Give Her Time

Chapter 20

“She says No, He says Yes, They say Huh??”


Remus sat staring blankly into the fire taking a sip of his fire whisky every few minutes. Ginny. He loved her. And they'd made love. Her body had shaped to him perfectly, and her scent had marked him like nothing else ever had.

Taking another sip, his frown deepened the lines on his face. He had spent hours searching for the perfect ring; he'd planned his speech. In all his preparation, he hadn't been prepared for what she'd said. It wasn't even on his scope. Molly would kill her if she knew what Ginny had proposed instead of marriage.

"Marry you?" Ginny had asked, the flush in her cheeks fading quickly. She was starting to look pale.

"Ginny, you've made me happier this year than I have been in a long time. I want this to last forever," Remus said, all this having already been planned out.

"I -" was her only reply to his heartfelt statement. Remus could see the look for absolute shock and... something else in her eyes. This wasn't going as he had planned.

"Ginny, what is it?" Remus asked nervously, a lump rising in his throat

"I don't think it would look good. I mean, I've only been divorced a short while. And to be honest-"

He realized at that point that she hadn't actually looked him in the eye the entire conversation.

"I'm not sure I'll ever remarry. I don't think it's something I want to do again. Can't we be just.... be together?" Her hands had traced the planes of his chest, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

"I'm not proposing we go get Albus to marry us right now. I want us to be engaged, with plans to be married in the future," Remus responded, reaching out to still her hands with his own.

"And I'm proposing we just take each day as it comes and be happy in the now. I want to be your lover; I can handle that. I want to wake up next to you and make love in the morning, meet you at lunch for a quickie, and then go to dinner in London and maybe stop by Gladrags and shop around - all with you."

"But I don't want to get married," she finished. Her voice had been apologetic, but it had also been firm

"Alright," Remus relented, trying masking the deep hurt she had caused him with a half-hearted smile. "We'll try it your way for now." He had no intention of simply letting his dream go, but he knew that this was not the time. He would ask again later.


Now, in general Remus had no trouble with the sort of affair Ginny was suggesting. He'd had one or two in his time. While they were pleasant while they lasted, he knew they rarely ended well.

And, more to the point, he didn't want that with Ginny. Having a moral problem with affairs wasn't the issue in this case. No, in this case the problem stemmed from the fact that he was already deeply in love with this woman and every fiber of his being was screaming at him to make her his. And all she wanted was a quick roll in the sack every few... Well, every few hours by the sound of her suggestion.

He could try it her way, but as he took a deep drink of the burning whisky, the lingering doubts would not fade.


Looking around the tasteful living room, Ginny wondered again why it seemed like Harry could decorate a house, but not dress himself. He was wearing a pair of ratty cut offs and an over-sized tee-shirt proclaiming him Sex God of Slytherin.

He poked her arm and asked again, "Did you have a good time last night?"

"Wonderful." Ginny’s replied in a dreamy voice. "Just out of curiosity, where in the world did that tee-shirt come from?" She hoped the side question would avoid some in-depth probing into her evening with Remus.

"I bought it for Draco one night after he told me about his fantasy of shagging me on the Slytherin common room floor. He had sorts of-" Harry started until Ginny's hand over his mouth stopped him.

The possibly that these two *really* didn't see why she of all people wouldn't want to hear the details about their sexual escapades continued to astound her.

"Never-mind, I'm sorry I asked.' Ginny shook her head. "Speaking of Draco though, where is he?"

"I'm not sure. He was running over to the manor to grab something, but he said he'd be right back," Harry said with a note of concern in his voice.

"What did you two do?" Harry asked, not deterred at all.

"Me and who, Draco?" Ginny asked innocently.

"Ohh you! You and Remus!" the raven haired man replied rolling his eyes.

"We simply had a very nice carriage ride through the forbidden forest." Ginny responded, grinning as she noted Harry's look of exasperation. Getting the details out of her was going to be that easy.

"Did he kiss you on the carriage ride through the forest?" he mimicked her sing song voice almost perfectly.

"Yes," Ginny replied, purposely offering no more.

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Ginny could tell she was aggravating him.

"Did anything *else* happen?"

"Of course it did," came a smooth voice from behind her. "And lover-boy here won't stop wondering about it until you spill the beans, you wench."

Draco looked at Harry and snorted, "Why can't you dress yourself better than that? I buy all your clothes and you still manage to look like a poor scrub boy." Ginny smirked.

"Alright," she sighed. "You win. I won't be leaving till I tell you everything, will I?" The two men shook their heads.

"We made love in the carriage. It was incredibly romantic." Ginny closed her eyes at the memory. "The carriage had been charmed by Albus to resemble the ceiling of the Great Hall, so we could see the forbidden forest all around us. Remus transfigured the inside benches into a bed. It was perfect."

