“I don’t understand,” Ginny said tearfully as she hugged Olivia tightly, “I didn’t even like Ron that much. He was a jerk, a slob. Always hanging out with Eric… I barely even knew him really. So why does it still hurt so much?”

“He was still your brother,” Olivia said softly, “That means something. Even if he wasn’t your best brother ever, he was still your brother. It’s okay to feel sad about it. It’s a sad thing.”

“Yeah, I know…” Ginny mumbled. The two of them sat in silence for a bit, neither of them saying anything.

“I’m a murderer,” Ginny suddenly said, “I killed Eric. Now that it’s all over, I can’t help but wonder if I did the wrong thing. He didn’t even want to fight me, really. But I killed him anyway. I don’t want to be a monster. Does that make me a monster?”

“Hey,” Olivia said firmly and gripped Ginny in a firm side hug, “You’re not a monster. And not a murderer. Don’t you ever say that. I’ve met a lot of killers at the clinic, you know.”

Ginny looked up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, “R-Really? What were they like?”

“Some were bad,” Olivia admitted, “Selfish people who did it for bad reasons. Or for evil reasons. Sometimes the other werewolves know about bad things that the others have done. Werewolves don’t talk to the Aurors, so sometimes bad people only get caught at the clinic for the horrible things they did in the past, back when they thought they could get away with it. But most weren’t bad people at all. They were just desperate and put in a situation where they felt they didn’t have any other choice. Killing someone to defend their children, someone trying to mug them, completely by accident, in a drunken rage, all sorts of things. All of them killed people. But that doesn’t make them bad people because of it. Just people put in terrible situations where they might have made a wrong choice. Or maybe even the right one. After everything you’ve told us and the rest of your family about everything that Eric’s done... About the truth about Harry, Balthazar, Teregatt… Eric did so much to you.”

Olivia sighed and shook her head, “What you went through… You always blamed yourself for not being strong enough to stop Eric from doing something horrible. But it wasn’t your fault, no one should have to deal with what you had to. And that thing with Fate as well on top of it all… You don’t even realize how terrible it was to hear what you’d been through this whole time, all without being able to tell anybody about it. Always worrying about what Eric would do to you if he discovered your secrets… No, don’t you ever say that. You’re not a murderer. It was practically self defense. And he deserved what he got a thousand times over.”

“I know that he probably deserved it,” Ginny said, “But it still makes me feel horrible.”

“That’s good,” Olivia said as she started stroking Ginny’s red hair slowly, “It’s not supposed to feel good. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do. Now Eric won’t be able to hurt anyone else ever again. You gotta remember that. It wasn’t just because you were angry with him, it was also because you’d seen him hurt the people you care about so many times in the past. You were just scared. And that’s okay.”

“Thanks, Olivia,” Ginny said after a few more minutes of leaning against Olivia for comfort, “That helped, I think. I see why all the wolf-kin like you so much even now after so much time has passed.”

“I try,” Olivia said, “Now let’s get you cleaned up, right? We’ve got to go to the funeral soon. And put on our black mourning robes for it. Let’s just… get ready. I’m sure that your Mom will feel better after the funeral.”

“O- Okay,” Ginny said, “It’s like she doesn’t even want to do anything anymore. I’ve had to make breakfast for everybody for the last few days even…”

“She’ll… She’s just sad,” Olivia said, “But you’ve got me to talk to and help out when you need it. And your Dad and brothers too. We’re family, that’s what we should be for.”

“Thanks, big sis,” Ginny said in a more subdued tone than she normally did.

“You’re welcome… Little sis,” Olivia said before ruffling Ginny’s hair slightly with her hand with a faint smile on her face. She stood up and pulled Ginny up with her by the hand off of the couch.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Now let’s go,” Olivia said, “We’ve got to change and clean up before any of the other guests start arriving.”

Olivia left and Ginny followed after her.

