The Adventure Continued

Chapter 24: Shooting Stars Like Diamonds

A/N: My apologies for not updating as soon as I thought I would! I have been really sick the last few weeks and now have found the energy to continue. There will be one last chapter after this and then we will be done! Hurrah! I hope you enjoy this chapter ) It's what we've all been waiting for, am I right? Well, tell me once you read it through by reviewing! And thank you to all of you who reviewed on my last chapter and those of you who are very faithful readers. You have made this task of writing very enjoyable!

No one can imagine the response when Harry Potter showed up to his own funeral the next morning. As his empty casket was being lowered in the damp ground below, Harry stood up and declared that he would like to say a few words before they buried him. In cries of shock, delight, and for some, horror, Harry made front page news again as the Boy-Who-Can't-Seem-To-Die.

Although Harry might be alive, the after party must go on. On this special occasion, Mrs. Weasley made an extra effort in preparing excellent food and the twins brought a few cases of Butterbeer as well as Firewhiskey (met with their mother's sharp, death glare). After many drinks all around and guests began to make their way home, the Weasley family was left in the freezing backyard, sipping more drinks and numbing themselves to the icy wind beating on them.

"You should die more often, Harry!" Fred announced, taking a bite out of a biscuit.

"Yeah, I have never seen Mum cook so much and so well in our lives! Not even for Bill and Fleur's wedding!" George chimed in.

Hermione looked indignant at the two. "Is that all you care about? Food? We should be thankful that Harry is alive!"

"Come on, Hermione," Ron pleaded, taking a sip of Firewhiskey, "did you really think Harry was dead?"

On a bench next to each other, Harry and Ginny snorted in their drinks. "And you didn't, Ron? 'I don't know what I am going to do without Harry!" Ginny mimicked which was responded with another round of snorts.

Ron's face turned a nice shade of red and he muttered something into his drink before he took another swig.

"Here's one to Harry!" Charlie announced, holding up his glass of Firewhiskey. "To the Boy-Who-No-One-Can-Kill!"

"Here! Here!" Everyone laughed and each took a gulp of their drink. Well, everyone except Harry himself who's face turned only a light pink that could hardly be noticeable to anyone in the dark light.

Once people started going off to bed around midnight, Harry and Ginny were the only two left sitting by the garden. Neither spoke to each other until the door slammed shut behind the last person and all was silent once more.

"Some party, eh?" Ginny broke the silence.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, relaxing more in his chair. "It's great to be back."

Ginny looked intently at Harry as if she were trying to get to a point, but Harry's eyes stayed away from hers and were set on the glass in his hand. "Yeah, it is great that you're back, Harry, but how did you survive…again? I saw your body. You weren't breathing and your heart wasn't beating. We really believed you were dead!" Ginny croaked, close to tears. Even though Harry was alive and sitting before her, the pain of his supposed death still lingered in her heart.

"I thought I did, too," Harry muttered. When he met Ginny's eyes, confusion swirled into their depths and Harry felt compelled to explain. "I did die, Ginny, but it's not as though I escaped death. Someone was watching out for me."

Ginny still appeared confused, and Harry went on. "I saw…my parents. I went to the other side, Ginny. I saw my mum, dad, Sirius, Dumbledore, Cedric, and Snape…unfortunately. But Gin," Harry turned to face her, "they weren't shadows or records of their memories or anything- they were real. My mum held me for the first time since I can remember! She hugged me and kissed me." Harry raised his hand and felt the scar on his forehead where his mother had kissed him.

"She told me a lot of things- how much she had loved me and how she was proud of me, her little man," Harry grunted at the last part as if he wanted to laugh, but couldn't. "Then my dad hugged me and…he cried! He never said anything, but it was like I could feel what he was feeling. Almost as if he was in me- as if he was always in me!"

"Harry," Ginny slid her hand into his and squeezed it.

"And then Sirius came up to me," Harry continued ignoring Ginny's hand in his own. "Merlin's beard, how I miss him! How I wish he was still here, Gin! He reminded me how much of my dad I was." Harry ran his free hand through his hair. "It gets annoying how many times I hear that, but it somehow meant something coming from Sirius. I did something my dad would have done and I felt like I had finally lived up to my expectations."

