A/N: This is the first time I've ever written fanfic so please be kind! I am a huge Harry potter fan and have always wondered what happened next, so this is my take on it. I hope you don't think it's horrendous!

Disclaimer: The characters and the places etc. are all creations of JK Rowling and I claim no right for any of them. This is merely my personal daydreams and speculation on what could have happened next.

Chapter One: The Beginning

Quiet. There was no noise of any kind and it was blissful. Harry had no idea of the time or the day or even how long he had been asleep. He just lay with his eyes closed relishing the quietness around him. As comfy as his bed in Gryffindor tower was Harry's body ached as it never had before. There wasn't one part of him that didn't feel bruised and beaten, even parts of his body he wasn't aware could feel that way throbbed. His head felt heavy, his throat was sore with dryness and his stomach churned with hunger pains. Harry knew he should get up to eat and drink, but he just wanted to lie in the quiet. It wasn't just the physical ailments that kept him there, he was mentally and emotionally drained.

Looking back at what had happened he couldn't quite believe it, it just didn't feel real that he had done it, he had actually killed him...Voldemort was gone. Harry was sure that he was going to die, he had never imagined a future in which he survived, and Voldemort didn't. He had convinced himself that either they both died, or Voldemort won, and as he was determined that Voldemort would not win he had felt completely prepared to meet his end. To still be a alive felt strange and Harry wasn't sure how to process his feelings. He was so prepared for death and so sure that his time had come, to be alive felt unnatural.

Images of the battle flashed through his mind. Flashes of green and red light; holes blasted in the castle walls; giant spiders; death eater's masks; the look on Fred's face as life left him; countless bodies strewn across the lawn; the way Snape fixated on Harry's eyes in his final moment of life; the walk to the forest with his parents, Lupin and Sirius; Hagrid's howl of despair at Harry's lifeless body; Ginny's scream; Neville being tortured; the final duel with Voldemort. It felt like a nightmare he could not escape and the faces of those who had died filled his mind, Colin Creevy...Snape...Tonks...Lupin...Fred.

Tears streamed in silent rivers down his face, he couldn't stop them if he wanted too. The grief was overwhelming. His heart raced and he felt as though he couldn't breathe, as though the grief and the pain of all that happened would suffocate him.

Just as the emotion reached a crescendo within him a creak of the door stirred Harry from the dark thoughts that plagued his brain. Either side of him the bed sank a few inches as his visitors took their places beside him. He opened his eyes, surprised that his vision wasn't blurry...he had been so exhausted he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. The pale faces of Ron and Hermione looked back at him, both with eyes red and puffy from tears shed, and both with smiles as they looked at him.

"How are you feeling Harry?" asked Hermione as she reached out and took hold of his hand in both of hers.

"Sore...hungry...like I could sleep for a week…and in shock I think...but that doesn't matter right now." He squeezed Hermione's hand and turned his head to face Ron. "Fred...I am so sorry. It's all my fault Ron. I should never have let any of you stay and fight. I should have realised sooner that it was always meant for me to face Voldemort alone, then Fred would still be here, and Tonks and Lupin and everyone else. It's all my fault Ron."

"Like you could have made any of us leave Harry. This wasn't just your battle and we all knew what we were letting ourselves in for, Fred included. Sure, you had to be the one to kill him. But it was about more than that. Stop blaming yourself mate. The decision was made long ago when we went after the philosopher's stone, it was out of your hands. Besides no way could you have got this far without us" replied Ron clapping Harry on the shoulder, his face a mixture of sadness, relief and determination. Hermione looked at Ron as he spoke with deep affection. Harry smiled at the pair of them and pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"How long have I slept for?" he asked them.

"You've lost a whole day mate, thought you'd never get up...I guess it must be tiring killing the evillest wizard known to mankind," replied Ron with a grin.

Harry grinned back, still in disbelief that he had actually done it, and at that moment his stomach gave a huge rumble.

"I think we need to get you some food, but perhaps a shower first?" said Hermione.

As if he had been waiting for those words Kreacher appeared at the foot of the bed with a crack.

"Master Harry you're awake, Kreacher has turned the shower on and everything is in the bathroom for you, this way master Harry," instructed Kreacher, and Harry obediently followed him to the bathroom door. "Give Kreacher your glasses and I'll have them cleaned whilst you shower." Harry handed Kreacher his glasses with a thank you and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Without his glasses everything was blurry, but Harry managed to stumble towards the shower, peeling his clothes off as he went. He screwed his nose up at the smell of sweat, blood and dirt that had congealed on his clothes and skin.

Once in the shower Harry let the water flow over him, washing away the grime, as he stood palms flat against the red tiled wall. He couldn't help it as he began to sob, the reality of what had happened and the relief that Voldemort was really gone flooding through him. He wondered if he would ever be able to stop now the floodgates of emotion had opened. For so long Harry had suppressed the pain and the hurt and the grief and now it seemed there was no more room inside for him to keep this up. Harry couldn't ever remember shedding so many tears and was glad he was alone, part of him felt embarrassed for anyone to see him this way. Was this normal? He figured no one would really be able to answer him, I mean his life had been far from anything normal.

Twenty minutes later and Harry, clean and dressed in the clothes Kreacher had laid out for him, stumbled back into the dormitory, thankful for Hermione rushing over with his glasses.

"Ready to go to the great hall?" she asked with a slight hesitation.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he smiled in response.

