Chapter One: Aftermath

Harry walked down the spiraling steps with Ron and Hermione trailing behind him. Harry looked down at the broken Gargoyle on the floor.

'Reparo,' he said, and the Gargoyle formed together and resumed its position guarding the spiral steps to the Headmaster's office.

'Thank you,' it said as Harry, Ron and Hermione continued down the corridor. The damage to the school was great. Half the ceiling in the Charm's corridor was missing and lay along the floor, all the statues that should have been on the sides were missing, and a few of them lay in pieces amongst the ruins of the ceiling. Many students and teachers alike were scrambling around the school, collecting the dead and trying to repair what damage they could.

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked silently into the Great Hall where most of the school sat at the house tables, though they were mixed up, as no-one was bothering to sit according to house. Professor McGonagall stood up once they sat down.

'Today is both a happy and sad day. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is vanquished, but at a great cost. We have lost many. Without their sacrifices, The Dark Lord could never have been vanquished. Let us all have a moment of silence for those who died to save the Wizarding world.'

Everyone in the hall bowed their heads; even Malfoy over by the Slytherin table, huddled between his two parents bowed his head in honor of Crabbe. Harry raised his head to look around the Great Hall, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were holding each other silently, heads bowed, George, who was beside them, was also bowing his head, tears streaming down his cheeks for his dead twin. Harry fought the urge to cry himself at the sight of George, broken and crying. Harry was reminded horribly of a small young girl who had her doll stolen by her big brother.

'Thank you,' Professor McGonagall said quietly. 'This will be hardest on the families of the deceased. And now,' she said, with a rare smile, something which did not appear on her face often, 'we shall celebrate with a feast from the kitchens!'

Food appeared on plates along the tables. Harry distinctly heard Ron's stomach groan beside him. But Harry, who only wanted to sleep, quietly slipped the invisibility cloak over himself while everyone else reached for the food and prodded Ron and Hermione with his newly repaired Phoenix Wand. The two got the message and stood up immediately (Ron rather reluctantly, and giving the food a look of longing). The two followed an invisible Harry out of the Great Hall and Harry slipped off the cloak once they were out of the Hall. They continued until they were outside the castle grounds.

'Harry, why aren't we staying for the Feast?' Ron complained, his stomach rumbled in consistent argument.

'I just want to sleep,' Harry said wearily, turning on the spot as the familiar sensation of constriction upon his chest and darkness overwhelmed him. He appeared in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and immediately heard the two cracks beside him that told him Ron and Hermione had known where he was headed.

'The Death Eaters aren't all gone Harry. Who knows, after Hogwarts they could have fled here, how do we know?' Hermione said fearfully.

'Only one way to find out,' said Ron, but he too sounded a little afraid.

Harry however, who had faced down Voldemort and many other dangers, was not altogether fearful and walked up the stone steps and opened the front door. The two followed him in a little apprehensively. Harry took a step into the house and felt another familiar sensation as his tongue folded inwards. The Tongue-Tying Curse Moody had set up for Snape was still working, and Harry had no idea how to get rid of it. He made a mental note to ask Hermione in the morning.

'Well it seems okay,' Hermione breathed somewhere to Harry's left.

'Yeah,' came Ron's voice from the same direction. Harry took a step forward and the horribly familiar creature arose from the carpet, arms outstretched towards them, long silver beard billowing behind him-

'We didn't kill you,' Harry said, and the figure exploded. Harry walked up the steps as Hermione put the Troll's Leg Umbrella stand right side up, as the figure had knocked it over again, and the two followed him up. Harry saw the House Elf heads and saw Hermione pull a disgusted look.

'Kreacher?' Harry called through the house. When they had disapparated after the fiasco at the Ministry and had left Grimmauld Place in a hurry, they had no idea if Kreacher had stayed, though he was leading the House Elves to battle at Hogwarts.

Crack. The small body of a House Elf appeared in front of the three of them. Kreacher wore the traditional House Elf pillow case and his bat like ears were drooping slightly. White hair was growing out of them.

'Master called?'

'Yeah. How d'you feel about a little cooking?'

