A/N: Hi all! This chapter features Ginny's visit to see Harry and Ron after the Quidditch fisco involving McLaggen. It also features a quiet moment where Ron attempts to comfort Ginny one night in summer at the Burrow after she and Harry have split and before the events in the Deathly Hallows.

A small note: I decided to borrow a concept from the Deathly Hallows Part 1 film - the use of an actual Muggle song over the radio to convey the mood of a scene. A portion of lyrics from the song 'Sister' by the Black Keys are used. Disclaimer: not surprisingly, I do not have ownership over this music, nor over JKR's characters.

5:

At the sound of the footsteps, Ron rolled over to see a most harried-looking Ginny, her nostrils flared and looking unusually pale.

"Hey Gin, you all right?" he whispered, giving the still-unconscious Harry a quick, nervous look. The poor bloke probably needed his sleep, after all.

Ginny's eyes flicked away from the sleeping figure back to him. "Fine," she replied tersely. "Just a little pissed off about McLaggen costing us that match, the utter f-"

"What was the score?" he heard himself ask, simultaneously dreading the answer and hoping that McLaggen had been thoroughly humiliated.

"Three hundred and twenty to sixty," sighed Ginny, plonking herself down at the foot of his bed. A frown crossed her features as she stared at Ron minutely. "Don't tell me you're pleased, Won-Won?" Ron involuntarily shuddered at the mention of his girlfriend's pet name for him.

Girlfriend.

Was she really still? They hadn't split up, he reasoned. Not yet, anyway.

"Don't call me that," he moaned, sinking his face into his hands. "It's bad enough when she rushes in and…."

"What?" said Ginny, her bad temper clearly fading away as a smirk crossed her features. "You mean when you suddenly, miraculously fall asleep the moment she arrives? So Hermione tells me, anyway."

"I need my sleep," Ron argued, hoping the answer would sound even remotely convincing to Ginny.

Because it definitely didn't sound convincing to him.

"Forget it." Ginny dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand, still with a smirk on her face.

At that moment, Harry chose to roll over, better exposing in the faint light of dusk the copious bandages atop his head and muttering slightly as he sank back into his pillow. The smirk vanished from Ginny's features as she rocketed over to the gap between Ron and Harry's beds, electing to sit on the nearest available chair.

Ron raised his eyebrows. The incident, or something related to it, had clearly rattled Ginny. Then again, having your Captain suffer a nasty head injury courtesy of a Bludger and a flying baboon brandishing a bat was hardly a trivial matter. Maybe, he mused, he should feel more worried about how close his best mate came to serious grief than gleefully anticipating McLaggen's expulsion from the team.

"He's fine, Ginny," he said quietly. "Madam Pomfrey fixed his skull up in ten seconds." Ginny jumped slightly, and smiled back. "I know. I was…" she stared out at the darkening grounds, the mountain range opposite the Castle glowing pink in the fading light. "I was thinking about Harry's flying today. He was very late, and that was the worst flying I've ever seen from him."

"That's weird," Ron muttered. "Did he mention a reason why?"

"Yep," sighed Ginny exasperatedly. "He bumped into Draco Malfoy."

"What? Not again….."

"Yes, Malfoy."

"Forget about him and Cho, it's been him and Malfoy now for the whole bloody year," said Ron, letting out a small, immature snigger. "I know Hermione's planning to murder him if he mentions Malfoy again."

"I'll help her," added Ginny, letting out a weak chuckle herself. "I know he's an untrustworthy, sniveling little ferret, but Harry's wasting his time fretting about what he's up to. Slytherin has lots of them. Like that Blaise Zabini."

"What about him?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "Gives me the creeps, that one. If I didn't know better, I'd say he fancied me…."

"Seriously, I'm ill already," Ron complained. "It was bad enough with that git Corner…"

"Point taken."

"…but a Slytherin, I mean….that's diabolical." Ron wrinkled his nose as a thought crossed his mind. "Hang on, why isn't Dean here with you?" Much to his surprise, he saw Ginny stiffen. Something akin to pleasure coursed through him. If her relationship with Dean was getting frayed, then he was nothing short of thrilled. The sensation was matched by his old voice demanding Dean's blood, which had suddenly returned with a vengeance.

"Do you think Dean and I are stitched together at the hip?" Ginny shot back crossly. "Moving back to Harry…"

"Yeah, well, his obsession with Malfoy is a little bizarre," Ron acknowledged, deciding not for the first time to stay out of his sister's love life for his own safety. That said, if Dean had emotionally injured her in any way, he'd have hell to pay…..

