i know i know, judging from the topic we had on fanfictions, it's obvious they aren't liked all that much. but i don't intend for you to like it, that's not why i'm posting it. i'm a member of a fanfic site, but i have yet to post any stories on it. i want my first chapter i ever post to be recieved well, and that's where you come in.
basically, i'm hoping i can get some reviews and where i should have cut something out, or got rid of something. or where something needs explaining more.
i know this might be a little tough though, the chapter is a little over 12000 words (yes, twelve thousand words), so it is by no means a short chapter. in fact, it's so big it has to be posted over two posts because lumos won't allow posts to exceed 60000 characters, and this happens to be around 69000. but let me tell you from experience, it's perfectly acceptable to be able to read something of that size in half an hour to an hour, in one go, and enjoy it.
so, less of me, on with the chapter, i hope you enjoy it, and please give me ideas on what needs changing.
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Chapter 1 - Memories
Harry, Ron and Hermione had picked their way through the corridor’s of Hogwarts, careful not to disturb any of the rubble that lay on the floor, lest is cause more damage to the already broken school. Fortunately, all of the bodies had been found and taken down to the grieving families in the entrance hall. The three of them could still hear the celebrations from several floors below them, as though their time in Dumbledore’s office had not even happened. But people would still be celebrating into the next century after tonight’s events.
Voldemort had been defeated, destroyed by his own spell. The irony of the matter was laughable, that Voldemort, the darkest wizard to have ever lived had been tricked into beating himself twice.
Harry gave a sigh, making the first noise since the trio had left Dumbledore’s office on the second floor. Now on the fifth floor, the enormity of what had happened was sinking in. Not only what he had accomplished, but what it meant for the future. He no longer had Voldemort hanging over him like before. He thought back to almost a year ago, when he’d first realised that he’d perhaps never be free, when stood in Ginny’s room. The image he’d had back then flashed before his mind, but the face of Ginny’s groom was now filled in, black hair, vivid green eyes and a lightning scar. Perhaps now he could think of this.
The three of them had reached the seventh floor without realising it. They passed by the Room of Requirement before Ron stopped and turned. Harry noticed nothing and continued onwards for a few steps, before he heard Hermione stop too and had to turn around himself. Ron was stood staring at the floor near the window, which had caved in. Harry knew instantly what was floating before Ron’s eyes.
Ron was seeing two of his brothers huddled together, just a few hours before. Percy’s cries of his brother Fred’s name rang in his ears. Harry too, stared at the spot where the twin’s body had lain, motionless, his eyes glazed over. It was from the very same spot that Harry was standing that he’d first seen it. He took a deep breath and exhaled again, before stepping over to Ron and laying a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t know what he was meant to say, but he knew that his friend didn’t need any words at all.
Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron’s waist and held him tightly, careful not to disturb him too much to think she was trying to drag him away. Harry sighed again and took another look at the floor where Fred had been, before turning away.
“I’ll leave you two here, alone.” He said matter-of-factly.
Hermione looked at him with wide eyes for a second, before nodding her consent. As she settled back into her former position against Ron’s back, Harry began walking, with a purpose, towards the common room. After only a few steps however, he stopped again.
“Don’t let anyone in here, will you? Except your family Ron”
He hoped that Ron had heard, but he knew that Hermione would have heard and understood exactly what Harry had meant. The only people Harry wanted to see were her, Ron and Ginny, people who understood his needs. He took the final few steps to turn the corner and leaned against the wall when out of sight from Ron and Hermione. He doubted very much they’d be spying on him, but he still didn’t want them to see the tears trickling down his face.
He’d talked to all the grieving families. He didn’t have much choice in the matter. Because of this, he knew just how many people had lost someone in the fight. There were dozens upon dozens of people mourning someone. He himself, had Fred, Remus and Tonks to mourn.
As Harry thought of Remus and Tonks his stomach lurched. Little Teddy, Remus’ son, was just like he was now, alone with no parents, and not understanding why. He supposed someone would be able to take in the poor child. Perhaps Molly would. At least with the Weasley’s Teddy would enjoy a better lifestyle than Harry ever did. Although nothing would ever be a substitute for the feel of real parents.
Harry was Teddy’s godfather, so he’d have a say in what happened, of course. But with the short time he knew his own godfather, how much did Harry really know. He certainly didn’t know how to look after a child properly. Perhaps he’d leave that to Ginny and Molly, and maybe Hermione.
Harry took another deep breath, as he found he’d been doing so often since the fight. He didn’t know if it was relief or trying to hold back his emotion so that it didn’t explode out of him. Whatever it was, it was enough to stop the tears and make his feet begin moving again, down the corridor to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
The Fat Lady wasn’t there, but Harry wasn’t surprised at this. He thought, with a smile, that she’d be down with Violet somewhere in the castle, getting a little bit tipsy as she did around Christmas. Still, without the Fat Lady, he couldn’t get into Gryffindor Tower.
He slumped against the wall again and slid down it until he rested on the floor. The Gryffindor Tower seemed to have had no damage done to it from the battle. Harry was happy, as he drew his robes around him, he felt pleasantly warm. Thinking of how he’d much prefer to be in his bed, he fell into a deep sleep as exhaustion took him away.
Harry slept well, until the sound of voices stirred him. He cursed mentally as he woke, and felt more tired than he had before sleep. He tried to block out the voices from above him, but failed as Ron’s voice floated into his ears.
“-think we should wake him?”
“He can’t stay out here like this, can he? Unless you can carry him without waking him,” Hermione’s voice sounded calm, but still cracked slightly from time to time, like she’d been crying for a long time.
“Fat chance, he’s not the heaviest of sleepers our Harry.” Ron replied
“Well you just proved that statement” Harry said, startling the two, who had obviously not been looking at the black haired boy. They jumped back and looked around, before looking at Harry who started to get off the ground. Harry saw their hands fling apart, and he thought it had nothing to do with the surprise he’d given them.
“Harry!” Ron said with a false cheery expression “why you sleeping on the floor mate?
“Fat Lady wasn’t here was she? Even if she was, I don’t know the password.” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. Ron gaped.
“Harry, you just beat the crap out of You-Know-Who, and you’re stumped by a bloody portrait. Did you even try it?” he asked shaking his head. Hermione, in the meantime, had walked to where the Fat Lady normally stood and opened the portrait without a password or a Fat Lady
“Did you really think that passwords were being used during the fight Harry?” she asked, looking at him concernedly, as though he was losing his marbles
“Well- yeah- I didn’t know did I?” Harry started to protest, feeling stupid; he should have just tried it.
“Oh whatever” Hermione said simply, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the common room. As he looked around, he noticed nothing had even moved. It was as though they’d simply walked into the room in the middle of the night before the House Elves had some to tidy up. Hermione was rummaging around in her bag, reaching in and pulling out Harry’s pyjamas. Harry smiled and took them. Without a word, she pointed to the boy’s dormitories and Harry took the stern look to mean “if he didn’t go now she’d hex him”
He walked up the stairs slowly, not really having the energy to go fast. After a few steps, he heard Hermione shout “I’ll tell Ginny to stay down here if she comes, but I doubt I’ll be able to stop her if she wants to see you.”
