Disclaimer: I don't own anything you see here. JK Rowling owns everything Harry-Potter related.
After finding his old four-poster bed in Gryffindor tower Harry slept for hours, and it was nearly dark by the time he woke up. Unable to find anyone he wanted to talk to (and wanting to avoid the noise and crowd of the Great Hall for the time being), he wandered through classroom after empty classroom, finding nobody, before reaching the library.
He gently eased open the library door, careful not to make it creak. He spotted her in the corner, curled up on a bench with a large leather-bound book open in her lap.
"I had a feeling I might find you here," he said, walking over to her. "Wizarding wars come and go, the world around will change, but Hermione Granger can always be found reading a library book."
She glanced up a t him, smiling ruefully.
"Hi Harry. Come and have a seat."She patted the bench next to her and Harry obliged.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
"I'm all right," she nodded, her fingers stroking the spine of her book absent-mindedly. "It's just so strange, you know? He's finally gone and it's all over – what are we going to do with our lives now that we're not fighting evil?"
"We'll find something to occupy ourselves, I'm sure," smiled Harry. Looking at the girl next to him, he was startled to see tears in her eyes. "Hey, Hermione- what's the matter?" He put an arm around her as her body began to shake with silent sobs. The book fell to the floor, forgotten for the moment.
"It's just so- so sad!" She cried through the tears that were now rolling freely down her cheeks. "It's not fair! T-Tonks and Lupin will never get to see their baby grow up, and Fred – Fred was only a few years older than us! Why did he have to die? It feels wrong to be- to be celebrating when so many people have died!" She buried her face in Harry's shoulder and he stroked her hair in an effort to comfort her.
"Hermione, listen to me – it's not your fault. We should be celebrating – do you think Fred Weasley, of all people, would want us to be crying and moping right now? If he was still alive right now he'd probably be setting off fireworks from the Astronomy Tower! He and everyone else who died tonight - even the underage wizards like Colin – died because they chose to be here, to stay and fight Voldemort. And I bet every one of them would do it again given the chance."
With a small sniffing noise Hermione stopped sobbing and glanced up at Harry.
"You think so?"
"I'm positive." He assured her. "Think about it. Everyone's safe now. People no longer have to worry about themselves or their families. Everyone knew what price they might have to pay when they came here, Hermione – just like you and Ron knew when you made the decision to come with me last year." He knew she couldn't argue with that logic.
"I suppose you're right." She sniffed again, and Harry fumbled in his robes for a handkerchief to give her. She took it gratefully.
The creaking of the door at that moment caused them both to jump and turn to look t the source of the noise. Ron was bounding toward them with a grin plastered on his face.
"Hey guys, where've you been? We're all in the Great Hall and Percy's just-oh." He stopped abruptly as he saw how Harry and Hermione were sitting.
"Ron," breathed Hermione, reaching an arm out, "I missed you, where've you been?"
But Ron stood frozen to the spot. Harry sighed deeply as he realised what Ron was thinking. He unhooked his arm from Hermione's.
"How many times do I have to tell you, mate? I fancy your sister!"
Hermione cottoned on at this point and nodded, staring back at Ron, willing him to understand.
"Oh," replied Ron simply, "yeah. I guess so." He shook his head and the expression cleared from his face, to be replaced by a smile as he joined them on the bench, on Hermione's other side. Hermione hit him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For doubting us," she replied.
"So what were you saying?" Harry prompted.
"Oh, yeah," continued Ron, "I was saying that Percy's just challenged George to an arm wrestle, but now I think I'll stay here with you-" Harry noticed that this comment seemed to be aimed at Hermione rather than himself as Ron gazed at her "-instead."
Hermione met his gaze with one of her own.
"Ron, how are the family? Is everyone, y'know, all right, after…?" she trailed off, unsure whether to say it aloud.
"It's OK Hermione, you can say it. Fred's gone. My brother died defending Hogwarts. Mum's a mess, she's crying on Dad's shoulder, but she'll be fine. George hasn't spoken since it happened – I think he might take a while longer to recover, he was closest to Fred. Bill and Charlie have thrown themselves into clearing up the mess and helping McGonagall restore the school. Percy's been blaming himself, says if he hadn't turned up when he did Fred would've seen the blast coming and got out of the way. As for Ginny," Ron paused for breath and looked from Hermione to Harry, "last time I saw her, she was looking for you, mate. You've got some explaining to do to her."
"I guess so." Harry stood up and was about to leave to find her when the redhead in question burst through the library door, shortly followed by Neville and Luna. Ginny strode across the room, hair fanning out behind her, and slapped Harry across the cheek.
"Ow!" He cupped his cheek in his hand to try to stop the stinging.
"Don't you – ever-" she pushed his chest for effect "-do that again, Potter, do you hear me? I thought – we thought – you were a goner! I thought – horrible things-" she gave up on punishing Harry and instead fell forward into his arms and began to cry noisily on his shoulder, causing him to exchange bewildered glances with Ron and Neville. Girls could be so confusing sometimes.
"Well done mate," Neville clapped Harry's shoulder as he went to sit on the bench beside Ron and Hermione, "I knew you could do it in the end. How does it feel to be the kid who defeated the darkest wizard of the twentieth century?"
"I couldn't have done it without you lot," Harry responded, still supporting Ginny, "you know that."
"Hi Harry," smiled Luna, who had been gazing around the library until now, "It's good to see you again."
"Er, you too, Luna" said Harry, who was now feeling quite uncomfortable, "Ginny, can we sit down?"
Ginny, sniffed and nodding, moving away from Harry so that they could both sit on the floor in front of the bench, which was now full. Luna joined them on the floor.
"So," began Neville, clearing his throat, "where have you three been this last year?"
And Harry talked. He told the others about the Death Eaters on Tottenham Court Road, about sneaking into the ministry, about camping in various parts of the country, about finding horcruxes and destroying them, about the Gringotts break in, about everything right up until Neville came out of the portrait in the Hog's Head.
As Harry talked, the others laughed, cried and gasped along with him. As he reached the end of his tale his gaze met Hermione's and she nodded as if in approval.
"I only have one more question!" began Neville after they had sat in silence for a few minutes, "What's next for the Golden Trio?"
"Well," started Hermione, "I'll have to go to Australia to bring my parents home."
"Hang on! You don't think for one second you're going on your own!" Ron exclaimed.
"Like hell are we letting you go without us!" Ginny seconded.
"Erm, well, I guess…" started Hermione.
"Forget it, Hermione, we're coming with you." stated Ron simply.
"All of you?" she asked the group, who all nodded their heads emphatically.
"Hermione, we all owe you a huge favour, me most of all," said Harry. "How many times have you saved all of our lives? Besides, Australia's a big place, and six of us can hopefully find your parents faster than you would on your own."
"But don't you all have family you want to spend time with? Things you need to sort out?" asked Hermione fretfully.
"Actually," said Neville, stretching and resting his arms behind his head, "I think I could do with a nice sunny holiday, after the year I've just had."
The others laughed, and even Hermione had to admit that he did have a point.
For the rest of the evening the six teenagers talked and laughed, hugged and cried, reliving past adventures and remembering people they had met – and lost – along the way. In a few days' time they would meet at Heathrow airport to begin their next adventure as friends, but for now they were content to just relax and enjoy each others' company. It had been a very taxing year for them all.