War Is Over

by Pitry

In the morning after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry felt tired. In the morning after the morning after, he was downright exhausted. The war may be over, but there are still battles to be fought.

5. Politics

War Is Over: Chapter 5/17 - Politics

"Here," Arthur handed Harry his copy of The Daily Prophet. "Read this."

Harry took his hand off Ginny's shoulder and reached for the newspaper.

"Good," she said, "now you'll stop distracting me!"

Ginny was in trouble - her game of wizard's chess with Ron was going very badly. Ron, sitting in front of her in the Weasleys' living room, smiled smugly. There weren't many things in which he had the advantage over Ginny, and wizards' chess was one of them. Whether Harry's hand on Ginny's shoulder distracted her or not, he was sure she will not gain the the upper hand now.

"Don't smirk," she told him. "You'd be the same if Hermione was here!" Ron shrugged, but remained sceptical. He tended to be pretty good, with or without distractions.

"Yeah, did she tell you when she's coming back?" he asked. Hermione had been gone for a couple of days, as Professor McGonagall had asked her to help her with talking to new students about to attend Hogwarts, and she happily obliged. Ginny didn't know, and Ron went back to the game, taking out her bishop.

In the meantime, Harry took the paper from Arthur, and for a moment wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking at. The headline talked about the latest attack by rogue Death Eaters, followed by a mean-spirited piece that suggested Kingsley was incompetent and that he was 'letting' these attack happen - and couldn't help but mention the by-now tired theory about Harry's absence from the first attack at the memorial service.

Below it, Harry's eyes were drawn to a piece about a rising under-secretary in the Office for Magical Law Enforcement, who was suggesting no Slytherin kids be admitted to Hogwarts - or any kids from mainly Slytherin families - without an extensive background check. That, the piece said, was in addition to an earlier suggestion to dismantle Slytherin House and spread its children through the other three Houses. "It's a step in the right direction," the under-secretary was quoted in the piece, "but if they come to Hogwarts already full of Death Eater ideology, it will do no good. Instead of being contained, they will spread it like a cancer to the rest of the Houses. Essentially, we will have created a new generation of Death Eaters, instead of eradicating them. We must weed out those likely to spread the ideas of Lord - you know, and we must do it not in revenge but to protect our society! This is self-defence, not vengeance!" And underneath this statement, a related box talked about Walden Macnair's impending trial, criticising the Ministry and claiming it had been taking its time with this specific Death Eater because of his Ministry connections.

Harry looked away from the interview in disgust, and his eyes found the piece at last - the reason Arthur Weasley had shown him the paper.

RESEARCH SUGGESTS: BRAIN DAMAGE MIGHT BE CAUSED BY UNFORGIVABLE CURSES. By Rita Skeeter

'A new research originating from the Research Department at the Ministry of Magic presents previously unknown evidence that unforgivable curses may not just be ways to torture and murder opponents, but may in fact inflict lasting physical damage on the receiving party.

'Robert Wattford, a senior researcher with the Department, had this to say: "We have been researching this aspect of the curses for some time now. As you know, there are several patients at St Mungo's who have shown signs of permanent damage after being tortured by the Cruciatus curse. The most famous of these are the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom, who have spent the better part of the past 18 years in the closed ward, and the damage to their brains seems to be irreversible. I can only imagine what repeated exposure to the Killing Curse would do, to be honest."

'His worries might not be in vain. While the Killing Curse usually leaves one permanently damaged anyway, there have been signs of late that the one known survivor may have suffered some damage, after all.

'Harry Potter, 18, the Hero of the Battle of Hogwarts, is known to have been hit with the curse a minimum of three times, surviving each time, and is the only known wizard to have shown immunity to the curse's deadly powers. But his unexplained immunity may not save him from all of the effects. Earlier this month, Potter testified in favour of Death Eater Draco Malfoy, and those who had witnessed the testimony have suggested Potter looked distracted, disoriented, and even confused. One witness suggested Potter didn't seem to realise who he was testifying for. At first, sources at the Ministry suggested he may be under the Imperius Curse, but this recent evidence could prove to be the answer to Potter's strange behaviour.

'The Daily Prophet wishes nothing but good to come to the Hero of Hogwarts, of course, but as The Boy Who Lived is about to start the hard and taxing Auror training (an office that has brought the largest number of Ministers for Magic out of all the Ministry's offices), the possibility should be brought into Ministry's attention at the highest levels.'

Harry finished reading the piece aloud, and folded the paper before giving it back to Arthur. "Well," he said in response to the stunned silence in the room, "at least I'm still the Hero of Hogwarts."

