Give Her Time

Chapter 8 – Bastard!

A/N: Estrilda was the first person to get the song right from the last chapter. It was Martina McBride, Whatever You Say. WOOHOO 75 house points for Estrilda! And Sweet Pyscho gets a runner up prize of 50 points for being second to guess correctly! Great job!


Ginny and Remus walked side by side, saying nothing, but both thinking about what had just transpired.

She led him down a sidewalk which led to the house that she once shared with Neville. Walking up to the front door, she heard Neville puttering around in side. Damn. She’d hoped to get in and out before he either came home from where ever he slept last night or before he woke up.

She opened the door and before she could say anything, Remus followed her into the dark entry. She walked quietly into the living room only to see Neville sitting on the sofa, a cup of tea in his hand and the sports page spread out in front of him.

He was wearing a loose pair of trainers without a shirt, and for a moment, Ginny remembered why she\'d been so swept away by him. He was a good looking man before you got to know him.

\"Ginny,\" he said curtly. He didn\'t smile, and didn\'t ask why she was bringing a man home at ten in the morning.

\"Neville,\" she said coldly.

As Remus listened to the cold greeting between the spouses, his eyes traveled around the house. It was small, but the right size for just the two of them...wait, what was that smell? He sniffed, puzzled. His eyes widened slightly. Sex, he thought. It was his enhanced werewolf senses, and he could smell the signs that someone had had sex in the house recently. But Ginny was with him last night...

\"So, did you bag a slut for last nights fun or just find a whore?\" Ginny asked with a convincing display of apathy.

Remus gasped. How did she know? Or maybe had she just assumed it; it was possible if it happened often enough.

Neville looked her up and down in what was, to Remus, an extremely offensive manner for a husband to look at his wife. He then turned towards Remus and said, \"A slut, but at least she wasn\'t an animal. Well, not much of one anyway.\" he added with a smirk.
Ginny fumed.

\"I am not the one who screws everything that walks, Neville. Don\'t imply I act the same way you do.\"

\"Whatever Ginny. I\'m sure if you get your jollies off with a sub-human it\'s your own business,\" Neville spat. His eyes kept creeping over towards the bulk of Remus who had moved protectively behind Ginny.

\"Neville - kitchen please?\" Ginny asked in a calm voice. Both men knew she was about to explode so Neville just shrugged and followed her.

Remus could feel his shock quickly turning to anger. How dare Neville speak to Ginny like that! And after just admitting that he did sleep with someone else last night.

They walked into the kitchen she had fallen in love with - she\'d pictured kids running around and needing a large space to cook the meals in. Now, it looked like a barroom.

\"What is your problem Neville? I stay out of your way, I almost never come home, and I don\'t make a big fuss about your myriad of whores. Why are you doing this to me??\"

Neville snorted.

\"You just shagged a middle aged werewolf Ginny. I might not like you very much, but even that is an all time low,\" Neville scathed.

Remus could still hear what they were saying. Ginny hadn\'t thought to put up a silencing charm, as anyone without his senses wouldn\'t have been able to hear them anyway. He snorted softly. So, he thought, Neville considers shagging a werewolf low. Lower then cheating on his wife - with multiple women for that matter. Neville couldn\'t even be faithful in his extramarital affairs, and he was calling Ginny low?

\"Remus may be a werewolf, and he may be close to middle age, but he\'s got a better body than you do. Gods Neville, You\'re really letting yourself go aren\'t you? Is that a belly I see?\" Ginny asked, innocent concern laced in her words.

Remus eyes widened and he grinned. She thought he had a nice body? He shook his head. This was not the time to be thinking about that. While he enjoyed hearing her goad Neville, he wondered what might happen if she went too far. He hoped Neville wasn\'t that kind of man, but he wanted to pay attention and be prepared just in case.

\"And all of that\'s beside the point. I don\'t sleep around Neville. I haven\'tken ken our marriage vows - I\'m not like you,\" Ginny declared hotly.

