After The Battle – Rating M
Chapter 01 – Post Battle Stress
Summary – The Battle of Hogwarts may of ended, but for some the suffering may have just begun. As the participants are worn out, Harry, Ginny, Susan and rest of the DA, life may of changed, but surprises will out for several people.
Pairings – Harry/Ginny/Susan, Ron/Hermione, Molly/Arthur, George/Angelina, Neville/Hannah, Terry/Daphne, Dudley/Cho, Petunia/Vernon
Warnings – Contains mild violence and swearing in this chapter
-After The Battle-
Headmasters Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
02 May 1998
The result of battle ripped through the whole of Wizarding Britain like a dagger to a body. In all corners of the country, people were full of joy over the defeat of Lord Voldemort. Owls started flying from every corner of the country, letting the news flow freely. Fireworks were being set off as though it were Bonfire Night. At Hogwarts, the scenes of the final battle showed the scars which needed healing, healing that takes time.
Having hunted Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes for nearly a year, it felt like an eternity for Harry, Ron and Hermione. The final part of the quest had kept them going for over 36 hours, wearing out all three, not just physically but mentally.
For Harry, having took a Killing Curse, and surviving, having found out that a Horcrux was in his scar, a soul piece of Tom Riddle, the birth name of Lord Voldemort, made him completely and totally spent.
That wand's more trouble than it's worth," said Harry. "And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."
He placed the wand his back pocket, alongside his own, making his way through the maze of corridors, heading with Ron and Hermione to Gryffindor Tower. They stopped once they saw the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"I'm going to get Ginny." Hermione whispered in his ear. "I know you need her and I bet she's worried about you"
"Thanks Hermione" came the reply.
They looked upon the portrait of the Fat Lady who was smiling. "Thank you Mr Potter. Thank you." The portrait said, the others clapping their hands. She swung open, not even waiting for a password. "You've done this house an amazing service, all three of you."
Harry took a few steps forward, collapsing into a chair by the fire, not awake enough to realise where he was.
Order Safehouse, Kingswinford, United Kingdom
02 May 1998
Petunia Dursley was sitting at the counter of the table, eating her breakfast when she heard her son, Dudley, thunder down the stairs. To the locals of Kingswinford, the Dursley family were known as Frank and Rose Evans, postmaster and postmistress of a nearby villages Post Office. Most of the locals in the village got along with the new postmistress, however Vernon was not so hospitable, especially on pension day. But the Order thought it'd be best for them to start new.
"Cho has just got back from wherever she was. She says it's all over. Harry did it." Dudley said, bursting into the room. "She said he died, but somehow didn't die."
"THE FREAK SHOULD HAVE STAYED DEAD. IF, AND WHEN WE DO GET HOME, I WANT YOU AND THAT FREAK OF A GIRLFRIEND YOU HAVE TO STAY OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Vernon bellowed. "I'VE HAD IT WITH ALL THESE FREAKS GOING ROUND THINKING THEY OWN THE PLACE."
"Fine you fat wanker, I'll find a place of my own. I'm sure Cho and I will be able to go somewhere." Dudley said, storming off to his room, and Cho.
Long Term Ward, St Mungos Hospital, London, United Kingdom
02 May 1998
In the Long Term Spell Damage ward at St Mungos Hospital, two people, Frank and Alice Longbottom were laying on a bed, with a dishevelled older woman, Augusta Longbottom sitting beside them.
"...massive battle, You-Know-Who is dead again. Lily and James's lad did it again." Augusta Longbottom said, smiling at her son and daughter. "Neville helped him by slashing You-Know-Who's snake with the Sword of Gryffindor. I'm so proud of my Great-Nephew and Grandson. If only my older brother, Fleamont, was alive to see his Grandson honour James and Lily's memories, he'd be over the moon."
Alice suddenly stirred and opened her eyes to look at her husband. "Frank?" she asked.
Frank straightened knowing that he hadn't heard that name come out of her mouth before. "Alice?" he said.
Alice blinked at him seeing exactly who he was. "Good lord, what happened? Last thing I remember was a black light from Lestrange and now I'm here?" she asked.
Augusta looked at her daughter-in-law. "Alice?" She said, thinking she must be dreaming. "That was November 1, 1981. It's 1998 now," Neville answered automatically. "Today is May 2 , 1998."
