{A/N: For those that are wondering, this story will be 19 chapters long, so we're a little over half way done. My plan is to finish posting the story over the next week. Also, some have pointed out that Harry is OoC in this story (with respect to canon). In a sense, yes he is. I will also point out that this story has the "A/U" flag on it. That gives me large license to explore ideas. If you really don't like that, then I'll kindly suggest you go find another story. None of my other stories are this "strange", so you'll probably find one of them more enjoyable. In the perfect world I'd rewrite this story to make some things plainer, maybe I will if I get really bored some day.}


Chapter 11 - The Struggle Within

Harry felt himself regaining consciousness slowly. He was a combination of hurt and wonderful. For some reason, he could not remember last night; but that had to be the reason his head hurt so badly, if only he could remember what he had done.

He felt wonderful because Rachel was snuggled up against him. He could feel her bum pressed against his hips as he spooned her from behind. She fit very well; in fact, better than he could ever remember with her head tucked up under his chin. She was as warm as ever and smelled nice, though different; she must have gotten some new perfume. His right arm was around her holding her close. His right hand closed on one of Rachel's most visually appealing features, It was as soft and wonderful as always. He idly squeezed and played with her slowly, enjoying the moment.

A small intake of breath from nearby caught his attention, so he slowly opened his eyes. Maybe six feet in front of him was Hermione, looking intently at him. It was hard to see her though because there was a reddish haze in front of his eyes. Suddenly, the loss of Rachel and the memory of red flowery smelling hair and warm body clicked in his brain and he froze. With great effort, he lifted his head and looked in front of him and saw Ginny snuggled against him.

Harry gently lowered his head and softly groaned, "Oh god, what have I done?" Looking back up, he found Hermione's eyes. Slowly and carefully pulling his hand away from Ginny, he pointed at Ginny's eyes and then turned his hand over to wave it around in a questioning manner. Hermione nodded her head. Harry softly groaned again.

With exaggerated care, Hermione stood and pulled out her wand. She cast an Imperturbable charm around Ron. "I need to go to the bathroom. It may be a while before I come back." Slowly but steadily, Hermione left the room, the bathroom door closing with a click.

With a raspy voice, Harry whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." He stopped as Ginny started turning over until she faced him. He had been expecting an angry look and maybe even a wand tip, but instead, she had a smile of patience on her face.

"It's all right, Harry. I'm not sure how I got here, but I had a great night's sleep - the best in a very long time."

"But I..."

"Ssh... It really is all right. We're both adults and I realized you thought I was someone else in your sleep. I don't feel taken advantage of or anything. It was just one of those things that accidentally happened. No real harm was done." She really wanted to tell him she had enjoyed it, but he was obviously mortified and she did not want to scare him off.

Harry looked at her closely, her very pretty brown eyes inches from his. A memory came forward, one he immediate shoved to the back of his mind. "Thanks for understanding. I won't let it happen again, because I'll never get drunk like that again."

She smiled at him. "That was the first time for me too, and I think I agree; unless it's under very different circumstances. I'll go get Hermione out of the bathroom and we'll go home and change. You take a hot shower and put on some clean clothes. Your backpack is over against the wall."

He nodded, "Thanks, you're an irreplaceable friend, Ginny."

Hiding the joy in her, she slowly and a bit unsteadily got up and walked to the bathroom. A soft knock brought Hermione out. Hoping for the best, since the Floo worked last night, they went to the fireplace, using "Number twelve Grimmauld Place" as their destination, they left.

Grabbing his backpack, Harry headed for the bathroom. Half an hour later, he had to admit that he felt a lot better. Ron was still out and lightly snoring away. Opening the door to the office where his assistant should work, he saw Tonks sitting there reading the Daily Prophet.

"Hey, Harry. I was wondering if you were going to get up anytime soon. I would have come in and woke you, as it's nearing ten, but after what you did yesterday, I don't think anyone has the guts to bother you. Well, except for these twits at the Daily Prophet, and they cheat by doing it from long distance. Can I go teach them some manners today?" she asked cheekily.

Spying the tray of food with a soft glow, which indicated a Warming spell, Harry reached for that. "Why? What did they print about me now?"

