Silver Chain Chapter Four
The Silver Chain: Chapter 4
Remus and Tonks
Ginny lay down her handbag on the table by the front door. She hung her cloak up on the coat tree and made her way from the foyer into the kitchen. It had been a terribly long day at work and she was ready to relax in her own living room with a cold mug of Frampton’s Fresh Cider. The spicy apple brew always soothed her nerves quite nicely. A copy of Tituba Miller’s latest magical thriller and a warm blaze in the fireplace rounded out a perfect evening alone. Ginny grinned as she slipped into her comfortably worn house robes. She’d fought long and hard for her independence so she’d have the right to stay home on a Friday night.
A knock sounded at the door, causing Ginny to groan. Since she spent every Sunday at The Burrow, her family had been mostly good about respecting her privacy. Still, there was the occasional visit from a brother who ‘just happened’ to be in the neighbourhood. Mug in hand, Ginny staggered to the door.
“This had better be good!” she groused as she undid the locking charms on the door. She yanked the door angrily open and then gasped in surprise. “Remus!”
Remus stood on her step in his customary faded blue jeans and t-shirt. He worked as a liaison to the non-magical world in some Muggle job. They’d never discussed it and Ginny had only heard a few details from her parents on the subject, but she was coming to appreciate just how nice he looked in Muggle casual wear. She opened the door widely and wave him in.
“Can I get you some cider?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said as he looked around for a place to set his jacket, “that’d be great.”
He spotted the coat tree and slung his jacket up next to her cloak. She motioned to his feet and he kicked off his trainers onto the mat where her much smaller shoes lay. He followed her into the kitchen where he leaned his lean frame against the counter as she poured him a mug of cider.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I have some meat and cheese for sandwiches if you like.” Remus nodded at her with a grateful look and she got to work slicing the ham and cheese. She motioned to the bread box and Remus selected a coarse rye bread and cut off a couple of slices.
“It’s a nice place you’ve got here.”
“Thanks. I fell in love with it the instant I saw it. Too dark out now, but there’s a lovely garden in the back. I can’t wait until summer so that I can spend my evenings out there.”
“I bet it’s wonderful. So, your parents getting used to you living alone?”
“Yeah. Whatever you said to Dad at Harry’s wedding seems to have done the trick. He and Mum were a little put out to find I’d already put money on the place before they’d had a chance to check it over, but they came around quickly once they’d had a look at it.”
“Good, good,” said Remus and then they fell silent. Ginny shook her head and smiled. They weren’t very good at small talk.
“I’m glad you stopped by,” she began. “I think I was beginning to miss you.”
Remus set his sandwich back down on the counter and sighed. “I wasn’t certain I should be visiting you, but I just sort of ended up here.”
Ginny smiled softly at him. “I thought we both agreed that we wanted to continue this.”
“Continue what, Ginny? What exactly are we doing?”
Ginny shrugged. “I’m not sure, Remus. I know I like being with you, I like what you make me feel, but I don’t think I want to analyze this too closely.”
Remus wore a look of utter seriousness. “Don’t you think we should discuss it? I mean, I’m old enough to be your father and your parents are very good friends…” he trailed off.
“Would that change? Who I let into my bed is really none of their business and while they might be your friends, I can’t imagine you discuss your love life with them.” A disturbing thought suddenly occurred to her. “You don’t discuss, um, sex or things with them, do you?”
Remus laughed at her discomfort at thinking about her parents in that light. “No. Ginny, I can honestly say the subject has never come up.” He pushed away from the counter and closed the distance between them. “Are you really okay with this?”
She started to answer but he placed his finger over her mouth, shushing her. “Please, Ginny. I don’t think I have the strength to turn you away if you say yes.”
His stomach rumbled at that very instant, breaking the spell of the moment. Ginny laughed. “Go on, eat your sandwich. I can wait while you make peace with your stomach, and your conscience.”
