Freedom is Choice, and Choice is Freedom

I don't own 'Harry Potter'

Harry could honestly say that he loved Ginny, but he wasn't sure what that even meant anymore. He loved Hermione too after all, and he loved Fred and George, and he'd loved Sirius and Remus when they'd been alive.

What did it mean to love someone? How did you know if loving someone meant being in a relationship?

Ginny's face when he asked her looked both sad and relieved.

"I don't think I'll ever stop loving you Harry, but I just feel like we're …"

"Dancing to someone else's tune?"

She snorted. "Yeah, and I'm sick of it. You know … I always wanted a brother without red hair."

"Didn't have much hope of that in that house, did you?"

Her hugs didn't feel so suffocating now. They were still warm, but there was no confusion, no panic.

There was no expectation.

Others were upset, some were confused, most were happy for them, thankfully.

"I thought you and Weaselette were supposed to get married and spawn more Potters to ruin the world?"

The lack of malice in the voice was both shocking and not, so he answered Malfoy truthfully.

"Don't you ever get tired living for the expectations of others?"

The other teen looked at him, tiredness in his eyes, a contrast to the smart and put-together uniform of Slytherin.

"All the time."

It was the shortest conversation they'd ever had.

It was also the longest.

Days went by, and he realised that living for your own benefit was liberating. He liked being free. He wanted more freedom.

Freedom.

One day, he suddenly got the urge to see the thestrals.

"Hello, Luna."

"Hello, Harry. How are you finding your new life?"

The blonde girl turned to him with a gentle smile and his breath caught. She was wearing her bottle-cap necklace, with some sort of vegetable earrings hanging by her face. She had no shoes on, and was covered in dirt and blood, and Harry had never wanted more in his life.

Luna was his friend, was a person that he'd admired for years, and she'd always made him feel comfortable and content.

Free.

"Hey Luna, when we graduate, do you want to go looking for a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

She beamed at him.

"I think I'd like that."

They felt free.

(Years later when they got married, Luna would name this Harry's proposal. He would agree with her.)