A/N: sighs I have just moved again, and due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to post this chapter up until now. I'm very sorry about taking so long. But I hope you enjoy this, the last chapter!

DISCLAIMER: (See previous chapters)

Chapter 20: New Beginnings.

On the first week of Christmas break, Ron and Ginny went straight home to the Burrow, Hermione left for her parents' house, and Harry, after collecting all his things from Privet Drive and having 'accidentally' set fire to Dudley's hair, was at number twelve Grimmauld Place, no longer the Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix. The house was quiet, too quiet for Sirius' taste, and the two of them, most of the time accompanied by Remus Lupin, went out almost everyday to either Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, or muggle London to have some fun.

The day before Christmas, Jenny stopped by to see Harry. She had brought with her an official acceptance letter from Classical Academy, approved by the Council of Plisvert.

"Now," Jenny said after Harry read his letter. "All we have to do is hold your Irridansa and you'll be able to start school in September."

"That means I won't be able to go to Hogwarts, right?" Harry wondered.

"Well, it's really up to you. If you decide to go, I'll help you through Irridansa. Or you may choose not to go at all. Dumbledore can find someone to help you through training at Hogwarts," she explained.

"What about you? Can't you teach me?"

"Harry, it's been a true honor having been able to work with you, and you have learned so quickly. But I have to go home, get back to work, you know."

Harry nodded. He looked down at the letter and read it again. "Can I take some time to think about this?"

Jenny smiled. "Take all the time you need." She said goodbye to Sirius and Remus and left, saying she had to go to a meeting of the Council.

"Well, Harry. What do you think you're going to do?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, he said wants to think about it. Leave him alone," Remus told him.

"No, no, it's fine," Harry sat at the kitchen table and accepted the cup of tea offered to him by his professor. "I really don't know what to do."

"Something's been bothering you since Halloween," Sirius said simply. "I don't know what it is, but if it's Voldemort-related, forget it. Don't let that influence the rest of your life."

Harry looked at the table miserably. "He said something about Ginny and-"

"And you believe him?" Remus prodded. Sirius raised an eyebrow questioningly at Harry.

"Yeah," Harry whispered. Remus shook his head.

Sirius sighed, "You know very well that Voldemort is- was- a liar. He was probably trying to throw you off when he realized you could win the fight. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure that you were unhappy after he died. Ginny loves you."

"You seem so sure of that," Remus remarked.

"Well, being in the other realms, it got pretty boring. There was really nothing to do but watch those who were still alive," Sirius explained.

"You spied on my girlfriend?" Harry asked, outraged.

"Not spied," Sirius said. "Looked over her. Had to make sure the future Mrs. Potter was safe."

"Planning on marrying Harry off so early, huh?" Remus laughed.

"He was the one who put Lily's engagement ring on her finger," Sirius defended himself. "The Healers couldn't get it off her finger when she was taken to St. Mungo's, remember? That means that Harry and Ginny were meant to be."

"What?" Harry asked.

"The ring is charmed to fit only the soul mate of the Potter man who is proposing," Remus explained. "It's also charmed so that it can never come off her finger until its time to give it to their son when he's ready to propose to his soul mate."

"So, do you still believe Voldemort?" Sirius asked.

Christmas at the Burrow was a very hectic affair. All the Weasleys, even Percy, had shown up. Bill had brought Fleur and her sister Gabrielle, and Charlie had invited his girlfriend, Kathleen. Penelope had arrived with Percy, and Harry got the distinct feeling that Penelope had dragged him to dinner. Mr. Weasley and his son had disappeared for about an hour, and when they returned, the whole family was together again.

Fred and George were up to their usual antics, and Mrs. Weasley was yelling at them to stop. Ron and Harry sat playing Chess in the kitchen, and watching Ginny and Hermione help with the cooking. Every so often, Ginny would catch Harry staring at her with a weird expression on his face. She just smiled at him and went back to what she was doing. During one of those moments when Harry distracted, she accidentally knocked her hand into the newly done dishes, cutting her hand with a sharp knife in the process. "Ouch!"

