A/N: Hi, lovely readers :) This was written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, and since I'm a Keeper, I had to write about siblings! This was really fun for me to write (hehe little kids) :D Thanks to my teammates for reading this over!
Enjoy!
Six-year-old Ginny Weasley sat on her high chair at the table, happily tearing off and eating the golden crust of her slice of bread. She liked saving the best part, the soft and chewy inside, for last - something that her mum didn't get. But Fred and George had reassured her that it was normal, so that was enough for her.
"Ginny, dear, stop shaking the table," her mum told her as she cracked eggs into the frying pan.
Ginny pouted. "I'm not," she said through a mouthful of bread.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Molly Weasley chided her youngest child. "And yes, you are."
Ginny swallowed her food. "No, I'm not," she protested again, but when she looked down, sure enough, the leg that she had propped against the table was shaking.
She pulled her leg back, and noticed that the plates on the tabletop weren't clattering anymore. "Sorry, Mum," she said apologetically. "I didn't notice."
"That's quite alright, dear," Molly said, picking up her wand from the counter.
Ginny smiled and started attacking the delicious insides of her bread, watching in fascination as her mum waved her wand to heat up the stove, since it was broken. The magic reminded her of her brothers. "Mum," she said mid-swallow, "when will they all be awake? I've been awake for two hours, and it's already nine o'clock!"
Molly shook her head exasperatedly, as the little girl had already asked her many times before. "Now, Ginny, I've told you about ten times now. Your brothers just got back from Hogwarts yesterday. They'll be very tired, and will wake when they're ready."
"Ron, Fred, and George don't go to Hogwarts," Ginny pointed out smartly. "And you're already cooking breakfast for them all, so won't it be cold if they don't wake soon?"
"True," Molly sighed. "Alright, if you're so anxious to see them, why don't you see if any of them are awake? I'm sure that one of them, at the very least, is up by now."
"Yay!" Ginny hopped down from her chair, munching on the last bit of her bread.
She raced towards the staircase of the Burrow, her red hair flying behind her. Climbing up the first flight of steps, she darted past her room, only to backtrack and rush inside it.
The white walls looked bland compared to Ron's orange ones, and Fred and George's half-burnt ones, but Ginny liked the simplicity of it, even though it was kind of boring. When she got older, Ginny vowed, she'd put up posters of her favourite Quidditch team to brighten up the room.
She bounded over to the small nightstand by her bed, where a tiny silver bell sat on the wooden top, next to her clock. It was one of her most prized possessions. Ginny carefully picked it up, taking a moment to admire how the light from her window hit the surface of the bell.
The bell had been a gift from her father when she was four. He had saved it from one of his adventures into the Muggle World, and ever since then, it had had the grand purpose of helping her wake up her brothers (though it usually took much more than a bell to wake them up; they slept like Percy's rat Scabbers after he finished eating.
Ginny clutched the bell to her chest, and rushed out of her room, heading up to the second floor.
The first room was Fred and George's, but Ginny skipped them and moved on. They didn't like it when she woke them up, no matter how nicely she did it, because they often went to bed at past ten doing "experiments" - though she liked to call them "explosions".
The other room on the second floor was Percy's. Ginny made her way to his wooden door, which had a white sign with the words "Keep Out" printed neatly in his precise handwriting. She ignored the sign and quietly opened the door.
Inside the room, everything was neat and orderly. Percy's many books were stacked up on the shelves in alphabetical order, and not a paper or quill was out of place. Before making her way to Percy's bed, Ginny stood up on her tiptoes to peer out the window of the room. The view was of the entire garden, which Ginny was rather jealous of - all she got to see was a boring old orchard. She liked apples, but not enough to fully enjoy staring at them right outside her window.
Percy was lightly snoring, and Ginny had to keep in her giggles as she cautiously made her way to his plain, light blue bed. If she so much as shifted a book in his room, Percy would cause a huge riot, and Mum would probably get angry with her.
"Percy," she hummed out as she got closer. "Percy, wake up."
Percy did not wake up.
Ginny sighed and came closer, jingling her bell. "Percy, wake up!"
