A/N: This is an outtake from my WIP, Faintest, Slimmest, Wildest Chance, specifically chapter three (the actual chapter three, not counting the prelude). Although it's rated M, there's no mature content in that chapter if you want to read it first. Basically, Ginny yells at Harry for disappearing without a word and not speaking to her when he returned, and Ron yells at Ginny for yelling at Harry. This takes place in the Gryffindor Common Room the night after the Final Battle.
Kudos to MandyinKC, who gave me the idea for this in the first place and even supplied some of the dialogue when I got stuck with Ron, who kept trying to convince Bill that Harry and Ginny were meant to be.
Bill watched Hermione lead his crying sister through the door to the girls' dormitories, then beckoned Ron to the table where he, Charlie, and Percy were sitting. Ron obeyed the summons but took his time, slouching across the common room and dropping into an empty chair with a scowl.
"You want to explain why you yelled at Ginny? You're her brother. You're supposed to stick up for her, not make her feel worse."
"Ginny has plenty of brothers," Ron said shortly. "Harry, on the other hand…. "
Not for the first time, Bill noticed how much his youngest brother had matured over the last few months. Six months ago Ron would not have challenged him so directly. He wasn't sure he liked the change.
"Harry can fend for himself," Charlie said.
Bill remembered the dark-haired young man circling Voldemort, calm, confident, and fearless, and whole-heartedly agreed.
"Ginny was crying. She never cries. When was the last time you saw Ginny cry?" Percy said.
He knew Percy had meant it as a rhetorical question, but as the answer formed on Ron's face, Bill's jaw tightened.
"That was Potter's fault too, wasn't it?" Percy said.
"You've never seen them together, not really," Ron said. "None of you have. It's—well, you'd understand then."
Bill allowed his skepticism to show. All he had seen, last summer and last month and tonight—this morning—whatever the hell time it was—was one distraught baby sister.
And that was simply unacceptable.
"I'll talk to Harry, okay? He promised— He'll make it right," Ron said firmly.
Finally, a smidgen of what Bill considered to be an appropriate older-brother attitude. "He has a lot of work to do."
"Not as much as you'd like, I'm afraid." Ron sighed. "Ginny is crazy about him. Your best bet is to persuade him to do something noble again. That seems to piss her off the most."
"Like wanting her to stay safe in the Room of Requirement," Percy said.
"Uh-huh."
"Well, I can't fault him for that," Bill said grudgingly. He had planned to have a few words with Fred and George for bringing Ginny with them, but now….
Charlie crossed his arms. "I still don't like it."
Ron shrugged. "I don't either, much, but if Ginny has to be with someone … it should be someone like Harry."
"Why does Gin-Gin have to be with anybody?" Charlie muttered.
Bill ignored him. They had bigger problems: Ron was missing the point. "Look, Ron, this really has nothing to do with Harry and Ginny," Bill said.
Ron's brow wrinkled.
"I'm talking about you and Ginny," Bill continued. "About your responsibility as her brother."
Ron looked at him blankly.
Bill blew out a frustrated breath and looked to Charlie.
"Who was Ginny's boyfriend before Harry?" Charlie said. "Tim? Tom?"
"Before Harry?" Percy said. "How many boyfriends has Ginny had?"
"Too many," Ron said darkly.
"A few," Bill conceded.
"Let's say Ginny and Tim are fighting."
"Thomas," Ron said. "Dean Thomas."
"Fine. Ginny and Dean are fighting. And—"
"But Harry didn't fight with her," Ron argued. "Harry couldn't hardly get a word in!"
Bill was pleased to see Charlie's older-brother look had not faded despite several years in Romania. Ron shut up and sat back.
"Let's say Ginny's hurt because Dean's being a git," Charlie went on. "A noble, perhaps even thoughtful git, but she's crying, which makes him a git."
Bill and Percy nodded for emphasis. This was a crucial point.
"How would you feel then?" Charlie said. "Ginny's crying, completely falling apart, all because of This Git Dean."
Ron squirmed. "That's different. Ginny was wrong here. She shouldn't have yelled at Harry like that. He—"
"We never said Ginny wasn't wrong," Percy said. "We only said you were."
Ron glared at him, and Bill hurried on before Ron could say anything about Percy's mistakes.
"What if Harry and Ginny do make up and get back together?" Bill said. "Your baby sister is going to think you're always on Harry's side, that you won't stick up for her. Is that what you want, Ron?"
"That's not true!" Ron said hotly. "I just want Ginny to know I won't stick up for her unless she's right!"
Bill groaned. Percy pinched the bridge of his nose above his glasses.
Charlie rested his head in his hands. "This is hopeless."
"Wait," Percy said, holding up one finger. "We've left out something."
Bill and Charlie stared at him, nonplussed. They'd given the "how to be a proper older brother" speech too many times to count. What could they have possibly forgotten?
"You always stick up for Ginny in public," Percy emphasized. "If she's being a brat, you're more than welcome to berate her later. Privately. But every single person who messes with Ginny needs to know they're messing with all of us. Even Harry Potter."
"Especially Harry Potter," Bill said, thinking of what Ron said about Ginny's feelings.
Ron's expression cleared. "I get it now," he said.
Charlie heaved a sigh of relief.
"She was already humiliated, saying all that personal stuff and crying in front of everyone," Bill said. "That wasn't the time to yell at her."
Ron winced. "I know. I was mad too. Harry had been waiting for her all night. All year, really. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think they belong together. Ginny will understand."
"It's really annoying the way you two stick together, you know that?" Bill said.
"Who, me and Harry?"
"No. You and Ginny," Charlie said. "We never could persuade you to do something you knew she wouldn't like."
"Well, she's my baby sister," Ron said, and the brothers exchanged a smile.