Ten.
Weeks rolled by and brought with it Ginny's third transformation. A milestone which seemed to beg the question of when she would be returning to the Burrow from her family whenever they came to visit. Ginny was adamant that she wasn't ready, but Remus quietly believed she didn't want to leave him. There was the uncertainty around the Matlock pack still and Ginny said she would decide what to do 'after Christmas'.
He and Ginny had maintained an odd level of civil friendship since her bold confession, but his marking had waned completely now. The absence of his scent on her had caused a great turmoil within him, for now she was open to approach again. On top of that, the wolf was not satisfied. It needed her submission again and her scent became an ever growing source of temptation once more.
Ginny appeared oblivious to the ongoing war raging inside Remus and had got to work on decorating the cottage for Christmas. They had even gone into the town at her request and picked out a Christmas tree one weekend. The cottage had never looked more festive or inviting than it did now, covered in garlands of holly and poinsettia, tinsel, and gaudy baubles. That wasn't even the tree, which she'd lovingly decorated over the course of one Saturday afternoon with shiny ribbon and colourful, mismatching hanging decorations that Molly had loaned her.
The morning of Christmas was welcomed by a fresh flurry of snow and Remus awoke to tempting smell of cooking bacon. Once he had dressed and left his room, Remus could hear music drifting down the hall from the kitchen and followed it. The smells coming from there were amazing, and he was greeted to the sight of Ginny already in full flow of cooking breakfast and Christmas lunch. The turkey was brining on the side and the vegetables were peeling themselves and jumping into various waiting pots and pans on the kitchen table. Bacon was sizzling on the stove along with some pancakes that were flipping themselves and sliding onto two plates.
"I see you've been up for some time," Remus said, smiling softly.
Ginny faced him with a bright smile, her pinny tied around her waist as she mixed a brown substance vigorously with a wooden spoon. There was flour on her nose and cheek and he moved to swipe it off.
"Flour," he muttered, stepping back when he realised that this was not something he should be doing.
"Oh," she said. "Thanks. And yes, I woke up at four o'clock to make sure the turkey was doing OK and I wanted to get started on dessert. I'm making a chocolate cake, but it needs to be made in good time. Magic makes it lose it's flavour for some reason, so it has to be baked the muggle way."
Remus smiled down at her enthusiasm, it made him feel a pang of disappointment as he knew he would miss her love for cooking. He rather felt like he'd forgotten how to cook, if truth be told, since he couldn't remember the last time he'd done it.
"It's become evident to me that you enjoy Christmas then?" he asked with a grin as he sat down at the table and waited for breakfast.
She nodded. "It's my favourite time of year," she said happily. "I love everything about it. The decorations, the food, visiting people, the presents, the tree. Everything... Don't you like it then?"
Remus shrugged. "I haven't thought about it much," he admitted.
"Well, this year you will," she said brightly and she stopped mixing the cake batter and covered it before placing it carefully in the larder. "There's presents for you under the tree, they arrived this morning before you woke up. Oh, I forgot to say Merry Christmas!"
Remus smiled and waved it off., but he was surprised he'd received presents. He hardly ever got presents, in fact he couldn't remember the last time he had got a present.
"Let's open them after breakfast," she suggested and he agreed.
They ate breakfast and listened to the Christmas music streaming out of the Wireless until Remus could eat no more. Once Ginny had cleared the plates away, he stretched, feeling heavy from the food but she came over and forced him up to go over to the tree where there was a big pile of presents wrapped in shiny paper.
Ginny knelt down and picked out a present to pass to him and she laughed as his knees cracked noisily when he bent down beside her. They began opening their presents and he soon discovered much of his had come from her family and he felt a great pang of shame.
He had got a pile of books on the theory of offensive magic from Ron and Hermione, a box of various Weasley Wizard's Wheezes products from George and Angelina, a large assortment of Honeyduke's chocolate and a plum-coloured knitted jumper with an embroidered yellow 'R' on the front from Molly and Arthur.
"Oh, Mum made you a jumper!" Ginny said with a laugh, and she held up a very similar one in shocking pink. Hers had the letter 'G' embroidered onto it. "That means you're an honorary Weasley."