"Your son and I are close to our Forties," Alice said doing the math in her head.
Augusta nodded. "You're thirty-eight, and Frank is forty," Augusta answered. "Maybe I should go and get the Healer."
"The Healer?" Alice asked. "Why?"
"You've been at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies for the past 16 years," Augusta told her as she got up from her chair, walking towards the door.
"That would make Neville seventeen years old, wouldn't it?" Alice asked her husband who nodded to her
Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
02 May 1998
Harry woke up with a start, finding himself in a chair by the fire. His mind terrorised by Tom Riddle. "People were dead, friends, people I respected. Its all my fault! I could have prevented this earlier." Harry thought, "Ginny almost died. Fred was dead. Remus, Tonks, Colin. I should have prevented this!"
Harry turned around, sensing someone was behind him. His eyes still groggy tried to focus on the face, but couldn't. All that he could see was red. He pulled his wand out instinctively.
"Harry James Potter!" the person said, pulling Harry's glasses off the table, passing them to him. Harry put them on to find that the person was Ginny. He tried to stand up, failing, falling back into the chair. Ginny grabbed his arms and helped him up.
"Harry James Potter!" she said, her hands still holding his arms, trying to support him, "Firstly, put that wand down! Secondly, never do that to me again! You are too damn noble, too noble for your own good at times. I needed you and you wasn't here!"
"Ginny. First things first, I'm sorry." Harry said, trying his hardest not to fall backwards. He placed his wand in his pocket. "It's all my fault. Fred. Remus. Tonks. All my fault."
"Harry, there's no need to be sorry about Fred, Remus, Tonks or anyone else." Ginny said, pulling him closer to her. "I'm just still in shock from when they said you were dead. I couldn't imagine my life without you!"
"Ginny. When I heard you scream, I just wanted to run to you." Harry said, tears forming in his eyes. "I had to do it. In me was a piece of Riddle. I had to get that destroyed so I could destroy him. I had to let him murder me."
"You mean...you mean you were dead?" Ginny asked, crying. She let go of Harry, making him fall back onto the chair. "You let him kill you, without telling me! You should have told me!"
"Ginny. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't." Harry said, crying, trying to get back up. "You were comforting someone when I was by you, but you couldn't see me as I was under my cloak."
"I knew I felt you pass me." Ginny said, helping him back up, pulling him towards her. "Why didn't you tell me then?"
"I knew that if I did, then I would never be able to do it." Harry said, holding her tight for support. "I would have made it into the forest, and Riddle would have still been alive. Riddle needed to die, to do that meant I had to die. I couldn't let him get away with his…his evil…he needed to be stopped."
"Yes, I would have stopped you," Ginny said, stroking his back, "And do you know why? It's because I love you Harry James Potter. I love you with all of my heart." Ginny sat Harry down, sitting in his knee. "Luna told me that she heard that you was at her house. Why is that?"
"I had heard about a thing called the Elder Wand when I was in Riddles mind. He tortured Olivander, and unbeknown to Hermione and I, and eventually when Ron came back, Luna and Olivander had been snatched by Death Eaters, held hostage in the cellar of Malfoy Manor." Harry explained, "It turns out the three items in Beedle the Bard's story, The Three Brothers, is real. The cloak of Invisibility is mine, Dumbledore had acquired the Elder Wand from Gwindelwald when he duelled him, and there was a Resurrection Stone.
"That git, however, tried to turn us into the Death Eaters because they had kidnapped Luna." Harry continued. "Anyway, at the time, I remarked to Ron and Hermione that I hoped you were at the Burrow, safe and sound."
"I wasn't safe however." Ginny said, "The Slytherins and the Carrow twins saw to that." She stopped, moving closer to him so she could whisper to him. Suddenly the portrait opened and there stood Ron and Hermione. They stepped in to the common room.
"So that's where you're hiding, you swine!" Ron shouted to Harry, grasping his wand tightly. "DON'T TOUCH MY FUCKING SISTER!"
"Ron, I love Harry." Ginny said, standing up, helping Harry to stand at the same time, "Who you think-"
"WHO DO I THINK I AM?" Ron interrupted, edging closer to Harry and Ginny, "HE SPLITS UP WITH YOU, MAKING YOU UPSET, THEN HE TOYS WITH YOUR EMOTIONS IN THE SUMMER. NEXT THING I SEE I COME IN TO FIND YOU TWO CANOODLING IN A CHAIR IN THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM!"
