[A conversation about Ginny's past year, an admission, and a night-time visit.
TW: mentions of torture, swearing, and very PG-13 kissing (that will get less PG-13 next chapter, the way things are headed)]

v.

Harry and Ginny left the Tonks' house in the early evening, just after the sun had gone down, when the sky was still tinged with a light pink but was getting darker by the minute.

Ginny would have been content to stay for even longer, but of all people, Augusta Longbottom had showed up for 'tea and a chat' with Andromeda, and she had wanted to speak to Harry to 'thank him for the tremendous role he played in the war'. One look at Harry's face, which had gone from open and easy and a little bit in love as he looked at Teddy to guarded and a little nervous, had forced Ginny's hand.

"Well," she'd said, getting to her feet and brushing the crumbs off her jeans, "thank you so much for having us, Mrs Tonks, but Mum wanted us back in time for dinner." The look of relief on Harry's face had been immediate, and Ginny marvelled that Augusta and Andromeda didn't pick up on it. As it was, it took every ounce of will power Ginny had to not laugh.

After a round of goodbyes, where Andromeda had promised to come by the Burrow with Teddy sometime the next week and Augusta had solemnly informed the both of them that she would see them during the upcoming trials, and Kreacher wrung out of Harry a promise to call him at the slightest needed and handed them a parcel of treacle tart (how he had managed to make that so fast, Ginny had no idea), they finally left the house, walking together through the garden outside. Harry held onto Ginny's hand a little tighter than usual, but she didn't comment on it.

"You're going to have to get used to it, you know," she said instead, turning to look at him once they were past the boundaries of the estate, where they could Apparate back home.

"Get used to what?" he said, a little weakly. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"To people thanking you. I mean, you single-handedly defeated Riddle. People are very grateful," she said.

"It wasn't singlehanded," Harry said. "I mean… it wasn't just me. Loads of people helped… I couldn't have done anything without Ron and Hermione. And Dumbledore. And Snape… and Neville told us about what you did in Hogwarts, you and him and Luna…"

Ginny leaned in and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're going to have to tell me the entire Snape story sometime," she told him when she pulled back from the kiss.

"I could tell you now, if you wanted," Harry offered, taking a step back to look at her with an amused smile.

"You could," Ginny said, and pretended to consider it, "or you could Apparate us to the Burrow, and we could find a private spot outside and snog until Mum calls us in to dinner. That might be just a little more fun that talking about Snape."

Without any hesitation, Harry took her hand again and spun on the spot, taking them back home.

They settled down outside in the orchard once they had reached the Burrow. It was dark by then, and Ginny revelled in the absence of fear she felt. The past year, she wouldn't have dreamed out being out with her boyfriend in the dark, for fear of Death Eaters.

Harry seemed just as content as she was. He was leaning against the tree, the same place he'd been in when they'd first reconciled, and she had settled herself in his lap, where it was the most convenient to kiss him. She closed her eyes as they kissed, feeling as if he was the realest thing in the world.

"God, I'm glad the war's over," she whispered, more to herself than anything else, when she pulled back and looked up at him.

For some reason, that made Harry tense up. She could feel the way his shoulders stiffened, because of their proximity.

"What is it?" she murmured.

"Nothing," Harry said, but he didn't seem convinced at all.

Ginny got her wand out and muttered Lumos; Harry's face came into focus. His forehead was furrowed as he frowned.

"Okay, that's not how you should look when I'm kissing you, so I hope something else is bothering you," she said lightly, but she couldn't stop herself from reaching out her free hand out to stroke, tenderly, at his stubbled jaw and cheek.

He took a moment to respond. When he finally spoke, it wasn't anything Ginny expected.

"How bad was it at Hogwarts?"

Ginny tensed up. She moved her hand away, and was half-tempted to extinguish her wand-light and make a run for it back home. She didn't do it. Instead, she waited for anything, a follow-up statement, a further question. When none arrived, she said, "What do you mean?"

"With the Death Eaters there," Harry said. He didn't seem to notice the way he was playing with the hem of Ginny's shirt. "Because I know Snape was finally on our side. And he was the Headmaster, so I thought—"

"He was the Headmaster, but he couldn't be everywhere at once," Ginny finally said. "I heard him telling Amycus not to hurt us too much. He said it was too much clean-up for him to deal with, but maybe he had other reasons…"

"Yeah, I reckon he did," Harry said softly.

