Chapter Seven: Bonding

Remus and Ginny fluff alert! A little angst and a little humor. Enjoy it!

Ginny was tucked into a small ball, her head resting on her knees. Tears were pouring from her eyes and silent sobs wracked her petite frame. Her hair was spread over her back and covered her face.

Someone knocked on the door. "Go away, Ron," she called, her voice muffled. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Ginny?" Remus's voice came quietly. Ginny jerked in surprise. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she mumbled. "It's not locked or anything."

He opened the door slowly and walked over to her, taking a seat next to her.

"You know, it's really odd. Sometimes, you get the feeling that your brother could die and you wouldn't care at all," Remus said softly, running a hand through his hair. "But if your wish suddenly comes true, without any warning at all, you realize your brother's taken a part of you with him. You miss him so much that you can almost hear him when you turn the corner, at the house, on the street, anywhere. And, as much as he annoyed you during his life, he always seems to be just—missing when he's gone. Almost like he's just gone over to his friend's house or something and he'll be back in a few hours. And then he's not."

Ginny wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "Your brother?" She'd never known this side of Remus.

"The same one that gave me the bite killed him," Remus whispered. "His name was Jason. I always called him Jase when I was younger. He would get so annoyed with me. He would yell at me, and I'd always come up with a retort. Then we'd both turn for our room and rush in. But we shared a room, so we'd sit on opposite sides of our beds and pout until someone was the bigger man and apologized."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"I've gotten over it—a little. He would be nineteen now, you know," he whispered. "Probably a Healer of some sort. He was so caring, and I didn't even notice until after he was dead, because we were so caught up in our petty sibling rivalries, you know?" He stared at the ceiling. Ginny stared at him.

"Yes, I know," she whispered. "I have six brothers, and they've all been trying to best each other for years."

"Did he really ignore you?" Remus asked.

"Yes, he was rather preoccupied in those years. Sirius was just out of Azkaban my second year, and we thought he was trying to kill Harry. But he was really trying to get at Wormtail. Then third year, Harry was in the Triwizard and they were having problems just keeping him alive. Fourth year, it was that toad, plus they had OWLs, and then when Sirius fell through the Veil. Fifth year, he was mad at me for dating Michael Corner, then Dean Thomas, and he had his first girlfriend." Two tears ran down her cheeks. "I was just his pesky little sister. Why should he worry about me?" She was desperately trying to keep the tears in. She didn't want to look like a baby, crying about nothing, in front of Remus.

"Ginny," Remus said. "Ginny," he said a little louder, taking her hand in his, "you don't really think that, and neither do Ron and Harry. You know, you're a very special young woman, and that foul toad didn't have any right to force you to carve those words into the back of your hand." She smiled feebly. "Well, I know it anyway. Ginny, you're important to Ron, and I know he's important to you. So why don't you make up, and then maybe we can talk about the Umbridge thing, okay?"

"Sure," she said weakly. "Later, anyway." Ginny took a deep breath, trying not to cry. "She kept telling me that I didn't belong in Hogwarts if I couldn't watch what I said about adults." Another tear coursed down her cheek. "She was probably right. She probably could have kicked me out for saying things like that."

"Ginny," Remus repeated, although he wasn't annoyed in the slightest. "Ginny, she was wrong. You are allowed to speak your mind. And look, this is a silly thing to get upset about. It's in the past." Remus was watching the redhead carefully. She looked strained and tired, but she was watching him intently. At his 'it's in the past' comment, her eyes filled with tears.

"No, it's not," she whispered. "It's in my future." Her head lowered back onto her knees as she fell apart, crying silently.

"Not if you change it," Remus said forcefully. He put a hand on Ginny's knee. She raised her head slightly, her tear-stained face and reddened blue-green eyes obscured by her masses of curly dark red hair. He brushed her hair away from her face. He wiped the tear tracks off her cheeks. "Come on, Ginny, let's go back to the Tower."

She nodded and he helped her up. They didn't, however, drop each other's hands. Remus opened the door and the two hurried back to the Tower.

"Quidditch," Remus said clearly. The Fat Lady swung open, admitting them. A quiet conversation had been in session over by the fireplace. As James, Harry, Ron, and company turned to find the visitors, the corner hushed. Then Lily beckoned Ginny over. Remus pulled her toward the group.

"Ginny?" she asked tentatively. "Are you all right?" Ginny attempted a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Gin, I'm really sorry I ignored you," Ron began. "It was just that—"

"I know, Ron, it's understandable," Ginny said quietly. "You were dealing with some pretty major things at the moment, so I decided not to bother you. Besides, I knew you'd just work yourself into a right state and start threatening Umbridge like you did Dean and Michael. That wouldn't do me any good," she flashed a smile at him, and this time it was genuine.

"Well," Ron started, then shook his head. "Ginny, that was really just inexcusable. I should have paid more attention to you. You're my only sister, and you deserve my attention." Harry patted Ginny's shoulder. "Heck, here you're my only sibling," Ron muttered.

"And you can bet, as your honorary older brother, that I'm right with Ron," Harry said, smiling. Ginny smiled at him too. She gave Harry and her brother a hug, her way of saying she forgave them—since she was "an overemotional female"—Ron's words, not hers.

"Thanks, Remus," she whispered to the werewolf, and kissed him on the cheek before blushing furiously and rushing up the stairs.

"Did she just go up the Boy's Dorm stairs?" Sirius asked conversationally. Remus gasped and ran up the stairs after her.

Ginny was still bright red when she entered the dorm. She walked over to her bed and sat down hard.

"Hey, Remus!" a voice said cheerfully. "That was a quiet entrance, for you!" It was a boy's voice—it sounded a lot like Dean. Ginny froze. "Damn," she muttered. She decided to play it safe and keep her mouth shut.

