A/N: OK. This was kind of a random idea. Again, like the vast majority of my oneshots, it is devoid of all plot. Please forgive me and read it anyway; it's very short (shorter than it looked on Microsoft Word but oh well), won't take up much of your time and even though hardly anything happens, you might like it anyway. You never know. - SK
Ron was pacing around his younger sister's room, gritting his teeth, hands shoved deep into his pockets and nearly poking through the other side. Ginny was lying on her bed, attempting to finish a Potions essay but completely unable to concentrate due to her brother's loud complaining.
"I mean, who does she think she is, insulting Lavender like that? What did Lavender ever do to her, anyway? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Who is she to call my girlfriend clingy? Lav's not clingy, she just – I don't know, I guess she just really likes me. And what's wrong with that? She likes me, I like her; end of story. I'll tell you what, Gin, Hermione's just being a downright bi-…" Ginny slammed her quill down on her parchment, leaving a big ink splotch in the middle of the page. Ron looked at her, bewildered.
"Ron," said Ginny, looking up at her brother, "You're being obnoxious. I am sick of hearing you and Hermione complain about each other behind each other's backs, griping about how much you hate each other all while using Lavender Brown – who, by the way, is clingy – as a pretense. Not only do I have to make sure you two don't murder each other when you're in the same room, but I also have to put up with your rants about Hermione being mean to your girlfriend and Hermione's rants about your girlfriend being mean to her. I'm sick of it. Now do me a favor and either sort of your problems with Hermione directly or just admit that you two have feelings for each other and be done with it once and for all." Ron blinked at his younger sister, surprised. Neither sibling said anything for nearly a minute.
"What was that last bit?" asked Ron. Ginny figured she might have gone too far and just shook her head.
"Nothing."
"I thought you said…"
"It was nothing. I'm sorry I snapped, but I've got to finish this for tomorrow and I've hardly written a paragraph."
"No, you're right, I should stop whining about Hermione. She is my friend after all."
"True; and it's perfectly normal to be in denial about this kind of thing if you've been friends for so long." Ron blinked and opened and closed his mouth four times before saying anything. His sister, oblivious, waved her wand at her parchment in the hopes of getting rid of the ink spot, only resulting in making it bigger.
"What kind of thing?"
"What?"
"You said, "It's normal to be in denial about this kind of thing". What kind of thing?"
"I dunno… romantic sentiments, of sorts."
"Romantic sentiments?" Ron asked, looking utterly disgusted.
"Yeah, sort of," said Ginny distractedly, still attempting to clear his piece of parchment.
"Why would you think I've got romantic sentiments for Hermione?" Ron demanded, still looking horrified by the very thought.
"Well… the way you say her name, for one."
"What? "Hermione"? Like that?"
"Yeah. Also, you constantly talk about her."
"I do not!"
"Well, what are you doing now?" demanded Ginny, looking up from his parchment to smile smugly at Ron, who was slowly turning as red as his hair.
"I… you… but I was complaining about her!"
"Doesn't matter. You're still talking about her. She must be on your mind."
"But that's not… I just… She's my friend!"
"Oh, save it, Ron. She likes you too, you know." Ron's expression immediately transformed from frustration to confusion to curiosity.
"She… she does? I mean, er, did she tell you anything?" Ginny tried to hide her self-satisfied smile.
"Not outright, but that girl is an open book. Also, girls are very easy to read. I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet… but then again, considering you aren't much smarter or observant than the average gorilla…"
"Hey!"
"… I suppose it was to be expected."
"But... I don't like Hermione. That way. We're just friends."
"Don't give me that. You're "just friends" with Harry. You're "just friends" with Dean. You're "just friends" with Luna. But you are not "just friends" with Hermione."
"And how would you know? You don't spend time with Harry and Hermione and me during the school year. For all you know, we could be just friends." Ginny made an unladylike snort of disbelief.
"Right. She was certainly right when she said you had the emotional insight of a lampshade."
"When did she say that?"
"Just yesterday. Look, there's no point in denying it to me; I've seen this coming for ages."
"Ages?"
"Ages."
"Like, er, how long?"
"About a year, maybe a little less."
"You're not serious."
"Oh, but I am."
"But… we're just friends!"
"Keep telling yourself that, Ron, and soon she's going to get sick of waiting and get swept off her feet by some dashing French boy with a gorgeous accent and a 500 Galleon broom, never to be seen again, and you'll be looking back on this moment and thinking, "I wish I'd listened to my little sister.""
"Really?"
"Really. I know girls. We're all the same. To be blunt about it, you need to do something now or you'll regret it for the rest of your miserable life." Ron appeared to consider something very carefully, then marched out the door.
"And where do you think you're going?" asked Ginny.
"For a walk." Ron slammed the door shut behind him, and Ginny smiled smugly to herself. About time. She dipped her quill in ink again, flicked her wand at her parchment to clear it and pulled out Hermione's old essay on the properties of moonstones from under her pillow. With a little rephrasing and just enough crossing-outs and mistakes, this should do the trick.