Disclaimer: Making no money – have no right – please don't sue!

Alright, so I decided to split up the chapters anyway! Now for part two!


They had been home from Egypt for a week when the morning of Ginny's 17th birthday dawned. Mrs. Weasley outdid herself for her daughter's coming of age party – though Harry knew that Ginny secretly despised the pink flowers her mother had decorated the Burrow with…

"Remind me to stupify her and hide her in a closet the morning of our wedding," she whispered to Harry around noon. "I can't take this anymore!" Harry kissed her forehead in response.

"You are her only daughter…"

"And she'll never let me forget it." Harry laughed, then pulled her aside. They were alone in the sitting room when Harry pulled out a small box.

"Happy birthday," he said simply. She stared at him.

"That had better not be what I think it is, Harry. We've already agreed to keep our engagement secret, at least until graduation."

"I know," Harry answered, nodding. "Trust me." Her eyes narrowed, but she smiled as she opened the box. A simple pair of diamond stud earrings lay on a velvet cushion.

"Oh, Harry… They're beautiful!" He shrugged.

"Nothing to match the present from your parents, but I expect they'll do." Ginny fingered the golden locked that hung around her neck. Its diamond sparkled from the center of the heart, and Ginny fought the urge to open it and look at the picture of Harry that resided there. She didn't think her parents knew she had placed it inside, mere minutes after opening the present. Besides – she had the real thing in front of her – who needed a photo? She leaned over to kiss him and he whispered in her ear. "Soon… it will be a ring."

Ginny smiled as she put on the earrings. "Well, until it is, I won't take these off."

xXx

Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express on September 1st – a sudden hesitation grasping his heart. He stared up at the distant castle and swallowed hard. Everything looked the same as it had the previous seven years, but it felt different. He searched his feelings for an answer as students milled around the platform.

Memories haunted him as he looked at the Quidditch pitch, the whomping willow, and Hagrid's small hut. But he forced his concentration to the castle itself and mentally walked through the halls. The Great Hall held mixed feelings for Harry, and he found himself wondering if he would be able to set foot inside it just yet. It was the scene of his greatest triumph, but all he could see as he pictured the great stone room was Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, and the 46 other bodies that had lain reverently in rows.

He imagined each classroom – and wondered vaguely who would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. His wandering thoughts brought him to the Headmaster's office – where he had spent many hours with Dumbledore, learning about Tom Riddle. It was here that a sense of loss struck him. It would be his first year at school without Dumbledore. He had become almost used to the Headmaster's absence as he, Ron, and Hermione had roamed the country, intent on destroying Horcruxes – but it was different here. Dumbledore belonged here, and Hogwarts wouldn't feel the same without him.

A warm hand slipped itself into his, and he smiled softly as he caught the familiar scent of flowers. He blinked and realized that the platform was nearly empty. "We'd better find a carriage," he said with a start. "I don't want to be one of the last into the Great Hall." Ginny nodded her agreement.

"What… don't want to make a grand entrance, Potter?" The voice was deeper than Harry expected it to be, and he turned. Perhaps the shock registered on his face, because Goyle's face fell into a deeper scowl. "Expecting Malfoy?" He fairly spat the name. "I doubt that git will show his face around here now. And if he does," he cracked his knuckles for emphasis, "he won't be too happy with the welcome."

Harry gaped. Clearly the Malfoy family had fallen from the Death Eater's graces. Or could it be that they knew of Narcissa's lie to Voldemort when she had pronounced Harry dead? Either way, Harry wasn't about to confirm anything for them. "I'll pass on the message if I see him," he said, and led Ginny away.

"Looks kind of pathetic without Malfoy and Crabbe, doesn't he?"

"True, but I'll bet he's still plenty lethal on his own."

"Good point," Ginny replied as Harry helped her into a carriage. "We'll have to be sure and give him a wide berth this year." Harry chuckled as he watched Goyle push through the remaining students to get in a carriage with some Slytherin classmates.

"Looks like we won't be the only ones, either," he said in response to the terrified faces of the new first years. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed some of the older students, who were looking at the thestrals in awe. He turned abruptly to Ginny. "They can see the –"

"Of course they can."

"And… you?"

