"Ron," Hermione said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want to talk about it." He all but growled, clenching his fists. The realization that his brother was dead had finally hit him when he had seen the place Fred had died as the four of them, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, made their way through the wreckage of the castle down to the great hall.

"I'm sorry-"

Ron spun around to face her, his blue eyes blazing with anger. She met his gaze at first with a startled expression, but in moments her face turned cold and impassive.

Harry and Ginny watched the two for a moment in shock as they stared each other down, then Harry grabbed Ginny by the arm, muttering "See you guys down there" to his friends who had seemed to forget they were there, and pulled her around the corner. She meekly let herself be led until they were out of sight, and then forced Harry to stop.

"Come on Gin," Harry whispered, tugging on her arm gently, "You know how they get with their rows."

Ginny shook her head slightly and pulled out of his grasp, "Harry, did you see that?" she whispered back, worry evident in her voice, "I've seen Ron angry before, but not like that. He looked like he was going to hit her…"

"He would never do that," Harry hissed, a little harsher than he meant to, "Ron would never hit Hermione. You know that."

"I didn't say he was going to, I said he looked like he was going to. Harry… he looked violent… we need to wait here, just to make sure everything it all rig-"

"WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT 'I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT' HERMIONE?" Ron voice shouted.

After his voice ceased to ring through the hall, they could barely hear Hermione reply with no emotion, "I wasn't trying to get you to talk about it Ron, I just wanted to say that I was sorry." The hardness in her voice was almost worse than Ron's shout. Everyone was used to Ron yelling, but Hermione's voice had always become shrill when they had argued in the past, not the unfeeling tone she was using then.

Undaunted by the change in her voice, Ron continued to yell, "I DON'T NEED YOUR BLOODY SYMPATHY. JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE…" A small silence fell upon them again, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone spinning around on their heels and walking down the corridor.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ron demanded.

The footsteps stopped abruptly, "You wanted me to leave you alone didn't you?"

"Wait… Hermione… I'm sorry… I just-"

"There's no need to apologize. I understand."

"But-"

"Really Ronald, I completely understand... a lot has happened, I don't blame you for being angry. Please go down and be with your family… I'll meet up with you all later."

The footsteps continued heavily, unheeding to Ron's plaintive "Wait… Hermione…"

She rounded the corner where Harry and Ginny stood, both of whom were suddenly aware that they were standing quite obviously in view after just overhearing something that they probably shouldn't have. She gave them an almost imperceptible nod and walked down the corridor at a brisk pace, even the imposing sound of her footfalls on the marble floor gave the clear message that she would not take kindly to being followed.

It was only after the sound of her walking had faded away that Ron came barreling around the corner, looking quite confused and a little frantic. He didn't seem surprised to see Harry and Ginny still standing there and asked gruffly, "Which way did she go?"

Harry nodded in the direction Hermione had gone, and without another word Ron stalked off in pursuit, though he probably knew as well as they did that he probably wouldn't find her, and if he did he would probably find himself at the point of her wand as she conjured up some birds to force him away.

"They'll be fine," Harry muttered, more to himself than to Ginny, "We'll all be fine."

Ginny nodded and wrapped her arm around his waist, still hardly daring to believe that he was still alive as he in turn draped his arm over her shoulder. They slowly continued on their way, neither eager to be swarmed by the people they were sure to meet in the Great Hall and both enjoying the feel of being alive together.

"You'll tell me?" Ginny asked idly.

"Everything." Harry replied, reaching up with his free hand to straighten his glasses. He realized with a small satisfaction that through everything that has happened in the last year, his glasses had remained intact. He almost laughed. With everything that had broken, enemies, families, friends, his wand, his body, and even a part of his soul that had attached to him that first fateful night Voldemort had tried to kill him, and yet his glasses had made it through without a scratch.

"Funny how things work out." He said without humor.

"Hysterical," Ginny replied just as dryly, holding him tighter as they walked, "You aren't allowed to dump me again you know, you're stuck with me now."

"Until you dump me that is, right?" Harry asked, smirking.

"Of course," she replied, winking at him, her brown eyes sparkling, "Do you really think they'll be ok?"

"They're Hermione and Ron. I've lost track of how many times they have fought. They'll be alright."

"This is different though," she replied quietly, and for the first time Harry realized that he, Hermione, and Ron weren't the only ones who had been through hell and back, she had fought a war too, and lost a brother.

"Besides," she continued, stress evident in her voice, "They aren't fighting. They're just… broken. Everyone is. Hermione, Ron, you, my family… me… I thought you were dead… you have no idea how much that scared me. And I feel terribly guilty about the fact that you dying bothered me more than my own brother dying… I thought you were dead." Her eyes watered slightly, but no tears escaped, Ginny was not one for crying, and she had cried far too much for her liking the day before.

"I'm not dead." Harry told her softly, squeezing her shoulder gently, "And we are broken, but we'll get fixed. Before I knew who I was, a wizard I mean, I always heard in school that war did horrible things to people… I never realized how true it was. It's only been a day and we're all pretty messed up."

Ginny nodded and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Then she chuckled slightly and said, "If you ever do something as stupid as you did yesterday again, I'll kill you Potter."

"What is with everyone threatening me? I thought with the whole 'killing Voldemort, the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the leader of all evil' thing would at least slow down the death threats, but it's only been a day and I have gotten two threats against my life."

"Well if you started by stopping doing stupid things that would cut down the threats at least by half. Oh but I forgot, you can't go five seconds without doing something stupid and noble."

They stopped at the top of the Grand Staircase, looking down at the witches and wizards scurrying about trying to fix the damage that had been done the night before. The two took solace in those few moments in which no one saw "The Chosen One" and that they could just be.