I had to get out.

I couldn't take it anymore.

Their words were meant to be kind and uplifting... thankful. But how could that be? How could they thank me when I had failed them so miserably? The damage was done, the blood had been spilt. It was all too permanent.

Irreparable.

So I left.

Well, not really. I snuck out of the hospital wing. I couldn't deal with all the people. Friends coming to say hello to the injured and parents coming to collect what was left of their families. And then there was me, in the middle, between all the death and injury.

So I escape Madam Pomfrey's grip which was almost as hard as breaking in then out of Gringots.

As I look out across the lake, under a tree I use to know so well, I'm lost. It hits me that I've fulfilled the prophecy, destiny complete. Harry Potter, the boy who lived again...and again and again. And now what?

With my face in my hands I let the ache take over, because that's all that I feel...ache.

I feel someone sit close and when the breeze rushes by I know instantly who it is.

'You can't just leave like that Harry'. I peak at her with my head still in my hands. She's not looking at me. She's taking in the same view that I just was, searching for familiarity at a time when everything has changed. I look back up and call out to her.

'Gin' and then I'm stuck. There is just so much, too much, to say.

'Not now' she replied. My head snaps to look at her but she doesn't move a muscle. Hair blowing in the wind. Fire. That's Ginny though. She takes a deep breath and then continues. 'We can talk later but they need us right now and I can't do both at the moment.' She finally turns to me and when our eyes meet all I can think is 'I fucking love this girl.'

I just nod because I'm too stunned to do anything else.

She stands and stretches and I watch more closely than I've ever watched anything before. I feel like shit but its been so long and Ginny, she gives me life. Her shirt rises and...yeah, its been way too long.

She finishes her stretch and then looks down at me, hand out in my direction.

'Come on, they're looking for you'. I look out one last time, taking in the finality of the moment here in this spot. I say goodbye to the past as I grab the hand of my future.