Chapter 2- Life After Death

After that Ginny went to her family, grieving the loss of her brother. The battle was over but at the loss of irreplaceable loved ones. The morning continued on and Harry still had people to talk to, he was their symbol of freedom and leader. Harry finally slipped off under the invisibility cloak, but before he escaped to some peace and quiet he spotted Ginny, she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder. He knew there would be time later, hours and days and maybe even years in which to talk. He left the Great Hall, with Ron and Hermione in tow, they climbed the bloodstained stairs and he explained everything. Later, they exhaustedly retired to their old dorm room. Ron and Hermione passed out in Ron's old four-poster bed, and Harry in his.

Hours of screaming, crying, and sorrowful happiness had left everyone unexplainably tired. Ginny's family were busy taking care of the arrangements for Fred's funeral, Mrs. Weasley was all teared out from losing her son and so they had all decided to go over to Bill and Fleur's instead it of the Burrow. So many memories were in the Burrow, it hurt too much to go back there right now. Ginny decided not to leave just quite yet, she knew Ron, Hermione, and Harry were somewhere in the castle, and she knew more than likely where they were.

She opened the door very slowly, and tip-toed her way into the room that had once belonged to her brother, Ron and also to Harry. The sun was already setting on the horizon, and all she could see was shadows on the beds. Ron's 

old bed was covered with two shadows intertwined as one, three guesses who that was. It was none of her business anyway, her brother and Hermione had been moving towards this all their lives. She turned her attention towards Harry's shadow. She walked over to his bed, he was sprawled out with covers thrown all over. She silently crawled into the bed, and sat there watching over him. He was peacefully sleeping, he didn't look like the victorious leader of the biggest battle in the history of the wizarding community, he looked like a boy who just needed some sleep. He was the boy Ginny loved with her whole heart, and would love for the rest of her life. She knew that for certain now.

When Harry awoke he noticed Ron's bed was empty, he figured they had probably left to go see the Weasley's. He turned on his side to relieve his sore back and saw a red-haired girl in his bed. Ginny must had fallen asleep after he had, he watched her gracefully sleep and knew he loved her. She had been his rock, the one thing he knew he could depend on in his life. It was time to show her how much she really meant to him. He watched her for about half an hour until she awoke on her own, she smiled when her eyes opened to see him next to her.

"How long have you been watching me?" she asked sleepily

"Not long enough…" he said, she smiled and pulled herself up to reach him. She placed a sweet kiss on his lips, and then fell back into his embrace.

After a couple moments of silence Harry spoke,

"It's all over, I cannot believe it."

"Believe it baby, you saved us all…"

"I'm so sorry about Fred, Ginny."

"Thanks. But we knew the cost of winning the battle might mean losing loved ones. I'm just grateful that I didn't lose all my family."

Harry looked down at the sheets, he had lost all his family.

"Oh Harry! I didn't mean it like that…I'm sorry."

"No Ginny, I've lost a lot of people that I care about but it would've absolutely killed me if I had lost you. So that's what I'm grateful for."

She looked at him in amazement, he had the entire wizarding community at his feet and he was grateful for her survival.

"Harry, when I saw Hagrid with your body I just lost it. I couldn't even imagine my life without you in it. I don't if you feel the same way but I had to tell you that."

He looked at her, did she really not know how he felt? She was the most honest and strong person he had ever met, he loved her. Had he made her feel like she didn't mean anything to him?

"Don't feel the same way? Are you insane? Ginny, I was watching when you were dueling with Bellatrix.. When she almost killed you my heart just stopped. Because yes, I have been fighting for my parents and everyone else but you were the one that made all of this worth it…"

"Harry…what does that mean?" she was so afraid of the words that might come out of his mouth.

"That means I love you Ginny…"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Ginny, I have lived on the run for months, I have lost those I love, I have faced a certain death, now I'm telling you that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I love you too, Harry." She kissed him, and for a moment in time they got lost in each other. It became more than just kissing, they started rustling around in the sheets. Before things got too serious Harry stopped them.

"Ginny…we can't do this here. I want our first time to be special."

"What's not special about this? You just kicked Voldemort's ass and we admitted we love each other."

"Yeah, but you just lost Fred and…."

"Harry, this is what I need right now. To feel loved, to know that I haven't lost everything in the world."

Harry looked into her eyes, she was the only one he wanted to be right now. He slowly kissed her, passion started to fill the air. They had missed out on so much time together, but yet they had a whole entire future left.

"I love you, Ginny. And nothing is ever gonna change that." They lay in bed, Ginny in Harry's arms. "I love you too."

Sometime later they got up and dressed, and apparated to find their friends and family. They eventually landed outside Bill and Fleur's door to find the Weasley's.

