The News

The summer drew on with lazy days by the lake and Quidditch playing in the afternoons. Harry wished that life could remain this way forever. Just the four of them: Ron, Hermione, Ginny and himself. Soon the question of what would happen in September flooded back to them. Ginny would be entering her seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Would Harry, Ron and Hermione be eligible to return after dropping out last year to hunt for Horcruxes? Had Hogwarts been repaired enough for any student to return at all? Their answer arrived at breakfast mid August, two weeks before the new start of term. A large barn owl arrived with a letter. Mrs. Weasley collected it and gave it to the addressees when they arrived for breakfast.

'Mail for you three,' she said as she passed about plates of steak and eggs as Harry, Ron joined Hermione and Ginny at the table.

'For us?' asked Ron inquisitively.

Hermione snatched the letter on the table beside the butter dish that bore their names; Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Dear Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger,

I am delighted to inform you that after long meetings with the school Governors, the three of you will be able to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for your final year. You have all received above average in your exam marks from your sixth year and may therefore continue in your desired courses for NEWTS. If you wish to return to complete your education please send an answer with this owl. I highly hope that you will consider how useful NEWTS are in your search for successful careers. The faculty, along with Ministry workers, has spent a long summer in repairing the school to its former glory and has added some new features that you may find intriguing should you choose to return.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress

'Well, I guess that answers your question then Hermione,' said Ron.

'Yes. I'm so excited they're going to allow us to return. I hadn't even thought about what we would do for ourselves once we had finished what we had set out to do,' said Hermione carefully.

Mrs. Weasley was still in the kitchen watching them out of the corner of her eye and Harry had not yet told Ginny the secret to Voldemort's demise.

'So you're definitely going back then?' asked Harry.

Hermione and Ron looked at him startled.

'You're not seriously considering not finishing school are you?' asked Hermione incredulously. The thought of not finishing school to Hermione was as repulsive as Blast –Ended Skrewts.

'I suppose your right,' said Harry.

It occurred to Harry that he had never thought about what to do once Voldemort was gone. He supposed there was a part of him that had accepted he may not survive the ordeal and the chance of an education last year was foolishly ambitious. There was an odd clucking noise coming from the coffee pot. The barn owl sat atop it obviously running out of patience for their reply.

'Oh, well I suppose I better write back to her. Ron go and grab me a quill and some parchment will you?' asked Hermione.

Ron flicked his wand and an inkpot, parchment and quill came zooming towards them with rapid speed and stopped an inch from Hermione's nose. She grabbed them shakily and turned a fierce gaze on Ron.

'Thank you would be the proper thing to say you know,' said Ron shoveling more eggs into his mouth.

Hermione sent a rather long note back to Headmistress McGonagall with the answer that all three of them would be returning in September. The day passed quickly. Ron, Harry and Ginny played a rousing game of Quidditch while Hermione sat under a shady tree to read. Harry could not see the book she was reading but Hermione seemed to have covered the cover with a blurring charm.

'Reckon you know what she' reading?' asked Ron and he flew in to hover at Harry's right hand side.

'No idea, I can't make out the title' said Harry squinting through the light from the western sun.

Ron leaned in a little closer to Harry, 'I came knocking on her room yesterday and she was reading that, and she hid it so quickly I thought I hadn't seen anything at all for a minute. I wonder what she's being so secretive about?'

Hermione looked up at them and waved. Ron flew off in the opposite direction of Harry and after another half an hour the three of them landed on the lawn to help Mrs. Weasley prepare for dinner.

That night the four of them were left to themselves as Mr. Weasley took Mrs. Weasley out for a night on the town. Mrs. Weasley left with a little hesitation but was assured by them all that they would be fine.

'We won't be too late! Don't tear apart the house!' called Mrs. Weasley stepping into the green flames and disappearing.

'Don't wait up, we'll be out late' said Mr. Weasley with a wink at Harry and Ron.

The night passed like any other. Harry and Ron playing wizards chess, Hermione reading, and Ginny, funnily enough, knitting.

'I figure I better learn to knit sooner or later if I'm to pass on the tradition of Weasley Christmas sweaters' she said smiling when Ron had asked her.

The only thing different from tonight was that between the flipping of pages, the crash of destroyed chess pieces and clicking of needles, Harry could not help was want some alone time with Ginny to tell her everything. Now that they would all be going back to school and be in the same year as well he thought it was really time to lay everything out on the table. Hermione seemed to sense this as she had stopped reading and was starring between Harry's avid stare at Ginny and Ginny's blank stare at her wobbly knitting.

'Check mate' said Ron triumphantly.

'What?' said Harry brought back from his stupor. He hadn't been paying any attention at all.

'Fancy another game?' asked Ron jubilantly already reaching for the pieces.

Hermione took Harry's hesitation in answering to ensure some alone time between him and Ginny.

'Ron, would you care to take a walk with me? You never did show me that absurd bird like statue you are always telling me about. Remember? The one down the lane? You couldn't stop talking about it when we were at Grimmauld Place. It's still not too dark out,' said Hermione encouragingly.

