All Those Years

Summary: This story documents what happened during the 19 years between the last chapter and the epilogue in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It might continue after that point . . . I'm not exactly sure of everything that will happen. H/G, R/H

Warning: this story is post DH, and therefore contains spoilers. If you have not read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I strongly discourage you from reading this story until you have.

Chapter 1: The First Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter is the wonderful creation of a brilliant genius (J.K. Rowling) who is not me. Happy?

Harry

Harry Potter was 17 years old. He had unruly black hair, emerald green eyes, and a prominent scar on his forehead that was shaped exactly like a lightning-bolt. And Harry Potter had just defeated Voldemort, the darkest wizard that had ever lived and the one who had killed Harry's parents when Harry was but a baby. Harry Potter had been an orphan since the age of one. Harry Potter had also been famous since the night he was orphaned because it was then that the aforementioned dark wizard had tried, and failed, to kill him. It was on that night, the night that Voldemort had killed Lily and James Potter, that Harry became the first person ever to survive the killing curse. Harry had been all too aware of his renown from the time that he was eleven, and now he was held in even higher esteem, if that was possible, than he'd been before. He had now survived the killing curse no less than twice and he'd rid the wizarding world of its most dangerous wizard. In Harry's opinion, however, he was no celebrity; he thought that he was the cause of the many casualties of the war against Voldemort. If it weren't for Harry, he thought, Fred Weasley would be alive and Teddy Lupin would have parents who were alive and able to care for him. But Harry knew that the people who had fought Voldemort – all of Harry's friends who were family and the rest of the opposition – had been fighting their own battles. They wanted Voldemort gone too, and they were willing to die for that to happen. Too many of them did die, but there was nothing that Harry could have done to stop the deaths and he knew that. Nobody had died in vain.

If he were awake, Harry would have shuddered at the thought of the great hall lined with victims, and at the thought of poor Teddy having to grow up like him – with his parents only in his dreams. Then he'd have to work to keep from crying, and promise himself that Teddy would have a much happier childhood than Harry's was. If he were awake, Harry would have then thought of the Dursleys, and even though they'd treated him horribly as a child, Harry would have closed his eyes and hoped that they were safe. He'd also hope, though, that he'd never have to see them again.

But Harry Potter wasn't awake. He was sleeping in his four-poster bed in the seventh-year boys' dormitory, clutching his eleven inch wand of holly and phoenix feather and blissfully unaware of what had just happened at Hogwarts. And then Harry slowly started to wake up from the first deep sleep that he'd in a long while. He stretched his arms above his head and emitted a large yawn, reached to the table beside him and placed his glasses back on his nose, and sat up. Only then, with the red and gold Gryffindor hangings of his bed surrounding him, did the events of the last 24 hours come rushing back to Harry. Voldemort was dead, and Harry had killed him. Ron and Hermione, the best friends that anybody could ever wish for, were sleeping in their own beds, and Ginny . . . well, Voldemort was dead, wasn't he? And that meant that Harry would not put Ginny at risk if he were to date her again . . . Harry's head filled with idyllic thoughts of Ginny kissing him, with her arms wrapped around her neck and his on her waist. But then he realized that he was famous, and that Ginny would probably not want to live a life filled with stares and notoriety. He didn't want that either, but he had no options, and Ginny did. And Harry, once again, wished that he was a normal guy who could date whomever he wanted. So Harry Potter, a wizard who'd accomplished more things and seen more suffering in 17 years than most people see in their lifetime, fell dejectedly back onto his pillow and tried his hardest not to cry.

Ginny

Ginny Weasley, a sixteen-year-old red-head, was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Harry to wake up and come down, when instinct told her to go to the boys' dormitories. She followed her heart to the foot of Harry's bed, then sat down with her back to the bed and hugged her knees. She didn't know why she'd come, but she knew that she wanted to be there for Harry when he woke up. After a few minutes of waiting, Ginny heard a muffled pfff noise, like air wooshing out of a pillow, and stifled tears from behind her. She gingerly stood up and peeked through the slightly ajar curtains on Harry's bed. His eyes were red, and he didn't appear to notice her presence until Ginny softly said his name. Harry looked up and saw her, and realized that he'd been crying. He quickly sat up and ran the back of his hand over his eyes, and Ginny put her arms around him. She didn't ask any questions – it was natural for him to be upset about the deaths, and to be sentimental because a part of his life, albeit a very bad part, was over. Ginny just wanted Harry to be happy.

