A/N: This is for assignment 13 in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ancient Runes, task 2: Write about a long time wish coming true.
Also for the Renaissance Festival: Main prompt: Dungeon Museum; Write about someone being tortured (not necessarily physically). And Henna tattoo: something permanent happening.
Final word count: 762
Ginny fidgeted with the spoon, stirring her cup of tea. Her nerves were on edge. Ron had owled her, asking to meet. The letter felt urgent, and Ginny was worried about what he had to say. The first thought in her mind was that he had bad news. He had told her all the good news in his letters, so for him to want to meet her, she knew it was something big.
The fact that she had arrived over an hour early hadn't helped the situation and the caffeine in the tea she'd been drinking (this was only her fifth cup so far) had only worsened her nerves. Though she'd left it behind, the letter remained very much in her mind.
Ginny,
I have something I really need to talk with you about. Something that can't be discussed in a letter. This needs to be face to face. Can you meet me at the Leaky Cauldron on Friday at noon?
Ron
In her heart of hearts, Ginny knew that something was wrong. Having to wait five days, didn't do anything. She felt tortured by the waiting. Every scrape of a chair, every swing of a door, she jumped and looked. Ron still hadn't shown up.
At this point, the five cups of tea caught up to her and Ginny got up to go use the loo. When she returned, she saw the familiar long red hair of her bother. He had started growing it out after the war, claiming a desire for change. She understood what it meant, it was the same reason she had originally cut hers. Now their hair was about the same length.
Taking a steadying breath, Ginny walked back over to the table. "Hello, Ron," she greeted, her voice shaking more than she'd ever admit.
"Hey, Ginny, how are you doing?"
"I'm alright, how about you? How's Auror training?"
As he began to speak, Ginny inspected her brother. He looked different. Thinner, much thinner, but healthy and almost peaceful compared to the rage she was used to seeing him hide away. The tank top he wore was fitted and a little low cut, far from his usual fashion.
Nodding as he finished his stories of training and tired of waiting on an answer, "So what's up? Why'd you want to meet?"
He gave his sister a half smile. "Well, I have something I want to tell you." He took a breath and looked her in the eye. "Ginny, I'm transgender."
A weighted felt lifted off of Ginny's shoulders. She'd expected her brother to tell her something like he had a disease and was going to die, or that he was going to be moving away and not coming back. In all honesty, he'd-she'd just given her great news.
"Oh, okay. Do you have a new name then?"
"Uh, no. Not yet. I haven't really thought much about that yet. Honestly, you're the first person I've told. Honestly, I was scared. I still am."
Ginny smiled. "Why?"
"It's not as if this is something we deal with a lot. It's a huge change."
"Frankly, I've always wanted a sister. Don't you remember me wishing for one every chance I had?"
Ron smiled. "Well, yeah, that's kind of why I wanted to tell you first. I thought-I hoped that you might take it like that."
"It doesn't matter what you are to me. You will always be my family. I'm always going to love you."
"Well thank you, that really means a lot to me."
"I'll gladly be there when you decide to tell the rest of the family."
"Thank you, Ginny. Really. I can't say it enough, how much this means to me."
Ginny got up out of her seat and walked over to Ron. "Of course. That's what family is for."
As Ron rose from her seat, Ginny hugged her now sister. She truly had spent her whole life wishing for a sister. But her parents decided that kids had been enough. They probably would have stopped sooner, if it hadn't been for the desire to have a daughter. Yet every year when she was a child, Ginny had asked for a sister at her birthday and Christmas. And though she stopped asking, knew that they would never grant it, she kept wishing. While this was certainly never how she expected to get that wish granted, she couldn't help the joy she felt.
"Come on, let's go have some ice cream, sister," Ginny said with a grin.
The two left the Leaky Cauldron together, smiles between them.
A/N 2: I wanted to add this after the story. I have based this story on events recent in my own life. The situation you see here almost mirrors how my now sister came out to me. The conversation is almost identical (I was not the first one told, actually one of the last, and my sister did have a new name at the time I asked). I also chose Ron, though he feels the least expected, because in my family, it was the least expected sibling that came out. And Ginny didn't question it, because what she said is true. She's loyal to her family. She loves her family.
I hope you enjoyed this. And remember, this is based on an actual real life experience with a sibling coming out (mind you it was over the phone as well for me, but that doesn't work for these two).