Ron seemed to remember the statue and also seemed eager for some alone time with Hermione himself.

'Ok, go and grab your jumper' said Ron as he went to put on his shoes.

They were ready in a minute flat and Hermione was leading Ron out the door with a hasty goodbye and a wink at Harry.

Harry was glad to have such a close female friend. She understood the not so obvious details about relationships that Ron did not seem to grasp yet. Harry made to turn and talk to Ginny when he noticed she was not longer sitting in the living room. Her knitting had been abandoned on the rocking chair but Harry had a strong suspicion where she had gone to.

Harry knocked lightly on Ginny's bedroom door. It opened after a moment and Harry entered the room. It looked just like it had the last time he had been in it on his seventeenth birthday. The room was a soft glow about it and smelled of lilacs which had been placed in a vase on the dresser.

'I was wondering when those two were going to go off on their own,' said Ginny quietly as she crossed Harry and sat on the bed.

'Well, you know Hermione. She's smart, she got the hint,' said Harry sitting next to her.

They sat in silence for a minute or so, both staring around wondering how to break the tension and start a conversation.

It was Harry who spoke first, 'Ginny, I want to tell you everything. Why I had to go off with Ron and Hermione for months and leave you to deal with the horrible Carrows at Hogwarts. I want you to know everything. I don't want to have any secrets between us.'

Harry was becoming mesmerized by the sparkle that the light gave her eyes, but he couldn't be distracted now, he had to concentrate.

'Look, Harry, I don't want you to think you have to tell me everything. If you want or need to keep it a secret between you three I understand. I know now how silly it was of me to feel jealous about being left out. Look what you've given all of us.'

'What's that?' Harry asked.

Ginny smiled, 'You've given us our lives back. All of us, the entire wizarding world and even the Muggles.'

'Thanks for understanding Ginny, but I really do want to tell you, that is, if you want to know that is.'

Ginny reached and took hold of Harry's hand. Harry felt warmth spread through his entire body and knew that this was right.

He told her everything. From the lessons with Dumbledore in his sixth year, the Horcruxes, the Cave by the lake and what he experienced with Dumbledore and what had really happened the night Dumbledore was killed. He explained the mission that Dumbledore had left them and the things that had been left to them in Dumbledore's will. How they had stayed at Grimmauld Place, learned of Kreacher and his task, and infiltrated the Ministry in search for Slytherin's locket. He told her of how they moved day to day to avoid capture. He considered not telling her of Ron's departure, but in the end remembered, he had agreed to tell her everything. She was surprisingly not upset with Ron but somehow seemed to understand. He told her of Godric's Hollow (and promised to take her there someday) and Ron's return. How they had been captured by Snatchers and had been reunited with Luna, Dean and Ollivander at Malfoy Manor and how Hermione had been tortured. How Dobby had saved them all, and now laid to rest at Shell Cottage and how they broke into Gringotts and found another Horcrux. Then of the Deathly Hallows and their visit with Xeno Lovegood and the Elder Wand. How they returned to Hogwarts to find the remaining Horcrux. Explained that the Snake was the last Horcrux and that they had watched Snape murdered and how Harry had found out that Snape was indeed a good man and that he loved Lily Potter more than words could describe. He regaled her with the memories which had been Severus Snape's and how Harry had found out that he, himself, was the final Horcrux and that he must die.

Harry was not sure how long they sat there and talked, and if Ron and Hermione were back yet. The words just spilled out of him, almost like he had been waiting a lifetime to tell someone. He looked into Ginny's eyes. Her face shone with tears as they streaked down her pale, freckled face.

'And so,' she said, but when she spoke it was with a shaky voice, 'you walked into the woods to your death. You didn't even say goodbye…'

'Would you have ever let me go if I had?' asked Harry.

'No, I never would have let you go,' she said without hesitation.

'I saw you, you know' he said and when she looked confused he continued, 'as I was walking towards the forest. You were helping a young girl. You don't know how much I wanted to talk to you, kiss you one last time. You were the last thing I thought of before everything was gone. But then I wasn't gone, I was still somehow alive. And then Dumbledore was there…'

'Dumbledore was there? Where did you go?'

'I don't really know. I suppose it was kind of like limbo. I was between two worlds. Dumbledore told me I was still alive and that I could go back. You know the rest, and now here I am.'

Harry heaved a great sigh. He felt relieved. More relieved than he had ever felt before. He looked into Ginny's face once more and felt a kind of connection that he had never experienced before. Her face was wet with tears but her eyes had a blazingly passionate look in them. It was like he was being Imperiused. He could not stop himself if he wanted. He held her face in his hands and crushed his mouth to hers. She responded immediately, like she had been feeling the same inexplicable sensation as he had. There was an almost desperation in their kisses. A need to say something neither had ever said before. And as Harry pulled Ginny down on top of him as they lay on the flowered comforter,

'Ginny, I love you.'

'I love you too Harry.'

Thanks everyone for your amazing reviews! You keep me writing until the wee hours of the morning. I hope this doesn't disappoint you!!!