I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. I have no justification nor excuse to have made you wait this long. I can only make the promise that I will not go two months before I post the next chapter.

A/N:

Now, to tell you the truth, I'm not particularly thrilled with the way this chapter turned out, but I can think of, nor find, any other way that I could have put it together. Hopefully it does what I needed it to.

I truly appreciate all those who review, even though I don't necessarily answer all of you. Please continue to R&R as every review helps me work out the bugs in my writing as much as I can work them out.

Chapter 11: Rebuilding for the Future

Harry awoke in a way that he'd decided was the way that he wanted to wake up every day. He breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent that he had discovered was his version of Amortentia, only, in his mind, the reality was much better. He leaned over and gently placed a gentle kiss on Ginny's neck while finding himself, still, completely amazed at what his girlfriend had done for him, both over the time that they had been in school together, and now. They had been sharing his bed for a week now and throughout that whole week he had not had one nightmare awaken him. He also found that he awoke every morning more rested and much happier than he'd ever been as far back as he could remember. Ginny stirred slightly and snuggled a bit closer to her boyfriend with a soft smile on her face. While Harry would have been content to snuggle back in with her, he knew that they had to get up and moving. His thoughts again wandered to the past week and how it felt to him to hold his girlfriend close as he drifted off to sleep. They had kept to their word and behaved, keeping to snuggling and snogging a bit, yet keeping their hormones on a tight leash. After the first night, the couple had a long conversation about that and had decided that if they had any trouble staying in control of themselves, they would sleep in separate rooms. Harry brought his mind back to the present as he tried to wake his girlfriend for the second time.

"Gin, love, it's time to get up," he said softly in her ear.
This time Ginny's eyes opened. She turned herself in his arms, smiling sleepily.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" she asked through a yawn.

Harry kissed his girlfriend tenderly before answering.

"I think I'm just repeating myself every morning now, but I slept really well".

Ginny smiled as she scooted up and gave him a bit more intense good morning kiss. When they pulled away Ginny smiled as she saw the 'glazed over' look in her boyfriend's eyes. She almost had to laugh when he started to develop a completely goofy grin to match them.

"Well good morning to you too," he said in a tone that made it obvious that his wits had temporarily left him, which did cause her to giggle.

She loved that fact that she could make some of the sillier things come out in him. He was always very guarded during the day but it was times like their mornings together that he seemed to let his guard down, even if only a little. She pulled him closer for a moment and kissed his cheek.

"Do you know how much I love you?" She whispered.

Harry's grin turned to a bright smile at her question.

"I can only hope that it's as much as I love you," he answered.

Ginny's own smile brightened so that it lit her chocolate eyes to a golden tone.

The couple rose from the warmth of the bed, and each other's arms, and began the process of getting ready for the day. They had both found throughout the last week that there were certain things about their morning routines that they were comfortable with, but also that there were things that neither could seem to get comfortable with in the presence of the other, yet. They would both dress separately, but that was more because Harry was still doing his very best to avoid what his hormone driven thoughts might tempt him with, but they could basically set out their clothes for the day without any discomfort, which was even more reason for Harry to go against his thoughts as Ginny in her knickers was usually the object of his less racy imaginings. There were also things that seemed to fascinate one or the other. Harry, for some reason known only to him, could sit and watch Ginny run her brush through her long coppery locks for hours on end, and Ginny seemed to find watching her boyfriend when he was asleep to be the most relaxing thing in the world. As they went about their routines they both found that their mornings together were most enjoyable. Within and hour the couple walked from the room, hand in hand, ready for the day.

A few evenings later Harry and Ginny were sitting together on the sofa having their, now, nightly conversation about how their day went. It had just so happened that they had been working in the same area of the castle all day so that part of the conversation was fairly short. Since they had also been working on their side project, which was, just today, starting to come together, they started talking about ideas for how they wanted to continue from where they were. As of today they had determined which area of the grounds that they wanted to use and what they wanted it to look like. They had also found sources for the materials through the contractors and construction crews that were working on the school itself. Harry had also made a list, with Ginny's help, and sometimes comfort, of the names that he would be putting in the memorial when he had finished with the project. Ginny had more than done her part by being there for Harry when he needed her and keeping her distance when he needed to work alone. Through all of this Ginny had kept her ideas quiet, feeling as though this was something that Harry felt was the way he needed to do. Tonight, however, she had an idea that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Harry, I know that you have a way that you want this memorial, but there's something I would really like to add to it," she said carefully.

"Okay," Harry said in an uncertain tone.

"Well, I've been thinking about this for a few days. I want to add a walkway from the doors down to the memorial. Now, before you answer, I think I need to explain what I've got in mind," Ginny said softly as she looked toward her boyfriend.