Harry grunted and reached the top step entering the seventh year dormitory. He was surprised to see only four beds, but then he realised that Dean wouldn’t have been accommodated for with the Carrows in charge. As quick as he could he changed into his pyjamas and collapsed onto the sheets, asleep before he’d hit the bed.
*********************
Harry’s night was surprisingly calm. He expected to have nightmares about Voldemort coming back and haunting him, or about Death Eaters chasing him through the streets of Hogwarts. But his dreams seemed quiet, merely surrounded by white, as though he was back in the King’s Cross remake, talking to Dumbledore.
Light flooded the room as Harry awoke the next day. He guessed it would be midday, and as he straightened his glasses and glanced at his watch, he was not mistaken. Getting up, he felt stiff and achy from the night before, but otherwise, nearly perfect. His arm hurt specifically, possibly from lying on the forest floor and hitting the trees around him when Voldemort was having his way with him after his apparent death. He shook the pain away and went down the stairs to the common room.
Nobody was there when he entered the circular room, but Harry supposed he couldn’t expect them to stay there forever waiting for him to awake. They may have been down at the great hall with the celebrations. He walked to the window and looked out.
The grounds were a mess. The forest looked smaller, with trees being uprooted by the giants and used as weapons. The said trees were now stacked near the lake in a large pile. Harry could only assume a powerful bit of magic had moved the large trunks. Near them, adults and children mingled together on the lawns beside the water, some kids splashing each other in the lake itself. Harry thought he could even see the emerald robes of Professor McGonagall, but the thought of McGonagall being outside with the students was nearly laughable.
The portrait behind Harry opened, but Harry stayed still, looking over the grounds. Assuming it was simply Ron and Hermione, he didn’t say anything, waiting for them to make the first comment. When they didn’t he turned slowly around, hand in his pocket in case he needed his repaired wand.
As soon as he had turned he was knocked straight off his feet by something tackling him at his waist. He stumbled backwards against the wall, winded. He closed his eyes and tried his best to get his breath back. Against his chest, he could hear the soft sounds of someone sobbing uncontrollably. Whoever had tackled him was quivering against his body. Harry prised his eyes open so he could see who it was crying, but he didn’t really need to.
Only one person would be this happy to see him safe and sound, and only one person was allowed up here other than Ron and Hermione, and that was Ginny.
Sure enough, when Harry had his bearings back enough to open his eyes, he was looking down at the fiery red hair of the youngest Weasley. Instinctively his hand came up to the back of her head and gently tangled in her hair, not so much to comfort her as to comfort himself. It had been a long time since he’d been able to hold her this close, and the last time had resulted in Ron giving him an earful.
Not this time though. Ron wasn’t around to witness the couple’s embrace, nor could he say Harry was messing Ginny about this time. Ginny had waited patiently for Harry, and Harry had more than deserved the girl who made him happier than anyone else.
With the knowledge of their previous relationship being one of the few things he could cling on to whilst travelling, Harry still knew everything he needed to do. He gently pressed his lips to the top of Ginny’s head, comfortingly.
Ginny’s breathing stopped the instant he did it, and she stopped sobbing. Slowly, she tilted her head up to look into Harry’s eyes. When they met, a smile spread across her beautiful face for the first time in months. She took a deep breath and spoke for the first time since entering the room.
“Damn you Harry Potter”
These weren’t the words he was expecting. He also wasn’t expecting her to break into a fresh wave of tears as her head fell against his chest again. With months of built up frustration, sadness and uncertainty, the once strong Ginny, who never shed a tear at Dumbledore’s funeral when Harry had said it needed to end, broke down. She raised her hand and started pounding at Harry’s chest with the same sort of force Harry normally associated with Hagrid, her hand curled into a tight fist, hitting the same place every time. Harry didn’t wince, but the spot was certainly painful. He could feel Ginny slowly start to relax, her punches becoming more like playful slaps than real punches. She had stopped shuddering completely and managed to find the strength to look back up into his eyes. They were still swimming with tears, but Harry didn’t think he’d seen anything more beautiful, not even Fleur.
Ginny’s hand now lay on Harry’s chest where it had been pounding, but now it was unfurled and placed palm down on Harry’s shirt. Harry grabbed it and intertwined his fingers with hers. He took a breath to speak, but was cut off by Ginny’s lips pressing against his in a ferocious kiss.
It wasn’t like any of the others they had shared. In their relationship before, all their kisses had been romantic, soft little kisses that let each other, and everyone around them know that they were in love. Back in the burrow, their kiss was more passionate. Ginny had said she wanted Harry to remember her when he was off with Veela in some part of the country, and it was definitely enough. Harry would never have even thought about a girl after that kiss, unless it was the young red-head.
But this was different still. He could feel something from Ginny that was more than love, and more than passion. He knew instantly what it was, because he felt it too. Desperation. Desperation to have the other one as close as could possibly be. Nearly a year apart had nearly ripped their hearts out, and neither of them wanted anything other than to touch the other. The kiss was perfect for the moment, even if it wasn’t the most romantic they had ever had. Harry didn’t think either of them needed anymore after this.
It was some minutes before they broke apart, but Harry wasn’t keeping count. As far as he cared, they could have been there for hours. He wouldn’t have minded, and the joyful look on Ginny’s face told him that she wouldn’t either. Her eyes were closed lightly, all sign of the previous tension gone. Her lips were still slightly open, and her breathing slow and steady.
Harry still hadn’t spoken since she walked in. he slowly brought his hand up to her chin and lifted her head. Her eyes fluttered open and instantly locked with his. He spoke in nothing more than a whisper as he said
“I love you Ginny”
Ginny looked like she wanted to close her eyes again and drown in the words he had spoken, but she didn’t. she kept them open, staring back into his emerald depths as though daring him to take it back. After a few moments, the smile on her face appeared once more and her eyes closed once more. Her hand blindly found his hair and pulled his head gently towards hers, which he complied to. Instead of pulling him back into a kiss, she simply held him as close as she could, her chin rested on his shoulder gently. He could feel her breath against his neck and ear, warm and soft, as she replied
“I love you too Harry”
Harry’s arms wrapped around her waist as he picked her off the floor completely and held her above him. He was glad she was only a small girl, as he wasn’t the strongest of boys. Small and scrawny, he was quite surprised he could lift her at all. Her legs gently wrapped around his waist to make it easier for him as she smiled down at him. No-one would have been able to guess that she had been crying a few minutes ago, her face looked happier than Harry had ever seen.
*********************
“What happened to you?”
The couple were sat on the comfy chair, a roaring fire going in front of them. Ginny was sat draped across Harry’s lap, her hand gently weaving through Harry’s hair. Harry’s arms hadn’t moved from around her waist for some hours.
It was now coming closer to the evening. The two had been hungry, which Harry had solved by asking Kreature to come with some food for him. What Kreature returned with, however, was enough to keep even Ron satisfied after a quidditch practise. There was certainly too much for Harry and Ginny. Mostly though, the food had gone untouched, as the two just simply talked, joked and laughed, glad to be back with each other once again.
Ginny’s question had been the first mention of what had happened in the past year. There had been a silence for a while, not awkward, but a silence. They both knew the question had to be asked, but it was so difficult.
Harry sighed and looked at the fire. It was hard to decide where he was supposed to start. But he supposed he had to begin with what she didn’t know before he’d left.
