Harry's bare feet bled as he ran through the forbidden forest. The cackle of Voldemort followed. Explosions of green struck the black trees he bounded past. There would be no escape. He would be on his knees and the Dark Lord would win. Harry knew this and he kept running, desperate to hold onto life for a moment more.

His marathon seemed to last forever. The trees, bent at unnatural angles seemed to smirk at him as he fled and the laughter grew louder. It grew closer. There was no sweat, it was cold and it froze off him in an instant. There was no pain, he was numb beyond recognition. All he had was sight and fear.

The fear kept him running.

His sight brought him to a clearing.

There he collapsed, the adrenaline flooding from him. He closed his eyes and thought of Ginny.

'The greatest darkness is despair,

That which you should fear most, is fear itself

Hatred burns you and leaves the deepest scars

In the midst of warfare,

Despair

Fear

Hatred

Reign.

Yet only in the darkest hours can we shine

Amidst the brightest stars

The darkest hours may be over

But darkness still remains

Light will banish evil where it sees it

Light is love'

'What the f-'

'Language Mister'

Harry was suddenly staring up into fire. It caressed his face like silk. He was drowning in fire and it was heaven.

Everything began to make sense.

'Ginny?'

Brown eyes looked at him. Somewhere in his stomach, his heart stopped and leapt up to his throat. Those eyes could kill lesser men, he was certain. She had been crying, her eyes shone with tears and her pale skin was blotchy. However a smile tweaked at the corners of her mouth.

'Hello Harry,' she said. They held each other's eye. Harry was not unhappy to be lost in those eyes or that face but his vision, nightmare, whatever, came swimming back to him. He pulled away and shook his head.

'What's up Harry?' Ginny immediately pulled away to the other side of the bed. Harry was in his bed, the thick curtains pulled tight. Ginny was sat in a corner, close to the foot of the bed. Harry was held up by a pile of pillows. Ginny looked scared, as though Harry was about to throttle her. Harry pulled himself up, finding he'd been put into pale blue pyjamas, definitely not his own. He grabbed Ginny's hands and looked at her with all the kindness he could muster.

'Sorry, Gin. It's just, I don't know, I guess I just had a nightmare, but, it seemed more like a vision. I, I think I saw my mum. But she was, I don't know, like, warning me. Sorry for scaring you.' Harry smiled at her, aiming for warmth. This was what had kept him sane, the thought of this, this beauty so near to him, together. Screwing up wasn't an option. Ginny looked up at him with desperation, fear, terror, sadness, all mingling in and around her. He could leave the vision for a while. A pensive sounded like a wonderful idea.

'You're not going to leave are you?' It was a small voice she spoke with, a voice of uncertainty a voice of un-Ginny. The leaden lump returned to Harry's throat as the guilt of the pain he caused her trembled beneath him. With his eyes locked on that face, his problems drifted into obscurity for a moment. Perspective arrived. He had to be strong for her, for now, crumbling would do nothing.

'Never again Ginny. I fought this war, I went to finish Riddle, all for you, so I could hold you here and we could live in peace.'

Ginny's smile reached to her eyes just a little bit more.

'So you don't mind me crawling back up there with you?' she asked, her voice still small.

'When has Ginny Weasley ever asked for permission?'

Ginny crawled up, laying her head on his chest. Without thought Harry wrapped his arms around her slim frame, pushing her hair off her face and out of her eyes. Together they fell into restorative slumber.

'What the hell, Harry!' Ron stood above Harry and Ginny as they stirred with a face of thunder. Harry, being blind without his glasses, didn't realise the murderous look on Ron's face.

"Ello, Ron,' he said, moving his hand out from underneath Ginny, who had remained half-asleep. He wiped his eyes, clearing them of sleep. After much fumbling he had his glasses on and looked up at Ron who had remained glaring. Presumably he'd been glued to his spot by anger, or some fantastical creature Luna knew of.

'What the hell are you doing, Harry?'

'Sleeping, mate,'

'With my sister?' Ron raised an eyebrow. Harry looked at Ginny, who was still only half aware of what was going on. With a look of panic as he realised what Ron had found he looked up at his best mate.

'Shit.'

"Arry, wass happenin'?' Ginny mumbled as she began to sit up with a yawn.

'Ron happened,' replied Harry.

Ginny stretched with another yawn, Covering her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked at Ron, blinking to keep herself from falling back to sleep.

'Bugger off Ron,'

'Gin'! You two haven't seen each other for a year and the first thing you do is jump into bed together! It's not right!'

Ginny leapt out of bed and advanced on Ron. She was well awake now and her ire was well and truly up. To Ron's credit, he didn't look scared. Harry was. It had only taken a few wrong words and Ginny had gone from peaceful and half-awake to exploding with anger. Definitely impressive.

'Don't you think I don't know we haven't seen each other for a year! Don't you think I haven't missed him every single day! He was having a nightmare and I was there for him, and yes we slept in the same bed. BECAUSE HE NEEDED ME! Like I needed him. Grow up Ron.

'The War changed things, I'm not going to miss a minute with Harry just because my brother doesn't like it. Things are still bad. The war's over but the hurt's still there. We're all hurthing, y'know, that was the first proper night of sleep I've had since you three took off? I bet it was Harry's too!' They both looked at Harry, expectantly. He looked at Ginny, she'd hit the nail on the head with every sentence.

'She's right, Ron.' Harry pulled himself up and out of bed and walked round the bed to stand next to Ginny. His heart beat a little faster when she took hold of his hand.

'But Harry!' Ron wailed, looking at the couple, imploring them to understand his distress.

At that moment Hermione walked in.

'What is going on in here you three? I'd forgotten waking up to a Weasley argument. Definitely didn't miss that!' Hermione seemed unusually cheerful. Harry looked at her baffled. Taking a shot in the dark, he reckoned she was hiding her true hurt to help those most in need first. Logical, sensible and so very Hermione.

"Mione! They slept in the same bed, all night!' Ron wailed at her, knowing she'd understand.

'And? We slept in the same bed all night.' Ginny stared at Ron.

'You filthy, little, hypocrite,' her fingers curled around her wand. Ron took a step back and found himself, literally, with his back to the wall. A cold, three metre thick, magically enchanted, Hogwarts wall.

'Ron, mate. I understand why you're pissed. It's alright, I forgive you. I think you really understand the truth. But you have been a prat, so I'm going for a shower now, I don't want to face this day stinking. I expect you out by the time I return, and I fully expect Ginny to help you leave.'

Harry winked at Ginny and walked out, grabbing his wand off the nightstand. It was his wand, it felt right in his hand. He'd never return for the Elder Wand, it would remain, like the rest of the Hallows, forgotten. Dumbledore would clutch it in his hand for eternity; where it belonged.

With a smile on his face, the first in a long time, Harry shut the bathroom door. As he turned on the shower he heard the distinctive flapping followed by Ron's scream. Bat Bogey's had returned and life seemed to have a brighter horizon.

A/N: Okay, this little tale here. Don't really know where it's going, just thought it'd be interesting to see the reaction it caused and see if it had any life in it. I'm attempting the 19 years thing, but focus on Harry and Ginny. Reviews are lovely things, but only to tell me if you think this has potential.

Oh, please don't think that this is going to be totally light-hearted. I think generally this will have to be a light-hearted story because its about rebuilding, but there are dark moments, because Harry Potter is dark. With this I wanted to show that they'd all felt an emotional lift and they were enjoying that. They will be brought crashing back down to earth next chapter.

Regards,

Somesets