It was over.
The Golden Trio couldn't be bothered to walk down the stairs from the Headmaster's office and simply sat on the top few steps, chatting as it spiralled down. Harry couldn't help grinning at Ron and Hermione's clasped hands and both of them turned beetroot red at his smirking gaze.
Finally they were at the base of the stairs and they wondered calmly down the corridor.
"Will you guys come back?" Hermione's voice cut through the silence.
The two young men looked at her.
"Will you come back next year? We missed our entire seventh year; we technically haven't graduated."
Ron shrugged. "Fred and George didn't..." He trailed off, realising what he said. Hermione hugged him fiercely as the three of them remembered all the people had died that past few hours. Fred, Lavender Brown, Remus, Tonks; so many...
Harry stopped. The other two looked at him. "What is it, mate?" Ron asked.
"Teddy," Harry said. "I'm his godfather. Oh my God, I'm seventeen and I have to take care of a baby only a few months old!"
"Harry," Hermione said in a soothing voice. "Calm down. We'll figure something out with Andromeda, okay? Let's just go find the others."
Harry relaxed a bit and a strange smile settled across his features. Ron noticed and, smirking, whispered to Hermione; she giggled and whispered back.
They came to the doorway of the Great Hall. The tables were in place and people were sitting with friends, family; completely disregarding the house rules. The staff table had been turned into a buffet, and the Hogwarts elves were handing round mugs of butterbeer and hot chocolate.
All chatter suddenly died as everyone noticed the three seventeen year olds standing in the doorway. And just as quickly, the Hall erupted into cheers.
Ron led Hermione towards the group of Weasleys at the other end of the Gryffindor table, flushing red at the catcalls and "Cash in, lads" that could be heard over the noise. Harry felt a smile linger on his lips as he watched them. But it grew even wider as a particular redheaded girl stood up. And she was running towards him.
The Weasley boys watched as their little sister began to run towards the Saviour of the Wizarding World.
"I say she hugs him," Bill said.
"Rants at him," Percy disagreed.
"Punches him flat out," Charlie offered.
"Ron and Hermione?" Bill asked.
The youngest Weasley boy smirked from where he had his arm around the aforementioned witch. He glanced at her and at some sort of silent agreement, he turned to his brothers. "Punches him, rants at him, then they kiss."
Charlie laughed. "Wanting to lose, are we, little brother?"
"I'm with Ron." The sound of George's voice shocked the other Weasleys as they turned to the twin-less man. George looked up from his cold hot chocolate. "Punch, rant, kiss. Ten Galleons says so."
"I'm in," Charlie said immediately, never one to turn down a bet.
"Sure," Bill shrugged.
Percy seemed hesitant. "Fine." Anything to get George involved.
"Get your money ready folks," Charlie declared as their sister neared the dark haired boy.
The cheers were still loud as Harry saw Ginny running towards him. Unconsciously, his stride quickened, his grin widened and-
Ginny punched him right across the face.
The cheers turned into gasps and shrieks as it registered in their brains: the redheaded girl had just punched the Boy Who Lived. And he didn't seem to mind.
"HARRY JAMES BLOODY POTTER!" Ginny yelled.
Charlie held his hand out, but Ron made the universal 'wait for it' gesture.
"Hey Gin," Harry replied as best he could around his bruising jaw.
"Don't you 'hey Gin' me! The complete nerve."
"What?"
"You know what!"
Harry stood there, silent. He knew she had to let it out.
The quiet was too much for Ginny. "I thought you were dead!" she shouted. Everyone flinched at that. "You were lying there, at Voldemort's feet, pretending to be dead, giving me no hope that you were still there. For Merlin's sake, Potter, I don't want to know how you dodged this curse and fooled him this time, I-"
"Well," Harry quietly interjected, "I did actually die."
Silence. All of the Weasley boys except Ron, Hermione and George braced themselves.
"What?" The beautiful redhead hissed.
"Um, Tom shot me with the killing curse, but I had the choice to come back." In the back of Ginny's mind, she had a feeling there was more to it, but her anger shoved it out of the way.
"So you died?! You willingly went to Voldemort and let him kill you?! Harry Potter, you bloody noble prat!" She stood inches away from the seventeen year old boy. "Never- never- do that to me again."
Harry smiled, unwittingly melting every teenage girl's heart in the room, including Ginny's. "Merlin, I've missed you, Gin." He grabbed her by the waist; her arms wrapped around his neck like they'd done it a million times before. They did this in perfect sync, less than two seconds, and their lips met.
The uproar was deafening as all the students who'd known about the two last year leapt to their feet and shouted for joy. They'd (most of them) always liked Harry and Ginny together, and this scene just sealed it.
Meanwhile, three Weasley boys sat with their jaws unhinged.
"But..." Charlie tried to comprehend what was going on in front of his eyes.
"Unbelievable," Bill murmured.
"The odds were practically nil," Percy stuttered.
"Ten Galleons, if you please," Ron yelled. "And that's from each of you."
"But how did you guess something like that?" Bill asked.
Hermione grinned. "We didn't guess."
There was a moment of silence between them, but Bill seemed to get it. "When?!"
"About the end of last year," Ron replied. "After we won the Quidditch Cup and Ginny was playing Seeker. Harry had detention with Snape. He came in, she ran over, and he just kissed her."
"I really need to see what the fuss is with Harry and Quidditch," mused Charlie, forgetting the matter at hand.
"But how did you know about it, George?" Percy demanded.
"Me and Fred had eyes round here," George murmured, once again staring into his mug. There was silence at the table.
"So," said Charlie casually, "Our little sister and the Boy Who Lived?"
"Yep," Hermione sipped her butterbeer.
Bill turned to his brothers. "We still pound him if he hurts her?"
"Hell yeah."