A/N The next two chapters are definitely my favorite so far! I hope you like them as much as I do!

Two weeks after Graduation

Harry sat alone in a bar in muggle London, drowning his sorrows in alcohol. The vodka wasn't as efficient as the Firewhiskey he'd consumed before he left his flat that night, but he didn't want to be in a wizarding place. He needed to be alone. He slammed back another shot as the bartender walked over to where he was sitting.

"Something troubling you, mate?" the bartender asked. Harry glared at him. "Sheesh, I was just asking. I'm going to have to cut you off, though." The bartender walked away as Harry continued to glare at him. Harry dropped his head on the counter top, silently wishing his life away.

"Wotcher, Harry," a voice called him back to reality. Harry picked up his head long enough to see Tonks before slamming it back against the counter. "You've become a tough bloke to track down," Tonks continued, ignoring Harry's state. "We've been trying to tell you that you were accepted into Auror training, even though you never actually got to finish the application process." Harry's only response was to bang his head again. Tonks kept talking anyway. "I saw Hermione back at your flat. She told me you were living together. She looks bloody awful; like she's been crying all the time and hasn't slept in days."

"I'll be sure to tell her you said so," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Everyone misses you." Harry snorted. "They do! They're all very worried," Tonks insisted. "You know I'm not going to judge you and Hermione if you're in love. You can't help who you fall for."

Harry finally picked his head up and looked at Tonks. "But you've already judged me. Why doesn't anyone believe I'd never do that to Ron?"

"So tell him!"

"I tried! I've written him a letter everyday this week and he hasn't responded. He won't believe me unless I give him a different reason for why Hermione broke up with him. It's not my fault I'm not allowed to tell him that she broke up with him for his own good."

"What?" Tonks exclaimed.

"Says it's for his own bloody happiness. I say it's ruining all of our lives. Well, that and the fact that I'm a murderer."

"Hermione got hit with that curse!" Tonks exclaimed, finally putting the pieces together.

"Bloody hell! I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Swear you won't say," Harry urged her.

"I swear, Harry," Tonks said solemnly. "And you're not a murderer. Nobody thinks that."

"Yes, they do."

"You know I'm seeing Charlie now," Tonks began.

"Then this is probably the last time I'll be seeing you," Harry interrupted.

"Come back to the Burrow with me. Get this whole thing worked out before it's too late," she pleaded.

"I can't face them; too much has happened."

"That doesn't matter. They're your family."

"No, I'm the reason they lost so much of their family. I can't go with you," Harry said as he dropped his head on the counter again.

"I'm not going to keep arguing with you, but you're wrong." Tonks paused and sighed. "You should stop drinking so much. And you should help Hermione; she needs you."

"I know."

"You know, I hear they're trying to get the Quidditch leagues going again this year. They're hoping to have the national leagues going again by next year. They want to give the people something enjoyable to do to take their minds off everything that's happened. I'd say you deserve more than anyone to just do something you enjoy for once, instead of something you feel like you're supposed to do." Harry didn't respond, but Tonks knew her message had sunk in. "Good bye, Harry."

"Tonks?" Harry called right before she reached the door.

"Yeah?"

"Will you write me, let me know how everyone is doing? I can't promise that I'll be able to return the letters, but it'd give me peace of mind to know that they're surviving."

"Of course, and if you ever want to see a familiar face, I'm an Auror. I can be discreet."

Ginny had just finished getting ready for bed when she heard a knock on her door. She tightened her dressing gown around her waist and opened the door a crack.

"Tank?" she said curiously. None of the guys had ventured to her side of the manor before. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Tank said slowly.

"What do you mean, 'you're not sure?'" Ginny asked anxiously. She could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest; what would she do if there was something wrong with one of the guys?

"Well, after you and Harry had that fight he locked himself in his room and we haven't heard anything out of him since. I mean you saw that he wasn't at dinner, but there haven't been any noises coming out of his room at all," Tank explained.

"Well, why are we standing here talking? Let's go!" Ginny hurried out of her room with Tank right behind her. She ran all of the way from her side of the manor to the guys' side. When she reached Harry's room she knocked, first gently, then more insistently when no one answered. "Oh, of all the times to leave my wand behind," she muttered.