“Do you remember in the department of mysteries, the small glass ball that the Death Eaters were after?” Harry asked her awkwardly. Talking about it was difficult, it had been that small glass ball which had led Sirius to his death
Ginny nodded. “The prophecy? That broke, didn’t it? Nobody heard it”
“yes, but someone had to hear it in the first place for it to be recorded, didn’t they?” Harry said with a smile, knowing that Ginny had overlooked that. Ginny just simply nodded again, understanding that it meant Harry had met that someone.
“the prophecy was made by Trelawney, shortly before I was born, to Dumbledore.” Harry continued. Ginny nodded again, but didn’t speak. She could supposedly already guess what it said.
Harry told her the exact wording of the prophecy as Dumbledore had shown him. when he’d finished, he gave her a little moment to think it over, then said “what it means is someone was going to be born at the end of July, seventeen years ago, who would be able to beat Voldemort.”
“you” Ginny interrupted
Harry smiled as he remembered the conversation between himself and Dumbledore.
“At the time, it could have meant one of two people, me or Neville” he told her “but yes, the prophecy means me. The next part said the Dark Lord would mark him as his equal.” He pointed at the scar on his forehead. “which tells you it was me. You could probably search Neville all over and not find a scar, and if you did, it wouldn’t be from Voldemort.”
Ginny flinched at the name like most of the Weasley family, but Harry ignored this and ploughed on.
“Finally, the prophecy said that one of us will have to kill the other, for ‘neither can live whilst the other survives’.”
Ginny’s eyes met his, they were warm and comforting. There was something about those chocolate eyes that gave Harry the courage to carry on with the tale easily. It was a lot harder with Ron and Hermione.
“so last year, now that I knew what I had to do, Dumbledore started tutoring me. He told me about Horcruxes, which will keep you alive even through the Avada Kedavra curse. He told me that Voldemort made six.”
He didn’t want to go into the details of what a horcrux was, and Ginny took it that she wasn’t to mention it.
“those six things had to be destroyed. According to Dumbledore, Riddle’s Diary was one.”
Ginny’s eyes widened, and a small tear trickled down her cheek at the mention of the Diary. The time in her first year was almost forgotten now, but it still stung.
Harry explained what the rest of the Horcruxes were, according to what Dumbledore said. He told her that Dumbledore had destroyed the ring, and the Diary had been destroyed too. Finally, he got to the night of Dumbledore’s death. Ginny remained silent as he told the tale of what happened in the cave, and in the middle of the lake. When Harry told her about the Inferi, she gasped and covered her mouth, amazed at how he’d escaped with his life. Harry recounted how he had to carry Dumbledore back, and they flew together to where the Dark Mark was there.
“Malfoy came up. He was meant to be the one who killed Dumbledore, but he couldn’t do it. He’d never killed before, he didn’t have it in him.”
Harry suddenly felt a little sorry for Malfoy. Hadn’t Harry been in the same situation, fearing that he’d have to kill for the first time ever? It wasn’t an easy task, certainly not one for a teenage boy.
“he was joined by more Death Eaters, then Snape. Snape killed Dumbledore.”
“b*****d” Ginny said scathingly. Harry shook his head.
“I’ll get to that in a minute.” He told her, as she looked on, surprised.
“You know what happened after that until the wedding. For the main part it was really boring. We had no leads, and nothing to help us. We had to sit around and wait until something came up.”
He covered in brief, where they had gone and what they had done. Then he got to Kreature’s tale. He told it simply, that Kreature had been tasked to get rid of the locket somehow, and according to him, how Mundungus had it. Then he told her that Umbridge had now bought the locket.
The next hour or so went on recounting the events of the past year. Ginny interrupted only a few times to make snide comments about people, like Bellatrix Lestrange, and gleefully told Harry the story of her mother killing the Death Eater. Harry didn’t say he already knew, he was happy to stop talking for a while. His mouth was starting to get sore. Finally, he got around to Snape’s memory.
“In the memory, Dumbledore told Snape loads of things. It was Snape who put the sword in the lake. It was Dumbledore who told Snape to kill him. Snape didn’t want to, but he had to. Finally, Dumbledore told him…”
Harry found his throat was stuck. How would Ginny take it, that he had to die to win? He’d embraced death so willingly, and she was going to be distraught. It almost seemed like he’d wanted to die.
“Told him that I had to die in order to beat Voldemort”
Ginny gasped loudly, her hand flying up to her mouth.
“So I walked to the forbidden forest, where Voldemort was, completely unarmed, and let Voldemort kill me.”
By now, tears were trickling down Ginny’s face. She instinctively reached out and touched Harry’s cheek, just to make sure he was there. Harry’s hand met hers and he kissed her palm gently.
“Did it hurt?” Ginny asked him in a soft, almost pathetic voice.
“No, actually, it felt great” Harry said, receiving a puzzled look from Ginny. “When the curse hit me, I felt nothing. Suddenly, I was in this weird place. It looked like King’s Cross Station, but it was all white. Dumbledore was there, perfectly unharmed. We talked, and he told me that when the killing curse had hit me, it killed Voldemort’s piece of soul, not mine. Then Dumbledore said I had the option to go back, or continue on and let death take me. I had to come back of course, there was no other way. I had to be with you, didn’t I?”
Ginny smiled as Harry’s hand came up and he wiped away the tears on her cheeks with the pad of his thumb.
“I went back into my body, into the forest. I could see all the Death Eaters crowding around Voldemort, but I didn’t dare open my eyes fully. Voldemort must have fallen over when he cursed me. He stood up, still alive, and told Narcissa Malfoy to check if I was alive. It turned out to be the wrong choice. By then, Malfoy only cared about whether Draco was alive. She could tell I was alive by my pulse; obviously, she bent down to check my breathing, and asked if Draco was alive. I told her he was, and she told Voldemort I was dead.”
“She betrayed him?” Ginny asked, plainly confused.
“The only way she’d get to go back to the castle would be if I was dead, and Draco was in the castle. Wouldn’t you betray him for your son?”
Ginny thought for a second, then said, “Yeah, I guess I would”
“Exactly” Harry told her, “So she betrayed him, yes. Of course, Voldemort had to humiliate me, didn’t he? He used the cruciatus curse on me a lot of times.”
Ginny gasped once again, looking appalled, until Harry said “It didn’t hurt, nothing was hurting me at all.”
“Then he told Hagrid to pick me up and take me to the castle. Nobody except Malfoy knew I was actually alive. The rest you know, you were there.”
Ginny slowly wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and held herself as close to him as possible. Harry gently stroked her hair as he felt her shaking again with tears.
“I thought you were dead” Ginny admitted “I thought I’d lost you. I waited for you to come back, and then when you did, I thought you’d gone and got yourself killed. I would never have been able to live without you Harry. I almost wanted Lestrange to kill me when we were duelling, just so I’d see you again.”
“It’s a good job she didn’t then isn’t it?” Harry said forcefully. He didn’t want Ginny thinking like that. But he realised force wasn’t going to stop her from crying, so he added, “it’s a good job your mum’s as good at duelling as she is at cooking.”
Ginny laughed slightly and rested her head in the crook of Harry’s neck. Harry rocked her backwards and forwards, glad to have her back in his arms.