"Ron, mate, listen to me. Ginny has been more help in the last five minutes than you were during the whole of September and October." Harry said, pulling his wand out of his pocket, "After the Ministry saga, you were as much use as one of Professor McGonagall's pin cushions."
"That was you?" Ginny asked, turning to Harry and Hermione, laughing, "You were the ones who broke into the Ministry in September and made Umbridge upset? Neville owes me 10 Galleons!"
"Yeah, we did that." Hermione said to Ginny, surprised at her making bets, "Afterwards Ronald was as useless as Harry described. He even decided to leave us as he was fed up that we were not doing as well as we hoped, even with some really Dark Magic affecting him.
"Anyway Harry, Ginny, it's great to see you two are happy. When we were camping, Harry would take out the Marauders Map to see where in the school you were, hoping you were ok. He would even talk to it." Hermione said, smiling at the pair of them. "He was upset when we suddenly left the wedding, worried sick about how bad the Death Eaters would treat you."
"You see Ron?" Ginny said, turning to her brother, "Unlike you, Harry cared about me. You, on the other hand, left Hermione and Harry, in a strop, as per usual, because you couldn't understand that patience was needed."
"SHUT UP GINNY! I WILL NOT HAVE THAT…THAT GIT TOUCH YOU AGAIN," Ron shouted, pushing Ginny away from Harry. Harry fell back into the chair, his body still weak from the battle. "HE MAY HAVE SAVED THE WIZARDING WORLD BUT DON'T FORGET HE HAD WORMED HIS WAY INTO YOUR HEART AND BROKEN IT ONCE."
"Ron. You're tired. Hermione is worn out." Ginny said, helping Harry back up into his feet. "It doesn't help that you're emotional because of Fred dying. I need Harry, just as much as he needs me." Ginny started to cry, struggling to support her emotions much longer. "Fred wasn't the only one Harry has lost. He's lost his parents, Sirius, Remus, his family basically."
"She's right." Harry said, wiping her tears from her eyes. "I can't go on like this, being on my own. I need her now, more than every. That why I died in the forest, not just because of the Horcrux that was in me, but because I wanted Ginny to have a life where she wasn't under the rule of Riddle.
"I need more than a friend right now," Harry continued explaining to Ron and Hermione, "More than you or Hermione. I need stability and a life, and that person who I need to be with is Ginny. Ginny is the one that I always wanted, even when I was with Cho, I was just to stupid to see it then. I was-"
"I SAID DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER," Ron shouted, pointing his wand at Harry. "Stupefy" he said, casting the spell. Harry felt himself forced backwards, out of Ginny's hands. He hit the stone wall and, for Harry, everything went black.
Ginny turned to Ron and slapped him. "You, Ronald Weasley, have the emotional range of a teaspoon. Why the fuck did you hit my boyfriend for?" she shouted, levitating Harry off the ground. She went through the portrait hole, Harry following her, to head to the Hospital Wing.
Hearing Ginny leaving the tower, Ron looked at Dean frowning. "Women are bloody mental." He didn't expect the slap that he got for that!
Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
02 May 1998
Ginny looked at Harry, noticing the feeling of terror coming from him. Little did she realise what he was suffering from.
Harry and Ginny walked down to the lake, the sun gleaming into it. Suddenly a shadow appeared, one of someone Harry couldn't recognise. Suddenly a green light aimed towards the couple, only just missing them.
"We meet again, Potter." the shadow said, using the voice of Voldemort. "This time, you and your Blood Traitor girlfriend will die"
Suddenly Harry felt himself pushed backwards in the direction of the tree, the one he and Ginny lay next to before the funeral. He stood up, seeing Ginny being held by a Death Eater. Next thing he knew, he was up against the tree, bound.
"I'm going to kill your Blood Traitor girlfriend, then I'm going to kill you." Voldemort said, his eyes going red. "Then I will be in power, forever."
Ginny woke up, turning around in her chair to see Harry shaking. He looked as white as a sheet. Blood was pouring out of several cuts.
"Leave her alone!" Harry shouted, the shakes getting more violent. "Let her go Riddle."
Harry was tied against the tree. Voldemort had Ginny bound, his wand against her neck. Harry tried to get away from the bonds that prohibited his escape, but every time he tried, he couldn't. He was trapped, unable to protect Ginny from Voldemort.
