Chapter One

Silence surrounded the three figures standing at the bottom of the stairs to the head teacher's office. There was a look of dogged determination on the face of the shortest boy. His hair was black, long and shaggy and his emerald green eyes had lost their usual sparkle. The taller of the two boys had a solemn look on his face. His red hair had grown in length and it was now down to his shoulders. The only female of the three had a blank expression and her brown hair was bushy as ever. They had been standing there for a few minutes before the silence broke. Harry spoke first.

'Ron, Hermione, I have to put this back where it belongs,' he said, putting his hand inside his left jacket pocket to feel where the elder wand was sitting.

'I need to find my parents, but that can wait until after we help you,' said Ron.

'Harry we will come with you,' offered Hermione.

'No Hermione, go with Ron to find his parents, I need to do his alone.'

'Harry we've been through this, you don't have to do everything alone!'

'Hermione, Go with Ron! I have to do this alone, I will see you later.'

As Harry walked off in the direction of the main entrance, Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. They knew all too well how stubborn Harry could be, but maybe for once, he was right. Ron shouted after Harry.

'See you in the dormitories later mate!'

Hermione glanced at Ron, who shrugged. She ran towards Harry and whispered so Ron would not hear.

'Harry is there anything I should say to Ginny? She was beside herself when she thought you were dead.'

Harry replied with a whisper also.

'Hermione, should she ask you anything about the last year, you can tell her what she wants to know, I know she can be trusted. But I would like to tell her myself if she will let me have the chance, but if she asks, then you do it.'

Hermione nodded and hugged him.

'I will let you tell her, you will see her before you know it' Hermione smiled before she walked back towards Ron, who put his arm round her as they walked back towards the great hall.

'He'll be OK won't he Ron?'

'He'll be fine Hermione, after all no-one will try and attack him now, not after what has happened, and if they do, well let's just say I hope they have a bloody good weapon!'


Harry made it to the main entrance and out into the grounds in no time. The grounds were hidden by the castle and so were still dark despite the fact the sun was coming up. The air reeked of death and suffering. He wandered out towards the lake, towards its glistening shape in the distance. It was by its reflected light that he could see. As Harry got closer, the white tomb came into view. At the sight of it, Harry lit his wand non-verbally. As he stood next to the tomb, all he could think of was the dead. His mind clogged full of sickening images; Fred, Moody, Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, the list seemed to wind into eternity. Tears were running down Harry's face, he hated himself; he had never felt so guilty in his life, not even after Sirius' death. "It's all my fault", he thought to himself, "I should have finished Voldemort sooner."

Harry fell to his knees and slammed the ground with his fists, the guilt was unbearable. In his mind he had convinced himself that every death in this war against Voldemort was entirely his fault. Now utterly beside himself, he knelt there in front of the tomb blaming himself continually until he became so tired he could cry no more. He stood up slowly, trying to gather what was left of his resolve, and prepared himself for what he had to do next. He needed to enter the tomb, and lay the elder wand next to the body of his one time headmaster and mentor, Albus Dumbledore.

Harry walked nervously towards the door, pointing his wand to silently perform the spell to move it sideways. He walked solemnly into the tomb. It was merely an antechamber with the coffin in the middle, and was built with plain white stone, nothing grand or spectacular. Just as Dumbledore would have wanted it, Harry thought to himself. He proceeded gingerly towards the coffin. He paused as he was looking over it, and glanced at the inscription.

'Here lies Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 1881-1997 Chief Warlock of the Wizenegmot and conqueror of Gellert Grindelwald. Former Headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, whose memory will live on through the students that remember him as long as they are loyal to him.'

Harry thought for a few moments about how loyalty helped in his previous years at Hogwarts. How Fawkes the phoenix had enabled him to beat the basilisk by bringing him the sorting hat and scratching out the deadly creature's eyes. How he had told Rufus Scrimgeour that he was Dumbledore's man through and through to fend of the persistent advances of the ministry.

A flapping noise outside the door caught suddenly broke his chain of thought. Harry drew his wand and stepped outside cautiously. To his surprise, there on top of the door sat Fawkes, the ever faithful phoenix of Dumbledore.

'Wow Fawkes, I never thought I would see you again!'

The phoenix flew down and sat on Harry's shoulder.

'You're still faithful to him just like I am, huh?'

The phoenix let out a cry of delight at Harry's words. Harry responded by gently stroking its magnificent golden feathers.

'Well Fawkes, I need to get this done and go inside to get some sleep, I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Thanks for everything you have done for me.'

Fawkes nibbled Harry's ear affectionately, before flying away into the night leaving him on his own again. Harry did not want to linger over Dumbledore's dead body any more than he had to, so opened up the coffin lid very slightly and placed the elder wand inside next to Dumbledore's left hand. He closed the lid quickly, and walked out of the tomb. Looking over his shoulder he sighed heavily.

'You didn't deserve to die.'

With that, Harry performed the spell to close the tomb door, and ran back up towards the castle.


Ginny Weasley was in the great hall with her parents and brothers when Hermione and Ron walked in.

'Where's Harry?' she asked in a disappointed tone.

'He had to do something for himself, he will be along later I think,' answered Ron.

Hermione went over and hugged Ginny.

'Don't worry, you will get to see him, if not tonight then tomorrow,' she whispered in her ear.

Ginny nodded and smiled at Hermione's words. Ron wasn't listening, he was hugging his mother. Ginny turned her attention back to the weeping figure on her left. Molly Weasley had taken the death of her son Fred very hard. Arthur had his arm round her and every Weasley boy was there surrounding their mother, trying to comfort her and George. He was beside himself, as was Percy, who had come to his senses hours before the battle. Ron walked over to his brothers and joined in their embrace.