Tears were pouring down Ginny's eyes as if she could feel Harry's chest tightening as each memory floated into view. "Dumbledore approached me after Sirius. He didn't embrace me or anything. He told me he liked my shoes," said Harry, still quite mystified. "But he didn't need to say anything. There just was this understanding between us that things were finally okay. Well, okay until Snape appeared."

Harry grimaced as he remembered Snape's face and his ugly smirk. "He told me to stop being so arrogant and go back to the other world where I belong. 'Said I wasn't supposed to be dead and that the people who really loved me were waiting for me on the other side. That's when I woke up miraculously and saw Neville as white as a sheet! I had been dead for three days and he said he wanted to pay his respects before the funeral. I think he was planning to go back to Italy."

Ginny was taken aback. "He wouldn't do that! Neville wouldn't do that!" Ginny protested.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Whether he would have or not, he didn't. He smuggled me out of the morgue and took me back to Grimmauld Place where he and Dobby took care of me. Three days of being dead definitely took its toll: I couldn't stand or walk or eat on my own. I finally regained my strength to walk again yesterday and that's when Neville took me to the Burrow. I'm still can't function properly and I'm horribly exhausted." Harry let out a sigh that must have gone from his head to his toes because Ginny finally saw the veil fall and Harry's face was wan and sickly.

"How did you awake, then, Harry? If you were dead for three days…how did you come back to life?" Ginny persisted.

Harry dug into his pockets and pulled out a silver object- the mirror Sirius had given him. It was in perfect condition except for the black hole in the center. "The spell hit it and backfired. The mirror took the brunt of the curse, but it couldn't save me entirely- that's how I died. But I do have angels up there to guard me," Harry looked up into the sky. Ginny followed his gaze and saw five shooting stars fly across the sky.

"Did you see that, Harry?" Ginny gasped. "Make a wish, Harry!"

"I already got my wish," Harry answered shortly.

"Really," Ginny exhaled a breath of air, still staring at the place the shooting stars had been before they disappeared. "I guess mine did, too, huh?"

In a swift moment, Harry kissed Ginny's upturned face and both wrapped their arms around each other. "I couldn't have lived through this if it hadn't been for you, Gin," Harry told her once they broke apart. "I thought my quest was over when I killed Bellatrix Lestrange, but my parents made me realize that it was only beginning. They didn't just save me so I could die again 20 years later. They saved me so I could pass on the same blessing that was passed onto me- love."

"Haven't you done that already?" Ginny asked, looking deep into Harry's eyes as if they would tell her the answer.

"No," Harry shook his head. "I forgot one of the most important parts of love. I told you I couldn't have survived without you, Gin. I would have nothing more to live for, but now I do. Now, I don't think I could live without you. That's why I'm asking you to marry me, Gin."

Ginny sat shocked on the bench next to Harry and just stared at him, wondering if this was really happening; if this wasn't just another dream. Harry pulled out a box that contained a gold diamond ring with the initials J.P. + L.E. inscribed on the inside. On the other side of the ring was engraved H.P. + G.W. Tears welled up in Ginny's eyes as she realize that this was Harry's mother's ring.

"How did you get it?" Ginny asked, admiring in her fingers. "You told me that your family lost everything!"

Harry smiled as he took the ring and placed in on Ginny's finger- it fit perfectly as if it was made for Ginny just like it was made for Lily Evans. "My mum gave it to me," Harry answered uncertainly. "She told me to give it to the girl I loved."

Ginny didn't ask any questions as her mind was preoccupied with the ring on her finger. "It's perfect, Harry. I can't believe this!" Ginny cried out with joy. "This is like a dream!"

"Maybe some dreams aren't so impossible," Harry commented standing up and pull Ginny up with him. "And some dreams are better found when one is sleeping. I love you, Ginny, more now that I could ever have told you before. However, I don't think I will be able to make it through tomorrow if I don't crash now."

Ginny laughed and grabbed Harry's waist. In a swift moment, Harry was resting in Ginny's arms as carried him up the three flights of stairs to the twin's room where she placed him in Fred's old bed. "Good night, Harry," she kissed the scar on his head before exiting the room.

"G'Night, 'Love," Harry mumbled before he fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps some curses are really blessings after all...