PRIORITIES

2nd May, 2008

It was a day of mourning for the wizarding community of not only England, but the whole of Europe and the world. For, it had been ten years since that fateful day, when the greatest Dark Lord in history, had been defeated. But, it had come at a price. Many had lost their loved ones, their families, their homes. And among the huge community, the few that survived had been heavily scarred for life.

Wizarding houses and mansions all along the country, invisible to the Muggle eyes, lit candles as a reminder to what it had cost for the ultimate triumph of good over evil, of friendship and love, over hatred. Almost everyone joined hands, came together, visited graves and thanked the courage and bravery of those who had fallen, without which the victory would not have been possible.

It should have been a quiet, subdued and peaceful affair in the Potter household in Grimauld Place as well. After all, the current Head of House Potter, Harry, had been the one to end the war, once and for all. However, contrary to popular belief, all was not well in the Potter household.

"Harry! Come here this instant!" A female screech spread throughout the halls of the huge house.

Up in his bedroom, Harry sighed. He had been just on the verge of escaping from her without being caught. Now, he would have to face her unnecessary shouting yet again. Shouting out a reply, he shut his case and trudged downstairs to the living room, where she was no doubt waiting for him.

Upon entering the living room, he was not at all surprised to see his wife dressed up in a golden dress, her robe hanging on her hands, red hair flowing effortlessly down her shoulders.

"Don't you remember that I wanted to go to the Ministry with you tonight?" She all but shouted.

Grimacing from the sound, he replied as calmly as possible, "Ginny, I've told you this for each of the seven years we've been married. I can make time for you anyday of the year, except two days - 31st October and 2nd May. Why don't you understand this?"

"Because there are important events held in the ministry on those days! We have a duty to be there!" Ginny replied.

The years had done her plenty of good. From being a skinny, tall witch when she passed out of Hogwarts, she had developed in all areas to become perhaps the perfect witch in the country for all wizards, turning heads wherever she went

But not for him.

Harry had disappeared after the Battle, to try to come to terms with the loss he had suffered in the War, to try to find some peace amongst all the celebration. For a whole year, he stayed away from urban lifestyle, staying in a small village somewhere in Northern Ireland, where people barely paid him attention and minded their own business.

Until he was pulled out of hiding by none other than Draco Malfoy, who had redeemed himself in the Battle by fighting the Dark Side till he was taken away to safety by his parents. Lucius and Narcissa died within a year of the war, shifting the responsibility of managing the huge Malfoy empire to Draco. Maybe that changed him, maybe losing his girlfriend Astoria in the War did, but the fact was that Draco had changed.

Finally using all his work ethic and talent, he had become a very powerful Legilimens, using his talent to read people to become a very successful lawyer.

Coming back to the Burrow, the first person who saw him was Ginny, who immediately collapsed into a crying mess on his chest. Ron, Hermione, Molly, Arthur, Percy, Bill, Charlie and lastly George were all there as well. Harry had to work really hard to not start crying at the sight of George, without his eternal partner-in-crime Fred, by his side.

He and Ginny soon went back to how they were in his Sixth Year. Weeks turned into months and months turned into years until he and Ginny got married on 31st October, 2001. He would never forget the smile on Arthur and Molly's face as the priest declared them to be husband and wife.

Life was going very well for Harry at that moment. He was the Head Auror and seen as the leader of the next generation of wizards, the ones who would throw away centuries of House-based prejudice and lead Britain's magical community into a new era.

Ginny soon rose to become a very famous fashion designer, as her own looks and the fact that she was Harry's wife propelled her to worldwide fame.

And maybe, that was what doomed their relationship.

By 2005, Ginny had turned into a fame-loving person, preferring to drag Harry out of his work to accompany her to her latest show, or ask him to cater to her various monetary demands. She began spending less time with Harry at home, allocating that time to her work. Even when she was at home, she would order Harry around endlessly, shout at him for not being able to give her shows enough time and force him out of the house for ' hurting her' on some trivial matters. He had spent those nights at Draco's, or Ron and Hermione's, wondering what in the world he had done wrong to deserve this kind of treatment from the only girl he had ever loved in his life.