Percy moved his arms a little, bringing them out from under the covers, and moaned, but didn't open his eyes.
She pouted. "Come on, Percy, I'm lonely - won't you wake up?"
He didn't, and Ginny huffed in her impatience. "Fine. I'll go to Bill."
Percy (obviously) did not reply, so Ginny hopped out of his abnormally neat room, keeping the door open, and started her way to the third floor of the Burrow.
But on the third floor, Ginny didn't have much luck with Bill, either. All he did as she rang her bell in his ear, was murmur something about a girl at Hogwarts, which made her feel dreadfully uncomfortable. Therefore, Ginny had quickly darted out of the room before she heard any more atrocities from her eldest brother.
Ginny sighed as she dejectedly made her way to Charlie's bedroom down the hall. She'd gone through half of her brothers already, and nobody seemed to want to wake up. "Leaving me all alone," Ginny grumbled aloud to herself.
She stopped in front of Charlie's room, and placed her hand on the knob. In one swift motion, Ginny thrust the door open.
Charlie's room seemed to be brighter than the others, seeing as his had two windows - one looking out at the apple orchard, and another with the beautiful view of the garden. Ginny smiled with joy as she stepped into Charlie's domain. Coming into this particular room always made her feel joyous.
"Hey, Ginger."
Ginny turned her head to see Charlie sitting on his bed, a large notepad and quill in his hands. He always liked to call her "Ginger", not only because she had red hair, but also because of her name.
She grinned, utter elation coursing through her. "Charlie! You're awake!"
"Yes, I am," he replied with the easy smile that could instantly warmed her inside. She'd missed that smile when he'd gone to Hogwarts for his fourth year, but now that it was summer, she and her brothers had all the time to spend together. Charlie patted a spot on his blue bed. "Come sit."
Ginny bounded over to him and jumped onto his bed. "What are you writing?" she asked curiously, peering at his yellow notepad.
Charlie lifted it up above her head so she couldn't see. "Ah, ah, no, you can't see. And I'm not writing; I'm drawing!"
"Same thing," Ginny pouted. "And why can't I see?"
"Because," Charlie said, "it's personal."
Ginny clutched her small hands together and held them to her chest. "Please," she begged. "I won't tell Bill. Or Percy. Or Fred and George. Or Ron. Or Mum. Or Dad. Or anyone in the whole, entire world! I swear it!"
She could see her brother's will starting to crumble, and widened her eyes more to look innocent. Finally, Charlie sighed. "So young and yet so manipulative," he grumbled as he brought the notepad back down.
"What does 'manipulative' mean?" she asked vaguely, pulling the notepad closer to her.
"Nothing," Charlie said, but she wasn't paying attention.
"Wow," Ginny breathed out as her eyes scoured the ink lines on the page. She hadn't known Charlie was so talented at art. And these drawings… "They're dragons!"
Charlie nodded, avoiding her eyes, looking a little bashful. "I just did it because I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep," he said quickly, taking the pad back from her. "Don't ask me why."
So naturally, Ginny did. "Why do you draw dragons?"
"Aren't you nosy," Charlie muttered, but when he raised blue eyes to meet her matching ones, Ginny saw them sparkle with life and delight. "It's because I want to be a dragon trainer when I grow up."
"A what?" Ginny wasn't sure she heard correctly, because as far as she knew, the only jobs that Mum would ever approve of them having were if they were at Ministry or at Hogwarts.
"A dragon trainer," her brother repeated a tad defensively.
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't become one."
"And why not?"
"Because! That's crazy! Training dragons? You have to be brave to train them," Ginny stated matter-of-factly.
Charlie looked appalled. "And what makes you think I'm not brave, huh, Gin?"
Ginny gave a sly grin as such an occurrence popped into her head. "That time where Fred and George set the spider in the bathroom, and you didn't go near it for a week!"
He rolled his eyes at her. "That was different. But I can definitely become one. After all, Hagrid trusts me with taking care of some of the Hogwarts animals." He puffed his chest up proudly, and she was momentarily distracted by her thoughts. Ginny honestly didn't know why did boys did thrust their chests out like that. She wasn't sure if it was just her odd brothers, or the male population in general, but she still didn't get the point of it.
