Possible fluff in this one…we'll see where it takes me. It's gonna be mainly flashbacks, quite sad and no banter, I'm 'fraid.

Harry sat on the sofa in his private sitting room, a book open in his lap, that he was clearly not reading. His deep green eyes looked distracted. That was nothing new for Harry, of course, but since Voldemort's downfall he had brooded less and less. But seeing his parents, seeing Sirius, Remus, seeing Hagrid singing cheerfully, introducing himself and then his pet, a mother boarhound, had brought back the lapses into silence that he had pushed away since last June.

"Harry?"

Ginny padded in, her long hair still damp from the shower, dressed in a baggy old T shirt of Ron's and a pair of tracksuit bottoms. She curled up on the sofa next to him, conjuring a mug of hot chocolate. The steamy tendrils framed her face as she regarded him closely.

"Want one?"

Harry frowned.

"Huh?"

Ginny laid her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him.

"Get a grip." She said softly. He didn't respond.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?"

Silence. Then;

"It's a bit hard not to."

"He was happy to die so that all wizards could live safely. It wasn't just you."

Flashback

"He'll kill yeh in t'end, Tom. It's just a matter o' time."

"Silence, you filthy half breed!" Voldemort spat. "Crucio"

The Giant blood in Hagrid saved him from being tortured to insanity, there and then. But Voldemort cannot bear not to inflict pain.

"I'll kill him, you know, I'll kill Potter as I killed his mudblood mother."

Hagrid gave weak smile

"No yeh won't, Tom. I remember you as a kid, Tom. Pathetic little creep yeh were too. He'll beat yeh, Tom. She's with him Tom, but the wouldn't understand that."

He chuckled softly. "

Yeh know why? Because you're evil Tom, and evil doesn't win. I remember Lily as a kid, Tom. I'm pretty sure yeh remember what she did."

He looked directly at Harry.

"Always knew yeh were special, Harry. Yeh have yeh mum and yeh dad in yeh, all that was best in em. I'll make sure I tell them 'bout you. I know they'll be proud. Yeh're going to win, Harry. "

Hagrid died with a smile on his face.

End Flashback

Harry shook himself from the thought. It was too vivid in his mind, the tears of love that seeped from Hagrid's crinkled eyes when he looked at Harry. The certainty in his voice.

Yeh're going to win, Harry…

And he had. Barely minutes later, Voldemort had become nothing more than a memory, burnt into Harry's mind like the mark branded on his followers.

In the aftermath on the battle, after Ginny running to him, tears spilling down her face, after Ron had shakily walked to him, face white, eyes staring, before pulling him into a tight hug. After closing Hagrid's beetle black eyes, looking into them for the last time, after limping to the teachers table at the End of Term Feast, and saying quietly in the silence the single sentence;

"He's gone." Harry had still felt that they would meet again someday, somehow. He would gaze into those red eyes one more time.

Flashback

"You wanted to see me, Albus?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes were alert, but Harry could no longer see the twinkle in them, and he had a feeling that is was gone forever. He surveyed Harry over his half moon spectacles.

"How are you holding up, Harry?"

Harry shrugged.

"I'm coping."

Dumbledore sighed.

"You always have done, Harry. I regret that you were never given a chance to just break down and grieve."

Harry shrugged again.

"I prefer numbness, to be honest."

"Scars don't heal if they're covered, Harry."

"I'm coping!" Harry said again, this time his voice was tinged with anger.

Dumbledore seemed unruffled by his voice. He sighed, and his shoulders slumped heavily.

"I regret, dear boy, that I must ask your help one last time."

'I'm sick of death. I'm sick of suffering. I want to leave it behind…' Harry thought, his anger threatening to better him.

"Harry, in 1977, Voldemort made an attack on Hogwarts," Harry looked up, not really interested.

"Did he?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Indeed. And I seem to recall him being driven away by our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Bully for him. Why are you telling this to me, anyway?" Harry's voice was irritated, he had an even shorter leash these days.

"This particular teacher, believe, a Professor Harry Potter."

Harry looked up again. That interested him. That interested him a lot.

End Flashback

Harry hadn't noticed in his musings that Ginny was hugging him. But suddenly, he felt very aware of it. Her red hair spilt down her back, and he could see every individual strand. Each detail of her flawless pale skin seemed a thousand times clearer, and he had an acute sense of belonging. This felt right.

"Harry?"

"Mmm?"

"Don't dwell on it now. Dumbledore could have sent you back any time, it wouldn't have made a difference. He sent you now for a reason. He wanted you to havee something good, Harry, something for you. Don't let now be darkened by what will be."

She seemed to be searching for the right words, trying to communicate her message, but she didn't need to. They had always had an unspoken bond, ever since the chamber, that they understood the other without words. It had grown stronger when Sirius had died, and again after the Final Battle. She had been the only one who had understood his need to mourn, not just those who had been taken in the last battle, but his father, dying for the love of his wife, his mother, standing strong to defy him for the love that only a mother has for her child. For Sirius. The scar of Sirius's death was still carved on Harry's heart. He still felt the remorse, the anger at himself, the self disgust. But they had faded to the irrational part of his brain. For Remus. For Hagrid. For Cedric. For the world…

"Gin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For being there. For not needing to talk about it."

Ginny smiled.

"What are best friends little sisters there for?"

Harry just laughed. A real laugh.

"No. You know I just say that to annoy you."

"Aha!" Ginny said, her eyes sparkling with mischief, "What are older brothers best friends there for?"

OK, I'll admit, I nearly cried writing Hagrid's death. I don't know if you guys will though, I'm probably just being self indulgent.

Thank you so much for all your support over my story, it really means so much to me. I wanted to make this chapter longer but I'd said what I wanted to say, and anyway, I got chucked off my horse earlier so I need a good nights sleep, which I wont get if I write any more!

Thanks to all my reviewers. 154! I really cant believe it!

Oh, and I did know that Harry's name was just 'Harry', I just thought it sounded better.