"Ginny?" Harry asked before they entered.

"Yeah…"

"We should keep this quiet until later."

"You mean us? I agree, things right now should be focused on Fred's funeral."

Ginny explained, and Harry agreed.

They entered the house to find things very solemn. Many people were around talking, crying, even some of them were happy. The Weasley's were going over arrangements and looked elated to see Ginny and Harry.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked her brother, Bill.

"With Hermione in Australia, fetching her parents."

"Where have you guys been?" he asked suspiciously.

"Hogwarts…" Both said in unison.

"So many things to repair and people to see…" Harry explained. No need to go into full details.

They made their way into the living room where the majority of the family was gathered. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting on the couch, softly discussing something.

"Oh Ginny darling, we've been worried about you. Where have you been?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her eyes still a little puffy and red.

"Um, I was talking to some people, making sure things were good. You know, just checking up on a few friends…" Ginny explained, it wasn't a complete lie, she had seen Luna and Neville sometime before catching up with Harry.

"Uh huh, really. And all of that took 4 hours?" she asked, knowing Ginny hadn't been telling the whole truth.

"Well then I ran into Harry and we decided to…." She was lost for an excuse. What could she say, that she had been having sex for last couple hours?

"…Come find everyone, but I had to talk to few people. So yeah, that's where we've been." Harry inserted, saving Ginny's cute little ass.

Mrs. Weasley looked from one to the other. They definitely had something else written all over their faces, but she didn't feel the need to point it out in front of the family.

"Well, we've set the arrangements for Fred's funeral and such." Mr. Weasley started a new conversation.

"Where and when did you guys decide?" Ginny asked

"On Thursday at the Burrow, we decided there because that's where he would've wanted it." Charlie explained.

Ginny nodded, she agreed Fred's favorite place in the world (besides the shop) was the Burrow. That's where he grew up and spent all holidays, where the best pranks happened. She noticed that George wasn't part of this family meeting, he must've been somewhere grieving. Ginny just couldn't imagine losing a twin, that must've felt like losing a leg or an arm. Besides being George's twin brother, Fred was his best friend, he must really been feeling some pain.

The next days were filled with quiet sadness. Remus and Tonks funeral was on Monday, and then Collin's was Tuesday, both Harry and Ginny attended those together. Harry felt an obligation to the Wizarding community and so he went to every possible funeral over the next week.

Wednesday all the Weasley's made the pain journey back to the Burrow to set up for the next day. Harry and Ginny were one of the last to make it to the Burrow, but when they landed on the front step there was an erring feeling. Ginny looked at Harry and he could just feel the grieve coming off of her, and so he clasped her hand and they walked thru the front door together. Once inside they saw everyone running around trying to do some labor. Mrs. Weasley saw their entrance but pretended like she had seen nothing.

Ron and Hermione returned that night from Australia. Ginny and Harry had been sitting in front of the fireplace going over memories to put in Fred's eulogy. Ginny had offered to help and that was the job Mrs. Weasley had chosen for her daughter.

"How have things been going?" Ron asked as they all greeted each other.

Ginny threw up her shoulders, "You know how mum deals with this kind of stuff. She pretends she's fine but I sometimes catch her crying over the dishes or the laundry."

Hermione shook her head and looked at Harry.

"And how's your parents? They make a full recovery?" Harry asked, as they joined them on the opposite couch.

"Yeah, but surprisingly they liked it better in Australia then here so…"

She looked at Ron, he placed his arm around her shoulder for support.

"…So we decided to leave them there. It was a hard decision for Hermione but we both decided it was best." Ron finished for her.

"I mean it's not like they're gonna live there for the rest of their lives. They'll eventually move back…" Hermione reasonably explained, who benefit it was for Harry did not know.

The four of them stayed up talking, not realizing the time until Ginny started to yawn. Then they made their way up the stairs, where it was never discussed but silently agreed for Harry and Hermione to stay in Ginny and Ron's rooms but to switch back before dawn arrived.

Ginny's bed felt like it had been made for the two of them. She had the perfect view of the land, so much glorious space for anything that came to mind. They lay together, whispering about things, trying to prepare for the next day.

"Remember those endless summers we spent in that field playing Quidditch with Ron, Fred, and George…" Harry asked, while sweeping his hand thru her soft red hair.

"Those were some great times, weren't they?" she whispered back.

"The best…"

"We're never gonna get those times back, are we?" Ginny asked sadly, not looking for a reply.

It was gonna be a difficult day, burying Fred they both knew that. But what happened after that? How could everyone just move on with their lives after all this? Ginny and Harry sort of discussed some plans, like that Harry wanted to go back to Grimwald Place and clean up for his new home. Ginny's plans were not as clear as his, she wanted to go where life and maybe even love took her.

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