"…So he'll be out of here in no time, then?" Ginny's query snapped him out of it. He waved a hand airily. "Of course. Now, tell me about what you're doing with McLaggen," he added, unable to hold back the relish from entering his voice.

"Oh, we'll think of something, rest assured," Ginny nodded at him. "Pushing him off the Astronomy Tower sounds like a good start, but unfortunately, it's probably not a goer."

"Make sure I'm invited," Ron added with a grin. "I'm sure Harry will join you in applying a few neat jinxes he's learned." Ginny frowned again as she leaned forwards. "Please don't tell me it's from that bloody book."

"Yep, the one and only Half Blood Prince's…." Ron's next words were cut off as Madam Pomfrey whipped into sight, and made her way towards Ron and Harry's beds determinedly.

"Time to leave, Miss Weasley," she said crisply. "I'm just about to give your brother his sleeping potion." At that, she turned to measure out the dosage, giving Ginny the chance to say goodnight.

"See you tomorrow, eh? I'll be sure to bring Hermione along – if she's not already bored by her enormous number of visits, that is."

"She's a friend," Ron protested as his stomach swooped at the thought of another visit from Hermione. "So what if we need to catchup after…everything?" Ginny laughed and gave him a wave from near the doorway as Harry stirred again, muttering incoherently for a couple of seconds. But she wasn't finished.

"Talking of catching up, when was the last time Lavender had a conversation in here with you?"

"Oh, bugger off," Ron muttered quietly to himself as Madam Pomfrey handed him a small glass of potion.

"All right then?" she asked. "You'd damn well better be after what I've had to deal with this year."

Ron nodded in gratitude and put the potion on his bedside table as Harry groaned slightly, rubbed his forehead lazily and opened his eyes, blinking in confusion and starting slightly as he turned to face Ron.

"Nice of you to drop in," he greeted Harry cheerfully.

6:

He couldn't pick up the identity of the sound at first, but whatever it was, it woke Ron up suddenly.

There it was again. A creak from the kitchen. The idea that any Death Eaters had broken in was nonsense, but Ron nevertheless reached for his wand on top of his bedside table. Constant vigilance, he thought.

As he neared the landing, he heard other sounds too….the hiss of their father's Muggle radio being operated and tuned, followed by a muffled sniff.

"Lumos," he whispered, and turning the corner, was confronted by the sight of Ginny, clad in her dressing gown and sitting alone at the table in the gloom. A mug of steaming tea was clasped in one hand, and Ron was shocked to see tear tracks down her cheeks. She jumped at the illumination caused by Ron's spell, waved glumly at him, then with a shaking, steadying sigh, looked down at her drink.

"Mind if I join you?" Ron whispered tentatively, taking the seat next to her. Now he was closer to the radio, he could hear distorted snatches of what appeared to be a rock song.

Wake up

You're gonna wake up to nothing.

Ginny nodded tremulously as Ron placed a comforting hand on Ginny's left arm. "What happened?"

Ginny wiped her eyes and said simply "A nightmare. A bad one."

Break up

The break up is coming

And when your heart is hollow

Another pill to swallow

"But you haven't had a bad one in years!" Ron protested as the music continued blaring in a shrill, tinny manner, punctuated by hisses and eliktrik- no, electronic, that was the phrase – noises. He lowered his voice again, anxiety gripping his core. This was not typical Ginny behaviour.

Ginny shook her head, fresh tears beginning to well up as she blew her nose. "It was my old one…in the Chamber. Except this time, Harry got defeated, I was watching him slowly die….and I could do nothing except watch. Totally useless." Letting out another deep steadying breath, she turned to face Ron, who wondered how his sister could somehow look incredibly mature and world-weary, and yet also so utterly vulnerable, frightened and defeated simultaneously.

He didn't want to pry into the likely delicate nature of Harry and Ginny's relationship now that a clearly-hurting Harry had opted to end it; this was Hermione's domain. But Hermione was possibly hundreds of miles away, still with her parents, and he had no choice.

"Have you spoken to Harry since…..since the funeral?" At that, Ginny frowned.

"No," she spat out the single word bitterly. "He can't anyway. It's too much for him. That's the worst thing about it. Being able to do nothing."

Sister…sister

What did they do to you?

What did they do to you?

Did they take and try to break

A heart that long

It's so wrong

"Drink the tea," Ron suggested. As Ginny shot him a hawkish glance, he elaborated. "It's what always makes me feel better. All we need right now is Professor Lupin and his chocolates."

Ginny let out a strangled chuckle that was muffled by a solitary sob as she took another deep breath and downed the rest of her tea in one.

