demented, I don't know what is!). I wonder if Dumbledore and McGonagall are going to be together in the candid as well; they seem so close… Well, we'll have to wait and find out.
Branmuffinpower: Thank you for the explanation of what parody is, and you're welcome for the tissues. I love winter as well; it just seems so romantic. Well, Ginny isn't single now! Heehee. You did spell intriguing correctly, and I think it is an 80 year difference, or so it is in "Lady Darkness." Oh, you want to read the best Tom/Ginny get-togetherness fan fic? Read "Lady Darkness" for free only on ff(dot)net!!! Thank you for your review!!!
Elizabeth Turner: Yes, Rasputin is part of the werewolf tribe. Now Remus and Ginny are together now… really together… (sweat-drop)