'Kreacher lives to serve Master,' the Elf said scrambling down the stairs in a hurry to get to the kitchen. Harry looked nervously at Hermione, fearing that she might object to the work Harry was putting Kreacher up to, but she was looking awkwardly at Ron, who was staring avidly at a stain on the wall.

Deciding not to comment, Harry walked down the stairs too, leaving the two to avoid what had happened in the Room of Requirement in peace. Kreacher was already busying himself by the stove.

'Can you make me a sandwich Kreacher? I'm craving a sandwich.'

'Yes, Master Harry. And what will Mr. Weasley and the Mud-' he stopped. 'The…the...Miss take?' he said as they came into the kitchen and sat down opposite each other, Ron beside Harry and Hermione on the other side of the table.

'I'm not hungry, Kreacher, thanks,' Ron said.

'And don't trouble yourself over me Kreacher, I'm not hungry either,' Hermione said sweetly.

Kreacher looked as though he didn't want to trouble himself over Hermione anyways, and began making Harry a sandwich after a look from Harry.

'I wonder if the school will open again, after all that's happened,' Hermione said quietly.

'It always does,' Ron said confidently. 'I mean there was the whole Chamber of Secrets thing, wasn't there? But it stayed open no problem.'

Hermione looked skeptical as Kreacher placed a sandwich in front of Harry, who was beside Ron.

'Yes but the damage to the school-'

'Oh McGonagall can fix that up in about a second-'

Maybe,' she replied, not looking at him and staring at a point just over his left shoulder. Harry thought it best not to comment, but this was driving him increasingly mad. They had shared a kiss in the Room of Requirement. So what? Did that make things all awkward now? Surely they would start going out? But with each passing second this seemed less and less likely, as both were avoiding each other's gaze.

'I'm going to bed,' Harry said once he'd finished his sandwich.

'Harry we can do that at The Burrow,' Hermione said, curiously.

'No,' Harry replied confidently, as he strode out of the kitchen and walked into the living room he'd once camped with Ron and Hermione while planning their break in into the Ministry, 'I want to sleep here.'

He conjured a comfortable sleeping bag and crawled in. Ron and Hermione joined him a few minutes later. Harry looked over and saw Hermione on the couch she'd slept in last time, and Ron on the floor beneath her. This time, Hermione's hand was not dangling from the side of the couch, and Ron's were shoved deep under his own sleeping bag. Harry was slightly irritated with them both. They had kissed in The Room of Requirement, so what? It doesn't mean they have to be awkward around each other. Shouldn't it mean they'd get together? But apparently not…

Harry closed his eyes and allowed unconsciousness to consume him.

He awoke with his face pressed against the cold floor and got up. Hermione and Ron were already gone. Harry found this ironic, as they had once told him off for leaving them in this very room. He walked through the house to the kitchen where he found Ron and Hermione sitting at opposite ends of the table, Ron looking at the bottom of the door where Harry had just appeared, and Hermione was watching the furnace room door intently, of which Kreacher had made his home for the last twelve years.

Harry sat down in between the two silently as Kreacher poked open his door and walked out, a broad smile on his face.

'And what will master have this morning?' he croaked. His head didn't even reach Harry's midriff even though he was sitting.

'Nothing Kreacher, we're leaving for the Burrow in a few minutes anyways,' Harry replied. Harry got up and peered into Kreacher's 'bedroom.' The nest like bed was next to the bulky old fashioned furnace, along with a few pictures which he must have collected recently, as Mundungus had stolen them all from his room just a few months ago. It was not very cozy looking. And given Kreacher's new attitude…

'Kreacher,' said Harry, 'Why don't you move into an actual room? What about Sirius' room?'

Kreacher looked alarmed at the very thought and shook his head violently. He would not live in the room of the master he had hated so much.

'What about Mrs. Black's then?'

Kreacher's eyes widened even more.

'K-K-Kreacher?' he croaked, his eyes swimming with tears. 'K-Kreacher live in Mistress Black's room? N-Never! Never could Kreacher d-do such a thing!'

