Post-Battle of Hogwarts
Harry woke to sunlight streaming through his dormitory window. He raised a hand to block the offending light and blindly put his glasses on. He looked across at Ron who was snoring away in his bed. He felt very, very tired as he hadn't slept until late and he was pretty sure that it was close to noon. His body ached, but in a good way - a reminder of what had occurred the day before.
Harry got out of bed groggily and dressed. Making his way down to the Great Hall, he was encountered and bombarded with many 'congratulations' and 'thank you's, but he just brushed it off, saying that it hadn't all been him. And it hadn't been.
If you looked at most of the people seated in the Great Hall that morning, you'd see a lot of them with bandages all around them. A lot of people had been hurt that night, but they paid no mind to that it seemed, as they were to busy acclaiming about Voldemort being gone for good. So, no, it had not been only him who had helped get rid of You-Know-Who. He was thankful for each and every person who had died and everyone who helped because it had gotten them here.
It had been a tough battle, anyone could tell you that, but it was a great battle as well seeing as an enemy was destroyed. People all over the wizarding world were celebrating. The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students had arrived earlier that morning and were celebrating almost as much as the Hogwartians. But it seemed no one could match their jubilance because they'd be yelling and screaming happily about what had went down to everyone they came across, even though everyone in the wizarding world knew. Student's families had also arrived the other night and were still at the castle as well, they were staying in some empty classrooms for now. Exams had been cancelled, of course. In one more week, all the students would be boarding the Hogwarts Express and heading home.
As harry entered the Great Hall, there was a burst of applause that still wouldn't stop as he raised his hand for them to calm. He walked over to the Gryffindor table where the entire Weasley family was perched along with Luna, Neville, and Neville's grandmother.
"I always knew he was just like his father," Neville's grandmother cooed as she squeezed Neville form the side. Luna giggled at the image as Neville glared daggers at her.
He took a seat next to Ginny, trying not to be obvious by not staring at her. She turned to give him a smile and a hug. "Good morning, Harry! How are you feeling?"
"Morning, Ginny, and fine, thanks," Harry tried not to smile to big back at her, but he hadn't seen her in a long time and it seemed she was getting even more beautiful by the day. He averted his eyes, and spoke to Luna and asked how she was.
"I'm just great! Daddy's been let out of Azkaban!" She energized. "I finally get to see the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack horn he got me for Christmas!"
Harry held back from telling her that it was actually an Erumpent horn and that it had blown the one and only time he had been to her house. That would be Hermione's job. He offered his congratulations. "That's great, Luna!"
"Hey, Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ginny asked, fixing a hair behind her ear.
Harry almost choked on the soup he was eating. Was it bad that he kind of wished Ron was here to interrupt? "Yeah, sure, Ginny."
He and Ginny got up, her with grace, and him clumsily. He felt red pouring all over his face and they hadn't even started talking yet. She led them out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom. They stood awkwardly, staring at each other, wishing the other would start first.
"I-" they started at the same time and laughed at each other. Harry encouraged Ginny to go first.
"Well, this is going to be sufficiently awkward," she quipped. "Anyways, I just wanted to talk because I know the last time we saw each other, not the Room of Requirement, but at the wedding we broke it off." She stopped and looked at him with those big brown eyes, as if pleading. "I know you didn't want to continue our . . . relationship because Dumbledore-"
Harry stopped her there. "Ginny, I –"He stopped dead in his words. He didn't miss the sad look in her eye, as if she had just been rejected.
"It's okay, Harry," she said and turned her back on him to leave the room. He didn't miss her mutter "Knew it was too good to be true."
"Ginny, wait!" He bellowed, knowing he had only half a second before she was out that door.
She turned around, surprised, but she wasn't the only one who was astounded as Harry bounded to her and pressed his lips to her.
They stood like that for a while, still as a statue. Their lips didn't even move against each other even though they so wanted to. Ginny was the one who stepped away first. Harry's heart fell to the ground as she turned her back to him again. Had he been wrong when he thought she was talking of getting back together? He dreaded that and pushed away the thought with no success.
Before he could bombard himself with more self-pitying thoughts, Ginny turned around and smiled at him. He was sure his stomach had just met his heart on the floor as well. Her cheeks with tinged with pink as she held her hand out for him, a sort of assurance, a promise, of the future.
He took her hand in his, savoring the feel of it, and the walked out of that classroom and back to the Great Hall where their friends and family smiled at them knowingly. But they didn't care whether they approved or disapproved (though it seemed most of them approved), they had each other and their futures. They would do bigger and better things with it.