The Day After

Harry and Ginny returned to the Burrow, hands linked and minds remembering he who was lost. The others were already inside, sitting around the kitchen table. When Harry entered, the atmosphere was thick with sympathy and pity. He ignored it. He was used to being the one everything mostly happened to, he grew to ignore the sad looks people gave him, and tender touches meant to comfort, so hollow and unknowing.

He sat down with Ginny. Hermione gave him a soft smile, although her eyes were red and puffy. She had only known Dave for a few hours while Harry had spent five years with him. And he couldn't believe he was gone. Harry knew something would happen when he returned to the world he left behind; he knew someone would suffer because of his actions once again. And it was Dave, an innocent muggle, who was the one to die. The injustice of it all was digging into his heart, laced with the old pain from his Hogwarts days and the lies spoken; meant to protect.

"Dave was a good bloke, Harry," Ron's voice broke through his cloudy mind and he struggled to keep his emotions down. "Yeah, I know," He mumbled, hearing his own voice as if it was spoken by someone else. He could feel Ginny squeezing his hand and he flashed a fake smile. She gave one of her own, just as hollow and false. His hands were shaking and he couldn't stop them. He felt cold even though the air was warm. Sweat beaded on his palms and on his forehead. He ignored it.

"I don't understand why my scar hurt though," Harry said, pushing down the pain that was still fresh. He placed it deep inside himself and locked it away with so much force that he was left blank and expressionless. He looked up to the others, to see them looking at him strangely. He knew he must look a wreck but at the moment, other things were more important.

"So it was your scar, then?" Ron said softly, his skin still pale, making his freckles stand out sharply. Harry tilted his head in reply. "I thought once I killed Voldemort that the connection would be broken between us. That the link would be severed. But it's still there, I can feel it…" he said. It was the truth; he could feel it. Like a dark presence lingering at the back of his mind. It was once thicker and stronger, but now it was more like a dark smoke, coating one part of his mind. It felt like a rubber band was tied around it, before it was so tight it hurt. But now it hung loosely, as if it had been stretched too far for too long.

"Maybe it wasn't your connection," Hermione said quickly, her eyes flashing with hope. "Maybe it just reacted to the attack. Sort of like a Dark Detector, that picks up on any evil?" She said. Harry shook his head and smiled wryly, "I don't think so, Hermione." He knew she was just trying to cover up the fact that Voldemort might still be alive, out there somewhere. That he wasn't really killed by Harry all those years ago, but his spirit somehow escaped and had been biding its time until one of his faithful servants could resurrect him again.

"How do you know?" she said again, hair frizzing in anger. "Because I just told you. I can still feel the connection. The link with Voldemort is still there, but I don't know how. Dum – Dumbledore said the link should have been broken when Voldemort was killed. That I would be freed from him forever." Harry had almost choked up on Dumbledore's name, and the others knew it. They were looking at him with that retched pity again. A thing he did not want.

"But – but…" She said, hysteria breaking through. "Voldemort can't be alive." He said loudly, gaining immediate silence. "I was the one there, remember. I was the one to stab Gryffindor's sword through the monsters non-existent heart. I watched him change back to Tom Riddle and stood there until I was sure he wasn't going to get back up. He is dead. And nothing can change that." Harry stood and dropped Ginny's hand. "I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

Their eyes were on him as he left the room, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Harry let out an angry growl. Why did everything happen to him? The shadows lapped at his feet as he climbed the stairs. Every step felt like an obstacle in his life; all hard to get over and just a pain in the ar –

"– Harry?" He turned around when he was at the top of the stairs and looked down to see Ginny. She was standing at the bottom, half hidden in darkness, but her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Yes?" He mumbled blankly. She started to walk up the stairs after him, never taking her teary eyes away from him. When she was standing on the step below his, she placed a hand around his neck and drew him down so their lips met briefly. When she let him go, tears were running down her cheeks.

"Happy birthday…" she murmured, her voice breaking. Harry looked at her startled. He hadn't been back for that long, had he?

"What?" he said stupidly. "It's just past midnight on July the thirty-first. You're now twenty-two." She said with difficulty. Harry couldn't believe it. Time had gone so quickly while he was back. He had returned when it was Easter and now it was almost August.

"I – I completely forgot. Some birthday present, ay?" He said savagely as Ginny winced. "Look, I'm really sorry –" She tried before Harry cut her off.

"What for? You weren't the one to drag Dave into this and you weren't the one to be targeted by this psycho Voldemort – copycat. Were you?" He said angrily. She shook her head, her bottom lip trembling.

"But I was the one to go and bring you back, drawing attention to Dave and your life. If I had just left you then this new Dark Lord wouldn't have known where you were or anything. Dave would be still alive –"

"Or, he would be dead, as well as me." Harry finished. "Look, I'm glad you brought me back. This has been the happiest time of my life, but I should have known it was too good to last." He said painfully, kissing her softly on the cheek before vanishing into the darkness of the hallway, leaving Ginny standing alone at the top of the stairs, tears streaming freely while she said, "Happy Birthday, Harry."

oOo

Voldemort's laugh rang out, above the fighting. "You see," The snake-like monster hissed, looking at the fallen form of Albus Dumbledore, "You no longer have your precious headmaster. You are all alone, and you are mine!" Voldemort laughed again as Harry continued to stare at Dumbledore's lifeless face. His eyes were still open, staring at the blood red sky above them. His half-moon spectacles were lying beside him on the blood stained grass.

Harry bent to pick them up but Voldemort stood on them before he could place his fingers around them. Harry straightened up and ripped his eyes away from the broken body of Dumbledore. He stared into the scarlet eyes of the merciless monster Voldemort and all his hate, all his anger and pain, all this, he directed at the Dark Lord. With a pair of flashing emerald eyes that reflected the war around them, Harry lifted Gryffindor's Sword in one hand and his wand in the other.

