The sun had just started rising over the horizon, an eerie silence had descended over the grounds. Bodies littered the floor. Stones, mortar and glass from the old castle lay among them. All still, cold and lifeless.

A lone man stood among the debris, his arm cut and bleeding, bruises appearing on his cheekbone but still his face set. Staring green eyes scanned the ground, surveying the damage until his eyes finally rested on the survivors

.

Tears welled up in his eyes, until they could not be controlled, people started to bombard him hugging him, cheering him. He couldn't see their faces but he knew the person he wanted to see wasn't there by his side, just like she hadn't been for a year.

Harry looked to the sky and set off to the entrance of Hogwarts, dodging obstacles, seeing familiar faces on the cold hard ground only made him run faster until he at last reached the entrance hall.

There in the mass of bodies and blood knelt the Weasley family huddling around the body of their son. What was left of the Hogwarts Professors stood in a silent vidual behind them.

Ginny looked up, tears streaming from Bills shoulder and started walking towards him, slowly at first then picking up pace until she collided into his chest in a mass of tears and hurt. The tears in his eyes flowed in time with hers until another hand rested onto his shoulder. Her hand was followed by another, then he looked up to see Ron and Hermione staring at him with a mixture of relief and disbelief.

Finally the remaining students started to walk around the gathered grieving family into the hall. The happy mood from earlier was quickly replaced by sadness by the sight that met them near to the school. Darkened faces filed in patting Harry on the back as they went.

With that Harry detangled himself and ran. He ignored the bewildered faces of his friends and the pain in his joints until he slammed into the portrait of the Fat Lady in a haze. Smashing his fists into the adjoining wall and sank to floor, head in his bloody hands, letting out all emotion.

Silently the Fat lady shook her head sadly and opened the portrait hole.

Harry began to wake, his leg felt sore from the damage sustained in the battle, the room was warm and what felt like a blanket had been placed on top of his thin body.

"Harry?"

The voice he had longed for spoke, the moment he never thought he'd see began to unfold before him.

Opening his bleary eyes he saw Ginny sat on the floor, crossed legged staring at his face willing him to wake up.

"Harry….Oh god"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing into the crook.

"Ginny…"

Words failed him.

"Shhh, go back to sleep. Mum will kill me if she knows I have woken you"

Nodding, he turned his head and placed a delicate kiss on her cheek. Pulling away he noticed a faint smile on her face and went back to sleep happy for the first time in years.

The Great Hall of Hogwarts began to fill with people. Some young, some old all just wanted to see if their loved ones had survived the Great Battle.

Rows of bodies lined the Hall, each with their name and date of birth. A steady stream of people entered, looking up and down the rows to find their families. But at 3 bodies the huddle of people never moved.

Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin and Fred Weasley. First a tall middle aged lady holding a small child whose hair had stopped changing colours to settle on his natural shade and the Weasleys mourning the loss of their extended and close family.

Harry had slept what seemed like hours; quickly he dressed and ran down the dormitory stairs to find the common room empty. Slipping through the portrait hole his legs carried him to the grand marble staircase where he could hear the Wizarding population waiting for his appearance, all he wanted was Ginny.

He didn't want this attention, he never did just wanted to be normal. He knew that if he descended the stairs to the Entrance hall he would be mobbed by well wishers, reporters and his battered face would be back in the papers. Turning his back he began to step away slowly from the scene.

With a renewed pace he trudged up stairs, along the corridors ignoring the portraits shouting their congratulations at him. He didn't deserve it. Suddenly the cold air hit his face, he was at the top of the Astronomy tower.

Although it was dark again he knew if he looked down the scene below would haunt him. It was just too much.

Why was this so hard? He thought. I should be ecstatic, happy that I can live my life without fear.

Grief, Guilt and hurt all washed over him, tears poured from his eyes as he sunk to the floor and held his head in his hands. He couldn't stay strong forever.

Little footsteps came treading up the stone steps echoing as they came to the top; Harrys head whipped around, whilst his hand reached to his pocked where the Elder want still resided.

Ginny appeared, her hair blowing in the wind, eyes red and cheeks flushed.

"Harry…everyone's looking for you. Please come down so we can see you are okay. My mums going frantic, you and George keep disappearing off to god knows where and ….."

The tears began to flow again, she moved forward and they clung onto each other, holding on as if their lives depended on it. Clinging for love, for happiness, for the future.

When all the tears had dried, the two managed to compose themselves enough to look into each other's eyes. They understood each other; their own feelings could wait until the aftermath had died down.

"Promise me nothing is going to be different Gin"

"Harry, I … nothing is going to be different between us"

With that they picked themselves off the dirty ground, gave a glance at the stars and walked back into the dark corridors.

They both leaned on each other for support, both physically and emotionally. Harry's torso began to ache with his joints, chest and hands he knew he should see a Healer but they had better things to do that treat minor injuries at the moment.

Half way down the marble staircase a buzz went through the Hall alerting everyone of his presence. Head down, eyes to floor Harry entered the room, Ginny gripping his arm all the way.

The crowd parted in silence to let them through, slowly raising his head to look at the mass of people standing when a witch stood nearly next to him began to clap.

Then the next person began, and it followed until the whole hall was clapping their saviour.

