Author's Note: Ok , probably won't have alot of these I'm not the kind of author that always has something to say. This is my very first fanfic so I am decidedly rough around the edges. If you have any requests or suggestions I might be able to work them in. Please enjoy!
P.S. I so don't own Harry Potter.
Harry wasn't aware of the time or the place when he woke up. He wasn't even aware why he woke up. Until a small creak and a sensation of someone watching him spiked his adrenaline and prodded him into motion. With a fluid movement that would make Mad-eye proud Harry was in a sitting position with his wand pointed at whoever had made the noise.
"Harry!" She moved backward.
Harry reached for his glasses "Ginny?"
"Yes silly! Will you point your wand somewhere else? I'm not here to off you!" Harry sheepishly lowered his wand. "Sorry. I've just been a little tense the last few months."
"I know, Harry. I shouldn't have snuck in here I just wanted to see you. You disappeared last night, and well now it's two in the evening and you've just missed lunch." Ginny tugged on the blanket a little while she spoke "Ron said he wishes he were still asleep and Hermione said that you got even less sleep than they had, but I was kind of worried." Harry smiled and leaned forward close enough to grasp Ginny's arm and lean his head in. "I'm glad you came to check up on me. I missed you so much!" He bit his lip before deciding to tell Ginny exactly how he felt. "Ginny you were the first thing I thought of everyday. I wanted to see you, to touch you and to hold you. Everyday I thought that if I just got the chance I would tell you how much you mean to me. How…how I love you. How you were the last thing I thought of before Voldemort sent that killing curse at me. I love you."
"I love you too Harry. I missed you so much and I couldn't stop worrying, especially when you disappeared last night!" She emphasized that with a slap to his arm. Harry winced as her hand made contact and prepared to protest when a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Ginny," He asked quietly, leaning in even closer "will you be my girlfriend? I promise there were only two veela." His smile was now mischievous and he laughingly dodged the next slap thrown his way. "Absolute prat" she said with her own smile "of course I'll be your girlfriend!" Harry smiled one of his first really happy smiles in a long time. "You said something about lunch?"
"Yes, I said it was over."
"Oh well, let's see what's going on in the Great Hall." Harry said hopping up and throwing on his shirt, the only thing he had discarded before going to bed. "Okay," Ginny said getting up to join him, "but first." She gave Harry a blazing look before leaning in and kissing him. He kissed her back holding onto her just as much as she was holding on to him both insuring that the other was still there, still whole.
"The Great Hall" Ginny said when they pulled apart.
"Right, yeah, let's go."
It looked like Hogwarts had become the meeting place for Wizarding Britain. Everyone seemed to have come together in their beloved school. Harry wondered whether or not Andromeda knew about her daughter and son-in-law yet. He also wondered about those like Collin Creevey whose parents were muggles. Who would or had told them? But before he could voice the thought people caught sight of Harry Potter and began to stand and clap. Again. And they didn't stop. Harry turned to look at Ginny with panic in his eyes. "They want a speech silly" Ginny said smiling.
"I can't speak!" Harry jumped away, starting to look for exits.
"You have to. They need to hear from you, Harry" Ginny put her hand on his arm, both keeping him in place and comforting him. "I..I don't know what to say!"
"Say what you would tell Hermione or Ron." Ginny pushed him up to the teachers' table. Harry stood looking at everyone while trying to gather his thought before the applause finished. He looked at the Malfoys still in the Great Hall. He looked at Luna, Seamus, Neville, Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, Slughorn, and Hannah Abbot. Some were crying others were laughing, but something hit him and an idea sparked giving him just enough courage to start talking.
"Thank you." He said holding up his hands for quiet. "Today we stand at a crossroads. We have conquered our enemy!" Cheers rang across the hall. "But at what cost? We mourn our dead – and why shouldn't we? We will all cry for our losses – me chief among you. At some point today we will all ask 'what is left to rejoice over?' I cannot speak for everyone here. But allow me to offer one small comfort.
"Yesterday, when our war came to Hogwarts, we made our stand. Now, here is our joy. It is not in our conquests it is in our actions. For, yesterday, we fought with four qualities. We fought with bravery beyond measure, loyalty without end, wisdom beyond our years and ambitions thought impossible! With these four qualities we fought; and, some of us, died." Harry looked around knowing he had the attention of everyone in the Hall. "With these qualities we stood more united than Hogwarts has been since the founders themselves and we did not fall!" There was a heavy silence as Harry paused.
"In this is our joy, our victory, that not only did we stand, but we stood together! For only in standing together could we ever have hoped to win!"
Harry thought for a moment, then raised a goblet from the nearest table and said "To those that stood and those that fell, together." His words were echoed across the Hall as many drank to the living and the dead.
Harry walked off of the teacher's area and down to those he knew and loved. He had not spoken to Molly or any of the older Weasleys since Fred had died. Ron and Hermione were already there and Ginny had joined them as he spoke. Hermione hugged him and said, "Thank you Harry. I really think we all needed to hear that." He smiled hugging her back.
Had it been mere weeks since they had been living in a tent? It felt as if everything since first year to last night were as recent as this morning. As he looked at everyone around him he thought of the first time he had met them. Ron at the train station and on the train, had not struck him as the best friend that would follow him for seven years fighting Voldemort's worst. Molly Weasley, his first thoughts of her had been of kindness and what he hoped his mother was like. Luna had once merely been a companion in a shared train compartment. Hermione was once just a braniac. Ginny was once Ron's little sister. Fred had been immortal, untouchable. Remus was just a professor. Now Harry knew the character and strength of these people. He knew truths about them and he treasured them, even the dead.