“Nothing’s going to stop us now Ginny, you’re stuck with me. Can you handle that?” Harry teased, making her laugh again.
“Um, let me think about that one, I’ve been madly in love with you for seven years, ever since I saw you at King’s Cross.”
“Yeah, but you only liked me for the first year because I was famous.” Harry argued, trying to keep her mind off the fact he could have died.
Ginny snorted loudly, causing Harry to start and look at her. “do you really think that Harry?” she asked him, almost laughing
“Well, you didn’t know me, so you couldn’t have loved me properly” Harry reasoned with her. She seemed to weigh this up in her mind before speaking
“you barely knew Cho.”
“I’d rather not go there, thank you very much, not the best experience of my life” Harry said with a wry smile.
Ginny laughed and ruffled up Harry’s hair. “So what was then?”
“Hang on, give me a sec to think” Harry said to her, looking like he was trying to remember something difficult. She waited, looking at him, before being taken by surprise as his lips met hers in a soft, but loving kiss.
When they broke away, Harry was smiling once more, and whispered “that was.”
Ginny laughed again, before teasingly replying “and the other kisses weren’t? I feel offended.”
“Any kiss from you Ginny, you know that.” Harry told her.
Ginny rested her head back on Harry’s shoulder and interlaced her fingers with his, gently whispering “I know Harry, I know”
After a couple of seconds where Harry was staring into the fireplace absent-mindedly, he suddenly remembered something that made him burst into laughter. Ginny looked at him scornfully as though he’d ruined a perfect moment, which in her eyes, he had.
“Sorry,” Harry said still laughing, “just that speaking of kisses reminds me of something that happened in the battle. There we were, we just found and destroyed the last horcrux, and suddenly Ron…”
“Ron what!?” a voice sounded from the doorway. Harry’s head snapped around and saw his best friends walking through the portrait hole, Ron entering first, Hermione after. Both of them stopped and looked at Harry and Ginny sat on the chair, before shrugging and moving to sit on the sofa next to each other.
“Where have you been?” Ginny asked to two of them, looking between them. Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Ron got there first.
“Out, Ron what?” he said simply, turning back to Harry for the second part of the question.
Harry gulped. He hadn’t been intending to have to say it in front of Ron himself. Hermione seemed to already know exactly what Harry was about to tell Ginny, but Ron seemed blissfully unaware. Harry looked at Hermione, his eyes pleading for help.
“Don’t look at me Harry, you did start it.” Hermione replied teasingly, sticking her tongue out. Since when did Hermione stick her tongue out? If Ron had that sort of effect on her, they were going to be having a good laugh together in the future.
Ginny looked between the couple sat on the sofa and Harry with a puzzled look on her face.
“Come on Harry, what did Ron do?” she asked him
Harry had a brainwave. He smiled at the two on the sofa and said “actually Gin, it’s not my place to tell you, ask them”
Ron still looked completely clueless. “What have we got to tell her?”
Hermione sighed and shook her head at Harry. Laughing slightly, she turned to face Ron and pulled his chin towards her face so he was looking into her eyes. Then she kissed him gently on the lips. It lasted no more than a few seconds, but it was enough to get her point across to both Ginny and Ron.
“Oh that!?” Ron said, recovering first. He smiled at Ginny and Harry as he realised what they were talking about, then his face fell as he realised he’d have to explain it. “Yeah, uh… yeah, me and Hermione… uh”
“Me and Ronald are going out” Hermione said simply, giving Ron a sharp glance.
“Yeah…” Ron said weakly, cowering under the look he got from Hermione.
Ginny looked amazed at the two of them, but then smiled as relief washed over her face.
“And I thought it would be something bad.”
The four of them sat in the common room for the rest of the evening, Ron tucked into the meal that Kreature had brought them up earlier as though he had never seen food in his life, and they all temporarily forgot what had happened the previous night.
*********************
Harry woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. The previous night had been so good. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed and talked with his friends without any cares. It had to be the night Dumbledore had died, but the events of the rest of that night put a larger dampener on the evening.
Last night, nothing could spoil the happiness between the four of them. At Ron’s urging, they’d enjoyed chess, where even Ron had struggled because of his time away from the chequered board. There were times where Harry nearly had him, but Ron hadn’t truly lost his touch and regained controlled too quickly for Harry’s liking. Still, it filled Harry with confidence for future games.
Exploding snap was next on the agenda, which was much more evenly matched. Even Hermione, who was inexperienced at the game, managed to win some games. None of them really cared who won at all in truth, but Harry didn’t want to spoil Hermione’s fun.
The evening was filled up with banter about various things. Ginny recounted everything that had happened at Hogwarts, including the harsh times the Carrows had encountered. She had steered clear of tales of Snape, due to Harry’s new found respect in the man. Ron had turned the conversation to quidditch, asking how the Cannons were going on. Ginny replied that he didn’t even need to ask and halted the conversation instantly, which left Harry to change the topic again to what was going to happen now.
Neither he nor Ron knew exactly what they were going to do. Hermione however, put a great point across when she stated boldly that she was remaining at Hogwarts and completing her NEWTs. She explained that they were necessary for their jobs. Harry agreed, but after Ron got angry at the idea of having another year of homework, he decided that he’d remain silent. He did decide however, to make a point of talking to Hermione about it and also making a decision to stay. With the two of them at Hogwarts, Ron would relent too, and with Ginny having to complete her final year, it seemed like the perfect choice to Harry.
After checking his watch and announcing that it was gone midnight, the group decided it was time to turn in for the night. Harry walked up to the dormitory and grabbed a few blankets off the beds, before dragging them down again. He and Ginny then curled up together on one of the sofas next to the fire. Ron and Hermione seemed to consider the idea a lot, before settling on sleeping on the same sofa, but far apart. Ron shot Harry a look at the close proximity of him and his sister, but said nothing on the fact. Harry simply smiled back and nodded towards Hermione, causing the red head’s eyes to widen. Harry could easily tell he was tempted, and sure enough, when Harry closed his eyes, he heard a shift and a slight gasp, and could only assume that Ron had at least attempted. Sleep overcame him before he had chance to check however.
And now it was morning, and Harry woke to a cold shiver as he realised the blankets were only covering Ginny, tucked tightly into her chest. The young girl had her back to him, the only movement being the slow rise and fall of her deep breaths. Harry sat up, careful not to disturb her, and looked across at the other sofa.
Obviously, Hermione had relented when Ron had embraced her, as they were still tightly knitted together, both with their arms around each other. Harry smiled at his friends, but could help thinking it was going to take some getting used to. He shook his head as he looked at them and stood up. Looking at his watch, he saw it was mid-morning, far too late for people to be sleeping in.
Gently stepping over to Ginny he looked down at her sleeping form. A smile plagued her lips, not lost from the night before. It matched the smile Harry wore on his own face as he lowered his head and kissed her gently on her lips.
