Ginny's Thoughts

All around me are sobs, comforting statements shared between the survivors, and people crying out for ones they do not yet know to be dead or alive. But I barely hear them. I walk as if on a cloud; so scared that if I speak to loudly, or walk too fast, I'll fall through, crashing back to hard reality. I had to get out of here, I had to escape.

'He's dead. Gone.Forever. Fred, poor Fred.' The words echoed through my mind, banging against the walls of my brain, pounding inside of me.

And then I was not scared anymore. I was shaking with anger and sorrow. Was it all worth it, in the end? Was it worth it that poor Colin Creevey would never be able to finish his last year at school, or continue his life in the wizarding world? Was it worth it that Mad-Eye would never again fight to protect this world, because he was not around to do so? Was it worth it that we, the Weasleys would no longer have a set of twins? No more Fred and George, no more of the two-for-one special we so foolishly took for granted. And I answered my own question at once as I thought of little Teddy. Little Teddy would never meet his parents, but would grow up in a safer, brighter world because of their sacrifice.

Because in the end, every small child and baby from this day on shall not have their childhood ripped away by darkness. My children and my children's children will remember us, the warriors at Hogwarts, and how we fought for themWe fought in the hope that someday they could feel safe, without feeling dread on the back-burner. We all wanted that; Colin, Mad-Eye, Lupin, Tonks, and Fred... especially Fred.

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Harry couldn't find Ginny anywhere and he was starting to get a bit worried. He knew he was being overly protective of her, but he also knew that she was in a great deal of pain at the moment, as was all her family, and he didn't want her doing anything the she would regret later.

She had to be hiding from him, or else he was just looking in all the wrong places. He had checked all over the grounds and in all the parts of the school that weren't complete rubble. Harry had thought about trying the Room of Requirement, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't work after that fire. However, after looking everywhere he could think of without a trace of her, he decided it was worth a shot. So Harry set off to the seventh floor, keeping his eyes open for a glimpse of that flaming red hair or those luscious brown eyes.

When Harry reached the corridor the first time he missed it completely. He had been on the look-out for the portrait of trolls doing ballet, as it was his usual landmark to this particular location. But on his third time around the seventh floor corridor, he realized that the portrait must have been destroyed in the battle, for it was no longer hanging on the wall in its usual place. However, near its old post was a small door Harry did not recall ever seeing before in Hogwarts, but it did seem strangely familiar, and he knew had seen it somewhere. It was smaller than the rest of the doors in the castle and smelled strongly of flowers…

Harry suddenly figured out where he had seen the door before. It had been hard to place without the piles of laundry and shoes littering the landing, but he was sure he had seen this door every time he went to the Burrow, and he remembered having a special look inside of the room within last July. Carefully and quietly, Harry turned the knob on the door and was surprised and relived when it opened for him. Sure enough, the scene before him looked exactly the same as Ginny's room at the Burrow, right down to the posters on the wall. And on top of the flowery bedspread lay a small, pale figure, with flaming red hair…

"Ginny." Harry sighed and smiled with relief. But before he could go any closer, he saw that the figure on the bed was shaking with sobs. Harry had never seen Ginny Weasley cry, really cry, before. The sight of it made him feel horrible, like because she was so unhappy, the whole world must be miserable, and bend over backwards so that she may smile once more.

Ginny had not heard Harry enter the room. She was too busy howling into her pillow to notice anything at the moment. But as Harry sat down on the bed beside her she started and looked up, only to see the one face she did not want to send out the door. He looked down at her, his emerald eyes piercing into her red and puffy brown ones. Ginny choked and threw her arms around his neck. Her wet face made splotches all over his torn and bloody shirt, but neither of them could care less. He massaged her back slowly; whispering comforting things into her ear softly as if she were four and her finger had just been scratched by a blackberry bush. It was wonderful, having him here, having him to herself at last.

Harry held onto Ginny for dear life. He was never going to leave her ever again. And as he held her he felt a new feeling. He didn't quite know how to place it. However, if he had to put a label on this new feeling, he would have said… safety. It was a wonderful feeling having no deadline, no fear for his life, or his loved ones'; having all the time in the world. But more importantly, he had Ginny in his arms again. And it all came rushing back to him at that moment. How all the people that died tonight, had died for this. They had died so every person had the chance to feel safe in a world where that chance had been ripped away by hate, darkness, and Lord Voldemort. And then it was no longer just Ginny who was shaking with sobs…

As Ginny held Harry to her close, she felt damp spots on her shoulder. Harry was trembling in her arms. And so, just as Harry had done for her, Ginny rubbed his back slowly, up and down, whispering softly into his ear. She whispered about how he had done it, how he had stopped him at last. She whispered to him that she wasn't going to leave him; that she was never going to leave his side again. And she whispered that is wasn't his fault; that he was the last one in the world to blame for everything. But before long, Ginny could not stop herself, and she was sobbing again too. For what seemed like hours, they stayed like this; silently venting all frustration and sadness into the one person they knew could understand.

Harry stopped crying first and used his last bit of energy to continue to comfort Ginny. When Ginny had stopped crying as well, Harry felt the need for conversation in the awkward silence.

"So-- why did you want the Room to turn into your room?" Harry asked Ginny quietly, rubbing her shoulders.

"I wanted something familure, something safe. My room is where I feel most comfortable crying, so I thought it would be better than, say, the potions classroom." Ginny smiled up at Harry. It was a sad smile, watery eyed and puffy from all the crying, but it was her first attempt since… since…

She was trying to make him smile, and he loved her for it. So without thinking about it, without planning it, Harry leaned into her, cupped her beautiful face into his hands, and kissed her. She did not pull away in surprise, or cry out in shock. She acted as though she had been waiting for him to do this since he walked into the room. And suddenly, all the things he hadn't told her, all the times he had hurt her or her family didn't matter to her anymore. He was here, he was alive! They loved one another and they knew they were going to have to help each other get through the sadness ahead.

Harry and Ginny seemed to reach a silent agreement that they were not to cry anymore. They had taken care of that, all of that together, in the Room of Requirement. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand in his own as they walked to the Great Hall, and squeezed it. She smiled at him, and in that moment Harry realized how much older she looked. The death of Mad-Eye, of Lupin and Tonks, of her beloved brother, Fred, and for a moment she thought also Harry, had aged her by years. Harry did not smile back, but looked at her, drinking in the site he had missed the most over the past few months. He knew then he never wanted to be deprived of that site, ever, ever again.

Ginny's Thoughts

He looked at me with such intensity; I thought I was to drown in his gaze. There was more in his gaze then just intensity however, oh yes, much more. I saw hunger, a hunger for mefor my soul love and devotion. A wanting I'm sure I shall be able to satisfy in time. Sadness, of course, was there as well, mingling alongside the grief; so much grief. But there was also strength, an ability to overcome the grief, to defeat it as he had You-Know-Who. And love, love for not just me, but for every person that had ever helped him, every person that had ever fought to make sure he survived and conquered.

I was lost in his eyes now, and I didn't want to break contact; I wanted to stand there forever. But we had so much to do still that it was an impossible dream. My family needed me, and Harry as well, and then we would have funerals for Lupin, Tonks, and Fr- Fred. But then life would go on, without them. And we would survive, without them. Because the reason, the whole purpose of the war that had changed our lives forever was to make sure we kept on living; even if they didn't. No more tears were to be shed, that stage was over now. Life was to go on.