She shrugged in response to Charlie. "Fine." A devilish glint crept its way into her eyes. "But if you do become one, you'll get me a dragon, won't you?"
Charlie raised his eyebrows. "I'm fairly certain that you know that dragons are illegal, Ginger."
"Yes, but I'd like one," she hummed, distractedly tracing the intricate patterns on Charlie's bedsheets.
"Alright. Say, what would you like to be when you grow up?"
Ginny thought about it for awhile. What did she want to be? "I want to be…" Her face scrunched up as she contemplated and sorted through all the choices, until she found one that seemed to fit. "A Quidditch player!" she declared.
Charlie laughed and stuck out a hand to ruffle her hair. She batted it away, giggling. "A Quidditch player, huh? As a Beater? Chaser?"
Ginny immediately shook her head. "Nope! Seeker!"
Charlie mockingly glared at her. "But I'm a Seeker!"
"Exactly! And I want to be just like you, and play for the Gryffindor team, too!" Ginny grinned proudly up at her older brother.
He seemed to be a little surprised at first, and Ginny got the small inkling that he hadn't expected her to say that. His smile widened as he looked at her kindly. "You're adorable, you know that?" he said, patting her shoulder.
Ginny nodded seriously. "Yes."
"Though that doesn't mean you're modest."
"Hey," Ginny laughed, pushing his arm.
Charlie chuckled, and there was a moment of silence as they both watched a family of birds flutter by outside the window facing the apple orchard.
"Charlie?" Ginny asked, twirling a lock of red hair around her finger.
"Yeah?"
"What does 'modest' mean?"
He snorted. "The opposite of you. Just kidding," he added, mistaking her frown of confusion for hurt and discomfort.
"Okay," Ginny shrugged. "Charlie?"
"What's it now?" he moaned jokingly.
She put her chin on top of her hands. "Are you really going to be a dragon trainer when you grow up?"
"Are you really going to be a Quidditch player when you grow up?" he countered.
"Maybe," she replied.
Charlie nodded. "Well, I'm definitely going to do everything I can to be a dragon trainer."
Ginny contemplated his words for a moment. "That's brave of you," she said, with a little reverence.
Charlie scratched his head and shrugged. "Maybe." He sniffed the air. "Hey, is Mum cooking bacon?"
Ginny jolted up and off the bed. "Oh, no, I forgot!" she said, looking down at the bell she was clutching in her hand. The metal was warm with her body heat now. "I'm supposed to be waking you all up!"
Her brother got up as well, his shirt and pants crumpled. "And you came up to me first?"
Ginny shook her head. "No. I didn't want to go into the twins' room, Percy wouldn't wake up, and Bill was dreaming about kissing a girl!"
Charlie raised his eyebrows and, throwing his head back, laughed.
"What?" Ginny asked defensively, crossing her tiny arms.
Charlie only chuckled in response. "Nothing. I just wish there were more people like you." He paused and said thoughtfully, "I wish I were more like you."
"Is that a good thing?" she asked curiously.
He nodded, and started to walk out the door. "Of course, Ginger. Now come on, let's go wake the rest of the clan."
Ginny followed after him, jogging to keep up with his long strides. And as they crept into Bill's room, where the eldest Weasley was still murmuring on about a girl, Ginny pondered Charlie's words. He wanted to be more like her? But he was so much older and wiser! It didn't make sense for him to want to be like her.
But if there was one thing that Ginny knew for sure, it was that she looked up and admired all her brothers; Bill for his accomplishments, Percy for his organization skills, Fred and George for their endless jokes, Ron for his simplicity, and Charlie for his dreams.
She looked up to each and every one of them, but as she thought about their conversation, Ginny decided that she would like to be a lot like Charlie when she grew up.
Not to say that she wanted to be a dragon trainer. She didn't particularly want to work with dragons, but she did want to be brave.
She wanted to be brave, just like Charlie, her second oldest brother, was.