First Kiss
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
"Hmmmm," Ginny Weasley sighed loudly as she flicked Every Flavor Beans at the wall in her bedroom at Grimmauld Place.
"Knut for your thoughts, dear sister," George called from the doorway.
"What?" she asked, returning from being lost in her own thoughts.
Her brother came into the room and settled himself in the chair at the writing desk, leaning back in it until all his weight was supported by the two back legs.
"Something bothering you?" he asked, eyeing her with the barest hint of concern.
"No, of course not," she replied, twisting her hair nervously.
"Liar," George said with a snort. "You can't lie to me… or Fred, for that matter. We know you better than anyone. You're like the younger, female version of us." His voice held pride and admiration.
"It's nothing, George," Ginny insisted. But under her breath, she continued, "Nothing I can talk to you about."
George's eyes glinted with mischief as he leaned forward. "I heard that," he whispered before straightening up and standing. "But no matter; I'll figure it out sooner or later."
He kissed the top of his sister's head before exiting the room, leaving Ginny to sigh pitifully to herself again.
That evening at dinner, the Weasleys, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black all gathered around the table. George sat down next to Ginny, and Fred sat on her other side.
"So, decided to tell me what's bothering you yet?" George asked in a hushed tone. "Because if you had-"
"We're here to help," Fred continued. "After all-"
"You're our only-"
"And favorite-"
"Sister," George concluded.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her brothers. Sometimes they were so bloody annoying, she thought.
"I'm not bothered by anything," she said firmly.
"Not going to work," Fred said.
"Nope," George agreed. "Not the least bit convincing."
Ginny groaned loudly, attracting the attention of her mother.
"Ginny, is something wrong with your dinner?" Molly asked.
"No, Mum, it's fine," she said, shooting a glare at her brothers.
Immediately, Molly said, "Boys, stop bothering your sister."
The twins started to protest, but Molly shushed them quickly. They grumblingly finished their dinner, exchanging meaningful looks with their sister.
When everyone had finished, Ginny began clearing the table, helped by Lupin. The twins whispered conspiratorially near the doorway. When Ginny'd finished, they called to her.
"May we see you upstairs, please?" George asked politely.
"No, you may not," Ginny replied, equally as polite.
The twins looked at her, bewildered, and Lupin stifled a laugh at them. "Boys," he said, "remember what your mum said. Leave her alone."
Ginny smiled gratefully at Lupin before brushing past her speechless brothers to head back up to the main floor. She could hear her parents talking with Bill in the drawing room, so she headed up to her room to read for a bit.
She sighed loudly as she trudged up the dusty steps, and a voice spoke from the shadows on the landing.
"Awful lot of that coming out of you lately," the voice said.
"It's nothing," she mumbled. "Good night, Sirius."
He caught her arm and looked her in the eye. "If your brothers are bothering you, you can tell me," he said quietly. He felt bad for her, being the only girl in a huge family. Not to mention, she was in an unfamiliar home for the summer holidays.
"Thanks, but I can handle them," she said, forcing a smile at the older man. He released her arm, and she continued to her room.
Thankfully a few days later, Hermione arrived. The twins watched as she and Ginny spent copious amounts of time shut into their room talking. Using their new Extendable Ears, they were able to catch bits and pieces of their conversations. "Girl talk," it appeared, wasn't very exciting, but they kept listening, nonetheless. Finally, one afternoon, they hit it big.
"But Hermione," Ginny whined, "I bet I'll be the only fourth year who hasn't."
"Rubbish," Hermione replied. "I didn't until I was in fourth year."
"Krum, right?" Ginny asked. Hermione must have nodded because Ginny continued. "What was it like?"
"It was… nice, a little awkward at first because I didn't know what to do with my head, but it was nice," Hermione replied, sounding slightly wistful.
Outside the room, the twins exchanged a confused look.
"But don't worry about it," Hermione insisted. "When the time's right, it will happen. Besides, your first kiss should be special, with someone you really care about, not just a passing fancy. If that were the case, my first kiss would have been Percy."
"Percy?" Ginny squeaked.
"Yes, I had a crush on him for the longest time," Hermione said. "Well, until he turned into a great prat."
The twins stifled their laughter as they both mentally pictured Hermione kissing Percy.
George gave his Ear a tug, with Fred following suit, and they crept down the stairs.
"So that's what she's all worried about," Fred mused. "Her first kiss."
"Is that a big deal to girls?" George asked. "I never really thought about it."
"Thought about what?" Sirius asked as the twins came into the drawing room. He and Lupin had been talking before they were interrupted.
"They'd know, right?" George asked his twin. Fred shrugged, so George turned to the two older men. "Are first kisses important to girls?"