"But that didn't stop them. The Carrows. It wasn't too bad, at first," Ginny said. She had to force the words out, after a year of training herself to keep as quiet about it as she could. "They would talk about Dark Arts, and how scum Muggles were, and disgusting things like that. But if you spoke out against them…"

"Which you did," Harry said.

"Which I did," Ginny agreed. "It involved a Bat-Bogey Hex. Wands were banned from classes after that. It wasn't good if you spoke out. The first time was in September Alecto threw a bottle at me. And then refused to let me go to the hospital wing throughout class. And I didn't want to make a fuss." Slowly, she handed Harry her alit wand. Once her hands were free, she tugged down one of the sleeves of her shirt, showing Harry the small white scar on her shoulder. "Luna helped me fix it after. It didn't even hurt that much, I've had much worse. But that's when he decided he didn't like me."

Harry traced the scar with his finger, but didn't say anything.

"Do you remember in third year, when Moody tried out the Imperius curse on us?" she said, and Harry nodded. "It wasn't really Moody, I mean. Crouch. Well, turns out the Carrows enjoyed the Unforgivables just as much as he did. Especially Alecto. He tested them out on a few students every week. His excuse," she scoffed, "was that he wanted us to learn to fight it, but that's complete bullshit, because none of us had wands to defend ourselves. I always got chosen. So did Luna sometimes. I think Neville did, too. I think he suspected us of the DA stuff, and besides, we're blood traitors."

"Every week?" Harry asked. She knew, from the steely tone in his voice, just how upset he was, but she didn't allow herself to think about it. She couldn't try and protect his feelings now, not when he seemed to want to know the grisly details.

"No. I mean, yes, but not just once a week…" Ginny squared her shoulders. "We also had detentions with them. I think if they hadn't had other students to torture, it would've been every day, but it was only every few days. A couple times a week. The Death Eaters talk amongst themselves, did you know? They had these cozy little chat sessions, gossiped all about the things he'd done. Alecto didn't know the details of Riddle's diary, but he knew enough. So Luna and Neville, they would get the Cruciatus during detentions, and so would I, but… I got some other stuff. Added perks, I suppose."

"What other stuff?" Harry asked. He was still tracing over her shoulder with his callused thumb.

"Legilimency," Ginny said softly. "The Imperius Curse. He would taunt me while he did it, about having someone else in my head. I could throw off the Imperius Curse within the month, but it took me longer with Legilemency. I finally managed it by December. Before that, though… He isn't very good at it, so he never saw anything too incriminating. Just… glimpses. But… Merlin, I really fucking hated it. I don't like people in my head." She was aware that her voice was dangerously thick, and she forced herself to pause, to compose herself.

"Gin," Harry said. His voice was unbelievably soft. He set down the wands he'd been holding, his own and Ginny's one, which was still illuminating them in weak light, and drew him to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I finally learnt Occlumency. I acted up in McGonagall's class until she gave me detention with her, and then I got her to teach me the theory. I would practice it every night, before I snuck out to meet the others in the DA. I learnt it by December. After that, I think it made him angrier that he couldn't get in my head or force me under the Imperius. He resorted to Cruciatus after that. During class if he thought I wasn't paying attention, during detention, this one time in the corridors on the way up to Gryffindor tower after class." Ginny shuddered, thinking of how weak she had been on her feet that day, how she'd barely been able to walk. Neville and Demelza Robins had helped her up through the portrait hole that day, because her legs had been shaking too much to walk steady. "Sometimes his sister would get in on the fun, too. She's a bit old fashioned with the torture, she used to enjoy breaking my arm and then Healing it, and breaking it again in the exact same spot. For an hour or so. No magical blood spilt, just a bit of pain." She lifted her arm up to show Harry the place on her arm.

"Merlin," Harry whispered. "And the others didn't do anything? McGonagall? Flitwick?"

"They tried," Ginny said quietly. "I think the most they could do was make sure they didn't harm us outside class. No one was allowed in during class or detention. After that time, they made sure no student was ever alone in the corridors. That helped." She wiped at her tears impatiently.

"Ginny…" Harry said.

