Disclaimer: If I actually owned something as important and significant and popular as Harry Potter, people would murder me for neglecting my writing. As it is, well, I don't. So they just yell at me. Which is nicer.
Previously: The Marauders, time-travelers, and Lily attend the ball. Ginny and Remus show prowess in music. When we leave our couple, Ginny has just sung a song that will not be written for about thirty years.
Chapter Thirteen: Moonlight Rendezvous, in which Remus sings Jackson Browne, Ginny and Remus take a walk, and many things are discovered.
"Ginny?" Helen asked the redheaded girl. "Where had you heard that before, that you knew it so well?"
"I honestly don't know. It just came to me…I think I could even play it myself if I tried," she marveled. "I'm just not sure where I heard it," she said honestly.
"Just as I thought. A Music Seer," Helen said sagely. Ginny looked at her curiously, her brow knit. "A Music Seer is someone with a remarkable talent in music, who can sing or play songs that haven't even been written yet," she explained. "You have that talent, and so do I. I have reason to believe that your friend here—"
"Remus," Ginny supplied. "Remus Lupin. He's my date to the ball." She blushed furiously at Helen's surmising look. "We're just friends," she insisted.
"I'm sure. I think he might be an MS too."
"MS stands for Music Seer?" Ginny clarified. Helen nodded crisply, and sat back down on the piano bench with a smile at Ginny.
Helen raised an eyebrow at Remus, who flushed, stood up, and walked over to the microphone. At a gesture from Helen, the flutist switched to Remus's drumset.
"You see, witches and wizards have some music from the future," he teased Ginny as their paths crossed. "You just have to know where to look."
"Oh, shut up and go sing for the nice people," she said playfully. She pushed him lightly in the back. He stumbled, playing hurt, then walked up to the magical microphone.
Helen played the introduction to a song, along with the guitarist and the flutist-turned-drummer. Remus's face relaxed.
"She was a friend to me when I needed one.
Wasn't for her, I don't know what I'd've done.
She gave me back something that was missing in me.
She could have turned out to be almost anyone.
Almost anyone.
With the possible exception
Of who I wanted her to be." Helen and her accompanists played a few more lines before Remus jumped back in, singing soulfully, as if the song was his alone, and he would never stop singing it.
"Running into the midnight
With her clothes whipping in the wind.
Reaching into the heart of the darkness
For the tenderness within.
Stumblin' into the lights of the city
And then back in the shadows again.
Hanging onto the laughter
That each of us hid our unhappiness in
Talk about celestial bodies
And your angels on the wing
She wasn't much good at sticking around—
But that girl could sing.
She could sing!" As Remus once again lapsed into silence, he looked back and smiled at Ginny, beckoning her. She raised her eyebrows and came over obediently, smiling at the werewolf that she was almost sure felt something for her. He took one of her hands in his. Her other touched his shoulder. His other wound tentatively around her waist. They danced awkwardly at first, then each of them gauged each other and started to move a little more cooperatively. When Remus's vocal part came back in, he and Ginny shared a bashful smile before he returned to the microphone, once more losing himself in the song. His eyes swept over the ballroom as his baritone flooded the room and Ginny's ears.
"In the dead of night,
She could shine a light
On some places that you've never been." An image flashed in front of their eyes—Ginny explaining the future to three-fourths of the Marauders. She was like the girl mentioned in the song…Had Helen planned that at all?
"In that kind of light
You could lose your sight
And believe there was something to win.
You could hold her tight,
With all your might,
But she'd slip through your arms like the wind.
And be back in flight,
Back into the night,
Where you might never see her again.
The longer I thought I might find her,
The shorter my vision became.
Running in circles behind her,
And thinking in terms of the blame.
But she couldn't have been any kinder
If she'd come back and tried to explain.
She wasn't much good at saying goodbye—but
That girl was sane."
Remus smiled. Ginny whirled back into his arms and they finished out the song, gold-flecked blue eyes never leaving the blue-green below them. They inched closer and closer, until both Remus's hands found Ginny's waist and her hands found both his shoulders. Remus's chin rested softly on Ginny's head as the song drew to a close. Ginny sighed sadly when it did—she never wanted it to end.
The hall burst out into applause again as the blushing couple left the stage, subconsciously holding each other's hands.
"Thank you, Ginny Weasley and Remus Lupin!" Helen exclaimed into the microphone, "for a musical delight!" Ginny flushed brighter red.
"Miss Weasley?" an eerily familiar voice asked behind her. "I just wanted to ask something. You sing very well, by the way."
With a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, she turned to face her twenty-five-year-old parents, with her older brother Bill—only three years old—in tow.