Draco was adamant that Harry should leave her for his own good, that she would end up destroying his life if he let it go too far. However, Ron defended her sister, telling him that she was just confused and he should give her some time to settle down again.

So he did, and Ginny followed a repeated cycle of going from unbearable to being a good wife throughout the next year. Once, he had brought up that if she continued treating him poorly, he would leave him, to which she laughed and showed him a picture.

It was a picture of him and Hermione, at the Christmas ball in 2005. He had a hand over her shoulder and Hermione was side-hugging him, as she loved to since they were little 2nd years.

Seeing nothing wrong with the picture, he had asked Ginny what she planned to do with it. Her response gave him the final push he needed…

"Don't you see, you and Hermione are both too close for two people of opposite sex who are married. Hugging, affectionate pats, crying on each other's shoulders – an outsider would easily believe that you two were married to each other, instead of being married to other people. If you leave me, I will go and tell Ron that Hermione has been cheating on him with you. No matter what you tell, he will believe his little sister over you two, and it would end not only your relationship, but that of two of your best friends as well. I don't think you would like that, would you, sweetie?"

He had been left shocked. Never in his life had he imagined that the love of his life would be such a manipulative, evil witch. After that, he had just been biding his time, trying to find the perfect moment to end the marriage. He had even gone to Gringotts and requested the lead goblin there to transfer all of what Ginny had borrowed from him to Molly and Arthur's account.

Taking a close look into Ron and Hermione's marriage, he found out that his was not the only marriage to be breaking down. Hermione and his friendship stayed the same, however Ron started to become more and more distant from the duo. He often heard from Hermione that Ron would come back late, all drunk and dirty the house, forcing her to clean it. Often they had met in Draco's house, when he had been forced out and Hermione had run away to get some fresh air.

He would have stayed with Ginny, bearing all the abuse for the sake of his two best friends, had Hermione, just a week prior, not come crying to him. Ron had started becoming abusive.

Harry had had enough. All the events of the past seven years, along with some persuasion from Draco, had led him to this decision. He had talked with Hermione, finalizing the fact that she would indeed be happy to be away from Ron.

"I will not go with you today, Ginny." Harry replied determinedly.

Ginny turned to him with a surprised look, as if the fact that he had refused her proposal was something which was illegal.

"Really? And why not, if I may ask?" she replied in her sickly sweet voice.

"I am my own person and I will take my own decisions. Ever since you became famous in your circle, you've become dominating, prioritizing your work, your fame and my money over you own damn husband! I've dealt with this for a long time, but this can't go on. I'm ending this, ending us, Ginny."

Ginny had a look of shock on her face, which soon turned into one of pure fury and stone-cold hatred.

"You will not leave me! Otherwise I will go and show Ron that picture, ending their relationship!" She shouted.

"Show it."

Any other sentence would not have had anywhere near the effect those two words had on Ginny. She just stood there, shocked, paralyzed. Her whole world had come crashing down on her. It was at that moment that she lost all of her rationality.

Swinging her wand up, she pointed it at Harry and shouted, "Imperio!"

Unfortunately, Harry had not defeated Voldemort and become the Head Auror due to his name. There was solid justification to the fact that he was one of the best wizards of his age.

He ducked to the left in the blink of an eye, performing a perfect roll on the ground before standing up and shouting, "Petrificus Totalus!"

The Shield Charm used by Ginny had no chance against a full blooded spell from Harry. Ginny was hit with the full force of the spell, resulting in her falling to the ground.

