When Harry awoke the next morning, he found himself in familiar surroundings. He was back home, back in his four poster bed in the Gryffindor boys' dormitories. The place felt welcoming as usual, but instead of waking up at dawn and seeing the first rays of sunshine bursting from the clouds, the dorm was bright. Realising that it was already afternoon, Harry threw the covers off him and sat up in bed. Drawing the curtains open, he looked around to see that the other three beds had also been slept in. As he sat up he also realised that he was feeling no pain. Yes, he was aching all over, but as he looked over his body, he saw that most of his wounds had been healed, and all that was left was a lot of ugly scars, serving as a reminder of the battle he had been involved in. The worst on was on his chest, where he had been hit with the killing curse. All that remained now was another lightning shaped scar, showing that he had once again somehow miraculously escaped death. At least this one I can hide thought Harry as he tried to recollect how he came to be in his present situation. The last thing he remembered was hugging Ginny after she had told him that she loved him. How wonderful he had felt upon hearing those words from her mouth. I must have passed out he thought as he stood up to go and have a long bath. Walking into the shower, he turned on the hot water and let it wash away all the grime and blood that had collected on his badly scarred body over the past few months. Feeling the ache in his body slowly ebb away, he closed his eyes and tried to relax.
When Ginny returned from breakfast to find that Harry was not in his bed, she immediately began to imagine all sorts of horrible things and images of Harry's dead body began to rush through her mind. However, she visibly relaxed when she heard the shower running and realised that he must have finally awoken and had gone to bathe. Ginny, Ron and Hermione had awoken a few hours earlier and after long showers had gone down to the Great Hall for lunch, having missed breakfast. The three of them were bombarded with questions about Harry, not only from the students, but from the Weasley family as well. However upon hearing from Ron and Hermione that not even they knew the full story, the whole family had decided to wait for Harry to tell them. But everyone was getting impatient and a little worried, so Ginny had gone up to the dormitories to check on Harry. Realising that there was no cause for concern, she picked up the fresh robes Kreacher had left on Harry's table and walked towards the showers.
Unbeknownst to Harry, when he had tried to relax, he had once again fallen asleep under the warm caress of the running hot water when the sound of approaching footsteps had awoken him due to the advanced sixth sense he had developed over the years of fighting Death Eaters. Harry, realising someone was approaching, immediately reached for his wand before realising that the possibility of him being attacked in the shower were virtually non- existent. So instead, he called out, "Who's there?"
"It's me" replied Ginny. "I'm leaving your robes by the door. I'll be in the dorm where you're done, ok".
"Thanks Ginny" replied Harry, feeling relieved and happy to hear her voice. Flicking his wand to turn off the shower, he dried himself before quickly donning the robes Ginny had left out for him, before walking out of the shower.
"You look good" said Ginny, admiring the newly washed body of her boyfriend.
"Thanks. I feel good." Replied Harry with a slight blush on his face.
"So before we head down for lunch, there's something I need to give you. Your good morning kiss" smirked Ginny as she stepped towards Harry. Her eyes locked on Harry's and she started to move her lips against his. The warmth of his mouth sent a current running through her body. Harry threw his arms around Ginny as he took in her flowery scent.
"Oi, you two stop snogging and come down for lunch. The memorials going to begin in an hour and Harry has to be there. And please never snog around me" shouted Ron as Harry and Ginny broke apart. Beside him was Hermione who looked flustered and awkward.
"You know Ron, I may have made a mistake making you my boyfriend. You still have the emotional range of a teaspoon" said Hermione, with an evil grin on her face. Hearing this, Ron stopped shouting and his face turned crimson.
"Sorry" he said before turning to give Hermione a deep kiss on the lips.
"So you're allowed to snog Hermione in front of me, but I'm not allowed to snog Harry in your presence? At least I waited until after the battle to start snogging my boyfriend" asked Ginny, hands on her hips and looking like she was seconds away from unleashing one of her famous Bat- Bogey hexes.
"Well, you're my sister… and Harry's my best mate… it's way too weird. Just try not to. I'm happy you two are back together, but keep the public displays of affection to a minimum, ok" stammered Ron as he tried to find an explanation.