It took a few seconds before the girl realised the pressure on her lips. Slowly rousing from her slumber, Ginny gently moved her lips against Harry’s as her eyes fluttered open. Seeing she was awake, Harry pulled away just a few millimetres, and breathed “I love you”
The wake up call was perfect in Ginny’s eyes. She didn’t know whether Harry knew how perfect it was, but she didn’t care. His sweetness was incredible whether he realised it or not. She’d realised that he could be romantic during their brief stint together a year ago, but this topped everything he’d already done. Recognising that Harry was probably waiting for some sort of answer, she sleepily whispered back “I love you too”
Harry kissed her again quickly, before standing up and walking over to the other couple, still asleep on the sofa together. Again he shook his head and chuckled slightly, before shaking the two awake. As soon as they realised what position they had been caught in, they blushed a deep red.
“Come on, breakfast” Harry announced to the room, heading towards the portrait hole. He was followed by Ginny, but Ron and Hermione didn’t move.
“Could you, you know, leave us for a minute mate?” Ron asked nervously, glancing at Hermione before taking his gaze back to Harry.
Harry chuckled again but tried to look shocked, Ron’s face fell. Harry finally smiled and said “sure, whatever, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Before quickly ducking out of the portrait hole, only hearing part of Hermione’s protests.
Ginny followed, and the two discussed the matter all the way down to the great hall. There was noise still sounding from behind the massive doors, and Harry suspected that none of these people had got any sleep the past two nights. He also suspected nobody cared.
As he pushed open the huge oak doors and stepped through them, the hall went hushed. People stared openly at him, standing on chairs for a better look, as though they had never seen a boy with black hair and glasses before. Then the silence broke and there were cheers all around the hall once more. People rushed over to Harry and Ginny. Harry noticed that many were girls who simply wanted to get a better look at him, but there were some boys in the crowd too, slapping him on the back and laughing. Slowly, Harry and Ginny edged through the crowd, avoiding the girls who looked murderous at Ginny’s hand in his, and found the table where the rest of the Weasley’s were sat. Ginny swung into the seat next to her mother, while Harry sat opposite her next to George. The twin was looking more depressed than Harry thought he’d ever seen a boy, but it was no surprise. Losing Fred was like losing part of himself to George. Harry had to admit that it would be hard to get used to seeing only one of the twins.
True to form, Mrs. Weasley fussed over Harry’s appearance before Ginny chipped in and told her that he’d just beaten You-Know-Who and he has every right to look shabby. Then she proceeded in telling her parents what Ickle-Ronnikins was up to in the common room. Her mother beamed with pride at her youngest son. It was clear she was still upset about Fred, but she was trying her best not to show it in front of Harry and Ginny, which Harry appreciated. As the topic turned away from Ron, the last red-head joined the table, sitting next to Harry. Across the other side, Hermione sat next to Ginny. The two had broken their hands apart before reaching their seats. Harry thought they’d probably broken them apart long before the doors to the great hall.
Harry looked around the great hall. It seemed to be full of people he didn’t know, but all of them must have fought with him during the battle. He felt he should say something to everyone, but he doubted he had the courage. He did however, have someone he needed to thank. After a quick scan of all the tables, he found who he wanted on the furthest table from him.
Quickly saying he needed to talk to someone and excusing himself, he tried his best to fight through the crowds to where he needed to be. After a few minutes of struggling, he finally made it, and sat down opposite a family of which, under normal circumstances, he would never associate with.
“What do you want Potter?” Draco Malfoy’s voice was sharp and too the point, but lacked his normal tone when talking to Harry. Harry noticed he received a look from his mother at the words, and instead sat there sneering at the boy sat opposite him.
Harry ignored Draco’s comment and instead turned his attention to Narcissa Malfoy. He looked up into her eyes for a second, before saying in a choked voice “thank you”
Harry noticed Draco’s eyes widen, but Harry kept his gaze on Narcissa. The young woman stared intently back at him for a few seconds, before nodding and saying “no, thank you Harry”
Harry shook his head, not accepting any sort of thanks. He cleared the lump out of his throat and said “I’d be dead without you”
“Draco would be dead without you” she replied instantly, as though she knew it was coming. “He’d have died twice from what I hear”
Harry couldn’t help but agree with that statement, but it didn’t mean he needed thanks for it. He did what had to be done, he wanted as few casualties as possible in the battle, and he wasn’t going to let Draco die. It was bad enough Crabbe dying. Despite hating the Slytherins, and being certain that the feeling was reciprocated, Harry had known Draco, Crabbe and Goyle through his time at Hogwarts. Without one of them, it seemed surprisingly hollow.
If Harry had been concentrating on the family before him, he might have noticed the nudge given from mother to son. But with thoughts of how much the war had cost floating through his mind; it came as quite a shock when he was broken from his reverie by Draco clearing his throat.
“I wanted to thank you Potter” Draco said in his usual swagger. However, it was easy to tell the nerves that wracked his voice. “I thought you were going to leave me there. To be honest, you should have. I don’t know why you bothered, but thanks”
Unable to believe what he had just heard, Harry let his mouth drop open. Draco being thankful was one thing, but admitting that he’d wronged Harry on so many occasions was unheard of. Harry’s eyes met Draco’s grey stare, but they seemed warmer than they normally did. Not that Harry spent much time staring into Draco’s eyes, but when they’d come face to face, it was easily noticeable how cold Draco’s stare was. But now, even with the grey tone to them, it was more welcoming than Harry had ever seen. Without speaking, the two got up at exactly the same time. Everyone around them went into silence, which seemed to spread around the hall. Heads turned to face the two boys. Harry knew he probably had every eye in the hall on him, which didn’t seem much different to the norm. Without caring, Harry’s arm moved forward, extending out to Malfoy, whose eyes finally left Harry’s and looked at the hand offered to him. Contemplating for only a second, the boy looked back up and grasped Harry’s palm tightly. The hall was in stunned silence, everyone knew that Harry and Draco did not get on. But here they were, with a truce it seemed.
In a few seconds, the boys let go of each others hands and they dropped to the side. Swinging his legs over the bench, Harry stepped away from the blonde haired family and walked away without a word. The hall slowly began to murmur with talk again.
Harry managed to get to the Weasley’s without too much trouble this time around. He took his original position and immediately had Ron on his case.
“You shook hands with Malfoy!” he said, almost angrily.
“Oh Ronald stop being stupid” Hermione chastised from the other side of the table. Ginny just shook her head next to her and carried on eating. Harry grabbed some more food and put it on his plate, acting as though he hadn’t heard his friend. But nothing was going to deter Ron.
“What do you think you’re playing at? That was Malfoy, and you shook his hand” Ron repeated, still with a sound of disbelieving in his voice
“I know what I did Ron and I did it for a reason” Harry snapped, quite loudly for the person sitting beside him. Some of the people around turned quickly to see what had caused Harry to raise his voice. Harry’s hand slammed down onto the table, anger quickly building inside him.
“Oh yeah, what was that then?” Ron said, sounding smug, like he’d backed Harry into a corner. His voice clearly showed that he thought Harry had no reason
“Because without that family, I’d be dead” Harry stated bluntly. He felt Ginny’s hand rest on his softly. Harry quickly caught her eye and stood up from the table, marching off down the hall, the crowd around him parting to let him past. Ginny followed instantly, but shot a look of disgust at Ron, who simply stared, looking shocked at what had been said.
Harry had made it all the way out of the great hall and was sat by the lake before Ginny had even made it out of the oak front doors. His head was in his heads, and Ginny could see him shuddered violently as she drew close. She heard him sobbing the closer she got, his breath coming in sharp jerks, causing his torso to judder up and down, almost like he was having a fit.