Pocketing his wand, he walked up to her and said, "This spell will wear off in thirty minutes. By that time, I will have escaped from this hell hole. All of the money you took from me has been deducted from your account, I have informed Gringotts of my plans. You can keep Grimmauld Place, I don't care. But one warning, do not try to follow me or reverse anything I did, because sweetie, no matter how popular or powerful you are, you are no match for me. Au revoir"

Ten minutes later he was sitting in a Muggle café, thinking about his next step. He was sure that Ginny would go and break off Ron and Hermione. Though it killed him to be the reason for their break-up, it was probably for the best. Finishing up his coffee, he looked at his watch, which indicated 7:20 pm.

It was time for his yearly visit.

No matter how busy he was, no matter how angry Ginny was, he always found time on this day to the year. Taking his case, he slipped off into a side alley and disappeared.

Two seconds and a wave of nausea later, he found himself staring at the huge castle of Hogwarts, which of course was in a pristine condition at the moment. Being Harry Potter had many perks. One of them was that he could apparate directly into Hogwarts premises without the anti-apparition wards choking him. Only three people in the history of Hogwarts had that power – Albus Dumbledore, him and Hermione. Ron for some reason could not do it.

Making his way up the path to the castle, he took in the surroundings which at one point was his only home. The outside world meant torture by the Dursley's and weird looks by the Muggles, who were fascinated by his scar.

The castle had not changed at all. After his self-imposed exile, he himself had used the Elder Wand to perfect the last few things in the castle to restore it to its old glory. Of course, he had replaced the Elder Wand in its rightful place after that – below the portrait of Dumbledore in the Head Office.

Walking into the castle, he made his way up the halls to the Head Office, which was currently occupied by Professor McGonagall. Harry thought that there was no one better to be Headmistress after the War, as she was someone who would try to help the next generation while being a crucial connection to the wisdom of the past. The Teaching Staff had undergone a massive change as well.

Of course, Professor McGonagall could not be Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor alongside being Headmistress. The Head of Gryffindor was currently none other that Neville Longbottom, who had also replaced Madam Sprout as Herbology Professor.

Hagrid had retired from teaching and his position as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures was taken by Luna Lovegood, who still retained her mad ways and sometimes still disappeared in search of mythical magical creatures. She also was the Head of Ravenclaw House, after Flitwick retired to coach Auror hopefuls in dueling.

The vacant spot in Charms had been taken by George Weasley. But officially, it was taught by 'Gred and Forge Weasley' , and the first thing that is taught to fifth-years is the portable swamp, which was unfortunately the last prank the Weasley twins played on Hogwarts as a duo. One such swamp is even up for display at the front of the Charms room. There simply was no one after Flitwick who had as much control over charms as George and Fred had.

Percy stepped down from the Ministry and took over Defense against the Dark Arts. His insistence on proper discipline, manners and behavior, as well as an uncanny ability to scare students by his glare does remind veterans of someone from their past, who they had lost.

To Harry's surprise, McGonagall had kept the password as 'Sherbet Lemon'. Reaching the top through the revolving staircase, he knocked on the door twice, getting a 'Come in!' in reply.

Harry took a deep breath and walked into the Office. He saw McGonagall sitting on her chair, looking at him through her glasses. She nodded at him and he took a look around.

All the portraits of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses were on the wall, looking at him. However, Harry was interested in only two of them, the largest one and the one beside it.

Walking up to the largest one, he looked at the person inside properly. Those blue eyes still seemed to twinkle from behind his moon-shaped spectacles, and Harry still had the feeling he was being X-Rayed. He bowed deeply to Albus Dumbledore and moved on. Words were not needed to show his feelings.

The next portrait still made him emotional, no matter how many times he saw it. Severus Snape stood there, with the Sword of Gryffindor by his side, staring at him. His signature sneer was still present on his face, but Harry was sure that he saw Snape's eyes soften just a bit.

Moving on, he walked up to McGonagall and said, "Professor, may I take a look around the back again?"