"That - cow!" Ginny was the first to get over the shock, her bishop abandoned and the game forgotten. "Why are they still letting her publish things?" she demanded.

"Because a lot of people agree with her," Arthur said quietly.

"What, that Harry coming back from the dead is a bad thing?"

"Actually, Ginny, she's been quite careful not to say that," he pointed out. "But only that Harry shouldn't have testified for Malfoy. That whatever steps we need to take to really change the Ministry back to what it should be are important, but that defending Death Eaters - for whatever reason - is not one of them.

"I happen to agree with you, Harry. I don't have any love for the Malfoy boy, or for any of them, as it happens. You know I feel nothing but disdain for Lucius. But that boy had heard how Lord Voldemort was the great hope for all wizards since the day he was born. And that must have had some effect on him, and yet, according to your story, he had already shown more common sense than his father.

"But you need to choose which battles to fight, Harry, and you've stacked all your reputation on the wrong one. There was never any hope that they would let Draco Malfoy go, not with the Dark Mark on his arm. That's what Kingsley had tried to tell you. I sympathise, and I agree, but you need to know which fights to pick, because the name Harry Potter will only take you so far."

"It sounds to me like I should argue this now, Arthur," Harry answered. "This is the time when being me has some leverage yet, I might as well use it now before it's all gone."

"You do what you think is right. But just remember that Rita Skeeter doesn't print the truth - she prints what is popular. Rita Skeeter has always had two great gifts: she prints sensational pieces, and she makes sure that in the end, no one is angry with her. If Rita Skeeter is already going after you, your name may hold less leverage than you think."

Harry didn't pursue the subject any further, even if he couldn't let the conversation out of his mind completely.

There was one other thing that he couldn't quite get out of his mind. That night, before going to sleep, he caught Ginny alone.

"I didn't come back from the dead," he said.

"What?" she was confused, not realising what he was talking about.

"What you said today. About the Killing Curse - I didn't come back from the dead, it was - " he looked for the word, for a way to explain without talking about the forest, about King's Cross - "complicated magic."

"When you showed up again, after we - after Hagrid was there, with your - you don't know what it was like, Harry. Seeing you, not moving. Hearing him talking about you, saying you're dead, and..." she was lost for words for a moment. "I don't know what happened that night," she whispered, "but whatever happened, it was like you came back from the dead, because one moment you were dead, and the next he was."

It was Harry's turn to nod, but he didn't say anything. It was just another thing he had to think about, adding up to the already long list that had just been made longer a couple of hours ago with Arthur's words.

In the next several weeks, it turned out Arthur Weasley wasn't completely wrong. Harry's name came up more and more in the Daily Prophet and in the wizarding radio. As the Ministry was working longer and longer hours in attempting to rebuild wizarding society, not just after the all-out war of the recent year, but because of the damage that had been caused since Voldemort's first rise to power years and years ago, Kingsley had been asking Harry to become more involved. You are only eighteen, he said, but people respect your opinion. I respect your opinion, and we would like to have your feedback.

Arthur said that this was Kingsley's way to respond to the continuing onslaught of pieces in the Daily Prophet, not all of which were written by Rita Skeeter, questioning Harry's judgement and his capability to make decisions. Kingsley had wanted everyone to see that he, the Minister for Magic, had nothing but faith and respect in Harry's judgement.

"Don't underestimate what he's doing," Arthur told him, and Harry had done his best. It wasn't hard, of course - unlike Fudge or Scrimgeour, he had genuine respect for Kingsley, and he could see that this time, associating his name with the Ministry was not a ploy to gain popularity by Kingsley, but was as much an attempt by Kingsley to protect Harry as it was a genuine belief that Harry's opinions mattered. He would not be a poster boy under Kingsley's Ministry - he was there because his views were important to the Minister.

So he suffered through the long meetings, the squabbling and the ridiculous statements made by overly excited aides, scheming politicians and well meaning idiots, and in the end, gave his opinion. If you really want to make sure this never happens again, he said quietly, make sure the Minister for Magic never has as much power as he had until now. The problem wasn't just Pius Thicknesse, he pointed out after the commotion had died down, but Fudge as well, who had done anything in his great power to make sure no one believed Voldemort was back. The problem was also Rufus Scrimgeour, who had collapsed under the pressure, resorting, in the end, to similar tactics as Fudge. If you really want to rebuild the Ministry, you need to make sure that while the Minister has the last word, there are plenty of people to stop him along the way.

