War is Over
Chapter One - A New Dawn
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own Hogwarts or any of these fantastic characters.
All was quiet in the grounds of Hogwarts. Only the sound of a few early-morning birds singing defied the silence. In Gryffindor tower, Harry Potter stirred. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was greeted with a very familiar sight – the end of his four-poster bed, and an empty dormitory. For a moment, he couldn't remember anything, and was wondering where Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus were when it all came flooding back to him. The battle. The deaths. And the final defeat of Voldemort… he lay back down on his pillow, struggling for it to sink in. Voldemort was gone – he could live a normal life. No more running, no more fighting, just a normal life.
But then he thought of all the deaths – all those who had suffered because of him – Fred, Remus, Tonks, Colin Creevey… a tide of guilt washed over him. All the joy from the celebrations just after the battle had gone – it had been his fault they had died, if he had given himself up sooner… "But you had to find the Horcrux," said a little voice in his head. Harry ignored it angrily, and his thoughts turned to the families of those who had died… the Weasleys – Ron, George, Ginny… Ginny. The thought of her stuck in his head. He doubted she would ever forgive him for Fred's death, or for breaking up with her at the end of last year. He forced himself away from thinking about Ginny and turned his attention to Teddy, his godson. Poor Teddy, he would never know his parents… and it was all Harry's fault. Feeling very depressed, he slowly slid out of bed and dressed; someone (maybe Kreacher) had put fresh clothes, clean and ironed, by the side of his bed. Picking up his wand and putting on his glasses, he slowly made his way down the stairs to the common room.
The common room was empty and silent. The newly-risen sun shone through the windows, lighting up the room in a very pleasant way. Harry wished he could stay here, and avoid facing the grieving families of those who'd died for him, but he knew he couldn't keep hiding. He slipped out of the portrait hole, careful not to wake the Fat Lady, who was fast asleep in her frame.
Hogwarts was eerily silent. The scars from the battle were still clear – statues lay smashed, and walls collapsed in on themselves. Harry wondered where everyone was – he decided to make his way down to the Great Hall. On his way, he found the first sign of life… well, not exactly life. Nearly Headless Nick was floating down the corridor ahead of him.
"Nick! Hey, NICK!" called Harry. Nearly Headless Nick turned, his head wobbling dangerously.
"Harry, my dear boy!" exclaimed Nick, "Congratulations! The wizarding world owes you a great deal of debt after your defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be…"
"Yeah, I know, I know," cut-off Harry irritably, panting from running after Nick. "I know I may seem like a hero and all that, but those who died fighting, they're the real heroes. I just cast a disarming spell. Anyone could have…"
"You are very modest, Harry. Too modest. You must take credit for what you have done. Of course, others helped, and should be honoured, but ultimately, it was you who did it," countered Nick. Harry was too tired to argue, so he said goodbye to Nick and preceded to his destination.
He arrived at the doors of the Great Hall a few minutes later. He decided to take a peek inside by opening the door just a crack, to see if anyone was in there. He did so, and saw a subdued sight. About 25 people were in the Great Hall, sitting at the tables all mixed-up (not by house) and quietly eating breakfast. Harry noticed Hannah, Ernie, and Justin sitting together, then Neville, Seamus and Dean, who were sitting by the Weasleys. On seeing the Weasleys, he froze. Pulling the door shut quietly, he turned and leant against the wall. He knew he would have to face them, and that it was better to get it out of the way, but his legs seemed to have turned to lead. He remembered a similar thing happening to him in his first year, before being sorted. He had been petrified then, but for different reasons. They were the family of Fred; surely they'd hate him for Fred's death? Harry had not really spoken to anyone since his defeat of Voldemort; everyone had looked so happy at the time, but now they had had time to think it all through, he was sure they would blame him, and rightly so. Gripped with despair at the thought of what was about to happen, Harry forced himself to turn, open the doors and walk inside.
As soon as he opened the doors, everyone in the hall turned to look at him. A few people had drawn their wands; they put them away with embarrassed faces. As he walked towards the Weasleys, a young wizard who Harry recognised as one of the old players of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team (he had left a few years ago) turned to him and shook his hand. Hannah, Ernie and Justin smiled at him as he passed them. Harry was glad to see that most people had stopped looking at him, getting back to their breakfast. As he drew closer to the Weasleys, they turned to him. He took a deep breath; he knew what he had to do.
"I'm really sorry about…" But he got no further. Mrs. Weasley stood up, and wordlessly pulled him in to a bone-crunching Weasley hug. Harry was taken aback; when Mrs. Weasley released him, he tried to continue what he had been saying, but she shook her head. Harry looked around at the other Weasleys; they looked tired, battered and sad, but they were all smiling at him. Harry realised that they didn't blame him for Fred's death. Silently he slipped in to a seat in between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. He caught the sweet smell of Ginny's hair that gave him butterflies as he sat down, and she smiled at him. Harry started helping himself to breakfast, finally realising that he had a real family that loved him.
Hey all! This was the first fanfiction story I ever wrote - I started it about a year and a bit or so ago - so sorry if it's not all that good. I'm still writing it now, but the first ten chapters are already written (I actually wrote it for another site, but I may as well put it on here) so updates should be fairly regular at first. And don't worry, the chapters get longer; I'm at about 30,000 words at the moment ;-)
Anyway, I hope that you liked the beginning - and don't worry, Harry won't be depressed throughout all of it, but I think he has to get over everything and forgive himself first. This is a full-length sequel to Deathly Hallows that is intended (for my own head at least) to be canon - you can make your own judgement on that ;-) So, yeah, I hope you liked it, I'll update soon and please review - I don't mind if it's praise, constructive criticism or even just random thoughts; all reviews will be taken on board ;-) Thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy!