A/N: Thank you to Arnel for brilliant editing skills and suggestions.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor have I ever owned Harry Potter.

Harry felt awake and refreshed as he walked down the stairs the next morning. Everyone had been kept busy the previous day by Molly with the entire family, including Harry and Hermione, helping to clean and make repairs to The Burrow. He had felt exhausted by the time he had climbed into the bed, his eyes closing almost immediately when his head hit the pillow. He had slept straight through the night with no nightmares, something Harry was entirely grateful, even though he knew this would not be the case every night.

He didn't know if there was anything planned for today beyond the need to plan for any personal moments the family wished to be included in the funeral. Harry doubted that he would be needed for that, leaving him wondering what he would do with his day. He wasn't quite ready to face the world outside of the wards just yet, so he saw no reason to leave the safety and security of The Burrow. Therefore, he hoped Ginny was not going to be needed by her mum for anything too time consuming as the idea of just relaxing with her by his side was the most tempting thing that he could think of to do.

As Harry entered the kitchen, much to his surprise, he found his girlfriend making it clear to her mum and brothers that she would be spending the day with him without any unnecessary interruptions.

"That means, Ron, that you cannot come bursting into my bedroom whenever you feel like it," Ginny stated firmly as she glared at her brother. Given the way his best mate had interrupted one of the best kisses of Harry's life last year, Harry couldn't help but agree with his girlfriend on the instructions she had just given Ron.

"What exactly do you plan to get up to behind closed doors?" Ron demanded to know.

"It's not exactly any of your business, Ron," Harry answered as he made his presence known. He walked over to Ginny and kissed her cheek before taking a seat at the table. "I am assuming, though, that Ginny has her reasons for making the request of you and your brothers. You don't exactly have the best reputation for giving people space when they ask for it."

"Ron, I am sure you would like to spend some time with Hermione, just you and her," Molly said, backing up her daughter and her boyfriend. "Harry and Ginny have been separated from each other for nearly a year and, with how busy the next few days are going to be, they deserve to have just one day they can spend together without everyone bothering them."

Harry had not expected Molly to side with him and Ginny. Her daughter had already made clear they would be spending the day behind closed doors, which could be taken in quite a suggestive way, but instead, it seemed, Molly had finally learned not to treat Ginny like she was still a first year at Hogwarts.

"However," Molly continued, having turned to look at the couple in question, "I still expect you to behave and control your hormones. I will bring lunch to you, but you must be present for dinner."

Harry felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment because of Ginny's mother admonishments. He knew he wasn't ready to take that step in their relationship yet and he was certain, even if she had not told him herself, that Ginny was not ready either. It was not the time to be moving their physical relationship forward when they had only rekindled their relationship just a few days ago.

Thankfully, Molly dropped the subject as she placed a full plate of food in front of Harry before leaving him to eat in peace. Once he had eaten, he was immediately dragged up the stairs by his girlfriend and into her bedroom.

"Can you put up some privacy wards, please?" Ginny asked as she closed the door. "Nothing that would make it look like we are trying to hide anything, but enough to make sure we are not overheard."

Harry nodded as he pulled his wand out from his pocket of his jeans. He didn't think he would quite find the balance Ginny was asking for, but he did his best, making sure they were able to hear anything outside of the room and keeping the room accessible once granted access by either himself or Ginny.

"Thank you," she said as Harry put his wand away while remaining by the door. He still wasn't sure for the reasons she had asked for privacy and no interruptions. Being alone in her room would sorely test his limits when it came to their physical relationship, so he knew he needed to be upfront with her.

"I am not ready for anything more than what we already do," Ginny said, beating Harry to it. "As much as everyone seems to think I just want to have my way with you, you know that it isn't true. Soon, maybe, but I just want to get through the next few weeks before we move into new territory for our relationship."

"I was hoping that was the case," he replied, relieved they were on the same page. "I need to get my thoughts and my feelings straight before I can even think about moving on from everything I have been through. However, I have to ask, why are we spending time together behind closed doors? Why not outside?"

"I know this might not be the time or the place to be requesting this, but I want to talk about what has happened this past year. I want us to move forward with us having been completely honest with everything we have been through. You are it for me and I don't want there to be any secrets between us. So, if you feel you can, I would like it if you could tell me what you were up to that required so much secrecy."

