Harry paused at the entrance to the Great Hall scanning for Ginny's fiery mane amongst the sea of people scattered across the house tables. He found her at the Gryffindor table in her mother's arms. As though she could sense him there she looked up and her eyes locked on his. They were red raw from crying and his heart ached as the reality of Fred's death hit him again. It was then he noticed the silence that had fallen upon the hall. Every head in the hall was turned to face him and gradually they started clapping. Soon the whole hall was stood in a standing ovation to Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world. Harry felt his face flush red but his eyes still didn't leave Ginny's. She jerked her head towards the grounds and Harry nodded in agreement. Ginny left her mother's arms and headed to the door, the whole hall watching her as she slipped out ahead of Harry.

The couple awkwardly ambled through the battle ruined grounds of Hogwarts in silence, finally setting themselves down under a tree that overlooked the lake, their tree. Their eyes met again and Harry tentatively reached out for Ginny's hand that sat limply in her lap.

"Ginny… I'm so sorry" he whispered.

"SORRY?!" Ginny shouted, surprising herself with the rage that suddenly took over her. "YOU LEFT ME! YOU LET ME THINK YOU WERE DEAD! AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS SORRY? HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW HORRIBLE THIS YEAR HAS BEEN FOR ME? BREAKING UP WITH ME DIDN'T PROTECT ME YOU NOBLE GIT, THE DEATH EATERS STILL KNEW, THE CARROWS TORTURED ME FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE YOU WERE AND WHAT YOU WERE DOING! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IF YOU WERE ALIVE LET ALONE WHAT RIDICULOUS QUEST DUMBLEDORE HAD SENT YOU ON! AND THEN YOU TURN UP HERE AND GO AND SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO THAT FOUL MURDERING MONSTER AND LET ME THINK YOU HAD DIED…SEEING YOUR B-BROKEN BODY IN HAGRID'S A-ARMS…" Ginny stumbled over words and cut off her rant wiping the tears streaming down her face away "it broke my heart Harry, if you were dead… I didn't want to live anymore" she whispered staring stubbornly at the grass.

Harry stared at her in shock, her temper rivalled Mrs Weasley's when she got going. His eyes filled with tears as he realised the pain he had put her through and he shakily reached out and lifted her face so her eyes met his.

"Ginny…" Harry's voice broke as the guilt he felt overwhelmed him. He pulled her into his arms and let her sob into his chest. They stayed that way for hours letting all the raw emotion of the past year pour out of them. As the sun set, they looked up at each other, their tears finally running dry.

"Gin…" Harry began his throat dry "I know I can never ever make up for what I put you through this past year, and I don't deserve for you to forgive me, but I hope you can try to understand that I did think that it was what was best for you. I was trying to protect you, even though it didn't work as well as I hoped. I love you Gin, more than my own life, if anything had happened to you, if Voldemort had k-killed you because of me, I would never have been able to live with that. I am here for you now, and I will never be leaving you again. I promise you that I will tell you everything that happened this past year, and listen to everything and anything you want to tell me. Just let me know I haven't ruined everything; tell me that we can work it out and that I can spend the rest of our lives showing you how sorry I am and how much you mean to me. Gin, I love you, please tell me that you still care about me"

Ginny looked up into Harry's emerald eyes and gave him that blazing look that he loved so much. "Harry, I love you too. I can't lie and say that this past year wasn't hard and didn't hurt me, but we will talk about it and put it behind us. We have the rest of our lives to make up for it." Ginny said earnestly. "Now we better get back up to the castle, we've been out here for hours. I'm surprised no one has bothered us."

The couple stood and started to head back towards the castle. "That's the first time anyone has ever said that to me" Harry whispered.

"Said what?" asked Ginny.

"Said I love you" Harry replied.

Ginny stopped shocked pulling Harry to a halt beside her. She turned to face him with an incredulous look on her face. "No one has ever told you they love you?" she queried.

"No, well I'm sure my parents said it, but I don't remember. The Dursley's certainly never said it." Harry muttered embarrassed.

"Well I'll say it again then. I love you Harry James Potter, and I'm going to make sure to tell you so every day" Ginny announced.

Ginny stood on her tiptoes and pulled Harry's face down to hers before softly pressing her lips up against his. Harry gasped his lips parting as he felt the heat of Ginny's body pressed against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her in closer to him. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth and their tongues entwined. The passion of the kiss reminiscent of Harry's 17th birthday, the pair forgot their surroundings until awkward coughs interrupted them.

Harry and Ginny broke apart to find the whole Weasley family, including five red faced brothers staring at the two of them.

"Well…" Mr Weasley awkwardly began. "We were just coming to find you two. We are heading back to the Burrow now."

"W-what about F-fred?" Ginny stuttered

"Oh, remembered him now have you? Thought you'd forgotten all about your dead brother now you have your boyfriend back" George muttered.

Ginny burst into tears, and Harry pulled her into his chest in comfort.

"George, that's not fair" Harry began

"NOT FAIR? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR THAT MY BROTHER IS DEAD, THAT I HAVE TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE WITHOUT MY OTHER HALF WITHOUT MY TWIN AND YOU TWO ARE ALL OVER EACH OTHER LIKE NOTHINGS HAPPENED. WHY WAS IT HIM, EH? WHY NOT YOU? WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE KILLED VOLDY-SHORTS EARLIER SO HE DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE; SO NONE OF THEM HAD TO DIE?" George shouted tears pouring down his face.

Harry paled at George's words, hugging Ginny tighter to his chest as George voiced the guilt he felt over all the deaths. George turned on the spot apparating away from the group with a resounding CRACK.

"He's right," Harry said "It's not fair; it's my fault Fred's dead."

"It's not" the whole Weasley family and Hermione said in unison.

"Now dear, let's go home shall we?" Mrs Weasley announced in a shaky voice.

"Yes, right, well the wards are still down at the moment so we can apparate out. Ginny you go with Harry and everyone else can apparate themselves. Hopefully George went home." Mr Weasley directed.

Harry looked at Ginny "Hold on tight Gin" he said as he turned on the spot and thought of the Burrow.