A/N Okay….lets take a vote….who thinks I had the guts to kill of Harry for good and who thinks I will make him come back to life….well I say pretty quickly so read on!

Ginny was sitting in her conjured easy chair which had been her post for the past four weeks. That's how long Harry had been in the hospital, that's how long he had been unconscious. She stood and put the tray of hospital food that she had been picking at on the nightstand and moved to look out the window. The view was more than familiar, as it had been the only window she had looked out of for the past month, since she refused to leave Harry's side so that she would be there when he woke up.

Everyone had tried to convince her to go home at some point or another, but she remained firm in her decision to wait. Harry's Healers had told her on several occasions that they had no idea when he would wake, or even if he would at all. They truly didn't know, since they didn't even know what was wrong with him. They had been able to resuscitate Harry shortly after his arrival, but he had been clinically dead long enough for him to sustain permanent brain damage. However, all tests revealed that there was nothing wrong with any his brain functions and everything was acting as it should. All of his other physical injuries had long since been healed. Other than the fact that he was asleep, he was technically healthy, they just couldn't explain it.

Hermione and Ron had been there earlier bringing her her lunch, but they had gone to the cafeteria to get something to eat for themselves, leaving her alone with Harry. But that was alright, she didn't mind being alone with him, in fact she preferred it. Because when they were alone she would talk to him. She would tell him all about how thanks to that spell he had tied them up with, almost all the known Death Eaters had been captured, or about the articles written about him in the Daily Prophet. She told him how Fudge was finally kicked out of office and how Tonks and Lupin had taken what he had told them in his letter to heart and had not only told everyone that they had gotten together, but they had gotten engaged. She basically told him everything that was on her mind, but most of all she told him to get better.

As she stood at the window, watching the people walk by, busily hurrying down the street, a particular thought that often ran through her head when she did this, passed through her mind once more. All of these people, who are so busy living their lives, so eager to get to their next appointment, so engrossed in their own problems, have no idea how their lives could have become so radically different if the boy, no the man, lying unconscious in this room hadn't done what he did. A part of her was angry that these people were continuing with their daily lives oblivious to the sacrifices made for them, but she knew this was silly and that they couldn't possibly be blamed for not knowing what was kept from them.

She sighed to herself and walked back to the bed, sat on the edge and just looked at him. She reached out and ran a hand through his hair pushing it off his face. Most of his hair had turned back to its natural black except for one lock above his right ear that seemed to have turned permanently white.

She sighed again, bent forward, kissed his forehead lightly and whispered in his ear, "Happy 17th birthday Harry."

With one last sigh she moved back to her chair and curled up in a ball and took a nap.

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A pair of green eyes slowly opened to a fuzzy world. Glasses… where are my glasses? A stiff arm reached out and searched the nightstand next to him until he found the object of his desire and placed them on his face.

Where am I? he thought as he yawned and stretched. A quick glance around the room told him enough for him to surmise that he was at St. Mungos. What am I doing the hospital? he wondered as he closed his eyes and tried to remember the last thing he did, suddenly everything came flooding back to him. Bloody hell! The last thing I remember doing is dying, but I'm not dead. Hey, I'm alive! I survived it! Harry laughed a little to himself at this happy revelation and was a little surprised by how gruff his voice sounded.

His laugh also disturbed Ginny, causing her to shift in her sleep and bringing the girl to Harry's attention. Wow, why didn't I notice her before? he asked himself. She's in here watching over me, I guess that means that my letter was well received…I hope.

He watched her sleep for a few minutes, simply bathing in the sight that he feared he would never see again. However when she shifted again, flinging one of her arms over the arm of the chair, he couldn't help but to reach out and take her hand.

"Hey Peanut," he said as she blinked her eyes sleepily.

Ginny was immediately awake, took one look at Harry, jumped to her feet and slapped him right across the face.

"Don't you 'hey Peanut' me! How dare you even consider dying and writing me a bloody letter to say goodbye!" she yelled taking the letter out of her back pocket and throwing on the bed. "Don't even think that it is that easy Harry James Potter, you don't get to die until I damn well tell you that you can!" With that, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room in a huff.

Harry watched in complete shock as the red head marched out of the room. Well I guess she didn't take the letter as well as I hoped, he thought as he gingerly rubbed his stinging cheek. But I couldn't have died without her knowing how I really feel about her, so now I'm just going to have to live with that choice. He picked up the letter that Ginny had thrown at him and was surprised to see it was unopened. However he didn't have long to ponder this as Ron and Hermione came barreling into the room at that moment looking very distressed.

"Oh my goodness! Harry you're awake," Hermione cried happily when she saw Harry sitting up in bed.

"We were on our way back from lunch and we thought something bad had happened when we saw Ginny running out of the room. So how do you feel, should I get a Healer?" Ron asked concerned.

"Well my face stings a little from where your sister slapped me and my ego is a little bruised from her yelling at me, but other than that I feel fine," Harry said still a little confused.

