MetaFic

"Is there a problem, guys?" Harry asked quietly. He held very still, resisting the urge to shrug off the hands on his shoulders.

"Not here," Charlie said, eyeing the door that his mother had just disappeared into.

The two oldest Weasley siblings gave Harry a push down the hallway. Bill stepped forward and opened a door, which Charlie directed Harry to with a little push in back. Harry turned his head and looked over his shoulder at Charlie, whose face was still unreadable.

Harry looked around the room. It vaguely resembled the Gryffindor Common room, which again made Harry wonder just who owned the castle. Seated in a chair near the fire was Percy Weasley.

Harry stepped away from Charlie and placed himself were he could watch all three Weasley brothers. He noted that Charlie stood between him and the door, and that Bill held his wand loosely in one hand. Harry crossed his arms.

"What's this all about, then?" Harry said, narrowing his eyes at the Weasleys. He actually had a very good idea what this was about, but he wasn't going to make this any easier for them than necessary.

Percy cleared his throat. "Harry, please understand that we all care deeply about you."

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "I can feel the love."

"But we have some concerns about your relationship with our sister," Percy finished.

"I see, and those concerns would be?" Harry asked.

"That she's going to get killed following you into danger," Charlie said bluntly.

"We like you, Harry, but Ginny means the world to us," Bill whispered.

"So what? You want me to break things off with your sister?" Harry was starting to get angry with the older Weasley boys.

"That would work," Bill said. He tightened his grip on his wand. If Harry decided to fight them, he fully expected to be the first target.

Harry dropped his hands to his side. He turned sideways toward Bill. "So, you want me to break her heart to make you happy?"

"Better she have a broken heart than be a cold corpse," Charlie snarled.

"Who's going to be a cold corpse?" Ron asked casually from the doorway. Behind him stood Fred and George, as well as Hermione, Neville, and Luna.

"Never you mind, little brother," Charlie told him shortly.

Harry turned to Ron. "Your brothers want me to dump your sister. For her own safety, of course."

"And so you three decided–" said Fred.

"To have a family meeting–" said George.

"Without inviting–" Fred added.

"The rest of the family?" George finished.

"We don't need you two joking around at a time like this. Ginny could have been seriously hurt today, even killed," Percy said forcefully.

Bill looked over the twin's shoulders at the non-Weasleys. "This is a private family matter, scat."

Neville took Luna by the hand and moved out of the doorway. Hermione started to follow them, then Ron spoke up. “Hermione can stay."

Charlie turned toward him, his face angry. "Ronald, this is a family matter."

"And I say Hermione is family," Ron said through gritted teeth.

Charlie turned to face Ron fully. Ron held Charlie's eyes. Both men were clenching their fists.

Fred and George walked into room and stood by Harry's side. Fred looked toward Bill, while George loomed over Percy.

"So," Fred said, "you three have decided among yourselves what's best for Ginny, have you?"

Bill raised his hands, holding his wand up. "Look, Fred, you have to understand, we like Harry a lot, but this is Ginny's safety we're talking about."

"I'd die for Ginny if that's what it took!" Harry said.

"We know that, Harry," Percy said mildly. "What we're concerned about is that Ginny will die for you. She needs to be kept safe."

"You obviously don't know your sister if you think my breaking up with her would keep Ginny safe."

Charlie turned on Harry. "You don't worry about Ginny."

"I'll worry about Ginny if I want," Harry hissed.

"Maybe you should have started worrying about her before you started being a couple," Bill said quietly. "If you really cared about Ginny as much as you say, you'd have never gotten her involved in this mess."

"That's it," Ron said in anger. He took a swing at Charlie.

The room erupted. Hermione dived behind a chair as the twins sent a series of hexes Bill's direction. Charlie and Ron exchanged a flurry of blows, then grappled and fell to the floor. Percy stood and tried to stun Fred, but George slapped his wand toward the ceiling.