"I…"

Harry froze, uncertain how to explain his reluctancy to tell her everything when he was still processing what he had been through and the fact he had survived. The problem, though, was Ginny was the one person he wanted to tell everything, even the parts he had not revealed to his two best friends. However, he couldn't find the words to tell her how conflicted he was feeling at that moment.

"I don't need you to tell me everything in one go," Ginny gently told him when she realised that he was struggling to form a response. "I know that there is more to what you have been through than the events of this past year and that it is all connected. For now, a basic overview to help me understand even just a little will do."

Ginny's words were one of the many reasons Harry had fallen in love with her. She never pushed him to talk but was always ready to listen when he was. He could understand her request, given how he had been unable to tell her anything when they dated at the end of his sixth year. She wasn't just the person he wanted to know everything; she was also the one person who deserved to know everything.

"What exactly do you want to know, right now, that cannot wait?" he asked her, hoping she could provide him with a place to start.

"The Horcruxes, the Hallows and Snape," she instantly responded. It was said in such a way that Harry knew that Ginny had been thinking about those specific things for the last few days. It also didn't help that they were all tied to everything he had been through since he had stepped back into the wizarding world, but he didn't see the harm in providing her a basic understanding of them all now. It would make it easier to explain events if she knew in advance, rather than having to stop constantly to explain things.

"Harry, I plan on telling you everything that happened to me at Hogwarts," Ginny told him when he once again did not respond to her request. "What I am asking you may just help me understand some things, which, in turn, will help me explain everything to you."

He knew immediately that she was referring specifically to Snape and how he had behaved as the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Do you know the Tale of the Three Brothers?" he asked, deciding to start with the Hallows.

"Of course, every child raised in our world does," Ginny replied with a confused look in her eyes.

"The items that Death gave the brothers – the wand, the stone and the cloak – they actually exist. The wand was stolen by Voldemort from the tomb of Professor Dumbledore, but it did not hold allegiance to him."

"I remember you telling him that in the Great Hall."

"The stone," Harry continued, grateful he didn't need to explain the history of the wand to her, "was in my possession, but I dropped in the forest when I went to face Voldemort. It doesn't bring back the dead, but it does allow you to speak with lost loved ones. For me, it was my parents, Sirius and Remus."

Harry paused, turning his back on his girlfriend as he did so. That moment would always be hard for him to relive as at the time he honestly believed he was about to meet his end and join his parents in death. It was a memory he cherished and despised at the same time. He quickly shook the thought away, not wanting to be derailed from what Ginny had asked him to explain.

"Thank you for not going back for it," Ginny said gratefully, having now taken a seat on her bed. "Something like that is not good for anyone. It would hold us all back from moving forward in our lives if we had it in our possession to use. It's too great a temptation for anyone to have."

"It's one of the things I don't wish to reveal beyond you, me, Ron and Hermione," Harry stated firmly. "The cloak will also remain between us, at least until we have children."

Ginny sucked in a breath at hearing Harry mentioning children.

"That's if you see children in our future?" he asked uncertainly, worried he had said it far too soon.

"I do," Ginny replied smiling. "Why would we reveal the cloak to them, though?"

"It turns out I am descended from the third brother in story," Harry explained, grateful to know something of his family's history. "The cloak is my invisibility cloak, which has been passed down from generation to generation until I finally received it the Christmas of my first year at Hogwarts."

"Wow, that's… I have no words. I am assuming that the Hallows were not essential to what you had to do, though, just tools that came in helpful."

"Yeah, something like that," Harry confirmed before deciding to move onto the one subject he feared revealing to Ginny. "The Horcruxes… they are what kept Voldemort from dying that night when he tried to kill me as a baby."

He carefully explained what Horcruxes were, how many Voldemort had made and what items he had used, leaving the two that had impacted them both for last.

"The first one he ever made," Harry said, nervous about how his girlfriend would react to what he was about to reveal, "was the diary."