"What, why did Ginny slap you and why did she run away crying? I mean we haven't been able to get her out of this room for the past four weeks incase you woke up and then the second you do she runs away? That doesn't make sense," Ron rambled.

"Four weeks?"

"Ron, shut up," Hermione whispered to her boyfriend. "Maybe you should go get a Healer, I'll wait here with Harry."

Ron nodded and quickly exited the room.

"What did he mean by four weeks?" Harry asked as soon as Ron had left the room.

"I don't know if I should be the one to tell you this, but as Ron can't keep his mouth shut I guess I'll explain. Harry, the Final Battle was a month ago, you have been in a coma for weeks. Today is your birthday actually, so happy birthday," Hermione informed him.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to wrap his mind around this. "And did Ron really say that Ginny hadn't left the room the whole time?"

"It's true, she didn't want to not be here in case you woke up, she even slept and showered here. And I have to tell you that we weren't sure if you would wake up, but Ginny wouldn't listen to any of that. In fact that's why she didn't open your letter," she said pointing to the envelope in his hand. "She said that she knew it was saying goodbye and that if she read it she was accepting that you weren't coming back, so she said she was keeping it to give it back to you. Although I didn't think she was going to slap you first."

Harry was going to pry for more information, but didn't have the chance as Ron burst back into the room with an entourage of five very surprised and excited healers. Before he had a chance to complain, he was being poked, prodded, and bombarded with questions.

"Are you experiencing any dizziness or light headedness?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Do you have any tingling in your fingers or toes?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Any nausea or stomach pain?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Any burning, itching, or other irritations?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you experiencing any hot flashed or chills."

"No, I'm fine."

"What about any shortness of breath?"

"No, I'm fine."

"How about anxiety or the inability to sleep?"

"What? I've been in a coma for the past four weeks, isn't that enough sleep? The only anxiety I'm having is because you wont leave me alone. How many times do I have to tell you I'm fine!" Harry exclaimed, finally fed up.

Another Healer strode confidently into the room and made his way over to Harry's bedside. A quick glance to the other Healers and to Ron and Hermione and the room was soon cleared. "I apologize, Mr. Potter, for my colleges enthusiasm, but you waking up is big news around here. Let me introduce myself, I'm Healer Ravolopologous, but nobody can pronounce that, to many O's, so you can just call me Dr. Sean," the handsome young Healer introduced himself.

"Isn't that a Muggle title?" Harry asked.

"Well, I'm Muggleborn you see and my father was a doctor and he always wanted me to be one as a child so to make him happy that's what I go by. Besides Dr. Sean has a better ring to it than Healer Sean if you ask my opinion. I'm the Head Healer in this ward and I have been assigned to your rather remarkable case."

"What's so remarkable about it?" Harry inquired, already liking the Healer.

"Well Harry, can I call you Harry? When you were brought here you were clinically dead and we estimated that you had been so for over 15 minutes, and although we were able to revive you, you should have sustained severe and permanent brain and tissue damage as your body was deprived of oxygen for so long. Even if you did wake up, which we didn't think you ever would, we should never have been able to be having the conversation we are having now. All of this being said, none of it matters because after you were revived and all of your physical injuries had been taken care of, tests were done to see to just what extent, neurological damage had occured. All of these tests came back saying the same thing, nothing was wrong. All of your brain patterns were completely normal, you were perfectly healthy. There was no reason why you shouldn't be awake and fine and yet you remained asleep."

"For four weeks," Harry said more to himself than the Healer.

"Yes, for four weeks. So that is why everyone is so interested in your condition, we were wondering if perhaps you had any insight for us, anything that might explain your rather long nap."

Harry closed his eyes and tried to think of the last thing he remembered. Suddenly it all came flooding back as if he was experiencing it all over again. It was being dead and meeting with his parents in the space in between.

"That was bloody brilliant," sirius exclaimed, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"That's my son," James said, swelling with fatherly pride.

"We always knew you would do it," Lily said, embracing her son for the first time in fifteen years.

Harry hugged his mother back, not believing that he had actually done it. He had defeated Lord Voldemort. As he embraced his mother he learned that her hair smelled faintly of sage. It was then that he realized that he was hugging his dead mum.

"Wait, am I dead?" he asked looking around and realizing that he was at Hogwarts, however it wasn't the Hogwarts that he knew, but the one from his vision.

Sirius and James gave each other a significant glance before James decided to speak. "Well technically, yes, you are dead, but that whole subject is up for debate."

"What's that supposed to mean, aren't you either dead or your not," Harry asked confused.

"Well usually yes, that is the way it works," sirius explained, "but you, as it seems you always are, happen to be a special case. 'They' in their infinite wisdom, decided to give you a choice. I think they actually feel a little bad for the whole prophecy and destiny thing and since you died fulfilling 'their' master plan they decided to bend the rules this time and give you options."