"Leave her alone!" Harry shouted, worrying about Ginny. "Let her go Riddle!" He felt the side of his pocket and remembered that his wand was there. He tried to get it out, but the top of his pocket was covered with the ropes bonding him.
Avada Kedavra" Voldemort aimed at Ginny, killing her instantly. "You lose again Potter." He laughed maniacally, dropping Ginny to the floor.
"You killed her!" Harry shouted, summoning every ounce of strength that he had, reaching into his pocket for his wand. Eventually he managed to reach it, muttering a spell to release him from the ropes that Voldemort had created. He ran to Voldemort, aiming to get a good shot. "You killed her Riddle, and now it's your turn!"
"Harry," he heard. It sounded like Ginny. "Harry, you can beat him." Next thing Harry knew, everything was black.
Ginny leaned forward, placing her hands in his. "You killed her!" Harry shouted, fighting against Ginny. "You killed her Riddle, and now it's your turn!"
"Harry," Ginny said, putting her head next to his. "Harry, you can beat him." She took his hand and held it in hers, hoping he would wake up soon. She felt him sit up, gasping for air. Harry turned to Ginny, his eyes opening, taking in her eyes.
"Harry, I'm here, and Riddle is dead. You've had a nightmare, I helped you get out of it." Ginny said, standing up. "I need to get Madam Pomfrey. She needs to look at you again as you're bleeding."
"I'm bleeding?" Harry said, reaching for the source of the bleeding. Suddenly a pain rocketed to his chest. Ginny sat down, noting his face, scared at what was happening. He moved his hand from the source of the blood to his chest.
"Yes, your head is bleeding from where that git of a brother stunned you," she said, wrapping a new bandage round his head. "You hit the fire in the common room and went unconscious.
"I dreamt that we were near the lake, by the tree, but he had you, and he killed you." Harry said, crying, "Why does it feel that every time that I sleep, I end up back against Riddle? I am getting fed up of this, these nightmares."
"Harry, remember that you had part of him in you." Ginny said, her hands showing no release from his, "When I got possessed by him in my first year, I ended up getting haunted by nightmares of him. I still do, but I've learnt to think of you and me, by the lake."
She turned around, reaching for a goblet that was left by Madam Pomfrey, handing it to Harry, urging him to drink a Dreamless Sleep potion. She lifted her wand and muttered a few spells, making sure that all the cuts wouldn't bleed any further.
Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
03 May 1998
Molly and Arthur Weasley rushed into the Hospital Wing that morning to see Harry still laying on the bed, his hands entwined with Ginny, their hair tangled together. They looked at them, a glow on Arthur's face.
"Look at them," Arthur said, crying at the sight of his daughter. "Does that remind you of anyone Molly?"
Yes they do." Molly said, pulling a tissue from her pocket. "Young James Potter had got engaged to Lily Evans and they were in St Mungos. That was the night my brothers were killed. James had been injured by a cutting curse and Lily was with him all night, lying half on the bed, half in a chair. Harry is just like his father, loving redheads!"
"It still pains me to remember that night dear." Arthur said, crying, "You were in tears over it all. Charlie was only a couple of months old at the time. To think that out of all the people our age in the Order, me, you and Kingsley are the only ones left."
"I know. Its pretty sad really that Harry has lost so much of his family," Molly said, crying, "I made a promise to Lily that I would look after her son if I can, and I will do, even if he becomes a stubborn so and so like James was."
"I think we ought to let them rest dear." Arthur said to his wife, cuddling her, "And have words with young Ronald."
"Indeed," Molly said, walking out of the Hospital Wing. "They're only young once."
-After The Battle-
The sun rose over Hogwarts, engulfing the room with brightness. A man wearing a dark robe over his head walked into the Hospital Wing, edging towards Harry and Ginny. Suddenly he saw a red light hit him, and darkness claimed him.
-After The Battle-
A/N – Story based on characters and storylines introduced in JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All rights to their various owners/creators. Some of the text was from JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The Confessions series poll results will be announced on the Facebook page on 12th April 2016. Just like "GryffindorTom" on Facebook to get all of the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more.
Coming Up in Chapter 2 – Does Harry make it to the Memorial? Does Harry discover one of his worst fears? What causes a ruckus in the Hospital Wing