Author's Note: For purposes of my fic, the battle took place over the night of May 14-15. It's my first one, so please be kind. Read and review, please. Oh, and I'm looking for a beta... if you're interested, just let me know.

And I don't own any of it. If you think I do, you're mad.

May 15, 1998 - one day after the Battle of Hogwarts

Harry Potter was slowly stirred to wakefulness in his four-poster. He didn't want to wake up; he had missed his comfortable bed in Gryffindor Tower. A borrowed tent in the middle of nowhere and a cramped cottage could not compare to the creature comforts Hogwarts could offer. Even right after the fiercest battle wizardkind had ever seen.

Of course, Harry could be excused if he wanted nothing more than to sleep. The defeat of Voldemort had only marked the beginning of yet another long day. There had been everyone wishing him congratulations, a task that soon became an unwelcome chore. Then there had been the casualties of the battle. The dead – Remus, Tonks, Colin – had all been carefully laid on stretchers, covered with white cloths, and placed in a classroom near the Entrance Hall. Flitwick had placed a strong Freezing Charm on the room so the dead would be kept in a pristine state. The wounded were under the care of Madam Pomfrey, except for some serious cases that had been taken to St. Mungo's. Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, and Cho Chang had all been sent there, although, Harry was gratified to know, none had life-threatening injuries.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters had, of course, not been accorded the same treatment. The two dozen or so of their number who had died had all been placed on crude funeral pyres and cremated the very morning of the battle. It seemed harsh, but no one was feeling particularly solicitous towards them – not when there were more than twice their number lying dead inside the castle. Harry himself had lit Voldemort's pyre; Hermione had lit Bellatrix Lestrange's; and Ron lit Rookwood's. Other members of the Order and the DA did the same for the rest of the dead dark wizards.

"Harry, wake up. Professor McGonagall wants to see you." Harry heard a voice through the fog of his drowsiness. He began fumbling for his glasses, but a pair of hands, softer than his, placed those in his hands. They were familiar. Ginny, he realized. He put his glasses on. She had a wry grin on. Her eyebrows pointed toward the other occupied bed in the dormitory. Hermione was trying to wake a snoring Ron.

Both Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione had sneaked off after dinner, trying to find somewhere private to talk. So, it seemed, had every other student not under the care of Madam Pomfrey. The adults, for their part, had regarded this with something between amusement and understanding. Harry and Ginny had spent what seemed like an eternity talking. About the past year, the battle... and the losses. Fred. Lupin. Tonks. It didn't make up for what the year they'd lost, but Harry was grateful for it nonetheless. For the first time in... years, it seemed like, Harry felt like he had a future to look forward to. And he fully intended for the redhead now waking him up to be a part of it.

Meanwhile, Hermione had had no success waking Ron up. He was still fast asleep. She sighed. She cast a quick Silencing Charm on the door, and a Sonorus on herself. On cue, Harry and Ginny stuffed fingers into their ears. "RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!!!!" the magically magnified voice echoed in the dorm. Ron quickly woke up, and promptly fell out of his bed and ended up at Hermione's feet. Harry and Ginny could not help themselves, and laughed.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. Can't you let people sleep? I was in the middle of a good dream..."

"Did it involve you, Hermione, and snogging?" Ginny asked.

Ron was outraged. "I didn't ask what you two were doing last night!"

"Well, at least we didn't come back like you did last night!" Ginny replied. Harry and Ginny had made it back to Gryffindor Tower before Ron and Hermione last night. Bill had been in the common room, half-asleep in front of the fireplace. When he saw the two come through the portrait hole, hands entwined, he gave the couple a knowing smile. Ron and Hermione had followed a few moments later, and the three could not help but notice that the new arrivals' hair was even more out-of-control than usual. Bill's smile then became a smirk.

Ron and Hermione both turned pink at the mention of that incident. Harry coughed loudly, as if telling the others to change the topic. "Right. So, why did you two wake us up anyway?"

"McGonagall wouldn't say. All she said was it's about what you talked about yesterday."

Oh, that, Harry thought. McGonagall had taken him, Ron, and Hermione aside during dinner yesterday. She had said that both her and Kingsley - and for that matter, the whole wizarding world - would want to hear exactly what the three had been up to for the past year. (And, Harry realized, more than that. The events surrounding Dumbledore's death had never been clearly explained, either.)

It was not something any one of the trio was looking forward to. The memories were nothing short of excruciating, and having to revisit them would reopen wounds that were only beginning to heal. But they all knew if they didn't say something, then people like Rita Skeeter would fill in the void. Already, Ginny and Neville had told them about some of the rumors spread in the past year about what they were up to. They were enough to make a story on crumple-horned snorkacks in The Quibbler look downright believable.

In the end, they had agreed to pool together the most important memories and place them in a Pensieve. Otherwise, they weren't sure if even McGonagall or Kingsley would believe them. How would they, for example, react to hearing that the Deathly Hallows were not just objects from an old children's story book, but completely real? That they had broken into what everyone in the wizarding world called the most secure place on earth? They all knew, however, that while this may have been the best way to show others what had happened, it would also be the most painful. Living through the quest once had been bad enough; re-living it - even only the important parts - would not be any easier.

Ron's stomach took this brief moment of silence as a good chance to voice its displeasure at not being filled since the previous evening. It grumbled quite loudly. It broke the silent reverie that had permeated the room, and Hermione barely stifled a laugh. She proceeded to drag a still-drowsy Ron out of the dormitory.