"Well if you two are done bickering, I would really like to have some lunch. I'm starving" said Harry, looking back and forth between Ron and Ginny, his stomach eliciting a loud growl. He took Ginny's hand in his own, and began to walk to the staircases that would lead to the Gryffindor common room.
Walking past the portrait of the Fat Lady, the trio began to make their way to the Great Hall, acknowledging a number of congratulations and thanks from students and their families. Many of them like Dennis Creevy had sad smiles on their faces. As they entered the Great Hall, the smell of Hogwarts' cooking wafted into Harry's nose and his stomach began to growl again.
"And the beast awakens" teased Ginny, rubbing her hand over Harry's stomach.
Harry responded by wrapping an arm around her waist, and heard Ron trying to stifle a groan from behind it, but failing miserably. Realising just how hungry he was Harry quickened his pace and made his way towards the far end of the Gryffindor table where all the Weasleys were seated.
"Good morning Harry dear, are you alright?" asked Mrs Weasley, getting up to give Harry one of her bone crushing hugs.
"I'm fine Mrs Weasley. Thanks for taking care of me last night. Now all I need is a lot of food. I'm starving" he replied, returning her bone crushing hug with equal vigour.
Harry began to pile his plate with as much food that would fit, then took his place beside Ginny and began to eat. As he ate, he took a chance to look around the Great Hall at the sea of students and their families. As he looked around, he saw Neville sitting and talking with Luna and other members of the Dumbledore's Army, the sword of Gryffindor beside him. He was looking less of a harried herbology student, and more of the young man that had made his grandmother so proud last night. As Ginny noticed this, she put her hand on his arm.
After a few minutes of silent eating, Harry noticed that all the Weasleys were looking expectantly at him. So he said, "Look, I all of you an explanation, but it's a really long story. So why don't we meet in the classroom outside the Great Hall. Mr Weasley, could you ask Professor McGonagall and Kingsley to come as well? It would be best if the two of them knew the truth, then they can tell the rest of the Order."
"Of course Harry. Why don't I find them for you and you, Ginny Hermione and Ron can meet the rest of us in the classroom" said Mr Weasley, as he and the rest of the family stood up to find the remaining Order members.
When the extended Weasley family had cleared out, Harry realised that he was now in the clear view of everyone in the Great Hall. He quickly tried to get under the invisibility cloak, but it was too late as suddenly, a great roar went up and the whole Great Hall erupted into applause, many of them craning their necks to get a better view of Harry. Not wanting to be rude, he smiled sheepishly and gave a little wave before looking at his three best friends helplessly and giving a shrug.
Once he was done eating, Harry once again took hold of Ginny's hand and the two couples made their way to the classroom. Closing the door behind them, Hermione took out her wand and muttered a few incantations to seal the door. The Weasleys were all seated already, so Harry took a seat at the front of the classroom, with Ginny at his right and Ron and Hermione on his left.
"Alright Harry, we're here and ready to listen" said George
Harry took a deep breath and looked at George, his face reminding him once again of the great loss this family had suffered
"First off, I want to say just how sorry I am about Fred. I can't help thinking that its all my fault all this people are dead. If I had been a little quicker…"
Before Harry could finish his line of thought though, he was interrupted by George.
"Look Harry, if you're going to somehow say that what happened to Fred is your fault, I'll pummel you, saviour of the world or not. The only on who will take all the blame for this is You-Know… damn it, Voldemort. You've done more to help the wizarding world than any other single person by killing him, so no need to be a noble git about it and just move on" said George, fixing him with a stare and a slight grin on his face.
"Thanks George, he needed that" said Ginny smiling at Harry and once again placing her palm on his.
Feelings of guilt mostly gone, Harry continued and narrated what had happened since that night in the Department of Mysteries, to finding out about the hocruxes, to destroying them, to seeing Snape's memories and finding out he was the last hocrux. When he said this, a collective gasp went up around the room everyone looked at Harry with looks of pointed disbelief. Taking a deep breath, he then described the walk into the Forbidden Forest, using the Resurrection Stone and letting Voldemort kill him. When he said that, a murmur went up around the room, so he said, "But it didn't work. I just got knocked out, and pretended to be dead as Hagrid brought me out. You know the rest".
