A/N – Hello! I'm back in that phase where I'm watching and re-watching all the films, and re-reading the books. This is just a little bit of Weasley fluff; I've always loved Fred and George and wondered how they would react to playing the comforting big brothers rather than the pranksters all the time. Personally, I'd love brothers like the twins! Just a reminder that none of these characters are mine, they belong to the genius that is JK Rowling! I hope you enjoy!

The walls at the burrow are thin. If your sibling is listening to music, you can hear every note. Watching a film? You can catch every line. Having some alone time with a 'friend'… yeah, you get the idea. Fred and George had heard it all over the years, what with three older brothers themselves!

But, what if a sibling is crying alone in their room? Well, you can hear every sob, feel every hitch of breath and listen closely, wondering what on earth could have made them so sad.

It was the last night of the Summer holidays, before the Weasley's were due to head back to Hogwarts.

'So much for Summer,' Thought Fred and George as they gazed out of their second story window at the rain. Despite being fifteen years old, the boys were still mesmerised by the weather. They had their wands poised and ready at the window, taking turns to zap the droplets and turn them into fireworks, laughing quietly with each tiny explosion.

As they began to grow bored, and their explosions became less and less frequent, George realised there was another noise beyond the bangs and pops they were creating. Something soft and vulnerable. Something unhappy.

He raised his index finger slowly and took a step back from the window, turning his attention to the wall where their twin beds rested. Perching himself on the edge of the bed, he pressed his ear against the wall. Beckoning Fred towards him, he listened intently.

'Is that…' Fred started.

'Ginny,' George sighed. 'Bless her.'

The twins had an inkling something wasn't quite right with their little sister. She had been so subdued at dinner, barely saying a word or touching her food – much to Molly's dismay, as she had laid out such a grand leaving feast. Still, the boys of the Weasley family had more than made up for Ginny's lack of appetite.

'Should we go get mum or dad?' Fred suggested, already knowing the answer. It was gone 2am; Molly and Arthur would be long asleep, and probably reprimand the boys for staying awake so late. Besides, they were all the way on the top floor, and they didn't want to leave Ginny down here alone.

'No,' George breathed, finally. 'Come on.'

Any other time, the boys might have apparated into their sister's room, or even transfigured themselves into furniture and back, just to give her a good shock and a giggle. But something told them this wasn't the right time.

Fred led the way, tiptoeing gently across the creaky floorboards of the Weasley's home. As they approached Ginny's door, they could see it was just slightly ajar. Without knocking, Fred gave it a mild tap and pushed it wider open.

'Ginny?' He whispered.

Ginny didn't hear her brothers enter. She was curled up on the bed, her knees to her chest and long ginger hair draped over them. With every sob, her shoulders shook violently. The boys felt their hearts wrench as they continued towards her.

George lightly sat on the edge of her bed as Fred knelt down on the floor in front of her.

'Gin?' George whispered, slightly louder this time. She jumped, startled, her breathing quick and shallow.

'It's only us, Ginny, it's okay.' Fred took one of her shaking hands in his own as George wrapped a reassuring arm around his little sister.

Her breathing picked up pace as her eyes darted around the room, tears steadily falling. The brothers shared a worried look, but silently vowed that they could handle the situation on their own. Notorious pranksters, they weren't used to showing their soft side, especially to their siblings. But, first and foremost, they knew that they were big brothers and, right now, their little sister needed them. That was all that mattered.

'Breathe, darling, breathe,' George murmured, stroking her hair lightly with his hand. It was all matted and damp from crying. She gasped and hiccupped, gradually managing to regain control of her breath with her brothers by her side. 'Shh, there we go, that's it.'

Ginny allowed he head to fall onto George's shoulder. Fred, still holding her hand tightly and caressing it with his thumb, smiled sympathetically.

'We didn't mean to scare you, Gin. We just came to check on you,' Fred spoke softly.