'Why him? Why not me, I was the traitor in the family, why not me!?' Percy exclaimed.

Ginny and Hermione walked to a bench and sat down quietly, away from prying eyes and ears. Ginny didn't want her family to know her intentions just yet.

'Hermione, is Harry going to want me back? He was all I could think about for the past year, I've never felt the same about anyone before.'

'Ginny, I honestly think he wants you back more than anything, Harry wants to be happy, and what he has done tonight will go a long way towards that. He is going to need us around him, and I know he will want you by his side all the way, we all know how happy you were together. I remember what he said to you the day you got together the first time, how he appreciated you so much, how he said he felt normal for the first time in his life. That is all Harry has ever wanted, and you gave it to him, I don't think he's going to let that slip away, do you?'

Hermione put an arm around Ginny and Ginny hugged her back.

'Thanks Hermione, I just hope he feels as strongly about me, as I feel about him.'

Hermione smiled and nodded, she knew how intense Harry's feelings for Ginny were. Ginny yawned very widely.

'I think I need to go to bed.'

Molly overheard her daughter say this, and looked up at her. Molly's eyes were brimming with tears and she looked thoroughly exhausted.

'I think we could all do with some rest, maybe we should head home.'

'Mum, I'm going to stay here with Ron, Hermione and Harry. I want to be here when Harry wakes up, I've err…got some things I need to talk to him about.'

'Ginny, you are going to come home immediately, I see no reason why you must be here when Harry wakes up, he has Ron and Hermione.'

Hermione looked at Ron, who appeared gob smacked that Ginny was still interested in Harry after he finished their relationship so suddenly at Dumbledore's funeral. Then she turned and faced Molly.

'Mrs. Weasley, I think Ginny should stay here, Harry is going to need his friends around him in the morning, we all know what he is like, and he is going to blame himself for everything that has happened tonight. I know Ginny will help him to get over that, she will be safe if she is with us as well, you don't have anything to worry about.'

'Well, I still don't see why she should stay as Harry has you and Ron, but if she wishes to stay and Harry would want her to, then I am willing to let her. We do not need an argument, today of all days.'

Ginny walked over to her mother and embraced her with a hug.

'Thanks mum!'

'Just make sure you bring Harry to the Burrow tomorrow when you get up dear.'

'I will make sure to bring him mum,' she agreed, yawning again, 'and now I'm going to go to bed, I am so tired.'

She gave her mum a kiss on the cheek, glanced at the bench where Fred lay, looked down at the floor, but quickly pulled back up again, so as not to betray her grief. She then walked off with Hermione towards the Gryffindor tower. The rest of the Weasleys were left alone in the great hall.

'Mum, Dad, I'm going to go to bed too, I will make sure Harry comes to the Burrow tomorrow,' stated Ron a minute later.

He ran off after Hermione and Ginny, smiling weakly at his family as he left.


Harry walked into the common room, panting slightly to regain his breath as he looked around. He did not want to see or talk to anyone, so walked straight up to the boy's dormitory where he knew his old bed would be waiting for him. Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked into the common room just moments later.

'…Ron, don't wake him if he's in bed, please talk to him if you can though, he is not responsible for anything that has happened tonight, he needs to realize that,' suggested Hermione.

Ron nodded, then hugged both his sister and Hermione before kissing the latter and heading for the stairs.

'Night Ron,' said Ginny.

'Night sis,' Ron replied.

Checking that Ron had disappeared from sight, Ginny spoke.

'What happened there? When did you two start...well kissing?'

Hermione smiled.

'It happened in the battle, spur of the moment. I guess we will talk about it tomorrow.'

Ginny grinned knowingly in response.

'About time I think. Anyway Hermione, do you think you could tell me about the last year, I still don't know what has happened to any of you three?'

'I can, but Harry told me that he would like to tell you himself.'

'Oh, well if he wants to tell me then I can wait,' she said smiling.

'Well now that I think about it, Ron and I still need to know a few things. And I will need to explain some events to you before you speak to Harry so you understand things more clearly when he does open up, how about that?'

'That would be great 'Mione, thank you.' Ginny was secretly thinking to herself that she already knew more about what they had been through than they realised.

'No problem Ginny, I'm always here when you need someone to talk to. Right, let's get to bed, I've never been this tired before.'

Ginny glanced up the stairs towards the male dormitories as Hermione spoke. Hermione caught her eye and motioned in the opposite direction, smiling softly.

'Ginny, he needs rest, and lots of it, come on. You can see him in the morning, and you will have all the time in the world together.'


Ron walked up to the dormitory he had lived in when he was at Hogwarts. Harry was lying down on his bed, and sat up when Ron entered the room.

'Alright mate, how you fee…?' began Ron

'Fantastic, bloody fantastic Ron, this is all my fault, your brothers death, and everyone else's death, all of it!' shouted Harry.

'Harry, none of this is your fault, it's Voldemort's, you did what you needed to do, and if it wasn't for you then NONE of us would be here today, we would all be dead, so don't blame yourself, OK?'

'Ron…' Harry tried to object.

'No Harry, listen to me, you are not responsible for all of this, and you will not tell me otherwise, get some sleep, I will see you in the morning!'

Harry spoke after a moment's hesitation; his mind was wandering to thoughts of Ginny.

'Ron, is the rest of your family here?'

'No mate, they have all gone back home,' lied Ron, not wanting Harry concentrating upon his sister, 'now let's get some sleep.'

Trying unsuccessfully to banish thoughts of Ginny for now, Harry replied, 'Night Ron, thanks for everything.'

'No worries, thanks for giving us all hope for the future. See you tomorrow.'

With that, both Ron and Harry lay down and sank into their beds. Harry wondered where his mind might take him; dream or nightmare?