Remus choked on his tea, but Sirius laughed loudly.
"I guess so," Sirius said. "Why do you ask?" He eyed the twins carefully. "You two have…?"
"Oh, yes, in first year with Angelina," Fred said proudly. "It was after flying lessons, and she hit me with her broom after."
"Mine wasn't until second year, but the girl was a third year," George said. "Actually, she kissed me. Does that count?"
"What about you, Sirius?" Fred asked, taking a seat on the sofa. His twin sat next to him.
"Alexandra Pierce," he said reminiscently. "My second year." He sighed at the memory. "Moony, here, waited until fifth year," he said, elbowing his friend.
Remus blushed as Fred said, "Fifth year?"
"Yes, it was a lovely girl I'd taken to Hogsmeade," the werewolf said quietly. "She was a nice girl." Sirius snickered next to him.
"Maybe you should talk to Ginny, then," George said to Remus.
"Talk to me about what?" Ginny asked from the doorway.
All four men turned to her. She was standing with her hands on her hips, doing a very good impression of her formidable mother.
"Er…nothing," Remus said, sensing her impending embarrassment.
"We were just talking to these two older gents," George began.
"And we found out that Lupin, here, didn't have his first kiss until fifth year," Fred said innocently.
Ginny's face turned red, and later, Lupin would later swear he saw smoke coming out her ears.
"How the bloody hell did my name come up?" she bellowed. "Don't you dare answer that, George Arthur Weasley."
As Fred started laughing, she brandished her wand. "I've got a Bat Bogey with your name on it, Frederick."
He stopped laughing immediately and looked fearful.
Sirius stood and walked over to Ginny, gently lowering her wand arm.
"Moony, what do you say?" he asked. "Twins or Ginny?"
"You take these two," Remus said, looking sternly at Fred and George. "Ginny, why don't you and I see about some tea?"
"Smashing idea, Moony," Sirius said, as Remus came to lead a still-fuming Ginny from the room.
Down in the kitchen, Remus sat Ginny at the table and conjured a cup of tea before her. He sat across from her and deliberately avoided her eyes. She, too, was looking into her lap instead of at him. Neither said anything at first.
Remus cleared his throat and raised his eyes to look at the young redhead. "Ginny, I want to apologize for what happened up there," he said softly. "Sirius and I didn't know they were talking about you."
Ginny gave him a derisive snort, but she didn't say anything.
"I don't want you to be embarrassed or feel ashamed," he continued. "Fred and George were just being obnoxious teenage boys. I'm sure they didn't think you would take it so seriously."
When she remained quiet, Remus grew nervous. "Ginny, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, really," he said. "Lots of people don't have boyfriends or girlfriends until they're older. And you're a lovely, bright young lady, and I'm sure boys will be queuing up in front of you before too long. You needn't worry." He tried to be reassuring, but he wasn't sure it was working. He bit his lip, awaiting some response from her.
She finally sighed and looked up at Remus with tears in her eyes. "But if I'm all those things, why hasn't anyone tried yet?" she said softly. She wiped her eyes furiously. Granted, she wasn't thrilled about discussing this with her former professor, but he was, at least, being understanding.
"I'll tell you why," she continued. "Everyone thinks I still fancy Harry, but I don't. I haven't since last year."
Remus stood and walked around to sit next to her. "And when people realize that, I'm sure it will happen. Besides, kissing isn't all it's cracked up to be," he said with a wry smile. "It can be messy."
Ginny giggled and smiled up at him. "Why did you wait so long, if you don't mind my asking?"
He sighed and pondered her question momentarily. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "I was always pretty shy and quiet. I didn't really care anything about girls until late in my fourth year. And even then, I didn't know what to do. So, I…er…spied on Sirius a couple of times." He chuckled at the memory as Ginny giggled again next to him.
He timidly put his arm around her shoulders. "Feel better?" he asked.
She looked at him and nodded. "Actually, yeah, thanks, Professor," she said.
"Remus," he insisted.
They stood, and she put her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He patted her back awkwardly.
"Thanks," she said.
She bounded back up the steps, seeking out Hermione to plan revenge on her brothers.
"I really think you should just let it go," Hermione insisted. "You should have seen them after Sirius talked to them."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked. She and Hermione had been cloistered in their room for the last hour.
"Well, they wouldn't look anyone in the eye, and every time Sirius caught them whispering, they scurried about doing whatever your mum said," Hermione explained.
"Really?" Ginny asked incredulously. "That's interesting."
"Anyway, it's time for dinner," Hermione said. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, let's go," she replied.