"Wow..." Harry said softly as Draco grinned to her.

"So you shagged in a carriage. Interesting. Anything else interesting happen?" the blond asked in a bored tone of voice.

"He said I was his." Ginny grinned.

Harry's face split into a huge grin and he hugged her.

"*His*? As in you're his... what?" Draco pressed.

"Just his, I guess. He can be a bit possessive; not that I mind of course," Ginny said lustfully.

"Oh for Gods' sake Ginny, did he ask you to marry him or not?" Draco said, motioning wildly with his hands.

"Er..." The smile slid off her face. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about this right now, but she was essentially trapped. "Yes, he did." She answered quietly, looking down at her hands instead of at Harry and Draco.

"Draco," Harry said, with a pointed look. He continued in a hushed voice, "No ring..."

"And of course you have so many potential husbands lined up, you said no. How very intelligent of you Ginny. Harry, I'm going to start dinner now. Stay out of the kitchen, okay?" Draco asked, all but shutting an angry Ginny out of the conversation.

"That's not fair!" Ginny yelled as she stood up to face off with Draco. "It's not like that!"

"Oh? And what is it like Ginny?" Draco said turning around and facing her. "Is it like you have tons of men waiting for you? Or it is like you've become an amoral wench? Or is it like Remus isn't good enough to do anything but grunt between your legs until you've decided to dismiss him?" Ginny had never seen Draco this angry before. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was uneven.

Ginny blanched and took a step back away from Draco. "I..." as the Draco’s words sunk in, her face began to crumble and she sat down heavily back into her seat, tears starting to pour out of her eyes. "I can't get married again." She sobbed. "I'm not ready. I don't want the same thing to happen again."

Harry moved over and sat down next to her. Pulling her into his arms he whispered, "I know sweetie, I know." To his husband he said in a hard voice, "That was uncalled for. Go." Ginny didn't even bother to look up and see if Draco went or not.

"I didn't want to hurt him." Ginny muffled voice sounded from behind her hands. She looked at Harry. "It's not like I would cheat on him; I want to be his lover, but I just can't bring myself to become married again."

Harry nodded and shushed her back into his shoulder. While she didn't stay for dinner, Harry assured her he would talk to Draco, and not to worry. Things always seem to have a way of working out for the best.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was now in the beginning of November and the snowfall was light, but cold. Remus and Ginny spent almost every moment outside of work together. He would come to the infirmary and grab her for a quick kiss between classes. She would wait outside his classroom door and while the students practiced dueling, she would sneak in and put notes on his desk. The notes… What to say about the notes. Hot was one word, but a more accurate word would be smoldering. Ginny was an extremely passionate young woman and in showed in everything she did.

Remus smirked to himself in the mirror as he got ready to pick her up for their dinner at Harry’s house. The bite marks in his stomach showed just how passionate she could get.

“Great,” the werewolf murmured to himself as he adjusted his pants. Just thinking about his temptress was enough to cause a reaction.

As with all long term plans, Remus had carefully thought out a strategy to win Ginny’s undying love and get her to agree to become his wife. There were several steps, and while he wasn’t a Slytherin, having to hide his condition had taught him much about tact, human reactions, and dissembling.

The plan, which could be found in the middle of a text book he used to create tests, went like this:

1. flowers every Sunday morning in the Great Hall. Flowers always made her smile, and it made her the center of attention among the women in her peer group. Every single female at Hogwarts now thought Remus was the sweetest most romantic man – And wasn’t Ginny so lucky to have him wrapped around her finger like that?
2. Call her love in casual conversation. This would get her use to his feelings for her gradually so when he asked her again, she would be more open.
3. Leave small items in her chambers. The slow insulation into her private quarters would hopefully help her accept that long term, they could work.
4. Always leave before she asks. Always leave them wanting more.
5. Buy her 31 sugar quills every time in Hogsmeade. When asked about this, reply that she loves sugar quills and Oct 31st was the day they first made love.
6. Be a gentleman to her. Show how she will always be thought of as a lady.
7. Don’t bring up marriage again until Christmas. Plan should have worked by then and she will realize she can’t live without you.


It would work. It was working. He’d followed it to the letter and Ginny now watched him from the moment he walked into a room until the moment he left. If he didn’t talk much to her or could do no more than nod, he could mentally count down until she would come looking for him.

Any onlooker would have noticed a very pronounced bounce in his step as Remus walked down the corridor to pick up the love of his life.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I won’t even try to apologize for the delay. Just know there are 8 more pages of outline =-) Any mistakes are mine, and a quick email will fix them right up!

Love you!
KE