"How's it going?" a voice that sounded like Neville's asked. She inferred that it was Frank Longbottom's. "Harry and Ron made the team, huh? Harry's even better than James is. Wonder how long he's been on broom."

Ginny remained silent.

"Remus? Lupin, you there?" the first boy's voice said.

The door opened again. Ginny watched as Remus walked in as if the devil was on his tail. "Hey, Mike, Frank. Did Ginny come in here?"

"Remus? Didn't you already come in and sit down on your bed?" Mike asked.

"No, you idiot, I can't be in two places at once," Remus said tersely. "Oh, there you are, Ginny. Sirius thought it was just so funny! He would, though." His shoulders drooped. Ginny hid a giggle. He sounded awfully exasperated. "I think he changed the staircases, put an illusion on them or something. Prankster to the core, that one."

"No, I probably ran up the wrong one," Ginny said. "I wasn't really watching which way I was going."

"There's a girl in here!" Mike exclaimed.

"Yes, you genius," Remus muttered. "Ginny, you want to leave now, before these boys disturb the whole tower?"

"I think that would be quite agreeable," Ginny agreed. "I would much prefer to go either downstairs or to my own dorm, you know?"

"Later, Remus," Mike called as the two left the dormitories and rushed down the stairs, back into the common room.

"Sorry about that," Ginny apologized. "I really need to watch where I'm going." Lily giggled. James coughed, sounding suspiciously like, "Tell me about it!"

"Well…where were we?" Harry picked up. "Oh yeah, Umbridge," he remembered. "Well, you see, she was a twisted old bat…"

"So, Ginny…" Lily dragged out. "Spill."

"What?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Someone's got it for Remus," she teased. "Got it bad, you do. I saw how red you were before you ran up the wrong staircase."

"I think you're seeing things," Ginny said flatly. "Coincidentally, did you know that Remus's bed is in the exact same place as mine, in the boys' dorm?"

"And I'll bet Lily's is where James's is, right?" Hermione teased. Lily's hand connected with the back of her head.

"Shut up, you," she said in pretend annoyance.

"Oh, but Lily, you really do get together. Or else, how would Harry have his gorgeous green eyes?" Hermione batted her lashes ridiculously. "He would need you, dear lady!"

"The thought of even hugging James," Lily shivered. "I know we've gotten to the point where we can have civilized conversation and he will call me Lily, but eventual marriage?" Hermione patted Lily on the back.

"It's your destiny," Hermione said seriously. "I'm not kidding."

"I can dream," Lily said dramatically, "that I really married a sensible, down-to-earth man who was perfectly content to leave his hair alone for more than fifteen minutes."

"Aww, come on Lils, you know you like him," Hermione waggled her eyebrows suggestively at her friend.

"You know you're not cut out for that gesture," Ginny threw out, picking up a brush and pulling it through her curly hair.

"Well, I'm still waiting for Miss Ginny to spill," Lily pointed out. "How did the little—chemistry get started, Gin? What happened?"

"Well, I had a little problem with Ron earlier, as you know." Lily nodded. "So Remus comes into the little closet I'm crying in and starts talking about how you think you hate your siblings, but when they really leave, you can't stop thinking about them. Did you know his brother died when he—er, when he," she stuttered.

"If you're trying to avoid mentioning the lycanthropy, I've known about that since third year," Lily said matter-of-factly. Both girls gaped at the tall redhead.

"Well," Ginny recovered immediately. "So, anyway, then he was telling me about his brother —Jason was his name. They'd have these little arguments and then one of them would be the bigger man and go apologize."

"Okay, so you discussed sibling rivalry," Lily prodded. Ginny sighed and tried not to half-cry as she repeated their discussion

"Then I started in on school, you know, second year when Sirius broke out of Azkaban and everyone thought he was trying to kill Harry but he wanted to get at Peter, third year with the tournament, fourth year with Umbridge and Sirius's death, and then fifth year with his girlfriend and all that." Ginny shook her head. "I think he's going to be asking me a billion questions when they're not afraid I'm going to blow up on them."

"Yes, well, you did only mention Sirius in Azkaban, Peter—are you a total idiot, Ginny?—and Sirius's death. Hello? Ginny, we are not supposed to tell the future!"

"Well, yes, but what were you doing when you said that Harry was related to James, and later that Lily was his mum? But then I went off, saying, you know, I was his kid sister, what did he care about me? What was the whole point to being a big brother anyway? He didn't want the worry, he didn't want the responsibility.

"So Remus starts telling me that I didn't deserve any of it, and that I should be a little more confident in myself. You know, the usual spiel. Like that crazy psychiatrist Madam Pomfrey sent me to after the Chamber of Secrets incident. You know, every time I mentioned Tom, he would ask who that was, and then I'd say his name and the man would jump like a scared rabbit—why she sent me to him I'll never know.

"So then, we agree to go back to the Tower, he helps me up, and I don't let go of his hand." She blushed. "So, you know, we're all chummy and everything, and then the whole cheek-kiss thing made me blush like crazy—Hermione, you know how I am. Anything remotely embarrassing and I'm brilliant crimson."

"It's a redhead thing," Lily commented.

"I know." Ginny flushed again. It wasn't like she had longed for red hair—she actually could have gone for the opposite, red wasn't really her kind of color. She tried to think of herself with black hair. Hmm.

Lily smiled evilly. Here was something she had on Ginny. With everything those two had on her, she could use this…

"You know, you just admitted—although without knowing—that you have an hopeless crush on a certain Remus Lupin?"

"Well," Ginny stumbled…

Ginny and Remus, sitting in a tree...But hey, aren't they just adorable? Next chapter in 5. Luv, LysPotter