A loud bang and a blast of blinding light was followed by the sound of Molly Weasley's voice. "WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS GOING ON IN THIS ROOM?!"

It could have been a Howler, considering the volume. However, the Weasley boys weren't so lucky. It was Molly Weasley in person, angry and bristling at finding her sons engaged in an all out brawl.

Ron and Charlie stopped wresting on the floor and stood up. Charlie had the beginning of a black eye. Ron's lower lip was busted, and he had a rather nasty cut on his forehead. Bill had managed to catch Fred with a body bind, but not before Fred had hit him was a spell that had him on his knees, coughing violently and gasping for breath. Percy had entangled George in a series of ropes, but George had been standing too close to him and had head-butted Percy, who was now sprawled on the floor. With an angry wave of her wand, Molly Weasley canceled all the spells her boys had cast.

Hermione Granger stood up from behind the chair she had sensibly dived behind. Molly Weasley pointed her wand at Hermione, who held up her hands to show she was unarmed.

"You, Hermione," Molly said sternly, "please explain to me why my idiot boys are acting like a bunch of hooligans."

Hermione swallowed and looked around the room. She repeated exactly what had happened, up until the moment she dived behind the chair.

Molly Weasley turned toward Bill, whom she suspected of being the ringleader. Charlie had walked to Bill's side, then helped Percy to his feet. Ron had gone to stand across the room from them, along with Fred and George. The six looked ready to fight again, despite the presence of the formidable Molly Weasley.

"I cannot believe what I've just seen and heard. Someone please tell me that my three oldest did not gang up on Harry."

Bill looked his mother in the eye. "Look, mum, we're just worried about Ginny's safety."

"You leave your sister's safety to me and your father," Molly told him in an angry voice.

"Oh please, mum," Charlie rolled his eyes. "I know you and dad are fond of Harry, but you're blind to the dangers. He's a good kid, but terrible things happen to the people around him."

Molly Weasley turned on Charlie, red faced and ready to hex her child. "So what would you do then, have us abandon him?"

"No!" Charlie said. "But we think he shouldn't be involved with Ginny. He's too dangerous."

Bill agreed with Charlie. "Look at what happen today. Ginny got into a duel with Death Eaters and ended up with a broken wrist. She broke her ankle in the Department of Mysteries. Every time she gets involved with Harry, she gets hurt. She was almost hit with a killing curse, for crying out loud."

Percy cleared his throat. "It's not that we don't like Harry. I'd be the first to congratulate them if these were normal times, but with this–this war, well, we all know how trouble gravitates toward Harry. We just thought it would be best if it didn't gravitate toward Ginny as well."

"Well, now that everyone's had a chance to discuss my private life without me, I'd like to join this little family meeting."

Molly Weasley turned to her daughter. "Ginny dear, are you sure you should be up and about so soon?"

Ginny rotated her wrist around for her mother to see it. "I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey fixed me up." She turned to survey the room. "Now, someone tell me what's going on."

Hermione cleared her throat. She launched into another retelling of the evening's events.

Ginny paled. "Please, Bill, tell me you didn't say that."

"Look, Sprite, we're just–" Bill began.

"Ginny," Ginny said.

Bill blinked. "Sorry?"

"My name is Ginny. You've lost the right to call me Sprite," she said in a low voice.

"We're just trying to keep you from getting hurt," Charlie spoke up.

Ginny turned on him. "And who gave you the right to make decisions for me?"

Charlie stood his ground. "We're your brothers, Ginny, we have to look out for you. Somebody has to protect you."

"Oh, Charlie, that–" George said.

"Was a terrible–" Fred continued.

"Mistake." They finished together.

Ginny was bristling. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes narrowed. "Oh, yes, because someone has to protect poor, little, stupid Ginny. Poor dumb Ginny who writes in strange diaries and gets herself possessed. It's obvious to everyone that stupid little Ginny Weasley can't possibly make a decision for herself, there's no possible way she could have learned from her mistakes."

