A/N Key: In the A/Ns, bold is me, Lil' Llama, and italics are my Story Collaborator, LlamaiiiiXlovesXSeddie. Who is totally awesome. Oh Shush. =P
A/N: Welcome Harry Potter FanFic Readers! I am the author of this little story I like to call "Live, Laugh, Love". But I call it 'Bumper Tiddly-winks and the furry Has-beens'. What? Okay not really… Any way… In this story are the heroes of the Wizarding World, among other important characters in the Harry Potter Series, and their lives after the Last Battle- from the morning after to the Epilogue and maybe longer. I do have a co-author, LlamaiiiiXlovesXseddie, who criticizes -and fixes and edits!- the chapters before I post them and writes a bit –A BIT? A BIT? ONLY 'A BIT'?- herself. Okay now you can greet the readers… HI! …. *crickets* … Is that it? Yep. Pretty much. Alright, also we are looking for someone to help in ideas and editing so if you are interested please 'Personal Mail' me. Okay, so who thought it was a good idea to abbreviate that 'PMs'? Really? To my loyal readers this is a rewrite of the 1st chapter and Chapter 2 once you finish this one. Anyway maybe I should get on with it.
Disclaimer: I'm not Rowling. I just enjoy writing about the peoples she has created and adding my own character's to the mix. *Sigh* But alas, I do not own anything Harry Potter no matter how much I wish I did. But I do own my socks! Actually wait… bad example my mom bought those…um… OH! My iPod I totally own my iPod Touch. That I completely bought with my very own cash that I worked hard for…Hmmm… maybe if I named it Harry…
Scuffling noises and muttering could be heard as Harry's eyes blinked open. The familiar blur of the room came into focus after Harry searched the bedside table with his fingertips feeling for his glasses, and upon locating them, he put on his glasses. He pulled himself upright with his arms, sitting up in his bed. Ron was on the other side of the circular room putting on a red tee, making his red hair to flare brighter than it already was.
"Mornin' mate," Ron mumbled, walking into the lavatory and wetting down a comb before running it through his hair, wetting it again and repeating the process over and over again. Harry heard him humming a song, which he couldn't name.
"Ron, what are you doing?"
"Hmmm? Nothing… just… uh… getting ready for breakfast. You better hurry if you want to get any, 'cause I'm starving," he said still looking in the mirror before turning back and entering the bedroom.
"I'm not particularly that hungry this morning, Ron. Thanks though."
"Hmm… Okay," he said kind of distracted. "Oh, Kreacher brought some clothes from Grimmauld Place for you." Ron pointed to some clothes on the bed next to Harry's, before exiting, once more humming.
Harry got up and showered for fifteen minutes, just letting the stress in his muscles roll off with the grime and dirt in the hot water. He dried off and changed into the warm grey tee and midnight blue sweatshirt, and jeans. He shook his hair out before flattening it as much as possible. Harry left the bathroom and walked over to one of the three windows in the dormitory room. Through the glass Harry saw a small light blue bird singing and hopping around on a nearby roof. Little dot people strolled the grounds. Harry glimpsed a well-known red haired dot walking towards the Entrance Hall.
"Ginny," he whispered.
He trotted down the steps to the vacant Common Room before exiting the portrait into the once beautiful corridors that, in some places, was reduced to rubble and dust. The occasional witch or wizard patrolled the halls or repaired a hole in the castle wall. Each and everyone smiled and waved at him, and Harry smiled distractedly back.
Once he reached the Grand Staircase his confidence hit rock-bottom as he recalled the deaths of Fred, Tonks, and Remus; All of them that had been killed last night. Grief spread through him as the staircase changed course. Ginny was probably devastated at her brother's death, and wouldn't feel like talking.
"And Ginny isn't very talkative as it is," Harry thought to himself. He slowed his pace as he sauntered down the stairs watching his feet as he went to avoid stares, and bumped into to someone at the base of the stairs. Harry looked up to discover this person to be Neville, with Luna next to him.
"Harry!" Neville exclaimed as he turned around.
"It's nice to see you alive again," Luna said in her quiet and mystical voice.
"It's nice to see you guys too. I'm glad that you are both okay," spoke Harry.
