1Chapter 4

Ginny woke early the next morning. She sat on her windowsill and watched the sunrise. She loved sunrise. Hearing the birds sing, letting the wind twirl through her hair, watching the beautiful colors; they all soothed her.

A knock came on the door.

"One second." She said. She got up and waltzed over to the door. "Oh, hello, Hermione! What are you doing here?"

"I need some advice." She replied.

"All right, got for it." Ginny said, sitting down on her bed cross-legged. Hermione took a seat in an armchair near the bed.

"I really love your brother."

"Yes, I know. I still can't figure out why… but I know." Ginny replied. Hermione chucked, then became serious.

"I think- I think he's going to propose to me soon." Ginny's eyes went wide.

"Propose? Already? But you've only been going out for a year!"

"Yeah, that's exactly why I need your advice. Because I love him, and I really do want to marry him, I just don't know if now is the right time."

Ginny sat like a little girl just begging to hear more of a bedtime story.

"Sometimes I feel like our relationship will never work out, just because we get into so many rows. Honestly, Ron tends to overreact, a lot. So if he proposes, and I tell him that I want to hold off for a while, I don't know what that will do to our relationship." Hermione finished. Water began to fill her eyes.

"You're completely right about my brother and his little overreacting problem, but he loves you, more than any girl he's ever known. And if you choose to hold off on a marriage, he will wait for you." Ginny comforted. Hermione smiled through her tears and hugged Ginny.

"Thanks, Gin. You will be the best sister-in-law anyone could ask for." She said when they parted.

"Sister-in-law." Ginny repeated. "That's something that will take a while to get used to."

Hermione laughed, getting up from the chair.

"I'll see you soon." She said. With one small "pop" she apparated back to her house.

Ginny smiled and went back to her original spot at the windowsill. The sun was now completely up over the horizon and was turning into a melon orange color already.

Another knock came on her door.

"Come in."

"Was that Hermione?" She turned to see Ron walking in towards her.

"Yep."

"Well, why didn't you tell me! I had something I wanted to ask her." He said gloomily.

"Maybe you should hold off and wait a while before you 'ask any questions'." Ginny replied. Ron eyed her suspiciously.

"All right…" He said confused and walked back to his room.

Ginny sighed. She looked back outside.

"Finally, some quiet." She whispered.

Another knock.

Ginny inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, trying to hold in her anger.

"Come in." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gin. Is this not a good time?" Harry's voice came through the door.

"Oh, Harry! No, it's fine. You can come in." She called back.

The door opened and Harry came over and sat on the windowsill next to her, smiling.

"Is something on your mind?" He asked curiously.

"Well, yes, and no."

Harry's eyes told her to go on.

"Hermione was just here. She knows Ron is going to propose to her soon, but she doesn't think she's ready to get married quite yet. But Ron, being the git he sometimes is, might overreact about the whole situation, but Hermione doesn't want to risk their relationship."

"Oh, tough spot." Harry replied.

"Yeah."

"Just know that when you feel like you need to help with something, sometimes it's just best to keep quiet for a while and let things unravel by themselves. If the situation demands your help, you'll know it. But don't take action before you know it's needed."

Ginny exhaled sharply.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks, Harry," she said, giving him a hug. He put his arms around her too. He loved this feeling, of holding her in his arms, keeping her safe. Then he realized what he was doing and let go. He noticed Ginny must have been thinking the same thing, or close to it, because then their presences became awkward.

Harry cleared his throat, wishing he could find something to say to break the silence.

"Well, um, I probably need to get ready now, so um, can we talk later?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll just-" He left the room.

Ginny went to her dresser and pulled out a thin green t-shirt with a navy blue long-sleeved shirt to go over it. She took off her nightgown and put the tops on. She also picked a pair of blue jeans and threw those on as well. She put her nightgown into the third drawer and headed to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth.

As she went down to breakfast, Harry was already beginning to eat the mountain of pancakes piled in front of him.

"Mum, honestly, you're going to kill Harry with all that food!" she exclaimed. Her mother whipped around from the counter.

"Well, look at the lad! He'll snap in two someday, you just wait and see," she replied, pointing her wand at Ginny as she said so. Ginny chuckled as she took a seat across from Harry, helping herself to two pancakes.

"Any owls today, Mum?" Ron asked, running down the stairs.

"No, why? Are you expecting one?" Molly asked curiously.

"Well, actually, yes. I sent in an application to play for the Chudley Cannons. I'm still waiting to see if I get to try out."

"That's… interesting." Molly said, turning back to the counter to cook some ham.

"That's it? All I get is an 'interesting'?" Ron asked.

"What Mum means to say is that do you think Quidditch is really your thing, Ron? I mean, you did get knocked out last year…" Ginny reminded him.

"And just when I was beginning to get over that!" Ron exclaimed, getting red in the cheeks. "I think you're just jealous."

"Oh really? That's what you think, huh?" Ginny put down her fork and stared at her brother, starting to get upset.

"Yeah! Just because you weren't smart enough to think of signing up yourself sooner!"

"Ron! I'm not even out of school yet! In case you didn't notice, you have to be actually counted as a wizard before you can apply for those kinds of things. You happen to be eighteen already, I'm just now going to turn seventeen."

Ron started to say something, then paused. He didn't know exactly how to reply to that. After all, Ginny was right. He huffed some air at her and went back upstairs, mumbling to himself.

"He won't stay up there long," Ginny said, taking a sip of milk.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"He's a Weasley, and a Weasley can never skip breakfast."

Right as Ginny finished, Ron came back down the stairs, grabbed a plate, some pancakes and a piece of the freshly made ham and trailed back upstairs, not making eye-contact with anyone.

"Brothers." Ginny muttered.