"Oh, that you've defeated Voldemort, which is good. From there, they vilify you for killing so many people, most of whom they say, untruthfully, did not have the Dark Mark. Then they spend a lot of time saying how you've set yourself up to become the new Dark Lord, especially as you single-handedly imprisoned or fired the entire Wizengamot yesterday. All in all, mostly lies." She sighed. "I had so hoped that I could start reading this rag again as I wanted some real news."

Harry swallowed the eggs he was eating. "Do you think you could round up a few Aurors who'd like to pay them a visit so we could get everyone at the paper to walk through a Dark Mark detector?"

The pink-haired witch grinned. "Actually, your problem will be turning away all the extra volunteers. By the way, six of the Wizengamot members returned this morning and have started making a list of what needs to be done for you to look at. The other two felt they should not return and voluntarily retired. Also, we're going to need to get the Department of Records up and running again as soon as possible."

"That's a good idea, Harry." He turned to see Hermione and Ginny behind him, both looking refreshed and in different clothes. "There are a lot of deaths and other important details to society to record. A large number of people will want to get married too," she said blushing slightly.

"Like you and Ron?" he teased her.

"Yes. You might also want to consider letting people put whatever date on it they want within, say, the last ten months. I'm sure a number of others married in secret and would like to put their real wedding date on it."

"Practical as always, Hermione. That's a good idea. Perhaps we could borrow a Quidditch stadium somewhere and have one big ceremony with lots of officials and certificates to do them all at once," Harry thought out loud.

"Did someone say Quidditch?" Harry looked around the girls and saw Ron in his rumpled clothes.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, Ron, we didn't. The Floo works, so go home, shower and change. We have a lot to do today."

"Yes we do," Tonks agreed. "Harry, give me about fifteen minutes and I'll have a small squad ready for you to go straighten out some people. I would suggest you think about what story you'd like to see in the paper and force that for one issue as a public service announcement so people know the truth. I'll return shortly."

"Thanks, I like it. Oh, and Tonks? I need a case of Ogden's best Firewhiskey." He tossed her his small money bag.

"That won't be cheap, Harry. Didn't you get enough of that last night?"

"Yes, I don't know that I'll ever get drunk like that again; but in this case, it's a present."

"Oh."

"There should be a thousand Galleons in the bag. Get an extra bottle for yourself for running my errand. Bring me back the change," he requested. Tonks smiled and nodded.

As the Auror left, Hermione asked, "What was she talking about?" Harry handed the brunette the morning paper.


An hour later, half the staff of the Daily Prophet, including all the editors, were incarcerated for having the Dark Mark. The remaining staff started working on a very simple edition for tomorrow. Thinking it a great idea, Harry got a hold of Remus and told him to come to the newspaper's office. Once he was there, Harry made him the acting Editor until more unbiased, or at least less biased, people could be found. Harry realized he was overstepping his authority by taking control of the paper, but he saw it as a vital public service for the moment. The fact that the owner was an uncle of Marcus Flint and a known Death Eather eased his conscious temporarily.

The rest of the day was spent getting the Wizengamot and Minister for Magic elections going, as well as finding any honest Ministry workers who were still alive to come back and start making things work again.

A visit to Azkaban showed the place to be deserted, so with some new guards, it could be used. No one seemed to know what had become of the Dementors, but after some thought, it was decided that the last credible report of one being seen was over four months ago. They could only speculate that Voldemort had destroyed them because, in the end, he had been unable to fully control them. It was a mystery that would never be solved.

Harry was frazzled from the long day by the time a late dinner came. Ron and Hermione were off doing something, so Ginny ate with Harry in his office away from all the gawking he had received throughout the day.

He had found a half bottle of wine in the Minister's cabinet, so he added that to the meal. "One glass for you and two glasses for me, and no more tonight," Harry said as he poured.

"Why two for you?" she asked with an impish smile.

"I'll share the last with you, if you want, but I can handle it better as I am bigger than you are." He started eating his dinner. "Ginny, I'm sorry that I'm not being thoughtful about your feelings. I'm so lost in my loss, I forget you lost a brother yesterday and your parents a couple of weeks ago."

