Hello all! Sorry didn't get to update yesterday, but here you go. And thank you for all the views and the couples reviews and favourites- it really does mean a great bit to me! Here you go!
That day, Harry wandered around the castle aimlessly, assessing all the damage he believed to be responsible for. Wherever he could, he would do a few quick reparos and any other spell he felt that could work to fix something.
Ginny, meanwhile was spending all of her time with Molly. Poor Molly was so strong and such a good mother, but losing a child really did break her down. She did all she could to keep her mind off Freddie, her little baby, her mischievous angels, the one who she could always depend on to bring humour into any situation. Secretly, she wondered if the house would ever laugh again.
So Molly did the only thing she knew to cope: she cared. She would bustle around the infirmary, delivering food she made and sitting with patients: friends of hers and her children and those she had never met. She swept corridors and knit sweaters. There were only 6 to knit for her children this year. Molly kept this on, with Ginny as her faithful companion, for many days as did Harry his routine.
Ginny and Harry still hadn't really talked much. But they had an understanding. They both still loved each other more than love itself and they were fully aware of this. Each night, Ginny would join Harry in his bed in Gryffindor Tower. Sometimes, Harry would kiss her while she slept or vice-versa. It never happened in waking hours though.
This carried on for six or seven long and tiresome days, when the family, Harry and Hermionie included, returned to the Burrow. The funerals had already been held, the only thing left to do was to move on.
The thing was, no one was quite sure what moving on meant yet. They knew they had to return to their old lives, but they didn't quite have their old lives to return to. Their would be long, painful silences after half-hearted jokes, as if they were waiting for Fred to say something outrageous. Harry would wander around alert, his ear trained for the snap of Colin Creevey's camera. Deep discussions seemed inadequate and in vain with out Lupin's thoughtful insights. Meals became a saddened bore when Tonks wasn't there to crack jokes or change into amusing and sometimes frightening looks. And nobody knew where to look with Dumbledore gone. Harry hated to think of Dumbledore as gone, thinking back to his second year after the chamber when the faithful teacher had said "However, you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me."
That stuck with him. Dumbledore was still there, but gone in a way. Harry tried to piece together the two worlds, Dumbledore had said he was moving on but he was a man of his word. It was a slow realization, but Harry finally had an aha moment on the train back, the last time he would take the Hogwarts Express. Dumbledore survived in the spirit of those that fought for his cause. He survived in the Order of Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, all others who fought, and all others who cared. He survived in the victory itself.
Harry sat across from Ron and Hermione, sharing a compartment as they always had and always will. They were still the same trio, albeit a fewer minor changes. Hermionie was sighing and criticizing Ron after each less than carefully thought out comment he made, and then of course they would launch into endless bickering. This time, however, it would also be followed by snogging. Harry shuddered.
It was in one of those moments that Harry's head was buried in his lap when the door slid open and he felt someone slide up against him. "Mind if I sit down here?" said the angelic voice.
"No, not at all,"
They snickered a bit at their peers' seemingly oblivion and both secretly wished they were playing tonsil hockey of their own. Harry set out to absentmindedly playing with Ginny's luscious hair, sometimes leaning, flirting with the idea. Ginny in turn would look in to his eyes.
"Ginny! When did you get here?" Hermione exclaimed.
"Blimey she was watching…" realized Ron.
"A little late of you 'Mione. About- let me check- ten minutes ago. Not to worry, you seemed to be having your ehhh fun. Please though, remember he is my brother."
Hermione blushed beet red.
"So," began Harry's awkwardly charming attempt to break the awkwardness, "it's our last time on this old locomotive, eh?"
They talked and they laughed and even cried a bit until the faithful old Hogwarts Express pulled in to King's Cross. They had arrived. They stepped out of the train in to what was next.
Thank you for reading! Next chapter will be at the Burrow, Ginny and Harry finally talk. A bit fluff but also some heart-to-heart and seriousness. duhn duhhn duhn. it will be pivotal
