Wherever It May Lead

Ginny's eyes followed a tiny bubble as it bouncily floated through the living room. She sat on the couch and smiled. Mrs. Weasley was giggling from the effect of Fred and Geroge's fizzy lifting drink. Ginny tried in earnest to read her charms books, but she too had trouble keeping the laughter from slipping out. The whole Weasley family was enjoying the effects of the newest Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes product--as yet unnamed and currently in the testing stages of production.

George admitted that he may have overdone it on the cheering charm he added in, because great bunches of bubbles were floating in from the kitchen cauldron, and their mere presence caused contagious giggle fits.

"I think it's time to clean the cauldron," announced Mr. Weasley. "I'll never finish any of this paper work if we don't!"

"Of course, dear!" More giggles. "I'll go and clean it now," Mrs. Weasley chirped.

"I'll help you. This may take more than one of us," Mr. Weasley offered. Fred and George jumped up and begged their mother not to clean it just yet. They wanted to be absolutely certain of the final formula so that they could market it in their store. The four Weasleys laughed their way into the kitchen. Every so often, peals of their laughter would tumble into the living room.

Ron, sitting at the opposite end of the couch from his sister looked at Ginny then burst into laughter and pointed at her.

"What?!?" Ginny demanded.

"Your face! It looks ridiculous!" he guffawed back. She furrowed her brow and uncrossed her eyes to glare at him. "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to see the bubble that landed on my nose! See??" She re-crossed her eyes and stared down the length of her nose to a tiny bubble perched precariously on the tip. This caused the both of them to laugh even harder.

"You're concentrating awfully hard on it! With your eyes crossed like that and the look of concentration...you look quite a bit like Goyle!" Ron quipped and giggled. Ginny laugh and broke of the stare to the end of her nose. "Here--I'll get it off for you." He reached forward to chase it away, but thumped Ginny squarely on the nose, instead.

"Ouch!" Ginny retorted. She rubbed the tip of her offended nose and gave Ron an evil stare. "I'll get you for that!" She dove across the couch, tackling him. She started tickling his sides when he grabbed her and wrestled her off the side of the couch. Realizing that she was going down, she grabbed his shirt and took him down with her.

"Aha! Let's see who gets tickled now!" Pinning her to the floor with his bent legs astride her torso, he raised a triumphant finger and started tickling her sides. She wriggled and writhed, trying to escape the exquisite torture. Ginny tried fighting back by tickling Ron under his arms, but Ron defensively grabbed her by the wrists and pinned her hands to the ground above her head.

"Ok! Ok! I give!" she conceded.

"That doesn't mean I am finished!"

"Well--Wait!!--Please! Ron! Just get the hair off my face." Ron used his free hand to brush the hair gently from her face. He looked at her, but Ginny's smile had faded. There, instead, were two eyes searching his. Whether from the wrestling or from the steady sense of anticipation building in his chest, he wasn't sure, but Ron was breathing rapidly. Gingerly, he brushed her lower lip with his thumb. He lowered his mouth to hers, pausing just once in hesitation.

Divine stillness. Silence fell between them as the shadows stole the light from around them. He pressed his lips to hers for just a moment longer. He started to pull away, but Ginny's chin jutted forward, beckoning him to come back--to stay. Ron let go of her wrists, cupping her face in his hands. Ginny timidly ran her fingers through his hair.

Only when lack of oxygen and its dizzying effects demanded did Ron finally pull away and sit up. His mouth was curled into a content smile. He opened his eyes and looked down at Ginny.

CLANG! The cauldron in the kitchen collided with the floor. Fred's "Damn!" filtered in from the kitchen.

"You two all right in there?" Mrs. Weasley called out. "I worry when all I hear is silence. I fear one of you has irreparably hexed the other."

"NomumWe'refineNohexinghere!" Ron called back, maybe a little too quickly. He scrambled to his feet and sat in the farthest corner of the couch from where Ginny was seating herself. They stared at each other in expressions of shock and confusion, each too scared to say anything. Finally, Ron broke the silence.