"Ginny..." her mother said softly.

Ginny turned to her mother. "This needs to be said." She turned back to her brothers. "Yes, let's protect poor fragile-as-glass Ginny, because Voldemort might come and possess her again, and goodness knows, we let her down the first time. And now look at what stupid Ginny's done. She's gone and become an Animagus. How could she possibly understand the dangers of her actions?" She took a deep breath. "How dare you attack Harry after all he's done for this family? Or have you forgotten who it was that saved our father?"

Bill and Percy looked chagrined at her words. Bill glanced at her, his eyes slightly moist. "Ginny, look, we just..."

"I'd be dead if Harry hadn't come into the Chamber after me. Your sister would be a pile of dust and bones in the depths of Hogwarts, and Voldemort would have a young healthy body to live in. You three remember that." She looked around the room. "Now, where's Harry?"

Everyone looked around, but apparently at some point during the brawl Harry had slipped out of the room.

"Damn." Ginny started for the door. "If you clowns have messed this up for me, I swear I'll make each of you pay."

Charlie stepped in front of the door before Ginny could leave the room. "We're not done with this, little sister, you need to understand–"

"No, Charlie, you need to understand: I've made my choice, whether you three like it or not. Now move."

Charlie crossed his arms and planted his feet. "Not until you understand that you have to stay away from Harry for your own good."

"Charlie, get out of my way." Ginny took a step back.

"No."

No one was ever completely sure what happen next. All anyone remembered was Ginny's wand hand becoming a blur of motion. Charlie reached for his wand, but never managed to draw it. Ginny flicked her wrist and shouted. Charlie, the door behind him, and a sizable chunk of wall exploded outward into the hallway beyond.

Ginny walked purposely through the wreckage without looking at her brother.

Molly Weasley stood with a stunned look on her face. Finally she took a deep breath and glared at the boys. "Well, I hope you lot are happy, trying to rip this family apart just as we've started to come back together. I'm–I'm," a tear started down her cheek, "disappointed in the whole lot of you!"

"Weasleys," the dangerously calm voice of Arthur Weasley spoke into the room. "Would someone explain why my youngest is running down the halls crying her eyes out, why my second oldest is lying in a heap of rubble, why my wife is in tears, and why everyone looks like they've been caught with their hands in the cookie jar?"

With a sigh, Hermione launched into her explanation again.

***

Ginny ran down the halls of Tintagel, wiping her eyes as she ran. She had no idea where Harry could be. What she was afraid of most was that Harry would try to disappear on them. She was afraid that after what Bill had said, Harry would decide to distance himself to keep her safe. She stopped running and took a deep breath. Well, she wouldn't let him distance himself.

Ginny closed her eyes and concentrated. If she were Harry and she needed to get away from a bunch of lunatic Weasleys, where would she go? She opened her eyes. Of course. The watch tower. It was the highest point in the castle.

Ginny made her way up the winding stairs, stopping only when she heard Harry speaking and then a voice she did not recognize.

"And you care for this maiden?" the strange voice said.

"Yes, very much, but I don't want to destroy her family," Harry replied.

"Then you must make them understand. If they do not, then they are knaves and dogs, and deserve only your contempt."

"It's not that easy. The Weasleys have been a family to me. I can't just throw that away. I don’t want to hurt them."

"So you would hurt your Lady instead?"

"Maybe -- maybe they're right. I don't want Ginny to get hurt for me. I don't want her to die for me."

There were several minutes of silence. Ginny stood on the landing and chewed her lower lip, trying not to burst into tears. Damn his nobility complex! she thought.

"Master Potter, you sir, are a coward," the voice spoke at last.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, an angry edge taking hold.

"It matters not what great deeds you might have done in the past, nor what you might do in the future. It matters not if you slay dragons, fight giants, or duel dark wizards. If you cannot master your own heart, if you cannot love unencumbered, then I call you a coward and say your maiden deserves a love who would fight for her, not some boy who hides in towers and talks to those long dead." The voice softened. "We all die in the end, Master Potter, what matters is how we live our days, be they many or few. Do not deny yourself and your Lady happiness through a misguided notion of nobility."