"Thanks, Harry. I'm probably holding up better because I've seen so much death in the last year starting with Percy, but yes, those three do hurt." Ginny had seen Harry withdraw into himself whenever he had free time today. He appeared to snap out of it when he had to do something, but when left alone, his sad look would come back. It was not hard to figure who he was thinking about. Thinking back to Remus's counsel in the US, she had decided to pitch in and help him where she could. Her plan was to spend as much time with him as possible as his assistant. That would help her take her mind off her losses too.

Hermione had been invaluable with her ideas and analysis. They were starting to examine all the laws passed since Harry had been born; Harry was rescinding most of them, as they had favored Voldemort in some way.

As they finished dinner, they sat next to one another on the couch with their feet up on the low table. Both were staring at the fire and working on the last of the wine, still quite sober. They talked just to avoid having to think about missing friends and family.

"Harry? What do you want to do after this mess is cleaned up, as you put it?"

He leaned his head against the back of the couch as he thought about that. "I really don't know, Ginny. Part of me wants to go back to living the beach lifestyle; its simplicity is very appealing. But I'm afraid that would remind me of Rachel too much. Rachel asked me a similar question during one of our last conversations on the beach. She pointed out that I could do so much more than working in a bookstore, no matter how much I liked the carefree life. I was thinking about helping her grow her business, create a national chain of clothing stores, but I guess that won't be happening." He paused, hoping something would come to mind. "I don't know, Ginny; I just don't know."

"Are you going to go back and get your things to live here again? Or are you go to go back to the US and just live somewhere else?"

He drained the last of his wine and held the empty goblet to give his hands something to do. "I think I'll go back with the Aurors the day after tomorrow to get Hedwig and my stuff. I don't think I can live there any more, especially after I tell Pamela, Rachel's sister, about what happened."

Ginny took the last sip of her wine and put her goblet down. "You want some company on that trip? I can help you pack, or just be there."

A small smile graced his face. "And that's why you're such a great friend, Ginny, especially considering what you've been through. Thanks, but I believe I need to do this on my own. It'll probably take me a couple of days to get back."

"I understand. That would probably be a good time for me to go see my parent's graves. Charlie is to be buried day after tomorrow as well."

"Do you want me there? I can postpone my trip."

"You don't have to, I'll just be bawling my eyes out and you shouldn't have to deal with that. Besides, you should take advantage of the International Portkey the Americans will be using."

"You sure, Ginny? I can always get my own Portkey; I am the Minister for Magic, you know."

She chuckled. "I can see the power is already going to your head. It's going to be bloody hard keeping your ego in check," she told him cheekily.

They sat in silence for a minute before Ginny told him, "Go back with the Americans, Harry. We both need to grieve in our own special way with our families, such as they are. I'll be here when you return."

"Thanks, Ginny; I'll be back, you don't have to worry." He reached over and rubbed the back of her hand and then squeezed it, but he did not let go either. "We have a special errand to take care of tomorrow, in the morning I think."

"Oh? What now?"

"Hogwarts. Someone mentioned to me today that it's locked up and no one knows how to get in it. I need to so I can make sure we have access later so I can fulfill my obligation to the Americans. Also, the school will need to reopen eventually."

"Good point. Since it's already near the end of September, it's too late for it to open this year," or so Ginny thought.

"Yeah, we need a whole new staff and that will take awhile, but it should be easier to get people to come now that the war is over, or so I would think. Maybe it can reopen in January and be for those who should be in seventh year this year, or those who want to do independent study to catch up on a few topics," Harry thought out loud.

"Are you going to finish your last year, Harry?"

"I don't know, but probably not. Of course, I guess I could just sit my NEWTs and not bother with the courses. All I need to do is pass, not make an "O". I'm not Hermione."

Ginny joined him in laughter before she quickly looked him up and down then told him with a smile, "I had noticed."

Harry smiled at being teased. "How about you?"

"I suppose I will. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life, though Professional Quidditch has crossed my mind. If I can get a good contract for a few years, that should hold me for a long time."

"At least until you're married?" he asked.

"Until then," she answered, hoping she already knew who would ask.

They continued talking, their questions and answers slowing down and getting further apart.