"Merlin's beard, woman! What are you cleaning with? It smells horrid!" he yelled to her. He never took his eyes from Ginny's until Mrs. Weasley entered the living room.

"I used a proper Scourgify charm, of course!" She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Well...I did add just a bit of oomph to it this time. I wanted to make sure that the cauldron was nice and clean. We couldn't very well go around giggling like Gilderoy Lockheart for who knows how long, now could we?"

The air in the house had lost all its tingle. The Scourgify charm Mrs. Weasley used left the house with a very sterile feeling. It felt cold and empty. He couldn't help being reminded of the wards at St. Mungo's. Ginny remained quiet in her corner of the couch. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, silently watching Ron reprimand their mother for cleaning too well.

"Listen, you two. Get up and get into that kitchen. Fred and George cleaned, now you two need to go make sure there's nothing else that needs doing. Don't mess with anything that has already been cleaned, or you will clean it again!" Ron and Ginny got up and went into the now-empty kitchen. Fred and George had already gone upstairs to see if they could reproduce the effects of the fizzy lifting drinks, and Mr. Weasley had followed his wife back into the living room, presumably to resume his paperwork. The two turned and face each other from opposite sides of the kitchen.

"Listen," Ginny stammered, "I, er, don't know....about what, er, just happened when you--"

"Don't!" Ron interjected before Ginny absentmindedly touched the now-sparkling pewter cauldron. She quickly snatched back her hand.

"...Er, when whatever happened...happened, but I do know that--"

"Wait. I don't know either. I mean, one second I was looking at you and then I--"

"Ron!" Ginny yelped to keep Ron from leaning against the clean counter. He straightened suddenly.

"..And then I wasn't looking at you anymore," Ron finished and turned away from her. He reached into the cabinet and pulled down two glasses. "Pumpkin juice?" Ginny nodded and retrieved the jug of pumpkin juice. She carefully poured two glasses for the two of them to drink. "It's just--Merlin, Ginny! I didn't mean to--"

"Wait! Here." She handed Ron a napkin for him to set his drink on instead of the sterile table top. She looked down at her glass, silently plucking up her courage. She looked up and walked toward him, spilling her feelings. "I know you didn't mean to! I know that you wished or pretended that I was Hermione, instead. I don't pretend to know what five years of pent up romantic feelings will do to a person, but Ron," Ginny slammed her drink on the table, spilling pumpkin juice over the side of the glass and onto the tabletop, "I liked it. I...I've wanted to do that, but I knew you would think I am weird or a freak or--" Ginny turned away quickly, covering her face with her hands. Ron reached out to comfort her, knocking over his glass in the process and sending pumpkin juice down the table and onto the floor.

"No, Ginny. Me, too! I have, too!" He turned her to him and moved her hands away from her face.

"But...we're, I mean, we're...you know."

"Yeah," he replied heavily and taking a depth breath, "No one can know about this. Especially not anyone here. I don't think that anyone could handle it. I am not sure I can handle it."

"What do you mean? You are not sure you can handle it?"

"I mean...It's just that...Well, you're my sister, Ginny. My sister. And I am your brother, you know? We have the same parents, remember?" Ron watched Ginny and spoke to her with all the sincerity he could muster. Ginny was shrinking from him, stepping back and looking at him with hurt eyes. "Ginny...I...Iloveyou--I do--but I think this does make us...weird or freaks or whatever..."

Ginny suddenly jerked her elbow from Ron's hand where he'd absentmindedly been holding on to her.

"Freaks?!?" she said. "You think I am a freak? Because I love my brother? Because I understand him better that his high and mighty superhero best friend and his bushy-haired know-it-all other best friend?" She was staring at him hard with an expression of anger and confusion, pressing her hand to her throat. "I know you Ron! I have known you since you started liking the Cannons! I knew you when Fred and George turned your teddy bear into a spider. I knew you when you got Percy's hand-me-down rat, Bill's hand-me-down robes, and Charlie's hand-me-down wand! I know how that made you feel. I know why you were so happy to make Gryffindor Keeper and be hero of the Cup." She stepped forward, her foot sending ripples through the growing puddle of pumpkin juice on the floor. She took Ron's hand. He had been staring at the floor, shuffling his feet and drinking in every word she had said.