Smiling up at him wearily, she replied, "Potter, I've told you countless times that you don't need permission for anything at Hogwarts. This is your home, and Hogwarts itself has accepted you. Who are we to deny its wishes?"

Smiling at him, he nodded and walked out of the office. It was almost 8 pm and the castle was empty, so he didn't meet anyone as he made his way to the back of the castle, beside the Lake.

Stopping in front of the Lake, the sight in front of him made him lose his self-control, and Harry was glad that he was alone at that moment.

For, in front of him, lay eight pearl white tombs. One huge tomb was in the middle, surrounded by the remaining nine.

To a normal person, this might mean to be just a well-arranged graveyard, but to Harry it meant much more than that. Harry himself had worked out that arrangement with his friends and seniors from the Ministry, so as to give Dumbledore's last resting place a fitting meaning.

Dumbledore's huge tomb was surrounded by the tombs of the three Marauders – Padfoot, Prongs and Moony. Of course, Sirius' one didn't have a body – it was lost forever in the Veil. He just felt that the remaining Marauders should rest together, signifying their bond throughout their life.

Beside them lay the tombs of Severus Snape and his mother, Lily Potter. If someone other than Dumbledore and the Marauders deserved a place in Hogwarts, it was Severus. He had loved his mother and was absolutely broken at her death, but he had promised her one thing – to work towards protecting her son and ensuring that her sacrifice didn't go in vain. Never in his life would he again meet a person with as much courage and bravery as Snape – to be able to play the role of a double agent perfectly against the strongest Legilimens.

Then lay the tombs of Tonks and Fred. Though not as powerful as the formerly mentioned people, they were loved all throughout their extended family for their wit and humour, as well as their great skills. It was extremely unfair that Fred had to go at such a young age, but he would've been happy that George was not down and depressed.

After paying his respects to each and everyone there, he backed off, sat down on the grass, and looked at the scene in front of him. Even after nine years, he thought it was perfect – Dumbledore surrounded by his most faithful soldiers, even after death.

"I thought I would find you here, Harry" a soft voice came from behind him.

Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smile. Her voice always had that effect on her. Even after what he had been through, she remained his best friend, and Harry couldn't be more grateful for that.

The grass beside him was pressed down as Hermione sat down beside him. Harry finally took a good look at her. Even in the moonlight, he could see her puffy eyes and red cheeks, which meant that she had been crying.

"Ginny did it, didn't she?" he asked, cautiously.

"Yeah." She replied softly.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing he could say at the moment. He was terribly angry at himself for destroying her relationship. He had probably lost Ron tonight as well.

"Don't be. Some things just aren't meant to be. And to me, Ron lost you when he insulted you for you parents in the tent, when we were hunting the Horcruxes." Hermione replied, finally looking at him.

"You always know what I'm thinking, don't you?" he chuckled humorously, despite the situation, earning back a laugh from her as well.

He turned fully to face her, "Well, do you know what I'm thinking at the moment?"

Hermione turned to face him with a smile, "I've known for the last three years. You and me both just were too blind to see it. And, don't tell me that one reason for marrying Ginny was that you wanted to please Arthur and Molly."

He nodded, never breaking eye contact with her. His hand suddenly found its way to her cheek, rubbing off a stray tear which dampened it.

"We really messed up our lives, didn't we, Harry?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Do you think we can fix it?" She asked again, leaning in towards him.

Harry found himself leaning it as well, and before he knew it, their lips touched. And after seven years of deception from a girl he thought loved him back, it felt truly blissful to kiss someone who loved him, for who he was – the broken boy who lost almost everyone he had in the War.

Pulling apart to get some air, he rested his nose on hers and stared into her deep brown eyes – those which seemed to hold an ocean's worth of emotions in them. And without even having to think about it, he knew the answer to her question.

"Yeah. I believe we can."

So, I hope you liked my story. If you did, please leave a Review. It makes me happy :)

Mischief Managed