After the Tears, a harry potter fanfic

a/n: Right, I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I really felt the need to write something…this is what I came up with.

p.s. this is a one shot that I just felt the need to write…

p.p.s. reviews greatly appreciated!

p.p.p.s. disclaimer: I don't own the HP, J.K. Rowling does!!

SPOLERS FOR DH
SPOLERS FOR DH

SPOLERS FOR DH

It was raining, a soft gentle downpour, and Ginny was mesmerized by the soft pitter-patter of rain against the window. She was in her small room, looking out the window into the empty yard. Just two days ago, it had been filled with those mourning her brother, Fred. Many people showed up, more than Ginny would have thought, to pay their respects to the young man who had helped in the fight against Lord Voldemort. Ginny felt as if she had been crying for years.

The truth was she missed her brother, as well as Lupin and Tonks. She missed them desperately; there was an ache in her chest that would not go away, no matter how much she tried to get over the deaths. Tears trickled down her cheeks, just as soft and gentle as the rain on her window, as she remembered how George had knelt over his twin, how her mother had cried, how Ginny herself had trouble holding back tears.

No. she thought, Fred would have wanted us to be happy. He would want us to carry on with our lives normally.

But how did you do that, when one of your older brothers whom you had always looked up to was dead? How did you live life normally, when nothing would ever be the same? Ginny, no matter how hard she tried, move past the memory of her dead brother and the other friends she had lost.

Poor Teddy Lupin, who would never know his own parents, who's only parental figure would be Harry, a man who had never known his parents either. Ginny wept for him, she wept for every person who had lost someone. She wept at the bitterness of the world, even after they had won, even after she had survived.

"Ginny?" a soft knock came on the door.

"One minute." She said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and pushing her hair out of her now wet eyes. She stood and opened the door a crack. Hermione stood on the other side of the door.

"Oh, Gin." She said softly, she wrapped her arms around her younger friend, pulling her close and holding her tight.

"I just miss them so much. It's just hitting me that I will never see them again." Ginny mumbled, trying to control her sobs.

"I miss them too, Gin. But please, you're worrying everyone. Harry was getting ready to come up and get you. You haven't eaten since the funeral, please, come get some food, or let me bring you some up to your room." Hermione pulled away, and rested her hands on Ginny's shoulders, a ring glinted on one of her fingers, and Ginny smiled as she saw it.

"I still can't believe you and Ron are getting married." She said with a watery smile.

"Will you come eat dinner with us then?" Hermione asked with a small smile of her own.

"Sure. I just need to clean up some, I'll be down in a minute." Ginny told her friend.

"Alright, hurry down." Hermione left Ginny on the stairs and Ginny stood there for a minute, watching her friend go down to tell everyone that Ginny was coming out of her room. Ginny went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Her eyes were red, but then so were most everyone's and her hair was a mess. She pulled it back into a simple ponytail before she went downstairs. She was still in her pajamas.

"Hey, Gin. Sit by me at dinner?" George asked his favorite, and only, little sister.

"Absolutely." Ginny said to him. George had been looking worse for wear lately; he had been pale and had seemed a bit lost. Ginny had been trying to avoid George until she was sire she could handle it. Everyone was so different; George hadn't said a word, until Lee Jordan had taken it upon himself to bring George out of his state of grief. Ginny felt bad for avoiding George, but what was she supposed to say, she could hardly think about Fred without breaking down, much less talk about him.

The family, and friends, made their way into the kitchen, filling in at the table quietly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to be the only ones really interested in conversation. Mrs. Weasley brought out the food, and everyone dug in. Ginny found herself regaining her appetite as the food came.

"So, Gin, I've been meaning to talk with you about something." George started, spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. He was talking quietly, making Ginny wonder just what he wanted to discuss. "You see, I don't think I can run the shop by myself, and Lee is great, but I really want another Weasley there with me."

Ginny looked at her brother for a moment.

"Honestly?" she asked him.

"Honestly." George told her, and Ginny could see for the first time, how much he was hurting. His look no longer held all of the joy it once had, sure, deep down Ginny could see the pranks and things that George loved to pull, but he was still hurting.

"I'd love to, George." She told her brother.

"Thanks, Gin." He told her, returning to his mashed potatoes. The rest of dinner was a calm affair, eventually the table was caught up in quiet conversation.

"Ginny, I was wondering if we could talk?" It was Harry, Ginny looked at his bright green eyes, and nodded.

"What's up?" she asked him quietly as they walked over to the corner of the sitting room.

"Well, I wanted to talk about us, and I wanted to apologize for how I ended things." He said.

"What about us, Harry?" she asked him carefully.

"Well, I wanted to ask you, if there was ever a chance of us being together again." He said.

Ginny thought of the last time they had been together.

It had been great, the best few weeks of her life. Her brothers had heard, and had never stopped teasing her. Although she wanted nothing more than to throw herself in his arms, she didn't think she was ready. People were saying that it was time fore her to move on, that yes, the world had suffered, but she should be glad to be here. Many others were not as lucky as she was. Ginny knew this, she just couldn't bring herself to face the fact that it was time to move on.

"I, I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet, Harry." She told him. She could tell that he was disappointed, but that her answer had not completely turned him away.