— — —

Ginny watched as the empty casket was slowly lowered into the ground. Both the nuclear weapon and Ron’s body had been destroyed in Ginny and Eric’s frantic battle. Ginny had refused to talk to the Aurors about what had happened, so she had no idea what they would think of it all. The dead Basilisk, the deaths, the bomb, any of it. It had been to painful to talk about what happened to Ron. And Ginny had no idea what she was supposed to tell them about what had happened. Her family knew it all, and said that they would handle it. But that wasn’t important right now. There wasn’t even anything left of Ron to bury. So the casket was empty.

Hermione stood there on the other side of the grave, looking like she was in a daze.

With a wave of his wand, Dad shifted the pile of dirt to fill the hole when the empty casket was at the bottom. He took out some magical fertilizer and scattered it and some seeds over the loose soil by hand.

With another wave of his wand, Dad activated the fertilizer and hundreds of colorful flowers burst into growth over the grave.

“Goodbye, Ron,” Ginny said softly.

As everyone started to leave, Ginny tried to walk up to Hermione. But the girl pointedly looked away and pushed past Ginny without another word and left.

Ginny sighed. She understood. Hermione had lost her two closest friends, Ginny hadn’t had the heart to tell her about everything that Eric had done. Hermione could hate her, but it just felt cruel to reveal Eric's crimes to Hermione while she was grieving the loss of both of her best friends.

After the funeral ended, Ginny felt a little lighter. Like she had a sense of closure now with Ron buried and saying one last goodbye.

And without Eric, she could finally start living her life without worry. The beginning of a brighter future without any more danger or horribleness to get between Ginny exploring her magic and spending time with her friends.

The life that she and Harry had always wanted from the beginning. It could finally be here now that Eric was gone from her life. Even if her victory was subdued and not the celebration that she had expected it to be. She wasn't sure what she had expected it to be.

And with that horrible woman Umbridge fired from the school too after what had happened. Ginny was sure that the school would find someone better to run the school next.

If only Ron could be here to see it too...

— — —

Eric frantically tried to block the blasting curses that Ginny had fired at him. How was this possible? How was she overpowering him? It wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair! He was the stronger one, he had already proved that years ago. He just didn’t understand how she could have become so powerful so quickly. Had she been holding back this whole time for some reason?

Sweating buckets and body running hot, Eric kept trying to dissolve the blasting curses spell structures and counter Ginny’s magic tendrils as they brutally carved a path towards him and fended off his attacks on her spells.

It wouldn’t be enough, Eric could see it. Something cold washed over his feet as a black shadow began to spread upwards from the bottom of his feet. Eric ignored it as he used a desperate push of his magic to attempt to dissolve the last five of the blasting curses before they hit him. The strange shadow had reached up to his waist.

He was too late and his world exploded into pain as the curses landed. But after a moment of intense pain and heat, there was only cold and dampness.

Eric opened his swollen and barely functional eye even as he felt the damage over his whole body as he lay there on the ground limply.

He was in some sort of dark cave, and floating above him were a group of figures in dark cloaks.

‘Eric Potter,’ A voice whispered in his mind as one of the figures reached up and drew back its hood to reveal a featureless gray head with a circular mouth at the bottom, ‘I believe that we can help each other. We have an artifact to heal your wounds… At a price. You will become like us, no longer human. But also not us, but something new. You will not survive otherwise. We will assist if you help us grow strong beyond all others, as Ecraz promised us before he was defeated. As strong as you appear to be.’

“Teaming up with… Dementors. Surviving at a price…” Eric said with a cough as he kept bleeding and his mind began to fade.

“...Sure, why not. Let’s do it. Sounds interesting at least.”

‘I’m sure we’ll do great things together, Eric Potter,’ The Dementor above said as Eric finally lost consciousness, ‘I look forward to our partnership. It will take many years for the artifact to do its work. But when you emerge... You will be something truly extraordinary.’