Ginny quickly shook her head and pushed Sirius away. He looked at her, startled at first, but then with a calm on his face she had never seen before.
"Sirius, I appreciate your concern, but I have been able to take care of myself and Jason just fine up till now, and I don't think there will be any problems." Ginny saw a shadow of impatience in Sirius' eyes, but chose to ignore it.
"So, if you don't have any further arguments I'll have to-"
"I love you, Ginevra."
"-go and see if Jason is alright. I mean, Harry's great and all, but he looked a bit frightened-"
"Gin, stop talking!" Sirius gently put a hand over Ginny's mouth and the stream of words abruptly stopped. "I said that I love you. I need you with me. I want to be with you, be with Jason. I want us to be a family."
Ginny swallowed down the lump in her throat and tried to suppress the tears welling up in her eyes. She had desperately wanted him to say those words. For the last two years she had waited for them. And now, they were nothing but… words.
"I didn't think you were that foul, Sirius. You don't back away from anything, do you?" she said with contempt in her voice.
"No, Ginevra, listen to me, I-"
"No, you listen," she cut him off, "I don't need your empty words or promises. It's my choice to live the way I do, and I'm perfectly okay with it." She took a deep breath and then continued, "I loved you. I loved you so much that I left, because I just couldn't bear seeing you acting so coolly towards me. I didn't want Jason to grow up with a father who loathed his own son's mother."
Ginny could no longer hold back the tears streaming down her cheeks as she shouted out all the things she had carried around with her for so long. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and then looked at Sirius who quietly had listened to her. "I just want to know why, Sirius. Please, at least tell me that."
"Because I was scared. Scared of what everyone would think," Sirius said and his eyes gazed into the distance, "Scared of what you would do when you finally realized what a mistake you had made."
"Why would I-"
"I'm a nobody, Ginny. I don't have anything to offer you. Do you think your parents would've let you be together with someone like me?" he paused quickly, but just to catch his breath, "Not even I would've let you. That's why I acted the way I did. To hurt you, so that I wouldn't be hurt myself. Well, the plan failed miserably."
Ginny looked at him in disbelief and shook her head in objection. "You're not a nobody, Sirius."
"Yes, I am. But that doesn't matter now. I have a reason to be with you now, a responsibility that makes it impossible for anyone to separate us ever again. And I'm not going to let this chance slip away, Ginny."
Ginny recalled why she had left him, recognizing it was for the reason he had just stated would bind them together forever. But he sounded genuinely pleased to be forced to a life with her, and Ginny couldn't help but wonder if she had been wrong all along.
"Do you really understand what you're saying, Sirius. This is no game. I won't let you hurt me again. If you do-"
"Ginevra, I promise you, that from this moment on I will never deliberately hurt you nor do anything that makes you doubt my feelings for you." Sirius looked into her eyes, his own glowing with suppressed passion, and Ginny couldn't hold it back any longer.
She threw herself into his arms, her lips covering his in a desperate gesture. She needed him. Yet again the tears wet her cheeks, but she was happy. Happier than she had been for the last two years.
"I love you, Sirius," she whispered tenderly into his ear, and he tightened his grip around her. They were lost in their own little world, so they didn't hear the person approaching.
As Hermione cleared her throat they flew apart, guilty expressions on both of their faces. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two," she said with a broad smile on her face," I just thought you'd like to know that were leaving for the church now."
Ginny laughed and stood up to give Hermione a hug. "Did you just arrive, 'Mione?" she asked, her arms still slung around her best friend, "How's your little girl? Oh, and what's her name. I'm a terrible godmother; I don't even know her name." Ginny threw her arms into the air, but Hermione just smiled.
"You've had enough problems to deal with on your own, Ginny. No one blames you." Hermione got down to pick the little girl up that had been staring at them from within the pram. "I'd like to introduce you to Isabel Weasley."
"Pleased to meet you, Isabel. I'm Ginny," Ginny said and bent down to give the little girl a kiss on the forehead.
"We'd better hurry up then," said Sirius from behind and slung an arm around Ginny, and together they walked back to the house.
Before walking in through the door, Sirius bent down to Ginny and whispered: "So, are you satisfied withthis happy ending, Gin?"
She smiled and placed a kiss on his earlobe, "No, I'm satisfied with our wonderful beginning."
A/N: Well, this is it then. I want to thank everyone for the great reviews and the criticism. I really appreciate the time you've all put aside to read this story. I'd also like to thank my BETA Tiffany Ramey, who unfortunately hasn't been able to correct this last chapter, so there might be more mistakes than usual. I will however edit those errors in time, so don't worry. Hope you all enjoyed reading this story!
Lots of love, Franzi