Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites! I really appreciate it =) BTW, when I referred to the "batty old man" I meant Aberforth. Enjoy chapter four!

The next few days were devastating; they went to countless funerals and memorial services. After George's, Remus's and Tonks's funeral was the hardest to endure. Harry felt as if he had lost yet another father figure in his life. He was still so shocked that they were gone, and it wasn't until Harry saw little Teddy in his grandmother's arms that it really sunk in. While sitting and listening to the speaker he tried to hold back the hot tears that fell ceaselessly down his cheeks. Ginny stayed by his side the whole time, her comforting hand in his.

After the service was over, Harry silently walked over to Mrs. Tonks. She looked like she hadn't had much sleep for the past few days, her eyes red and puffy. Teddy was asleep in her arms, his hair the sandy color of his father's. Harry held out his arms for him and Andromeda willingly handed him over. He stared down at the little boy with no parents and let the ache pulse inside his chest. He was so thankful that Teddy had a loving grandmother to take care of him. As the baby yawned Harry silently swore that he wouldn't have the same childhood that he did. Harry would tell Teddy all about his parents: how great of a witch and wizard they were, what great mentors, friends, and parents they were…

"Wow, he looks just like them," Ginny, who had joined Harry, said.

"I know. He's going to be a great wizard some day." Harry looked up at Mrs. Tonks and gave her a small, sad smile that she softly returned. He handed Teddy back to her, knowing that he was in good hands. Teddy was the only family she had left.

Mrs. Weasley had joined them at one point to talk to Mrs. Tonks. "Andromeda, you are welcome to come and stay at our home any time."

"Thank you Molly," she spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. She seemed so broken, and she held on to Teddy as if he was her last lifeline. "I'll keep in touch, Harry, and you can come visit Teddy as often as you'd like. I would really enjoy the help and the company."

"I'll be sure to do that soon Mrs. Tonks," Harry replied, still gazing at Teddy.

"Good. And please, Harry, call me Andromeda." She said kindly.

Harry looked away from Teddy to smile at her, and told her goodbye before He, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley family headed back to the Burrow.

The next few weeks were quite uneventful. Harry stayed at the Burrow, wary of the press that was no doubt keeping an eye out for him. There had been a few instances where he spotted a few men with cameras, scooping out the Burrow. Thankfully, Mr. Weasley put up enough protection charms to keep them from being able to see the place. After a few hours, they always went home, but Harry still stayed away, just in case.

Hermione decided that it was time she went to Australia to find her parents. Ron, who had become very protective of her since Malfoy Manor, told her that he was going with her in a tone that was not meant to be argued with. Harry decided to let them go on this adventure alone, ready for some peace in his life. They went by way of muggle transportation, taking an airplane. Ron, who had turned quite green at the thought of flying in a big metal object, was not happy.

"How in the bloody hell does it stay in the air?" He asked, quite flustered.

"I'll be sure to get a book on airplanes for you to read." Hermione said brightly, seeming to think this would make it all better. "You could even read it on the plane! That would give you something to do."

"What do you mean 'something to do'? We're not going to be on it for very long, are we?"

Silence.

"Are we? Hermione, how long is it going to take?" Ron, who was turning an even deeper shade of green, asked frantically.

"Just a few hours, Ron, It'll be over before you-"

"A FEW HOURS! HOURS? IT'S GOING TO TAKE HOURS?"

"Ron, calm down, it's completely safe." It took several more minutes before Hermione was able to persuade him to take the airplane. They packed in a day and were gone the next, not quite sure when they would be back.

Mr. Weasley and Percy were busy at the ministry, trying to get things back in order. Bill and Fleur were busy at Gringotts, which needed a great deal of order as well. After things had calmed down a bit, Charlie went back to Romania to be with the dragons. George, who was still quite depressed, stayed locked in his room a good deal of the time. This left Harry and Ginny alone (with Mrs. Weasley, of course) to do what they pleased.

Harry hadn't been quite sure about where they were in their relationship. They held hands and had long talks, but they hadn't kissed since his birthday.

It wasn't that he didn't want to; boy, did he want to! There was nothing in the world that compared to kissing Ginny. But now that he knew they had a lot of time, he wanted to take their relationship slow. He was tired of rushing.

