Chapter 3
A Sister's Strife
Sitting by Hermione's side, holding her hand, Ron was contemplating life. What was the point of living, if everything could be ripped away from you in an instant? Ever since she'd been taken from him, Ron hadn't had the most positive outlook on his life. But now, to hear that she would wake up, that once again he would hear her voice, see her smile, it filled him with warmth. So many people would call him sappy, but he called it devotion. Maybe even hope. Ron had been practicing his romantic confession in his head for hours, debating every word, every inferred meaning. He wanted the first words that she heard to be his, but he had always been the unluckiest of the golden trio, so the first thing she heard would probably be Harry talking to himself about quidditch. He couldn't help it, he felt an undeniable jealousy towards Harry. He and Hermione had always been so close. He could visit her whenever he wanted, while Ron had to work in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was always the special one. Well, this time, Ron would get the girl. The right girl. He'd heard from Ginny that she and Harry were in a bit of a rough patch right now. At least, that was a month ago. He was busy with work, and she was busy with school. Mum and Dad still lived out at the Burrow, along with George, Bill, Charlie and Percy. He and Ginny never really saw them anymore, because Ginny lived with Harry now, and Ron had his own little townhouse on the city outskirts. Sure, he sent them owls often enough, but he never got replies. It had been an entire year since he'd seen them last, celebrating his birthday. Everything had been very forlorn. Mum and Dad still hadn't got over losing Fred. Neither had Ron, really. He felt as though there was a gaping hole inside him, with no one there to fill it. Long ago, he had promised himself that it would all be better once he had Hermione again, but it had all been so long. There was a tiny nagging voice, right at the back of his head, that he supposed had always been there. The nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, Hermione wouldn't choose him. That she would wake up, and the first word hanging off of her lips would be the name of her precious Harry Potter. It pained him to think like this of his best friend, but he had always been second best. He wanted no repetitions of fourth year, when he had been so overcome by anger that he had completely abandoned Harry, when he had needed a friend more than anything. In his current mind, he had been an idiot. Him abandoning Harry like that had given Harry the full speed ahead to run to Hermione. True, nothing bad had come of it, but it didn't stop Ron mentally slapping himself every time it came up. His phone started to buzz in his pocket, startling him awake from his reverie. Slapping his pockets stupidly, still in a daze, he finally found his phone and slid it out of his pocket. It was Ginny. He knew something was up, she never called him. Pressing the button to answer the call, Ron lifted his phone to his ear.
"Hey Ginny," he said, casually.
"Hey Ron," she replied. There were a few tremors in her voice that made Ron realise she'd been crying.
"Look, I really need to talk with you," she said. "Could we maybe meet up for dinner?" Ron ran a hand through his hair. He'd been planning to spend the whole day here with Hermione.
"I don't know, Gin," he said. "I'm with Hermione right now, so…" Ginny's frustration was evident, even over the phone.
"Ron, she isn't going to wake up the second you close the door," said Ginny, the audible tremors replaced with her trademark 'I don't care if I'm the little sister, you're listening' voice.
"Just meet me at…" she said. "You know what? You can pick where we eat. Do some research, I know you don't get out much, and call me back when you've picked."
"Um, okay," he said, but she'd already hung up. Ron shook his head in disbelief. Just his luck to have the craziest little sister.
He'd decided that they would eat at the Leaky Cauldron. Even though he worked there every day except weekends, they still had good food and a better atmosphere. Ever since Hannah Abbott took over from Tom, the inn had been much brighter, less dank, less creepy place. He had called Ginny, the phone was ringing, and he was sitting there, staring at Hermione. He heard the phone stop ringing, and a tinny, inaudible Ginny voice sounded. Lifting the phone to his ear, Ron answered.
"Hello?" said Ginny.
"Yeah, I'm here," he said. "Excited for dinner?"
"Hardly," she said. He could practically hear the eye roll. "We have to discuss some serious stuff, ok?" Ron smiled.
"Aw," he said, sarcastically. "I thought I was spending some good old quality time with my beloved little sister." Ginny sighed.
"So," she said. "Where are we eating?"
"The Leaky Cauldron," he said sheepishly. Ginny groaned. She didn't think particularly highly of Ron's newfound workplace. Also, she'd never really liked Hannah Abbott.
Ron had apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, and now he was basically just standing outside, waiting for Ginny. Soon enough, a cab emblazoned with ads for various things pulled up on the curb, and out stepped his little sister, red hair down on her shoulders, freckles everywhere. He smiled fondly. He hadn't seen his sister recently, and Ron was really looking forward to spending some time together. Ginny bent over through the window to pay the cabbie, and when she turned around, Ron could see that her eyes were puffed up from crying. That set his brain to wondering. Had Harry done something to her? Had she failed an exam?