Several days later, Ginny had finally forgiven the twins, and the three had gone back to their fun-loving camaraderie. She'd resorted to confiding in no one about her wishes, for fear of another "Extendable Ears" episode. The twins teased her, but never about kissing. She wondered what Sirius had said to them. She reckoned it must have been severe for them to actually leave her alone about it.
One afternoon, while her mum was in Diagon Alley, Ginny was in the kitchen scouring pots and pans when the kitchen door opened. Remus and Sirius walked in, their voices low so that Ginny didn't hear what they were saying.
"If you keep whispering, I'll think you're talking about me," she teased them.
Remus looked up, embarrassed, but Sirius just grinned at her.
"We're talking about plans to go get Harry," he told her. He winked at her. "So who knows? Your earlier troubles may solve themselves."
Ginny's face fell, and Remus turned to his friend. "Padfoot," he said quietly.
"No, it's okay, Professor," Ginny said, finding her voice. "For your information, Sirius, I have no interest in your godson."
She set her sponge and pot down and brushed past the two men as she headed upstairs.
Sirius looked at Remus, confused for a moment, before he realized his mistake. He turned and quickly followed Ginny up the stairs.
He found her in the befouled library, sitting in the middle of the room, twisting her hair.
"Can I come in?" he asked hesitantly. She shrugged in response, so he came in, closing the doors tightly behind him. "Can I sit down?" he asked. Another shrug as he tentatively sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry for what I said," he told her.
"It's okay," she muttered with yet another shrug.
"No, it was immature, and I'm an arse," he said gruffly.
She looked at him closely. "No, you're not," she said. "I know you didn't mean it. I'm just tired of everyone thinking I still like Harry. I do like him, just not like that," she insisted. "I thought Professor Lupin would have told you."
"Told me what?" Sirius asked, confused. "Remus hasn't told me anything."
"Oh," Ginny said. She was surprised that Remus didn't tell Sirius of their talk. "Can I ask what you said to my brothers? They've never left me alone about something like this before."
Sirius' eyes twinkled with amusement. "That," he said, "I can't tell you." He sighed as he regarded the young girl. "Besides, don't let them bother you. Kissing really isn't a big deal anyway."
"Yeah, right," Ginny said. "Of course you think that. You've done it."
Sirius thought for a moment. "Actually, I haven't in a very long time, since just after Harry was a year old."
"Really?" Ginny asked disbelievingly. "Why not?"
"Well, for twelve years, I was… out of commission," he said wryly. "And for the last two years, I've been moving around too much. And I haven't really fancied kissing Moony. So… I'm probably out of practice."
"But I've got a sort of boyfriend, I guess," Ginny admitted. "But Michael's never even tried to kiss me. Maybe he's not interested."
"I highly doubt that," Sirius said without a hint of embarrassment. "I'm sure he's afraid of your brothers. I would be, too, if I were him. I wouldn't want the older brothers of my girlfriend knowing I was snogging her in a broom cupboard."
The pair laughed together for a few moments before Sirius turned serious. "Really, Ginny," he said. "Just let it happen when it does. It will be worth it."
Ginny raised her head so that her eyes locked with Sirius' for several moments. She began twisting her hair again, and Sirius laughed nervously.
"You know, if I were your age, and we were in this exact situation, I'd probably kiss you right now," he said softly.
"I'd let you," she replied in barely above a whisper. "I'm tired of waiting."
Before Sirius' rational thought could return to his mind, he found himself leaning towards the young witch. Just before he closed his eyes, he heard a small gasp escape her.
Ginny couldn't believe what was happening. Sirius' lips came closer to hers, and she saw him close his eyes. Instinctively, she closed hers just as his lips softly brushed hers. She leaned into him a little, pressing her lips to his as they gently moved against hers. He brought his hand to cup her cheek.
Several moments later, Sirius pulled back, tracing his hand along her jaw. He smiled warmly at her, and she bit her lip nervously.
"Was it worth the wait?" he asked quietly.
Ginny gulped loudly. "Yes," she said with a smile. "Thank you."
Sirius leaned down once again, this time kissing her cheek.
"You're welcome, Ginny," he said.
"Er…probably best not to tell anyone about this," Ginny said nervously. "My mum would murder you."
Sirius snorted and said, "Right. And Moony would just think I'm a pervy old man."
They both laughed as he stood, reaching down to pull her up with him. "Come on, I'm sure there are more pots to scour."
Just as Sirius was about to open the doors, he turned back to Ginny.
"You're not going to develop some hopeless crush on me now, are you?" he asked worriedly.
"Er…no," Ginny replied with a laugh. "You don't have anything to worry about. You'll just be the good friend who gave me my first kiss."