'Oh go on Kreacher!' Hermione encouraged. 'You deserve a proper room!'

'But House Elves is not supposed to Miss!' he said, looking almost pleadingly at Ron.

'Look Kreacher, I am ordering you to move into that room,' Harry said. 'You want to go right?'

'Y-Y-Yes,' Kreacher sobbed. There was a pause as he stopped crying, and the kitchen was suddenly silent and eerie. Then Kreacher fell to the floor and began crying as loudly as was possible. His hands beat the ground as he wailed and wailed. So overcome was he to be allowed to live in his favorite Mistress' room, that he could not walk for several minutes. Harry, Ron and Hermione escorted him up the steps (Kreacher had to be carried by Harry as he was too overwhelmed with emotions to walk) to Mrs. Black's room. Harry had never been in there before. He knew Sirius had kept Buckbeak the Hippogriff in here.

Ron pushed open the door. There was an elegant bed in one corner, coated in dust. Harry thought he heard a few squeaks as Kreacher was carried into the center of the room. The floor was littered with Hippogriff feathers. Apparently Sirius did not care enough about his mother to clean up after Buckbeak. One wall had small specks of blood on it, probably from the dead rats Sirius used to feed Buckbeak.

Kreacher absolutely refused to sleep in the bed, and so Hermione summoned his nest like blankets and trinkets with a Summoning Charm. Harry ducked as they flew into the room through the door and settled themselves neatly beside the bed.

'Hey Kreacher,' Harry said as they turned to leave out the door.

'Y-Yes master?'

'Clean up this house. It's filthy.' Kreacher knew he was not being told off, that he was not being yelled at, and that Harry was only joking. Kreacher smiled weakly as they left the room, climbed down the stairs, and they walked through the dusty halls and out the front door. Harry walked down the steps, the other two behind him.

'Mum'll be at home. We should go.'

'See you,' Harry said, and turned on the spot.

Moments later a very familiar and pleasing sight came to his eyes. The Burrow was as shabby and lopsided as ever. But it was the closest thing Harry had to a home, besides Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny came running out the front door the second they appeared. Mrs. Weasley looked close to tears, and Ginny was just jogging along behind her slightly frantic mother, giving her an exasperated look behind her back.

'Oh thank goodness! You all disappeared; no one knew where you went! I thought you might've come back here but-'

'We went to Grimmauld Place,' Harry said. 'I just…wanted to visit.'

She looked as though she might say something, but she seemed to decide better of it and grabbed Ron into a hug. Ron, surprisingly, didn't struggle or try to get out of it. Mrs. Weasley seemed to notice this too, and she released him quicker then she would have normally, holding him at arms length and looking at him in awe.

'Ron? Are you feeling okay?' Ginny said, putting a hand on his forehead, who hastily beat it away.

'I've gotten used to your hugs, mum,' Ron said with a shrug. Mrs. Weasley looked as though she was about to burst into tears, and turned back towards the house, beckoning them all in.

'Everyone's asleep,' Mrs. Weasley whispered as they stepped into the clotted kitchen. 'Arthur'll be leaving for work soon, so you can say hi Ron, and then he's off. You lot got here at six in the morning! I was only up because-' she broke off and Harry thought he glimpsed a shining tear in her eye before she turned her back to them and busied herself with making bacon. Harry thought she looked like she'd been up all night crying, her eyes were puffy, and she had bags under them.

Of course, thought Harry. Fred had died less then two days ago. He too, was still feeling sad about the whole thing. Then there was all the other people, Tonks, Lupin, Colin…

But he would not allow himself to think about them. Not here, not now.

'How-how are you doing Mrs. Weasley?' Hermione said quietly from her seat at the table to which Harry looked, and to his surprise, he found Ron with his arm around her, as she leant into his shoulder, trying desperately to hold back tears.

'I-I've been alright,' she said. Her entire body was shaking and she missed the frying pan and the bacon flopped onto the floor. 'H-How about you Ron? Have you been okay?'

'I…I'm trying not to think about it. S'pose I'll have to face it eventually…'

'How's George?' Harry asked Mrs. Weasley as she flicked her wand and the bacon flew into the frying pan.