Slowly lowering herself to the floor, she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend protectively. Instantly, his breathing became slightly easier.
“How could he say something to me after all we’ve been through? Did he really think I didn’t know what the hell I was doing when I went over there?” Harry questioned, almost to himself.
“He didn’t know what happened in the forest Harry, you know that.” Ginny said comfortingly, her hand squeezing his shoulder gently.
“Why did he need to question me though?”
“It was Ron, he’s a prat, remember?” Ginny said with a smile. She was happy to see even Harry’s mouth twitched into a smile
“You’re horrible, you know that?” he said jokingly, thankful that he’d been able to get over his tears
“You love me really” Ginny stated, sticking her tongue out at Harry and winking.
Harry raised his eyebrows and leant a little closer to her, muttering “maybe” before bringing his lips crushing against hers, pushing her back onto the grass and moving on top of her. He watched as Ginny’s eyes flew open in surprise, neither of them had been in such a position with anyone, let alone each other. Slowly he pulled away, hoping he’d not done something wrong, but Ginny’s arm wrapped around his neck and brought his mouth back to hers once more.
*********************
The two of them didn’t move from their position by the lake until it was time for them to head to the great hall in the evening, after both deciding to forgo lunch. They did, at some point, change their position when Harry told her with a chuckle, that he didn’t fancy lying on his front any longer, his reason being he was probably driving too many girls crazy. Ginny had laughed and feigned disappointment as Harry moved off her and sat beneath her head, gently stroking her hair. Hardly any words had been said from that moment until they had decided to move.
They were cautious heading into the Great Hall, almost reluctantly sitting beside their friends, who were already halfway through their meal. Harry slipped in beside Ron once again but made no attempt to talk to the red-head. Ginny sat beside Hermione, and received a small smile, which was then turned on Harry too. Harry caught her eye for a second, before turning his attention back to his plate.
Ron had had his back to Harry since he’d sat down, but not due to anger, more down to ignorance. He’d been speaking to his mother about himself and Hermione rather awkwardly. When he finally turned back to his food, his back brushed against Harry and he jumped violently. He looked gob-smacked at his friend, before finally stammering out.
“Harry, didn’t notice you there”
Harry’s eye didn’t leave his own food as he said “no, don’t suppose you did,” earning him a glowering look from Ginny, which he ignored
“Mate, I’m sorry, I didn’t know what the Malfoy’s did. I thought you’d just gone over there because you saved him” Ron tried to explain
Hermione leant forward across the table and placed her hand on top of Harry’s, saying in the concerned voice she always uses, “Harry, we didn’t know. You didn’t tell us what happened”
“It didn’t seem like the right time last night” Harry said awkwardly, looking at her hand, then up into her eyes.
“Perhaps not last night, no, but we weren’t to know Harry. I’m not blaming you for not telling us, but we didn’t know”
Harry’s eyes dropped again, and he sighed. “You’re right, you didn’t know, I’m sorry I just sort of blew up at you.”
“You had every right” Ginny chipped as she took a sip from her pumpkin juice. To her surprise, Hermione nodded.
“You do plan on telling us, don’t you Harry, what happened in the forest?” she asked him, trying once more to catch his eye, her hand still on his.
“Not here” Harry said quickly, “there are too many people here, and I don’t want-“ his voice trailed off as he glanced at the rest of the Weasley family. This went unnoticed apparently, as Ron asked loudly,
“You don’t want what?”
Ginny sighed and kicked Ron under the table, causing him to gasp and look at her angrily. Then she nodded pointedly at her mother next to Ron, who was now eating solemnly, with nothing to distract her from the death of one of her boys. Ron took a glance at her and turned back with a puzzled look.
“what’s mum got to do with anything?” he asked, instantly making Mrs. Weasley snap out of her reverie at the sound of her being mentioned?
“What was that dear?” she asked her son, looking around for the cause of the distraction
Harry sighed and looked at Ginny, desperately trying to control the frustration he had right now for Ron’s lack of tact and intelligence. She leaned towards him and whispered gently “they have to know”
“She has enough on her plate, they all do” Harry said, trying to avoid mentioning Fred’s death
“you know she’ll ask eventually”
Harry sighed once more and looked back at the family. Ron was trying to explain something to his mum to get him out of questioning about what he wanted. Harry cleared his throat and said “Mrs. Weasley, would you mind coming up to the common room? Everyone I mean”
The large witch looked at Harry for a second and her expression went very soft. When she spoke, her voice was calm, but Harry knew she was still wracked with grief and worried that Harry was about to add more to it.
“of course dear. Weasley’s!” she bellowed down the table to the rest of the family, instantly grabbing their attention, all of them looking at her curiously “common room” she stated, before rising from the table.
Harry rose too and walked to the large doors with Ginny, waiting for the rest of the family to finish shovelling as much food as they could into their mouths before being dragged away. When all of them assembled, the large group left the hall and walked up to the tower in silence.
Inside the big, circular room, everyone sat around the fire and got comfortable. Harry didn’t sit down, but stood directly in front of the fire, with all of them looking at him intently. When everyone was finally settled, Harry started talking.
“First of all, I wanted to say I’m sorry about Fred.” Harry began. The room stiffened straight away. Harry saw Arthur Weasley grab his wife’s hand and grip it tightly as soon as he realised where the conversation was going. Bill straightened up in his chair, and Percy’s breathing hitched noticeably, his lips pursed. It was the reaction Harry was expecting, and if he’d not seen any of these movements, he’d have been seriously worried about the family.
“All of you have been like a family to me, the family I never had. I hate what happened, because it happened to the family who deserved it the least. None of you deserve to be in the pain you’re in, but we don’t decide what happens. Fred died fighting for a cause he knew was right. And he died laughing, just like the Fred we all knew in life. I’m sorry”
Molly was already crying on the sofa directly in front of Harry, Arthur’s arm now wrapped around her. It was the Weasley patriarch who spoke first.
“you have nothing to apologise for Harry”
Harry’s eyes glazed over slightly with tears at the words. He knew this, but he voiced his thoughts straight away.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty Mr. Weasley. I can’t explain it, but I feel guilty about all of them. After all, everyone was fighting for me.”
“They were fighting for everyone Harry” Bill said wisely, his arms crossed in front of him “and everyone knew the risks, Fred as well. We all knew the risks too, we could have lost many more of our family in this battle.”
Harry closed his eyes. He was glad none of the family blamed him for what happened, but it didn’t heal any of the guilt. He opened his mouth slowly and decided it was time to change conversation.
“I need to tell you all something, and apologise again” Harry said, before starting to explain what had happened in the forest. His audience were silent as he talked, which he was glad of. He thought that if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to restart, too overcome by the emotions flowing through him. As he finished, he looked everyone in the eye.
“I’m sorry that I put everyone through that. You’d already lost Fred and it looked like you had lost me. I heard the screams and shouts, I could hear Ron and Ginny, and Hermione” he nodded to each one in turn, all of them had tears running down their faces, “and I am sorry that you had to feel that pain”
“You had to do it Harry” Hermione said, speaking for the first time since the Great Hall.
“Yeah mate, if you didn’t look like you’d died, then you’d have been killed anyway, probably right in front of all of us.” Ron said, shaking his head as though to get the images of his best friend being murdered before his eyes out of there.