When they entered the common room, it was to find it deserted except for a solitary figure, she stood in front of the fireplace facing the stairs to the boy's dormitory, arms folded across her chest and a look on her face that Harry could not read. Ron and Hermione patted him on the back and mumbled they would meet him in the Great Hall, leaving them to the privacy of the deserted common room.

"Ginny…I," Harry began walking over to where she stood, but before he could find the words her hand slapped his left cheek causing a sharp sting and taking him by surprise. "Guess I deserved that?"

"Yes, you did." To Harry's bewilderment she broke down into sobs, barely able to keep herself upright. Harry took Ginny in his arms and led her to a nearby sofa, where she curled up beside him, arms around his waist and head on his chest, tears streaming from her eyes and soaking his t-shirt. Stroking her hair, Harry held Ginny tightly too him, and softly kissed the top of her head…she smelled divine it almost made his head spin. For fifteen minutes they remained like this.

"Sorry I slapped you," said Ginny taking a deep breath as the tears began to subside.

"It's ok Gin," replied Harry stroking the hair away from her face. "I know I hurt you and I know you blame me for loosing Fred, I just wish I knew what to do to make it ok, but I know there isn't anything I can do except say sorry and that just isn't enough."

"HARRY JAMES POTTER", she shouted jumping up to stand in front of him and giving Harry a minor heart attack at the sudden elevation of volume. "I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR FRED. NO ONE DOES. GET THAT THOUGHT OUT OF YOUR HEAD DO YOU HEAR ME?" She stood facing him hands on her hips, nostrils flaring, the red hair of her pony tail swinging furiously from side to side.

"You don't understand Ginny. It was my fault. It could only be me who finished him…only me. If I hadn't been so thick and figured out what Dumbledore meant me to discover sooner this could have been avoided. People didn't need to die. Fred didn't need to die. But they did because of my stupidity," Harry replied a pleading look in his eyes for her to understand his words.

"No, you don't understand Harry!" said Ginny calming down and sitting beside him resting her head on his shoulder. "Ok it was you who had to finish you-know-who, but do you really think that's all this war was about? It was about taking a stand against evil twisted people who wanted to bring in a pure blood regime, people like the Malfoys, the Carrows, Umbridge. It was about letting them know we won't accept their intolerances and prejudice. It was so much bigger than the two of you and that was out of your control."

Harry didn't respond. He had never considered any of what Ginny had just said to him before. In his mind it had always been about him and Voldemort. What she said made sense, but it was such an unfamiliar concept Harry thought it was going to take him a while to process.

As his stomach roared in protest at the lack of food, Ginny smiled and stood up taking Harry's hand in hers, "Just promise me you won't leave me again Harry?"

"Never," he whispered looking deep into her soft brown eyes.

"Good, and we are back together," she said looking him straight in the eye.

"Agreed," nodded Harry.

"Then let's get you something to eat," she smiled, and they left Gryffindor tower hand in hand.

Harry's heart ached on the walk to the Great Hall as the realisation of the damage to the castle hit him. Everywhere he looked he saw brokenness and battle scars. It was difficult to see the only place he had felt was home in such a state. Nearly all of the windows were smashed, the glass turned to powder sparkled like glitter in the sunlight. Huge sections of walls were missing, or had holes blasted in them, exposing the inside of the castle to the grounds and mother nature. The same was to be said of the ceiling, and the parts of it which were intact groaned ominously showering those below with dust. Statues crumbled, suits of armour were strewn across the corridors along with plants, books, remains of desks and crystal balls. The portraits on the wall were littered with burn marks from spell damage and some had been entirely destroyed. It was almost apocalyptic to behold.

As they entered the great hall every head turned towards him, and as people realised who it was a round of applause broke out. Blushing, Harry rushed towards the far table where he spotted the Weasley's.

They looked awful. Each of them with puffy red eyes and pale faces. But no one looked as bad as George. He stared at the table blankly, his face ghostly white and drawn, utter disbelief etched into his expression. It tore at Harry's heart to see him this way. Percy sat beside him, a hand on his brother's forearm. Mr and Mrs Weasley pulled Harry into an embrace as he began to splutter an apology, he couldn't find the words he needed to express his sorrow and most of all his guilt.

"Now Harry I'm going to stop you there because it really isn't needed, we should be thanking you for saving us all," said Mr Weasley looking Harry directly in the eyes.

"None of this is your fault and no one blames you Harry you must believe that, you are one of us, to me and Arthur you are like a son and we love you dearly," said Mrs Weasley embracing him tighter.

And again, the tears came, he couldn't stop them. Standing there being held by Mr and Mrs Weasley and hearing their words…it was too much. He felt a sting of shame that he cried so hard in front of everyone. This was all his fault he shouldn't be the one they were comforting. But the Weasley's continued to hold him tight until the tears stopped, and he pulled away.

Taking a seat in between Ron and Hermione his stomach practically roared with hunger and right on queue lunch appeared on the tables.

Helping himself to a Cornish pasty, whilst Hermione spooned macaroni cheese onto his and Ron's plates, Harry felt a sense of peace. There would be difficult days ahead as they grieved and laid people to rest, there would be difficult conversations to be had, and he had no idea what the future would hold...but Voldemort was gone and in time they would rebuild, and they would heal. Sitting in the first place that ever felt like home, surrounded by his true family, Harry couldn't help but give a little smile.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think by reviewing. next chapter to follow soon. love to all x