When he looked up, he saw that all of them were looking at him clearly at a loss for words. Mrs Weasley was sobbing into her husband's shoulders, Hermione was covering her face with her hands as Ron tried to console her, and Ginny was once again crying, burying her face in Harry's arm.
'Harry, this goes beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Willingly going to sacrifice yourself and carrying the burden of the prophecy around for these past few years…" said Kingsley in a subdued voice.
"I didn't have much of a choice. And Professor Snape was Dumbledore's man through and through. He never betrayed him. And I didn't tell anyone because honestly, I thought I wouldn't live to tell the tale. But now, I'm alive and have a future and have no idea what to do. Without my parents or Professor Dumbledore or Sirius, I have no idea who to turn to. You guys have been like my family for so long so…" Harry trailed off, clearly thinking about what he was going to do now.
It happened so fast Harry had not time to react. Mrs Weasley was up and hugging Harry so quickly, his glasses fell on the floor, but they were picked up by Charlie, who was standing beside him. Ginny and Hermione were also hugging him, both their faces wet from crying.
Mr Weasley pulled them back after a while and Charlie handed Harry his glasses.
"Thanks guys, I really needed that" said Harry, flashing appreciative grins at everyone and giving Ginny a swift peck on the cheek.
"Harry, a couple of years ago, you told me during your consultation that you would like to be an Auror. And if I remember correctly, Mr Weasley shared a similar ambition. So what do you think, would you like that?" asked Professor McGonagall, her usual stern visage all gone, a small smile on her face.
"I would still like that Professor" replied Harry.
"Same here" said Ron.
"The Auror department, just like all the other departments is very understaffed, and since you two have definitely proven that you can fight the Dark Arts I don't see any problem with letting the two of you in without your NEWTs" said Kingsley in his usual deep, calming voice.
"Sir, I don't want any special privileges just because I'm Harry Potter. Also, I think I want to come back to Hogwarts for a year" said Harry, as he really didn't want the Daily Prophet writing about how he was taking advantage of his newfound fame. But more so, he didn't want to spend another year apart from Ginny.
"What about you Ron?" asked Kingsley.
"Well, I don't really want to return to school but if Harry's going back and I assume you are too Hermione?"
"Yes I am."
"Then I don't have much of a choice. Guess I'm coming back too Professor" said Ron with a smile, thinking that maybe, just maybe he would get to enjoy a normal year at Hogwarts for once.
"Very well then. The four of you will receive your Hogwarts letters as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing the four of you back in September. Now if you will excuse Kingsley and I, we have to get ready for the memorial service." Said Professor McGonagall, the stern expression back on her face as the two of them walked out of the classroom.
"Harry, there's one more thing. Gringotts wishes to speak with you" said Bill, his expression not giving anything away.
"This is not about me breaking in and stealing their dragon is it?" asked Harry, clearly concerned.
"No Harry. We explained it to them that it was for the purpose of defeating Voldemort, and for the first time, they co- operated with us and said not to worry about it. They want to speak to you about your inheritance Harry" said Bill, a smile breaking across his badly scarred face.
"Ok. I'll talk to them as soon as possible. There's one more thing Mrs Weasley. I don't really want to go back to the Dursley's for the summer, and the Black house is not exactly appealing. So Do you think that…" said Harry, leaving the question hanging in the air.
"It's not a question Harry. You'll be coming with us to the Burrow so I can feed you and Ron up. Both of you look like a couple of sticks. And remember Harry, you'll always be welcome at the Burrow. I may have lost one son, but I've gotten back one who went astray and found another one, the first without red hair" said Mrs Weasley pulling Harry into another hug.
"So I get to have you to myself this extended summer, do I Mr Potter" asked Ginny in a sly voice.
"Yes you do Ms Weasley" replied Harry, wrapping his arms around Ginny's small waist.
"Good. Because we have a lot of snogging to catch up on" said Ginny, before kissing him soundly on the lips.
As Ron groaned beside him, it looked like for the first time in Harry Potter's life, things were looking up.