"Well, we both got beat up a bit; Luna mostly scratches, but I got a broken nose," he said as if trying to impress, "which Luna skillfully repaired." Luna smiled in an airy way. "I also got a giant gash on my back from Greyback that Madame Pomfrey said will scar badly," Neville accounted quite proudly.
"Well, I'm still pleased to see that neither of you are perm-," Harry broke off a moment as he noticed over Neville's shoulder, Ginny exit the Entrance Hall. "-anently injured. Could you excuse me?" he said focused on the red head, "Maybe we can all get butterbeers later so we can catch up," he offered, still looking past them.
"Yeah, no problem Harry," Neville answered as Luna nodded, humming quietly to herself.
Harry thanked them then jogged after Ginny before being noticed by Mrs. Weasley in the entry way of the Great Hall. He forced himself to stop as he glimpsed Ginny walking off towards the lake.
"Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley cooed, hugging him tightly then releasing him and patting his cheek lovingly. "Are you all right? Any scrapes and bruises? You gave us quite a scare last night. Let us go have Madame Pomfrey take a look at you."
"I'm quite alright, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you though. And I'm sure Madame Pomfrey has enough problems on her hands as it is," he stopped her before she could drag him to the Hospital Wing.
Mr. Weasley kindly smiled at Harry from behind Mrs. Weasley's right ear. He had aged much since Harry had seen him at the wedding. He now braced his left leg with a wooden cane.
On Mrs. Weasley's other side were Ron and Hermione standing a pace from each other rather awkwardly. Ron blinked slowly and smiled slightly forlornly at Harry. Hermione, with her arms nervously crossed, one hand uneasily rubbing her neck where a thin scar had formed, smiled weakly.
"Yes, you're probably right-," she started.
"Molly? Might I take Mr. Potter off your hands for a moment?" Professor McGonagall interrupted as she came up to the five of them.
"Certainly, Minerva."
"Potter, may we talk in a more secluded spot?"
"Of course, Professor."
The two walked down to McGonagall's office, just a corridor down from the headmaster's office. They entered the room that was decorated vibrantly in red and gold.
"Where dwell the brave at heart, their daring nerve and chivalry, Set Gryffindors apart…" was shimmering on a large stone wall. Pictures of Gryffindors surrounded the quote. Year after year of the next graduating class saying their last farewell. Quidditch teams were in a section all to themselves. Harry noticed his first year photo from '92 was directly in the center, next to a photo of his father's team. In the center of the room was a mahogany desk with a toucan on a perch, watching Harry's every move. She motioned for him to sit in a chair with red dragon hide leather upholstery. He did so and she sat on her side of the desk.
"Potter, I am sure that not only myself, but the Order as well, have been wondering what you been up to the past few months. Last night in your duel with Lord Voldemort you briefly mentioned horcruxes. Would you care to explain just what you meant?"
"Truthfully Professor, I was told to not tell anyone, with the exception of Ron and Hermione, by Dumbledore. And I would like to keep my promise."
"Ah." she said understandingly, "I was merely curious, but if that is what Dumbledore instructed you to do I will not pry anymore. Now," she said, changing her tone, "what are you planning to do, seeing as Lord Voldemort is gone for good?"
"Honestly I don't know, Professor. Every moment of my life for the past seven years has been devoted to taking down Voldemort once and for all, but now it's all over. I had no idea that it would be over so quickly. I thought that it would be years before the final duel, but in reality it was just around the corner."
"Hmmm…,"she said thoughtfully pondering his response. "What about returning to school next semester?"
"No… I had more than enough attention from the other students before this, but now I would never be without a pack of fans following me everywhere. Girls would never leave me alone for a moment. No, I just want to settle down quietly for a bit before jumping back into life. I need time to think and process certain things. After that I might become an auror, but until then I just want to spend time with loved ones."
"I understand. Every wound is tender, even as it begins to heal. Life, among other things, will sting for awhile. We may have scars that never fully heal, and the pain sometimes comes back years later, but we must ease the hurting as best we can."
Harry nodded in understanding. He blinked thoughtfully, reflecting on the loss in his life over the years. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, and Fred were only a few of the hundreds that had lost their lives defending the cause and their families.
"Well thank you, Mr. Potter," she said standing. "Perhaps we can talk more at another time."