~ : ~ : ~
Remus watched as Ginny sashayed out of the kitchen. It had been a long day at work and he’d been headed out to Yorkshire, to the Rusty Groats, when he’d suddenly found himself on Ginny’s doorstep. He’d knocked at the door with the intention of talking this through and giving her some closure. After all, she wasn’t the kind of girl one had a casual sexual relationship with. She deserved to find a nice young man and settle down and raise a whole brood of children. That’s what her parents would want for her. That’s what he wanted for her. And yet, there she was, sitting in her living room, waiting for him to come to her.
A willing woman on a lonely night, waiting for him to take her to bed. No promises, no questions asked, no repercussions. If he walked away now, she wouldn’t hate him and that was what finally convinced him to stay. Ginny was a woman grown and more mature even than her years. Voldemort had seen to that. Remus trusted that she knew her own mind and if this was what she had decided she wanted, there would be no regrets.
He quickly ate the rest of his sandwich and washed it down with the cider. The simple meal eased his hunger for food and Ginny was there to see to his other needs. She was a very basic woman. There was nothing fancy about the food and drink she’d offered him and nothing complicated about the sex either. Remus appreciated the simplicity of it all. They cared about each other enough that there was some fulfilment to be had from their physical contact beyond just the sexual gratification and yet he could still come and go as he pleased. She would be okay with that. There was no way she could possibly see him as a potential husband, she was too young for marriage and he was too old for her. It was just sex, with a little friendship on the side.
~ : ~ : ~
Ginny looked up at the large male presence that loomed in the doorway. She set her book aside and grinned. “Made up your mind?” she quipped.
“Come here, you,” he growled.
Ginny rose slowly from her seat, in no hurry to obey the gruff order. She sauntered across the room, unlacing her robes along the way. “Right here, on the living room floor? Or would you like to take me up to bed?” she asked huskily.
“Right here, we can try the bed later.” He pulled her roughly against him and took her mouth hungrily with his. Ginny clenched his shirt in her fists and met his hunger with her own. She pushed his shirt up and he took it from her grasp and pulled it off. Ginny shrugged out of her robes, showing him that she had nothing on underneath. Remus’ hands were instantly on her, branding her skin. He ran his fingers down her torso and they delved straight into the cleft between her legs. “You’re already wet,” he rasped.
Ginny moaned and bucked against his clever fingers. He was stroking the folds of skin, spreading them open, preparing her for his invasion. “Now, Remus, I don’t want to wait.”
Remus shucked off his jeans and underwear and pushed her to the floor. “On your knees,” he ordered and Ginny hurried to obey. He nudged her legs apart as he knelt behind her. She leaned forward and whimpered as she felt him push into her. His thick length was buried deep inside her and she felt a burning sensation as her skin stretched to accommodate him. The tip of him bumped painfully against her womb while his fingers stroked her clitoris. He thrust hard and fast and his fingers matched the fierce rhythm. Ginny screamed as the mingled pain and pleasure crested. He grunted in satisfaction as he emptied himself deep inside her and they collapsed, spent, to the floor.
She noticed, somewhat belatedly, a pain in her shoulder where he’d bit during the siege of his orgasm. She shuddered with the pleasure of having made him forget himself so completely. He hadn’t withdrawn from her yet and he was still pressed against her. She shuddered again and he held her tightly as a second orgasm tore through her.
~ : ~ : ~
When Ginny arrived at The Burrow on Sunday afternoon, it was to discover a slightly larger crowd than usual. It seemed all of her brothers had made it home this time. Harry was there with his new wife and so was Remus. She greeted Remus casually and he returned the favour. Ginny was thankful at the lack of awkwardness than one might have expected between two secret lovers in a public setting. Ginny chatted gaily at the kitchen table with Hermione, who was engaged to Ron. They would be married in a few years. Hermione insisted that she be allowed to finish her studies at a Muggle University first. Ginny looked over Hermione’s shoulder to see that Charlie had brought Tonks with him. She wondered how Remus felt about that.
Dinner was a noisy affair as gatherings with the Weasleys usually were. Ginny had inadvertently ended up seated next to Remus and she’d amused herself with the occasional intimate touch when no one was looking. Remus’ dark looks promised retribution later, when there would be no witnesses. She’d given him innocent looks in return. With everyone crowded in the house with their coffee and dessert in hand, Ginny slipped out into the garden for a moment of peace.
