This is just a little story I thought up the other night, and I just had to write it. It is set just after the last chapters of Deathly Hallows (minus Nineteen Years Later)
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. and I don't own these characters and get no profit from this story, obviously.
I sat on the floor of my old dormitory as reality sunk in. Voldemort was finally gone, but he had already cost so many lives. The lives of my friends. And, for me, friends were my family.
"Harry?" I looked up to see Ginny peeking tentatively around the door. I smiled weakly at her presence. "I thought you'd be here." She explained as she walked over and sat next to me. For a long time we both stared at the ground, contemplating the dark day we'd had. Suddenly her head turned to me. "God Harry, I thought you were dead."
"Me too" I admitted, still looking down.
"There were so many times I thought I was about to die today, but seeing you…" she trailed off, unable to find the right words. "After everything that happened today, when Bellatrix threw that curse at me, for a moment a part of me wished it had hit me."
"Don't say that!" I said seriously, finally looking her in the eye. "You know, the moment that happened I ran over there to kill her myself! But someone beat me to it…"
"Yeah," She recalled, "Mum kicked ass" She laughed shortly before returning to a solemn state. Then, for a few moments I pressed my lips to hers, and it was what we needed.
"We're alive." I whispered, because it felt like what was important.
"We are." She agreed. And then we kissed again, and forgot about the horrific day we'd had. We kissed, and didn't think of Voldemort and all the death and destruction he has caused. We fell in to the bed I had left empty all year, but we didn't think of why I had been gone. As she unbuttoned my shirt she saw it was torn and bloodied, but we didn't think of how it got that way. Because in that moment there was no war and death, just life and love.
"I love you," I whispered afterwards, as I held her in my arms. I realised this was the first time I had told her this. It seemed like such an obvious thing that it didn't need to be said until now.
"I love you too," She whispered tiredly "I always have." Her eyes fluttered shut, and she drifted off to sleep. And only then did she cry. Because as hard as you try to block things out in consciousness, sleep is when you're weakest. I knew that all too well. That's when I realised, though the physical battle was over, the emotional war was just beginning. So I held her tighter.