"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime." As Harry said those words, he realised that for the first time in his life, he could look forward to being normal. He was no longer The Chosen One, or The Boy Who Lived. He was just Harry Potter and he had just defeated the darkest wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. As he, Ron and Hermione walked past the stone gargoyle, Harry was beginning to feel a little light headed and unbeknownst to him, so were Ron and Hermione. They had not slept for almost 48 hours, and were long overdue on some rest.
"I think I'm ready for a really long kip in the dormitory. What do you reckon, Harry?" asked Ron with his arms around Hermione, who was struggling to even walk.
"Definitely. We can answer the questions from your family tomorrow. I don't think I am in any state to give a long- winded explanation right now." said Hermione as she leaned against Ron for support, clearly exhausted.
Although Harry would have like nothing better than to go to the boys dormitories in Gryffindor Tower and sleep for the next week, he knew he had to do one thing that could not wait.
"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up", Harry said, his mind fixated on one person he had to see. Ginny. If anybody, he owed her a full explanation as to why he had so unceremoniously dumped her and run off.
Realising what Harry meant, they turned on their heel to follow him.
"We're coming too mate. And don't mess around with Ginny's feelings again. If you want her, tell her truth and apologise, or I'll pound you so that you can join up with your best mate Voldemort", said Ron with a small smirk on his face.
Harry had no choice but to afford a small smile at his comment. "Don't worry. I have no intention of screwing around with her. This time, I'm planning on staying with her forever." said Harry, giving Ron a light clout on the shoulder.
Hermione gave him a smile before saying "Let me and Ron go ahead and tell the others. Put on your invisibility cloak if you don't want to cause a commotion in the Great Hall". He gave Hermione a nod and let the new couple go on ahead.
Slipping on his invisibility cloak, Harry made his way down to the Great Hall, taking in the destruction around him. Rubble and debris from the battle lay strewn across the floor, serving as a grim reminder of what had been lost. So many people's lives lay shattered because of what Voldemort had done and so many precious lives had been lost. And it was all his fault. If only Harry could have found the horcruxes sooner, so many lives could have been saved. Those most dear and near to him had died, all because of him. Remus, Tonks, Fred, Colin and so many others had lost their lives. His very own godson was now an orphan. Feelings of guilt overtook him as he entered the Great Hall. Instead of rejoicing, most of the people there were in mourning. But Harry only had eyes for one person.
Ginny was angry, sad and frustrated. She had been asking around for the whereabouts of Harry, but nobody knew where he was. She felt so angry at him, letting her think that he was dead. She knew he probably had his reasons, but Ginny could not help but feel angry. She sat there at the senior end of the Gryffindor table with her family, trying to comfort George who was feeling lost in the world without Fred. Just as she looked up, she saw Ron and Hermione enter the hall. But Harry was not with them. Seeing them, she jumped up and rushed towards them.
"Where's Harry? Why is he not with you? Is he okay?" she asked, her voice full of concern, all her previous anger at Harry suddenly forgotten.
Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, Ron said "Don't get your wand in a knot, he's right behind us. He didn't want to cause an uproar in the Hall, so he's under the cloak."
As Ron had been saying this, Harry had walked around Ron and Hermione to go behind Ginny to whisper in her ear.
"Ginny I really need to talk to you, alone. Ron and Hermione will explain everything to your parents. Just please come with me.". Harry's tone was pleading now, at the brink of begging.
Hearing the plea in his voice, Ginny felt around for his hand, and allowed Harry to lead her out of the Great Hall towards the grounds.
Harry, for one did not know where to begin trying to apologise to Ginny. So he thought he would start with "Ginny, I'm sorry for ditching you. Please take me back. I love you".
"What did you say Harry? You're sorry! THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY AFTER YOU DUMPED ME! AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOU BACK? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN HAGRID CAME BACK CARRYING YOUR DEAD BODY? MR HARRY POTTER, I WANT A FULL EXPLANATION BEFORE I WILL EVEN THINK ABOUT BEING YOU GIRLFRINED AGAIN" Ginny screamed at him, tears streaming out of her eyes as she tried to pour out all the emotions she had been feeling for the past year into that one outburst.
Harry, on the other hand was quite taken aback. He had expected her to be angry, but now she was crying and hitting him and screaming at the same time. Grabbing hold of her fists, he hugged her, trying to show all the love he felt for her in that one hug. They stayed like that for a while, Ginny crying into his shoulder while he calmingly stroked her hair and back, inhaling her flowery scent.
After she had calmed down, Harry sat her down on the grass and began his explanation. He started from when he had found out about the prophecy after Sirius' death and moved on to how Voldemort had created 7 horcruxes which he, Ron and Hermione had left to destroy. He kept the details to the minimum, knowing he would have to explain the details to the rest later on anyways. When he got to the part about him being a horcrux, and Snape's memories, Ginny let out a gasp and shuddered, clearly terrified. As he described his walk into the Forbidden Forest, Ginny laid her head on Harry's shoulder and wrapped a comforting arm around him, knowing how hard this must be for him.
Once his explanation was over, Harry and Ginny just stared at each other for a while, before Harry gave into temptation and planted his lips on hers. Ginny responded with equal vigour, both of them trying to make up for what they had missed in the past year. It seemed hours before they broke apart for air, both of them as exhausted as they were. Harry felt like he was going to collapse any minute, so he asked Ginny "Does this mean you forgive me?"