"Don't," Ginny said. "There's no point. It happened. We got through it. Kingsley'll make sure those fuckers are behind bars."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. A few minutes passed like that, Harry holding her close and Ginny attempting to calm down. "Not… not just Kingsley," he finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, grateful for the change in topic.

"I can't sit back and let Kingsley and the others deal with it," Harry said softly. "Not… not after everything that's happened. Not after what they put you through. I need to be out there."

Ginny didn't say out where or deal with what, because she thought she knew what he meant. Not for the first time, she thought about differently she and Harry seemed to be reacting to the war. She would be happy if she never saw another Death Eater again, and Harry seemed to want to chase them down himself.

"You need NEWTs to join the Aurors," she finally said. "But I think they might waive that requirement for the Chosen One. Ask Kingsley."

Harry looked a little surprised. "I didn't mention the Aurors," he said.

"You didn't have to. Honestly, Potter, you're predictable at this point," Ginny said, more to diffuse the tension than anything. It worked: a sudden chuckle burst out of Harry.

"I won't let anyone hurt you again," he said, when he had calmed down. Ginny raised an eyebrow and looked at him. She very much hoped her expression was visible in the weak wandlight. "I mean," he amended. "You won't let them hurt you. You'll stand up for yourself and give them absolute hell, and I'll come snog you afterwards."

"Much better," Ginny said.

Ginny couldn't sleep in the night. When she closed her eyes, images swam before her of the Carrows ugly sneers, and when she finally drifted off, it was an uneasy sleep that claimed her.

She finally gave up on sleeping a couple of hours into the process. A glance at Percy's old watch, which she had stolen as soon as he'd gotten a new one for his seventeenth birthday, told her it was just past twelve fifteen am.

Hermione had told her a week or so ago that it was better to talk about things. Hermione had been busying herself since the war with books about trauma and recovery, books that Ginny had stoutly been refusing to read. It had felt oddly nice earlier, though, to speak to Harry about it. He was different from speaking to anyone else; he didn't coddle her, and listened to her. She suspected that after everything he'd been through, nothing she said could scare him.

She grabbed her wand off her bedside table and muttered Lumos. As suspected, Hermione's camp bed in the corner of the room was empty. Ginny wondered why any of them even bothered with the façade anymore.

She got up, making sure to keep quiet, and tip-toed out of the room to Bill and Charlie's old room. She didn't bother knocking, inching the door open as quietly as she could and walking in.

Harry was fast asleep, hair even messier than usual as if he'd been tossing and turning. It was odd to see him like this, without his glasses and the frown he wore around most people. She debated turning around and leaving the room, but Ginny Weasley was no coward.

She shook him once, gently, and then took a small step back. He started awake, grabbing his wand and pointing it at her as he shoved his glasses on, all within a few seconds. A little startled, she stepped back, and raised her hands in the air in surrender. He relaxed when he saw her, and lowered his wand.

"Oh, er. Sorry," he mumbled. His voice was groggy from sleep. He set his wand back down and rubbed at his eye with his knuckle under his glasses.

"Hi," Ginny whispered, and stepped closer to him. He slept without a shirt on, she realised. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious about her Holyhead Harpies t-shirt and underwear, which was all she had on, since she'd kicked off her pyjama bottoms in her sleep and had been too preoccupied to notice until just that second.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at her with a concerned expression. His expression changed somewhat when he took in what she was wearing. She tugged the hem of her shirt down, but then gave up the attempt.

"Couldn't sleep," she finally said. "I was hoping—" she could feel her cheeks warm up, and she hoped to Merlin Harry couldn't see her blush in the weak wandlight.

Luckily, he seemed to understand what she was getting at, and moved up in bed, making space for her.

Without another word, she extinguished her wand and laid it down on the table, next to Harry's, and climbed into bed. She hadn't ever slept in the same bed as another boy she wasn't related to before, but she oddly didn't feel as shy around Harry as she might've expected.

Harry took off his glasses and set them down, and then tentatively wrapped his arms around Ginny. She moved a bit closer to him, and rested her cheek against his shoulder. He was here, and real, and his skin was warm under her cheek.

"Night," he murmured, tugging the duvet up above the both of them.

"Thank you," she whispered after a moment, but he was already asleep by then, so she closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep as well. She didn't have any more nightmares that night.