When do kid sisters grow up?
Ron wants to know.
Filk set to She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel. Original story material is the property of the fanfic author; other material of Rowling et al. falls under the usual disclaimer.
Dad took me aside.
"Ron, you realise how bumpy it was to get through First Year, even without You-Know-Who. It was very different from being schooled at home, wasn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, Ginny will be up against a lot of the same things now. Imagine how it'll be for a girl! It'll be confusing, and tempting, and very trying for her, all at the same time. I know you want to be with your friends, and she won't be trotting behind you every minute — you'll see to that, I'm sure! Still, do us a favour and keep an eye on her, and if she needs someone to help, remember you're her big brother, now more than ever."
You'll be hexed into next week
if you tell her lies.
I could never admit
What her best charm might be —
To be sure, she's a witch,
But she's also a woman, y'see!
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad -- good Lord, what was she thinking? Poor Harry looked like he wanted to disapparate, and so did I. My own sister! What an embarrassment! When Malfoy opened that diary, I was afraid she was going to have page after page of the same pig-slop. She used to be such a quiet, shy little kid, and now all of a sudden... !
The older girls must be feeding them this tripe in the dorms.
Seamus keeps winding Harry up about Ginny, until I remind him he's taking about my sister. Dean and Neville seem to think she's okay. Harry, well... he's too embarrassed to talk about her.
And I'll be so protective
She would snub me and say
That I shan't be corrective,
And I had to begin
To release her to be;
She's my little sis,
But she's also a woman, y'see.
Ever since we got her out of the Chamber of Secrets, it's been like Ginny wants to live her whole life right now.
"Can't, Ron. Maybe I can go to town tomorrow. I have to get ready for a date tonight."
"Oh you and... wait a minute, that's impossible. You can't be seeing him tonight! He went home on holiday!"
"Who... oh, I know who you're thinking of. Not him! He's so history. If you must know, I dumped him last Friday." She tossed her head like a cat discarding a dead mouse.
"What? Then, who are you dating now?"
"Ask your spies, why don't you! Ta."
She would flit here and there
And alight where she dares.
Oh! When she's just settled in,
She would flutter away —
Fickle mind without cares!
Sure, the Yule Ball was a real muddle. Harry got us dates, but it was like the girls wanted it to be about them every minute -- y'know, dancing and socialising with the Bulgarians or whatever.
It would have been so easy if Hermione had been my date. She understands us. But then she dates a Bulgarian, for Pete's sake. Poor kid, I'd wager she stuffed her dress to look like that for him, but it didn't fool me. Then Vikky keeps her on the dance floor all night, showing her off like a trophy. When I say something about it, she gets all defensive, and starts crying and screaming at me and Harry. What did we do?
In the middle of it all, there was Ginny, dancing the night away with Neville. I don't get it. What does she see in him? For that matter, what does he see in her?
Man! Maybe these girls will calm down when they get a little maturity.
And she'd praise and delight him;
Intense and intriguing
And never she'd fight him.
But then, one day he's gone,
I say, how could this be?
Only now I admit
Tho she's just a kid sister to me,
She's also a woman, y'see.
Mother was chasing us out of 'her' kitchen.
"Off with the lot of you! I've got to get cooking. Hermione will be here by evening. Ginny, dear, start the fire and fetch a cauldron of water for the broth."
"I'll get it, Mum," I offer, taking out my wand. "Ginny'll burn her eyebrows off."
"Ron! Shoo!"
"But, the fire!"
"Ginny has been taught how to cook and tend the kitchen, if you please. Out, Ron!"
"But I'm stronger than she is. She can't lift that big heavy cauldron, let alone full of water, and..."
"Ronald Bilius Weasley, out of here! Why don't you go straighten your room; Harry's coming tomorrow. As for fires and lifting, I believe Ginny also has a wand, thank you very much. In my house, when we need to move fast, this kitchen is for the women!"
"If it's for the women, then, what's Ginny doing in .."
"O U T !"
I don't know if I'll see
What her future will find;
Oh! I can't always look back,
So I try to foresee
And one scene comes to mind:
She's so beautiful.in her white gown!
I glance at Harry; he's been so nervous all morning. I swear he was ready to write "I do" on the back of his hand in case he forgot his big line. Now, he's watching Ginny too, and his knees have resumed shaking. It's finally happening.
Dad, dressed to the nines and bursting with pride, holds out his arm and Ginny takes it. Her procession slowly sweeps down the aisle through the crowd.
She whispers to Dad. They stop considerably short of the goal, and he turns to me.
"Ron, when Ginny went to school, I put her in your care, and you looked out for her whenever you thought the road was rough. Whether you know it our not, Ginny benefitted from your being there for her, and always appreciated it. She'd be pleased as punch if you'd guide her the rest of the way today." Ginny smiles, blushing.
I'm speechless. And I thought I'd just been a pain to her all those years! I'll never understand women, especially little sisters. I clumsily straighten the flaps of my pockets, and I walk to where they've stopped.
To escort down the aisle;
It's just a few yards
But it seems like a mile!
The hand of my best mate
Takes hers, nervously;
And her promise is told
That she'll now have and hold --
'Cos she's also a woman, y'see.
In the middle of the night, Hermione wakes me with a kiss and hands me the fellytone. It's Ginny, with a wailing noise behind her.
"Congratulations, Uncle Ron. And relax — it's only a boy!"