Title: You're My Bertie Botts
Summary: It's the fifth summer holiday for the trio and spending it with a troubled Ginny at The Burrow leaves Harry wondering about the littlest Red Head and Hermione about the next oldest. A light fluffy HG RH
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, otherwise I would be married with children, have blonde hair, and be pretty darn rich!
Author Notes: Welcome to my latest Harry Potter FanFic, full of emotions and romance (sounds like a movie tagline). So read, review, highly recommend me (!) and enjoy!..................
Chapter One: Brotherly Protection

Ron had always said that a big family was a pain, that you went unnoticed and siblings were the most annoying thing to roam the planet. But watching him fling his sobbing little sister against the rough wall of The Burrow, threatening to "kill the bloody sod that did this to you", Harry knew that he didn't mean a word of it, that his family was the most important thing to him and he wouldn't trade them for the world.

Hermione, an only child, was the 'gift from God' in her parents eye, she never acted like your usual brat who was spoilt as much as her, and as the small red headed girl screamed at Ron to stop, Harry smiled as Hermione stepped up and wrapped her arms around her, letting Ginny cry into her shoulders, acting like a big sister, someone she could trust in.

Harry ran a hand over the scar that made him ache as he watched all of this go on, maybe if he just ripped it off, it would all restart. Yes Lord Voldemort may have destroyed everything, but then, at least, he would still have a godfather, parents, maybe a brother or sister, what he'd always longed for; a family.

Realising he was being selfish Harry tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind, but try as he might they always came back to haunt him, and every time they did he filled with a sense of hatred towards anyone nearby. Not wanting to lash out at his best friends, Harry stepped back slightly out of the hallway into the room from which him and Hermione had just emerged and watched and listened to everything that was going on.

"Ron, get back here!" Hermione screamed over the top of Ginny's head, forcing him to pause in the doorway.

"No I'm going after him and when I get him, I'm going to kick his bloody head in!" He yelled back.

Ginny jumped sharply out of Hermione's arms, "Ron please don't!" She sobbed, "Just leave it, I'm okay!"

"Of course you're not okay! Look at you, you're a state! Whoever did this to my baby sister, doesn't deserve full usage of his limbs!" Ron clenched his fists, his face growing redder with anger.

"I am not a baby anymore Ron! I can handle these things by myself, when are you going to realise that I don't need my brother to sort everything out for me and make sure the big, bad world doesn't hurt me?!" Ginny shouted fiercely. Harry had never seen her stand up to anyone like that before and glancing across at her he noticed that she was right, she wasn't the baby Ginny he once knew, coming up to her fifteenth birthday she was turning into a young woman. Harry turned his attention back to Ron.

"Well if you're so grown up about the whole thing why did you come crying back to us? If you can handle this all by yourself what was the point coming to tell us, what did you want us to do? Stand aside and say, 'Oh Ginny it's such a shame your boyfriend tried it on with you then admitted to cheating on you when you pushed him away, oh well!'?"

"RON!" Hermione exclaimed. As they had only stepped in after hearing Ron's first shout, Harry and Hermione knew nothing of what the argument was about, and Ron had obviously gone too far letting everyone within earshot know. Ginny's face turned crimson and throwing her hands in front of her face, she let out a deep sob and ran up the stairs, stopping at the top to scream out, "I hate you!"

"Ron how could you do that?" Hermione scolded.

Ron stuttered and let his gaze fall to the floor, he had tried to stick up for someone he loved and it had all backfired on him. He fiddled nervously with his robes and his face glowed with embarrassment, "I...I'm sorry!"

But Hermione wasn't backing down that easily, "Well that isn't good enough Ronald! First you call your sister, who is finding it hard enough growing up as it is, a baby. Then you try and look tough by threatening to kill her boyfriend!"

"God Hermione I only wanted to protect my sister, I've nearly lost her once before I don't want to see her get hurt!"

"Well that's very heroic and all but you went around the wrong way of doing it! She just wanted someone to hold her and tell her it would be okay, not someone bounding up the street hitting everything and everyone in sight!" Hermione stated.

"Some one like you, you mean?" he snarled

"Yes. I listen to her Ron, when she needs advice I'm here for her, it's difficult going through changes and growing up, but you wouldn't know because you've never done it! You're still the immature prat I knew from Year One!"

Ron's voice squeaked in a mixture of anger and shock, "Yeah and you're still the same full-of-yourself know-it-all!"

Harry decided that Ginny had made the right decision and doubting they would even notice he was gone, he stormed past Ron and Hermione on the brink of one of their five-a-day arguments, up the stairs and onto the landing. He turned to make his way into Fred and George's room, in which he was sleeping as they still hadn't returned from their exit to their new career, but hearing Ginny's continued sobs from her room Harry changed his mind. Walking up, he gently knocked on the door.