'I-I don't know…he didn't come home. Went to the shop I think…'

Harry exchanged a worried look with Ron, Ginny and Hermione, un-noticed by Mrs. Weasley as she hastily threw eggs into a second frying pan.

'We'll go check on him later mum,' Ron said.

'Did you lot get any sleep?' Ginny asked from her own seat at the table.

'I did,' Harry said as he sat down beside her. 'But that's only because I was dead tired. I won't get any tonight.'

'I'm leaving tomorrow,' Hermione said un-expectantly and to general astonishment. Mrs. Weasley turned away from her cooking to look at Hermione, and Ginny's long red hair nearly hit Harry in the face as her head whipped around to face Hermione in shock.

'What? Why? Ron said, straightening up to look at her.

'N-Nothing like that! I'll be back in a few weeks. I just have to remove the Memory Charm off my parents, you know. I'll take a train or something to somewhere closer to Australia and then Apparate from there.'

The room went quiet; Ron especially was looking moody as Percy came down from his room. He told them all he would stay here for a few days, and then go back to his place in London with Penelope. He also placed several not very covert hints that there might just be another marriage in the family around the corner. And Mrs. Weasley burst into tears and hugged Percy, jumping up and down, as he showed her the ring.

'Yes, yes, I'm very happy about it all. Penelope's bound to say yes. Been at it for years now, it's been coming all this time.'

He repeated several of these sentences before he was able to begin eating his bacon, of which Harry, Ron and Ginny were already done. Even though his grief for Fred was very apparent, it couldn't hold in his smug tone of voice.

'Quidditch anyone?' Ron said, pushing his plate away from him and getting up. Harry and Ginny both got up as well. 'Percy, Quidditch?'

'I...umm…well I can see if I don't have any work- I mean, no guarantees-'

Ron nearly smiled. 'We'll see you in five minutes in the orchard.'

They walked silently out to the broom shed and grabbed their brooms. Harry was forced to use Fred's as his Firebolt had careened to the ground when the Death Eaters ambushed them as soon as they left Privet Drive. Fred's broom was much slower then Harry was used to, but he enjoyed playing Quidditch greatly. Hermione joined Harry and Ginny's team, while Ron, Percy, and Mrs. Weasley, who normally did not play sports, took them on. Mrs. Weasley was rather good, Harry thought, as she dodged around her daughter and put the Quaffle through a floating basket, which Hermione had been guarding badly.

Harry thought she was only playing because she wanted to take her mind of Fred, but she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

'Hey Mrs. Weasley,' Harry called as he passed the Quaffle to Ginny who sped off towards Ron guarding his own floating basket, 'did you ever play for Gryffindor?'

'On the house team?' she called back, as she sped off towards her daughter and past Harry. 'No, I never bothered trying out. Arthur tried out in his sixth year, but he didn't make it. Arbles didn't like him much, thought he was a bit of a- HA!' she said as she managed to snatch the Quaffle out of Ginny's hand when she raised it to shoot, 'thought he was a bit of a nerd.' She finished as she zoomed past Harry, who tried to snatch it from her in a ditch attempt to grab the Quaffle, and she put another one past Hermione.

An hour later they walked up to the house, dirty, smelly, and sweating, but grinning broadly. Ron's team had won, one hundred and sixty to one hundred and ten. Mrs. Weasley scored most of the points and made up for Percy, who was horrible, and Ginny was much better then Hermione, and managed to save more goals then she did anyway.

They sat down around the table and ate a hasty lunch before Mrs. Weasley announced that the garden needed de-gnoming. So Harry, Ron and Hermione, walked back outside towards the garden, which was so full of weeds Harry couldn't see any actual plants. A hairy gnome that looked like a hairy potato with legs poked its head out of a hole in the ground. Ron snatched it quickly and grabbed its legs.

Hermione, who had never seen Harry or Ron de-gnome the garden watched curiously as Ron picked it up. Her expression changed to shock as Ron began to spin it round and round his head, and then to revulsion as he let go, and the gnome went flying through the air, spinning all the way towards the stump which Fred (Harry felt a jolt in his stomach at the thought) had reckoned he could throw his past almost six years ago.

