Building a Life.

Chapter 1: After War

Disclaimer - Harry Potter, other characters and situations are owned by J.K. Rowling and her licensees. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended.

Summary – Post DH. EWE. No slash. Can Harry Potter have a normal life? Or is he destined to be different. What will Harry do with his life? What is his goal? What will he build up to?

Pairings – This story will have a pairing. All suggestions are welcome. No slash request please. No multi/harem requests please.

Chapter 1 –

12 Grimmauld Place, 27th June 1999.

More than a year had passed since the Great Battle of Hogwarts. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, The-Man-Who-Conquered or just Harry as he liked to think of himself, was on a self-imposed exile. It had been months since he had met or talked to someone else. It was not that he was punishing himself or someone else. It just kind of happened.

Sitting on a couch in the lounge, with a glass of Firewhiskey, Harry reminisced about the past year.

Flashback

A lot had changed for Harry over the past year. After the battle, was a time of mourning. Many good people died in the Second War. Harry attended almost all the funerals. He felt that the sacrifices made by these people were much greater than his own. After all, when you looked at it, it was his war to fight. He didn't have a choice. He would have had to battle Voldemort in any case. Even if he had run, Harry was sure Voldemort would have searched for him and eventually caught him. But other people had a choice. They could fight or run. They could have ran away to some other country, or just hidden away in their homes. Yet they had chosen to fight. To oppose what was wrong. This made them true heroes.

Some of the funerals were hard for Harry to attend. One such funeral was that of Remus and Nymphadora Lupin. Remus was Harry's last connection to his parents. Though he had not spent as much time with the couple as he would have liked, Harry felt their loss greatly. It was at this funeral that Harry finally met his godson Edward 'Teddy' Remus Lupin. Seeing the small child waving his arms and changing hair color, Harry had a look of wonder on his face and tears in his eyes. He vowed to be a good and responsible Godfather for the child. At the close of the funeral, Andromeda Tonks had a small talk with Harry. She had let Harry know that she was quite comfortable in raising Teddy and to let her know when he was ready to assume his responsibilities. She knew that Harry had suffered greatly in the war and bore a lot of guilt. She reminded him that there was no rush and to take his time.

The funeral for Fred Weasley was also heart-breaking. Looking at George, Harry was not sure if the man would survive. George had not spoken to anyone since the battle. He was always looking at something far away. Seeing the desolate expressions on the faces of the Weasley family members, Harry couldn't help the guilt rising up inside of him. Mrs. Weasley was crying throughout, while Mr. Weasley kept checking all the arrangements in the hopes of keeping himself busy. Ron was being comforted by Hermione and Harry was trying to do the same for Ginny.

After the funerals, Harry knew he still had one responsibility left. Gringotts. Harry knew the goblins held him, Ron and Hermione responsible for the damage to the Gringotts building and the loss of the Dragon. He also knew that, Hero or not, the Goblins may still execute him and his friends. And Harry wanted to put all this mess behind him, before he even allowed himself to think of a new Voldemort free life. He was also determined to protect his friends.

With these intensions, Harry had gone to the goblins alone. The meeting had been intense and a lot of sharp objects were drawn, yet thankfully no blood was spilt. After explaining his full story and reasons, Harry had been released after paying a hefty fine. Ron and Hermione's fines were also recovered from his vaults after his insistence. As Harry saw it, they were following his lead and hence bore no responsibility.

Harry had learnt many new things at Gringotts. As he was over seventeen now, he was the Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient Houses of Potter and Black. With this came two seats on the Wizengamot as well as vast fortunes and many investments throughout the wizarding and muggle world.

Once this final obstacle had been cleared, Harry had started to dream of a normal life again. He had gotten together with Ginny shortly, hoping to resume his relationship from where he had left off. Sadly, over the next few months he realized, this was not to be. Harry had realized that both he and Ginny had changed a lot. No longer was he the same boy from his Sixth Year. He had realized that he had grown up. Though it seemed that Ginny had not, or atleast didn't want to grow up. To escape from the grief, Ginny turned to the fame that came with being the girlfriend of Harry Potter. She loved going to the parties and celebrations, taking Harry along with her. Harry had gone with her a few times but as it started to become an almost daily occurrence, Harry had put his foot down and broken up with her.

This had caused a lot of tension. The Weasley family had been angry with him for breaking their little girl's heart. A lot of this were said that day. What hurt Harry the most was that, no one tried to understand his side of things. Not even Hermione. Harry could see in her eyes that she knew that Harry was not at fault and yet she chose to remain silent. Not wanting to disturb her relationship with Ron.

After that day, Harry truly felt alone again. As alone as he felt when he was a small child growing up with the Dursleys. Harry had confided in Andromeda and told her everything. She had reassured Harry that he had done the right thing. Harry had asked her if it ok for him to disappear for some time as he needed some time to sort himself out. Andromeda had told him that it was perfectly fine and to take his time.

With that Harry had disappeared from the Wizarding World. Raising the wards at Grimmauld Place so that no one else could enter, Harry entered his self-imposed exile with just Kreacher for company. The first couple of months, Harry spent around moping and drinking. Guilt over all the deaths made its appearance regularly. Nightmares became a constant thing. Finally, one day after staying wake for forty-eight hours straight and four bottles of Firewhiskey later, Harry somehow managed a lucid and sober thought. He was wasting away his life. He was wasting away all the sacrifices made by everyone. By his parents. By Sirius. By Cedric. That thought caused Harry to sober up.

Author's Note –

I am willing to freely admit that my English is not the best out there. Though I think it is sufficient to get my point across. This fic will feature a Harry trying hard for a normal life. To be his own person. As such there won't be any more battles or Dark Lords in this fic. This fic is about exploring the possibility of Harry having a normal life in Wizarding World. Do not worry Harry won't be a wuss and all this guilt and drinking and stuff will stop forever in the next chapter.

Reviews are greatly appreciated. Don't mind flames as well, so long as they are about the story and not the English.