Harry's POV

I woke with a start, sitting up with my wand in my hand, suddenly alert. I didn't know where I was, or where my glasses were.

"It's okay, Harry, you're safe," Jenny's voice called from nearby. I relaxed, reaching to my left and groping around for my glasses. My hunch had been correct- they were on my bedside table.

"How did I get up here?" I asked as I put on my glasses, the world suddenly in clear view. Jenny had been sitting on the edge of a nearby bed and was now standing.

"We carried you up after you fell asleep," she said, "you looked like you were having a nightmare… are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's more the absence of Voldemort, really. It's weird not having him in my head, you know?"

She nodded, but she didn't actually know, she was just sympathetic. It was fine, really, because there was no way for her to know first hand what it's like to have Voldemort inside your head your whole life. I was only just beginning to know what it was like to not have him in my head. I looked over to Ron's bed to see him passed out across it while Hermione was curled up on Seamus' bed.

"You all stayed with me?"

"Of course, Harry. How could we not?"

Of course, I expected nothing less from my ever-devoted friends. They were always there for me, why should they stop just because the worst is over?

"I brought you some food from the kitchen. They didn't have anything made when I went down there, I hope you don't mind…" Jenny said, gesturing to the plate of fruit and toast on my bedside table.

"It's great, thanks Jenny," I said, but I didn't feel up to eating. Her face was filled with concern as she gave me a small smile. I pulled my legs up so I didn't take up the whole bed and Jenny took advantage and sat down in front of me, crossing her legs as if we were about to share secrets and needed to be close to prevent any wandering ears from tapping in.

"When I was in the forest, after Voldemort killed me-"

Jenny looked like she was about to speak, but remained silent, so I kept going.

"I was in King's Cross station, only it was cleaner. Dumbledore was there and he said that because I let Voldemort kill me, the horcrux was destroyed. He also said that because Voldemort used my blood to return, my mum's protection is in both of us, and that's why I could choose whether I'd live or move on"

"And you chose to come back," she said. I nodded and she gave me a watery smile.

"Of course he did," I turned to see Ron and Hermione had woken up, "Harry never does the easy thing"

"He does the right thing," Hermione finished.

"You two are finishing each other's sentences now, eh?" Jenny laughed. I realized they all looked clean and refreshed, though still tired and weary behind their smiles.

"I need a shower"

"You need a lot more than one shower, mate," Ron said, making a face. I laughed, but noticed Jenny's nose crinkled up, too.

"Okay, okay! I'm going!" I said, heading for the bathroom and starting the water. I could hear them talking beyond the bathroom door, but I couldn't hear the words clearly enough to know what they were saying.

/

Jenny's POV

"Are you sure that's all you have?" I asked while looking down at the worn clothes Hermione had dug from her bag. "I'll check my bag again," I said and put my mokeskin pouch on Harry's bed, opening the mouth of it as much as possible before nearly submerging my entire upper half in it. I sifted through the assorted contents until I found a pair of pants.

"Find anything?" Hermione's voice called from all around me.

"Almost!" I shouted, grabbing a shirt that was under them along with some boxers. "Got them!" I felt a hand grasp the back of my shirt and pull me back. "Thanks, Ron," I said and started walking toward the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To give Harry something to change into," I said with a tone of finality in my voice. He didn't argue.

"Harry, I got- oh, sorry," I said, looking away.

"It's okay," Harry said as he grabbed a towel, "You brought me clothes?"

"Yeah," I said, looking back to find Harry standing there with a towel around his waist, dripping wet, without his glasses, and very battered, despite being clean. It didn't take long for our lips to meet, my arms wrapped around his neck as he ran his fingers through my hair and down my back, unable to resist celebrating the fact we had survived- both of us alive and together against all odds.

"Get dressed, I want to get you looked at," I said as I pulled away. I handed him his glasses and left so he could get changed. As I shut the door behind me, I saw that Hermione and Ron were blushing and looking in different directions. I wondered what I had interrupted, but then I looked down and saw that my entire front was damp, and I probably had wet handprints on my backside as well. Either way, I shrugged and walked over to Harry's bed, stringing my mokeskin pouch over my shoulder. "So, ready to go to the hospital wing?" I asked. They nodded and got up as soon as Harry emerged from the bathroom.