The two stared at each other and finally Harry spoke. "I will never be alone and I belong to no one!" With that said, the two once more broke into battle. Spells flew everywhere, some striking their targets, others ricocheting into the setting sky. Harry moved effortlessly, dodging and ducking while striking out with his weapons.

"Stupid boy, you will fall!" Voldemort shouted as he shot the Cruciatus Curse towards him. Harry just laughed as it swept over his head and he swiped his sword forward where it sliced into Voldemort's side. Dark blood now coated the silver of Gryffindor's Sword and Harry looked up at the Dark Lord, a fire of vengeance burning in his eyes.

"I won't fall, Tom, and if I do, you will go with me!" Harry shouted, flicking his wand to shoot a golden cage out of the tip of his wand. It covered Voldemort a second before the white-faced man screamed with rage and disappeared from behind the bars. Harry turned to face Voldemort as he appeared behind him and he immediately shot a spell towards him.

Even though Voldemort was injured quite badly, he still managed to move swiftly, dodging the spell and sending another back at Harry. He blocked it with a shield and the two stood facing each other. The battle raged on round them. Harry could hear the screaming of the two forces and feel the pain all around him. So many people were involved in this war; so many different lives were at stake. But they were all fighting for the same thing: life.

"You think you can defeat me, Harry? Even though I have taken so many of your so-called loved ones away from you, you still try to fight back. Albus Dumbledore is dead and we both know he was the only one capable of defeating me!" Voldemort said, an evil yet unsure smile placed upon his skull-like face. Harry looked him in the eye and smirked.

"You really thing that, do you?" He said bravely even though his heart was frantically beating in his chest. "Yes I do, boy." Voldemort answered.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but Dumbledore was not the one who could defeat you. He always knew he couldn't kill you, but trained me instead. Because, unlike you, Tom, I know the prophecy. And only I have the power to take you down for good. And as long as I have a breath left in my body, I will keep fighting."

Harry relished in the fact that Voldemort looked momentarily startled by this news, but he soon recovered and had a sick smile playing on his lipless mouth. "And could you do that alone?" Harry was briefly put off by this but refrained from answering.

"I know how much your friends mean to you, Harry. And as long as I have breath left in my body, I will do my best to torture them and slowly cause them pain. And I will make you watch. And even if I somehow die today, even if it is impossible, I will still hurt them. I have many ways, Harry Potter, and even after death, I will slowly kill everyone you have ever cared about and anyone who has ever cared about you." Harry felt his skin crawl and he glanced over towards the castle, where his best friends were safe behind the great walls of Hogwarts.

But this was all Voldemort needed before he attacked. "Crucio!" Harry turned back to Voldemort just as the red beam of light hit him. The pain was so intense that he struggled not to scream. But Harry didn't fall to the ground or even make a noise as he straightened up, the white-hot knives still pressing in against his skin. Voldemort looked to him as he lifted his wand.

"Do you think you're stronger than me, boy?" Voldemort sneered. "No," Harry said, "I know I am."

OoO

Harry was once again walking down by the stream in the small woodland at the back of thew Burrow. He had been woken by another dream last night, this time it was of the final battle with Voldemort. He had said he would continue to hurt people Harry cared for even after he died. Back then, Harry thought he was just speaking to scare him. But now, he wasn't quite sure.

"Is my life always going to be cursed?" He said to the fading darkness. "Depends what you classify as a curse." Harry turned his head to spot the dreamy form of Luna Lovegood standing on the opposite shore of the stream.

"Oh, good morning, Luna." Harry greeted, a little shocked to find her out this early. "What are you doing out here?" He asked softly, drawing his jacket a little tighter around him. She smiled at him and sat down on the damp grass.

"The same reason you are," she answered and smiled at his confused look. "I still get nightmares of the war. They've never really left me." Harry had completely forgotten that she had been one of the ones fighting as well. Luna had been almost killed out on the grounds of Hogwarts. She had been attacked by a giant and knocked unconscious in the midst of the fighting. When they had found her, she was covered in blood and hardly breathing. Luckily though, she had pulled through and been considered a miracle.

"I'm sorry," He said, consciously aware that he had just repeated Ginny's words from earlier. Luna smiled over at him, her blond hair framing her pale face like a white hood. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm glad I was apart of that. I wanted to fight and it wouldn't have mattered if I had died. I would have died for a reason." She said softly, looking up at the night sky. "Mars is bright tonight." She whispered while Harry just stared at her.

"I'm glad you're here now, Luna." Harry said, sitting down also. She looked across at him and smiled. "So am I." The morning slowly came out and the two still sat by the trickling stream, talking about old times and even some new.

"I heard about that attack in London last night," Luna said suddenly, looking over at Harry. He felt his stomach drop and he hastily turned his attention to the running water. "Did you?" He stammered, awfully aware that she was still looking at him.

"Did you know one of the muggle's that died?" She asked softly, her expression still blank. Harry nodded slowly, "I knew a lot of the people that died yesterday." Harry said painfully, flashes of the burning building appearing in his mind.

"Remember, those that die never truly leave us." Harry looked over to find her disappearing into the trees and he shook his head slowly, mumbling, "Some thing's never change."

But as he walked back towards the Burrow, her words finally reached his heart and he understood what she meant. And all of a sudden, it felt as though a great weight had lifted from his shoulders and he smiled a smile of acceptance.

OoOoO

Hey, yes, I know its short, but what are you going to do about it? Hooray, exams are over and I don't have to go to school as much. The next chapter will be up in who knows when and I think it will have an important bit in it that I was going to out n the last but forgot. Make sense? Afraid not. Well, please review as always and thanks to everyone who has so far!

Bye

DW