Sibling Advice

Ron looked at Ginny She had the hint of a knowing smile on her sad face. He knew this was going to be embarrassing and was going to make him...vulnerable. He didn't like it. He wondered if making his sister deal with her feelings about Harry was worth this humiliation.

Ron remembered the sound of Ginny crying in her bed, and he knew that it was.

He was seated on the edge of a pink chair in her ridiculously pink room. She was sitting on the edge of her fluffy bed, facing him. The walls were pink and the curtains were an off white with hues of pink. Even the trim, which was light green, seemed tired and subdued. He looked down at her bed coverings and they were frilly, girly and also...pink.

"Good Lord, Gin," Ron said with a grin. "When are you gonna make Mum let you paint this place?" He looked behind him at her closet door. It was a patch of light green hiding in the corner; like it was hoping not to be noticed by all of the pink.

"Shut it, all right?" sniffed Ginny. "You know how she is."

"Guess its tough being her only girl, eh?"

"You have no idea," said Ginny with a grimace.

"Yeah," Ron said with a chuckle. "It's not so easy being her youngest boy, either, you know."

"Really?" asked Ginny with a pointed look. "At least she let you pick the color you wanted for your room. It's not Mum's fault you chose that putrid orange."

"Hey, Cannons rule," he said, spreading his arms innocently.

Ginny giggled and then they passed a few moments in comfortable silence as Ron scanned the ultra feminine décor of Ginny's room.

"Oi!" he thought. "It must be like sleeping in cotton candy every night."

He looked back at Ginny and watched for a few seconds as her face slowly drooped from her earlier giggle into lines of sadness. He found himself growing even more worried while he looked at her. She had always been such a buoyant person, but the usual light in her eye was so subdued.

Suddenly Ginny shook herself slightly, and then looked at Ron attentively. "Anyway...so what's up?"

"Nothing," said Ron, suddenly feeling foolish for having tried this. He felt his ears growing hot as she looked at him. He looked behind him at the green door again to give him a minute to gather his thoughts.

"Oh, come on, Ron. You didn't wake me up at 4:30 AM to comment on my horrid room. Why do you need to talk to me about Hermione?" Ron thought that he heard her whisper under her breath, "As if I didn't know."

His head snapped back around towards her, and she wore an innocently amused expression on her face.

"Hey, this isn't easy for me, you know. I don't need to be made fun of when I come to you for help," said Ron, feeling his temper rise.

He began to stand up. It was stupid of him to have tried to do this subtle rubbish. He should have just told Ginny he would go punch Harry in the nose.

"Oh sit down, Ron. Don't be so sensitive. I was only taking the mickey out of you a bit." Ginny's voice was suddenly sympathetic and she had an earnest expression on her face. Ron suddenly realized that, despite herself, Ginny did not want him to leave. She wanted the company just then.

He sat back in the chair and put a mulish expression on his face. He folded his arms tightly. "Yeah, well..."

Ginny sighed in a long-suffering female way. "Would it help if I told you what I think you want to talk about?"

"It might," said Ron petulantly.

"Okay, then. I think that you want to tell Hermione that you're in love with her."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Ron, jumping to his feet in an instant. "Why that's just ridiculous... that's...that's not the point at...that's a load of...that..."

Ginny looked up at him with a grin as he sputtered for a few more seconds. Then he turned around and flopped onto her bed. He landed on his back amid a small sea of frilly pink as his long legs dangled over the edge to the floor.

"That's probably it," said Ron, feeling defeated.

Ron had known that coming in here would probably lead to this admission. It was something he could barely admit to himself yet. But really, he was already feeling better now that it was out and acknowledged by somebody other than himself.

"Well, it's obvious anyway, isn't it?" said Ginny soothingly. She was still smiling, but she had turned towards him on her bed. She was resting her back on her footboard. She had folded her legs and propped her chin on her knees as she looked at him. "It's not so bad to say it out loud, is it?"

"No," Ron lied. He stared blankly up at the ceiling over his sister's bed. "It's just bloody impossible, is what it is."

"Why?" asked Ginny. "Why is it so impossible?"

"C'mon, Gin," said Ron, sitting up in agitation. "We've been friends since we were eleven. You can't just throw away six years of friendship on some silly crush. She means way too much for that."

Ginny smiled at him like he was an idiot.

"I'm serious! She's been my best mate since we were kids. I can't just walk up to her and tell her...I can't just say, 'Hey, 'Mione. I know we've never even talked about hooking up, but what's say we go find an empty classroom and snog for an hour or five.'"

"Why not?" asked Ginny, grinning broadly now.

"Because she'd laugh in my bloody face, wouldn't she?" said Ron, raising his voice. "She'd think I was bloody joking."

