The calm after the storm

This is set after the seventh and final book.

I do not own any of the Harry Potter books or any of their characters. They belong to J.K Rowling.

By fruity.tooty

Harry woke with the sounds of footsteps. He wasn't sure where he was at first but looking up he saw the familiar ceiling of his four-poster bed.

He couldn't remember a time where he had slept better. There were no taunting dreams that woke him up and there was a soft breeze coming through the open window.

He looked over to where Ron's bed was and saw that he was sitting up looking at someone that was in the door. Hermione was sitting close to him with a smile on her face. She looked over to Harry, seeing that he was awake and her smile grew wider.

"Finally! We thought you would never wake up!" Hermione said jumping off the bed.

Harry just realized who the person by the door was. He sat up looking at Ginny who was also looking at him with a strange smile on her face. He could tell that she was tired.

"Mum says we're leaving soon." She said looking over at Ron, who looked groggy. "She knows how tired everybody is. She said we can help out later. They've already gotten all of the bodies out. Kingsley has been appointed Minister of Magic temporarily but we all think he is going to stay that way." She looked over at Harry then back down at her hands.

There was a silence in the room while Ron and Harry got out of bed. They still had their clothes on, because they went up to the dorms after they had talked to the photo of Albus Dumbledore.

They walked down the stairs and Harry realized that it was probably the last time he would be in the common room. He stopped and looked around. He looked at the fireplace where he had seen Sirius' face come out of, one late night. He also looked at his three favorite chairs by the fireplace that he, Ron, and Hermione use to share every night.

Sensing what Harry was doing, Ron and Hermione stopped and looked around too. What would happen to them since they didn't finish their last year of school? Would they get jobs? Would Harry ever become an Auror?

With a new feeling of dread, Harry walked out of the portrait hole onto the staircase. He looked back at the empty portrait where the Fat lady used to be. It was easy to get into the common room because she wasn't in her picture frame, but now, Harry wished she was there, even if he had never liked her much.

On the way down, Harry noticed that all the debris from the war they had just fought was gone. There were still holes in the walls, and the statues and suits of armor were still gone, but the rock and blood Harry had seen on the way up had vanished. He thought about how long it would take to rebuild Hogwarts. Probably not long, because they had such great Witches and Wizards working on the castle.

They made it down to the Entrance Hall and Mrs. Weasley was there waiting for them with Bill, Fleur, Charlier, Percy, a solemn looking George and the remaining members of the Order of the Pheonix.

"We're going to be leaving soon, but we have to wait for Arthur. He is still talking to Minerva, but I don't know what they are talking about…" said Mrs. Weasley looking behind the wall where Mr. Weasley could be seen talking to Professor McGonagall. "We're going to be apparating." Said Bill, finishing his mother's sentence for her. It seemed as though she was too busy eaves dropping to finish what she was going to say.

After a few moments, Mr. Weasley had finished talking and he walked into the hall. "Harry and Hermione can stay with us. Hermione, you can find your parents in Australia, but you are welcome to stay with us as long as is needed. Harry, your aunt and uncle have been notified that you are quite all right. They will be leaving soon to go home, but as I know that you do not have a great relationship with them, you are welcomed to stay with us as long as you would like." Said Mr. Weasley in a matter of fact type of way. "All right, shall we be on our way?"

They walked out into the dim sunlight. How long had I been asleep? Thought Harry, noticing that the sun was already going down. But I still feel so tired…

Before Harry realized it, he was at the Weasley's. He looked up at the Burrow and smiled. It was his favorite place to be other than Hogwarts, and since he had just come from there and seen his friends' bodies, he didn't feel like going back too soon.

"I'm sure you must be starving!" said Mrs. Weasley as soon as she got into the house. "Let me cook something quickly for you, and then you can go have some more sleep if you'd like."

Harry looked around and smelled the familiar air. The smell of flowers. And then he looked over and saw a flash of red hair fly by him as Ginny made her way passed him into the living room.

He watched her for a few moments and then realized that he was starring. He looked away quickly and looked right into the face of Hermione who was giving him her "I know what you were just doing" smile.

After they ate, they all went into the living room to talk. Bill and Fleur were still there, but told everybody that they would be leaving soon because they were tired and wanted to get back home. Percy was going to spend the night, and so was Charlie.

Harry felt himself falling asleep where he sat, and apparently Mrs. Weasley did too. She told everybody to go to sleep so that they would have a good nights rest for the next day.

As she was getting them to their beds, Harry saw the tiniest tear fall down her face and he knew that she was thinking about Fred.

They went to their rooms, but they didn't go to sleep right away. Ron was telling Harry about some of the things he saw and before Harry knew it, he was fast asleep…

All right! All right! I know this was really boring, but I promise it will get better. This is only just the beginning. Please tell me what you thought of it, and I will think of your sujestions for the next chapters.

Thank you!