As the sun was setting, Harry slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the 7th year, boys' dormitory in Gryffindor tower

As the sun was setting, Harry slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the 7th year, boys' dormitory in Gryffindor tower. It was hard to believe that he had his final face off with Voldemort only that morning. After he left Dumbledore's office with Ron and Hermione earlier that day, exhaustion set in. Somehow he managed to make his way upstairs and into the dorm. He scarfed down a sandwich, courtesy of Kreacher, and promptly collapsed on the welcoming bed that had seen him through 6 years at Hogwarts. Then, he slept the day away in peace. As he woke up he pondered the novelty of sleep, free from nightmares and visions of Voldemort. He supposed that was one of the benefits of ridding himself of that bit of the evil wizard's soul. Yeah, that was something he was looking forward to getting used to. He assumed Ron and Hermione probably met up with the Weasley's in the Great Hall.

His thoughts drifted to the people lost in the battle. It was incredibly painful to know that he would have to say goodbye to yet more people he loved. He could blame himself, as he initially had done with Sirius. But he knew he had never asked any of them to come to Hogwarts the previous day. He remembered the mild panic he experienced when people started pouring into the Room of Requirement just before the battle had begun, and how he had been at a complete loss to get them to leave. They came of their own volition, knowing that death was always a possibility, but firm in their convictions that it was most important to get rid of Voldemort. They had been willing to sacrifice their own lives, just as Harry did in the forest, to help guarantee the safety and freedom of everyone else. To wallow in misery and to blame himself was pointless and he knew none of them would want that. Heck-Fred would probably expect a massive party complete with fireworks. Harry had spent so many years in the shadow of dark wizards and fear. Well, now he was done with it; he wanted to truly live.

It was liberating to know that the worst was over with. He had an immense sense of accomplishment. All that he had been through with Ron and Hermione this past year-actually the past 7 years-had been worth it. They were the best friends anyone could ever ask for and he was proud that they were his. He would never have been able to destroy the horcruxes without them. He grinned as he thought of Ron's offhand comment about house elves and Hermione dropping everything and literally leaping at him. He would have preferred to not have been there during their "moment". But he was happy for his friends none the less; he was glad that they would have each other in the coming weeks, which he knew would be difficult.

Then he thought of Ginny. He reminisced about those few blissful weeks with her just before Dumbledore had died. Breaking up with her had been one of the most difficult things he had done during the past year. Stealing the locket out from under the nose of Umbridge? No problem. Breaking into Gringotts? Piece of cake. Breaking up with Ginny though had been heartbreaking. However, he knew it had been the right thing to do. As much as it had hurt both of them, he knew it had kept her from being a target. He thought of all the times he had pulled out the Marauder's Map and stared at her dot, willing her to know he had been thinking of her. For a brief moment he worried if she would even take him back. But then he reminded himself of that kiss she gave him on his birthday. He knew Ginny, and she had made herself pretty clear. She knew he was the only one who could take on Voldemort; her experience with the diary had made her acutely aware of that. She might not like it, but she was mature enough to fully understand what was at stake. That kiss had been her way of saying, "I know that you have to go, regardless of how much I might hate it, but know that I will be here when you're done. Think of me while you're gone. Do what you have to do, but come back to me when it's over." It had been her way of saying goodbye until next time and wishing him luck. He smiled, remembering how she had insisted that Luna, not Cho, would show him the statue in the Ravenclaw common room. Even if she gave him a bit of grief, he thought he might still have a chance with her. Now that he had the chance, he would gladly bend over backwards to make her happy.

As his stomach rumbled he realized he was hungry. Dinner would be soon and he figured he should head down for the evening meal. He jumped into the bathroom for a shower and noticed after a brief glance in the mirror, just how much of a mess he was. Aside from various scrapes, cuts and bruises, he badly needed a haircut and a shave, both of which would have to wait. At least he would be clean. After his shower he headed downstairs and heard voices coming from the common room. He was a bit surprised to find a group of people surrounding Dennis Creevey, looking through boxes of Colin's photo collection. Apparently Dennis was letting a select group of people keep some of the shots that had duplicate copies. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were among the group. Harry was even more surprised to find Molly Weasley with them. She was the only adult there.

She wore a dejected and tired look on her face as she slowly leafed through a box of photos from Harry's 6th year. She looked almost mechanical; as if she were just going through the motions, but not really looking at the pictures. She had a small pile of photos next to her and on the top sat a shot of the twins, on brooms, fireworks bursting in the background, in the middle of their dramatic exit from Hogwarts during Umbridge's reign of terror. And then she stopped and stared at the photo in her hand. A small, peaceful smile bloomed on her face. "What is it Mum?" asked Ginny. "This is a lovely photo. I'm keeping this one." Mrs. Weasley said softly as she handed it to Ginny, still smiling. It was a picture of Ginny and Harry outside, in front of the lake, taken on a warm and balmy day, in late May of the previous year. He stood behind her, with his arms wrapped around her, as she leaned into him, her back against his chest. Both had radiant smiles on their faces; they looked like they belonged together.

