It was the day after the final Battle of Hogwarts and today was the funeral for all those who'd given their lives, not just in the battle, but also over the past 3 years in the war against Voldemort. The bodies from the recent battle were buried on the same island as Professor Dumbledore and while each one had received an individual tombstone, even those who had died before the battle of Hogwarts like Sirius Black and Alastor Moody, a statue, much like one at the James and Lily Potter memorial in Godric's Hollow, of Harry Potter himself, was constructed on top of a large stone block, which read in honored memory of those who died in the battle of Hogwarts against Lord Voldemort, and bore the names of everyone who had died, including, but limited to, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Dobby, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Lavender Brown, Colin Creevy and as insisted by Harry Potter himself, to the surprise of everyone else, Severus Snape.
Harry Potter himself was standing next to Dumbledore's tomb, holding the Elder Wand in one hand.
"This belongs to you Professor. It was wrongly stolen from you and now I am to return it to where it belongs." Harry said as he placed the elder wand back with it's old owner, before using his own, newly repaired holly wand to reseal the tomb, for good this time.
"Harry." Ron's voice called out to him.
"Ron, I thought you were still with the rest of your family at Fred's grave." Harry said.
"No, the only one still there is George." Ron said.
"But, what are you doing here." Harry asked.
"Mum wanted me to invite you over to dinner. She wants the entire family to get together for a celebratory meal together and vigil for Fred and that includes you and Hermione." Ron said.
While right now, Harry just wanted to be alone at 12 Grimmauld Place, except maybe in the company of Kreacher, but he knew that Ron's mother's invitation was not optional.
"Yeah, sure what time should I be there at." Harry asked.
"Mum said 7 o'clock, but she doesn't mind if you're a little late." Ron said.
"Great, I'll be there." Harry said as he turned his back to Ron.
"See you then mate." Ron said, walking off to find Hermione.
That night, Ginny noticed that Harry was acting withdrawn from everyone, even from Ron and Hermione, who he had spent the past year in the company of.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked as she stepped outside to where Harry was standing.
"Not really. So many people are dead because of me. My parents, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Fred, Remus, Tonks and so many others died because of me. How can I be expected to live with that?" Harry asked.
"You live with it because it wasn't your fault. The only one to blame for any of those deaths is Voldemort, and you know it. There's nothing you could've done to stop him." Ginny said.
"I could've killed the horcruxes faster. I could've killed him before he directed his forces to Hogwarts." Harry said.
Ginny actually slapped him and said "Harry, don't think like that. You did everything you could. Snap out of this depression you're in." Ginny said.
"I forgot how hard your hand is." Harry said, rubbing his cheek.
"Maybe this will make it feel better." Ginny said with a smile as she kissed the cheek she'd slapped gently.
About a minute later, Harry pulled Ginny in and kissed her full on the lips.
"I missed you." Harry said simply.
"I missed you to. Everyday I hoped you'd come back." Ginny said.
"And I finally did. And I promise you, I'll never leave like that again. Especially since there's no reason for me to." Harry said.
"You better not. Because it was hard enough for me to let you go the first time, I don't think I can handle it a second time." Ginny said.
Before Harry could respond, Molly called out that dinner was ready.
As the entire Weasley family and Harry and Hermione sat down at the table, Molly turned towards Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"While I must admit that I didn't approve of you 3 blowing off your education at first over the past year, i cannot deny that it was well worth it to be rid of You-Know-Who." Molly said.
"Yeah, I just wish we could've acted a little quicker." Harry said, looking down at the empty seat at the table that Fred should be sitting in.
Ginny quickly gripped Harry's hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"So what are the 3 of you planning to do now that you've technically completed school?" Molly asked.
"I'm going to work for the Auror Office. Kingsley is offering immediate entry for all surviving 17 year old witches and wizards from Hogwarts that fought for Hogwarts were welcome to join in order help round up the death eaters. I start training tomorrow." Harry said.
"Congratulations Harry. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you." Molly said, before realizing what she'd said.
"Yeah, I bet they would be, though I wouldn't know. But Sirius actually told me that before he and mum went into hiding from Voldemort, my dad was an Auror to, one of the best in fact." Harry said, looking down.
"Harry, I'm sorry, I just forgot." Molly said.
"No, it's okay, I've come to peace with it." Harry said.
Trying to get the conversation to a more cheerful topic, Ron said "I'm joining the Auror office to, but I'm putting my training off for a little while."
"Why?" Arthur asked.
"Because he's coming with me to Australia." Hermione said.
"Why are you 2 going to Australia?" Molly asked.
"Hermione modified her parents' memories so that they'd have no memory of her or of Harry to keep them safe and made them think that their life's dream was to move to Australia. Now she's going there to track them down and lift the charm and I'm going with her so I can properly meet my girlfriend's parents." Ron explained.
"Of course, and Hermione, are you going into the Auror office as well?" Molly asked.
"Actually, I spoke with Professor McGonagall before we left Hogwarts and she agreed to allow me to return for my 7th year to take my NEWTS." Hermione said.
"You must be the only person who actually wants to go back to school after skipping your last year." George said.
"Just because you didn't finish your 7th year of Hogwarts doesn't mean everyone doesn't want to." Hermione said.