Epilogue:
Moving On

Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Moody, Lupin and Dumbledore all sat outside of the Burrow, enjoying a summer feast of all of Ginny's favorite foods. Just as she accepted another helping of steak and kidney pie from Mrs. Weasley, she looked over at the setting sun and remembered Hogwarts.

She wouldn't be a student there the following year, as Dumbledore decided she had done so much without a seventh year at Hogwarts during her tremendous quest which ended just one week before. But she realized that there was much more to learn and experience at Hogwarts, which was why she would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts the following year. Tonks had done a good job, of course, but she would rather resume her work as an Auror under the guidance of their new Minister of Magic, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

It had only been the day before that Dumbledore had come to her with the offer, and she immediately accepted, knowing that she would become the youngest witch or wizard to ever teach at Hogwarts. She hadn't told anyone yet though, and she was sure they would all be surprised, especially her mother.

She could hear her mother now: WHAT? Dumbledore said you needed time off, not a job! But she didn't really have to listen to her mother anymore; she would be turning 17 in only four short days, and she would be of age and capable of making her own decisions. Additionally, she was quite tired of being alone with her mother each day.

Not that she didn't feel sorry for her mother, but she was very tired of seeing her mother cry when she would come across something of Percy's or her father's; it was quite depressing, especially when you could talk to them both in the living room at any time you'd like. Besides, Ron and Harry would be home to keep her company.
At that point, Harry and Ginny were officially dating, and Mrs. Weasley couldn't have been more thrilled. Neither could Ron, apparently.

"Bloody hell, I've been waiting long enough! Just think, Harry, when you two get married, we'll be brothers-in-law! I can see it now..." Ron had exclaimed when Ginny and Harry had told him a few days before.

Ginny thought a lot about Ron's statement: "...when you two get married…" It sounded so scary at the time that she slapped him on the back for saying it. But now, it sounded so...right.

Hermione would undoubtedly be visiting a lot too, as her relationship with Ron seemed to be getting deeper. Ginny could have sworn she saw Ron quickly pull a beautiful diamond ring (an expensive ring) out of his dresser one night as she was ascending the stairs to go to bed. But when she questioned him about it, he denied it bluntly.

Ginny finally stopped staring at the horizon and realized that everyone else had stopped eating and were staring at her.

"Is this true Ginny? Are you going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts next year?" her mother asked, lips pursed.

"Yes," Ginny replied tersely. She did not feel like arguing with her mother at the moment.

"Well, that's wonderful Ginny! It's great that you want to use your abilities to educate others!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, a huge smile now illuminating her face. Ginny sighed with relief as everyone now murmured congratulations to her. She was beginning to feel quite exhausted, so she excused herself from the table and decided to head up to bed.

Each night since the prophecies were fulfilled, before she went upstairs to bed, she talked to her brother's and father's portraits to describe her day. But that night, both of them appeared to be sleeping, so she just whispered her goodnights and tiptoed up the staircase.

She laid quietly under her warm blankets, just thinking...thinking about what lessons she would teach her first class, if she and Harry would really ever get married, and for some odd reason, if Fred and George's birthday (April 1st) had affected their personality somehow. As she thought all of these things, she heard an owl pecking on her window. She got out of her bed and pulled up the window, then recognized Hedwig. She gently removed the torn piece of parchment and read it:
'Meet me in the kitchen'

She put on her bathrobe and slipped into her slippers before closing her window and letting Hedwig rest on her shoulder. She exited her room and slowly walked downstairs. She could hear everyone still outside, probably cleaning up from supper. She didn't want to let them know she was awake so she tiptoed through the living room and then into the kitchen.

"Hey," Harry greeted her quietly as she entered the small room. Ginny smiled softly and looked down at her feet.

"I want to talk about last week. Besides Ebony and Ivy, you were the only one there when it happened...when I killed him. The way I acted...I was like him. I wanted to kill him...I wanted to destroy him actually. Is that normal? Am I as bad as him?" Harry asked, seriously concerned.

"No, Harry. Of course not. You were just very angry at that time, and who wouldn't be? That was the only way for you to defeat Voldemort, anyway: emotions, like you guessed. You just perceived it the wrong way. You thought that you had to make Voldemort feel extreme emotion, but actually, you needed to feel extreme emotion before you would even consider killing him," Ginny explained.

Harry looked slightly relieved, but he didn't say anything else. Ginny moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and just held on to him. In a few moments, he held her too, and they just stood in the kitchen hugging for nearly five minutes, until Harry broke the silence.

"I love you Ginny. I will always love you, until the day I die. If I hadn't been so worked up last week, I would've told you before we even went into that attic. But I was so scared, you know? I couldn't think straight. But finally, now I can, and I love you."

Ginny pulled back a little bit, surprised, yet expectant. She loved him too, since they were young, but she didn't know he felt the same way. Even when they started to date, she thought maybe he still wasn't sure how he felt. How silly she'd been all along! As she opened her mouth to reply, her throat dried up and she couldn't speak. Struggling now to talk, she began to choke. Realizing that it was more than nervousness, she clutched her throat and motioned for Harry to help her. He called to everyone outside, and they all rushed into the kitchen. Her eyes were tearing then, and she could barely see. She felt as if she were going to pass out.

As she was rolling around on the ground, trying to breathe, the Shadow Orb fell out of her robe pocket and rolled away from her. She grabbed it quickly and held it tightly in her cold hands.

"I need to breathe!"

And she stopped. She stood up and cleared her throat loudly before saying, "I love you too Harry."

Everyone just stared for a moment, but then Ginny giggled loudly and she moved closer to Harry, close enough to feel his breath on her face. Harry smiled before leaning in closer to kiss her...

Ron and Hermione kissed softly before turning to face their guests and proceeding to walk down the aisle, a new married couple. They looked extremely happy, and Harry and Ginny couldn't be happier for them. As Ginny looked past the small wedding arrangement that was set up for Ron and Hermione's special day, she saw all the graves of the people who had recently been reburied here at Godric's Hollow. But she also noticed the remains of the house Harry's parents had lived in, and also the house that he had killed Voldemort in. They had a funeral-like memorial for that house, too. It was the second and best funeral that summer, unlike Neville Longbottom's. No one had interrupted it, which allowed it to be absolutely perfect. But something else happened that day: Harry had proposed to her. Ginevra Molly Weasley (soon-to-be Potter) now proudly sported a handsome emerald ring on her left hand.

But just as Ginny and Harry were both happy on that beautiful August day, they both knew that they would soon face great strife concerning the death of those three Dark wizards; although they were not worrying too much about this, they did in fact fear the day that someone would try to avenge the death of their master, and they knew it would happen soon.