He had sneaked a look at Kingsley after he finished talking, and was full of relief to see the Minister smile at him and nodding in agreement.

But his frequent visits to the Ministry were not the only reason his name came up so often. Still there were trials, and memorials, and services in honour of the dead. To the committee acquitting Severus Snape of any Death Eater association post-mortem and declaring him a war hero, Harry had shown up personally to testify and explain how he had risked his life repeatedly in service of Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, and the vital role he played in the victory against Voldemort. Later on, when the Ministry had decided on a service honouring Snape, he had reluctantly shown up, but had flat out refused to make a speech in his memory when Kingsley brought up the possibility.

"It can be exactly what you said in the committee," Kingsley pointed out. "You have no idea how moving that was, Harry."

"No," Harry answered flatly, and failed to give an explanation. Kingsley didn't push the matter any further.

And then there were the ongoing, never ending trials. To these, Harry didn't bother showing up. There was plenty of evidence against any Death Eater without the need for Harry to come personally and say the same thing over and over again. They had all heard it a thousand times before, anyway. This Death Eater had done Voldemort's bidding and killed a family; another had used the Curciatus curse; others had been at the Malfoy Manor when Harry was captured there, or in the clearing in the Forbidden Forest, or had fought at Hogwarts. Harry had given one statement to the Ministry, one that was used again and again, when they tried Goyle, when they tried Avery, when they finally cornered Yaxley after a long fight in the Muggle underground. Whenever any of these was brought before the Wizengamot, Harry's name was mentioned.

And all the time, there was the onslaught of articles, opinion pieces and radio discussions. By mid-August, the voices calling for Harry to be examined in St Mungo's had become louder and louder.

"I'm not saying there's necessarily anything wrong with him," Rita Skeeter said in a special programme on the wizarding radio, as Harry, Ron and Hermione listened with growing anger one morning in Grimmauld Place. "He might be perfectly alright. The thing is, we don't know, do we? And it's Harry Potter - you know, Matilda, of course, we all have a soft spot for Harry Potter! How can we not? And this is why we're calling for him to be checked. It's out of concern for Harry that we're saying this, not, God forbid, because we want anything to be wrong with him! But such things shouldn't go untreated. You know what I mean? If there's nothing wrong with him, then he shouldn't have a problem being tested, and the wonderful healers in St Mungo's will simply confirm that he's fine and can continue work in the Ministry and become an Auror. But if something did go wrong - and this is, of course, you know, Matilda, nothing that would reflect on Harry himself, the wonderful hero that he is - but if he needs help, I know there is no one in the wizarding world who would not want to see him receive it. It's for Harry's own good, you know? If Harry - "

At this point, Hermione turned the radio off, unable to control her angry, and she and Ron had spent the next several minutes abusing Rita Skeeter, culminating in Hermione saying that maybe she should drop to visit the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and mention something about the unregistered animagus - "Or, at least, drop by my old friend Rita and mention this to her," said finished.

She didn't go in the end. Harry asked her not to, so despite her anger, she didn't interfere. It will go away on its own, he said, and she looked sceptical, but agreed to follow his wishes. He had a bit of quiet for another three days, if long meeting at the Ministry in which the Minister and his committee argued whether they should consider considering some of the demands made by the goblins could be considered quiet. But at the afternoon of the third day, Kingsley caught up with him before he had the chance to go back to Grimmauld Place.

"Maybe you should go to St Mungo's," Kingsley said. Harry said nothing, just looked at him, his eyebrows raised.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with you," Kingsley hurried to clarify. "But it would help to put a stop to the rumours - and to shut Rita Skeeter up."

"No."

"This isn't to say I don't have faith in you, Harry. But we need to stop this, and this is the easiest way."

"No," Harry repeated.

Kingsley gave him a calculating look. So far, whenever Harry had insisted on something, Kingsley didn't argue. But from the look on his face, Harry realised this was about to change.

"They're not just questioning you, Harry. They're questioning me for trusting you."

"I thought trusting me was the point you were trying to make?"

"And it would be easier to make that point by showing test results that say there is nothing wrong with you."

Harry's eyes met Kingsley's. "If it is my employer's orders that I will go and get tested at St Mungo's, I will follow those orders once I am a Ministry employee, that is, on the first of September. I will not get tested before then, and I will not get tested without a direct order to do so. Is it the Auror Office's orders that I submit to a test at St Mungo's before starting Auror training?"

It took Kingsley a while to reply - perhaps too long a while, but finally, he said no. "For now," he added.

