Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.

Chapter 1

To Harry Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry still smelled like death. For months they found bodies buried beneath the rubble of the school. For months they found unidentifiable chunks. For months Harry Potter pulled his enemies, strangers, and friends out from under the stone walls.

It was ridiculous to be smelling death at this point, though. Today marked exactly one month since the last body, or piece of a body, was found. And today marked exactly one month since Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was officially rebuilt.

Harry was nervous. Another ridiculous feeling for the man who defeated the greatest dark wizard of the time.

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall wordlessly held out a folded cloth to him. Harry unwrapped it. He smiled at the contents and popped one of the biscuits into his mouth.

"You'll be fine," she said. Then, she walked past him through the grand double doors and up to the podium.

Harry followed.

The Headmistress spoke, "Welcome all. Today should hold special significance for all of you. For some, it is your first time stepping foot in this school. For others, it is your first time stepping foot in this school with no dark wizards on the loose. And for the older students, it is your first time stepping foot in this school without many of your fellow classmates.

It is for this reason that I have invited Harry Potter to come speak to you. I hope that you all listen to him with fervor."

Harry stepped up to the podium and said:

"I have to tell you, I've lost a lot of family, friends, classmates. The feeling, the 'it should've been me feeling', never goes away. I know many of you have that feeling. I can see it in your faces. This place was my first home. This school was the happiest place on earth for me. Now, it's different. Now, its where my friends died. Its where my family died. But it's also where Voldemort died.

The man had been hunting me for years, hurting everyone I loved and countless other people. Hogwarts is where I began and where I ended. He's gone. So what now?

We move on. We remember the people we lost and we make sure that we never create a monster again. We teach forgiveness. We teach acceptance. Gryffindors are not arrogant. Slytherins are not evil. Ravenclaws are not judgmental. Hufflepuffs are not lame. It is people who are these things. Your house is not your identity.

The one thing I want you to focus on this year is being a kid. Have fun. Fall in love. Make friends and make memories. If you can do that, this year will be a success."

The students applauded. The feast started and ended. McGonagall gave her beginning of the year remarks ("the Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits"). And finally, Harry was left to wander the new ancient castle.

The castle looked different. It was close enough to the original but many of the paintings and statues were gone because of their destruction during the battle.

As he walked, he tried to think of anything other than the smell that followed him. Ginny was his favorite distraction.

He thought of last night, her head on his chest and her hair in his face. She suddenly sat up and looked at him, "So?"

"So what?" he replied.

"So are you gonna be an auror?" she asked.

"I dunno," he said.

"You should," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why not?" she replied. He shrugged. She laid down again.

It wasn't until she had already fallen asleep that he thought about his answer.

Did he really want to chase after dark lords his whole life? Hadn't he done that enough for one lifetime? But on the other hand, wasn't that what he knew how to do? Wasn't it what he was good at?

Did he even need a job? He had enough money to live comfortably. But wouldn't he be bored without something to occupy him?

He needed more time. More time to cope. More time to relax and live. More time for everything.

Harry's reflections ended when he realized where he was. They never had quite figured out how to fix the Room of Requirement.

Harry knew it was pointless to try, but he did it anyway. He paced, thinking three times: I need a bathroom. Nothing happened. I need a quiet place to think. Nothing happened. I need you to fix yourself. He thought he heard a noise. It was just a ghost, he told himself. I need my friends to be alive. Nothing happened. I need Sirius Black. Nothing. I need peace of mind. Another noise. Another ghost. I need a time travelling machine to go back in time and make sure this never happens. Nothing. I need Voldemort to not have been evil. Even more nothing. I need a way to prevent countless deaths and sadness by the hands of Tom Riddle. Another noise. But this wasn't a ghost.

Harry stopped pacing.

A door had appeared.

He stared, his heart started beating faster and faster. He approached.

The door was familiar. He couldn't figure out where he'd seen it before.

Somehow Harry knew that if he entered he wouldn't be coming back soon. Somehow he didn't care.

Harry opened the door. He stepped into the room. The smell of death did not follow.

A/N: I'll try not to do too many of these because not every chapter requires commentary. This chapter is a bit shorter than what I'm hoping the rest will be.

First things first: This is not a romance. Harry will not be falling in love with anyone because he's already in love with Ginny.

I'm hoping to put out about 2 chapters a week so that I will be DONE by the time school starts up again. I don't expect this to be too long of a story either.

This is my first fanfiction by myself! My best friend and I are writing another one, Straight Outta 1943, but we haven't updated in a while because it's hard to coordinate our busy work schedules :/

ANYWAY I hope you guys enjoy this! Please read, review, favorite, recommend! If you have any questions, either review or send me a pm and I'll answer the best I can! Thanks :)