Ginny's eyes went wide in shock before she began shaking her head in denial as she muttered, "No, no, no…"

Harry quickly moved over to the bed, kneeling in front of her and grasping her hands firmly in his. "You fought against what the diary did to you for nearly a year. Ron barely lasted two months in the company of the locket. That's not a slight on him as we were in far worse conditions than what should have been a straightforward school year for you. It does tell me how incredibly strong you are to have fought against what he was doing to you."

Ginny's strength was something that Harry most admired about her. Even if it had taken them a couple of years to become comfortable around each other and form a true friendship, he had still admired her for it once he had understood just what had happened to her that year. However, he admired her even more for the strength she had shown in returning to Hogwarts and not letting the trauma stop her from living her life.

"What was the final one?" Ginny whispered, keeping her hands within Harry's as though she knew what he was about to say.

"Me."

Neither said a word. All Harry could do was watch as Ginny processed what he had confessed and connect the dots.

"You had to die for Tom to be defeated," she finally whispered. "That's why you went into the forest. It was the reason that everyone thought you were dead. I won't ask why you survived as I am guessing that is all connected to something else you have been through and I don't think my mind could possibly process anything more than what you just told me. I am just thankful that you survived, however that may be."

He was so amazed by Ginny's reaction, which was much calmer than he could have hoped for, that he quickly swept her into a searing kiss, pouring everything he had into it to communicate just how thankful he was for her.

"You still have one more thing to explain to me," Ginny said as they finally pulled away from one another. "After everything you have revealed to me so far, I think we should cover a little every day to allow me a chance to process everything."

Harry smiled, thankful to have someone like Ginny in his life. He didn't think he deserved her, not after he walked away from their relationship the previous summer, but he wasn't going let that thought stop him being with the best thing that had happened to him.

Turning his thoughts back to the conversation, he knew the next part would be the hardest for him to talk about. His thoughts and feelings over what he had discovered about his former Potions professor were still a mess.

"Snape was not the person I had thought him to be," Harry confessed truthfully. "I discovered, during the lull of the battle, that he had been friends with my mum when they were children. He had actually been the one to tell her that she was a witch. When he discovered that Voldemort was after my parents and me, he switched sides and became a spy."

"That doesn't explain why he killed Professor Dumbledore, though."

"It was all a set up. Dumbledore knew he was dying, and that Draco had been tasked with killing him. By having Snape cast the curse, he reinforced his place at Voldemort's side, while protecting Draco from something he would have come to regret."

Ginny looked away from Harry as a puzzled expression crossed her face. He hadn't even told her the worst part of what he had discovered yet about Snape and here she was, looking like she was trying to figure out how to put the pieces together.

"That certainly explains a lot about him," she finally said as she turned back to face Harry. "Some of the decisions he made throughout the school year seemed much milder in comparison to what the Carrows did. They never made sense, but we never questioned it, knowing it would be better not to. Yet, what you just told me explains so much about everything he did. He was playing a role and he was trying to protect the students, but there was only so much he could do without giving away his true allegiance."

"Which was to my mum, not the Order, not even Dumbledore," Harry stated, needing Ginny to know where Snape's loyalties had lain. "He was in love with my mother, even after she ended their friendship. It is all confusing to me, given how he treated me and how much he hated my dad. I need some time to figure that all out, but I do know I am grateful for him giving me the last piece of the puzzle about the Horcruxes."

He hated how he didn't have the time to sort out his feelings on what he had discovered about the man as the funeral for the former professor was the next day. All he knew, at that moment, was what he had told his girlfriend – that he was grateful for the man's actions.

"Let's leave your side of the story for now, Harry," Ginny said, breaking through his thoughts. "It is obvious that you have a lot to work through and I want to help you with that. How about, once the funerals are over, we take a little time each evening to talk about everything?"

"That sounds good."

And it truly did to Harry. He didn't think he could cope with telling Ginny everything in one go. Just telling what he had so far had been enough for him for one day and she still wanted to tell him what she had been through while at Hogwarts.

"Are you sure you want to tell me about your year?" he asked her, wondering if she feeling up to the task after everything that he had told her.

Ginny stood from the bed and walked over to look out of her window, leaving Harry on the bed, confused by her actions.