We walked to the hospital wing together, a distinctly unpleasant smell still lingering in the air from the battle that had been raging on only yesterday. We took an unfortunate shortcut through a gaping hole in the wall of the corridor. We entered the hospital wing to find it surprisingly low on occupants, albeit there were still quite a few.

"Where is everyone?" I asked hesitantly, fearing the answer.

"The more serious ones left for St. Mungo's earlier this morning, although they're practically overflowing. I'm sure people are going to be turned out if they keep admitting at the current rate. When that happens, they'll be sent here, no doubt. As for the others, I'm sure they're just as stubborn as you. Who's first?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Harry," I said quickly.

"Very well. Mr. Potter, if you could remove your shirt," she said. Harry took off his shirt, which already had bloodstains since his shower this morning. Hermione gasped at the sight of his wounds, but I had already seen them this morning. New and old wounds covered his skin, scars from the horcrux necklace, Nagini's bites, and a long scar running up his arm from when Voldemort was revived. A huge gash crossed his torso as well as many smaller cuts and countless bruises in varying colors. Madame Pomfrey took out her wand and began to wave it over Harry's various wounds, most of them healing rather quickly. Some of the more serious ones, however, seemed to require more work.

She returned with a handful of potions, handing him one to drink while putting some sort of ointment over the gash on his chest.

"Every morning with breakfast," she said as Harry drank the small vial. It must have tasted foul, because he seemed to be forcing himself to swallow it. "Without missing a day, Mr. Potter, or else you'll have to start over!" She handed him more of the vials, which he took rather unhappily.

"Wouldn't want that," Harry said as she wrapped his chest to prevent more blood loss.

"Oh, there you are, Mr. Potter!" McGonagall said, entering the hospital wing, "Minister Kingsley is in the head- I mean- my office. He wants to speak with you right away"

"I'll come with," I said.

"Absolutely not! You need looking after, Miss Bennett," Madame Pomfrey said. I was about to assure her that it could wait, but Harry spoke before I could.

"She's right," Harry said. "If he's going to see me, he's going to see all of us."

"I- very well, Mr. Potter. Please come without delay. Get your treatment and come to my office promptly"

/

Harry's POV

Jenny was next, only Madame Pomfrey pulled a privacy screen around them. I could tell by her silhouette that she was undressing and turned respectfully away. I glanced over at Ron to see that the ceiling had caught his attention and seemed to be exuberantly fascinating. Hermione seemed to be straining to see who else was in the hospital wing and paid no mind to Jenny or our efforts to ignore her.

I glanced at Jenny's silhouette every once in a while, but never long enough to blush, just to check how far along in her treatment she was- honestly.

The curtain slid back and Ron volunteered Hermione to go next. He glanced furtively at Hermione behind the curtain, his face shamefully red. Jenny seemed to find it amusing, from the smirk on her face, but didn't comment on it.

"I'm glad Kingsley's Minister, even if it's only temporary. What do you think he wants?" Jenny asked.

"Probably to hear what happened. Outside you, Ron, and Hermione, no one knows much about any of this"

"Have you thought about what you want to tell him? We can't share everything," she said. I nodded in agreement. If others found out about things such as Horcruxes or the Hallows, it would lead to another dark uprising.

"I'll tell them some of it, leaving out certain things. I don't want to tell the story more than I have to"

Hermione stepped out from the curtain and let Ron go in, his sheepish expression not going unnoticed.

"How often do you have to take yours?" she asked, referring to Jenny's potions. "I've got to take mine every half hour for the next few hours," she snuck a quick glance toward the curtain before looking back at Jenny.

"Every hour until I run out, which should be around dinner. They taste revolting- I'm glad I'll get to wash it down with some pumpkin juice."

Ron emerged from his exam with a large tube of cream.

"Where are your potions?"

"I don't have any. All I have is this cream for my burns."

"Lucky," I muttered.

"Can we eat now? I'm starving"