"Shhhh!!! I thought you wanted to keep everyone in the house from overhearing you," said Ginny, raising her head to look at the door and waving her hand at him.

"Sorry," said Ron despondently, flopping back again and looking at the ceiling again.

"Look," said Ginny sympathetically, "I understand your concern, but let me ask you a question."

"Okay?" said Ron after a moment He turned his head from his study of the ceiling to look at her from among folds of her quilt.

"When was the last time you remember not being confused about Hermione? I mean, when did you start to feel romantic towards her?" asked Ginny, resting her head on her knees again, and watching him studiously.

"Dunno...maybe last year...well, no, maybe since she kissed me on the cheek before...well, no...maybe since...maybe since Yule Ball in Fourth Year...when she went with that...that bloody Krum." He was scowling now.

"Okay," said Ginny. "That's what...two and a half years. And you've known Hermione how long?"

"Almost six years," Ron said. "What's your point?"

Ginny was wearing an indulgent smile. "Well, Ron, if you think about it, you've been romantically interested in Hermione for almost half of the time that you have known her. So the whole idea that you've been friends with her for six years isn't as important, is it?'

"I still don't get your point," said Ron, feeling a bit lost.

Ginny sighed again. "My point is that you've been romantically involved at some level with Hermione for as long as you were 'just friends' with her. If you think about it, your romantic feelings are just as important to your relationship as your simple time of childhood friendship."

"Okaaaay..." said Ron, starting to get the idea. "So what you are saying is that I've liked her so long, it is as much a part of our friendship as anything else."

"Exactly!" said Ginny snapping her fingers.

Ron smiled at Ginny's enthusiasm, and sat up again. "Okay, but that still doesn't stop the fact that it will be awkward."

"Well, let me ask you another question, Ron," said Ginny, taking on a lecturing tone. "How would you react if Hermione was at Bill's wedding and started snogging...say...Viktor Krum on the dance floor?"

"I'd kill the bastard!" said Ron, feeling surprised at the heat of his response.

"Oh ho! You would, would you?" said Ginny, laughing.

Ron smiled and ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "Uh yeah...well...I'd at least be a git about it, probably."

"Well, don't you think that would be a bit awkward?"

"Uh...guess so."

"See," said Ginny. "If you and Hermione don't get together, she's going to get together with somebody eventually, and something will happen in front of you and..." Ginny trailed off expectantly.

"And that would be awkward." concluded Ron, scowling.

"So you might as well be awkward trying to get what you want, Ron, rather than being awkward about some other bloke getting what he wants," said Ginny seriously.

"I s'pose you're right about that," agreed Ron.

They sat together in another comfortable silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company.

"Besides," said Ginny suddenly, smiling thoughtfully, "she's mad about you, anyway. She's just too insecure to admit it."

"What?" said Ron in surprise. He felt himself smiling. "Why do you say that?"

"Oh come on, Ron!" Ginny rolled her eyes at him, and poked him in the ribs. "First of all, Hermione may be the smartest student in our school, but she doesn't have the best skills in social situations. Don't get me wrong, I love her to pieces, but she is insecure." Then Ginny laughed, and added, "And has Hermione ever attacked another boy at school with a flock of canaries just because he was snogging another girl?"

Ron chuckled ruefully. "Guess not." He held up the tips of his fingers in front of his face, as if looking for canary bites.

Still chuckling, Ginny said, "I wish I'd been there to see that!"

"Not pretty," said Ron, grinning. "But, hey! Why didn't you just tell me she liked me in the first place? That's all I really needed to know. It'll be a piece of cake, knowing that."

"Boys!" Ginny giggled, rolling her eyes again.

Ron was ecstatic to see Ginny acting more like herself, but she still seemed a bit...flat; none of her normal fiery disposition.

Shifting gears, she said peevishly, "Oh and by the way, I never want to hear you get angry at me for snogging in school again; what with you and Lavender thrashing around all over the place."

"Well, now...that's different," said Ron, sensing his opportunity.

"How is that different?! Because you're male?!" asked Ginny indignantly, her cheeks reddening.

"No," said Ron mildly with a shrug. "I just didn't think Dean was the right bloke for you, that's all."

Ginny deflated immediately, and Ron saw the saddened look return to her eyes. "Yes...well...he wasn't," mumbled Ginny.

"And you'll notice I didn't say anything at the end of the year, did I?" said Ron, hoping that he wasn't being too obvious.

"No, you didn't," said Ginny glumly, resting her forehead on her knees, now, and hiding her face. Ron had the distinct impression that Ginny was about to start crying in front of him. Yes, he was definitely going to have to punch Harry in the nose.

"You know, Ron," said Ginny, still hiding her face. "I'm sorry that I made fun of you about not having snogged anyone. It was cruel, and I apologize."

