Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: This is a story that charts Ginny's relationship with each of her brothers. I love the dynamics of the Weasley siblings, and thinking about how they changed after Fred's death always fascinates me. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Strong Words
Ginny Weasley's brothers taught her everything.
They taught her to stand up to anything and that she should never give up.
They made sure she was hurt by nothing and that she was always happy.
And she thought they'd be there for her forever.
.
She went to Bill for knowledge.
"Bill, who's Harry Potter?"
Bill looked up curiously from his place by the fire. "How did you hear of Harry Potter, Ginny?"
The four-year-old sat down next to him, looking up at him with bright brown eyes. "Fred and George said I'm gonna marry him someday. But Bill, I don't wanna marry someone I've never heard of."
Bill sighed and put his arm around her, trying to sufficiently abridge the story for his little sister. "Harry Potter is a boy a little bit older than you, Ginny. He lived with his parents in a little village called Godric's Hollow. But then, one day, a very bad wizard came along…"
Once the story was finished, Ginny smiled. "I don't mind marrying Harry Potter now, Bill."
Bill laughed, and Ginny put her head against his shoulder. Bill knew everything.
.
She went to Charlie for courage.
"CHARLIE!"
Charlie hurried down to the basement to find his little sister sitting on the floor with her head hidden in her hands. In front of her was a giant snake, hissing. Clarity came at once – Mum had mentioned a Boggart down here.
"Ginny," he said calmly, "that's a Boggart. It's not real. Turn it into something funny, and it will go away."
"H-how?" she whispered.
"Just imagine it as something funny. When you look at it, concentrate very hard on seeing it just as the funny thing." He wanted to do the Riddikulus charm, but he wasn't allowed to do magic outside school yet. Besides, Ginny needed to learn how to face her fears.
His sister was silent for a moment, before raising her head and staring determinedly at the snake. After a moment, she began to giggle. The Boggart glared at her for a moment longer before vanishing.
Ginny looked up at Charlie, who knelt on the floor beside her. "Listen to me, Ginny," he began. She nodded. "When you grow older, you'll find many things that scare you. And for each one, I want you to do what to you just did: look them in the eye and laugh. You're going to be a Gryffindor, Gin-kins, and you have to live up to that. Don't stand down for anything. You're a Weasley girl, and don't forget it. I'm very proud of you for facing that Boggart."
Ginny smiled as he put his arms around her. Charlie could help her face anything.
.
She went to Percy for the truth.
"Percy," the seven-year-old began, hovering on the threshold to her brother's room, "is it true that the green-coloured Every-Flavoured Beans are poisonous?"
"Who gave you that idea?"
"The twins said it first, but Ron and Bill and Charlie all agreed."
Percy rolled his eyes. Alone among his brothers, he believed that the little ones should never be lied to. Nobody else seemed to realise just how scared they had made Ginny. "No, Ginny. They're not poisonous. What did it taste like, anyway?"
"Mint," she answered, looking relieved.
Percy grinned at her. "My favourite. The number of mint-flavoured beans I've eaten, don't you think I'd be dead by now if they were poisonous?"
She smiled. "Well… I suppose so." When she turned to walk back out of the room, the grin was still firmly in place on her face, because Percy never lied to her.
.
She went to Fred for laughter.
Whenever she woke screaming from a nightmare, the twins would come rushing into her room. Fred would invariably make some random joke, and she'd start to laugh again.
After she was rescued from the Chamber of Secrets, Fred trailed her constantly, as if worried that she would burst into tears (or worse, disappear again) if he didn't have his eyes on her every second of the day.
Once, he found her by the lake, staring gloomily into its depths.
"Come on, Gin-kins, where's that Gryffindor courage now?"
She glanced up. "What do you mean?"
He grinned crookedly. "We all know about your crush on the Giant Squid. Just ask him out already. I must say, he's an improvement on Harry. Much less skinny."
She was torn between giggling and killing him, so she settled for chasing him all the way up to Gryffindor Tower, laughing all the way.
Even after she'd caught him and exacted her revenge for his teasing, she didn't stop smiling.
Because nothing could stop Fred from making her laugh.
.
She went to George for comfort.
During her nightmares, while Fred joked around, it was George who held her and stroked her. He murmured soothing babble-words into her ear: Sshhh, Gin-kins, it's alright, I'm here now, don't cry.
When she woke up in the hospital wing after the Chamber, it was George who held her hand as she screamed her fears and guilt into the darkness. "It's over now," he whispered.
"Y-you don't understand," she sobbed. She told him how Tom had made her feel so – so special, so different, and she must be evil if she actually liked being in You-Know-Who's presence.
George was not particularly eloquent, but he held her as she cried and whispered his words of comfort until she fell into a dreamless sleep.
When she awoke, she felt peaceful at last, and she knew that George would always manage to make her feel better.
.
She went to Ron for understanding.