Eventually, there were only two presents left under the tree, both small and one for each of them.
"Um, I bought you something," she said quietly. "It's nothing special, but I thought – well, just open it."
Remus took the carefully wrapped present from her and tore off the paper to reveal a black leather box with a clasp. He flicked it open and was surprised to see a small gold pocket watch ticking away.
"If you don't like it, I can take it back," she said hastily, a pink tinge to her cheeks. "I just noticed your other one got broken after what happened at Diagon Alley."
Remus gave a sad smile. "James bought me that one for my birthday one year."
Ginny stared at him. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was special, I would have taken that to get fixed instead."
Remus smiled up at her, resisting the urge to take her face in his hand and kiss her. "No," he said firmly. "This is a beautiful piece, Ginny. Thank you."
She smiled that wide, beaming dimpled smile at him that she must not have realised melted his insides for the urge to kiss her grew even stronger. Remus placed the watch carefully back in its box and reached for the last present under the tree.
"I bought you a present as well," he said, and he prayed that she liked it because he couldn't return this one and it had taken a rather large chunk out of the fortune Sirius had left him to purchase it.
Ginny took it from him and unwrapped it. Under the paper was a black velvet box, and her eyes widened as she opened that up to reveal a small, fine gold chain with a tiny golden rose hanging from it.
"Oh, my..." she whispered, glancing up at him briefly. "Is... is this goblin-made?"
Remus blinked in surprise and then felt a little silly. "Yes, it is," he said sheepishly, for he had rather thought she wouldn't notice how expensive the necklace was. "How did you know?"
"Bill..." she muttered without further explanation. But of course... her brother worked closely with goblins. "It's very beautiful, Professor... but this must have cost so much money..."
"It doesn't matter," he said firmly. "Do you like it?"
"Yes," she nodded, dumbstruck as she still stared it. "But I -."
"You can keep it," he interrupted before she could say it. "You have to keep it. It's custom made so the seller won't refund me the money."
"Professor..." she whispered, shaking her head. "Why would you spend so much?"
"Why not?" he replied. What he really wanted to say was how much he had fallen in love with her and this is why he'd spent so much on her, but he refrained. "You deserve it so wear it... if you Want to, of course."
Ginny looked as though she wanted to challenge this, but then said nothing. "Well, thank you, very much."
"You are welcome," he said gently. "And thank you for forcing your family to buy me presents."
Ginny's cheeks flushed pink. "How did you know?" she asked incredulously.
"Why else would they send me presents?" he said with a laugh. "Only now I feel terrible for not buying them anything."
"Don't worry, I sorted that out for you," she said with a careless wave of her hand.
Remus was taken aback. "You did?"
Ginny nodded. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise this morning when you saw all your gifts."
Remus stared at her and wondered what he had done to deserve this girl's love and affection, but he said nothing.
"Oh!" Ginny jumped up after slipping the small velvet box into the pocket of her pinny. "I need to put the turkey in the oven."
Remus collected up his presents and hers to place them in their respective rooms, before returning to the kitchen.
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked as she was in the middle of slotting the turkey into the oven. She had laid rashers of streaky bacon over the top of it and seasoned it with pepper and herbs. Despite the fact that he was full to bursting from breakfast, he was looking forward to dinner.
"Well, we need more firewood," she said, gesturing to the basket by the roaring fire, which was near empty.
"That I can do," he said with a smile and he left her to it. He pulled on his dragonhide gloves, boots and fur-lined overcoat for it was still snowing before stepping out into the cold air.
Remus' breath came out in clouds in front of him, but he ignored the frost in the air as he knew he'd be taking his jacket off soon enough once he got stuck into it. He cleared off the layer of snow from the stump and wrenched the axe out from the frozen ground beside it and began splitting the logs in two.
Sure enough, he had to remove his coat and roll up his sleeves as he began to sweat from the effort. It seemed a lot of wood would be needed to keep them warm today and it took him the best part of the morning to do it.
"Professor!"
Remus turned to see Ginny framed in the doorway, holding a saucepan and spoon. She gestured for him to come over.
"Taste this," she said, and she held up a spoon full of melted chocolate. "Is it good?"
