Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same-and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.

(Siegfried Sassoon)

HARRY:

Harry stared at his reflection in the glimmering water of the lake. It was a beautiful day at Hogwarts, but he had barely noticed. He glared at his unruly black hair that reminded him so much of his father. This unpleasant thought evoked a string of unpleasant thoughts. Dad; Sirius; Lupin; Tonks; Fred; Hedwig; Dumbledore. He had only been back at Hogwarts to complete his eighth year for a week and already his feelings of alienation were becoming overwhelming.

Looking up from his seat on the warm grass next to the lake, Harry glanced around the grounds, glowering at the people chatting heartily with their friends under the blazing sun. He signed with indignation, wishing he could be so jovial. He couldn't feel at ease around anyone anymore - not after everything that had happened the previous year. He was viewed by the whole wizarding community with either reverence or fear - sometimes both - and he couldn't stand it.

Just as Harry was standing up and preparing to head back to the common room (he was hoping there would be fewer people in there), his eyes rested on a figure sat, as he himself had just been, on the edge of the lake, gazing into its murky depth. Draco Malfoy. Harry paused briefly and studied him; he seemed paler than usual and, by the looks of his unkempt hair and clothes, he had rather neglected his appearance when getting ready that morning.

Suddenly, as if he had felt Harry's eyes on him, Malfoy looked up and met Harry's eyes across the water. They held eye contact for a fleeting moment before Malfoy looked away, his face having turned slightly pink, and stood up, hurrying towards the castle doors. Harry stood for a second, shocked at the vulnerability he had witnessed in Malfoy's eyes, before following him inside and heading to the Gryffindor common room.

"Peppermint", Harry said to the Fat Lady when he reached the common room. The portrait swung open and Harry clambered in through the hole. The common room was almost empty; the only people in there were Ron and Hermione - the very last people he wanted to see. He considered just turning back around and leaving the room but before he could decide what to do, Hermione had spotted him.

"There you are, Harry!" she said, smiling. "We've been wondering where you were." Harry doubted very much that they had been wondering where he was; they had been very preoccupied with each other lately, namely, the discovery of the other's lips. It wasn't that he didn't like their relationship – in fact, he was glad that at least some good had come out of the war and he was happy to see his two best friends happy together – but the more time they spent kissing, the less time he could spend with them, and he was feeling more and more lonely by the day. He supposed he was being selfish as, in a way, he was the one isolating himself.

"I was just outside," he said, waving his hand dismissively. He walked across the common room and sunk down into an armchair by the fire. He wondered if he should tell Ron and Hermione about Malfoy but quickly rejected the idea, remembering their 6th year at Hogwarts. He gazed into the flames, trying to think of a way to escape the common room without seeming rude. Dammit, he thought, why do I always have to be so polite? I'm sick of it. Then, having made up his mind, he pushed himself up from his chair and walked back across the common room to the portrait hole.

"Harry, mate, where are you going?" Ron asked as he left. Harry ignored him. Once he was out in the corridor, he quickly considered where he could go. He decided on the library without needing much thought: surely no one would want to be in the library on a day like today.

Harry slowly made his way through the castle on his way to the library, looking around him at the state of the corridors. Hogwarts had not yet been fully restored after the battle that took place there a few months earlier; places where something was missing (what was missing could be as extreme as a chunk of the wall or as trivial as a portrait) could be spotted all over the castle.

When Harry had finally reached the library, he saw that there were only two people in there: Madam Pince, who was dusting the shelves of the aisle nearest to the restricted section, and none other than Draco Malfoy, who was reading at the table nearest to Harry with his head resting heavily in his left hand. Malfoy looked up at him as he walked in but quickly looked back down at his book. Harry, who had expected some sort of snide remark from Malfoy ("Following me again, are we, Potter?" he imagined), lingered for a moment before heading to the table on the other side of a bookshelf from him.

Harry sat down on a hard, wooden chair and leant forward to rest his forehead on the table, relishing in the quiet and stillness of the library. He briefly wondered why he had never noticed how calming this place was but quickly dismissed his curiosity; he knew full well that he had never had even a moment of quiet and stillness before in his life. Ever since he had arrived at Hogwarts at just age 11, he always seemed to be doing something: schoolwork, fighting evil, and everything in between.

After lifting his head off the table, Harry rummaged around in his bag and pulled out the first volume of 'Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts'. His eyes lingered on the cover of the book for a moment as Harry was unable to stop the thoughts of Sirius and Remus, who had given him the books. When he had finished reminiscing, he opened the book and began to flick through it absentmindedly. He had read through all the volumes in the set that summer when he had too much time to think. The last summer had been the worst summer of his life. It had been filled with funerals and interviews and horrible nightmares – yet somehow, he still found time to be consumed by thoughts he did not want.

