Aberforth didn't know what to do.

He would often lie IN bed at night, wondering - hoping - if maybe he wouldn't wake up in the morning. His purpose in life was gone. His parents, gone. His sister, gone. His brother, gone. And now The Hog's Head, the students transportation to the Battle of Hogwarts, his brave role in the war, was over.

All he had now was his goat. And even she was wheezing her final breaths.

Abe wanted to be with his sister again, finally, after all these years. He wanted to see her blue eyes, and apologize for not being able to save her.

It was as he was thinking these thoughts that he looked down and saw himself, asleep.

Of course, it only took him a moment to realize that, had he been asleep, he would not be looking down at his own body.

He wasn't sure how he felt about being dead. It was a strange feeling for Aberforth. He wondered if he should feel relieved. Or scared.

But he didn't. he simply stared down at his own body, dumbfounded, until a soft voice called, "Abe?"

He turned around to see, much to his surprise, his blonde-haired, blue-eyed little sister, steeping out of her picture frame and taking his hand. Looking down, he saw that at her touch, his old age had melted away. Suddenly, as if by magic (well, it probably was by magic, but Aberforth was thinking very clearly at the time), he was a young boy again, linking arms with his frail little sister. But now she didn't look so frail. She had color in her cheeks, and her eyes weren't sunken and miserable.

She looked happy to see him.

"Come on!" she cried. "Mummy and Daddy and Albus are waiting for us!"

Aberforth wasn't sure he wanted to see his older brother. Seeming to sense his apprehension, Arianna turned to smile at him. "It does not do to dwell on the past," she told him, in her best imitation of Albus's voice.

Aberforth laughed, and together they set off, ready to explore whatever came after, together.

*****

I do not own Harry Potter. I do, however, own The Hog's Head. Ow! Jeez, Jo Rowling hits hard! Ok, ok, I don't own the Hog's Head either.