"Of course Harry. And to your previous declaration of love, I have only one thing to say to you. I love you too." Ginny said, enveloping Harry in a bone crushing hug that was much reminiscent of Mrs Weasley. Hearing those three words was the last thing Harry remembered, as his exhaustion got the better of him and he passed out on Ginny's shoulders.
When Ginny realised that Harry was not moving, he laid him down on the soft grass, contemplating how she was going to get him back up to the boys' dormitories. As she sat thinking about her options, she did not notice that her whole family had come up behind her.
"Ginny, I think we need to move Harry to the dorms.", said Mrs. Weasley as she helped her daughter get up.
"Yeah but how? If we carry him everyone will think the moron went and got himself killed again" said George trying to diffuse some of the tension.
'That's my boyfriend you're calling a moron, so watch it before I hex you to oblivion", countered Ginny with a smirk on her face.
"So you two made up huh? Hope he wasn't too much of a prat" said Ron, continuing the friendly banter.
"No he wasn't. He was the perfect gentleman, and even explained everything to my satisfaction" said Ginny with a faraway smile on her face.
"Good. Or else the six… I mean five of us would have had to show him some Weasley style revenge for messing with our sister" said Charlie. Everyone's smiles dissolved at the implication, as they remembered that Fred was no longer with them. Tears sprung to Ginny's eyes as she turned to face George, and ran up to him to give him a huge hug.
"Don't worry sis, I'll be fine. Fred wouldn't want us mourning him. He would want us to be celebration Moldy-wart's defeat. I'll be fine. Don't worry" said George with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Well, let's get back to the problem at hand. How are we going to get Harry up? In fact, I think he should spend the night in the hospital wing, judging by the number of scars on his body" said Mr Weasley, directing everyone's attention back to Harry.
"I know, I know! Kreacher could apparate him to the hospital wing, but do you think he will come if we call him?" said Hermione while jumping up and down in a way that was clearly similar to when she wanted to answer a question in class.
But before anyone could call him Kreacher was already at Harry's side, and clutching his hand.
"Where would Ms Granger like Kreacher to bring Master Harry?" asked Kreacher in his wheezy voice.
"To the hospital wing Kreacher. We'll meet you there and talk to Madam Pomfrey" answered Hermione kindly.
Kreacher bowed low and was gone along with Harry in an instant. With that the Weasley plus Hermione made their way to the hospital wing, which they found was packed with people needing injuries. Madam Pomfrey had enlisted the help of a few healers from St Mungo's to deal with the massive number of people needing treatment. The Weasley's made their way to Harry but stopping briefly to acknowledge their schoolmates who had been injured, especially those in Dumbledore's Army. When they reached Harry's bed, they saw that along with Madam Pomfrey, there were many other students crowding around his bed, making it nearly impossible for Madam Pomfrey to treat him.
"Oi you lot mind your own business. Harry is just exhausted and needs some rest. Clear off before I hex all of you" boomed Ginny, clearly frustrated at the student's lack of sense.
"Thank you Miss Weasley. Those students were making it quite difficult for me to treat Harry. But anyways, I have cleaned and healed most of his wounds to the best of my ability, though it seems like he will have a lot of scars. I also gave him a sleeping draught for dreamless sleep, so don't expect him to awake any time before tomorrow afternoon. And if I could also have a look at all of your scars before you head off to bed, that would be best. Ah, that reminds me, we don't have enough beds for Harry to be able to spend the night here, as the beds have been reserved for those with major injuries. So I', sorry, but this house elf will have to apparate him back to the dorms" said Madam Pomfrey as she started to take a look at Ron's injuries.
They were done in about twenty minutes, and everyone had taken a flask of sleeping draught to bring up to their beds and take. Kreacher apparated Harry to the seventh year's boys dormitory and the rest of the Weasley's followed close behind. At the common room, they separated as Ron, Hermione and Ginny went up to be with Harry. When they reached the dormitory, they were surprised to find three empty beds waiting for them. Surmising that Professor McGonagall had decided to let the four of them sleep together, Ginny immediately went to the bed beside Harry's, while Ron and Hermione took the other two beds.
"So, did Harry tell you everything?" asked Hermione, wanting to know if she could talk openly with her.
"Yeah seems so. I can't believe how far Voldemort went to achieve immortality though. I knew he was bad but never would I have imagined he would split his soul" said Ginny, thinking about the things Harry had told her.
"He was absolutely mental. But now, I reckon we have to help Harry. He had that look on his face when we were walking to get you" said Ron, propping up his pillow so he could talk to the two girls properly.
"What look?" asked Ginny worriedly.
"The look he had after Sirius and Dumbledore died. The guilt must be killing him, just like when he tried taking the blame for Sirius' and Dumbledore's death. He avenged their deaths by killing Voldemort, but this this time, we have to make sure he knows it's not his fault so many people died." Said Hermione, knowing full well Harry would take the blame himself.
"Yeah, he's noble git" said Ron, eliciting a small laugh from the trio.
"But he's our noble git" said Ginny, placing her hand atop Harry's and stroking the back with her thumb lovingly. "So, did anyone tell you what the plans are for the rebuilding of the school and such?"
"McGonagall came over to tell us that there was going to be a memorial and awards service tomorrow in the Great Hall, and the rebuilding was starting after that. They are planning to reopen on 1st September as usual so she said that they were going to need all the help they could get." Replied Hermione in her calculative tone.
"Wait, there's going to be an awards ceremony? Harry isn't going to like that…" Ron trailed off.
"Well, we will worry about that tomorrow. Now let's go to sleep or we won't be awake before tomorrow evening" yawned Ginny as she took her flask of potion from the table, gulped it down in one go, and promptly fell asleep.