Harry nodded, and left. The matter was closed - for now. And the next morning Kingsley had appeared in another radio programme, to explain some of the Ministry's new policies, and when the matter of Harry Potter had come up, he only said, "The Ministry of Magic has nothing but the deepest appreciation for Harry Potter and complete faith in him and his abilities," and declined to add another word, except for saying that "If there is any Ministry employee who wishes to discuss this matter in detail, my door is always open". The message was clear - talking to Rita Skeeter about Harry Potter had become unacceptable in the eyes of the Minister. That did not stop Rita Skeeter, however, and the very next day she had published a piece in which an unnamed Ministry official had said that Kingsley might be too enamoured with the Harry Potter Legend to see the cold facts. That quote, combined wish some fresh - but accurate - Ministry gossip, had made it clear that Rita Skeeter still had some support within the Ministry of Magic.

Harry did his best not to read the Prophet, or listen to too much radio, as much as it was possible with Hermione around. She was getting more and more angry and, as a result, listening to more and more of the offending broadcasts. But even his best attempts to avoid the subject proved unsuccessful, several days after Kingsley's interview, at the next meeting at the Ministry.

As usual, he did not sit next to the big oak table, but rather at the edge of the room, next to the other aides and junior secretaries. And yet his presence was commented upon by Will Jones, the Senior Under-Secretary in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the wizard in charge of the Office of Improper Use of Magic.

"Minister," Jones said as he walked in, "I thought this was a closed meeting."

Kingsley, who until that point had been talking to Percy about something-or-other regarding the regulations about dragons, raised his head. "Yes, it is, Will," he replied.

"Then why are there people here not employed by the Ministry of Magic?"

It took a while for the sentence to sink in, but when it did, twenty heads turned towards Harry. Heidi Macavoy, who sat next to him and was now a junior assistant in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and had been eyeing Harry secretly since he had walked in, had now dropped all pretence and stared at him openly.

"I thought we've already had this discussion, Will?" Kingsley asked in his pleasant, booming voice.

"Yes, Kingsley, we did, but at the time this was presented as the Minister's preference and, as it is our custom not to question the Minister's request, I kept my doubts to myself. However, seeing as you have been pushing to give more responsibilities and a bigger voice to the heads of the different departments, I must say that the inclusion of non-Ministry people in secret Ministry meetings - whoever they are - seems inappropriate. To me, at least," Will Jones smiled. "I hope I am interpreting your words in the spirit they were said?"

"Yes, of course," Kingsley said, slightly irritated, "however - "

"However, when a meeting is declared as closed to the public, it is inappropriate not to include all of the public in this declaration. Once Mr Potter is a Ministry employee then by all means, I'm sure we would all enjoy his input. Until then..."

Harry got up before Kingsley had a chance to reply. "It's alright, Minister," he said in a clear voice. "Mr Jones," he acknowledged the wizard, and left the room.

He wasn't angry - on the contrary. Those meetings were becoming longer and longer, and more and more boring. He had been losing patience with them for quite a while now, especially as the August sun was becoming weaker and weaker, reminding him that it would be September soon and that Ginny and Hermione would board the Hogwarts Express, while he and Ron would be gone for Auror training. He preferred to spend the last days of summer with Ginny, rather than waste them all indoors, listening to wizards squabbling about new Ministry appointments and whether the uniform of the security wizards at the Ministry should be changed.

Kingsley, on the other hand, was not pleased at all. That night he showed up to dinner at the Weasleys' together with Arthur, carrying bad news.

"Jones didn't want you out of that meeting for nothing, Harry," Arthur said darkly as he sat down with a thump at the table. "Molly, this looks delicious," he said and started wolfing down his dinner, leaving Kingsley to give the news as he added more peas to his plate.

"They passed a new regulation. He must have had this planned with Inglebee. All candidates for Auror training must undergo preliminary check-ups at St Mungo's prior to beginning their training. I'm sorry, Harry - both Gawain and myself were strictly against it, but we lost the vote."

"How could you lose that vote?" Molly asked, scandalised, just in time for Arthur to resurface from his mashed potatoes.

"Will was very clever about this," he said. "He made sure not to single out Harry, actually, just talked about how stressful a job being an Auror is, and how the Ministry must make sure that all the candidates are fit. And then he pointed out that forcing everyone to take the test would quiet down all the noise about Harry without singling him out. And everyone bought that."

Once again, everyone was looking at Harry - who, in turn, was slowly eating his vegetables, saying nothing.