"Ginny, are you okay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I just cut my hand with this stupid knife," she said. "It's fine really."

"Fine? Ginny, you're bleeding a lot," Hermione said. "Let me see your palm." She forced Ginny's hand open and inspected the slash. "It doesn't look too deep. Let's get your mom to heal this."

"Won't the cut just heal itself?" Harry asked, slightly confused as he waited for the white light which had healed Ginny when she stabbed herself to heal this small cut.

"Oh, Harry, I forgot. You don't know about what happened yet," Ginny said. She took a small kitchen towel and wrapped it around her hand, then sat next to the boys at the kitchen table. "First off, I'm not immortal anymore, and I don't have the Dark Magic fighting mine."

Harry frowned. "How is that possible? I thought you said that you couldn't find a way to-"

"It was the Veil. Remember what your mom said to me? That it was rebirth? Well, when we passed through the Veil, our souls and our conscience were cleared," Ginny explained. "That means that the part of my soul that was tainted with Tom's power was cleared. It was being reborn, turning the page and starting fresh."

"I don't get it," said Harry. "If your immortality was taken away from you, then why can you find immortality beyond the Veil?"

"It's the water," a new voice whispered. Acantha took form in front of their eyes. "The water has something in it to prevent your soul to be reborn, but you would be resigning yourself to a life of sorrow. And your new soul can stay within your body because it's a part of you. Without it, you wouldn't be able to live. Ginny's was cleared of the bad thing haunting her. As were you, Harry."

"How was I cleared? I still have my powers," he said.

"Your scar," Hermione whispered, astonishment written in her face. "It's barely there." Harry brought a hand to his forehead. Acantha smiled and pulled a small mirror from the inside of her robe and held it up for him to see. The lighting bolt-shaped scar was still there, but it was scarcely noticeable. "The Dark Lord is no longer a part of you."

Acantha turned to Ginny. "My healing powers are not quite as a good as a faerie's, but Air can carry hurts and illness away. Would you like me to heal that hand?" Ginny held out her palm and muttered thanks as Acantha blew lightly on the cut and it disappeared altogether.

It was too cold to have dinner outside, and too crowded to have dinner in the kitchen, so Bill conjured up an amazingly beautiful and long table that fit perfectly in the living room. Charlie and Percy pushed the living room furniture away to have more space and Fred and George busy entertaining Fleur, Gabrielle, Hermione and Ginny with a few of their new products.

It took a while for everyone to settle down and sit at the table. Harry sat next to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, who seemed to think that something had happened to him if he wasn't where she could see him. He knew she considered him a son, and he considered her his mom. So he had not felt embarrassed or uncomfortable when she made a fuss over him. All the Weasleys and their guests were having a great time. Fred and George joked around as usual, this time aided and abated by Sirius and Remus. Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Gabrielle were having a heated discussion about the Quidditch season. Ginny, Hermione, and Fleur were talking excitedly about Numerology, which Fleur had studied in depth. The Grangers, who Mr. Weasley had insisted sit next to him, were trying to explain to him and Mrs. Weasley what dentists do. Harry looked around and knew that this was his family, his home, and that now there was no one who could separate them. Except...

Harry stood up and everyone fell immediately quiet. "Um, everyone, there's something I wanted to talk to all of you about. I, um- Actually, Jenny gave me this letter that said I was now allowed to attend Classical Academy in Plisvert to help develop my powers. That means that I have a choice in going in September, or not going at all, and I wanted to see what you all thought about it," he finished lamely.

"Well, Harry dear, that's really your decision. We can't make it for you," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know, but you're my family, and I'd like to know what you think I should do," he answered, looking down at his feet.

"Oh, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley stood and hugged him real tight.

"Mom, stop it, you're suffocating him," Bill admonished. Mrs. Weasley pulled back, apologizing to Harry.