“I wish I didn’t have to…” Harry began
“But you did have to” Ginny interrupted quietly, standing up and walking to stand beside him. “So stop feeling guilty. We won, didn’t we?”
Harry smiled down at her, and had to resist the urge to kiss her, on the grounds that it wouldn’t be tactful in front of her distressed mother. Instead, he settled for saying “yeah, we did… I have one last thing to tell you all. Something that Ron and Hermione already know, but I guess it has to be said in case some people haven’t realised”
Everyone in the room looked confused, including Ron and Hermione, especially seeing as they were supposed to know. However, Harry’s smile told them all that it wasn’t going to be more bad information, so they waited patiently.
Harry glanced down at Ginny once more and smiled even wider. Looking back at the rest of the family, he simply said “I love Ginny. We’re together”
The room cheered as one, which was surprisingly loud considering there were so few of them and they were supposed to be mourning the death of their son and brother. Mrs. Weasley had come over in a fresh wave of tears at the news, although Harry seriously hoped they were happy tears, otherwise he’d have a serious problem on his hands. Arthur had gotten up and shaken Harry’s hand tightly, as had Bill, Charlie and Percy. George temporarily regained some of his humour and told Harry that if Ginny got hurt in any way by him, he’d be eating through a straw for the rest of his life. Ron was the last to come over to him, wrapping his arms around him in a manly hug and saying “you had me worried with that other bit of news, I thought you were gonna say something bad.”
“Like what?” Harry said laughing
“I dunno, that it turns out you were actually Snape’s b*****d son or something stupid.”
“I’m not sure I’d want to watch that memory” Harry said after recovering from laughter. “That would be sick”
“I think I’d have to tell you to lay off my sister if you was mate”
“You tell me that anyway” Harry pointed out
Ron smiled and said “well, stop snogging her in front of me and maybe I won’t need to”
“you’ve got your own girl you can snog now, so I can do what I like” Harry informed his friend, slapping him on the arm “I’m proud of you two mate, it took you seven years, but you finally realised”
“Yeah well, you know how it is, I’m not the best when it comes to this sort of thing.” Ron stated, pointing out the obvious, causing Harry to laugh loudly
“You know Hermione is basically my sister, I love her like one anyway. It’s gonna be exactly the same for me as it is for you, so don’t you start telling me off.” Harry told him.
Ron gave him a sly grin, “who said we’re going to do anything in front of you? We’ll find a nice broom cupboard I’m sure, or the room of requirement or something”
Harry covered his ears, laughing as he said “I really don’t want to know, keep it to you.”
*********************
The next morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked together down to the Headmistresses office on the second floor. Ron had been talked into going seemingly reluctantly, but the group knew there was no chance of Ron refusing. The Gargoyle had been restored to its usual place guarding the stairs, but sprang to the side as soon as they came near. The three of them stood on the bottom stair and were slowly taken up the revolving steps to the large door. Upon command, they pushed on the wooden door and found Professor McGonagall sat behind the desk. It looked quite odd for the user of the large chair to not have a long beard. Harry supposed he would have to get used to it.
“Harry, Ron, Hermione, what do I owe this pleasure?” the Headmistress asked with a smile on her face. Harry’s eyes had been drawn, however, to the portrait above her head. Another thing he would have to get used to is seeing Dumbledore staring back at him from a canvas. The former Head smiled down at them and winked.
“We were wondering how you were finding being Headmistress, Professor.” Hermione answered the question which Harry had seemingly ignored.
“Quite excellently I think you will find. Of course, I don’t exactly have much of a school to run right now, do I? Still, I have quite a task.”
“How long will the repairs take?” Harry inquired, tearing his eyes away from Dumbledore and down to the woman before him. McGonagall had caught his previous gaze and now beamed at him. it unnerved Harry a little to see the usually stern Professor so happy.
“I should think a few weeks, perhaps months, but rest assured, it will be done by September 1st.” she replied, and knowing look on her face
“How come Heads of Hogwarts always know what we’ve come for before we’ve ever asked?” Harry asked with a smile, seeing the look on her face
“It’s a knack Harry; it seems to come with the office, although I’ve never quite understood why.” A male voice from above McGonagall said. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled down at the three of them. “Not to mention you are particularly easy to read, as I’m sure you could have probably vouched for. Occlumency was never your strong point, was it?”
Harry simply grinned up at Dumbledore, shaking his head slightly.
“I’ve always said Dumbledore was a bit of a nutter, haven’t I?” Ron whispered to Harry, earning himself a nudge and a reproving glance from Hermione. McGonagall simply laughed, and Dumbledore’s portrait looked nothing short of delighted.
“People never change, even as they pass on Ronald, this “nutter” I believe is an admirable testament to that fact.” The headmistress told Ron, causing the red-head’s ears to go pink. “You three are certainly welcome to return here next year if that is what you wish. Those that have been here this year will still be sitting their NEWTs, however, people such as yourselves and Mr. Longbottom have the option of returning next year should you wish. Your sister, on the other hand, has been particularly excellent, and thus will still be advancing to seventh year next year even without finishing the year off. I’m sure she will cope quite admirably.” She explained
“so we’ll just be classed as year sevens?” Harry asked
“Yes, and no, a separate dormitory shall be set up for those retaking this year. But your classes will be with other year sevens.”
“You said… A separate dormitory…” Hermione began, but was cut off before she finished
“I believe the three of you have slept in the same room together for the past year, I don’t think it would be a problem for that to occur again”
“We didn’t have much choice then Professor” Hermione said
“No, perhaps not, but you don’t now either, we simply don’t have the space in the towers to allow multiple spare dormitories.” McGonagall replied
“Hermione are you complaining? You’ll be with Ron after all”
Both Hermione and Ron blushed at Harry’s statement. It was Ron who recovered first
“Be a bit awkward for Neville, won’t it?”
“Not just him, what about me, you’re my best mates…” Harry replied with a laugh.
*********************
Headmistress McGonagall had announced several things the next morning at breakfast. First was about those who wished to stay behind next year to complete important NEWT year, and that OWLs and NEWTs would still be sat in a weeks time. Next, she told the school that a memorial would be held that afternoon. She said that Hagrid had created a large monument for people’s names to be carved on to, which would be done by people who loved them. Finally, she stated that the year would be ending early so that repair work can start on the school. Therefore, they would be catching the Hogwarts Express the following day, the Saturday. Being only just June, this would mean almost 3 months for the school to be made habitable once more. Those sitting OWLs and NEWTs were to stay behind for another week, much to the distaste of many around the room.
Harry’s shock first came when he was cornered by Mrs. Weasley soon after the speech by McGonagall. She talked through tears, as though she’d had another long conversation about her son’s death. When she started talking about the memorial service, Harry thought she probably had.
“Harry dear, we were thinking, Remus really doesn’t have anyone to carve his name into the monument. Tonks’ mother is going to be doing hers, but Remus has no-one.”
Harry already had a feeling he knew where this was going.
“You obviously meant so much to him, he made you Teddy’s godfather, and you’re the last thing he had of your father and Sirius.”