'You-you didn't s-scare me. I-I j-just wasn't exp-expecting it.' Ginny defended herself meekly, still gasping a little bit and trembling. She always pretended the boys hadn't shocked her when they played their tricks, even if she had screamed so loud they thought the house might fall down.

'Of course not.' Fred conceded. He rose from the floor, her hand still clutching his tightly, and sat next to her on the other side. 'There we go, there.'

Ginny whimpered at his soft, caring tone, and her tears started back up again. George pulled her tightly into a hug as Fred ran his hand up and down her back soothingly.

'Gin-gin?' George whispered softly. 'What's the matter?' Initially, the boys' intention had been simply to cheer her up, but now they were realising that they really had to get to the root of her tears.

'Talk to us, Gin, we want to make it better.' Fred added, wrapping his free arm around both of his siblings. George himself looked tearful at his little sister, who sat sobbing into his chest.

'You can't m-make it better. T-that's the point.' Ginny mumbled, her voice muffled by her brother's shirt.

George silently wiped a tear from his own eye as he lifted her onto his lap, her head still buried in his chest. Fred shuffled in closer, giving George a pat on the shoulder and continuing his stroking of Ginny's back.

'Ginny? Ginny, look up a sec?' She reluctantly raised her head toto meet Fred's eyes as he spoke, her own eyes streaming. 'I promise you, we can make this better if you tell us, okay?'

'I'm not s-sure you c-can,' Ginny sighed.

George wiped one of Ginny's tears away with his thumb. 'We can.' He reassured her.

'I'm scared.' The boys hearts broke at how vulnerable she sounded. 'I-I don't think I want to go back to Hogwarts this year.'

'Why's that, Gin?' Fred pressed, gently.

'It's the-the…ever since…I…' She couldn't finish her sentence, but the twins had caught on and shared a silent exchange with their eyes.

'Since you were taken into the chamber?' Fred asked, warily.

Ginny nodded, clinging onto George even tighter, sobs wracking her body. 'Hey, shh,' he cooed in her ear. 'You're safe now, you're with your big brothers.'

'And even at Hogwarts. You have us there with you, right by your side. Don't you, eh?' Fred placed his hand on the back of her head, leaning into George to look into her eyes. 'And Ron. And Harry and Hermione. We'll all look out for you, Ginny bear.'

'We won't let anything happen to you again, Gin, that's a promise,' George continued. 'It's over now.'

'Is that what kept you awake? The worry?' Fred inquired tenderly.

'I-I was asleep.' She told them. 'But h-he was back in my dreams. The diary – he said i-it was m-my fault for being nosey and I d-deserved to die down there. H-he promised to c-come back for m-me when I'm a-asleep,' She cried.

'Not while we're around, little sis.' Said Fred, jumping up in a mock superhero pose in an attempt to make her giggle. She smiled weakly as George stood, lifting her up in his arms with him.

'Come with us. He's not going to get you tonight, Gin. Not tonight, not ever.' As Fred opened the bedroom doors, George carried her into their own room.

Pushing the beds together, Fred told her 'We're going to have a sleepover. And you get the absolute honour, m'lady, of sleeping right in between us two handsome gents!'

That made her smile properly as George set her down in the bed. He relaxed a little seeing her starting to calm.

Clambering in either side of their little sister, each of the boys wrapped an arm around her. Truthfully, they were worried about what might happen when they returned to Hogwarts. Everyone knew how powerful the dark wizard could be, and truthfully the fifteen year olds were not a match for his prowess as a wizard. But that was an issue for another time. Nobody was going to get their little sister tonight, not even you-know-who.

'Goodnight Gin-Gin.' The twins whispered in unison.

'Goodnight, big brothers.' She replied, smiling as she cuddled into their warm, protective embrace. It was on nights like this she was really proud to be a Weasley.

A/N – I hope you enjoyed the story! I'm yet to decide whether I should leave this as a one shot or turn it into a full story, following them at Hogwarts? Be sure to leave a review to let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!