"I think it an excellent idea, Harry," Percy said, smiling for what Harry thought was the first time ever, as it looked like it took him a lot of effort. "But do you really want to leave Hogwarts?"

"No," he admitted. "But this is a great opportunity, but..."

"You don't want to leave your family and friends behind?" Remus finished for him. Harry nodded, "Exactly."

"You won't be leaving us," Mrs. Weasley declared. "You'll come visit us during the holidays and during summer vacation. We'll get to see each other occasionally."

"And," Sirius added, "Classical accepts for family members to visit the students during weekends. We can always go to see you if you'd like."

"I didn't know that," Hermione frowned.

"I remember Lily would drag us to see Jenny whenever we got the chance," Sirius smiled. Remus nodded, also smiling at the memory.

"You should sleep on it, darling," Mrs. Weasley said, adding more food to Harry's plate. "Things look much clearer in the morning."

At the end of the night, Sirius invited Harry to another party, but Harry was too tired to go, so Mrs. Weasley invited him to stay the night, preparing Percy's old room for him. The five oldest Weasleys, Sirius, Remus left for the party, while the Grangers, after thanking Mrs. Weasley for inviting them, took Hermione home, as they were flying to U.S. to visit some relatives early in the morning.

Harry had just lied down in bed when he heard a soft knock at the door. "Come in," he said, and Ginny opened the door, entering the room silently.

"I don't want you to go," she said simply.

"What?"

"I don't want you to go to Plisvert. I don't want you to leave. I don't want you to forget me. I want you to stay with me," she said again. "But I think you should go."

"Now you're confusing me," Harry said.

"Like you said, this is a wonderful opportunity for you," she said. "I don't want to you to miss out on it. I don't want you to go, but I can't ask you to stay. That would just be very selfish of me."

"Gin, are you still wearing my mother's ring?" Harry asked suddenly.

Ginny seemed taken aback. "Yeah. Do you want it back?" She started to take it off her finger, but couldn't. Harry smiled and took her hands in his. "Ginny, would you marry me?"

"What?" she gasped.

"Would you marry me?"

"Are you out of your mind, Harry?" Ginny exclaimed.

He grinned. "A little, yes. And this way you'll know that I'll come back for you. And when I do, then we can decide whether we still want to be together, and when we want to get married."

Ginny stared at him in amazement and shock. "You are insane. You need to be checked into St. Mungo's or something."

"So you don't want to marry me?" Harry's face fell.

"Of course I do, but aren't we a bit too young to be thinking about that?" Ginny said.

"Yeah, but if there's something I've learned is that life is too short. And I want to spend the rest of it with you. And I don't want you to think I'm leaving you if I go to Classical. I love you, Ginny Weasley. And if you don't believe me, then look at the ring," Harry said.

"What about it?" she asked.

"It's charmed so that it fits only the person I'm meant to spend my life with, and it's also charmed so that that person can't take it off until our son has met his perfect match," he explained.

Ginny looked down at the ring and then back at Harry. "I love you, too. And I would love to be your wife."

"Really?" Harry smiled.

"Yeah." They stared at each other for a few minutes. Ginny smiled, "Are you going to kiss me, or what, Potter?" He laughed and they kissed.

A/N: There you go. The last Chapter. I was thinking of writing a sequel, that's why I left the ending so vague, but it probably won't be around for a few more months. I'm have started writing notes for an original fiction story, which will be posted on (check my Bio to see when it'll be posted), so I really want to focus on that first. I have no clue how long this will take me, so I'm not making any promises. Anyway, thank you all for sticking with this story. I know I'm no good at writing and there are a lot of things I need to improve on, but for my first fanfic, it's not all that bad, right? THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!!!!!!! You guys were the reason I kept writing this; you let me know that someone was enjoying it, and you helped me come up with new ideas.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN;

Amalia xoxo----------------- see you soon for the sequel!