'Ron! That's cruel! You can't do that to gnomes!'

'It doesn't hurt them, Hermione,' Ron said, picking up another and beginning to swing it round and round again. 'And it's their own faults anyways; stupid gits pop their heads up as soon as they know what's going on.'

Hermione looked very miffed indeed, and refused to throw them. She did, however, help them de-gnome the garden, as she was worried about Mrs. Weasley's reaction when she found out that she hadn't helped. She picked one up by the foot, holding it away from her as though it were something very smelly, and walked all the way to the fence and dropped it.

'Ridiculous,' Ron muttered to Harry as Hermione walked back towards them, giving Ron a very nasty look. Once the de-gnoming was done, it was going on four o'clock. Harry, Ron and Hermione began walking up the stairs to Ron's room, intending to talk a little bit before dinner as they had had no such opportunity so far. And Hermione was leaving next day after breakfast, so they wanted a little bit of time to talk first.

Ron pushed open the door and plunked himself down on his bed. Hermione sat on the end and Harry leaned on the wall, sagging slightly. The de-gnoming wasn't exactly hard, but doing it for three hours in the hot sun can take its toll on someone.

'So when do you leave Hermione?' Harry asked her.

'Right after breakfast, I think. I'll write you both, you'll be here Harry?'

'No where else to go.'

'I think I heard your mum say McGonagall's coming for dinner, Ron,' Hermione said, looking at him directly. Ron seemed slightly embarrassed but did not turn away.

'McGonagall?' he repeated, saying something for the first time since he'd explained the de-gnoming process to Hermione. 'Doesn't she have enough to do at Hogwarts? Repairs and stuff? And she's the new Headmistress isn't she? Now Snape's gone?'

'No, I don't think so,' Hermione said shaking her head. 'Your mum said McGonagall is only staying for the repairs and then she's leaving the school. She's getting old isn't she? I'm sure she'd like to just retire after all the excitement yesterday…'

The door opened and Ginny came in, clutching a copy of the daily prophet.

'Ron,' she said turning towards him. 'Mum says dinners nearly ready. She's invited Hagrid, and McGonagall, and a few others.'

She plunked herself next to Harry and leant her head on his shoulders.

'What's this?' Harry asked pointing to the newspaper still clutched in her hand.

'Oh,' she said, looking down at the paper as though she had completely forgotten she was holding it. 'Right, yes well you're famous,' she said lazily, flicking the paper onto the floor in front of him. The caption read "Harry Potter the Chosen Champion."

Harry Potter recently rumored to have had a connection to the also recently vanquished evil wizard known as 'He Who Must Not Be Named,' has succeeded in what many people believe to be his destiny. Of course we all know the story of Harry Potter. But what most of the Wizarding community is not aware of, is that yesterday a great battle took place on the grounds of the famous school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where it is rumored that the Dark Lord himself was vanquished by none other then Harry Potter. These details were confirmed by Rita Skeeter, as she went to the famous school to find out the facts for herself.

'I walked into the Great Hall,' says Skeeter, 'and there he was, off in a corner away from the other deceased, nearly had a heart attack when I saw him up close, slits for nostrils and blood red eyes!'

These reports have also been verified by many other sources.

'I saw it all happen,' says Mrs. Longbottom, a survivor of the battle at the famous school. 'It was the strangest duel I ever saw. Their spells met in mid-air and You-Know-Who's wand just flew out of his hand and into Harry's, and then it was over. The Dark Lord was dead, nobody knew what happened.'

This strange duel will surely become great Wizarding History. Harry Potter was mysteriously missing from the Great Hall when the press went for interviews. Harry Potter will surely be heralded as a great Wizard Hero for decades to come.

Harry looked down at the article on the floor. There he was, an old picture of him surely, he was waving from in front of a banner that read 'Tri-wizard Tournament', which Harry recognized as the photo-shoot where he'd first met Rita Skeeter. Wordlessly, he passed the paper to Hermione, who leant closer to Ron so he could read it as well. Ron's grin grew wider and wider as he read on, and Hermione maintained the same look of impassive thoughtfulness and she finished before Ron and shoved it roughly into his hands when he snatched at it as she tried to fold it up.