She looked into his face then, and wanted very badly to kiss away his tears. Harry looked torn between wanting the same and wanting to push her away. Ginny decided that it had been too long since they had last kissed, and although they weren't together, she hoped that they would be soon. So she again followed her heart and leaned in toward Harry. He moved forward too, and their lips met softly. "You did it," she murmured against his lips, "It's over." And then he pulled away. "No," he whispered, "I can't." And then, to Ginny, he said, "You don't want my life. There will be press around every street corner, and you'll have ridiculous rumors about you put in the paper. Everybody will stare at us, and I can't do that to you." Fresh tears started to drip down his face, and seeing them, Ginny started to cry too. Then what he said sank in, and she snapped up straight. "Harry Potter!" Ginny reprimanded, "You know that I want to be with you. We were dating last year, and you were famous then, and you got stares then too! As hard as it is to deal with, I know that you are worth it, and I hope that you do too! If you think that your fame will deter me from being with you, mister, then you are sadly mistaken!" Then, more softly, "I know that it's what we both want, and it's what we both deserve." But Harry looked at her through tearstained eyes and shook his head. "No," he whispered, and Ginny ran out of the room in tears. She knew that she'd get through to him somehow, but she very much wanted to be the one to comfort him now.

Ginny ran down the boys' staircase, through the common room, and up the staircase to the girls' dormitories. She passed the seventh-year dormitory on her left, turned right to the sixth-year one, and collapsed on her own four-poster bed. She barely heard the footsteps that signaled the arrival of someone to comfort her.

Hermione

Hermione Granger, 17-year-old witch extraordinaire, was sitting on her bed in the seventh-year girls' dormitory in the Gryffindor tower at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – a bed that she had not occupied in a year – when she heard the sound of running footsteps and then resigned sobs from across the hall. She knew that it was Ginny, and she was willing to wager that it had been Harry's pigheadedness that had caused Ginny's outburst. So Hermione walked to the sixth-year dormitory and offered Ginny a shoulder to cry on.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After comforting Ginny, Hermione made her way to find Harry and Ron. She needed to talk to Harry about Ginny, and she . . . . well, she had other reasons to see Ron. To her surprise, she found Harry sitting in a chair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. More surprising, however, were the tears that she saw trying to escape from his eyes. Harry was not a very emotional person – this Hermione knew from experience. So she walked over to Harry and started to soothingly whisper. "Ginny," she said, "really loves you. She has waited for you since you broke up with her and, although she's wanted so much to help you directly, she has had to fight here her own way, not knowing whether or not you were safe. I know that you felt the same way when we were gone, but you at least knew what she was doing. She didn't have a clue, and she's still waiting for you to come around to the fact that a relationship is what you both want. Even Ron can see it, and he's a bit . . . well, dense when it comes to these things. Harry, you really should talk to her. Really." And then Hermione left to pursue her own relationship.

Ron

Ron Weasley had his back turned when he heard the familiar footsteps of the person who he wanted to see most run into his room. He turned around, and the ball of motion that was a beautiful witch with bushy brown hair whizzed into his arms. He looked down at her and felt a grin tugging at his face. "Hey, Hermione." And then there was no more talking, because her hands, which before were around his waist, had made their way into his red hair and pulled his willing lips down to meet hers. "I'm so glad that we're both alive," she whispered. "I don't know if I could live without you." Ron kissed her forehead and responded, "I know that I couldn't live without you." And Hermione smiled up at him. And then, suddenly, she said that she had to go to the library and left, leaving a flabbergasted but elated Ron in her wake.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading my story. This is my first story, and I'd appreciate any constructive criticism that I can get. I know that this is a short chapter, and I'm sorry . . . I'll try to make chapters longer in the future. Also, if anybody is interested in beta-ing for me, please contact me! Thanks a bunch!