"My name is Arthur Weasley—and this is my wife, Molly and son, Bilius. Are we related in any way, I wanted to ask?" he asked very bluntly.
"You must be the Arthur my mother's always told me about!" Ginny blustered. "We're fourth cousins, we are. So nice to meet you at last. Da—Arthur, and of course Molly. Though I don't think I've ever heard of little Bilius here," she lied.
"Bill, this is your cousin," Molly said slowly. "Say hello?"
"Hello!" the young boy said clearly.
"Nice to meet you, too," Ginny said with a smile. "He's such a cutie!"—Or he would be if he wasn't my older brother, she thought.
"Nice to meet you, Ginny," Molly smiled as she picked Bill up with a grunt. "I never knew that Arthur had such extended family!"
"Neither did I," Arthur said dubiously. "So nice to meet you, Cousin. Maybe we'll talk more in the future." Believe me, we will, she thought dryly. As long as I'm born. "That would be nice, Arthur!" she said enthusiastically. "Later, then."
"Sometime," he promised.
"Was that your dad? Arthur Weasley, I mean?" Remus asked as soon as they were alone once more.
"Yes, and my mum—and my older brother."
"So, in short, as a sixteen-year-old, you met your twenty-five-year-old Mum and Dad and three-year-old older brother?"
"That's about it. I should tell Ron they're here. Warn him, in case they find him."
"Good idea," Remus agreed. "Let's go find him."
When they located Ron, he was dancing with Alice. He finished the dance, and when Ginny beckoned to him, he obligingly walked over.
"Just to warn you ahead of time, Mum and Dad are here—with Bill. Three-year-old Bill. So you might want to steer clear of them."
"No way!" the lanky redhead exclaimed.
"Charlie should be born by now," Ginny commented. "Percy should too, I think. Yes. Bet they got a babysitter for those two."
"Rather than have them at a ball. What a disaster that would be!"
"And here I am thinking of them as adults, and they would be a disaster. Imagine them as kids, the ruckus they would have made here!"
"Ugh, Ginny, don't even like that thought. The Potters' party would be totally ruined within five minutes."
"Fine, don't think it," she said indifferently.
A new song started up. Remus looked questioningly at Ginny, who understood what he was asking her and nodded a little timidly. He took her by the hand and led her onto the dance floor. Ginny's gown softly swished around her ankles and feet as the couple twirled around the floor, to song, after song, after song. The next song (after that) was lively, and she and Remus changed partners countless times.
Remus spun her away the first time. She came face-to-face with James. "Hello," he said amiably. "Sparks flying pretty fast with Moony there." Before Ginny had a chance to answer, he spun her off to Frank.
"Nice to see you, Ginny. By the way, phenomenal performance at that match against Ravenclaw. I haven't even seen James do some of those moves." She acknowledged his compliment as he twirled her away expertly.
Ron caught her. "Ginny, I saw you up there singing—and dancing. You like Remus, don't you?" he asked pointedly. Ginny rolled her eyes and maintained her silence until Ron spun her to Sirius.
"Hello, gorgeous," he winked. "You up for a dance later? If I can tear you away from old Moony, that is," he added as an afterthought.
"I'll save a dance for you, Sirius," she promised. Harry was next, and he sent her whirling toward Remus as soon as the music allowed him.
"Hey, Gin," he said cheerily. "Have fun?"
"Yeah. Promised Sirius a dance later. Ron finally noticed—well, never mind. Something that'll drive him near mad."
"Sure, whatever," Remus said doubtfully. "Look, you're panting. Why don't I go get us some drinks and we take a rest?" He sat her in a chair and headed for the refreshment table halfway across the room.
"Remus, you're a lifesaver!" Ginny said gratefully when he handed her a glass of iced pumpkin juice.
"No problem," he said lightly, taking a seat beside her.
"That was fun," Ginny commented. "You're a great partner."
"I was the one who almost stepped on your feet."
"That was me," Ginny argued.
"Definitely me."
"You're such a liar."
"You're graceful."
"You're more so."
"You are."
"You are."
"Why are we arguing about who stepped on whose feet?" Remus asked suddenly.
"No idea, but it's fun anyway," Ginny shrugged. She sat back to watch the other couples waltz across the floor. The song was soon over; as soon as it was, Sirius walked up with a smile on his face.
"How about that dance you promised me?" he asked. Ginny smiled up at the grinning young man.
"Sure," Ginny agreed, standing and smoothing out her skirts. It was a fast, lively dance, and both of them danced rather well, considering that Sirius was severely klutzy normally. He was actually a fair dancer.
Sirius escorted her back to her chair after the dance was finished. Remus danced a few more times with her, just because it was something to do. Not because he liked her or anything.