"Ginny..."

"And you know me, Ron. You know how I felt the day you left for Hogwarts because you had been there with me when Percy and Fred and George went. We were the only two left, and then there was just me. You knew me when I stammered and stuttered over Harry. I was so in awe of the person who had taken my place as your best friend. You know what it's like to be the last in line--to be the youngest. You know what it's like with our Mum and Dad. You know what it's like to be a Weasley. They don't. Harry, Hermione, Neville, Michael, Dean...They don't know, and they won't know. But we do. We know." She pulled him to her ever so slightly.

"Ginny--" She silenced him by placing a finger over his lips. Her eyes bore into his, pleading with him. She moved her fingers from his lips and ran them through his hair. Ron gave in to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, deleting the space between them to none.

The kiss was sweet, comfortable and familiar. It was pure and whole--like two halves coming together to complete itself. The thoughts were spinning so quickly in Ron's mind that they were merely blurs of color.

"Are you lot finished in there?" Mrs. Weasley's voice broke into the kitchen. Ron and Ginny pulled apart instinctively and immediately. Ron backed into the table, and Ginny's glass fell over and rolled off the edge. It collided with the floor with a shatter, which brought Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen so quickly Ginny silently wondered whether Ron had Summoned her there. "Look! Look at this mess!" She motioned to the broken glass and the spilled pumpkin juice. With a quick 'Scourgify,' the mess diappeared. "Well...You are perfectly right to look ashamed. The first time in their lives the twins actually help me cleaning and you two make a right mess of it!"

"Right, Mum. We're sorry," said Ginny, looking quickly at the Ron, then back at the floor.

"Sure. We'll, er...we'll just go on upstairs to our rooms," Ron added by means of an apology. He grabbed Ginny by the wrist and pulled her up the stairs behind him. When they got to Ginny's door, she looked at him questioningly. He just shook his head and motioned her in. He closed the door behind them and they were alone in her room. The scent of vanilla hung in her room--the air warmed by the candles burning on her dresser tops. Ron looked at Ginny sitting on her bed and seized his opportunity to talk.

"I don't know what I am doing, Ginny," Ron confessed wholeheartedly and in confusion. He turned away from her seated on the bed and faced her door. His eyes searched the wood grain, probing it for some semblance of an answer. "I don't understand what is happening."

"We like each other, Ron. It happens. This is just a natural thing that happens when two people like and care for each other."

"But it's not natural, Ginny! It's not!" Ron wheeled around and faced her. "You're right--the others don't understand us. They don't understand what it is like to be us, but they sure as hell aren't going to understand...this either! What do you expect, Ginny?"

"Expect? What do you mean--"

"Expect! What do you expect? Are you going to go back to Hogwarts and tell all of your little friends how in love with your BROTHER you are? Do you expect me to tell Harry and Hermione that...that...I can't tell them that! What are we going to do--get married?!?" Ron turned back and faced the door. Ginny stared at her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes burned, and she begged the tears not to fall.

"Why are you so angry? I didn't do this alone, Ron. I didn't make you feel like this. If you don't want to, then don't. Just go back to being my brother," Ginny spat at him. Ron inhaled sharply, not expecting the sting in her words. Without turning to face her, he answered.

"Fine." The word was so small. "I will." He reached out for the doorknob, resting his palm on the cool metal for just a moment before turning it and opening the door. He quickly left Ginny's room. She watched him walk down the hall through her open door. She lay back on the bed and stared at her ceiling, trying to sort out the conflicting thoughts pulsing through her mind.

"Ginny?" Ginny sat up. Ron stood in her doorway. He just looked at her, willing her to understand the torment in his mind. "We just can't," he whispered.

"I think...that I knew that," she whispered back. Ron reached for her doorknob to pull the door to. "No--leave it open. It can stay open." Ron looked at her once more and turned away. He walked back down the hallway to his room, where he planned on laying on his bed. With the door open.