"Refill?" Ron suggested, offering his hand out to take Ginny's mug. As he approached the kettle, pausing only to turn off the radio, Ginny's voice reached out to him.

"It's totally unjust, this whole thing."

"I know," Ron acknowledged. "But you know Mum won't let you get involved in our plan to get Harry safely here, and if it were up to me, neither would I. You're underage, after all."

"I know that," Ginny snapped back in a furious whisper. "Not that you three have the right to talk." Ron felt a stab of annoyance as he prepared the tea, punctured in quick order by Ginny chiming in again.

"Sorry Ron. Didn't mean to bite your head off. Besides, I'm not worried about Mum. I was talking about Harry."

"Yeah?" said Ron dumbly as he handed the steaming mug over to Ginny who, he was pleased to see, had some colour returning to her face.

"Thanks Ron. It's just not fair, what he has to do…or think he has to."

"He's got a mission," said Ron shortly. "He can't shirk or avoid it – he has no choice."

"I know. And you can drop the charade of secrecy, Ron. We both know it's about killing Tom….Voldemort. Grow up," she added irritably as Ron shivered slightly. "And you've missed the point. It's actually about more than Harry and Voldemort. Mum and Dad were in the Order well before Harry came along."

"But it's different for you…" Ron began, but he was cut off by Ginny.

"Why?" she demanded. "Because I'm underage? Because I was Harry's girlfriend?" She snorted derisively. "Like that's going to make a difference. Look at my first year. Look at Dad and Bill! We've all been nearly killed at least three times over by now; including in the Ministry and that night when Dumbledore was killed, and we're all targets because of what we stand for and who we love."

"Guess you're right," Ron sighed, recoiling at the memory of the brain attack. The marks they had imprinted had never truly faded away, and he'd figured he'd have them for life. "Just wish Harry had someone to shoulder a little of the burden he carries every day, give him some hope. What with Dumbledore gone…"

"You're doing that for Harry," Ginny finished for him, laying her hand on his wrist as she stared intently at him. "You and Hermione have done that for years. I…I just wish I could be of help too."

Ron swallowed nervously. Definitely not my area of expertise, comforting heartbroken sisters, he thought. Silence swallowed up the Burrow's kitchen. Shifting his gaze away from Ginny, he turned to see their mother's clock, faintly lit by the wand beam, but with all hands pointing at mortal peril.

"Every day you're safe," he began tentatively, "you help." He turned back to face Ginny, loathing his sheer inability to cure even a tiny portion of the anguish and pain she'd been forced to go through with a lack of complaints from her. Around Harry, anyway. Impulsively, he pulled her into a proper, comforting hug, the first such one he'd had to give since the summer after the horror of the Chamber of Secrets. The fact that she gave a squeeze and a shaky, calming exhalation in return indicated that this rare moment of overt sibling affection was welcome.

Of course, in one regard, this was worse than her first year at Hogwarts. Friendship, family, bed rest and excess amounts of hot chocolate as ordered by Dumbledore had worked their magic on curing her after the Chamber business. No such luck when dealing with a broken heart, and especially not in her particular circumstance.

"You're taken it so well because you need to protect him," he said aloud to the night. He felt a shiver run through Ginny as she let out another stifled sob and felt her nod and press into his right shoulder. He'd known on a basic level how and why the split had occurred, but that didn't stop his overprotective side from wanting to confront Harry over how cut up she was over it. But now he knew properly. Ginny had limited her contact with Harry after the funeral to a perfunctory minimum, not because she was furious and couldn't stand to be near him, but because she was terrified he'd catch on over how utterly distraught and defeated she was feeling right when he needed her to be stoic and understanding.

"I'm sorry. I…I'm not good with this," he finished lamely. Ginny cocked her head to one side as she pulled away from the hug, appraising him.

"For a bloke who, according to Hermione, has exhibited the emotional range of a teaspoon at times - yes, she's mentioned it to me – that was pretty good. Consumed a bit of research literature, have we?"

Ron blanched. Was Ginny referring to that amazing book gifted to him by Fred and George?

"Don't know what you're talking about," he said gruffly, causing Ginny to elbow him impatiently.

"Prat. I suggested that they give you a copy of that book. Maybe so you could understand any anvil-sized hints coming your way from a certain someone, hmmm?"

Ron's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"Figure it out for yourself," she teased, but her eyes hardened as she leaned forwards again. "Listen. Half the time, I don't know what goes on between you three, but I'll say this, you mean so much to Harry, and yes, Hermione too, and more than you could imagine. When she found out about your poisoning, it took both Harry and I to stop her from barging into the Hospital Wing right when Madam Pomfrey was still stabilising you."