\"Hell Ginny, You won\'t spread your legs for me, what makes me think you\'d spread them for that sub-human? Come on Gin - tell me one time you\'ve given in, and I\'ll believe you\'re not the ice maiden I think you are,\" he taunted her

\"Does that half-animal out there do it for you? You like it a little on the beastially side? Mm?\"

Ginny sputtered.

His anger was now turning into rage. He had encountered a lot of prejudice because of his status, but never had he heard it in such disgusting terms, and directed towards someone who did nothing to deserve it. The desire to viciously hex Neville was rising in him, and he fought to keep it suppressed. That wasn\'t the answer, tempting as it was.

\"I\'ll repeat, I\'ve been faithful you bastard. I\'m not like you. But let\'s get one thing real clear you prick. I\'d rather be under a real man like Remus Lupin any day of the week than under a little boy like you. He takes care of himself and if I were to lay down for him, I bet it wouldnbe tbe the boring in and out you gave me. I bet he\'d know how to get my motor running. You couldn\'t even figure out where to put the key,\" Ginny said quietly. She could give as good as she got.

Remus choked back a gasp. He couldn\'t believe she had just said that, but he certainly wasn\'t going to complain. But now he understood why Ginny had gotten off on his bike the night before. Her sex life was non-existent, even worse then his. He admired the strength it took for her to stick to her vows. It must be so tempting for her at some times, he thought sadly. If he could allow himself to \'get her motor running,’ he certainly would. Her legal status was still too much for him to overcome, and she seemed to feel the same way.

Neville spat out the juice he\'d just poured for himself. Half choking he went to the sink and washed his face off before turning around and saying, \"Accio Wand\"

\"Oh please, Neville. You can\'t do wandless magic. You can barely manage your own wand for gods’ sake!\" Ginny said with a small laugh. Remus could hear her walking back towards the living room, so he stopped pacing and sat in a far chair, looking up as she walked in.

Neville followed closely behind and looked at the relaxing Remus and smirked.

\"What am I worried about anyway? Even Remus wouldn\'t touch an ice maiden like you. I\'m sure he finds wolves or dogs or whatever more appealing that the likes of a red headed bitch whose legs are sewn shut,\" the younger man said. Neville sneered as Remus stood up slowly, making sure to impress on the smaller man exactly what sort of fight he would be picking.

As Remus walked over towards Ginny, he noticed the fine sheen of tears in her eyes.
Neville’s comments had obviously finally had an impact on her. He could see the pain in her eyes. She probably felt like nobody would ever want her. He could feel the rage building up again. Before he could have a second though concerning what he was currently thinking about doing, he turned to Neville and said \"The hell you say!\" He then abruptly turned back to Ginny and kissed her. This will put Neville in his place, was his final thought before he felt himself being drawn even more into the kiss as Ginny responded.

Ginny melted into his arms and snaked her arms around his neck. Without a second thought she pressed her body fully against his, bringing her breasts against his chest, and Remus was over run with memories of the feel of her naked body pressed against his the night before.

He tightened one of his arms around her waist and wound his free hand through her hair. Remus opened his mouth a little and licked at her lips in a tentative question. Her response wasn\'t to just open her mouth, but meet his tongue and swirl around it, tasting him and moaning softly into his mouth. The tightness in his pants was suddenly becoming a problem, because all he could think about was getting her motor running...

Ginny wiggled her perfectly wonderful body against his hardness and he responded by sliding his hand down her back, pulling her hips into his own, thrusting forward every so slightly, just to get that reaction of breathlessness he had gotten the night before again.
It worked - she gasped slightly into his mouth and deepened the kiss, running her tongue over every surface in his mouth before dancing a sinfully erotic dance with his tongue.

“Get your filthy hands off my wife you bastard!\" Neville yelled from about ten feet away.
Neville\'s face was beet red and he had his wand drawn.

Neville’s shout brought rational thought back to Remus\'s lust filled mind. He was kissing a married woman in front of her husband! Obviously, Ginny had heard it too, as they both withdrew at the same time. Remus\'s reflexes kicked in as soon as he saw the wand in Neville’s hand and his murderous expression. He wasn\'t the DADA teacher for nothing. He drew his wand and threw a petrificus totalus at him just as Neville was starting to form some words, though Remus never heard what they were. He then turned to Ginny, to make sure she was ok.

