Thank you for the favourite, follows and reviews! This one's the penultimate chapter, hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

They'd had to make sure, of course. Restored Minister Fudge had sent a team into the Room of Requirement to make certain that there was no doubt this time that Voldemort was gone for good. The sight of his charred remains would have been enough to convince anyone. The Death Eaters had surrendered even before that, the fight gone out of them when the news arrived that their leaders were gone. The few who'd tried to flee had been quickly stunned. After everything they'd been through and suffered, none of the school's defenders were going to let any of those responsible off the hook.

After all, the victory hadn't come without cost. Despite Ginny's return, Dumbledore remained dead. Professor Flitwick had been killed too, cornered by a group of Death Eaters who wanted to prove they could beat a master duellist when they had him outnumbered five to one. Professor Sprout, never one for violence, had been an easy target. And Oliver Wood and Alicia Spinnet had been killed during one of their aerial attacks, hit by a fireball. Ginny had found Katie sitting alone, upset, and stopped for a moment to comfort her before leaving her with Fred and George.

Now, she stood with Auror Moody and watched as the remaining Death Eaters were led out in chains under Auror guards. They were followed by those students who had sided with Headmaster Snape's regime. Ginny noticed Pansy Parkinson among them, giving her a defiant glare right to the end. "What'll happen to them?"she asked Moody.

"Azkaban for starters,"Moody replied. "But there'll have to be trials and a lot of that lot come from powerful families. They'll make out that they were tricked or coerced or afraid for their lives. Some of 'em might even get away with it. Such is justice."

Snape was one of the last to be led out. He had remained quietly in his dungeon during the whole battle. Ginny noticed Lily stop the Aurors from leading him away long enough for her to have a quiet word. "I'll have a word with them,"she told him. "I'll let them know you co-operated."

Snape sighed. "Dear Lily. Still believing I can be saved. Well, who knows? Perhaps you will have a chance to prove me wrong. The Dark Lord has gone. The Death Eaters have been defeated. And I know better than to hold on to a lost cause. If they ever let me out of Azkaban, perhaps I will see if I can live in the world that you preferred." He nodded to the Aurors who led him away.

Lily saw Ginny watching her and came over, looking awkward. "I'm sorry, I know he did horrible things to your family, it's just it can be hard at times not to try and find some sign of the boy I once knew."

Ginny shrugged. "It's in other people's hands now. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life punishing people for all this." She bit her lip nervously, thinking hard. "The rest of my life. You know, there's been a lot of times in the last year when I've wondered how long that would be." She was distracted from her thoughts by the approach of Neville and Hermione, holding hands and with big grins on their faces.

"Hi, Ginny,"Neville greeted her. "We won."

Ginny managed a smile. "Thanks, both of you. I couldn't have managed all this without you."

"I think you'd have done it somehow,"Hermione replied.

"Maybe. Or maybe you two could have done it without me. I'm glad we all got to do it together." Ginny walked away, not in the mood for a long conversation. She passed a few people who greeted her in a friendly manner, before finding Luna chatting with Cedric, Colin and Fleur. "Deep thoughts?"she asked.

"Hello, Ginny,"Luna greeted her. "We were just wondering what we were going to do now."

"Professor McGonagall wants to get the school up and running again as soon as possible,"Colin explained. "She's offered me catch-up classes for what I've missed."

"And I've agreed to see out the rest of the year,"Cedric added.

"What about you, Ginny?"Luna asked. "It'd be very nice to have you with us again."

"I guess I'll have to think about it."

Ginny walked on, her mind still whirring. Could she really just go back to school after all this? Her aunt and uncle had been contacted and told what had happened but she wasn't sure if she could just go back to living with them. Would they still treat her as the child she had been or recognise the woman she'd become? What was she going to do with her life now? She would always be remembered as the girl who defeated Voldemort, more than once. She was glad he was gone, but every time she thought of that agonising scream coming from the Room of Requirement, she knew she wanted to be remembered for more than that. To do something better than that.

And suddenly there was a smile on her face, as she ran to find the person she most wanted to see, then and always.

"Wilberforce,"Ginny snapped, giving the password that she'd got from Lavender. The portal obligingly swept aside and she dragged Harry into the empty Gryffindor common room.

"Ginny, what's going on?"he asked, bewildered.

Ginny put her arms round his neck and he obligingly encircled her waist. "I'm going to go back to Hogwarts,"she announced. "I'd like you to come with me."

"Yeah, of course,"Harry agreed.

Ginny shook her head. "Don't just say yes without thinking. You need to be sure."

"Ginny…I'm sure about one thing. I'm sure about you. That minute when I thought you were dead, that was the worst feeling I've ever had. Whatever we do, we're going to do it together."

Ginny nodded. "I don't know what I'm going to do,"she said at last. "I've suddenly got this whole future and maybe it's not going to be as exciting as the last few years but it's mine. I could work for the ministry, I could become a teacher here, I could join the aurors, I could play quidditch professionally, I could open a shop…I could work in a bank, if I wanted! And if you're willing, I really want to spend it with you."

"I just said that's what I wanted, didn't I?"

Ginny kissed him softly. She looked him in the eyes, hoping he could see what she wanted. "I'm tired of being the Girl Who Lived,"she told him. "From now on, I want to be the Girl Who Lives."

Harry nodded, understanding. Ginny took his hand and led him towards the dormitories. "I'm not sure either of us has actually got a bed here at the moment,"he pointed out.

Ginny headed for the seventh year boys' room. "I don't think anyone will disturb us for quite a while. Anyway, I've had a lot of practice at Locking Charms today."

She turned and kissed him and they collapsed onto the nearest bed. Of all the experiences Ginny had had that day, perhaps none was quite so amazing as entwining her body with that of the boy she loved.