"Hey Ginny," he said. She wiped her eyes and her nose with her hand, sniffling.
"Hey," she said. Her voice was sad. Ron opened his arms, and Ginny threw herself into them, embracing him in a bone-crushing hug. Tentatively, he hugged her back. It was kind of awkward, because he was so much taller than her. It was more like hugging her head.
"Um…" said Ron. Ginny stepped away, smiling sadly. She wiped her eyes once again.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. Ron smiled. He didn't want to laugh at her, she clearly wasn't in the best of places right now.
"First," he said. "We need to get you inside, and feed you something. Then we'll talk." Ginny nodded, and Ron put his arm around her shoulder and led her inside. Pushing open the door, Ron and Ginny entered the Leaky cauldron. He could hear Ginny's gasp when she saw the new decorations, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit proud of his workplace.
"This is so…" she said, struggling to find the words. "New." Ron was a bit miffed that she hadn't settled for 'amazing' or 'gorgeous', but that was her fault.
"D'you like it?" he asked, hoping that she did. Ginny looked up at him, nodding and smiling.
"It makes a great change," she said. "I mean, I never really liked Hannah Abbott, but I can't deny that she knows how to run a business." Ron grinned. Shortly, as they stood on the entrance mat, waiting to be seated, Hannah Abbott walked over and promptly kissed Ron on both cheeks.
"Ron," she said. "Not here to work, I assume?" Ron smiled and shook his head.
"I'm here for dinner with my little sister, actually," he said. Hannah's smile vanished as she saw Ginny.
"Ah, Ginny," she said, with significantly less warmth.
"Hannah," Ginny said curtly. Ron sighed.
"Come on you two," he said. "We're all friends here." Hannah seemed to remember that Ron was there, and instantly there it was - Her lighthouse beam of a smile. Practically blinding.
"Of course, darling," she said. "Where are my manners?" She giggled politely. Ron played along. He knew Hannah was hitting on him, but honestly he didn't care for her at all beyond being friends.
"Do you think you could find us a table?" he asked. "A booth, preferably. Gin and I have some private stuff we need to talk about." Hannah walked off with a humph. Ron and Ginny looked at each other and it soon became apparent that both of them were struggling to hold in their laughter. Shortly, a brunette, lightly tanned waitress with white-edged glasses and a messy bun walked over.
"Hi," she said in a light american accent. "My name is Beca, I'll be taking care of you this evening." Ron smiled. He knew Beca, and she was great with people.
'Hey," he said. Beca turned around from her leading position in the line.
"Oh my gosh," she said. 'Ron! I didn't recognise you!" Ron laughed.
"Well, I'm behind the bar all day," he said. "Unless you're in need of a pint, you probably wouldn't ever recognise me!" Beca giggled.
"Who's this?" she asked, enquiring about Ginny.
"Oh," she said. "I'm Ginny, Ron's little sister." Beca smiled.
"He's told me about you before," she said.
"He'd better not have said anything bad," said Ginny. Ron could feel his ears going red as fire engines, and he ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. Ginny and Beca continued talking as she led them to the table, smiling all the while.
"Here you go," said Beca when they reached the booth. It was the most private table of them all, inset into a corner.
"Thanks Bec," said Ron. Beca smiled, adjusting her thick-framed glasses.
"I'll be right back," she said. "I'll just go get some menus for you both." Ron nodded, and Beca walked off. Ginny leant over the table to talk to him.
"She's so nice!" she said. "I mean, normally the people here are all freaks!" Ron laughed.
"Hannah decided that every member of staff should be witch or wizarding folk that looked normal," he said, explaining the new 'rules of work' so to speak.
"Good decision," said Ginny. Ron looked up at her.
"So, why did you want to meet up?" Ron asked. Small talk and banter oughtn't get in the way of the serious reason why she called.
"Well, I…" she said. It was at that exact moment that Beca walked over with their menus. Damn. Stupid inconvenient waitress timing.
"Here are your menus," she said. "Just call me with the spell on the back when you're ready to order."
"Thanks Bec," said Ron. "Are the silencio charms up on the booths?" Beca nodded.
"Even if they weren't you'd put them up anyway," she said, and they both laughed. "Okay, call me when you need me!" She walked away with a wink. Ron shook his head. Sure, Beca was beautiful, but it was common knowledge that you shouldn't date your co-workers (most of the time anyway). Besides, the only girl for him was Hermione, that he knew.
"Ron?" said Ginny, and only then did he realise that she'd been talking to him.
"Sorry," he said. "I was daydreaming." Ginny sighed.
"Anyway," she said. "I'd been asking what you meant with the silence charms." Ron nodded.
"That's why I asked for a booth," he said. "They have silence charms on them, so they're really private."
"Huh," she said. "Cool idea." Ron smiled.