\"Sorry, but he was getting a bit annoying,” he joked feebly, trying to ease the tension he could feel radiating off of her.

Ginny looked at Remus briefly and started walking towards her room. They didn\'t go upstairs, but into what Remus thought was an office. She shut the door and cast a locking and silencing charm on the room.

Sitting down in a chair Ginny sighed deeply and put her head in his hands. She wasn\'t crying, but she was worn out. Remus looked around the room. It was clearly meant to be an office; it had no closet or bathroom, but it was obviously where Ginny lived in this house. Her belongings were spread throughout the room, and there were blankets and a pillow folded up on the couch. She must transfigure the couch into a bed, as he noticed the large amount of clear floor space in front of the couch.

\"Does what just happened happen often?\" he asked quietly.

Ginny looked up at him and nodded, \"Every time I come home - which is about once a month. Sometimes its worse, sometimes its better.\" she answered.

\"Has he ever hit you, or cursed you?\" he asked. He didn\'t like asking the question, but he had to know. He would throw Neville to the Dementors himself if she answered yes.

\"Neville? Did you see him? I could drop him with a well placed hex before he could never think to touch me,\" Ginny snorted. Remus let out a breath he didn\'t know he had been holding.

\"But thanks for the thought. If he touched me, Ron would have taken care of him a long time ago. My family has agreed to let me handle this myself for the most part, but that wouldn’t be something they could overlook. No - all Neville does is cheat on me...\" Ginny said looking at a photo of herself and Neville on their wedding day. Neville was looking at Hermione and waggling his eyebrows. Hermione was pointing her wand at him and Ginny was looking at Harry, who was standing next to Neville, silently begging him to do something.

\"I just wanted to make sure. Why haven\'t you gotten a divorce? What is holding you back?\"

\"Ahh - the million dollar question!\" Ginny said. \"He doesn\'t want one. So I\'m stuck in this shame of a marriage - brilliant huh?\" Ginny said

\"I\'m sorry Ginny. That\'s an obvious flaw in the Wizarding Laws. How long has he been cheating on you?\" Remus asked, saddened at her predicament. It wasn\'t fair to her.

\"Well, the first time was a few days after our marriage, and the last time was... last night! Or this morning, who knows,\" Ginny replied. She really didn\'t look very concerned about the whole thing. A few days after their marriage, Remus thought in amazement.

\"Two years,\" he said aloud, not really knowing how to respond. No wonder she seemed so resigned as they talked about it.

Ginny looked at the man standing in front of her and took a deep breath. \"I want to thank you for... er... what you did out there.\"

\"Thank me for hexing him? I was more then happy,\" Remus replied.

\"Well, yeah, that too. I meant for - er... kissing me. It really stuck in his gut to see somebody want me. I’m sorry it had to go so far...\" Ginny trailed off looking at Remus for some kind of response.

\"You don\'t need to thank me for kissing you Ginny,” Remus flushed. \"I\'m your friend, and friends help each other.\"

\"Well... Yeah, I guesso yoo you kiss all your friends like that? Interesting,\" Ginny teased him.

\"Remus sighed and said, \"I have to be honest with you Ginny. I started kissing you to show up Neville but...Ginny, it was no hardship kissing you. I just wanted to be honest, and I thought you should know - er... It wasn\'t all an act,\" Remus looked at her, nervously awaiting her reaction.

Ginny looked down at the floor, trying to hide her smile. She\'d felt his hard on against her hip.

\"It wasn\'t an act for me either,\" Ginny said. She wasn\'t going to tell him it wasn\'t an act at all... after all; it had started as one for him.

Remus smiled at her. \"So now where do we go?\" he asked.

Ginny looked up at Remus and grinned, \"You know, as far as acts of friendship go, I like your style a lot,\" she winked at him.

\"So, I guess, we go on as friends...\" Ginny said, looking at Remus - searching for a sign he understood.