Finally, they sat down and caught their evasive breath. Remus smiled at the sight of James and Lily dancing with each other, eyes locked, ignoring the people around them.
"I always knew they'd end up together," he said.
"So did I, but being here makes it seem like so much more a wonderful miracle," Ginny mused. "I can't for the life of me understand why they decided to get together."
"They're made for each other. Lily's level-headed and practical but has a ferocious temper. James is proud and is—for the most part—the most mild-mannered person I know. It's just natural for them to be attracted."
The pair sat in companionable silence for a few minutes more. Ginny smiled as she saw Hermione and Sirius dancing exuberantly—thank goodness for Eileen's last minute teaching, or Hermione would be murdering Sirius's toes.
"Umm, Ginny?" Remus asked tentatively, touching her shoulder lightly. "Would you like to take a walk?"
Ginny looked up at Remus, startled. "A walk? Of course." He smiled, levered her off the chair, and they walked together out into the immense gardens of Potter Mansion.
They chatted amiably as they walked leisurely down the curling, twisting paths in the gardens. Ginny looked around at the brightly colored, magical plants still in bloom.
But, of course, the touchy topic of lycanthropy found its way into the conversation. Ginny proved to have some very strong opinions.
"It's just bigotry, and it's wrong!" Ginny said heatedly. "You're still Remus! Werewolves are only dangerous one night out of the month! And if they take—never mind that, forget I said anything for about three years," she interrupted herself.
"Fine. No arguments here—I don't want you to get in trouble for revealing too much of the future," the lycanthrope said reasonably.
An uncomfortable silence engulfed the night.
"So it doesn't matter to you?" Remus asked finally. "You don't care about the—the lycanthropy?"
"Why would it bother me?" Ginny said quizzically. "I've been hanging around you all year!"
"Oh, right," he said quietly. "I just had to know, I guess."
"Well, now you do, I guess," she smiled. Remus couldn't help but smile back—it was something about Ginny that made you want to smile around her.
"Yes, I suppose so," he said lightly. She raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged noncommittally. Both of them subconsciously reached for the other's hand. Ginny blushed when she realized what she was doing.
Remus took her small hand in his. Slightly more agreeable, they continued down the path in silence interspersed with comments on the gardening here and there. The Potters obviously had a few gardeners, judging by the size of the gardens.
Soon, they were walking through a small grove of miniature, still-green oak saplings. Ginny was a little tired, and there was a convenient bench in the grove—almost as if it had just appeared when she was watching—so naturally, she sat down, ignoring the icy coldness of the smooth white stone bench.
"You look cold," Remus offered, arms crossed.
"A little," she admitted. "But, it's actually quite warm in here, considering that it's about freezing outside this grove."
"Evergreen Charm," Remus explained.
"Right," she said a little sheepishly. Remus sat down next to the petite redhead and boldly looped his arm around her shoulders. He jerked slightly, a little startled, when she leant easily and silently into his half-embrace.
"The stars are so bright tonight," she observed quietly. "The sky is so clear here, you can see every single one."
"I love to stargaze in the wilderness," Remus agreed. "There's too much light pollution in any of the big cities to see much of anything."
"I know. I can see then really well at home. We live just outside a rural village like Godric's Hollow—it's called Ottery St. Catchpole. It's always nice to forget about Tom, Harry risking his life, and everything else, and just watch the moon rise back at the Burrow on a summer—or winter—night," she said quietly. Finally, getting annoyed by the piece of material covering half of her face, she tore off her mask and put it on the bench beside her.
"You miss it," Remus commented. "You miss your old life, with your parents, your older brothers, your home, your friends. I'd miss it all too, if I were you. You've been ripped from the world you love and you grew up in only to be flung into our turbulent one," he sympathized.
"Well, it's not like ours isn't turbulent," Ginny said practically, recalling the events of the past—future—years. "Harry's at the top of Tom Riddle's hit list—if there's anyone the Death Eaters all want to point fingers at, it's Harry—and Ron, Hermione and I aren't far behind just because we hang out with him, not to mention the fact that the entire wizarding world has rested its fate on Harry to save all their lives while managing not to get himself killed. Then, almost every adult dies when Harry needs him—or her, or they end up missing when they're needed most. So he thinks it's all his fault Sirius died, Cedric died, and his fault that Umbridge was such a monster. Then he gets all depressed when they leave and starts pushing us away." Ginny's eyes never left the sky as she spoke.
"It's getting late," Remus observed, knowing very well that Ginny wasn't looking for sympathy from him or anyone.
"It is, isn't it?" she said indifferently. "I don't care. Let's don't go back in yet—or anytime soon. Please, I want to stay out here."
"I don't particularly want to go in either," Remus said truthfully. The couple sat there a few moments, mesmerized by the night sky.