"Exactly," James continued. "Right now we are in the space in between, I don't actually think this place has a name, but it is the connection between the world of the living and of the dead. Now you can either stay the way you are and come with us to the other side or you can choose to live and go back into your body and continue living your life free of the prophecy. But be warned if you choose to go back it will be a powerful piece of magic and it might take a little while for it to take effect."

"So let me get this straight," Harry said looking at the others. "I can either go back and finish out my life, however long that may be. Or I can just forget it and just go straight to heaven with you guys. I mean it is heaven isn't it?"

"Well, different people call it different things, but it's definitely the good place to go," sirius reassured him.

Harry considered this for a moment, "What do you guys think I should do?"

"The choice is yours and yours alone," Lily told him. "We can't make this decision for you."

Harry broke down his options in his head and he thought that maybe dying wouldn't be so bad. He would be with his parents and sirius in heaven which wouldn't be bad at all. Also he had fulfilled his purpose in life, he had saved the world, how could he ever top that. He had done more in his sixteen years than most people did in a lifetime. Then he thought about his friends, he thought about how much he would miss them and how much they would miss him. He figured that Ron and Hermione would be okay eventually, they had each other. But then he thought about Ginny and he realized how much he would miss if he left the world now, how many experiences he would be missing out on if he chose to die. He thought about their friendship and he thought about the way she looked when she had been sleeping with her head on his chest this morning and he made his choice.

"I think I need to go back," Harry finally said. Once he heard the words come out of his mouth he knew he made the right decision.

"We knew you would make the right choice," Lily said hugging her son once more.

"You mean you all wanted me to go back?" Harry asked, a little surprised.

"Of course we did. If anybody deserves to live a happy and full life it's you son," James said hugging both Lily and Harry. "After all you have been through, you deserve to have everything life has to offer."

"Just promise us that you will live life to the fullest and appreciate every day and allow yourself to love and be loved as it truly is your gift." Lily added.

"Yeah and party hard and date lots of birds. 'Hey, I defeated the most evil wizard of all time' is a great pickup line," sirius interjected, as he to joined the group hug.

"Sirius!"

"What Lils? You told him to enjoy life and it's not like he is going to need a job after he inherits everything when he turns 17, so he's going to need something to pass the time."

"That was supposed to be a surprise," James said as he whacked his best friend in the back of the head.

"Oh yeah, pretend I didn't say that Harry."

Harry just nodded as couldn't speak since he had a lump in his throat and he was fighting back tears. These past few moments, just watching the dynamic between these people that meant so much to him, but barely knew, were some of the best moments of his life or death. A part of him couldn't believe he was voluntarily leaving them again.

"It's alright Harry," Lily said reading her son's expression. "We'll still be here when you come back and we will be watching and looking out for you the entire time."

Harry looked at all three of the adults in turn trying to memorize their faces, but when he go to sirius it looked like he was listening to something.

"They say its time for all of us to go our separate ways," he said, the sadness evident in his voice. "They say it already is going to look suspicious with you coming back to life after being dead this long."

Harry gave everyone one last hug and then they started to fade and he felt himself being pulled back to earth.

Harry snapped out of his daze and remembered where he was, Dr. Sean was looking at him with some concern and he realized that he must have been lost in thought for a while. "Umm, no I don't know why I was in a coma for so long or why I'm so healthy," he lied. That memory was private and he didn't feel the need to share it with the world. "But if I am so healthy, can I go home now?"

"No, I'm afraid not. We want to keep you here for a couple days at least to make sure there still aren't any underlying symptoms that we haven't seen yet and you are going to need some physical therapy. Even though you were healthy you were still in a coma which means that even though we have been magically stimulating them, your muscles will have atrophied some what. But that can wait for tomorrow, right now I would bet a thousand galleons that there is a rather large group of people waiting outside to see you."

A/N Yeah I couldn't kill Harry…..there is just way to much more of this story to tell and I'm a sucker for happy ending and Harry's death is not a happy ending….besides, I think I have already said that this will go into post-Hogwarts so I can't kill of one of my main characters!

Also this is only the first half of this chapter…it was getting really long, like 14 pages long and I still wasn't finished so I decided to split it up so I could get it to you faster, so if it seems unfinished, it's because it's not….and I am still without my beta so please excuse any mistakes I missed…..

One more thing….I have no idea if my medical stuff was correct so don't be to hard on me if it wasn't…I'm an architecture major, not a premed student…..

WhatTHE?- is this what you wanted? I know I am so very evil but that was exactly the response I wanted...I hoped this makes you happier...hehehe

aagiel - caught me...but hey even joss says that he "borrows ideas" but I tried to mix it up enough so that it was different and fit my story

fritz42 - I'm so happy you picked up on that!

Yukito - What can I say...I just have that effect on people...lol...

Mr. Atti2d - well i feel honored then...

Samantha + Brigid - what can i say...you guys make my day...cyber cookies to you two...and i hated spanish too

A big thank you to all my other wonderful reviewers...your comments really mean the world to me and make me feel so great when I read them...they have really become an addictive high and i know you want to give me another fix so press the little button...you know you want to...