"Shouldn't you be getting to dinner, Potter?" Harry jerked his head up to see that the words had come from Madam Pince, who was standing facing his table with her feather duster in one hand and the other hand on her hip.

"I- Oh- I didn't realise the time," he said, surprised that she wasn't shouting at him for once.

"Yes. Well. Off you go." She shook the feather duster at him threateningly, as if to shoo him, and stalked away. He closed his book and shoved it unceremoniously back into his bag before leaving the library and heading back to the common room to drop it off.

When Harry walked into the Great Hall, dinner was already underway. He headed over to the Gryffindor table and spotted the fiery red hair and bushy brown hair of his best friends.

"Hey," he said, sitting down opposite them at the table.

"Where did you go? You just ran out on us." Hermione asked, giving him one of her you're-in-big-trouble glares.

"Yeah. Sorry. I went to the library." He began dishing food out onto his plate to avoid her gaze.

"You what?" Ron sputtered, his mouth full of food. He swallowed quickly before continuing, "You'd better have been doing something important, mate."

"I was looking at those books Sirius and Remus got me," he said, his eyes fixed on his plate as he began to eat.

"Oh." Ron looked down at his food as Harry looked up at him. His eyes flicked to Hermione, who was still watching him.

"Did you find anything interesting? Anything that would help with becoming an Auror?" She asked.

Harry hesitated before replying. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be an Auror anymore. The thought of more fighting made him feel sick. He couldn't tell Hermione that, though. He didn't want her to worry. "Not really. Nothing new anyway. I've read them all before." He thought he saw a flicker of surprise across her face, but she nodded. "And anyway, it's not like I need help getting in. The ministry's practically begging me to go and work for them."

"I guess everyone wants a piece of the famous Harry Potter, huh?" It was Ginny. She sat down next to Harry and started dishing up her food.

He grinned at her, grateful for someone to break up the awkwardness between him and Ron and Hermione. "Yeah, I guess so."

"How come you're so late for dinner?" Ron asked her.

"I was with Luna and Neville," she replied. "Luna was teaching us how to charm plants to dance."

Ron snorted. "I bet Neville loved that."

"Oh, he did. He was very impressed. So was I actually."

Harry watched out of the corner of his eyes as Ginny began to eat. She seemed happy - happier than he'd seen her in a while. They'd spent a lot of time together over the holidays, although they'd decided that neither of them was ready for a relationship this soon after the war. He felt like she was the closest to understanding him and he was the most comfortable talking to her.

He ate in silence, listening to Hermione telling Ron about the importance of school work. When they were finished eating, they excused themselves and walked out of the Great Hall together.

It was Ginny's turn to snort. "They're probably going off to snog in some deserted corridor."

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they do seem to be doing that a lot."

"It's weird," she said. "I never imagined Ron would do that much snogging ever again. Not after Lavender."

"I guess he's found the right person," Harry replied, no longer smiling. He hated being reminded of all the deaths that the Battle of Hogwarts caused.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean- "

"No, it's okay."

They ate in silence until they were both finished and then they headed back to the common room together. When they were nearing the common room, Ginny stopped and turned to face Harry.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

"I'm fine."

"I know you're not fine."

He sighed. "Well, I'm not any worse than I have been since the war."

"Okay." She nodded slightly. "Just remember what McGonagall said: get help if you need it."

"Yes, yes. I remember her whole 'war wounds aren't just physical' speech perfectly well thank you very much. I don't need to you repeat it."

"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't planning to. We'd be here all night." She laughed and soon Harry joined in. It was nice to laugh with her.

"Peppermint," she said to the Fat Lady after she'd recovered. She climbed through the portrait hole and Harry followed.

The common room was full of students who had just come back from dinner. As they crossed the room, Harry looked around for Ron and Hermione but couldn't see them. Instead, he caught sight of Dean and Seamus sitting in the same chair. Harry couldn't tell whether they were snogging or just talking but either way they were incredibly close together.

"I can't believe no-one ever noticed them before," Ginny said, having obviously spotted them too. "I can't believe I dated Dean." Harry laughed. "Urgh." A look of realisation then disgust passed across her face. "I can't believe I was his beard." This caused them both to laugh more.

Dean and Seamus had been very open about their relationship since coming back, although they'd never actually mentioned it and no-one had asked them about it. It was one of those things that everyone had just accepted. Hermione's theory was that they'd been together for years but because of the war, they'd decided that it wasn't worth hiding it anymore. She had also said he was pretty oblivious to not have noticed anything between them.

"See you tomorrow," Harry said when they had reached the doors up to the dormitories.

"Bye, Harry."