"I do," she confirmed, "but I need you to promise that you will remain calm and not threaten to go after anyone who may have caused me harm or problems. I know you already know some of what happened, all thanks to Neville, but he gave you the basics and not the details."

Harry stared at his girlfriend, who remained with her back to him, worried by what she had just said. How bad had it been at Hogwarts?

"Ok," he quietly said, desperate to hold her as she told him the truth but knowing she would not want that.

"I knew that Snape had been appointed the new headmaster before we even left to go to the station," Ginny began as she continued to look out of her window. "Dad had forewarned me about the changes happening at Hogwarts. Mum didn't want me to return, saying it would be better for us all just go into hiding, but Dad managed to convince her of how suspicious that would look after they had bought the story of Ron having Spattergroit."

Harry listened, without interruptions, as Ginny told him what she and the other students had experienced at Hogwarts. He couldn't stop himself from clenching his fists when she told him about the use of the Cruciatus Curse on anyone who criticised how and what was taught in Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. He was grateful, however, that Ginny had learnt to bite her lip and not respond, choosing to keep her head down in class and only rebelling after hours.

"Everyone was in agreement that I needed to do everything I could not to be noticed by the Carrows," Ginny explained without the need to be asked. "It wasn't a secret that we had dated for several weeks as the Slytherins liked to remind me, but even they never mentioned it in front of the Carrows. It was like their own personal torture for me, something they didn't want anyone else to use against me."

Regret washed over Harry as he listened to Ginny admit their relationship had been a source of amusement to the Slytherins. He wished he could have done something, anything, if it meant protecting her from the taunting that she had received throughout the school year.

Ginny continued on talking, ignoring any reaction Harry was having. Admittedly, he did feel some relief at hearing about the detention that Snape had handed her, Neville and Luna when they attempted to steal the Sword of Gryffindor and how Hagrid had taken good care of them as Harry had expected when he had originally found out about it. She kept on talking as though she was unable to stem the flow of words that came from her lips and Harry did nothing to stop her, recognising how she needed to reveal everything to him. Eventually, she reached the battle.

"I'm not angry at you," she said as she finally turned away from the window to look at Harry once more. "Not for walking away from our relationship. Not for siding with my mum and trying to stop me from being a part of the fight. Not even for pretending to be dead. I feel I know you well enough to grasp the fact you did each one for a reason. At least I now know that one of those reasons is because you love me, so how can I be mad at you for doing what you felt was right at the time?"

"You have every right to be angry at me, though," Harry replied, speaking for the first time since Ginny had begun recounting her year. "Every decision I made appears to have been for nothing as I ended up causing you heartache in the hope that I could protect you."

Ginny walked over to the bed and took a seat next to him, grasping his hands in hers as he had done earlier.

"You didn't know, and you certainly could not have predicted what happened at Hogwarts. The main thing is that we are now together with no prophecies or Dark wizards stopping us from doing so."

Harry tugged Ginny down as he lay back on her bed, allowing her to curl up in his arms. He wouldn't fight her on what he believed he did right and wrong over this past year as he knew he still needed to time to figure it all out. However, he knew she was right that Voldemort was no longer preventing them being together as he had managed to do a year previously.

He had no idea how long they remained curled up together on her bed. In all honesty, he didn't care as he was enjoying having the girl he loved there, next to him, as he took comfort in her mere presence. At one point, Harry thought Ginny had fallen asleep, something that would not have surprised him given the emotional toll the conversation they'd had would have taken on her. He couldn't help, therefore, jump a little at the sound of her voice when she finally broke the peaceful silence.

"What are your plans now that your life is your own?"

"I don't know," Harry told her truthfully. He had never thought about his future beyond the end of the war. He had not been confident at the time that he would even survive it. Yet somehow, he had and there was only one thing he was absolutely certain about when it came to how he wanted to spend his life. "I do know that I want to spend it with you."

"I feel the same way, Harry," Ginny responded immediately as she pushed herself up to allow her to look at Harry properly. "We both have decisions to make about what we want to do. I don't even know if I want to return to Hogwarts for my final year."

"The good thing is," Harry said, remembering how he had felt when he had seen Ginny sitting with her mum in the aftermath of the battle, "we don't need to rush our decisions. We have time."