Harry Potter looked oddly proud of himself for someone who had always been so modest about the amazing things he had done. But then, anyone would be smiling like a fool if they had just avenged the deaths of thousands.
As he raised his hand to knock, the door flung open and Mrs. Weasley screamed with joy.
"Harry!! You're home sweetheart; I knew you would do it!" She kissed him on the cheek several times, and Harry felt welcome in her arms, but Harry's eyes searched for the three people he had been most longing to see over the long seven months away.
"Mum, let him in the house at least." Ron's familiar voice came from behind Mrs. Weasley and Harry beamed. Ron and Hermione had been forced to stay behind with the Order, for it had been wisely pointed out that the prophecy stated only Harry could defeat Voldemort, and the chances of Ron and Hermione living were scarce.
Harry stepped into the house to find all three of the glorious faces smiling at him.
But his eyes flicked to Ginny first.
"Hi." He breathed.
"Hi."
They hesitated for a moment, and then Ginny flew into his arms. He squeezed her as tightly as he could. She had been the one who had helped him along the way. Her face kept him from just giving up.
He pulled away and hugged Hermione, shook hands with the rest of the Weasleys, and snuck Ginny a quick, unseen kiss before being ushered away by Mrs. Weasley.
"You are much too thin, Harry, dear! Not that I expected you to be plump and jolly, oh no. If you were my son, of course, I would have had you straight up to your bedroom when you heard that prophecy. Fighting You-Know-Who single-handedly. It's absurd!" As she went into a long rant about how despicable it was that a young boy was the one mentioned in the prophecy, and how it should have been someone older, she prepared lunch and Harry caught up with everyone.
He didn't much feel like reliving his half of the memories just yet, but he was more than grateful to hear what the Weasley's had been up to, besides working with the Order.
"…and then, Fleur was trapped in that wild, beastly look that those Veela women get when they're angry. She was stuck like that for hours. We fixed those lollipops right away. It was awful, I tell you. Bill looked doubtful that he really wanted to be married." Harry laughed at the stories, and not only the ones Fred and George told. Ron told him a very funny one about Hermione when she woke up one morning to find that her beloved Crookshanks had left a nice hair ball for her in her shoe.
Yes, it was good to be home.