Harry's posture stiffened slightly out of habit, even though he tried to suppress it and stay relaxed.

"I'm listening," he said.

"What I've got in mind is a stone walkway with quotes or sayings carved into some of the stones, which I will add myself. I don't know what this might mean to other people, but, for me, it will kind of symbolize that walk you took into the forest. I know that you really don't want to be reminded of that, but it is important to me that I remember why you went out there and gave yourself up," she explained cautiously.

Harry relaxed only slightly as he thought about his girlfriend's idea. She did have a point about his not wanting to be reminded of that particular walk, but somehow he knew that this was more than important to her. The way she explained it told him that she had been thinking about this for more than a few days and that she was finally sure enough of the idea to actually make the request. That thought told him exactly what he needed to know.

"If you really want it, Gin, then I don't see any reason that you can't add it," Harry said as he reached his decision.

Ginny leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.

"Thanks, love. This really means a lot to me," she said.

The couple spent a few more minutes going over what they would need for the walkway before turning in for the night.

Harry and Ginny were outside the castle working on their memorial project about two weeks later. Ginny had gotten about half way down to the memorial's entrance with her walkway while Harry was expanding the perimeter of his concealment charms, which were hiding the whole project. He knew that Hermione and just about any of the Hogwarts staff could break the charms but he was sure that they would not after they had all agreed to leave him to a project that they knew nothing more about than that he and Ginny were working on it. For the couple, walking into the area felt like walking into a very large tent made of one way glass. They could see everything going on around them, but no one could see them, or what they were building. For the most part, Harry had been able to lay out the entire memorial using the instructions that he had found in various books from the library and a few tips from the professional contractors for moving some of the heavier materials easily. He knew that, eventually, he would have to begin the difficult task of adding the names that he had written down, but, for now, he could simply concentrate on putting the whole project together. The couple worked on through the afternoon, occasionally helping each other when they needed to, and by early evening had arrived at what they found would be a good stopping point. Harry had laid the entire ground area, including repairing Professor Dumbledore's tomb, and set up a low wall around the perimeter while Ginny had completed more than three quarters of the walkway. Harry had also started to assemble the several benches that he had planned to scatter throughout the memorial for people to sit on. The benches, when assembled, would be large enough to seat two people at their normal size, or as many as four if they were expanded by the charms that were built into them. His thoughts behind this were that anyone who came here could share their memories or have a bit of privacy to talk to one of the fallen heroes, or just to be by themselves if needed. Each bench carried, in addition to the enlargement charms, a built in privacy charm that could be activated by one simply touching his or her wand to it and reading the incantation that was engraved into the arm. Harry did try one of the benches and its charms and found that they were quite comfortable, and that the charms were nearly perfect. Of course he had tested the privacy charm with Ginny's help.

The couple took their time as they walked back to the school doors for dinner. Ginny knew by the way that Harry was walking that he had something on his mind. She moved a bit closer to him and took his hand, giving it a gentle, affectionate squeeze. Harry looked at his girlfriend and smiled slightly as he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I love you, you know that don't you?" He asked softly.

Ginny smiled at her boyfriend and stretched up to kiss his cheek.

"I love you too," she said just as softly.

Harry and Ginny were putting together the finishing touches on the memorial about a week later. From everything that they had heard, this would be the last day of construction work on the school and the couple wanted to be sure that they were finished by the end of the day. Over the last few days Harry and Ginny had engraved the entire list of names into specific stone plaques throughout the memorial. Harry had also built a fountain center piece, which he planned on activating the charms on during the rededication ceremony, which was now a week away. As the couple worked together, Ginny watched her boyfriend's emotional strength slowly wear down. She knew that, once he had added the names, the reality of what this project represented would begin to affect him this way. She stayed as close as she dared to him but did not intrude on him knowing that until they were back in the confines of their room, he would not allow his emotions any freedom. In a way she hated that he would close himself off like this, but she wouldn't change it if she could. To her, this was a part of him and it is one of the things that made him who he was.

When they had finally completed the project, Harry walked away from his girlfriend and settled next to the fountain. Ginny knew that this was a message that he wanted to be alone for a bit so she walked over to the entrance and settled on the wall near the wrought iron gate that they had put up together. She watched her boyfriend while he sat staring at the fountain with his back to her. As much as she wanted to be at his side, she understood why he needed to be alone at the moment.

Harry sat for more than a half hour staring at the fountain. While he stared at the pool of water that he had put in the basin he had a thought come to mind that he knew might not go over well at first but might eventually provide some comfort to the friends and families of those whose names had been engraved into the plaques in the memorial. At this he got up and walked over to Ginny, who he knew wouldn't have left him completely alone. She saw the look of sudden determination in his eyes as he approached.

