AN: Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.

5th May 1998

Harry got out of bed and dressed mechanically. He hadn't slept at all; his mind was too numb with pain to think clearly. He dressed for another funeral. Fred's funeral; he ran down the steps to the Burrow's kitchen. Luckily he found no one as he grimaced at the food placed on the table and walked to the garden. He walked aimlessly, till he heard a muffled scream. Pulling his wand out; he followed the dull thuds coming from behind a tree to his right. He felt her before he saw her; Ginny was punching the tree trunk, her knuckles were red, swollen and bloody and it looked like she had broken a few bones. Angry tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued punching the tree. "Ginny!" Harry said, Ginny's gaze flickered towards Harry, but she didn't stop punching the tree. "Ginny, don't do this please."

"Go away, Harry." She hissed angrily. "Leave me alone. Leave me to deal with things the way you did last summer. I spent the year dealing with things on my own, I will be fine."

Harry's eyes flashed with pain and anger but then he remembered how he had lashed out at everyone, especially Dumbledore after Sirius' death. How angry he was with everyone. He took a deep breath before taking a step forward and pulling her wrist back gently. "No." He said simply.

Her reaction was instantaneous, she whirled around at his touch, jumping back to free herself from him and slapping him hard. "Don't. Touch. Me" she panted enraged. "Go away, Potter. I don't need you."

"Fine, but promise me you won't hurt yourself."

Her eyes flashed, "And since when have you cared about my pain? If you don't remember, you left me. You vanished without so much as a whisper and I was left behind for a year to return to the school where everything reminded me of you. I walked down those halls broken and beaten, wondering if you really ever loved me at all. I saw Hagrid bring your dead body, you left us to go die. Did you care about my pain then? Did you even think about what your death would do to me? Don't pretend to care about the people you don't really care about. I can take care of myself. Go away." She said, hitting the tree again.

Harry held both her wrists now "Ginny, stop. Hurting yourself won't bring Fred back." He said gently.

"I KNOW THAT! I KNOW THAT YOU- YOU-" She screamed in rage pulling her hair, before turning and running away from him.

Harry ran after her, swinging her by the waist as they neared the pond. "LET ME GO!" she roared, kicking him in the process.

"No."

"LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT YOU. LET ME GO OR I WILL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY. I DON'T CARE. OKAY? I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU."

Her words stung Harry, for the first time he truly appreciated the patience Dumbledore showed him. He put her down on her feet, immediately she started struggling against his grip on her waist, her nails digging in his forearm. He turned her to face him. Her eyes flashed in defiance and anger.

"You want to break my bones, go ahead and do it. You want to hex me into the next century, go ahead and do that too. But listen to me please-" SMACK! She slapped him and then she slapped him again and again and again, Harry pulled her to his chest, she punched his chest before going limp in his arms.

"Where were you Harry, when I saw F-F-F-F-Fred's body, and Tonks'? I needed you then. I needed to see you to know that you loved me enough to stay. That you won't leave me like they did; but you did so much worse." She sobbed in his arms. "And now Fred is gone, and George is not himself anymore. And no one talks at home and you hide from everyone. All of us are broken; I don't know how to put us all back together." She moaned in his arms, her body convulsing with her sobs.

He held her, stroking her hair, as tears poured down his eyes too. Ron walked out of the kitchen door and towards them. "It's time, we should get going." He said in a constricted voice, Harry nodded as Ginny looked away from them wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, letting out an involuntary hiss of pain. Ron looked at Ginny quizzically before snatching her hands in his, eyes wide. Harry touched his shoulder and shook his head at Ron who bit back his questions. Pulling his wand out Ron healed Ginny's hand "I will tell mum that you would come in a minute." Harry nodded gratefully.

Harry watched Ron leave before gently taking Ginny's hands in his rubbing calming circles on the back of her hand. Tears were still pouring down Ginny's eyes as she watched their entwined hands. "Sorry." She muttered after taking a deep breath. Harry shook his head.

"You don't have to be." He cupped her cheeks in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "You don't ever have to say sorry for grieving. Just don't hurt yourself, okay? Come talk to me or fight with me or hit me but just don't hurt yourself, I can't bear that. Can you do this for me? Please?" She nodded mutely.

Harry pulled her in a hug and kissed her hair before taking her hand and leading her down to the final resting place of Fredrick Fabian Weasley.

AN: Yes, this fic starts with the end of the war. The consequent chapters would be about Hogwarts while Snape was the headmaster. Read and Review people. Happy Reading. :D