Harry Potter and Behind The Veil

Summary: Harry Potter has conquer the Dark Lord. The Chosen One is left to reflect on what had happened the year before wishing things were different. So many lives lost, can things truly turn normal once again? Will the Fates even let him?

Author Notes: I do not own Harry Potter, though that be a lovely wish.

I do own however several Ocs that are mentioned/come-in through this story and if you'd like to read more on them feel free to check out 'Time is Fleeting' which is part of the MORAL saga and of course 'MORAL: Secrets and Finds' though this is slightly AU to those characters.

ENJOY!

They should have been done with their schooling at Hogwarts, but because of the war that had taken place, all last year students were to return back for a few weeks in order to complete their N.E.W.T.S. Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, were three of those students whom boarded the train at 9¾ on September 1st.

The train ride was unusually quiet on the journey to Hogwarts. Harry Potter, so lost staring out the window, he didn't make any attempt to chat with any one who entered the compartment the he was in. Harry still felt so overwhelmed on what had gone down last year. The weight of having finally brought down the Dark Lord wavered with the weight of how many lives had been lost in this long struggle. . . This lifelong battle.

So many innocent. Fighting to keep me safe. Harry's head pressed against the window as he sighed loudly. Sirius… Dumbledore… Hedwig… Dobby… Moody… Tonks… Fred… Lupin… Snape… His own parents… and too many others.

Harry wiped the tears that had begun to form ignoring the voiced concern of the people around him. He felt so numb, and time hadn't changed that.

I wish Sirius was here, Harry thought bitterly.

He hadn't thought of his god-father in a long time and his heart ached as his mind recalled Sirius' death. He had fell through the Veil. Sirius shouldn't have been there. It was all Harry's fault. If only he hadn't fallen right into Voldemort's trap. If only he . . . If only-

Harry covered his head with his hands mind swimming with heavy thoughts. Sleep had been slightly more comforting, but there was always that fear, always the paranoia that Voldemort would come back. That he'd kill the now eighteen year old boy.

That was always in the back of his mind no matter what he did.

"Look Harry!" Ginny said grabbing his arm, "I see Hogwarts."

Harry turned his head towards the window and couldn't help but a small, bittersweet smile cross his face. The castle didn't look like only months earlier the biggest battle had occurred on it. The place where Voldemort's reign of terror had finally ended.

"It's good to be home," Harry muttered, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione and Ron nod with agreement.