"Yes, of course, Professor," he said standing and shaking her hand before exiting the office and heading back toward the Entrance Hall with his hands in his pockets. As he walked his mind wandered to another time and place until he was awakened by a sweet familiar voice.
"Harry!"
He quickly turned in the direction of the sound, to see Ginny trotting towards him. He smiled a bit and as she approached she returned a light smile. Bruises and scratches we strewn over her arms, legs, and face. Her eyes were puffy and had dark rings under them.
"Gin."
"Hey, we're all heading home to the Burrow, Hermione is too- Ron insisted," she laughed. "Mum sent me to look for you, to see if you wanted to come. We are flooing through the Defense Against the Dark Arts room."
"Yeah, sure." he said smiling, waiting for a movement towards their implied destination.
"Okay." she replied, a slight awkwardness seemed to fill the space around them.
"Yep." He nodded, trying to get her to start walking but she just stood there, rocking on her heels.
"Mmmhmm…"
"Should we go?" he offered.
"Oh- uh- yeah. Probably. Mum gets impatient even more quickly when emotions run high, and you know what she's like."
Harry nodded in understanding, as they headed in the direction of the classroom. The two quietly walked side-by-side down the corridor. A few moments passed, until Ginny broke the silence.
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"What, exactly, happened last night?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know, when Hagrid came out of the forest carrying you, and Voldemort said," the emotion in her voice started to rise, "… said that you tried to runaway and that you were dead and… and…" By now tears had begun to well in her eyes. Harry stopped and lovingly but firmly grabbed her arms and looked into her brown eyes.
"What you have to know, Ginny, is that I would never ask you to risk your lives for me and then leave you all to die."
Ginny nodded and sniffed.
"Now, Snape before he died revealed that I was the last piece of the puzzle to destroying Voldemort. Kind of like Riddle's diary, there was a piece of Voldemort inside me that would let him come back, but he didn't know I had it. In fact I didn't know I had it. Do you remember the prophecy: "Neither can live while the other survives"?"
Ginny seemed to understand and more tears welled in her eyes.
"I went into to the forest to find him, because only he could kill me and I didn't fight back."
"So you were… ac-actually …dead?"
"Not really. Voldemort only destroyed the piece of himself. When Hagrid carried me out of the forest I was alive and only pretending to be dead. I covered myself with my cloak and hid. But I'm here now Ginny," he said looking in her eyes, "I'm alive and I'm not going anywhere."
Ginny sniffed again and smiled weakly. She hugged him and then they began to walk wordlessly, until this time Harry broke the silence.
"Your were the last thing I thought of."
"What?"
"Well I didn't know I was going to live, so I thought of you before…" they stopped a ways away from the Defense Against the Dark Arts door, "Before the Killing curse."
Ginny looked deep into Harry's eyes before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Harry returned the favor for several seconds when, voices could be heard down the corridor a bit.
"What's taking them so long? Mum's getting impa- Oi!"
Harry and Ginny looked up to see Bill, Charlie, George, and Ron standing mid-stride dumbstruck 20 ft from them. Ron, with his jaw-dropped had apparently been the one to shout at them.
George whispered, "I think we found out what took them so long," but nobody laughed as the two separated.
Bill and Charlie both had expressions on the faces as though many thoughts of murder were running through their minds. Fortunately Mr. Weasley popped his head out of the door.
"Boys! Did you find them?" he said and in a quieter tone, "You know how your mother is when she grows impatient."
"Uh – yeah, Dad. They were – just walking down the corridor," Ron said as they turned and headed back.
Bill and Charlie turned and glared at Harry occasionally, to which Ginny responded to by rolling her eyes.
"You know," George started, "It looked more as though they were eating each other…"
A/N Key: In the A/Ns, bold is me, Lil' Llama, and italics are my Story Collaborator, LlamaiiiiXlovesXSeddie. Who is totally awesome. Oh Shush. =P
A/N: Hold your applause! Please hold you're applause! Ten times better than the original Chapter 1. Agreed! New readers I thank you for choosing 'Live, Laugh, Love'. Please review and read the second chapter, review and then the third and so on and so forth. Your comments are VERY much appreciated. Even if you are one of my loyal readers review telling me if you like this better! I know it's kinda focused on Harry and Ginny, but I'm trying to incorporate them in more. Don't worry the next Chapter is fairly Ron/Hermione-y-ish. Yay! Byeee!