I love my little sister. She is the baby of the family, the only girl in a house full of boys, and we all tend to spoil and pet her. Her laughter delights us, her tears hurt us, and her tenderness mothers us. She is all the important women in our lives wrapped up in one.
She and I are only a year apart, so we're closer to each other than my other brothers, except perhaps Bill, who is the oldest and helped take care of her as a baby. She and Bill share something different than she and I do, like he's her other father. I'm more of a best friend, co-conspirator, and co-defendant when we get in trouble with our mum. I try to protect her, but she's just as feisty about protecting me, and we share each other's mishaps, secrets and heartaches.
When I went away to school, I knew it was hard on her. She was the last one left at home, no one to play with or even talk to. We sent many owls back and forth that year, she telling me all about home and hearth, me telling her about my new friends and exploits. I wanted to share my excitement with her so she wouldn't feel left out, and she wanted to make sure I wasn't too homesick for my cozy house and mum's cooking.
It was exciting for both of us the next year, because she was coming to school with me. I wanted my adventures to be her adventures, only maybe not quite so dangerous. Imagine my horror when she was the one who faced death, and I neither knew about it nor could I help her.
I was devastated. We had always shared everything with one another, but not this time. I don't know what changed that year, why she was afraid of telling me, or if she was jealous of my friends. I wanted to shake her and tell her never to do that to me again. But it wasn't about me. It was about her, and I had to understand that she wasn't always going to be a baby, wasn't always going to need me or want me. She was becoming her own person, bit by bit.
After that first year, we were still good friends, but she got to know more people from her year and only included herself once in awhile with us. I missed her; I don't think she knew that. I was busy with more adventures, schoolwork, saving the world, and she was busy with adventures of her own, schoolwork as well and becoming more of her own person.
By the time my fourth year came and went, we did very little together anymore. It was all about the TriWizard Tournament for me (I have to admit to a little jealousy there, of Harry for being in it and Victor Krum for liking Hermione), and she cheered with the rest of us the whole year. I sort of took more notice of her again, just because I was mad at Harry at the beginning, and what I saw made me happy and sad at the same time.
She was starting to notice boys who weren't Harry, and I was left with a vague feeling of helplessness as I watched first Neville, then Colin, then Seamus try to win her heart. I glared, mostly at Seamus; because I knew Neville was harmless and suspected what Colin felt was brotherly (he came out of the closet a year later). And she saw me watching and dimpled her smile at me, all the while learning her own power as a woman.
I hated that part. She couldn't be a woman; she was my baby sister, my best friend. At the end of my fifth year, and her fourth, she'd had two or three boyfriends, and was currently dating Dean Thomas, the twerp. And she'd proven herself adept at her magic, finally casting off the shadows of her first year, and throwing the sweetest Bat-Bogey Hex at Malfoy I've ever seen! It was marvelous, and I was impressed and sad at the same time.
I love her so much, but it's hard to let her grow up. This year, my last, she is pulling beyond me. Her grades are perfect, she'll be Head Girl next year (not like me - I got to Prefect, and that's good enough for me) and she's lovelier than ever. It's not just Gryffindors and Ravenclaws who are noticing; the Hufflepuffs have woken up and even one or two Slytherins. Especially one. I could have screamed, yelled, threatened, but Ginny would have ignored me as usual, smiled her beautific smile, and gone out with him anyway, no matter the hex she threw last year. So I didn't yell. I didn't scream. I watched and hoped either she wised up or he did something so I could murder him. Well, not murder, but really, really hurt. He was such a git, a snake, in my opinion, and I would have done anything to keep my little sister from getting hurt, especially by him.
She came to me one evening, right before Christmas hols. We hadn't had a long talk in awhile, so I knew something was up. The conversation was light and fun, until she pinned me with her big hazel eyes and told me about her new love. I wasn't stunned, more like I knew the other shoe was dropping, but I promised myself no matter what she said, I would always love her. I kept my temper admirably, gave her a huge hug, and told her I'd kill him if he hurt her. Then I went and told him the same thing. I'm still her big brother, after all.
I had hoped to marry her to Harry, but Luna was his true beloved, and I knew in the end Ginny and Harry weren't soul mates. I don't know that I knew much more about her than that, except if it was Malfoy she wanted, I knew she would keep him on his toes. I ended up working with him in Potions that year, me trying to be a good big brother, him trying to gain the approval of Ginny's family by being less of a git than normal. We managed to ace the final and get an "O" on our Potions NEWT's, the only "O" I got, despite constant drilling by my best friend.
I love my little sister. But she is a woman now, I know. Her boyfriend/fiancé/lover is quite a guy, and after getting to know him, I've decided he's the only one I trust to take care of her, and the only one who will ever be able to match her. Meanwhile, she's going back to school to be Head Girl and he's going back to be the new Potions Assistant, while I go away to the Auror Academy. At least I know she's loved well. I know I'm never going to be replaced, but just given a new place in her heart.