Sheer elation, relief and also remorse coursed its way through Ron's veins as one of the mysteries of the year had been finally resolved. Hermione had never stopped caring about him even when he was taking every opportunity to stick his tongue down Lavender's throat. How utterly appalling it was that while he was determinedly taking every opportunity to prove that he, Ron, was capable of striking out on his own without worrying about unrequited love, she'd had to tolerate that cold-shouldering and then been sent into a flight of panic by his poisoning and had kept vigil at his bed alongside Ginny and Harry – most likely, he reasoned, without them, too. He had a memory of someone tenderly holding and stroking his hand and whispering his name, but the details were so vague that it might have just been a dream or fantasy playing out when he was semiconscious.

Ginny's voice snapped him out of it again.

"Just promise me something Ron."

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you're doing….I know that it will be incredibly dangerous. Make sure you and Hermione always have each other's backs, and be there for each other. This is Voldemort we're talking about, I knew him for a whole year. He can get to people in mysterious ways."

Ron nodded his mind wandering off again. He knew that Ginny wasn't just talking about threats to life and limb, and the way she was talking about him and Hermione, it was as if she was acknowledging they were already together. Or would be soon. Yes, he loved that girl, barmy as she was at times, with more energy than he'd have once thought possible, but being together like that was surely now impossible? Given Ginny and Harry had been forced into splitting, surely being there for Harry and stopping Voldemort had killed off any romance potential for himself?

"You have that face again," he heard her tease from a long way off.

"Huh?"

"The 'I'm thinking about Hermione face,'" she elaborated with a cross between a smirk and a genuine smile. Ron shrugged his shoulders – he wasn't exactly willing to express his affections openly, but he no longer had the energy to deny them either.

"You're lucky," she said with a hint of melancholy.

"I know." Another nod, another mutual smile. This sort of silence didn't demand to be filled with anything.

Ron yawned and looked at his watch. Mad-Eye Moody would be coming along at the crack of dawn with a few ideas of how to get Harry safely away from his aunt and uncle's, and if he wanted to digest any plans properly or avoid an earful from moody, he'd have to be in top shape.

"Goodnight Gin," he whispered. Ginny looked as if she was about to follow him, but sat back down again.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"I know I won't sleep," Ginny replied ruefully. "Not after that last nightmare, so what's the point?"

At that point, Ron had a brainwave. There was something that could cheer Ginny up, sleep be damned.

"How about one-person Quidditch?"

"You mean the game where we'd just chuck objects at each other on brooms over the orchard?" queried Ginny, a telltale spark returning to her eyes. "Great idea."

"Excellent," relied Ron, enthused at seeing Ginny's eagerness for a good old sibling fight on brooms. "After all, training's important for aspiring professionals," he added, throwing in a mock bow to Ginny.

"Yes, Gwenog Jones was telling me about her training regimen at the last Slug Club event," chimed in Ginny happily, adding for good measure in an arrogantly posh, Malfoy-esque voice "I have connections, after all."

"You and the bloody Harpies," shot back Ron. "It'll be the death of me. See you in five minutes by the shed, yeah?" he finished as Ginny stuck her tongue at him and headed for her bedroom to get changed.

As Ginny made her way up to her bedroom, a door opened as both of Ginny's parents watched on, then nodded.

"You think she had another one?" asked Arthur. Molly's face fell as she turned to face her husband.

"Yes, Arthur, I do. The worst part of it is that you can't blame anyone except You-Know-Who for this….what our poor girl's going through. What the poor dear's going through," agreed Molly, dabbing briefly at her eyes.

"He'll always have us," murmured Arthur, kissing his wife's temple reassuringly. "And it looks like she and Ron might have found something to keep both their spirits up. We're all going to need it."

"Thankfully, we've got our beautiful boy and Fleur's wedding coming up," whispered back Molly. "Sometimes these sorts of times are just the thing to bring us all closer."

"As you and I would know from history, dear," replied Arthur, wrapping an arm around Molly's waist and kissing her on the cheek.

A/N: The next chapters will feature a humorous moment betwene Ron and Ginny at Bill and Fleur's wedding before the Trio flee from the Death Eaters. It will also include a scene placed during the ceasefire between the Hogwarts defenders and the Death Eaters (and after Fred's death), as well as two post-battle scenes, one taking place at Godric's Hollow on Christmas Eve (yep, had to throw in the Christmas theme!) The moment at the wedding was supposed to be in this chapter, but I had so much good material in this chapter, I thought it felt complete without it.

A final note: the 'anvil-sized hints' jab by Ginny was a reference to a comment by JKR about the hints of romantic interest she'd written between Ron and Hermione.