Remus\'s eyebrows quirked. \"So,\" he began \"as friends, we can go out to dinner together occasionally...\"

Ginny grinned. \"Oh yes... And as friends we can take walks by the lake, right?\"

\"And as friends, we can hold hands during those walks,\" he replied, a mischievous grin on his face.

Ginny stood up and grabbed a change of clothes, looking over her shoulder she said, \"And as friends, we could... oh... say -\" Ginny winked at him before finishing, \"flirt? Just to keep my hand in, for when Neville gets sick of this and sets me free - right? I need to keep in practice for all the dating I\'ll do then. And such a great friend as you would be willing to help out, right?”

\"Of course, it might be painful for me, but I\'m sure I could bare it,” Remus replied, grinning. \"And as friends, I could give you one of my legendary backrubs while you flirt with me.\"

Ginny laughed loudly. \"Of course, just in case you need to keep in hand for when you meet that special someone...\"

\"And...All in the name of practice,\" he replied

\"And friendship.\"

\"As friends, we could maybe even accompany one another to Hogsmeade on Saturdays. Just to keep the riff-raff away, you know. I would hate for you to have some love sick girl swooning all over you in the middle of the street,\" she said, her face suddenly mock serious.

\"And I could be there to fend off all the flocks of men completely enthralled by your beauty and personality,\" he said, matching her tone.

\"Well, my job is going to be much harder than yours...,\" Ginny said and then flushed. Her eyes had instantly sought out his crotch as she said the word \'harder\'. \"But... what happens if we... what if one of us -- er, gets fresh?\"

Remus cocked his head to one side and said, \"Won\'t happen. After all, if we were going to loose control, it would have been last night, right? Or on the motorcycle? So we\'re in control. We just enjoy one another’s company and happen to think the other one is good looking. Plenty of men and women are friends with each other. Look at you and Harry! Perfect example!\"

\"Er... I don\'t know how to tell you Remus. It might come as a complete shock to you...\" Ginny said as she took the wards down and lead him into the hallway.

\"Harry\'s gay,\" she whispered.

Remus let loose with a deep laugh and Ginny\'s heart warmed, but that was okay. She could feel good as long as she told herself it was because he was her friend. They left the house, leaving Neville to wait for hex\'s magic to wear off later in the afternoon.


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A/N: I’ve been asked a few times how I come up with arguments and verbal sparring – I don’t actually fight with my husband, we get along great. It’s more of a love of debating that does it. I enjoy debating politics and when doing that, you need to be quick on your feet. Granted you don’t use person insults (or shouldn’t), but using logic and facts in a cutting way is sometimes difficult and helps sharpen your verbal skills. Point in fact, I called in to a talk radio show when the host (Neal Boortz) was saying that all people of my age (28) were doomed to divorce because our parents were the first generation of people to divorce so much, hence teaching us that marriage isn’t sacred. I called and was on the air for over 5 minutes debating with him that in fact coming from a broken home made me value my marriage more, not less, because I knew it was hard work going in. I pointed out how slowly my friends from broken homes went into marriage (with highly happy rates) vs. friends from unbroken homes having more trouble because they thought it was going to be easier. He said being married 4 years didn’t entitle me to know what I was talking about, to which I replied that while I Was married 4 years, I was also engaged 3 years before that and dated a full year before that, and did 8 years together entitle me to that opinion? Anyway, at the end of the conversation, he admitted that maybe I was right and hopefully my generation took that sort of lesson away from our parents easy dismissal of marriage. ANYWAY – the point of that long story was to explain HOW I come up with verbal sparring. *pants* Lordy, I ramble.