"I'll wait. Forever and ever, if I have to. I really love you Ginny." He told her, reaching out with one of his hands to grab her own. Tears prickled her eyes, and she wiped them away hastily.

"Ginny, maybe you should talk about it, it's not good to keep this inside. Trust me, I know from experience." He wiped a stray tear from her freckled cheek.

"I'm not ready for that either." She told him, gently pulling her hand out of his. Harry looked at her intently.

"Alright, I guess I'll let you alone then. But, Ginny, if you ever need to talk, come to me ok? Anytime at all. I'll listen, I promise." He told her, Ginny nodded, and walked back up to her rooms. Harry stood in the corner of the room, watching her go.

"Didn't go as well as you hoped then, mate?" Ron asked him, also watching his sister go with concerned eyes. Harry shook his head before he followed Ron over to wear Hermione was setting up chess.

Ginny was sitting in her bed, it was late, the middle of the night, and she couldn't sleep. "Any time. I'll listen, I promise" he had told her. Did 'anytime' apply to the middle of the night? She hoped it did, because she needed to talk to someone right now.

Slipping out of bed carefully, Ginny opened her door, and crept to her brother's room where Harry was asleep. She eased the door open, and walked to the cot that Harry was sleeping on.

"Harry? Harry, wake up." She whispered, nudging his shoulder gently.

"Gin? What's wrong, is everyone ok?" he asked, sitting up and putting his glasses on.

"Everyone's fine. I just wanted to see if I could still take you up on your offer to talk." She asked him, fidgeting nervously.

"Of course." He whispered, trying not to wake Ron up. He still looked at her funny, despite his agreement as he climbed out of bed and followed her out of Ron's room down the stairs to her own.

"What's wrong?" he asked once they reached her room. Ginny turned to him with tears in her eyes and on her cheeks.

"Oh, Harry, I miss them so much!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shirt. Harry rubbed her back and let her continue.

"Its just so hard, knowing Fred will never tease me again, and that he and George won't ever finish each other's sentences, or that Remus and Tonks will never come to dinner again, or get to know their son. Oh, Harry, sometimes I wish I had died with them." She sobbed, clinging to him tightly. Harry's arms pulled her closer when she said she had wished she had died.

"Ginny, I'm not going to lie, you are always going to miss them, and you should. But, none of them would want you to cry for them forever. They're happy, together with friends forever; and when your time comes, you'll go and see them again. Never forget that, they are never truly lost. But I don't want you visiting them anytime soon. I need you here with me." He whispered the last two sentences into her ears fiercely. Ginny cried a bit more, still clinging to his neck, before her sobs subsided.

"Harry? Do you really think Fred is happy? He's all alone, none of his friends are with him." Ginny sat down on her bed, and Harry sat next to her, holding her hand gently in his own.

"Ginny, he is up there with the marauders. He is in the same place as some of Hogwart's most famous pranksters. How can he not be happy?" Harry joked lightly, and Ginny laughed a bit before she hiccupped, as a sob got caught in between her laughs.

"I just worry, about all of them, even the ones I don't know." Ginny said, "I worry I'll never see them again." She told him, whispering now.

"You'll see them, Ginny, I promise."

"I hope so, Harry." She looked at him for a minute, and then said, "Thanks for listening, even though I cried the whole time. It really means a lot."

"I would do anything for you." Harry told her with a smile. Ginny wrinkled her nose.

"Are you always this cheesy?" she asked him.

"No, I'm just trying to never take anything for granted ever again, so even if you can't return my feelings, I love you Ginny. Forever, and ever, and ever, no matter how much you cry." Harry squeezed her hand as he smiled at her. Ginny looked at him for a moment longer, before she said so softly that Harry barely heard it.

"I think I'm ready now, to try again; because your right, Fred and Tonks and Remus all would want me to be happy. Hell, even Mad-Eye would want me to be happy." Harry couldn't help it, he just acted instinctively, he leaned down and kissed her. A kiss just as passionate as the one they had shared nearly a year ago, on his birthday.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I didn't mean to overwhelm you or anything." Harry stuttered as he realized he was kissing a girl as she was crying…again. Ginny rolled her watery eyes, and whispered one last thing "You need to stop being the hero, Harry." And kissing him; bringing him down with her as she lay on the bed.

ABOUT EIGHT YEARS LATER:

"Push! Come on, Ginny! He's almost here!" Harry said to his wife, as the mid-wife yelled the same thing from the foot of the bed.

"Ahh!" Ginny scremed, pushing one last time, before she collapsed in exhaustion on the bed. The midwife held up a healthy, screaming, baby boy. Ginny smiled as she saw him, and tears formed in her eyes as she held him.

"Was it worth doing it again?" Harry asked her.

"Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes." Ginny said, showing her son to his very proud father.

"Baby!" James was being led in by Hermione and Ron, and he ran to his father, pointing at the bundle in Ginny's arms. "I wanna see, baby!" he said, demanding that his father pick him up so he could see his little brother, who was sitting quietly now, as his mother fed him. Harry chuckled and held him up, "James, meet your little brother, Albus Severus Potter." James looked in awe at the little thing, before he reached over and poked him on the side of the head. Albus pulled away from his mother, screaming as Ron and Hermione chuckled.

"Your going to have a handful with those two, mate." Ron told Harry as Hermione smiled, and shifter her hold on her own newborn.

END