Harry’s throat went very dry at the mention of all the people he had lost during the war. Lupin was the last tie he had to his parents. All of that was gone now. Harry swallowed to try to get rid of the lump formed in his throat.
“I’ll do it Mrs. Weasley. I owe it to him” he finally managed to say. Molly nodded and ruffled his hair, trying to regain her motherly attitude that she always carried, but failing when a tear dropped off her cheek
Harry had a sudden idea. “Mrs. Weasley, do you know if the people had to die during the battle here?”
Molly gave him a knowing look and shook her head. “No dear, they just had to have been lost to the war, anytime”
Harry nodded and vaguely remembered saying his thanks to her.
*********************
The memorial service went on for what felt like an age. Many people turned up wearing all black robes and sombre expressions. Tears were shed as the long list of names was read out. Harry couldn’t remember ever seeing so many people; it possibly even outweighed the Headmasters funeral a year ago. The sheer number of people who lost their lives was incredible, not just those who had died, but those who had lost loved ones, and who were destroyed for the rest of their lives.
Harry wasn’t surprised to hear his own name called out to the crowd. Heads turned to the point which was gestured, but he made no sign of noticing. He was too busy thinking about the service.
When the names of all the people lost was read out, Harry recognised at least half. Colin and Dennis Creevey, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Vincent Crabbe. The list went on for long than Harry expected. Five minutes silence was held to pay extra respect to those who had fought so bravely, and then they were asked to finally come and carve the names into the stone monuments.
The queue that followed was obviously subdued. Nobody wanted to be the first ones to go and admit that a son or daughter, brother, sister, father or mother had been killed. McGonagall was the first to point her wand at the stone obelisk, and right at the top, the words Death is but the next great adventure – Albus Dumbledore were carved into it. Harry had a feeling that Dumbledore had specifically requested something of the sort.
Harry was stood near the back of the queue behind the Weasley’s. slowly, he edged forwards and up the stairs that held the monument on top. Ginny held his hand the whole way up. When he reached the top, he and the Weasley’s took up a lot of the space on the plinth, so they waited until everyone was done before approaching the monument.
Arthur had told Harry the procedure to carve what he wanted into the stone. He found a space large enough for what he wanted and let go of Ginny’s hand, taking out his wand. He pointed it at the space and quietly mumbled scriptor, before moving his hand in the shape of all the letters he wanted.
It took a long time for him to finish, and the Weasley’s were done long before him. Ginny had once again taken his hand in hers, but stayed silent as he worked, as did the rest of the Weasley’s gathered around them. Finally, after many tears, Harry pulled his wand away and admired his work.
The Marauders
James Potter
Sirius Black
Remus Lupin
Lily Evans
Honour, Loyalty, Bravery – True Gryffindor’s. You are always going to be remembered.
After taking a long moment to stare at the writing on the wall, he felt Ginny’s hand squeeze his and he slowly turned away and walked back to his seat with the Weasley’s. as soon as he hit the seat he broke down into Ginny’s arms, trying his best to sob silently into her shoulder and not disturb the peace of the ceremony.
The evening feast was a subdued affair that night. Nobody wanted to discuss the afternoon in the slightest, but nobody had any other topics of conversation. Instead, the hall remained silent, with death hanging over the air.
*********************
The next day was a little better. After a good nights sleep, people could now talk without bursting into tears. The thoughts still lingered in the air, but they were ignored for the main part.
It was time to return home, and for once they had a choice on how they would like to go. The Weasley’s were with them, and it would have been easy to side-along apparate them all home. But Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were still students at Hogwarts, and felt it almost a duty to return on the school train. They sat along with Neville and Luna in a carriage together. Being in such close proximity to Luna was awkward, especially with what they had experienced at her house. She still seemed excited about the Snorkack horn which had exploded upon the groups visit, refusing to listen to Hermione’s protests that the Erumpent horn had been destroyed. They wondered as well, if Xenophilius Lovegood was still ok, considering as they had left him with Death Eaters. Luna had heard nothing from her father for a long time, but they assumed that because of Hermione’s excellent thinking, he would have gotten off without a problem.
Harry looked out of the window as the train tore through the countryside towards London. His mind drifted, as it usually did, to what had happened during the war. The number of names on the memorial was massive. Admittedly, not all of those had died on the battlefield that was Hogwarts that day, but that didn’t matter. The large majority had died fighting off an army of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. But all that Voldemort wanted was Harry, wasn’t it? Did Voldemort not say that they would live if Harry gave himself up and fought him man to man?
Ginny slowly rested against Harry’s body and wrapped his arm around her, looking up into his face. Harry felt it, but didn’t recognise it. Truly, would Voldemort have let them all live? Probably not, he answered. Voldemort had gone right out to the battlefield after Harry had ‘died’ and told them all to bow before him. If they had not, would they have died still? Or would they have been forced?
Lupin, Tonks. Both of them had been alive for a long time into the battle. Tonks had only just joined in the battle a few minutes ago, before all the problems with the Diadem of Ravenclaw. She couldn’t have been fighting for more than half an hour. Had Harry been too slow, and caused her death? Had Lupin died at the same time as her? Was it possible that Harry could have saved both of their lives?
He thought back to the forest. He’d apologised to Lupin as they had walked through to Harry’s death. Did Lupin really get the message? The resurrection stone let Harry bring them back, but Dumbledore had said just a few years earlier that no spell could reawaken the dead. Was it even possible to communicate to those that they had lost?
“I’m sorry” Harry whispered aloud. All five heads turned to look at him, as a tear ran down his cheek, but he didn’t notice.
“I’m so sorry, please forgive me” he said, again to nobody in particular. The others simply watched as their friend broke down in front of them, pressing his face into his hands and crying freely.
They were gone. His father, James Potter. His mother, Lily Evans. Sirius, Lupin, Fred. Even Snape’s face flashed before his eyes.
Harry felt Ginny’s arms wrap tightly around him, felt Hermione settle on his other side and place a hand on his shoulder. He finally became aware of his surroundings, and that he was crying in a carriage which had clear windows and many people still desperate to see him. what would they say if they saw his hero like this? He made to wipe his eyes, but felt a hand stop him from raising either of his arms.
“Let it out Harry” he heard Luna’s calm voice say. It was different though, not strange like it normally was, it sounded wise, almost sage like. “you’ll feel better about it”
“It’s all my fault” Harry said simply as a reply. “Everything’s my fault.”
“no-one blames you for anything Harry” Hermione said from his left.
Harry looked up to Ron, pain etched across every lining of his face. “Fred?” he said, looking Ron directly in the eyes.
“You heard us mate, nobody blames you for Fred. He knew what he was doing.” Ron replied, kneeling down in front of his best friend and putting his hand on his shoulder.
“He didn’t deserve to die-“ Harry started but found himself interrupted by Ginny.
“Nobody did Harry, nobody deserved it, but you can’t change what happened. If we could, everything would be perfect, and you know better than anyone that life isn’t perfect.”
“You’ve lost so much Harry” Neville told him, “but blaming yourself won’t get you anywhere. You just need to remember their lives, and then live your own. They wouldn’t want you to break down like this. And neither do we.”
Luna knelt down next to Ron and took Harry’s face in her hands. She moved him so that he could do nothing other than look her in the eye, before saying “nobody wants you to blame yourself Harry. We’re all here for you, all of us.”