Disclaimer: I don't own the Potterverse, I wish though.
Harry woke up with a start. He grabbed his wand and his glasses at the same time. When his eyes and wand were both up to speed, he checked his surroundings to find the source of his sudden departure from a deep dreamless sleep. A movement in the corner of the familiar room caught his eye. He had the curse half out of his mouth before he recognized Ron.
"Take it easy mate, it's just me." Ron said, hands up in a defensive gesture.
"You startled me…" Harry started, then drifted off into silence.
"You've got a right to still be a little jumpy there, I would have hexed him if it had been me." Neville's voice came from behind the curtains of his four poster bed.
" What time is it?" Harry asked, wondering how much sleep he had gotten.
" It's about 9:30" Ron said checking his pocket watch.
"At night?! I slept all day?" Harry exclaimed, jumping out of bed.
"Try in the morning, you're still on yesterday time mate, you slept all day and all night, but no worries no one's mad at you but mum's been waiting to get some food into you."
"Food is definitely on my list of things to get done today." Harry half muttered to himself. He pulled on his clothes and robes slowly, still orientating himself to the date.
" A shower wouldn't kill you either you know." Ron said, sniggering.
"Is it that bad?" Harry asked giving himself a discreet sniff.
"Right now our ghoul has nothing on you."
"Shower first, then food, then… hell I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now."
"Hermione's got some ideas, she's been talking about coming back to Hogwarts next fall, and I guarantee she'll try to rope you in as well." Harry thought about Ron's words as he made his way to the bathroom. The hot water pouring down his back felt like heaven to him. When he made it back to his dorm room, Ron and Neville had been joined by Seamus and Dean.
" Morning Harry." Seamus said, but he looked like he wanted to say more, or say less.
"Morning, if you need me, I'll be in the Great Hall stuffing a years worth of food in my face." Harry tried to be blasé but he felt that the others may have seen through his façade.
Harry passed many people in the halls on his way down to his breakfast, some he knew as students, others, he had no clue who they were, but they all greeted him in some way or another. When he finally made it to the Great Hall he was already exhausted from the greetings. He paused at the doors and considered just going back to his dorm and having a house elf bring him something to eat, but he knew that the people waiting for him to appear needed to be reassured by his presence, that by simply being alive, it meant they were safe, that their families were safe. Harry felt as if the weight of the world was still on his shoulders. He sighed, then entered the room.
At first the people eating breakfast swamped Harry again, but Molly Weasley intervened. She wrapped one arm around Harry's shoulders and gave her famous impression of a mountain lion.
"This boy needs to eat, and the first person I see bothering him will have to deal with me." Harry gave her a winning smile.
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."
"Not at all Harry, now you come sit over here with us and eat something, you're looking peaky and so thin…" Mrs. Weasley trailed off as she led Harry to the table where all the Weasleys were eating. Harry took a seat between Mr. Weasley and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley piled food onto his plate and then tried to smooth his hair. Harry began eating, listening to the conversations going on around him.
"They don't know how long it's going to take, but their hopeful it won't be long before the ministry is completely back to normal. I hear they're going to hire a lot more muggleborns, and possibly even some squibs." Percy was telling Hermione.
"Why would they hire squibs? It's not like they can actually do anything." Ron said around a mouthful of eggs.
"Honestly Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed as some of Ron's breakfast made it's way into her hair. "The ministry was decimated during the war, there aren't a lot of wizards left who used to work there, and besides squibs could be quite useful there, they could take over doing paperwork or helping clean up the mess and debris. No one in this world or any world is good for nothing, everyone can contribute in their own way." Hermione's eyes had taken on the familiar gleam that Harry and Ron associated with S.P.E.W.. Ron raised his hands in a submissive gesture.
"Alright alright, don't take my head off." Harry had thought about what Hermione said, that everyone was good for something.
"I think it'd be a really good idea to include the squibs more in the magical world." Harry said, and was a little embarrassed by the sudden silence around him. " I mean, not just squibs, there are a lot of people in the wizarding world that get a bad deal." He started. He knew what he was going to say next was probably going to shock or possibly offend a lot of his friends. " I think that if the ministry had been more involved in caring for those who are cast aside from the wizarding world, then maybe… I mean what if the ministry had run an orphanage for witches and wizards, if Tom Riddle had been raised by people like himself, people who understood him… I'm not saying he didn't have serious flaws in whatever it is that makes us who we are but… it's just not coming out right!" Harry exclaimed.
" I think what Harry means is that if there are services available to people like Riddle's mum, maybe we could have prevented what happened, or lessened it…" Ron started, looking unsure. Harry shot him a grateful smile, and Ron grinned back.
" Oh boys!" Mrs. Weasley cried and grabbed both Harry and Ron into a hug that left them both panting for air. " A mother hopes and hopes her sons will grow into kind compassionate men, but when it happens she can't believe it. To think, after all you've been through you can find compassion and sympathy for even the most evil of men!" She hugged them again. Harry had a vague notion that Mrs. Weasley had included him with Ron in the category of her sons.
"Molly, Molly! The boys can't breathe" Mr. Weasley pried Mrs. Weasley off of Ron and Harry. They both gave him grateful looks, however Ron's relief was short lived, however, because Hermione hugged him too with a cry of " Oh Ron!" He didn't look too bothered though, as Hermione proceeded to kiss him senseless.
"This is going to be worse than Bill and Fleur" Ginny said, standing at Harry's elbow. For one moment Harry forgot how to breathe, everything in the whole world was centered on Ginny's face. Without stopping to think, all the love and worry he had felt for her over the year came flooding into his eyes. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the passion and love his heart and soul. For those moments that felt like golden eternity Harry felt nothing, heard nothing but Ginny.
"Should we interrupt them before Ron comes up for air?" Percy asked uncertainly.
"No son, let them be, they've earned these few minutes of happiness." Mr. Weasley said gently, then pulled his wife into a hug.
A few moments later Ron caught sight of Harry and Ginny, he was about to rudely interrupt but Hermione gave him a smile and a look. He sighed.
"I guess I'm not allowed to say anything about this… right now" Ron said, Hermione smiled and kissed his forehead.
"Ron, you're just going to get over the fact that Harry and Ginny are completely and totally in love."
"I guess so, but if it was anyone other than Harry there would be some serious pain going around." Ron said, glaring. The rest of the Weasleys laughed and went back to their breakfasts.
When Harry finally pulled away from Ginny, he didn't let go. He just stared at her.
"You are the most beautiful woman in the whole of all the worlds."
"You're just saying that because I let you snog me." Ginny said with a laugh
"There's that too" Harry said with a laugh, and pulled her close to him. " I never want to be away from you again."
"I'll need to shower and sleep sometime Harry"
"You'll learn the joys of a 2 minute shower" Ginny laughed and pulled Harry down onto the bench. Harry was quite sure he'd never been as happy as he was at that moment.