[HP] Complex Touch

"Here comes my brave little Hufflepuff!"

James hugged Ginny and kissed her on the head in welcome.He looked at her with a brotherly expression on his face.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Of course it's back to normal," she said. "After all, Madam Pomfrey is a wonderful nurse."

James nodded approvingly, and put an arm around Ginny's shoulders.

"I'll be your designated babysitter for the next hour," he told her. "Remus went off to tutor some first year students, and Sirius mysteriously disappeared."

Ginny relaxed, letting James take her dirty Quidditch robes, and they walked down the corridor together.

"Dear Ginny, are you sure you should be sorted into Hufflepuff?"

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"What does that mean, Potter?"

"I wish I could see you sorted. The Sorting Hat must be like, 'Rock paper scissors! Well, I guess you should be in Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor.'" James imitated the point of the Sorting Hat thin voice.Ginny couldn't help laughing. "What you're doing is very brave and not at all Hufflepuff-like."

"Sorry," Ginny said, pretending to be annoyed. "I am loyal, not brave."

"You are brave." James said with some seriousness. "Maybe you've shown some loyalty to your teammates, but I have a feeling you'd still do it with anybody."

They were silent for a while, and James put his arm around Ginny's shoulders.

"Honestly, it scares me a little bit," he admits.

"Why?" Ginny asked softly.

"I don't want you to get hurt. Whether it's inside Hogwarts or outside Hogwarts, no one wants to."

---

December is coming soon.Both the weather and Ginny's mood went from bad to worse.She was visibly different, and the Marauders and her friends wondered if it was the upcoming holidays.Ginny didn't relax when McGonagall asked about those who stayed and went home during the holidays in various colleges.

"You can't spend Christmas alone, Ginny!" James said angrily. "Come home with me."

Ginny looked at James' eager expression and shook her head.That's why she stopped doing her homework in the Gryffindor common room.

"I can't. I'd rather be at Hogwarts."

"Liar," James said, narrowing his eyes. "Why don't you want to spend the holiday with me?"

"I don't want to be a burden," Ginny replied.

Her answer is only half the truth.She didn't want to be a burden to the Potter couple she had never met, and she didn't know if she would be insane if she stayed with Sirius for a long time.She began to worry again; she felt that she was forgetting the real life of the future, and that the past was gradually becoming her life.

"No one is a burden to my parents." He replied immediately.

Ginny sighed loudly.Sirius remained silent throughout the conversation, but Ginny knew he wanted to be on the same side as James.Perhaps if Ginny hadn't yelled at him that night to leave her alone, he would have joined in.Merlin, she screwed up everything.

"Where's your aunt? You're going to leave her alone for Christmas?" James asked.

Ginny looked up and met Remus' curious eyes.He was probably guessing how long it would take her to come up with a lie.

"She's not home," Ginny replied. "She's going on a business trip."

Ginny looked away from Remus as James collapsed in the seat.

"I don't want you to spend Christmas alone," Sirius said loudly, and Ginny took a sharp breath.

"Professors—"

"Ah! Don't worry, Sirius, she won't be alone!"

Startled by the new voice, Ginny looked up and saw two people she hadn't expected to see.

"Fabian, Gideon." James nodded in greeting.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, narrowing his eyes. "Are you two staying too?"

Ginny watched curiously as Gideon approached and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Of course not! I've got nephews to look after!" Gideon said, pretending to be offended. "Ginny is coming with us."

For a moment, time seemed to stop, and Ginny stared at Gideon.Is this... is this an invitation to the Burrow for Christmas?Ginny didn't speak until she realized the boys were waiting for her answer.

"Really?" she asked.

"Are we kidding you?" Fabian said. "Molly would love to have another girl in the house, she insisted you come home with us when we found out you had nowhere to go for Christmas."

"How do you two know I have nowhere to go?" Ginny looked at her smiling twin uncle.

"We were right behind you when you spoke to Meg," Gideon said.

Ginny didn't know how to answer.Can she really spend Christmas with her family?It was like a dream come true.

"Can I really go home with you two?"

Fabian nodded, and Gideon yelled "Yes."She looked at the marauders and noticed a different reaction.James seemed happy that Ginny had somewhere to go, Peter was watching the other boys, Remus was deadpan, and Sirius looked... unhappy.

"Okay," Ginny said softly. "thank you all."

---

It took another two days for Ginny to gather her thoughts about Remus.She sent him an owl to meet her outside the Room of Requirement after dinner, and he did, as she expected, on time.He sat quietly against the wall and waited for her, and when she saw him, she smiled.

"Hi," she greeted, and he smiled at her.

"Do you think it's time to sit down and talk?"

Ginny nodded, and after walking back and forth in front of the wall three times, a door appeared.The two walked in and sat down on the familiar sofa.Remus immediately turned to Ginny, wondering what she had to say.

"I tell you."

These four words echoed in the room, and Remus nodded silently.

