Author's Note – Uhhh…. yeah…. just to let you know, this is not the end, there are still two or so chapters to go.

My Brother's Keeper

Chapter 11

Ginny scowled at her homework with a distant look in her eye. She and her brother had been let out of Hogwarts for the next few days for Percy's trial, so long as she completed all of her work. It had been a month since Percy and the twins were arrested, and while the twins were released the Siebenkees Institute saw to it that Percy remained locked up. His trial had been delayed for weeks and, although no one could prove it, the whole Weasley brood was certain it was because of the Institute. Whenever her father demanded answers, Joseph Savage, the Auror in charge of Percy's case, would simply reply that they were still gathering information from Percy. Whatever that means, Ginny thought darkly while scowling deeper at her scroll. Finally, however, the Ministry had scheduled Percy's trial for tomorrow and there would be no date changes.

In the meantime, Ginny was left alone with her thoughts. Her father was at work and her mother and brothers were out shopping for Percy's "homecoming party". It had been her mother's idea. She was certain that Percy would need some cheering up from his stint in the Ministry's holding cells after he was acquitted at his trial. Ginny didn't doubt this, but she knew that a party was not the way to cheer Percy up. Ginny could honestly say that she was the closest to Percy out of all the Weasley siblings, closer to him than even Charlie was when he still lived at the Burrow. The two were often the odd ones out: Ginny because she was the only girl and Percy because, well, he was Percy. And so, they created an alliance of sorts. No one seemed to want to spend any time with them, so they would just spend time with each other.

Out of all of her brothers, Percy was the only one to humor her when she wanted to play one of her "girly games". If Ginny wanted to play with her brothers then she had to play their games, never one of her games, like tea party. Ginny remembered how, when she was very young, she went crying to Percy because Ron had told her he didn't want to play with "stupid dolls with a stupid girl". To calm her down, Percy told her that he would play with her and he did, even if he didn't seem to enjoy himself much. That hadn't mattered to Ginny, she was just glad that there was someone there who wanted to play with her for once.

Because of all the time they had spent together, Ginny knew Percy better than anyone, and vice-versa. It was the reason why Percy was the only one that knew something was wrong with her in her first year, and it was the reason why Ginny knew that Percy was just going to hate the party that Mum was going to throw for him. All that energy and loud noise and disorder would just set Percy on edge, so Ginny decided to opt out of the party planning. Instead, she had written Percy a poem that she had planned to give him tomorrow night, after the party was over and it was quiet once again. She knew that would cheer Percy up. For some reason, her poetry always made Percy laugh.

Ginny was jolted from her thoughts at the sudden knock at the door. Ginny immediately ran up and opened the door, wandering who it was that was calling. The man standing at the door was a middle-aged man with graying hair that Ginny immediately recognized as Joseph Savage. He had a nervous look on his face and kept glancing around, looking at anything but Ginny's face. Fear immediately took hold of her; Savage was a man who always seemed cold and collected, and not a little arrogant. Something was definitely wrong.

"Are your parents at home, little girl?" Savage asked. Ginny mutely shook her head.

"Listen, I… I'm sorry to say this but your brother… Percy Weasley… has died. Your brother was sick and the hallucinations he was experiencing were a symptom of it. He suffered a seizure and died… The Siebenkees Institute has decided not to file a civil case against your family for defamation now that the true cause of your brother's hallucinations has come to light…" Joseph Savage trailed off and, for the first time, looked at Ginny.

Ginny dumbly stared back at the man. She knew she was supposed to say something, but what? What had happened? She didn't understand. "Where's the body?" Ginny finally croaked out. At once, Ginny was horrified and ashamed for asking such a question. For referring to her brother as a body.

Savage grimaced at the question. "The Ministry could not house a corpse in its buildings, so he was buried in Potter's Field three days ago."

Ginny felt like she had been slapped across the face. "He died three days ago?" She asked.

Savage held up his hands. "I should leave now. This must have been a terrible shock for you. My condolences to you and your family." And with a crack he was gone.

Ginny felt herself move away from the door and sit at the sofa. She felt numb inside and guilty; how was she suppose to tell her mother was had happened? How in the world could she tell her mother that her son was dead and not have her hate her?