They spent a lot of their time outdoors, brooms as far as the protection charms allowed them to go (Harry had to borrow an old broom of the Weasleys'), and taking walks around the garden. It was on one of these after-dinner walks that Harry turned suddenly to look at Ginny.

"Gin, I think I'm ready," He said, looking into her eyes.

She looked quite taken aback. "Ready for what?" she asked, a slight crease in her forehead.

"I'm ready to tell you everything," he said confidently. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'm…I'm ready."

She simply looked back at him. "Okay."

Harry let go of her hand and conjured up a blanked, placing it under a big oak tree that kept them out of view of the house. He sat down and patted the place next to him, inviting her to come. Instead, Ginny sat down across from Harry so she could see his face.

He took a deep breath, trying to figure out where he was going to begin. He decided to start with his fifth year when Dumbledore told him about the prophecy. Ginny listened with wide eyes as Harry told her about he ending that was decided for him. He went into detail about the lessons he had with Dumbledore, telling her everything he'd seen in the pensive and everything Dumbledore told him. Her eyes grew even wider as Harry told her about horcruxes, about how there were seven, about how he was the one who had to find them…

Ginny stayed silent the whole time, only slipping when she exclaimed, "That Git!" when she found out Ron had left. At moments like Godrics Hollow and Malfoy manor she closed her eyes, horrified at what he had been through. When he told her about the doe and how Ron had saved him her eyes softened a bit, only to flash once again with anger when Harry told her what Mr. Lovegood had done.

"It was only to save Luna," Harry explained softly. She only shrugged and motioned for him to continue. He sighed and began again.

It was dark by the time Harry got to the battle. His voice began to shake as he recalled it all, the memories flowing back as though a dam had broken. It was so hard for him to relive these experiences that were the worst in his life, but it felt so good to talk to Ginny about them.

He told her about how the three of them arrived at Hogwarts and how Aberforth had saved their lives. As he explained the situation with the diadem and Malfoy in the room of requirement, her eyes grew wide once more, at first with anger at Crabbe, then horror at the Fiendfyre. Harry, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk about it, had not mentioned the part where Fred died. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. As he was making his way through Snape's memories he could see her become weary, guessing what was coming next. His voice became very quiet while he told her how he thought he was walking to his death. She began to cry silent tears when he talked about his parents, Sirius, and Remus coming back, and he cried with her. Her eyes closed once more and the tears fell even faster as the killing curse hit him for the second time. He tried to explain King's Cross the best he could, but he still didn't understand it fully himself. He explained how hard it had been to stay still while hearing her scream his name, and how he had pulled on his invisibility cloak the first chance he had.

"I guess you know the rest," he said, wiping away the remains of his tears.

Ginny stayed silent even after he finished, staring into his eyes. He wiped away her remaining tears with his thumbs and took one of her hands into both of his.

"Ginny, the whole time I was gone I missed you like crazy. I spent every night just thinking about what you were doing. I'm really sorry we just took off like that; it wasn't fair to you. And I'm really sorry that-"

Ginny put a finger against his lips. "It's okay Harry, I understand now; I know why I couldn't go with you."

Harry stared down at her, letting all of his emotion take control. "Ginny, I was worried sick about you the whole time I was gone, and when I was walking to the forest it took all I had not to turn around and hold you. And…and right before Voldemort hit me with the curse all I could see and feel was you because-"

Why? Why did he feel all of these things? Why did he feel that he wouldn't be able to move on if anything happened to her? Why was she in his every thought and feeling?

"I love you," he realized, saying it out loud. Ginny's mouth fell open, a gentle look of surprise on her face. When he realized what he had just admitted out loud, he turned a little pink and started to try and recover. "I, um…"

But she didn't let him finish. She reached up and put her arms around his neck, capturing his lips in a kiss that held so much longing and happiness that it took his breath away. He kissed her back, not wanting to end it. As they finally broke away, Harry opened his eyes to find her warm brown ones just centimeters away. "I love you too," she told him in a soft whisper, all traces of tears gone. He gave her one more lingering kiss before holding her tightly to him.

He would never let her go.

Well, I really hoped you enjoyed that! Thank you to everyone who has commented, or added me to his or her favorite authors/stories! I really appreciate them =). Please feel free to review this chapter and give me your thoughts, good or bad. I'll update just as soon as I can.