Remus tasted it and grinned at her. "Of course it tastes good, it's chocolate," he said.
"Well, yeah, but I've added a few things to it," she said, rolling her eyes with a smile.
"Your talents are wasted on me then," he said, returning her gentle smile. "I can only taste the chocolate."
"No, that's fine. I'll just add more honey to it," she said, and she glanced down at his mouth. Remus' heart gave a gentle thud as he thought she might... Then she reached up and rubbed her thumb over his bottom lip and then sucked it absentmindedly. "Sorry... you had some chocolate there..."
Then she hurried back off to the kitchen without another word, leaving him with warm feelings and a naughty memory of her swallowing his cum. Remus pulled the door shut and returned to the stump, now with nothing but thoughts of Ginny filling his head. His morning with her had been lovely, it had felt like he could pretend they were together, it felt like he could pretend this was his usual life. Then he began to daydream.
He imagined holding her slim waist and pulling her close to him, bending to kiss her deeply. He imagined his hands on her soft breasts and in her hair and between her legs. Remus swung the axe harder and harder, trying to stop these thoughts. Then he imagined her on her knees, sucking his cock, his hand twisted into her hair and then she was straddling him and then she was beneath him, moaning his name and begging for his seed. He growled in aggravation and swung the axe even harder. A loud, splintering sound rent the silent air and Remus stared down at the split log. Underneath that, he had split the stump in two.
"Fuck it," he grumbled and he ran an agitated hand through his now damp hair.
His breath was coming heavy and fast from the effort and he rested on the handle of the axe as he composed himself.
This was the problem he kept having. Far too often, his thoughts would run away with him... He turned and his gaze drifted towards the kitchen window, where he could just make Ginny out as she worked tirelessly to feed them a good dinner. It brought back all those feelings of yearning, not just for her but what she would bring. She would make this a home, she would make them a family, she would bring him children... He swallowed hard as a lump formed in his throat and tears stung at his eyes. Remus wanted all of that desperately. He wanted to come home to her food, he wanted to come home to her tending their children. The want was so great, it was painful.
The chill finally began to seep back into his skin and he hastened to bring the firewood inside.
Ginny visibly stiffened as he returned, wand halted in mid-air as her eyes widened, and he could tell she was stopping herself from breathing, only because he had done the same thing so many times. Of course, he was damp with sweat so he guessed he smelled either irresistible to her or terrible.
"I'm going to get in the shower," he said, repressing a laugh as she nodded with her mouth clamped tightly shut. Secretly, he hoped he still smelled irresistible to her and this thought made his other dirty thoughts from earlier return with full force whilst under the steaming hot water. His cock became painfully hard at these errant ideas, and he ended up having to see to it himself. Something he hadn't done in many, many years. But the release had been necessary and he felt more energised as he got dressed.
When he returned to the kitchen, he saw that Ginny had gotten changed as well. She no longer wore her little pinny, now she had on her shocking pink knitted jumper and tiny black mini skirt, though thankfully she was wearing black tights. Remus was pleased to notice the necklace around her throat.
"Oh, very good," she said with a laugh as she saw he wore his Weasley jumper.
"You can talk," he replied with a grin, gesturing to hers.
They both laughed and he joined her by the stove to get a good look at the turkey she was spooning juices over. The outside looked golden and crisp, and it smelled divine. There was a tray of four huge Yorkshire puddings on the side, and she had thrown a rainbow of vegetables in a roasting tin which was giving off steam now next to the Yorkshires. The table had been laid with a clean cloth and plates and cutlery either side.
"Can you put the turkey on the table, please?" she asked.
He picked up the oven gloves as the turkey still looked very hot and clasped the handles on the roasting tin to lift it, before placing it down in the middle between their plates. Ginny brought over the tray of glazed and roasted vegetables and then summoned the gravy boat, the Yorkshire puddings, and the small dish of sage and onion stuffing.
"I thought you might like to carve the turkey," she said, gesturing to the carving knife and fork on the table. "I mean, it's usually my dad who does it so I assumed it's a thing men like to do."
Remus chuckled. "I wouldn't know, really. My mother did all the cooking and carving, but I'll give it a go."
Ginny shrugged and sat down, watching him though not to criticise. She had a small smile on her pretty face.
