Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.

A/N: A special thanks to my beta MinistryMalcontent.

Chapter 1: Reunion

Somewhere in Scotland stood the proud castle of Hogwarts. Once it was a safe haven and a school. Now it was a war zone. The Great Hall was filled with the bodies of the dead and their grieving families, most corridors lay in ruins. But the bodies can be buried, the damages can be repaired. What is harder to repair are the lives and families that have been ripped apart in the hours before the self-styled Dark Lord Voldemort was defeated by Harry Potter, aka The-Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One, or as they called him now, The-Boy-Who-Vanquished.

Said boy was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with a plate of sandwiches in front of him, brought by his loyal house elf Kreacher. Ron and Hermione had retreated to the boys' dorm, and Harry was loathe to interrupt them, so the Common Room was quiet at the moment. Just as Harry liked it. It gave him time to mourn the losses of the war, to mourn the loss of Remus, Tonks, Fred and Colin. If it was up to Harry none of them should have died. If he only was a bit quicker or more clever...

Little did Harry know that the silence would soon be shattered by the arrival of the one girl he had wanted to speak with since the battle ended, but was too afraid to do so.

The portrait hole opened to allow the entrance of a mane of fiery red hair, followed by the rest of Harry's ex-girlfriend Ginny Weasley. Harry smiled and stood up quickly only to be met by a fiery gaze, her chocolate brown eyes burning with a righteous fire.

Before Harry could react, Ginny stormed towards him and slapped him on his right cheek, hard.

"THAT IS FOR NOT CONTACTING ME!" the redhead shouted.

Before Harry could recover or respond she had slapped his left cheek.

"THAT IS FOR ASKING ME TO STAY OUT OF THE BATTLE!"

And before Harry could blink, he had bats flying out of his nose. Harry tried to slap them away, vowing never to piss Ginny off ever again.

"AND THAT IS FOR PRETENDING TO BE DEAD!"

But a moment later the bats where gone, and Ginny was kissing him, hard, and all conscious thought and shock left Harry at once while he kissed her back.

"And that is for being alive," Ginny said more softly.

After the kiss ended Harry looked in the bright brown eyes of Ginny.

"Hi," Harry said still in a daze.

By unspoken agreement Ginny and Harry sat back on the couch, Ginny in Harry's lap. Harry put his arms around her, and Ginny snuggled closer into the embrace.

"I guess I better explain things," Harry said, staring down at Ginny.

"You don't have to," Ginny said softly.

"I want to, but please promise to hold back your reactions till I'm done," Harry said just as softly.

"You are going to explain about the Horcruxes?" Ginny asked, pulling back a bit and looking to Harry.

"How did you know about them?" Harry asked, shocked.

"You don't grow up with George and ..." Ginny began, but instead of finishing the sentence she broke out crying. But Harry knew what she was about to say.

"I'm sorry, if it wasn't for me..." Harry began, but Ginny broke him off with a watery glare.

"If you finish that sentence I'm going to have to bat-bogey you again!"

And Harry thought she meant it, but still it was his...

"And if you finish that thought I will bat-bogey you too!" Ginny said still glaring at Harry.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Harry asked incredulously.

"It is written all over your face, Potter. F-Fred's death is not your fault, nor are those of Remus and Tonks or Colin, or any of the other deaths. They choose to fight for a better future," Ginny said, her voice becoming stronger with each word.

"But..." Harry began, stopping once Ginny picked up her wand and pointed it at him.

"Good, now about the Horcruxes?" Ginny said.

And so Harry explained everything: how the diary was a Horcrux, how Dumbledore had figured from there that Tom Riddle had multiple Horcruxes, how they had broken into the Ministry of Magic to recover the locket, the effect of the locket, the events of Malfoy Manor, the break-in into Gringotts to recover the cup, everything about the Deathly Hallows, and how he himself was a Horcrux

"... My last thought before the killing curse hit me was of our first kiss. I choose to come back for a chance of a future, for you and me," Harry concluded softly.

Harry saw Ginny looking at him, and saw that she was nearly in tears again, and pulled her into a fierce hug, which she returned with equal fervour.

The two sat like that for a long time, till Ginny spoke up again.

"So, what now? What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know. Maybe marry the girl of my dreams someday, start a family of my own," Harry said wistfully.

"And who would this lucky lady be?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'll know it when I meet her," Harry said, but inside thought You.

"What about you, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"I always wanted to play professional Quidditch, make a name for myself, and then maybe start a family," Ginny said while studying Harry's face.

"Yeah, we have time. We don't have to get married tomorrow after all," Harry said while holding Ginny close.

The couple sat like that for a while longer, till they both fell asleep. And that is how the rest of the Weasley family found them a couple of hours later. None of the family members felt the need to separate them, and let them be. If this continued Arthur would have to discuss the Weasley curse with Harry somewhere in the near future.