"Harry," she said softly, "even though I wasn't there when Fred…" she took a calming breath. "We all saw Voldemort die."

"Oh. Right." Harry felt slightly relieved at her words, but he resolutely wished that the thestrals could have remained invisible to some of them – he was certain half of the students would have been able to see them even without witnessing Riddle's death; so great were the losses of that night.

Harry blinked in surprise as Neville climbed into their carriage, and the thestral began to move, taking the three friends to the castle. "So, how was your summer holiday?" he asked – adding at the last moment, "And what are you doing back?"

Neville smiled. "Well I didn't exactly get to finish the year out, did I? McGonagall said I don't need to stay the full term – just a few weeks until I'm ready for my N.E.W.T.S." The top of his ears turned red as he admitted, "Gran's been going on to all of her friends about what a great hero I am for standing up to You-Know… Voldemort." He swallowed hard. "I've spent some time with my parents, too."

"And how're they?" Harry asked, his voice sympathetic.

"Same as always," Neville said – though Harry noticed some of the usual sadness was gone from his voice. "You know, part of me thought that they would get better – once Bellatrix was dead." Harry nodded. "But it doesn't matter. They don't even remember her, and it's probably better that way." Ginny reached out and placed her hand comfortingly on Neville's. The redness spread to his cheeks as he nodded in gratitude.

Harry thought, at first, that he had imagined the sly smile that spread across his friend's face. Then Neville spoke, "Ginny – I've been meaning to ask you if you'd like to go with me to Hogs –"

"Stop right there, Longbottom!" Harry objected with mock insult as he put an arm around Ginny's shoulders. "She's taken!"

"I know," Neville replied, laughing. "But don't forget – I was the one who asked her to the Yule Ball!"

"Only because I was stupid," Harry lamented.

"And blind," Ginny added for good measure.

xXx

Harry sat numbly at the Gryffindor table, oblivious even to Ginny's hand in his. The sorting and announcements were completed in record time – the Sorting Hat having sung something new and significant which Harry could not remember – and all the students were soon gobbling down the delicious feast. But Harry felt slightly nauseated as he looked around the room, and was unable to eat much. Ginny glanced at him in concern, but he missed her gaze entirely.

As they walked to their common room Hermione chatted excitedly about her classes the next morning, but Harry didn't hear her. The usual ghosts drifted through the castle, but they were nothing compared to the ones that lingered in Harry's heart. After stepping through the portrait, Harry took a seat in front of the fire. He didn't feel like going to sleep just yet.

"Fancy a walk?" Ginny held her hand out to Harry. Snapping briefly out of his reverie he grasped it, and stood. They had wandered the halls in silence for half an hour before Ginny stopped. She took a look at their surroundings and laughed. "This is where Fred and George left their homemade swamp, do you remember?" She pointed to a window a few feet away where a small portion of it still stood in homage to her brothers.

"Mmm, hmm," was Harry's only reply.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Alright, Mr. Potter, you asked for it!"

She shoved him unexpectedly against the stone wall, grasped his face in her hands, and kissed him. They had not kissed like this since his 17th birthday, and Harry felt as though he had been stupefied. For a moment he did not react. It was only when Ginny reached down to put one of his hands around her waist, that he responded. His lips never left hers as he spun them around, his hands grasping Ginny's hair. Harry tilted her head back further, and Ginny seized his shoulders; clinging onto his robes as she felt her knees go weak.

"Merlin's beard!" Ginny cried when they broke for air. "I've been wanting to do that since we got here!" She became aware of just how tightly he held her, his body pressing into hers as if he too needed the support of the wall behind her.

Harry smiled as he played with her long, ginger hair. "Not that I'm complaining, Ms. Weasley, but may I inquire as to the reason?"

Ginny looked serious for a moment. "You've been sleepwalking all evening, Harry. I just wanted to wake you up."

"Thanks," he murmured, his forehead coming to rest on hers. "You can wake me up like that anytime you like."

"I plan to," she responded with a smile as he kissed her again.

Then, holding hands once more, they continued their tour of the castle – laughing in their memories as they pointed to the more ridiculous portraits on the wall – and Harry found that the ghosts of the past no longer followed him.