"My mother would have also said you shouldn't have Yorkshire puddings with turkey," Remus said as he placed the sliced white meat on her plate. Ginny threw him an incredulous look. "Yes. They're supposed to be eaten with beef, traditionally."
"Well, they're my favourite part of the dinner, I couldn't just have them with beef," she said, shaking her head and looking scandalised by the suggestion.
Once he'd finished carving the meat, and they'd plated up their food, they began to eat and Remus could fully appreciate the work she had put into this meal.
"This is excellent, Ginny," he said between mouthfuls. "You've outdone yourself."
She beamed at him, but said nothing else on it. Instead she glanced uncertainly at him. "Are... are you parents still around?"
"Oh, no," he replied. "No, they're not. They died some time ago now."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said softly.
"That's OK."
"What were they like?" she asked.
Remus smiled at her curiosity. "My father was obsessed with hunting down dark creatures, he was an expert in his day," he said and he scoffed. "He always told me he would never disown me over my lycanthropy, but he would if I couldn't banish a boggart successfully. My mother was very loving and generous. She was a muggle."
Ginny gazed at him. "And... what was it like? I mean with the lycanthropy, there was no Wolfsbane Potion back then."
Remus sighed heavily. "No, there wasn't. It was very difficult," he said. "It was difficult for my parents. They hated to see my pain. I sometimes wonder if they welcomed death so as not to worry about me anymore."
"Oh, don't say that," Ginny said softly.
Remus scoffed. "Sorry, that's my way of dealing with it, I suppose. I miss them, of course. I didn't have anyone else but them until I went to Hogwarts and met James, Sirius, and Peter. My condition aroused too much suspicion and so my childhood was quite lonely at times."
Ginny stared piteously at him, so he turned his attention to his near empty plate instead. He didn't want pity. "And now you're out here alone. Why didn't you ever join a pack?"
"I had three great friends who lived whole and normal lives as wizards," he explained. "They accepted me and welcomed me. They were my pack. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Remus snorted with laughter. "They sound so ridiculous now, but we thought we were the height of cool back then."
Ginny grinned. "I'm sure you were."
"Are you mocking me?" he asked, raising a brow at her.
"Maybe."
Remus scoffed again. "Well, I suppose you have every right to."
Ginny laughed. "Right, dessert," she said excitedly as she jumped up and cleared away their plates with a flick of her wand and stored away the leftovers.
"Jesus Christ, Ginny," he said as she disappeared into the larder and returned with a large, round chocolate cake in one hand and another gravy boat. "I don't think I've got anymore room."
"You will when you taste it," she said happily and her eyes were glowing. Evidently this is the part of dinner she had been the most excited for so he couldn't help but relent.
Ginny placed it on the table and summoned two small plates, forks, and a knife. She stood close to him as she cut into it and chocolate buttercream oozed out of the sides. Then she placed a slice each on their plates, then poured a warm, caramel coloured sauce over the top.
Remus stared at her as she took a bite and squealed with pleasure. She had taken about five bites until realising he hadn't touched his yet. "I slaved away on this all afternoon, you better eat it!" she warned.
"I'm sorry, but you seem to be enjoying it for the both of us," he replied with a smirk.
Her cheeks flushed pink. "I do have a sweet tooth, admittedly," she said with a shrug, but then she discarded her fork and picked his up to scoop up some of the cake. "Here, just try it." She held it to his mouth and he sighed, though he wasn't annoyed. "Open..."
Remus obeyed and she fed him the cake and he was surprised to find her squealing was not unwarranted for it was beautifully made.
"Do you like it?" she asked eagerly.
"It's very good, Ginny," he said appreciatively. "I believe you put your mother to shame and that's saying something."
"Really?" she asked, surprised. He nodded. "Well, there's no higher compliment. But don't tell my mum you said that."
"Merlin, no..." he muttered.
"Here," she said, and she held up some more cake for him to eat. He dutifully let her feed it to him for he was enjoying the way her tongue flicked out to wet her lower lip, and the way her eyes lingered on his mouth. She did this a few times more in silence, music softly drifting out of the Wireless, until there was none left.
