Title: Whatever the Future Holds
Summary: Sometimes things don't work out the way you expect them to.
Rating: K+
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Warnings: Angst
Word Count: 572
Beta: The wonderful brumeux77:)

Whatever the Future Holds

Harry Potter hadn't really given much thought to the future. His life had consisted of dodging and thwarting Voldemort for so long that thoughts of the future held no real meaning for him. Harry lived his life in the present, day by day as he struggled to survive and to keep his friends safe. Well as safe as they could possibly be as known associates of "Undesirable #1".

The war was finally over now. Harry had willingly walked to his death at Voldemort's hand, and in doing so led Voldemort to his final destruction. He was finally free of the evil wizard; free to think of the future and choose his own destiny. He thought that he should feel happy or relieved, but instead all he felt was numb. While Harry wasn't really sure exactly what he had expected to feel once the fighting was finished, he knew that this definitely wasn't it.

One evening, when all of the funerals were finally over, Ginny took his hand and led him out of the Burrow to the garden. It was a beautifully clear night, with stars twinkling like diamonds against the vast, dark sky. Everything should have been perfect as they walked together, hand in hand, but Harry felt awkward. His mind was spinning and he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had suddenly come over him.

They paused beside a small garden bench, and there, under the beautiful nighttime sky, Ginny kissed him. It felt wrong somehow. It was awkward and clumsy; nothing like the kiss that had made him feel so alive that night in the Gryffindor common room, and nothing like the kiss that had brought him to heaven and back on the day of his seventeenth birthday.

Harry kissed her back desperately, and tried to reclaim the spark; that fire between them that had been his final comfort as he'd faced the green light of Voldemort's killing curse, but nothing happened.

He pulled away from her gently and Ginny looked at him with sad brown eyes and asked, "Did that feel as strange to you as it did to me?"

Harry swallowed hard and reluctantly answered, "Yeah, it did."

A breeze blew softly, catching the copper strands of Ginny's hair, and caused them to dance softly as they framed her face in the starlight. Tears sprang to Harry's eyes as he looked at her, feeling confused and overwhelmed until Ginny broke through the silence and said, "So I guess that's it then."

Harry struggled to find his voice as he answered, "Yeah… I guess so."

She embraced him then, warmly, the same way she might have hugged any of her brothers. Harry hugged her back tightly, choking back tears as he whispered softly in her ear, "I love you, Gin."

"I know, Harry," she whispered sadly. "I know."

They stood there holding each other for what felt like the longest time, until the ache in his heart gradually started to ease. They sat down on the garden bench, Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder, and they looked up together at the nighttime sky.

They had their whole future in front of them, and while things certainly hadn't gone the way either of them expected them to, Harry wasn't in a rush to figure anything out. They were still here, and they still had each other, regardless of the form their relationship might take.

For now, it was enough.