"It was my idea, actually," he said. Ginny smiled.
"Nice one," she said. "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that… well…" Ron reached over and put his hand on top of hers, comforting her.
"You know you can tell me anything," he said. Ginny nodded.
"I just, recently, it's been more apparent that Harry and I aren't working out as well as we could be," she said, her voice breaking. He could see the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and he scooted around on the bench to give her a hug.
"Harry loves you, Gin," he said. "I'm sure of it." Ginny smiled up at him, but it was obvious that his words hadn't done much to calm her.
"Just with my university, and his job, a-and…," she said. "And every Wednesday he visits Hermione, instead of spending the time with m-me!" She broke down in sobs now, her body shaking. Ron held her close, stroking the back of her head.
"Shhh," he said. "It's a difficult time for all of us. We can't all be happy, that's just how life works. You know she's waking up soon?" He could feel her head movement against his chest.
"Harry told me," she said. "And I don't know w-whether to be happy o-or… well, or frightened." She broke down again, her tears wetting the fabric of his shirt.
"Ginny," he said. "Hermione knows you and Harry are dating. She's not some home-wrecker, she's your friend." Ginny shook her head, her sobs still loud and clear.
"I know, I know," she said. "But it's just instinctive, you know? I - I just can't h-help it!" She kept crying, but not as loudly anymore.
"It's okay, Ginny," he said, still hugging her. "Just empty out all your feelings. You know I'm always here to listen."
"The worst part… The worst part is t-that I've been having these awful, a-awful dreams," she sobbed. This intrigued Ron. They were wizards, dreams normally meant something.
"What were you dreaming about, Gin?" he asked, tentative, wary that he was treading on thin ice here.
"It.. It was Harry… and it was Hermione and y-you and me and they w-were together and…" Her voice trailed off into more sobbing. He figured that right now her head was pretty messed up with all the emotions, he wouldn't press her too much.
"It was Harry a-and Hermione and they w-were kissing and your heart was b-broken and I was just… Standing there, alone, and - and then I woke up but I didn't and they were there and I just can't take it any more!" She was yelling more than crying now, and Ron was grateful for the silence charms.
"And all of these - these voices just kept yelling and laughing and crying and I just want it all to stop," she sob-yelled. He couldn't help it, these dreams sounded ominous to him. Hermione and Harry? It almost confirmed his fears that he'd been feeling recently. He mentally slapped himself. He couldn't freak out, not now. His little sister was sobbing into his chest, he had to be focused, he had to be strong to keep her strong. He had to say something that would calm her down, or make her stop crying at the very least.
"I know, Gin, I know," he said. "Sit up, dry your eyes, and we'll talk properly, ok?" Ginny nodded. Sitting up, Ginny wiped her eyes (and her nose) on her sleeve.
"Sorry about breaking down like that," she said.
"It's alright," Ron said softly. "I know how you feel. After all, I found my true love frozen in a coma on the day I'd hoped to confess my feelings." Ginny smiled sadly.
"I guess your pain is worse than mine," she said. "And mine is only a simple instinct, nothing more." Tears were still making her eyes shine, so Ron knew she was lying, but he wasn't going to press it. He loved his little sister too dearly to hurt her, even though he didn't show it.
"Ginny, I know how hard it is to let someone take over your heart, to let them in," he said. "After all, I denied Hermione for so long by dating Lavender." Ginny smiled sadly once again.
"I've already let him in," she said. "But maybe he's poking my heart in all the wrong places." Ron shook his head.
"If that's how you feel, Gin," he said. "Why don't you just break up with him?" Unfortunately, the moment the last word slipped out of his mouth, he knew he'd said the wrong thing. Ginny shoved him, hard, and looked at him disdainfully. Ron fell, landing hard on his back, and his head hit the wall. Once his head had stopped ringing, Ron looked up to see a seething Ginny, her face flushed red with anger. Ron was internally beating himself up for suggesting something so stupid to Ginny, especially a Ginny wrought with emotion.
"Ginny," he said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Ginny just shook her head.
"No, you shouldn't. If that's the advice you're gong to give, why did I even ask you?" she said, pushing him away, her voice still shaking from the tears which were still slowly flowing, accentuating all the emotion she was clearly feeling.
"I'm so stupid to ever have asked you. You don't know what it's like in my head, okay? I love Harry, but what if he doesn't love. Me. Back?" She stood up, hands balled into fists by her side. "In fact, why did I ever trust you with all of this?"
"If you were just going to insult me by suggesting I wasn't good enough… By saying that I might be lying about loving him…" Ron was taken aback, aghast if you will. He hadn't intended to insult Ginny at all. In fact, when had he ever said that she wasn't good enough? Ron spoke in a calm voice, hoping to sooth the seething beast that was his little sister.