It wasn't fair. Bill was off in Egypt, Charlie and Percy were both in school, and this year the twins were going too. She waved them all off at King's Cross, but when she returned home to the Burrow the place just seemed so empty. And you can't play Quidditch with only two people.
"I know how you feel," said Ron, coming to stand beside her at the kitchen window. "It's just not fair that they all get to go and we have to stay behind like babies, is it?"
She scowled. "No."
"Someday," Ron told her, putting his arm around her, "we'll get to go too. We'll get to – annoy Peeves, and be Sorted, and have Potions with Slimy Snape, and all that. And," correctly reading her mind once more, "I know I'll be there before you, but just think – it means that you won't be a newbie like I will. You'll get to come to me for advice and everything. I feel so jealous. I bet Fred and George won't help me with anything…"
Ginny grinned. "They'd better. Or they'll have me to answer to." She was feeling more than a little taken aback at how easily Ron had summed up her emotions, but it felt nice to be understood.
"There's the spirit!" Ron said brightly. "How about we go out for a fly? We can use Charlie's old Cleansweep."
As they swooped and ducked far above the hills, Ginny felt elation running through her. She knew that Ron would understand how she felt forever.
.
Everything. Anything. Never. Nothing. Always. Forever. They're strong words.
Because when Fred died, everything changed.
Anything that happened could send her once-strong brothers into tears, and they never smiled.
Nothing save the impossible could mend her family, and Ginny knew she'd always be waiting for that miracle to walk in the door with a bright smile.
But Fred was gone forever.
.
"Bill? Why did it have to be Fred? Why couldn't it have been someone – older? Someone who had lived a full life?"
Bill looked up from the fireplace, where he was sitting with Fleur and clutching her hand. His eyes were red and puffy, and his cheeks were damp. "I don't know, Ginny," he said tiredly. "I just don't know anymore."
And the first blow was struck to her unwavering belief in her brothers, because Bill didn't know why Fred had died.
.
She found Charlie in the basement, sobbing his eyes out.
"Charlie," she whispered, approaching him. "Charlie, I don't know what to do. I don't want to be strong anymore, Charlie, I just want someone to cry on. I can't look this in the eye and laugh, Charlie, because there's absolutely nothing funny about it. Charlie, I can't do this anymore."
She waited for a reply for a long time. Just when she had given up, she heard him say through his fingers, "None of us can, Gin-kins."
And the second blow was struck, because Charlie couldn't help her to face the long, Fred-less years in front of her.
.
"Percy," she asked, standing in the doorway to his room, "does it hurt? Having a wall fall on you?"
Percy looked up from his desk, where he'd buried his face in his arms. Seeing Ginny, he hesitated before saying, "No, Ginny. It doesn't hurt. It was instantaneous."
And the third blow was dealt, because Percy had lied to her about Fred's death.
.
She sat in her bedroom, where Fred would always joke around after her nightmares, and cried. "Fred," she said. "Please, please, please, come back. You died for a new world, but what's the point of a new world without you in it? Nobody wants to laugh anymore, Fred."
She had walked over to the window, where she could see the white headstone shining like a star in the dark night. Everything was silent.
And the fourth blow hurt, because death had stopped Fred from making her laugh.
.
She woke up screaming.
Normally, she'd already be in George's arms right now, but nothing was normal and so she opened the door and made her way into the twins' room. (She couldn't call it George's room. She just couldn't.)
George was awake and sitting on his bed. He did not turn as Ginny walked in. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. "I – I had a nightmare," she whispered. "And it's a thousand times worse than any nightmares I had before, and –"
But the force of her tears overcame her, and for a while she simply sat there and cried, waiting for the arms around her and the soft babble-language in her ear.
It didn't come.
After some time, Ginny raised her head. Her eyes met the dark hole where her brother's ear should have been. George was still sitting stiffly on the bed and staring resolutely out the window. One of his hands patted her shoulder once, but that seemed to be all that he could manage.
Ginny wiped her eyes and left the room.
The fifth blow, and Ginny's once unshakeable belief in her brothers was wobbling dangerously, because George couldn't comfort her when Fred was dead.
.
Ron found her by the kitchen window, staring unseeingly out at the clear blue sky. For a moment, they were both silent, before Ginny suddenly blurted, "Do you feel the same way I do? Like your heart is being torn in two? Like you're burning and freezing at the same time? Like every inch of you is bleeding? Like you're screaming and screaming and screaming and nobody can hear you? Does every breath you take hurt you, because it's one more breath that will never fill his lungs?"
She chanced a glance sideways. Ron stood beside her, still gazing at the sky. Finally he whispered hoarsely, "No, Ginny, I don't. It's just – numb."
She turned away before he could see her disappointed face, but the final blow had shattered her belief in her brothers, because Ron couldn't understand how she felt when Fred was dead.
.
Ginny had tried everything.
But anything she did could not change the fact that Fred was never coming back.
Nothing could make that happen.
And she knew she'd always be hurting, until the end of forever.
A/N: Well, that's that done! Please tell me what you thought of the story in a review!
~Butterfly