Remus' heart was pounding gently as he stared back at her, their eyes meeting and it was as if one begged the other to do something, but at this point he couldn't tell who was begging who. Then Ginny looked down at the plates, stacked them on top of each other and made to stand. It was this action, the loss of her warm gaze, that made him take her wrist and stop her.
Ginny looked down at him and he could feel anticipation coming off her in waves, her face was expectant and her lips were parted. He lifted his other hand from the table and brushed it up under her oversized jumper to rest on her hip.
They simply breathed, perhaps too scared to talk in fear of it breaking the spell that was beginning to settle over them.
Then he let go of her wrist and matched his hold on her on the other side and he just gazed up at her, drank in her features, her scent. And it was calling him again, that siren song. Remus stood up and she had to tilt her neck back to keep eye contact with him. He breathed deeply, tried to calm his blood, tried to still his thrumming heart, but this only drew her scent in deeper.
Remus turned his gaze away from hers and stared at the kitchen floor, knowing he had to let go of her now before it was too late.
Mark her.
The voice had returned, and it was angry with him. He growled harshly and turned back to face her before pulling her forcefully into him and crushing her mouth hard with his own. Ginny gasped at this but her hands immediately went up to his shoulders and snaked around his back to draw him down into a hungry kiss. As with their past kisses, this one was needy and noisy as they made appreciative sounds, both just as grateful for the contact they'd obviously been craving.
"Bedroom," she whispered forcefully and she took his hand and led him along the hall to his room. Once inside, she was on him immediately, yanking his jumper off over his head and tugging at his belt and undoing his trousers.
He watched her in disbelief as she dropped to her knees in front of him. His cock was already hard from anticipation and she took him greedily in her hot mouth, no restraint or shame at all as she twisted her tongue around his tip and he groaned, eyes rolling back. She was unbelievably masterful at doing this and relentless, not stopping for breath until he was ready to explode, but she pulled back.
Remus was about to protest, but she slipped off her tights and pulled her jumper up over her head and threw it on the floor. She was only in her little black skirt now and a lacy bralette. She backed up onto the end of his bed and spread her legs.
Remus shook his head, still in disbelief, as he saw her pretty pink centre again. He smirked, advancing on her to drop to his knees, and he buried his face between her legs. Just like Ginny, he sucked her most sensitive part with greedy eagerness, tasting her as she began to slicken with wetness.
"Oh, oh!" she cried out and he was merciless until her body tensed, back arching, and she moaned her release.
Remus didn't waste any time at all. He grasped her by the waist as he stood and picked her up, her legs wrapped tightly around him and his cock agonisingly brushing against her thigh. She held onto him tightly, their lips almost touching as they gazed back at each other until he settled down onto the bed.
But when he tried to enter her, she wriggled her hips away with a whimper. Her eyes were wide when she looked at him.
"It won't hurt as much this time," he murmured, stroking her hips as he kissed her jawline. "I promise."
She shook her head, and she blushed furiously. "Be gentle," she whispered.
"I will," he said softly. "I promise you, I won't hurt you."
Ginny stared back at him, but then nodded slowly.
When it came, she winced at his intrusion, breathing deeply as he slid inside her with ease until he was finally buried all the way to the hilt. But then he didn't move, and she seemed to understand for she began to slowly rock her hips against his.
"That's it," he said gruffly, and he ran his hands up to her bralette and shoved it up so he could stroke her there. "Keep doing that..." he breathed out, his voice strained as he pushed down the urge to pound into her so he rested his head back against the pillows and let her take control. Eventually, she began to get the hang of it and was sighing out her own pleasure. Then, after a time, she threw her head back and moaned, her body trembling as she came and he took advantage of her position to suck roughly on her nipples and he pushed her down into the mattress.
Just as he positioned himself to pound into her, she pulled him down into another greedy kiss. "Make love to me," she whispered. "I don't want it to end."
Remus stared down at her, faced with a task that seemed impossible. He wasn't even sure if the wolf knew how to make love... "Well, I can't promise the last part..." he murmured with a scoff. But he took her mouth in his all the same, kissing her at length as he entered her slowly and deliberately.