"Umm...s'okay...don't worry about it," said Ron nervously. "I was being a prat, anyway."

"You were. But it still wasn't a nice thing to say." Ginny looked up at him with a sad smile. Thankfully, her eyes were dry.

"Well, it's water under the bridge now." said Ron. Then he smiled mischievously and waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion. "And things have changed now, haven't they, since Lavender?"

"Yes, they have. Yes they have," said Ginny and poked Ron in the ribs again. "And I don't think Hermione had that much experience."

Ron guffawed but then was thoughtful. "And you know, she didn't need it either. But I did. It was important for me to...Oh, I dunno..."

"Catch up?" asked Ginny with a raised eyebrow.

"Well yeah. I guess that's a blunt way to put it," said Ron.

"Well, you certainly are blunt," said Ginny with yet another long-suffering sigh, as she reached out and knocked a piece of lint off of the shoulder of his pajama shirt.

"Okay, so let's recap, shall we?" asked Ron briskly, feeling his last opportunity to get his point across.

"Okay. Go ahead," said Ginny, looking attentive.

Ron screwed up his features in concentration. "So you basically say that if I've had romantic feeling for Hermione for a long time, and if I know that she has romantic feelings for me, and it would be awkward to be around each other in a non-romantic way, then I might as well tell her how I feel about her. Is that it, in a nutshell?"

"Yes," said Ginny with an accomplished smile on her face, turning as she said it. She swung her legs off the side of the bed.

"Well, Gin, that is really good advice," said Ron emphatically.

"Good," said Ginny with finality, looking as if she was ready to stand up. Ron could tell she wanted to be alone again.

"Here goes!" he thought. Then he asked, "Do you think it would apply to anyone?"

"What?" said Ginny distractedly, obviously thinking of something else.

"I mean, don't you think it applies to any situation where two people have long-standing feelings for each other, but because of whatever situation, they are not together and it's awkward. Don't you think one of them should get up the courage to say how they feel?" said Ron. He felt a very strong urge to cross his fingers.

"Well, I don't know..." said Ginny. She was paying attention again and she was looking a tad flustered.

Ron just rode right over her. "Like, if Hermione loves me, and I love her, all of our years of friendship are a stupid reason to stay apart. It seems to me that if two people really love each other, any reason to keep them apart is a bad one; don't you think?" Ron stared at her fixedly.

"Umm...I'm not sure..." said Ginny, looking fidgety.

"It seems to me that I have no choice but to tell Hermione how I feel about our situation...everything I feel about our situation...because if I didn't, the price would be too high, wouldn't it? If she never knew how much I felt for her? And like you said, maybe I'm the one who has to say it, because she can't."

Ginny's mouth was hanging open a bit and she was eyeing Ron suspiciously. "Uh...maybe...yes," she managed to say.

Ron decided he had pushed it as far as he dared, and stood up to leave. "Thanks, Gin. Thanks a lot. I know what I have to do, now."

"Don't mention it," Ginny said lamely as Ron made his way to the door.

"Good night...or good morning or whatever it is," said Ron as he pulled the door open and quickly walked out to the hallway. He heard Ginny mumble a questioning farewell as he shut the door behind him.

Ron stood in the dark corridor for a second, not sure whether he had done well or not. He had the distinct feeling that he may have overplayed it at the end. He just was not good at this subtle rubbish!

He made his way quietly down the hall towards the stairs, trying not to disturb the sleeping family all around. As his foot lit on the first step, he heard the click of a door behind him. He turned and saw Ginny standing just outside the doorway to her bedroom.

For a moment she stood indecisively in the square of light that was cast into the hallway from her bedroom lamp. The she quickly padded towards him. Ron readied himself for an irate explosion.

She came up and stood in front of him, eying him suspiciously. He felt that he better start explaining himself.

"Uh..." he began.

"You know, sometimes you're not as dumb as you look," she interrupted suddenly with a broad grin.

Before he knew it, Ginny was hugging him fiercely about the neck and he was awkwardly patting her on the back.

"Uh, thanks...I think," said Ron, feeling dumbstruck.

"Thank you, Big Brother," she whispered in his ear. Then she whirled back towards her room. She cast him a broad smile just before she shut the door.

He chuckled to himself as he stood in the hallway. It was back. He had seen that telltale fiery light in her eyes, just before she'd disappeared into pink solitude. Harry didn't stand a chance.

Ron stood there for a few minutes after her door had shut. He felt like he had just made the best Quidditch save of his life.

"Well that," he thought with a smile, "went a lot better than when she fell off the broom."

He turned and raced up the steps two at a time, and hoped Pigwidgeon had one more flight left in his mad little body. Ron couldn't wait to tell Hermione how well he'd done.

Besides that, he should start following Ginny's excellent advice right away.