Again the silence. She could hear Harry walking around, muttering.

"Right," Harry finally said. "They're just going to have to get used to me and Ginny. And if they can't, then I guess we'll just make our own happiness without them."

"And if they try to pull you away from your Lady, what then?"

"Then they're no family of mine, and we'll fight." Harry raised his voice. "Assuming of course she still wants me."

Ginny Weasley walked up the remaining stairs into the tower. Harry stood to one side, his wand in his hand, a determined look on his face. On the opposite end of the room sat a ghostly wizard on a ghostly couch. The ghost smiled at her. Ginny smiled back, and resisted the sudden urge to curtsy.

"Ah yes, a witch well worth fighting for," said the ghost, standing from his seat. "I shall take my leave of you both. It was a pleasure to speak with you Master Potter, a pleasure indeed." The ghost stepped through the tower wall and vanished.

"Who was that?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you," Harry chuckled.

"No, seriously, who was that? Because I suddenly felt, I don't know, like I was in the presence of royalty or something."

"Merlin."

"No!"

"Yeah."

"Hermione's going to be so jealous," Ginny giggled.

Harry took Ginny's hand and the two teens walked back down the tower stairs. As they reached the main hallway, Harry looked at Ginny, then turned toward her and took both her hands in his.

"I need to go have a few words with your brothers."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No," he said. "I need to do this by myself."

Ginny nodded, understanding. "Okay, but don't be too hard on Charlie, because he might have got blasted through a door earlier."

"I see. I'll come find you later, if it's not too late."

"Okay. Good-luck, Harry." She tiptoed and gave him a quick kiss, then turned and walked happily to her room.

Harry watched the door close behind her. A witch worth fighting for indeed, he thought. He turned toward the room farther down the hall, where he suspected the Weasley brothers might still be fighting with their mother. As he neared the door, he heard the voice of Arthur Weasley, roundly berating all of his sons for their actions this day. It had, Harry thought, been a terrible thing to watch the Weasley brothers brawling over his and Ginny's relationship. It had made him sick to his stomach, realizing he was part of the cause for their actions. But he had made a choice, and his choice was Ginny. He took a deep breath and walked into the room.

Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were repairing the damage done by the fight. The boys were lined up against a wall from oldest to youngest, while Arthur walked back and forth, letting them know just how upset he was at their actions. When Harry walked into the room everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him.

"I've spoken with Ginny, and we've agreed. We're not going to sacrifice what we want in order to make everyone else happy. We're going to be together. It’s what I want. It's what Ginny wants. If anyone in this room has a problem with Ginny and I being together, let's settle this right now." Harry stood very still. Several of the objects in the room started to tremble.

Arthur Weasley looked at the young man his only daughter had chosen. In that instant he decided she had chosen very well indeed. He knew how hard it must be for Harry to face his adopted family this way.

"Harry," Arthur said, "are you in love my daughter?"

Harry looked at him steadily. "I don't know, Mr. Weasley. We're both still very young, and love is big thing. But I do know that we care about each other, and that we both want to see where this all goes. If it is love, or becomes love, so be it. If not, then we can at least have no regrets."

Arthur Weasley walked up to Harry. "But you care about her?"

"Yes, sir. I care about her enough to die for her. But more importantly, I care about her enough to want to live for her. I care about her enough to not push her away. I care about her enough to be with her, in the here and now, and hopefully, if she wants me, for a long time after."

The two men stood eye to eye for several moments before either spoke again.

"Promise me you will take care of my daughter."

"Of course, sir. And I'm sure she'll take care of me as well."

"That's all a father can ask." Arthur Weasley turned to his sons. "That's all any of us can ask."

The six Weasley boys nodded in agreement.