'Well it was bound to happen Harry,' Hermione said reasonably. 'I mean he's been around for ages, and you've fought him so many times, so obviously they'd make a big deal out of it.'

Ron finished reading the article and leaned back into his pillow, hands behind his head. Hermione gave him a strange look which Harry would have thought a mother would look like once her baby had taken its first steps.

The door opened a second time and Mrs. Weasley came in looking puffy-eyed.

'D-Dinners ready. G-George is here, he looks awful.'

George did indeed look awful when Harry walked down the stairs and glimpsed him sitting at the table. Both Hermione and Ginny marched over to him and gave him a hug from behind the chair, one after the other. George didn't really hug them back, just patted them both on the arm sadly, and resumed staring at his peas. Hagrid sat in a magically enhanced chair and took up an entire side of the already over-crowded table. Professor McGonagall gave Harry a sad smile from across the table and continued to eat her chicken slowly.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both were looking particularily forlorn and Mrs. Weasley didn't eat anything at all. In fact, (and Harry felt slightly guilty here) most of Mrs. Weasley's dinner went to waste. Hermione gave her chicken to an eager Crookshanks, who was blessed with ignorance of the deaths the rest of them had all suffered. George went back to the shop shortly after dinner, hardly saying a word, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed not long after that. Hagrid left for Hogwarts, and Professor McGonagall went to her house, Harry supposed. Percy trudged up to bed a few minutes after them, leaving the four of them alone. Ron and Hermione huddled together in an armchair, Ron on the arm, and Harry and Ginny clutched each other on the couch sadly. Holding each other as if it would keep their emotions locked up.

Ron and Hermione went up to bed without a word after twenty minutes of absolute silence, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

The two sat there on the couch holding each other for a time Harry was not even aware of. All he was aware of was who he was holding, and who has holding him, sobbing quietly into his chest. Then out of somewhere, though Harry wasn't quite sure where from, Ginny squirmed out of his grip and stood in front of him, towering over him.

'Harry Potter!' she screamed at him.

'Er …Ginny Weasley!'

'How could you!'

Harry was thoroughly bewildered. Ten seconds ago she had been curled up against, him completely content, now she looked ready to kill him.

'I-I dunno…'

'You just left! Ron told me about how he left you and Hermione, and how she absolutely kicked his ass!''

'Well that was...slightly different-'

'No it wasn't! Oh Harry Potter, I'm going to kill you!''

Harry thought he heard a bed creaking upstairs and footsteps on the landing. Ginny was giving Harry a hard, disbelieving look as Mrs. Weasley came in, looking bewildered.

'Why are you shouting Ginny? You'll wake up the whole house!'

She gave Harry a look behind Ginny's back which Harry took to mean 'Sorry. She's a bit touchy.'

Once they heard the bedroom door close, Ginny went straight into it.

'You all left to do who knows what,' she hissed. 'Off to kill Voldemort with my brother and Hermione. Do you know how worried I was? What if one of you died? I love all of you, and I couldn't deal with another Moody!'

'Ginny-'

'No! You think there wasn't going to be tears after this? After I saw Hagrid carrying your dead body up to us? Do you have any idea what that did to me, seeing you there? Do you even care?''

'Of course I- Ginny your being ridiculous. I was fine, I was-'

'But I didn't think you were! I thought you were dead! '

She was yelling again, and Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs again, quicker this time.

'Ginny, keep it down. You woke up Ron and Hermione!'

She went upstairs angrily and this time slammed her bedroom door.

'Ginny-'

'No,' she said, standing up and walking out of the room.

'Ginny!' But she was out of the room, and he heard her bedroom door close quietly. Harry went up to bed not long after, to find Hermione occupying the cot beside Ron's bed. Harry plunked down in front of the bed, and cradled his head in his arms, willing himself to fall asleep, but Ginny wouldn't let him. The argument wouldn't let him.