"Go to hell!" she screamed from inside.

"Um Gin, it's me, Harry!" he smiled. A deep silence filled the room and Harry heard her move about inside and eventually come up to the door. It opened slowly and she stood on the other side of the gap, her face was free from tears but the redness gave away the fact that she had been rubbing them off. She wore a fairly forced grin. Although she had made it clear that her crush on Harry had faded when she started dating Michael Corner and they had been getting on very well in the last few weeks, there was still a little awkwardness between them.

"Hi.... um.... d'you want to...to come in?" she blushed. Harry nodded and Ginny led him into her small and suspiciously tidy room, his eyes flickered to the bulging wardrobe from which what must've been the contents of her floor only seconds before was starting to leak out and he held back a subtle laugh. Harry turned back to Ginny who seemed to be avoiding eye contact.

"I was just checking that you were okay," he said. Ginny smiled appreciatively and opened her mouth to reply, but her words were cut off by a very loud shout from Ron downstairs, calling Hermione something Harry was very sure he wouldn't have said if his mum and dad were home. Finally looking up at him Ginny raised her eyebrows and stifled a laugh.

"There they go again!" she giggled, brushing her hair away from her face. Feeling guilty as he did, Harry couldn't help notice how attractive a real smile looked on her. He tried not to blush thinking it and quickly replied.

"Try having it every day at school as well! It drives me mad! I just want to lock them away sometimes, but then again if you put them in a room together, one of them wouldn't make it back out! My bet's on Ron. I mean she may look harmless but if you get on the wrong side of Hermione it's hard to get back on the right! In fact, I have no idea how Ron's still managed to be classed as a friend to her after that number of arguments!"

Ginny didn't reply but just grinned mischievously, Harry cocked an eyebrow at her, he had seen that Weasley grin too many times on Fred and George to know that it meant trouble.

"What?" he asked slyly, trying to figure out her expression.

"It's just that I think if you left them in a room together, arguing wouldn't be the problem." She laughed at Harry's blank expression and carried on, "I know guys aren't meant to notice that kinda thing 'cuz Ron obviously hasn't, but I thought you would have!"

"Okay Gin, I really have no idea what you're on about!" he admitted.

She rolled her eyes, "They like each other!"

"What?!" he spluttered.

"C'mon Harry, it's pretty obvious, it's right in front of them! The main way two people hide their feelings for each other is through insults and arguments!"

"But they're permanently at one another's throats. I mean I've never seen anyone look as angry as Ron did when accused Hermione of 'fraternising with the enemy' when she went to the Yule Ball with Krum."

"Jealousy!" Ginny stated in a very matter-of-fact voice.

"Huh?"

"He was jealous! Didn't you notice the way Ron stared at her the whole evening, he made that excuse up to cover-up the fact that he was angry he didn't get there first! I know how my brother's head works, I've got enough of them, and I've heard the way Hermione talks about him, they're destined for each other!"

Harry tried not to laugh at Ginny, but she seemed so serious. Maybe she was right, it did make sense. They spent the next half hour putting together all the evidence that backed up Ginny's theory, they laughed at Ron's feeble cover ups and were forced to pause now and again when the volume of the argument downstairs rose. It was strange, Harry thought, it didn't feel like he was chatting to his best mate's little sister, but chatting to a friend, one that he had known for a long time.

Harry checked his watch and listened to the silence that had just flooded the hallway below.

"Well I better go see who killed who!" he joked, standing up from Hermione's mattress on the floor.

"Thanks Harry," Ginny said getting up from her own bed, "You helped cheer me up!"

"It's okay, I hope what happened gets sorted and I know you've got Hermione to talk to, but if you ever need a guy's opinion who isn't a red head, give me a shout, okay?"

She beamed at him and told him that she would, Harry walked out of the door and said an awkward goodbye, the tension slowly rising again, but she too said a goodbye and shut the door in his face. Unsure why he was feeling somewhat disappointed Harry wandered down the stairs and into the hallway which was now empty.

The argument had moved into the living area and he followed, Harry entered the room and scanned it, Hermione lay curled in a protective ball by the fireplace, rocking and crying softly whilst Ron sat in an armchair dragged to the opposite side of the room, his head slung low in his arms, his hands rested on top, buried within his hair, he breathed deeply and looked up when Harry walked in. Glancing over at Hermione, his eyes sparkling more than usual, as if on the brink of tears he whispered to Harry,

"I took it too far, there's no way we'll make up this time."