"We Will All be Alright"
Now he could move through the Hall without interference. He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder: There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk.
Tears threatened to spill onto my cheeks again as I stared out across the Great Hall from my spot next to my mother and older brother, Charlie. All of the survivors and bodies of the dead were being situated in the Great Hall. Not far from where my family sat at the Ravenclaw table laid the bodies of our sibling and son, Fred, and friends, Remus and Tonks Lupin.
Fred's face was stretched into a small smile, the ghost of his last laugh still etched onto his pale face. Bill, after several seconds of composing himself, and disentangling himself from a hysterical Fleur, suggested that we close his eyes. As soon as my father reached to close Fred's eyelids, tears gushed down his cheeks, which caused mum to go into another round of hysterics. Bill, with his jaw clenched tight, squeezed my elbow as he passed, knelt down, and gently closed the eyelids of our lost brother.
Not wanting to look any longer, I pulled away from Hermione, hoping to keep up my strong façade, but it proved to be difficult when I turned to see the pale, serene faces of my former friends, Remus and Tonks. A sob bubbled up in my throat, but I quickly covered it up as a cough while I turned away to see Neville and Luna. Quickly, I made my way over to my friends, careful to step over the many dead, hoping beyond hope that I wouldn't recognize anyone else amongst them.
That was almost an hour ago, and now, here I sat, my head on my mother's shoulder, Charlie's hand resting protectively on my slightly quivering knee as we stared around at the scene before us. Bill and Fleur were sitting across the table from us, holding onto each other and whispering quietly. George, who I had never seen so utterly defeated in all my life, sat next to them, staring at the dusty table top before him, with Percy, in a similar stance, seated next to him. My Father was holding onto my mother's hand, but discreetly having a whispered conversation with Kingsley, the newly appointed Minister of Magic.
Next to me, mother was staring straight ahead, and when I looked, I was confused, wondering if she was watching Hagrid talk with Grawp, his brother, both sporting bloody gashes, but smiling animatedly. When I glanced back at her, saw the tears slowly seeping down her face and onto my hair, I knew that she saw nothing but the last couple hours of terror and death, which took one of her children for His own.
Charlie, my brave older brother, the one who I envied the most because of his international adventures with dragons and missed terribly because of how little I got to see him. The one, who was probably the bravest man I knew, sat staring ahead, occasionally glancing at his other siblings. I took time to notice how every couple of seconds his jaw would tighten and his eyes would squint a fraction of an inch, as if he was holding back the tears that I knew he would shed once alone.
Not wanting to leave the comfort of my mother's touch, I moved my head around slowly, my eyes searching for the three people I desperately hoped to see. I stopped for a moment to notice Neville, who was still grasping the sword of Gryffindor and surrounded by a group of smiling sixth and seventh years, glance hopefully over at Luna, who sat, reunited, with her father. A pang went through my heart as Neville and Luna made eye contact and smiled at each other, making me think of the man I desperately hoped to see.
Was it really only moments ago that he was announced dead and my world crashed hopelessly around me? Was it really only mere minutes after that, that he sprang from Hagrid's arms and defeated the darkest wizard of all time?
"Ginny," my mother whispered, gently shaking my shoulder.
"Mhm," I barely murmured, pulling away to look at her.
"I said, I think you should go up with your brothers to the Gryffindor common room to get some sleep," mum replied. "Professor McGonagall said it was relatively untouched."
I looked around to see that all of my brothers and Fleur were standing up, the latter clenching my brother's arm in a vice-like grip, glancing down at me with sad, puffy eyes.
"Oh, right," I whispered, pulling myself away from my mother and standing up with my siblings.
"Your father and I will be up later," mum said, looking at neither of her children. "Kingsley just wants our help with something."
I tried to meet my mother's unwavering glance as she continued to stare at Hagrid and his brother, to send some sort of comfort her way, but she didn't acknowledge my presence. Charlie grabbed my hand, pulled it through his arm so I was latched onto him as we moved away from the table, following a slowly trudging George. As we exited the Great Hall I defiantly kept my eyes trained on the back of my brother's head so as to not see my other brother and friends' bodies strewn about the floor.
The walk to the common room felt like the longest trudge of my life. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes on my brother's head and focus only on my hand clinging to Charlie's arm as we all limped up to the tower, but no matter how much I tried I could not escape the destruction around me.
To my left, desks, chairs, and books were torched and buried beneath rubble and bloodied masses, which I tried not to decipher too clearly, hoping not to recognize another friend amongst the dead bodies. When we finally reached the stairs I felt the air being knocked out of my lungs as Dean and Seamus carried the bloodied and mangled body of Lavender Brown, the former girlfriend of my closest brother.
Charlie pulled me closer to his side and Percy, who I just realized was walking behind us, came up to put a hand on the small of my back as he pushed us to move forward.
"Fat Lady," I could hear my brother Bill saying, "We don't know the password. I haven't been to Hogwarts in years."
"The other three knew the password," the Fat Lady crooned. "So I don't see why I should let you all- Oh I was wondering when you would turn up!"
My eyes jumped up to see the Fat Lady smiling at me while the rest of my siblings turned slowly to stare. I really had no idea what she was talking about.
"Well come on, dear," the Fat Lady sang, throwing the door open. "He's in there, waiting for you no doubt."
Bill, after a moment of hesitation, probably wanting to ask questions, pulled Fleur in through the now open door. George followed, and after sensing that Charlie and I weren't moving, Percy stepped from my side to enter behind George.
"What was that about?" Charlie whispered as he pulled me forward.
My response bubbled up but was extinguished by a yell from within the common room. With one look at each other, Charlie and I rushed into the room, each pulling out our wands. Charlie pulled ahead of me at the last moment, blocking my view, but just as suddenly stopped as he finally found the source of the noise. Peeking around his shoulder I found my brother Ron and my best friend, Hermione, jumping up from the couch and hugging Bill and Fleur affectionately.
Relief surged through me at the sight of my brother and friend, but was soon dissipated as I realized their trio was missing one. The thought didn't go any further as Ron pulled me into a hug, whispering how much he had missed me in my ear.
"Ginny."
Everything seemed to freeze as the voice travelled around the room and tore through my rapidly thumping heart. Ron pulled away from me, his face grimacing slightly, but then breaking into a slight smirk as my eyes moved from his to the messy haired, bespectacled man standing at the floor of the boy's dormitory.
"Harry," my voice barely reached a whisper.
Suddenly we were in each other's arms and kissing as if our lives depended on it, not even caring that my five brothers were standing just behind us. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was distinctly reminded of our first kiss, but as Harry's arms wrapped themselves around my waist all train of thought was lost.
Then, as if from some distant place where everything was right in the world and the bodies of my friends and family were not in a room just below us or the man I loved had not just come back from the dead, I heard George, with a hint of a smile, whisper to the room.
"Am I missing something here?"
It was then that I knew we would all be alright.