"Look, Harry, this is the best option," Arthur said. "That way we're resolving everything quietly and Rita Skeeter won't have anything more to say about - "

"I'm not going to submit to a useless examination just because someone in the Ministry wants to score some points," Harry said, the anger rising to his head and in his voice, "and if he's going to - "

"Oh, just take the damn test already," Ron cut across him, and Harry stopped talking, looking at Ron in surprise. "We'll set an appointment at St Mungo's and go there together next week, alright? I have to take it too, now, you realise. And then everyone will shut up, Will Jones included. You're not going to give up being an Auror just because some upstart Ministry official found a way to get his name in the Daily Prophet, are you? Are you?"

Harry turned his gaze from Ron to Kingsley, who raised his eyebrows, without saying anything. But his expression was clear. Pick your battles, Harry, he had said, and that was one of those battles.

He returned his gaze to Ron. "Of course not," he said. "Yeah, we'll take it together."

A sigh of relief could almost be heard around the table, as the dinner moved to more pleasant topics, and spirits cheered up considerably when George walked in with Angelina about half an hour later, when everyone was already eating Molly's wonderful cake.

"Sorry, Mum," he kissed her on the cheek. "Didn't notice the time - and there were so many costumers today, I could barely close as it is." Wealseys' Wizarding Wheezes had just re-opened that very same day for the first time since the Weasleys went underground. The demand hadn't gone down at all - as the beginning of the Hogwarts school year was looming, what seemed like every kid still at Hogwarts rushed to the newly-opened shop.

"Hope you don't mind I brought Angelina along, she helped me with the shop so I thought I might as well get her some dinner."

"Of course not," Molly smiled, a truly happy smile, and Harry knew why. This was the first time since that day at Hogwarts, nearly four months ago, that George resembled his old self again.

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley," Angelina said and sat down next to George. Molly rushed to get them what was left of the mashed potatoes.

They didn't discuss the matter of St Mungo's after that, but the next week Harry and Ron walked into the hospital, and quietly waited for their turn in the queue to the bored witch at the reception.

"Yeah?" she asked them, concentrating more on her nail file than on them.

"We're here for the Auror physical exam," Ron told her.

"Did you make an appointment? Or did you think to just walk in here?" she asked in an irritated voice. "I've already had three people today who didn't bother make an appointment. Obviously, being Aurors makes some think they are in some way more important than the rest of us wizards, and that normal regulations about - "

" - We have an appointment," Harry didn't even wait for her to stop for breath.

"Oh," she didn't sound abashed at all, only slightly more irritated - possibly at not being allowed to complete her rant. "Names?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley and Harry James Potter."

Now the receptionist raised her eyes form the nail file. "Oh," she said again, staring at Harry.

"Well?" Ron asked.

"Floor 3, room 17."

"Thank you."

The healer at room 17 wasn't much better. Long after Ron finished his rather routine check-up, Harry was still inside, as the healer cast spell after spell at Harry. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mr Potter," he said without sounding sorry at all after about half an hour. "You realise, of course, that with all the possibilities, we need to check everything to make sure it's all okay. We don't often get to examine people after they've been hit with the Killing Curse - well," he amended his previous statement, "not when we can still ask them questions, anyway."

Harry didn't answer. In fact, all the answers he had given to the healer's questions were clipped, monosyllabic and to the point, without a hint of friendliness. It didn't seem to bother the healer at all, who kept on chattering about how fascinating it is to examine Harry and what interesting research could be conducted if Harry would come more often.

After 45 minutes that seemed like eternity, Harry was released from the healer's cluthces and went out back to the corridor, where Ron was staring at the ceiling.

"Thought they started vivisecting you there," were his only words when he saw Harry.

"They probably would have had I stayed there any longer. Let's go."

Harry wasn't the only one who preferred to pretend the test never took place. The Weasleys, too, tried to avoid speaking of it. At one point later that evening Molly seemed about to ask something, but changed her mind at Ron's violent head movement - don't. Kingsley, when he arrived, didn't ask how it went, but pretended as if he didn't know Harry had taken the examination that day. Only as he was getting up to leave, did he turn to Harry.

"I have the results of your test, if you're interested," he said.

"I'm not."

He nodded and left, and that was the last the Weasleys discussed the topic - until the next morning.

Ginny was the first to look at the Daily Prophet, after she paid the delivery owl. She unfolded the paper, took a sip from her pumpkin juice - and immediately spat it all over the front page.