"You know," Ginny began carefully, now looking down at her lap of smooth, turquoise satin and folding and unfolding her hands, "I've always liked you. You were my favorite professor in my second year—heck, every year I was at Hogwarts, even when you weren't teaching. Then I fell out of the sky—that blasted Time-Trap, actually—onto you and I really started to get to know the real Remus. You're sweet, you've had tragedies in your life nobody even knows about, and you really care about people. I don't know how you do it, but you don't have a grudge against Peter for what he was going to do like James and Sirius do." She looked up into Remus's eyes. Their gazes locked, and neither dropped the stare. There was a very pregnant pause. Remus tore his gaze away from the girl's shining, moon-pale face after a while, looking back up at the star-strewn sky.
"Ginny, you are one extraordinary girl," Remus said finally. "I knew it when you rolled off me on that very first day that you fell from the sky."
"You mean when I didn't even look at you?" Ginny asked dryly. Remus chuckled, and Ginny smiled back at the lycanthrope.
"Yes, that just made you all the more different. Then, even though you were the youngest in the group, you knew exactly how to take charge. You didn't lie when we asked you questions, you didn't even flinch when we rushed into the dorm demanding answers. You just sat down with us and explained our entire futures. You knew what was going to happen with Peter, James and Sirius—I was surprised you didn't haul off and slug Peter when he called Harry an idiot. I mean, you know all about us, who we are, what happens to us, who the absent rat is and what he's done. You even know what you're doing, and you're twenty some years out of circuit. You've had more stress in your life than anyone would ever guess; the mess with Umbridge is only half of it. You're stronger than most think, and you know your limit better than Harry, Ron and Hermione seem to.
"Ginny, these have been the best months of my life—getting to know you and who you really are, what place you hold in the future. It's not just because you know, it's because you know me, and accept me, and you even trust me."
"And your friends don't?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, they do, but I've never felt this way around anyone before," Remus said slowly. "I've never really been this way about anyone…"
"I know what you mean," Ginny interrupted. "I feel like I've known you forever, when in truth we just met four months ago. I don't know if I could go back to living without you in my life. Remus, I think—I think—"
"I think I'm in love with you," they finished together.
"Remus," Ginny began slowly, as if in a dream. The best dream I ever had, she thought giddily, not taking her eyes from his.
"No, don't, Ginny," Remus said softly. "Ginny, it's just—"
"—I don't know where I'm going to be going," she finished for him. "I'm not really sure what's going on with us four, but I know how you feel. This is the first time something like this has ever really happened to me. I—I guess I'm really and truly in love. Remus, I just don't know what else to say."
"Don't say anything," he whispered. They leaned closer and closer together, as if in a trance. Blue-green eyes never left the gold-flecked blue just a bit above them as their lips met in a tentative kiss that sent shivers up their respective spines. Remus's eyes closed in happiness and surprise.
A warm tingling spread through Ginny. Her eyes closed dreamily as she kissed Remus back somewhat hesitantly.
The couple's first kiss could have gone on forever, and both of them would have been perfectly happy. It felt like years, or maybe centuries, or it could have even been just seconds…It was just perfect. It was teasingly brief, but wonderfully everlasting. It was tender bliss, and neither of them wanted to let it go.
Ginny pulled back, smiling shyly. Remus just stared at the girl that had just kissed him. She pressed her forehead to his with another shy smile. He pulled himself out of his daze and smiled back at the vibrant redhead in front of him. She floundered, not knowing what to say—what could she say, in any case?
"Wow," he whispered. Ginny smiled again.
"Yeah, wow," she said, her voice hoarse with emotion.
"Ginny," he began. She put a finger to his lips and said, "Shh. Leave it be, Remus. It's okay, isn't it?" she asked worriedly.
"It's perfect," he breathed. "Ginny, that was…"
"I know," she whispered back. Impulsively, he leaned down slightly and once again pressed his lips to hers.
She responded with equal passion. Her arms wrapped instinctively around his shoulders, his pulling her up into his lap. Ginny was the only person he knew who could make him shiver quite like this, the only one who knew truly what he felt and why he felt that way. Remus John Lupin didn't know (or care) about the rest of the world, but right now, he was perfectly at ease with Ginny, the only girl he knew who would ever make him happy, as he held her in his arms.
Ginny nestled against the strong body beneath her, thinking, If this never ends, and I die sitting right here, I will have died the happiest girl on this entire earth.
BREAK
A/N: CRAP it's been a LONG time…LOL I really need to update on this cuz I have the whole story finished but I'm putting off updating it. Maybe now I'll start remembering and I'll put up a chapter once a day until it's done…sounds good to me….well, hope you enjoy! With love, LysPotter