Ginny Weasley sat at her dressing table, combing her long, beautiful red hair as she gazed absentmindedly out her bedroom window. She was trying to reconcile her feelings about this day with the way that she actually should feel. It was her wedding day for goodness sake, she should be bubbling with happiness, and instead, she was near tears and felt totally miserable. Mrs. Dean Thomas she thought to herself. Doesn't have a bad ring to it... He is a good person, kind and considerate… only problem is; I want to be Mrs. H… "No, No, No…" she yelled out loud. She shook her head violently and clenched her eyes shut as if to drive out some painful memory. "I am so over him… Harry Potter is nothing to me… I hate him… I hate him… I hate him…" She collapsed on the bed, her eyes still closed, she sobbed as the tears flowed in rivulets down her cheeks. "Damn you, Harry Potter… damn you to hell for making me love you like I do. It's been over two years and nothing from you, you unfeeling ass! I'll show you, I will marry Dean, and we will be happy, I don't need you Harry Potter… don't need you Harry Potter… need you Harry Potter… oh God I need you so badly…" Ginny buried her face in her pillow and her tears continued to flow.

Harry Potter lay on the ground where he had fallen after being pounced upon by his two dearest friends, his treasured 'Firebolt' broomstick laying beside him. "Hey you two, let me up, I can't breathe!" he said with a laugh.

Ron and Hermione helped Harry to his feet but both continued to hug him tightly.

"Harry, I can't believe it's you, it's been over two years, you could have let us know you were all right," said Hermione accusingly.

"Yeah, what kind of mate are you, won't even let your best friends know that you are alive?" said Ron, throwing in his two cents worth. "Where in the bloody hell have you been?"

Harry finally managed to free himself from their grasp, holding them at arms length while he grinned at them; clearly he was overjoyed to see his friends again.

Ron and Hermione wriggled out of Harry's grasp and another group hug ensued. Hermione was crying… Ron was crying… hell, they all three were crying… so happy to be with each other again.

Ron finally composed himself enough to speak. "Okay mate, let's have it. We want the whole story!" Hermione shook her head in agreement.

Harry sighed as he sat down by the edge of the pond, his friends following suit.

"First things first," said Harry. "Am I even welcome here? After the mess I made of things with Ginny and all."

"Well, you are my best mate, so I don't want to kill you… anymore…" replied Ron. "Dad has his position at the ministry to think of so he wouldn't kill you… now … Mom, you know how much Mom has always cared about you? I think Mom only wants to see you hurt badly. The boys, other than me of course, would all like to pound on you for a bit, and Ginny, well, I think that Ginny has gotten over wanting to see you dead. I think that Ginny is completely over you now, so you might be safe around her."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head at Ron's last comment. She and Ginny had had many a conversation about Mr. Harry James Potter the last two years and Hermione knew that Ginny was still carrying a giant sized torch for Harry, even though Ginny wouldn't admit it. Hermione decided to say nothing however.

"Thanks Ron, you have really helped ease my fears," said Harry, with a contorted grin on his face.

"Enough of that for now mate; tell us where you have been and why you dumped on my little sister… why you acted like a complete…"

"Ass…" suggested Harry.

"Yeah, like a complete ass," replied Ron.

Harry settled back down and made himself comfortable.

"You know how it was, after the final battle against Voldemort," said Harry. "Many of our best friends were dead… many more injured… carnage and destruction everywhere."

"But you killed him Harry. You destroyed Voldemort forever!" chimed in Hermione.

"I know I killed him, but you know as well as I that we didn't get all of them in that last battle. Many of the death eaters fled, they were still free to take revenge on the wizarding world that had robbed them of their master. I knew that I had to pursue them while their routes of escape were still fresh, I had to help track them down."

"We would have helped you know," said Ron, glaring at him.

"I know I know you would have, but I didn't want to see my family… sorry, I mean your family, put into any more danger. It was more important to me that you return to the Burrow and rebuild. After Voldemort destroyed your home, I just felt that you needed to be here, you needed to help your Mom and Dad put things right again. The death eaters were still a danger and I couldn't have lived with myself if anything would have happened to you, just as we were achieving victory."

"Oh Harry," said Hermione, tears beginning to flow as she pounced on Harry once again, hugging him for all he was worth. "Mr. noble, Harry Potter, always looking out for others," she said, crying even harder now as she strangled Harry with her hug.

"Here now, give it a rest Hermione. You want to choke him to death his first day back?" said Ron as he pulled her off of Harry. Ron's eyes widened as Hermione threw her arms around him and held him tight as she continued to sob. Acting like a complete, thick, git, Ron held his arms at his sides, not knowing what to do.

Finally, when he saw Harry mouth the words, hold her, a light came on and Ron did the correct thing. He held Hermione in his arms, gently rubbing her back as he did. It was difficult to tell who was smiling the most, Ron or Harry.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ron," said Hermione collecting herself and backing away.

Harry gave Ron an exasperated look and was quite pleased when Ron responded properly.

"That's okay Hermione, I… I… like holding you," said Ron as he took Hermione into his arms again.

"Would you two like some time alone?" said Harry, with a chuckle.

Hermione, breaking away from Ron, spoke first. "No indeed, Harry Potter, we do not want some time alone… at least not right now," she said with a blush. "You finish your story; tell us what you have been up to and what brings you back."

Harry laughed and continued. "Well, Mad-Eye-Moody and I were working as a team. It seemed as if we had traveled over the entire wizarding world and much of the Muggle world in search of Voldemort's remaining death eaters. We managed to corner McNair and Crabbe in a town in America where they were plotting some evil mischief. We got to them just in time, they are both dead. Moody was very badly injured and I had to do some fast talking to get him into a Muggle hospital. It wasn't easy explaining to the Muggle doctors how Moody was injured. I made up something about it being some kind of electrical shock and they seemed to halfway believe me. Moody was finally well enough to be moved, so I contacted St. Mungo's and he was taken there a fortnight ago. As I waited there at St. Mungo's, I had time to reflect on things. I thought of all the things I had ignored to pursue the death eaters… your friendships, and Ginny especially, that's when I knew I had to come back; I had to see you all again. I chose to walk here so that I would have more time to think things through, and, never thought I would say this, but I was getting a little tired of magic. I plan to beg Ginny for forgiveness, if she will still have me."

"Oh no, Harry," said Hermione with a gasp.

"What…"

Ron let go of Hermione and faced his best friend. "It's like this mate, Ginny is getting married today."

"Oh, wondered what all the decorations were for," said Harry, almost in a daze. He looked up at his two friends and smiled weakly at them… this was the last image he would have for a bit, as a clenched fist caught him on the side of the head and knocked him to the ground, where he lay unconscious…