"I don't want to know," Harry immediately said, and the look Ginny gave him confirmed his suspicion that the offensive headline was, indeed, about him. "Really. I'm not interested in what the Prophet has to say about me."

"Harry..."

"It's okay. I really don't care."

And still, Arthur caught Harry before going to work. "I just wanted you to know, the test came out alright," he said quietly.

"I know it did," Harry said, using his normal voice. "I really wasn't worried about that."

"It's okay to be worried, Harry. No one really knows why - "

"I know," he didn't let Arthur complete the sentence. "I know, Arthur. I know why I survived, each and every time. Even in the forest. I know what happened. I'm just... I'm not ready to talk about it. Not yet, anyway."

"Okay. If you ever want to talk - "

" - then I'll probably tell Ron," Harry completed the sentence and they both laughed.

On the breakfast table, a small, pumpkin-juice stained headline in the Daily Prophet read: POTTER TEST PROVES INCONCLUSIVE.

-X-

The last days of the summer holidays were spent ignoring the Ministry, and the Daily Prophet, and Rita Skeeter. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had spent their last week together playing Quidditch, exploding snap and wizards' chess, going to Diagon Alley and George's shop and travelling around London, and mostly, with each other.

"Blimey, can you imagine," Ron said on the last day of the holidays, "Tomorrow's going to be the first day we won't be going together to Hogwarts."

"That's so weird," Harry said, playing with Ginny's hair.

"I'm sure McGonagall wouldn't mind you guys coming to visit," Hermione said in a rational manner - a rationality Harry found somewhat maddening.

"If we get the chance. Auror training is supposed to be really intense," Ron answered gloomily. He seemed to become more and more unhappy with the prospect of leaving Hermione, the closer the deadline had come - but nothing in the world could have convinced him to go back to Hogwarts, not after he'd been authorised by the Ministry to start Auror training despite not having his N.E.W.T.s. "Why can't you decide to give up Hogwarts and become an Auror?" he complained.

"Because I don't want to be an Auror. And the N.E.W.T.s are important, Ron! Honestly, I don't understand why you two are rushing to join the Ministry. I promise you, you'd be able to start Auror training next year, too."

Harry, however, knew exactly why Ron was so reluctant to do his N.E.W.T.s. His friend had confided in him several weeks earlier - if they go back to Hogwarts, he said, he probably won't get the necessary marks to continue to Auror training. Harry pointed out, quite reasonably, that after his role in defeating Voldemort, no one was going to look at his N.E.W.T.s anyway - but Ron remained unconvinced.

Harry didn't worry about the N.E.W.T.s. He knew that he could become an Auror if he wanted to, regardless of how well he did in another year at Hogwarts. He just didn't want to go back. Oh, he would miss Ginny, and Hermione - and even some of the teachers, like Professor McGonagall. But he couldn't go back there and not see Dumbledore, or Colin Creevey, or any of the other people who were supposed to be there, who should, by all rights, be there - but wouldn't.

Every corner would be a reminder, every classroom a memory. Hogwarts used to be his home, the one place where he really felt he belonged - but the war had changed all that, and he couldn't go back and face it, not yet.

So he would go tomorrow, and become an Auror. Life was about moving forward, was it not? So now he was moving forward, in a new direction.

A new direction... his mind left Ron and Hermione's bickering, and wandered to earlier that day, when Kingsley had asked him to come to the Ministry of Magic, to perform one last service before the beginning of his training. In the Ministry, in the Atrium, in front of photographers and reporters, family and friends, together with the members of the Order, of Dumbledore's Army, and anyone who had fought that day almost four months ago, Kingsley had given each and every one of the Heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts their medals, Order of Merlin, Second Class. And Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, etc etc etc, went on the makeshift stage last, and received his own medal, Order of Merlin, First Class, given in recognition of special services, that is to say, his victory over the worst and most terrible wizard in known history, ending the war and returning peace to the wizarding world in general.

"We all owe you more than we could ever give back," Kingsley said, "so we ask you to accept this token."

Harry did, of course, with handshakes and smiles, and plenty of photo opportunities, including to the Daily Prophet - he had suffered in silence and pretended to be interested. And when he got back to the stage - because how could the ceremony continue without Harry Potter making a speech? - he told them that this honour was not for him, but for Dumbledore, for Snape, for Fred Weasley, for Colin Creevey, for... the list went on and on, but he mentioned each and every one of them. All the reasons he would not go back to Hogwarts this year.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked softly.

"You," he said.

"Liar," she retorted, and he just smiled at her. It was going to be their last night together for a while now, and he was going to make the best of it.