"But I don't remember the entire campaign. Also, how do you plan to use the information appropriately—"

"I'm going to join the Order of the Phoenix if Dumbledore allows it. He's already recruiting wizards and witches. Haven't you noticed the adults at Hogwarts?" Remus said, rubbing his nose.

"Not paying much attention," Ginny admitted. "I wasn't paying attention the whole time, I was thinking about other things."

Remus narrowed his eyes at her.

"There were so many clever wizards and witches at Slughorn's party, you wouldn't think Dumbledore was just going to sit and sit? Sirius only mentioned a few people who were there, and any of them People are very valuable to the Order of the Phoenix."

Ginny blinked, she hadn't thought about it at all.Remus was always so smart.

"You have a good memory during the Christmas break and write them down. After I join the Order of the Phoenix, I will exert some influence. Please tell me if there are giants in the battle, which Death Eaters died in the battle, things like that." Lai James continued.

Ginny took a deep breath and leaned back on the sofa.She still feels unsteady, like she shouldn't be doing this.

"Speaking of Christmas, Ginny," said Remus slowly. "You're staying with the Prewett twins?"

They looked at each other for a long time, then Ginny nodded hesitantly.

"I have nowhere to go, and although James wants me to go, I can't bother him."

Remus nodded.

"Then you don't mind disturbing the twins?"

Ginny opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"Remus..."

"About Sirius, I warned you, don't you remember? Not long ago in the library, I told you to be careful of Sirius. But you didn't heed my warning."

Ginny didn't know why the subject had changed, she just shrugged.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"You don't have to be sorry," Remus replied briskly. "I think it might be better. But now, to him, you are different from us. I feel like I should warn him more than I should warn you."

"What do you mean?" Ginny felt offended.

"He likes you. He wants you to be a part of his life, but you won't. I...we're all family now, Ginny, don't you understand? Me, you, James, Sirius, Peter ;We are family. We need to volunteer for each other, and we need to face the fact that there are huge changes happening outside of school, and—”

"What are you talking about, Remus?" Ginny exclaimed, flushing, not understanding him.

Remus looked tense, clearly trying to control his words.

"Christmas is a time for family. Sirius needs you there because, like you, his real family is far away. I understand that you need what the Prewett twins have, but I must ask you to be there To the Potters at the end of the Christmas break. Sirius needs your presence, and if you don't show up for the whole holiday, the home won't be complete."

"He considers me his family?" she said softly, looking at Remus.

"Ginny, I consider you my family. We all do. How can you not see? We love you, love you very much."

She didn't know how to answer.Ginny is not a stupid girl, she sees how much the boys care and protect her.But, it never occurred to her that they would consider her family, an honor she didn't know how to take.Of course, if she really thought about it, she would see that they were family to her, too.When she was alone in the world, the Marauders took her without hesitation.

That's what worries her too.She confuses the past with the future.She loved the boys more and more—in truth, she had fallen in love with the boys.The boys' lives wouldn't have been ruined had she been part of this plane, or if Voldemort had never existed.How can she ignore these?

Ginny jumped when Remus squeezed her hand.

"You see that, don't you?" he asked softly.

"Yes." she whispered. "I can't see it? You know my secret, James is my guardian, and Sirius...he has my heart."

The candor brought tears to Ginny's eyes.What is she doing?How could she do this to these boys?After she became a big part of their lives, she was leaving, leaving them in a dark future.

"Remus, I can't do this!" Ginny said desperately and hastily. "I can't—I can't do this anymore. You don't understand, the future is scary, and I can't just leave you guys like this. How can I leave you guys like you're worthless?"

"Shut up," Remus said suddenly, taking charge of the conversation. "Everything will be all right, and even if you have to leave us, we'll meet you again. You said you already knew me, and if that's true, you also know James, Remus and Peter."

"You don't know the secrets I know." She whispered, looking at him with a knife in her heart. "The future is scary—"

"You can handle it."

Ginny shook her head, wondering if Remus wanted her to tell him the secret of the future again.But she can't handle it, because she is desperate now, and she wants to solve the future.She doesn't have enough strength to hold her mouth.

"When you go back to your time, you can solve all problems."

Ginny froze at Remus' gaze.

There was fear in his eyes, because Ginny couldn't assure him that everything would be all right in the end; because she couldn't deal with what she knew and he didn't know what she knew.Remus knew that she didn't want to love the boys as much as she did, and it made him doubt both himself and her.However, that doesn't stop him from helping her and helping himself at the same time.

"Don't think that because the future has already happened, you can't solve your future and our future," he told her. "You're a smart witch, and you can do whatever is necessary. Because you're going to go back to your time, and you're going to fix things, right? You can make it less scary."

Ginny stared at him, knowing what he was asking her to do, even though he had no idea what he was doing.Ginny suddenly wondered if there was any way in the past that she could save Sirius in the future.