Title: My Brother, My Sister
Author:
iamshadowRating: PG
Warnings: None
Word count: 560
Notes/Summary: 'Missing' scene from DH, taking place while Harry and Ginny are in Ginny's bedroom together (pages 98-99 of the Bloomsbury hardcover edition of Deathly Hallows). Written for the '08 Harry and Ron FQF.
Prompt: 38. In DH: The real reason why Ron was fuming after he caught Ginny and Harry kissing on Harry's birthday.
A link to the entry with the Fuh Q Fest rules & prompts. Ron had thought that he’d seen the last of it.
Oh, he had tolerated Harry dating his sister, even though it had made him feel slightly ill, as if worms were wriggling about in his belly. It was better it being his best mate, rather than that Ravenclaw what’s-his-name, or even Dean, who he’d shared a dormitory with for six years. After all, Harry was someone he knew he could trust completely. Not like all those other blokes who were clearly only interested in One Thing.
When Harry and Ginny had broken up, he’d been angry on his sister’s behalf, but really, it made a lot of sense. Harry didn’t want to leave her behind with any promises he might not be able to keep, and given the task he had to undertake, Ron could respect him for setting her free. But then, it was Harry’s birthday, and Ginny was calling Harry into her room, and Hermione was insistently pulling Ron away.
“What’s she up to?” Ron asked, craning his neck to discover that the door had just snicked firmly shut.
Hermione gave him a disbelieving look and after a second or two, he stopped in his tracks when realisation finally clicked into place.
“I’m going back,” Ron said, tugging himself free and taking a step back.
“No, you’re not,” Hermione said, resuming her firm grip.
“Yes, I am,” he countered, mulishly. “They shouldn’t be in there, together. Alone. Mum will flip.”
Hermione looked more than a little bit frustrated. “Harry’s of age, and Ginny’s near enough to. They’re old enough to deserve a little privacy.”
Ron made a loud huffing sound of irritation. She didn’t understand. Didn’t understand that things only felt right once he’d broken up with Lavender, and Harry had dumped Ginny, and it was down to the two of them, again, without any interference. Hermione was always there, but she didn’t get in the way like the other girls had; trying to dominate the time that was supposed to be and had been for years now, for him and Harry. She nagged, but she didn’t expect them to devote their free time to her, and her alone.
Hermione’s voice cut in to his churning thoughts. “You’re jealous,” she said, with a look of surprise on her face, as though she had just made a connection that she thought should have been obvious to her much sooner.
“I’m not jealous,” Ron said, scathingly, staring down the hallway at the door with a look of desperation. It had been closed for a long time, now. “She’s my sister!”
Hermione shook her head. Her usually animated features were still and almost... sympathetic. “Not jealous of him. Jealous of her,” she said, slowly. Ron felt the blood drain from his face, and his heart gave a strange, almost painful, kerthump in his chest. “I’m right, aren’t I?” she continued, in that same, soft tone.
Ron let his lip curl up into a sneer a Malfoy would have been proud of and yanked his arm free. “You’re crazy,” he said disgustedly, and stalked back towards his sister’s room. Hermione trailed behind, close on his heels. She didn’t try to stop him, but Ron could feel her knowing gaze burning him between his shoulder blades, and he knew that she’d heard the uncertain tremble in his voice as clearly as he had.