"You want to add something, don't you," she asked.

"A couple of things yes, but no I'm not going to tell you," he answered.

Ginny raised her eyebrows at that. Harry saw this and the line of her lips thinning and elaborated quickly.

"Gin, what I have in mind is something that I really need to do on my own. If I could explain it to you, I would, but right now I think that there are only two people who might understand what I'm thinking about and one of them is not with us anymore," Harry said.

"And who might the other person be?" She asked.

"Ron, but only because it's something from our first year," Harry answered.

"Will you promise to help me understand," Ginny asked as she tried to search her memories for any thing that Ron might have mentioned.

"If I need to explain after you've seen what I have in mind, then yes," Harry answered.

With that, the couple walked back up to the castle.

It had been a few hours since supper and Harry was getting frustrated. He knew what he was looking for just simply had to be somewhere in the castle. So far, he had searched every room that he could think of and had finally arrived at the Room of Requirement. With the hope that the room's powers had not been destroyed in the battle, he paced the hall in front of where the door would appear three times. When the door did, thankfully, appear, Harry smiled. He opened the door to find what appeared to be what was left of the storage closet that the Fiend Fyre had been set in. He walked in and noticed that while most of the objects in the room had been burned, there were still a few things that had survived. As he looked around he spotted the object that he was searching for. He walked over to it and found that it had been broken but was still intact enough to move. He quickly levitated it and carefully walked it out the door. Once he was out in the hall, Harry called Kreature. The aged elf appeared with a crack and bowed low.

"Master Potter has need of something?" The elf said respectfully.

"Yes if what I need is possible," Harry replied.

Kreature stood upright, well as upright as he could given his age, and looked at Harry.

"If it is about this then yes I can repair it, but I will need help," he said as he pointed at the broken object.

"What kind of help?" Harry asked, now curious about house elf magic, and concerned about who would find out about the object.

"I will need the help of one other elf, one that is younger than I am," Kreature answered politely.

"I see. Well then, get whatever help you need, but I need this kept quiet. This is for the memorial and not even Ginny knows about it," Harry said.

"I know just the elf to help me then. Do not worry master, no one will know about this," Kreature said as he bowed again and disapparated.

Harry waited for only a moment before Kreature returned with his help.

"He is NOT our master," the elf that would be helping Kreature said.

Harry recognized the second elf's voice and tomato nose immediately. He turned to the elf and knelt to her level.

"You're right, I am not your master, but this belonged to Professor Dumbledore and I know that he would have wanted it repaired if he were here. Winky, if you help Kreature repair this, you'd be showing Mr. Crouch what a good elf you are and you'd make him proud of you wherever he is now," Harry told her quietly.

Winky nodded and turned to Kreature.

"We must take this down to the kitchens," the elf said.

"Master Potter, Winky is right. We must be near our work," Kreature said quietly.

Harry nodded to the elves.

"Do what you need to do. How long do you think it will take?" Harry asked.

"A few days," Kreature answered.

Harry mulled over the time as he tried to get a fix on how long he would have left before the ceremony.

"If you let me know as soon as you're sure that it is fixed, that should work fine," Harry said finally.

The two elves bowed low right before they disapparated, taking their project with them. Harry turned and walked back to the common room. When he walked through the portrait hole he found Ginny waiting for him by the fireplace. She turned to him as he walked over to her.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked.

"Yes and I'm still not going to tell you what it is," Harry answered, cutting across her obvious next question.

"You will explain it to me, right?" Ginny asked, a bit disappointed the he had already predicted what she really wanted to ask.

"Yes I will, just like I promised," Harry replied.

With the tone that he'd used, Ginny knew that he wouldn't say anymore about his addition to the memorial until it was open for everyone to see. She looked down at his watch, knowing that it would tell her that it was well past time for them to be sleeping comfortably in each other's arms.

"It's late, sweetie. Why don't we go to bed?" Ginny suggested.

Harry nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The couple walked into the bedroom and slowly got into their nightly routines before climbing into bed. As soon as they got comfortable they shared a tender goodnight kiss before settling beside each other, snuggled as close together as they could get.

"I love you, Harry. Good night," Ginny said sleepily.

Harry pressed a kiss to her hair and squeezed her a bit tighter.

"Good night, my angel. I love you too," he replied as his eyes closed.

Ginny drifted to sleep a few moments later with a bright smile on her face that he didn't get to see. Whenever he would call her 'his' angel she couldn't help but smile happily.

A/N:
As I said, I'm not too thrilled with how this chapter turned out. This chapter is meant to serve as mostly a connecting chapter that contains a lot of stuff that I didn't feel as though I could leave out, nor could I have added it to ten or twelve.