~ : ~ : ~
“Oi! Harry!” called Ron from across the room.
“Duty calls,” sighed Harry and he left Remus’ side to go see what Ron was up to. Remus found himself standing alone, with the rest of the crowd completely distracted. No one noticed as he silently headed for the door. Ginny had left several minutes before and perhaps they could have a moment alone. The minx deserved a good talking-to for the stunts she’d pulled at dinner. Caressing him like that, with her family all right there! He wasn’t sure, but he thought Bill may have caught a glimpse at the looks they shared. Remus wasn’t one to lie outright, but he also didn’t think their relationship was something her family needed to pick up on!
She was sitting on the stone wall by the pumpkin patch in a ray of moonlight. He gazed balefully at the crescent moon. How something he so intrinsically hated could render her so beautiful? She looked up at him with a saucy grin on her delicate face. “Took you long enough,” she sassed.
“Well, I couldn’t just tear off after you while I was in the middle of talking to Harry. That would have been more obvious than the stunts you were pulling at dinner. Shall we walk back in there, hand in hand, and announce to your whole family that we’ve been fucking each other brainless every chance we get?”
“Remus,” she said, her voice full of censure, “I’m not a whore for you to fuck and pay for my silence. I’m not fool enough to deliberately subject myself to my family’s preaching and I have no desire to share with anyone my own private business, but I don’t feel any shame in what we’ve done. I don’t know how long this will last, but I intend to enjoy it.”
“You need to be careful with me, little girl,” he said with a hard glint in his eyes. “The moon is waning, so I am less a wolf now and more a man. Closer to the full moon, I may have taken you right there at the dinner table, your family be damned.”
Remus slipped his hand under the collar of her robe and pushed aside to reveal the bite on her shoulder. Shame mingled with the primal satisfaction that coursed through his veins. “I’ve marked you, Ginny. This will never entirely heal.”
“I know,” she said softly.
He leaned down and brushed his lips gently against hers.
“Remus?”
“Shit!” cursed Remus. Ginny slipped silently over the wall and hid in the shadows. Remus grinned, amused at her resourcefulness.
“Over here, Tonks,” he called. He stifled a groan. This should be interesting, his former lover was searching him out while his current one lay hidden nearby, no doubt listening to every word.
“Hey,” she said shyly. “It’s awfully cold to just be standing out here.”
Remus shrugged. “It was a little too crowded in there. I needed some air.”
“How’ve you been?” she asked.
“Good; you?”
“No, really, Remus,” she sighed. “Have you really been okay?”
He could hear the honest concern in her voice. A few months ago he would have lied to her and told her that he was fine and walked away. Things had changed for him though, and he no longer felt he had to lie. “Really, Tonks. I really am doing well.” He paused and then added, “What about you? You look happy.”
“I am happy,” she said and she looked relieved, finally believing that he was okay. “Charlie asked me to marry him.”
Remus felt a surge of unexpected pleasure at the news. “Wow!” he exclaimed and pulled her into a hug. She was laughing when he set her back on her feet. “Congratulations!”
“You really are happy for me, aren’t you?”
Remus smiled. “Yeah, I really am.”
“Thank-you,” she whispered. “We were just about to announce our engagement to his family, but I wanted to tell you first.”
“Thank-you,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“Are you coming back in?”
“No,” said Remus, “I think I’d better not. This is yours and Charlie’s moment. I don’t want to distract anyone from that.”
“Okay, well…” she hesitated.
“Go on, Tonks. Go and enjoy this moment. I wish you all the best.”
Tonks smiled wistfully and then turned away. She didn’t look back as she walked back to the house. Her past settled and her future looking happy.
“Will that be how it is with me?” he heard Ginny whisper from behind him.
He turned slowly to face her. “No,” he whispered. “You are quite a bit different from Tonks. I imagine it’ll hurt a great deal when I have to say good-bye to you.”
With that, he pulled her close and kissed her in the moonlight.
Chapter 3: Ginny's Part
Chapter 5: By the Light of the Moon
Index