Her tightness was such that he gritted his teeth in his attempts to please her, to make love to her how she wanted, to hold back from the urge to fuck her hard. But she was right to ask for this, it was incredible, more so her reactions to him as she held him so close, her hands stroking over his arms and shoulders, running into his hair, as she cried out for him and kissed him deeply and softly.
"Oh, my God..." she breathed out, kissing him again and then staring into his eyes. "So good... don't stop..."
"I couldn't stop if I wanted to," he muttered and then he kissed her throat again, before tangling his hand in her hair and breathing in her sweet scent.
"Kiss me, kiss me," she begged sweetly and he obeyed for she was close again, he could feel it as she tightened even more around him until she groaned into his mouth, her body shivering with pleasure beneath him. "Oh, my God..." she sighed out. "I love you," she whispered, her eyes dropping to his lips again and she kissed him softly.
Remus' heart thudded again as she spoke these words like a confession and he realised he never felt more connected to someone than he did her, not even through all his friendships over the years. She felt like the lifeline he'd craved for so long.
"I love you too," he said quietly. Her eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment. He knew this was stupid to admit, knew this was detrimental to the reality, but he was ardently in love with her and it made no real logical sense to hide that which was obvious.
Then her gaze darkened with emboldened desire. "Fuck me," she said hungrily and she kissed him hard.
Remus broke the contact and pulled away from her, grateful that she had asked for this because the wolf was utterly shouting for it. "On your hands and knees," he instructed and she obeyed immediately. Then he grabbed her lovely round bottom and began to pound into her with unrestrained satisfaction. The wolf yowled at this and Remus moaned his pleasure as she cried out at length with each of his thrusts. Snow fell outside and the sun was setting, but in bed they remained. He moved her with such incredible ease into any which way he wanted and she happily obliged until she was beneath him again, her feet on his shoulders as he drove into her with frantic abandon.
"Inside me, inside me," she panted as she sensed he was nearing his peak.
The suggestion was absurd to him because he couldn't think where the hell else he would finish in his lust-driven mind. Then, finally, with one harsh groan that tore from him, he found his release and it was pleasure beyond pleasure to finally mark her again.
They were breathing deeply, sweating, eyes closed in the aftermath of it all.
Eventually, once Remus was satisfied she'd completely emptied his cock, he moved and rested against his pillows with his head thrown back. It felt odd, but he wasn't even tired. He felt exhilarated if anything. He looked down at her used body and smirked, the wolf in him admired his handiwork and he grasped her wrist to pull her body up against his.
There was no resistance, she merely gave a soft moan and gazed up at him through unfocused eyes. He grinned down at her, enjoying the way she looked so dishevelled and still wearing her little black skirt, bundled up around her waist.
Outside, Remus could see the snow falling heavily through the curtained window and slowly, so slowly, the dreaded shame crept over him once more. It would not leave him, it seemed, and he knew it shouldn't. He deserved to feel guilt for doing this with her, to her.
"I'm sorry," he said into the silence.
She gazed up at him and shook her head. "Don't," she said quietly. "Please, can we just pretend? Can we pretend that nothing and no one else exists whilst we are here?"
Remus stared down at her, but said nothing.
"No one ever needs to know. If you don't want anyone to know, then I won't tell..." she whispered. "It'll be our secret."
When she worded it like that, it made it sound not so bad, it made it sound exciting...
"And I'll never be safe without your scent on me."
Remus closed his eyes, her words of persuasion working very well and he knew why they did, because he wanted this. He wanted to live this delusion with her. And he had wondered at how best to protect her outside of following her everywhere she went. But then he shouldn't give in... Ginny stared up at him with her bright brown eyes, so deliciously inviting and warm. So tempting... His gaze dropped to her skirt around her waist again...
The thought of that made his cock twinge, and now he was of a mind to take her wish to heart and fuck her all evening long. He grinned down at her.
"Look what you've done, you little wench..." he growled in her ear and he took her hand and placed it on his hardened cock.
She giggled and pressed her body into his, eyes never leaving his.
Remus chuckled, grasped her thighs to hold her over his waiting cock, and touched his tip to her soaking centre and was pleased to feel his hot cum dripping out of her onto his cock. Then he buried himself inside her again and she moaned deep into the night.