Tank smiled. "Allow me. Alohomora!"

The door flew open and Ginny gasped at the site before her. Harry's redecorating had consisted of ridding the room of everything but his bed and his trunk, both of which were securely fastened to the ground. "What the…"

"Well, there's Harry's wand, so he must not be too far," Tank said, pointing to the wand sitting on the bed. "Accio wand!"

"Wait, there's a noise coming from the bathroom," Ginny said. She walked over and gently knocked on the door. She tried the knob and found it unlocked. As soon as she opened the door, she felt herself being pushed through. Before she could realize what was going on the door slammed shut behind her. She tried the knob but found it was now locked.

"Ginny!" Ginny slowly turned around to find herself face to face with Harry with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Ginny worked to tear her eyes off his bare chest, and her face turned bight pink. She first thought that his chest looked muscular and well defined, but then noticed that the definition came from his protruding ribs. She made a mental note to keep better track of his eating habits. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Ginny said bitterly. She turned around and pounded on the door. "Tank! Let me out of here!"

She could hear laughter coming from Harry's room. "Sorry, no can do!" Tank called.

"And why not?" Ginny yelled.

"Because if you two don't work out whatever it is that's been bugging you, you're going to kill each other before the World Cup even starts," Tank explained through his chuckles.

"Yeah, and for some strange reason, we're kind of fond of the two of you," MJ added.

"Although, we're not exactly sure why in your case, Potter," Dustin called.

"So when you two work through things, we'll let you out," Wesley finished.

"Well, if you lot would stop sharing a brain and think, you'd realize what a bad idea this is!" Ginny yelled.

"I think you're right, Jeff," Tank said cheerfully. "It is time for a silencing charm. We'll be back to check on your progress in a while."

"Maybe," MJ added. "Silencio!"

"I can't believe them!" Ginny exclaimed. She turned around to face a still mostly naked but very amused looking Harry. "I don't see why you look so happy."

"It's just funny, that's all," Harry said with a shrug. "I'm assuming you don't have your wand."

"No, I left it in my room. Tank took yours, too. I don't know why," Ginny added.

"So, what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"I guess we just get comfortable and talk," Ginny said with a sigh. She wished she had more than just her pajamas and dressing gown on. Both were old and a bit tattered, and even though she knew Harry knew all about her family's financial situation, she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. She leaned against the wall and slid down so she was sitting on the floor. Harry grabbed another towel from the shelf and sat down on the edge of the tub, putting the second towel across his lap to make sure he was covered. "You said earlier it wasn't the time or the place," Ginny said slowly. "What about now?"

"I meant what I said before about secrets," Harry replied.

"Yes, well, you weren't exactly making sense."

"Since we have nothing but time, let's see if I can explain. As far as I can tell, I have three types of secrets," Harry began. "The first type is those that I'm legally not supposed to tell. I have a lot of secrets that the Ministry won't let me tell anyone but on a strictly need to know basis. For example, who it was that stayed with me this weekend. The worst of the war might be over, but there's still so much going on that the general public doesn't know. If they found out, well let's just say that it would make the press conference look like a picnic."

Ginny looked at him. "Well, I can understand that, but my family is hardly a security threat. We were just as involved as anyone."

"That's just it though; I don't want you guys to have to be involved anymore. Your dad is in no mental condition to get involved in another war. Neither is Charlie, for that matter. And you, Ron, and the twins deserve to have a normal life for a change. You didn't get that when I was in your lives."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We chose to be involved; it wasn't like you forced us."

"Exactly," Harry said with a sigh.

"Okay, well we're obviously not going to see eye to eye here. Move on to the second kind of secrets," Ginny said.

"Well, those are simple; those are the secrets I keep for other people. The ones that no matter how much I wanted to tell you, I couldn't."

Ginny saw something unrecognizable in Harry's eyes as he said those words. "I can accept that," she said. "Move on to the third type."

Harry looked at the floor. "The third type is my secrets that I don't want to tell you. They're either too painful to talk about, or too dangerous."

"What do you mean, dangerous?" Ginny asked.

"I mean that if people found out you knew they'd want you dead. Like with the prophesy," Harry said quietly.