For his part, Harry had been wrestling with another important question. What do I tell Ginny? Last night, far above the rest of the castle in the Astronomy Tower, Ginny and Harry had made a promise to each other. No more secrets. Ginny knew that Harry would tell her what had happened in his own time, just as she would tell him how Hogwarts had been under Snape and the Carrows. Harry didn't know if this was the right time or way, but he wasn't sure if he could survive having those memories dredged up over and over again.

"How... how are they holding up?" Harry asked. "They" being the rest of the Weasleys.

Ginny let out a sigh. "It's... tough, really. Everyone's real quiet, but sometimes Mum will just break down and cry whenever something reminds her of... Fred. I don't think it will really hit us until we're... back at the Burrow, really." She sniffed, obviously on the verge of tears. "How did you do it, Harry? I mean, your parents, Sirius... you've lost so much..."

Harry pulled her into a hug "I don't know, Gin. I really don't know. But..." he fell silent, as he felt the tears flow down her cheeks, onto his shoulder. He just held her there for what seemed like an eternity. He had not been there for her for a year, but he was there now. And Harry intended to keep it that way for all of eternity.

She eventually lifted her head off Harry's shoulder. "Did... did Fred suffer?"

He shook his head. "Sirius told me. Quicker and easier than falling asleep."

Ginny was surprised, and it showed clearly. "What? But how-"

"It's... complicated. Listen... me, Ron, and Hermione are going up to McGonagall's office tonight. With Kingsley. We're telling her what... what we've been doing for the past year. Do you want to come with us?"

"I don't understand, Harry. Why-"

"Because you deserve to know. No lies, no secrets, remember? I promised. "

Ginny could do nothing else but nod, eyes still red. The pair soon left for the Great Hall in silence, hands entwined.

Soon after lunch, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves in the Transfiguration classroom. Harry had told McGonagall about what they had planned, and she had agreed. She had also given her approval to let Ginny join them that night. This had surprised Harry, who had been expecting a fight. "Mr. Potter," she had explained, "it is the job of every Head of House to know what their students are up to, even if you do not know that we know. Your request does not come as a great surprise." Harry could not help but blush at this last statement. "If you believe it will help, she is welcome to come."

The magic itself was not terribly difficult, and they had all been able to copy over their memories and place them in the Pensieve on their first try. Just to be on the safe side, they all took out the memory of the morning wake-up call and checked if they were correct. Once Hermione was satisfied they were ready, Harry took our his wand and pointed it at the door. He locked it, cast the Muffliato spell, and, upon further thought, cast a third one neither Hermione nor Ron had heard before.

"What was that one about, mate?" Ron asked.

"Oh, that. Animagi Revelio. Forces all animagi in an area to transform either out of or into their animagus form, depending on what the caster wants," Harry explained. "Aberforth told me a certain reporter got herself a room down at the Hog's Head."

"That Skeeter woman? Here?" blurted out Hermione. "The nerve. I would have thought -"

"Well, it's not like the Prophet had much of a choice," Ron said. "Dad told me half of the staff went on the run. Either they were Muggle-born, or married to one. Unfortunately, Rita is neither. So they hired her back."

Hermione sighed. "Oh well. Let's do what we have to do."

Several hours later, they had finished copying their memories - placed into a rather large bottle. They all felt emotionally drained, and were ready to head back to the dorms. No sooner had that thought formed in their heads, however, when they heard a loud bang outside the door and several excited shouts. A second bang soon followed, and Harry heard the muffled voice of Neville on the other side of the door. "Hey, Harry! Look who we found!"

Harry quickly opened the door to find Rita Skeeter crouching in the corridor, held at wandpoint by the Patil twins. Neville had nothing less than a cheeky grin on his face. "We were down the corridor, helping fix up some of the other classrooms. McGonagall told us you were in here, and to keep an eye out if anyone wanted to get in. All of a sudden, we hear this loud bang, and Skeeter is in the middle of the corridor. She tried to jinx Parvati, but I disarmed her," holding up Rita's wand.

Just then, McGonagall and Mr. Weasley came running from the other end of the corridor. "What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall demanded. "Ms. Skeeter, how did you get in here? I believe you were aware that your presence here in Hogwarts was not welcome." The reporter remained mute. "Arthur, was he in the list of visitors Filch gave you this morning?"

"No, Minerva, he was not. So, how did you get here? And what were you doing?"

"Mr. Weasley, I think we can answer for her," Hermione said. "Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus. We've known about it for a while now. We knew she was in Hogsmeade, so Harry cast an Animagus-Revealing Charm around the Transfiguration classroom. When that was tripped, the Patils and Neville caught her."

"Indeed?" Minerva said. "An unregistered animagus? I never thought you had it in you, Rita. I never remembered you showing much aptitude in my classes. Barely passed your OWL, if I remember correctly. Still, the Minister of Magic should find that interesting, won't he, Arthur?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it," Mr. Weasley replied. "Neville, you can give me her wand now. I'll take her down to the dungeons."

"The... dungeons?" Rita replied, weakly. "Aren't the Death Eaters locked up there?"

"And how would you know that, Ms. Skeeter?" McGonagall said. "However, you are correct. The captured have been confined under strict guard in the dungeons. But why give them a chance at publicity through you? I'm sure the remaining Aurors can find you some alternate confinement. Far away from Death Eaters and your Quick Quotes Quill," she added, her dislike evident with every syllable. With a nod from Mr. Weasley, Rita slowly stood up and was escorted away from the scene.

"Longbottom, excellent spellwork from you. You three can go back to what you were doing," McGonagall said. Neville nodded, and he and the twins went back to where they had come from. "Potter, the Minister will be in the Headmaster's office after dinner this evening. I will expect all of you to be there."

To be continued... review please!