At the disturbance Mrs Weasley who was hugging George, although it looked like George was physically holding her up at one point, moved her head to see her youngest daughter and Harry Potter stood together.

Harry stepped forward "I'm sorry Mrs Weasley…. I tried I really did…everything happened so quick-" With that she crushed him in a hug.

"Thank you for everything you have ever done for my family Harry we are deeply indebted"

Ginny slipped her hand in his, pulling away from Mrs Weasley he gave a weak smile and turned. The crowd parted for him as he meticulously walked along the aisles. Looking at each face in turn he broke a little more, tears fell, his body sagged until the end where he turned out of the hall and back onto the staircase.

"Mr Potter?" It was Professor McGonagall, recognising the voice he turned to face her "I have a healer here waiting, you must be injured Harry" She said with a softer tone.

Shaking his head he turned back to ascend the stairs "Treat the most injured first Professor, I can wait until later"

With that he took off again, running along the corridors. The familiar trodden path back to the Gryffindor Tower fell away until he climbed through the open portrait hole and into the familiar common room. It was always better to be alone in the end.

…

"Harry, wake up. We have to be going shortly"

"mmmm what?" Harry bleakly opened his eyes to see a fuzzy red head throwing objects into what looked like a trunk.

" Minister for magic initiation? Kingsley is going to be ushered into the post, Harry get up!"

His eyes had dropped shut again.

Ginny shook her head and took pity on him, sitting on the edge of his bed she said

"I know this is hard, you need to be strong Harry one last time. The funerals are over, rebuilding has begun. There is nothing left for you to worry over. So after this ceremony we can go where ever we want, just you and I. Mum said we could visit Shell Cottage for a while?"

A knock came from the door, and a slightly bushy haired Hermione and Ron peeked around. "Everything ok? Mums wanting to leave soon."

"Yeah Ron, we will be down in a minute"

A week had passed since the final battle and the Ministry were pushing forward with electing a new minister and trying to restore a sense of normality in the wizarding world. Harry had spent the week in a deep depression; only Ginny had managed to put a brief smile on his face. He finally rubbed his eyes and with a slight grimace got up for a shower. Where the killing curse had hit his chest a dark bruise swirled outwards from the middle reaching down his torso. Of course he hid this small problem from Ginny, when she hugged him his face was carefully controlled to hide the pain but he knew he would have to see Madam Pomfrey soon, he could have sworn it was spreading.

With the trunks packed of their belongings sent to the Burrow, the headmistress' office was used to floo the family to the Ministry. The survivors of the final battle were to be honoured in a ceremony along with the induction of Kingsley as Minister, the dawning of a new chapter in the Wizarding world. Harry knew he had to be there 'just three hours' he thought wistfully as they made their way towards the entrance of the Atrium. The buzzing had started again he noticed, people began to whisper then the pointing started and cheering erupted as he and the Weasley family walked down the central aisle between the chairs. Harry barely noticed many familiar faces seated in the crowd

"Ah Harry! I am very glad to see you could make it" Kingsley boomed across floor and with four huge strides stopped in front of Harry. "I hope I find you well?"

"Of course sir" Harry managed to say just before the cheering reached a pitch that caused Kingsley to cast 'Sonorus' on his vocal cords.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for rapturous welcome." Another official steered the Weasleys to an especially reserved seating area at the front of the hall, but Kingsley threw his arm across Harry's shoulder preventing him from moving "We are here today to celebrate the bright new future and honor the surviving members of the final battle. Many died and we have honoured them as true heroes, but one must not forget the courage that sits here in this room." He steered Harry up to the imposing podium

"Now before I hand out the medals maybe a persuade the usually media shy Mr Potter to say a few words?" He looked hopefully at Harry who sighed and stood up to the podium. His breathing quickened which hurt his chest even more and he began to panic. His eyes darted to the place where Ginny sat and found a pair of warm brown eyes, instantly he relaxed and stood as straight as his chest would allow.

"Erm, well hello I guess… I haven't prepared a speech and I'm really no good at this type of thing" There was a pause, Harry could see the faces of hundreds of people staring at him "I was once told by a great man that we should not sink beneath our anguish but battle on. I know the pain is still raw but we have to usher in a new era, try and keep the balance of our world."

He saw a certain red head in the crowd smiling at him with tears in her eyes, it was what they wanted to believe even though he didn't believe it.

" I know that the future may not certain but I hope with the continued support of the Ministry the Wizarding World will be safe for years to come"

With a swift nod at Kingsley he stepped down to a flash of light bulbs from the reporters and sat down in the seat next to Ginny.

"Thank you Harry for that moving speech, as Harry was saying…"

Kingsley took to the podium once more to address the public and lay out goals for the Wizarding world but Harry heard very little, the pain in his chest was intensifying at an alarming rate. The pain had moved around the back and up to his shoulder, black spots started to hinder his vision, breathing became increasingly difficult as the noise of chairs scraping along the floor brought his attention back to the room.

"Harry? Harry? Mum he's very pale." He blearily looked up at a sea of red before he managed to splutter "Get me…. back to the… Burrow"

His stomach was churning; dinner from a couple of hours earlier was threatening to make an appearance, as he was side along apparated to the Burrow.

His vision failed, he could hear commotion; a cold wet cloth had been placed on his forehead. His stomach churned again and he was sick on the floor next to him and he sunk into the darkness.