"Is that what this is about? You're blaming yourself for all of those deaths again?" Ginny asked harshly.

"Well, people died to protect my secrets. Knowing my secrets got people killed," Harry said.

"People wanted to protect your secrets, Harry," Ginny said quietly. "People wanted to protect you. People loved you, Harry."

"People loved the idea of me; they loved the hero."

"I didn't," Ginny replied, her voice almost a whisper. "I loved you for you." Harry shook his head. "This isn't getting us anywhere. All I know now is why you don't want to explain anything and that you tried to once."

"What do you want to know?" Harry asked quietly.

"Why is your room bare?"

Harry shook his head. "That's a Ministry secret. As is why I was leaving at night."

"Why couldn't you have told me that to start with?" Ginny asked, frustrated.

"Because I know you and I knew you wouldn't give up until I told you everything," Harry replied.

"Okay, maybe you're right. Next question: have you ever been romantically involved with Hermione?"

Harry looked up and his eyes met Ginny's. "No," he whispered as he shook his head. Ginny could tell by the look in his eyes that he was telling the truth. She let out a groan in frustration. "What?" he asked, obviously surprised.

"This is what I don't understand," Ginny said angrily. "If all this time you've both been innocent, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, why'd you stay away?"

"Well, after the letters were sent back, I figured you all really didn't want to have anything to do with me. I figured that what Ron said was true," Harry said.

"What did Ron say, Harry?"

"That I as good as killed your mum; that nothing but pain had come to your family since I became a part of it," Harry informed her.

"You stupid git! Didn't you know Ron was just angry; that he didn't mean those things?" Harry shook his head. "Don't you remember that if it wasn't for you, I'd have died my first year? That my dad would have died your fifth year? Harry, you saved our family time and time again. You can't blame yourself that you couldn't do it every time."

"You almost died in the Chamber," Harry said as if he were trying to work something out.

"You know I did," Ginny replied, not seeing the relevance of his statement.

"Do you remember what it was like, almost dying?"

Ginny was startled, but she slowly nodded her head. "It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen, but at the same time there was nothing special about it. It was like a dream, but I knew it was more than that." She looked at Harry and he nodded in agreement. "I felt so guilty about everything that had happened with Tom that I didn't think anyone would want me alive. I almost killed people; I set a monster out on the school." Ginny paused to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I wanted to give into the light, to leave this world behind. Then a woman appeared. I couldn't see her face clearly, but she looked like she could have been a part of my family. I don't know, I didn't recognize her, so I guess it wasn't important. She told me that I still had a lot of living to do, that my job on earth wasn't done yet. I tried to argue with her that no one wanted me, but she just told me to listen. And then I heard you. You didn't want me to be dead. When I knew that you wanted me alive, I wanted to live. I tried to go back but I couldn't. The woman told me it wasn't time yet, that I had to wait for you to help me. I know we continued to talk, but I really can't remember what about. The next thing I remember is waking up." She looked at Harry curiously as they sat in silence. "Why did you make me relive that if you aren't going to say anything?"

"When I defeated Voldemort, I almost died. I saw your mum, and I tried to follow her, but she wouldn't let me. That's when Dumbledore showed up. I just wanted to give up, to leave the world. I thought I had fulfilled my destiny; I wanted to be with my parents and Sirius again. But Dumbledore wouldn't let me; he told me that I still had things to live for or something like that. I was afraid that people wouldn't want me anymore; that they would think I was a murderer and blame me."

"That's ridiculous!" Ginny interrupted.

"Funny, I think you just admitted you thought the same thing," Harry replied dryly.

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway, Dumbledore told me to listen like the woman did with you. Hermione was calling me back. Dumbledore said she still needed me, and I knew I had to go back."

Ginny finally realized what the point of this conversation was. "And when you woke up Ron accused you of all the things Dumbledore had tried to convince you weren't true."

"Exactly. When I woke up was when Ron showed up. Whether he meant it or not, all of the things he said were confirming my biggest fears. He called me a murderer and blamed me for your family's losses. I gave it one last try with the letters, but when he sent those back it destroyed me. The reporters were partially right; I did start drinking a lot. I had just moved into a flat with Hermione, she was depressed and wasn't taking care of herself. I spent most of my time in pubs to dry and forget about everything. When I found out I had been accepted into Auror training, it suddenly didn't seem like what I wanted anymore. I just wanted to be happy."