"Ginny, calm down," he said. "I didn't mean it like that." Ginny's ears were still bright red. Unlike him, her ears went red with anger, not embarrassment.
"Oh really?" she said, sceptical. "Didn't you? Because that's what it sounded like." Ron shook his head.
"Of course not," he said. "Gin, you never get to see this, but you make Harry so happy. I mean, you should hear our talks. He loves you Gin, he really does. I was afraid for you, and for him, if you lie to yourself about loving him." Ginny's features softened. It had taken a lot for Ron to get that out, the way he felt about Harry and Ginny.
"Ron…" she said. "Is that really what Harry's like?" Ron nodded. He couldn't have been more sincere in his description.
"He's never like that around me…" she said, almost beginning to cry again. "Why doesn't he show me how he feels? It's like I don't even know him…" Crying once again shook her fragile frame, tears sliding down her cheeks, less like waterfalls now but slowly, almost painfully.
"He's cried about you before, you know," he said, smiling sadly. "Cried about how little you see of each other, cried about many things. Every time you're brought up, so is a bloody huge bank vault of emotions in Harry." Ginny tried to hide her sad smile as she sat back down.
"That almost makes me smile," she said. "I love him truly, but I just have all these fears. It's one of my first actual, long relationships, and I'm, well, I'm scared, Ron." He put an arm around her shoulders, attempting to comfort her.
"Ginny, have you never seen any romantic tragedies?" he said. She smiled forlornly. "It's being scared that pushes them away. You have to be open, Gin. I know how it feels. I know how scary it is. But promise me you'll try?" Ginny nodded.
"I promise I'll try," she said, her voice shaky. "Harry promised me yesterday that he wouldn't leave me." She said. Ron was uncertain as to where that little factoid had come from, but it was certainly interesting.
"If he said that, Gin, then why are you so afraid?" Ron asked softly. "You have to take risks every once in a while."
"I know," she said. "But I miss mum and dad. Right now, you're the only one I've got, and to be honest you aren't so bad at advice, but we haven't been back to the burrow for so long, and I just miss them all." Ron nodded. He could completely understand where she was coming from.
"I promise that once Hermione wakes up, we'll try and go on a great big trip, ok? You, me, Hermione and Harry," he said. He could see hope and happiness written on Ginny's face now, rather than sadness. There was still sadness there, but not nearly as much as before.
"Well, lots of people have been making promises lately," she said. "I hope this is one that you can keep."
"Look," he said, fearful to be the one who broke the mood. "Can we order food now?" Ginny laughed, but it sounded forced.
"Sure we can," she said, nonchalantly. "I'm pretty hungry." Picking up their menus and flipping them over, he could see Ginny's eyes hungrily scanning the page. In his peripheral vision, Beca's head poked out from the side of a wall, clearly checking on whether they'd decided to order.
"So," said Ron. "Care to discuss something other than Harry?" Ginny nodded.
"Definitely," she said, sounding much more comfortable.
"How's university been?" asked Ron, absentmindedly trying to think of conversation topics.
"Not too bad," she said. "I mean, it's hard, sure, but I'm dealing with it all fairly well."
"Except for, you know," said Ron jokingly. "The part where you break down in tears because you can't spend time with your boyfriend." Ginny frowned and gave him a shove.
"Oh shut up, you git," she said. "Look, what do you want to order?"
"I don't really know," he said. "I mean, I'm always cooking the food, but I'm hardly ever eating it myself." Ginny nodded.
"The pasta doesn't sound that bad," she said. "Bolognese, lasagna, carbonara, it's amazing how much you've jazzed up the menu!" Their conversation still sounded forced, and less comfortable than before, but Ron didn't mind.
"I'd recommend the lasagna," he said. "Beca cooks that, and it's bloody brilliant!" He'd decided a few weeks back to bring back his old catchphrase from his youth. Ginny was nodding along.
"Doesn't sound too bad," she said. "I'll get that then." Ron nodded. The pizzas had caught his eye today, and he was debating between meat-lovers and plain cheese.
"Look, Ron," said Ginny. He was surprised that she'd been the one to restart the conversation. "What I told you is a secret, ok?" Ron nodded seriously. He understood completely why she didn't want her boyfriend (they'd been together for four years) to know that she was having dreams about him with another woman.
"I just don't want Harry doubting us, as a couple, ok?" she asked.
"You can trust me, Gin," he said. "When have I ever let you down?"
A/N
Thank you all for being so patient with me, and I will almost definitely have another chapter (maybe 2) up before Sunday, so look forward to that, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Also, I'm holding a competition in the reviews/comments for how long it should be before Hermione wakes up i.e. 5 chapters, 1 chapter, 3 and a half chapters, or any amount really. I'll select the one that's picked the most, so until then, bye!