The Aftermath
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters in this story, or the italic writing to come.
Chapter 1Recap: "The thing in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forest. I'm not sure exactly where, but I'm not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree?"
"My dear boy, I do." Said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. "A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone else know where it fell?"
"No one," said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction.
"I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed.
"But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"
"And then there's this."
Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see.
"I don't want it," said Harry.
"What?" said Ron loudly. "Are you mental?"
"I know it's powerful," said Harry wearily. "But I was so much more happier with mine. So…"
He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out two halves of holly still connected by the finest thread of phoenix tail. Hermione had said that they could not be repaired, that the damage was too severe. All he knew was that if this did not work, nothing would.
He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said, "Reparo."
As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion.
"I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will have never been defeated. That'll be the end of it."
Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other.
"Are you sure?" said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.
"I think Harry's right," said Hermione quietly.
"That wand's more trouble than it's worth," said Harry. "And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether or not Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime." : End Recap
There was so much cleaning up and funeral arrangements to be made that Harry and everyone else were overwhelmed. They were all snappish, and cranky. Professor McGonagall had so much on her plate, that she had called in almost all of Professor Dumbledore's friends. The Great Hall had been practically destroyed in the battle, so everyone needed to pinch in. No one wanted to enter the chamber where the deceased lay. Molly Weasley could be seen cleaning up, with tears pouring down her face, as could Tonk's mother. Harry's heart swelled with affection. He couldn't believe that Fred, Tonks, and Lupin had been killed. George was devastated, without his twin he was a mopey, useless, person, who had no joy left in him, and poor Teddy would never know his parents, but he did have his godfather, Harry.
Harry sighed. Shock and denial were just about the only two things running through his head, and he couldn't register the fact that so many of his loved ones were dead. Tonks and Lupin. Fred. Dobby. Deaths were non-welcome in Harry's mind. Destruction was at its worst. Not even the first war was this bad. Hogwarts would have to be completely rebuilt in order for kids to still attend. Harry imagined that he would have to help, as Professor McGonagall would want him to. Harry couldn't afford to be distracted, as there was so much for him to do; he didn't know where to begin with it all. He was about an inch away from having a panic attack from worrying about everything. But Harry was most worried about Ginny. He loved her more than anything, and he had told her that they couldn't be together until Voldemort was dead. And now he was. Did that now mean that they could, and would be together? The only thing that would help him would be to talk to Ginny, but she was cleaning up and surrounded by people.
Harry decided to go for a walk around the lake. He walked out of the Great Hall to the Front Doors. They were still wide open from last night, and everything was everywhere. He stepped lightly over it all walking farther ahead.
"I saw you walking, and thought you might like some company." Said a soft voice behind him.
Harry wheeled around. Ginny. "You know I realize that you probably want to be alone, but you cant take this out on yourself. It's not your fault. These people wanted to fight, Harry." He nodded. "you did what you had to do, and they did what they had to do, too. They need what they were doing when they joined the fight, as did everyone else. They knew that there was a chance that they could die, that it would be a possibility." Ginny walked over and wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tight. He sighed, and pulled her to an arm's length. "We need to talk," said Harry.
Ginny nodded, all the previous talk aside. She wouldn't meet Harry's eyes, and he knew she thought that he was going to leave her. Say something like 'We can't be together.' Harry wanted to reach out and touch her soft skin, whisper to her that everything would be alright, that he wasn't going anywhere. He stared at her for a long moment. Her hair was askew, her lips tight. He wanted to remember this moment forever, here at Hogwarts. He wouldn't be returning after all. It was turning into a beautiful day that he wanted to remember as the day that he admitted his deep, true feelings to Ginny, and not the day that he defeated the Dark Lord, and he planned to tell her such.
"Ginny," he took a deep breath, "I love you. You are my life, and I wouldn't be able to live without you. I don't know if you feel the same but I wanted you to know my part first. This war has changed us drastically, and life couldn't be different. But in my eyes I always want to think back to this time, as not when I defeated Voldemort, but when the love of my life, and I decided to be together always. If you don't feel the same, I won't say that I understand but I guess I'll leave." He turned away from her as if he couldn't bear to see her. But what he wanted most was for her to say something.
* *
Ginny gaped, at Harry's turned back. She opened and closed her mouth in silence. The guy she had admired most had just told her he loved her. She knew where she stood. She knew that she wanted to love, and care for him. She wanted to spend her entire life with him, she wanted to have children with him. But yet, here she was standing there like an idiot. She didn't understand why her mouth was working, other than that she was in shock. She had never believed that Harry would feel the same as her. It had shocked her beyond words. He probably thought that she wanted him to leave, and never see her again. That was the last thing she wanted! She loved Harry with all of her heart.
* *
Harry knew it. She wanted him to leave. He shouldn't have said a word about anything. Great, now he wouldn't be able to go to the Burrow, because it would be awkward, but how would he see Ron, and Molly? Molly would probably think it was her fault, because neither Harry nor Ginny would tell her what had happen. Harry would feel horrible to leave Molly like that. Ginny still wasn't saying anything, at all. Maybe he should just walk away. He turned around. Ginny looked at him, with her big, round eyes, that seemed to be never ending, and filled with amazement.
"Harry, I----."