"Sounds familiar," Ginny said.

Harry took a deep breath. "The thing is, in order to do that, I felt like I had to cut most people out. I didn't feel like I could trust anyone, and I didn't want anyone getting hurt because they were close to me. That's why I was glad when Hermione started working and traveling a lot. It put distance between us; it made her safer."

"You can't go through life not trusting people, Harry," Ginny said softly.

"It's the only way I know how to these days. I don't want to let people in; just talking to you like this is hard."

"You've been letting the team in," Ginny pointed out.

"Not like this. They know the tip of my personality; they don't know me," Harry replied.

"You can trust them," Ginny insisted.

"Building up trust takes time," Harry whispered. "But destroying it only takes seconds."

"You're saying you don't trust me anymore. You don't trust me because I didn't believe you when you said you weren't involved with Hermione after Ron and I found you two in bed together. You don't trust me because I didn't seek you out to try and figure out what really happened. You don't trust me because I believed the worst about you instead of believing in you."

"I wish I could trust you, but it's not that simple. I've been hurt too many times in this life," Harry replied softly.

Ginny crawled her way over to where Harry was sitting. She sat on her knees in front of him and looked him in the eyes. "I made the mistake of not believing in you once; I won't do it again." The look in Harry's eyes was raw and passionate, and Ginny was suddenly very aware of their state of undress. She felt herself being drawn towards Harry, and she was unable to stop it. She saw Harry's eyes begin to close and felt her own do the same. She could feel Harry's hot breath against her lips, and she knew that their faces would be touching in an instant. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt the slight pressure of his lips against her own. It was sweet, gentle, innocent; it was heaven on earth. To Ginny it represented everything good in the world, everything worth living for. She was scared that if she moved at all the moment would end, but it ended anyway. Harry pulled away from her and motioned for her to be quiet.

"How are you two doing in there?" Tank called through the door.

"I think we've come to an understanding," Harry called back. "If you would be so kind to let us out; I'm a little cold." Laughter could be heard from the other room and the door popped open. "Thanks." Harry walked into his room and threw on his dressing gown. "Since you lot trapped me in a bathroom all night would you at least have the decency to let me get dressed and go to bed?"

"Alright, alright," MJ said. "But tomorrow, we're going to have to have a serious chat about your decorating skills, Potter."

"Good night, MJ," Harry said with a forced smile. When the team had left the room Harry turned his attention to Ginny who was still sitting on the bathroom floor. "I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened."

Until that moment, Ginny hadn't been aware of how many times one person could break your heart. "I see," she said quietly.

"You have to understand that it's still going to take time for me to trust you again, and if you're honest with yourself, you don't really trust me either," Harry said. "I don't know if we'll ever be in a place again where what just happened is okay, but I do know that things would only end badly if we tried to start something while we didn't trust each other."

Ginny stood up trying to retrieve her ego, and walked into the bedroom. "When did you get to be so smart?"

"When I started living with Hermione."

"I see. Well, good night, Harry." Ginny made her way to the door.

"Ginny?" Harry called.

"Next time we have an off weekend, would you want to come with me to visit Hermione? I think she'd love to see you."

Ginny smiled genuinely. "I'd like that, Harry."

As Ginny walked back towards her bedroom, she swore she could still feel Harry's lips against her own. She was now more frustrated than she had been before she had found out anything about Harry; she still had so many questions she wanted answered. When Ginny reached her bedroom a thought crossed her mind. "Harry said he had been in love and decided to do something about it during his seventh year…"

A/N I'm almost done with this semester!!! But the bad news is I'm not going to let myself update again until I at least have 3/4 of chapter 12 written. I've been trying to write a chapter before I post a new chapter to keep my cushion, but exams haven't been allowing that. Hopefully it won't be any later than Wednesday. Thanks as always for your reviews, they really brighten my day, especially when I've been studying or taking an exam! Oh yeah, hopefully this clears up the question as to whether or not Harry is gay...