And My Thanks…

Krista – Ahhhh! I feel like such a dork! Yeah… when those two find out what she did *smirks* hehehe
Jo – Hey – I gave you warning *grins* and my beta isn’t holding me up… I’m holding my beta up. I keep forgetting to send stuff to her. I’m a bit scatter-brained these days
Nesscafe – Thanks! And everything will turn out fine for the happy couple and the walking penis with two ears.
Sonni – UST is my specialty. And then, resolving said sexual tension is my passion ;) It works well for me, and I hope it works for you too!
Estrilda – I include _one_ song per fiction that I write. This was the one song for this fiction. And the Halloween ref. WAS story time =)/
Everqueen – Neville is a sweetie in the books, but sometimes the sweet ones become asses when they grow up ;) And I hope you come back time and again!
Renee – It’s gunna be a long story sweetie, but an awesome ride along the way. I hope to make you a happy clam soon though!
SweetPyscho – Right! And I hope you enjoy the next chapters!
BlackJayde – Go you! Torture Neville for a while and I’ll keep posting chapters ;)
Lizzie – My husband and I actually don’t fight much at all. I still have a crush on my husband, after 6 years of marriage, too! See my A/N above about arguments. And the only thing I get from my husband is sexual ref. for writing – not the fights *GRINS*
Megan Andres – Martina McBride, Whatever You Say – Truly wonderful song by the bluest eyes in country. She’s a great singer. And I agree, sometimes songs can just really add to a story!
Stacey – I’m happy to be back too! *HUGS*
Silverose – You will have no reason to cry – promise! And I know Neville is OOC, but – well, he is a boy when we left him in OotP, and frankly, If I were the same person I was at that age, I would be worried. People change, hence the only constant is change. *babbles* I hope you can enjoy the story anyway ;) After all, yer my number one stalkerish raving fan
PrincessKLSKDS – Never heard it, but it sounds like it would fit, specially during the verbal sparring *GRINS* Thanks for reading!
GrrArrg – Do I need to warn you AND MORWEN, about the upcoming previews? And of course there is going to be some great UST and sex. Hot love makin, knocking boots, getting funky, whatever. And… Wow! You’re 30th sounds wild! And you could be Angel OF the Drunken if you like ;)
Seraphina – A chili Enema?!?!!? Where do you come up with that stuff?! I told my husband what you wrote and he laughed SO hard!
Michelle – I like HG/SS better too, but this one rocks =-) I’m glad you’re following along!
Plastraa – WooHoo For you! Today is an update day! And wow… you read all of Still The One in ONE SITTING?! Wow. Thanks!

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And now… For the Evil Preview…. MORWEN AND GRRARRG – WARNING!
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\"Awww, Gin,\" he winked at her. \"Were you getting your knickers in a twist over the though of poor ol\' me getting hurt?\"

\"Well, someone has to care for your poor old self,\" she grinned back. \"These forced transformations must not be easy on your body and you aren\'t getting any younger you know\" she teased.

\"My poor old body? You\'ve been looking?\" Remus winked at her as he stood up and offered her his hand. The sun was heavy in the horizon and as soon as it set, the chill would set it.

\"You won\'t let me,\" Ginny pouted as she took is offered hand and stood up.

Remus stopped for a second before saying carefully, \"You don\'t remember. Not my fault you don\'t remember...\"

\"You\'re right, I blame the whiskey. But I remember the important things.\" She smiled at him, pulling on his arm to get him walking again.

\"Oh? And what \'important\' things do you remember?\" he asked, grinning and following along.

\"I remember yokingking me into your arms to bring me to the room,\" she said. \"And I remember you staying with me while I was upset.\"

Remus nodded. \"Yes - I remember that too. Anything else?\"

\"I remember a very wonderful kiss,\" Ginny added, grinning.

\"Nahh... You *think* you remember a very wonderful kiss. But you\'re really just making it up because you can\'t admit you\'re a lush who blacks out. You don\'t even remember me dipping your toes in chocolate and sucking them!\" Remus declared.

\"Alright, you caught me. But considering you were stuck without clothes and a wand, I\'m going have to call you on the chocolate thing.\" Ginny replied, and started to grin mischievously. \"But imagining you walking as naked as a jaybird to the kitchen to get some honey is a rather amusing.\" She snorted. \"What if you ran into either Harry or Draco?\"

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END EVIL PREVIEW – though that one wasn’t SO evil….
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Did you read it? Enjoy it? Review. It’s like sex, it makes two people happy.