Molly Weasley knew Harry and Ginny had dated. Ginny had been so despondent when she came home from her 5th year. Molly had listened and consoled, as her daughter told her about the break-up. She wasn't blind either; she could see last summer that it had been on Harry's mind as well. As much as she hated to see the two of them upset, she had been relieved that Harry had put Ginny's safety first. However, she always wished she could have had the opportunity to see them together. Circumstances being what they were, it was rather sad that Harry and Ginny hadn't even been able to dance together at Bill and Fleur's wedding. As every mother does, Molly Weasley wanted her children to be happy. It was a balm to her soul to see that Harry and Ginny had obviously been very happy together.

Ginny grinned when she saw the photo and said, "I remember that day..." No one had heard Harry enter the room, and he couldn't see the picture from where he was standing at the bottom of the stairwell. He moved over to Ginny to get a better look. "Um, Mrs. Weasley I'd really like..." "Nope," Mrs. Weasley said firmly as she took hold of the photo in question, "That one's mine. If you want one of your own, you and Ginny will have to get someone to take another picture." And then, as she had continued to leaf through the box of photos, with a bit more enthusiasm, she found one Colin had taken of the infamous first kiss after the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. There was photo Harry, with a shocked and thrilled smile on his face, jubilant over Gryffindor's victory, as photo Ginny bounded across the picture and threw her arms around him. Then photo Harry kissed her. Molly wordlessly handed it to Harry.

"I didn't know anyone had a camera that day." Harry said quietly. But before he had the chance to react, Ginny snatched it from his fingers. "I wanted that!" he said. "It's mine." she replied with finality and a slight smirk on her face, almost as if she were issuing him a challenge. For some reason he could not explain, he was left feeling as if she had been staking a claim on him. In that moment, Harry knew that everything would be ok. Recovering from the war and especially saying goodbye to Fred, Remus and Tonks would be rough and painful, but in that moment he knew that he and Ginny would lean on each other and they would somehow, someway find a bit of happiness. She could have the picture; because he knew in his heart, at some point down the road they would share it. So rather than argue, he simply smiled back at her and said, "It's yours." They looked at each other and as they had done in the past, with that one look, they understood each other perfectly.

He felt like he had so many things to tell her, to share with her. He felt like there were entirely too many people in the room. He wanted to be alone with her, but now was not the time.

Ten minutes later the entire group headed downstairs for dinner and to meet up with the rest of the Weasley clan. Along the way Ginny took his hand and said, "Mr. Scruffy, you need a haircut. Mum will probably be after you tomorrow or the next day with a pair of scissors." "That would be actually be great." he said. Dinner was quiet and a bit awkward for everyone. Afterward Ginny tugged on his arm and he simply followed, allowing her to lead the way.

For once, Ron kept his mouth shut and just watched as the two of them headed outside. Then he leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "I know you think I'm a bit dense sometimes, but I actually did see that one coming."

Ginny led him over to a cluster of trees near the lake. As soon as they reached the spot, Harry wordlessly slid his arms around Ginny, bringing her close and he kissed her. He reveled in the feel of her, the way she tasted and her scent. He was glad she didn't normally wear perfume; he loved the way she smelled all on her own.

They clung to each other and he murmured, "I've missed you so much."

"I know. I missed you too." she said softly. After the emotionally and physically exhausting year both of them had, it was pure bliss to be able to simply hold each other...and then Ginny's mouth captured his again. He couldn't imagine any place he would rather be.

They sat down on the grass holding each other while leaning against a tree and staring out over the lake. "I have so much to tell you about this past year; I'm not quite sure where to begin." Harry said.

"You know what Harry, I'm not sure I want to hear it all right now. I don't think I'm quite ready for it yet. Can we talk about it later? Right now I'm just glad you're back and in one piece."

"Later then." he said.

Several moments passed and then Harry said, "Ginny..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

She smiled up at him and said, "I love you too."

Author's note: I wanted to explain my perspective on certain things.

Most people seem to think Harry must have slept for eons after the battle. I find that weird. While JKR made it clear at the end of DH that Harry was tired after they left Dumbledore's office, I just can't buy that he slept for days and days. I figure if the sun was rising right as Harry and Voldemort faced off, it must have been around 6:00am. If they spent 1 or 2 hours in the great hall talking to people and then headed up to Dumbledore's office, they were probably done around 9:00. I think if Harry fell asleep around 9:30 and woke up around 5:30 that would have given him 8 hours of sleep; the equivalent of a full nights sleep. Anyone would have felt better and refreshed after a good 8 hours of uninterrupted, deep rest. I also assume that after dinner, at some point he would end up sleeping a full night.

I have difficulty believing that Harry blamed himself for anyone's death or got all angsty and guilty ridden. He's had almost 18 years to learn how to deal with death and grief (which he obviously experienced a LOT of). Sirius's death in particular was a big learning experience for him; by the beginning of HBP (which took place just a few weeks after the battle at the ministry) he no longer blamed himself. Give the guy some credit. I think he would have mourned his friends, but I suspect that he would have been largely relieved.

I also think Ginny knew exactly what she was dealing with, so no, I don't think she would have blown him off. Rowling left enough clues in HBP & DH to let us know that Ginny supported Harry and didn't hold anything against him. She clearly understood Harry. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and read both books and pay close attention to any sections where Ginny appeared or where she was mentioned.) I think the biggest thing she might have been angry about, was being left behind in the Room of Requirement during the battle. But she happily found her way out of there. I think at the end, she would have been pretty relived and would have wanted and needed Harry's support to deal with Fred's death.