August 11th, 1981

3 - Sister

"Boys! Fred, George, Ron? We're home!" Arthur Weasley was all smiles as he re-entered his house after almost ten hours with Molly in labour. Percy was bringing in the overnight bag that had been sitting at the door for the past two weeks, Charlie was helping his exhausted mother inside the house, and Bill was holding the reason for all the chaos of the last 24 hours.

Ginevra Molly Weasley.

"WHERE IS HE?"

"I WANT TO SEE HIM!"

"AHHH!"

The cries of Fred. George, and Ron, respectively reverberated off the walls as the twins flew around the corner from the sitting room, and Ron tottered a bit slower down the hall after them. An older woman, with red-rimmed eyes and a sour expression also entered the hall.

"Muriel, thank you again for watching the boys at such late notice." Arthur turned towards Aunt Muriel, his smile still not fading.

"This better be the last one Arthur, an old lady can't continually watch young children like this. I'll have you remember that I am 91 years old." Arthur was quick to show Muriel out the door before turning back to his family.

"Now, who wants to hold Ginevra first?" The boys looked puzzled.

"Ginevra? What kind of name is that?" Fred asked, George was observing his sister in Bill's arms.

"Well boys, Ginevra is a girl's name." Arthur smiled.

"Why would you give him a girls name? Won't he get teased?" George asked.

"She's a girl George, and if you're going to look at her so closely, you have to be quiet, she's sleeping." Bill whispered. George nodded, still staring at his sister.

"Can I hold?" Ron was reaching up at her from the ground at Bill's feet. Bill smiled, and after getting an okay from Arthur, they retreated to the living room to sit down and pass around their sister after Bill showed them how to properly hold her.

"Look, look! She likes me best!" Ron was holding her with assistance from Bill, and after all the passing around, she had opened her eyes and grabbed Ron's finger. "You like me best don't you Gin-r-y?" Bill laughed at that.

"Ginry? Almost a nickname." His sister looked up at him when he laughed. The twins just stared at her. She seemed a lot smaller then Ron had been. It was probably something about being a girl no doubt.

"Ginny." They said in unison. "You are now Ginny." Little Ginny were looking at the twins with large eyes, darting between the two back and forth as fast as she could, trying to figure out if she was seeing double.

"Ginny eh? I think that could catch on." Bill said, picking up his sister and bringing her to his mother, who had made her way into the sitting room and onto the couch. The twins and Ron kept staring at their little sister as Molly Weasley took her in her arms, smiling down at her.

That night, during a brief few hours of silence, Fred and George made their way out of their room and down to the crib that had been set up in the new room for baby Ginny. Looking in on her crib, they were both struck once again with how tiny she really was.

"Hey Ginny." George spoke up quietly, not wanting to wake her, "I'm George, you're new favourite brother."

"George's overrated," Fred chimed in, just as quiet, "I'm your real favourite, but don't worry, it can be our secret."

"I promise Ginny, no one's going to get you. We're going to protect you forever." George continued where he left off, Fred nodded beside him. "Mom and Dad say we have to be careful to always be in there sight because there's a bad man outside right now, but I promise, we're going to look after you, alright?"

"We'll learn tons of magic, and we'll teach you everything we know." Fred whispered, getting her closer to the bars of her crib.

"Got that Ginny? You're really little, and Fred and I are getting pretty big, so it makes sense if we watch over you okay? No bad Lord Foldenort is going to get you."

"We promise." They whispered in unison, their faces as close to the bars as they could, looking at their tiny sister, who they were determined to protect from anything bad in the world.

From the bedroom door, Bill Weasley, who had heard the footsteps enter the room, leaned on the doorframe and watched over his brothers looking in on Ginny's crib, with a hint of a smile on his face.

Yes, this one's mighty short, but I didn't want to overcomplicate anything in what I think is just a few special, particular moments. I always imagine the presence of a baby girl in the house would spark these kind of feelings for the twins, and I think there's a reason Ginny takes after them!

Also - Now that they're all born, we can focus on other things!

Always my love,

~ M. Merra