That which you recognize, I do not own.

Chapter 5: An inscription

When Ginny was left alone in the flat she would generally amuse herself in pretty average ways; she tidied up, she caught up on work or she would read The Prophet. But sometimes she liked to just sit and think. And since getting engaged she liked to sit, think and stare absentmindedly at her ring. It's not that Ginny was particularly shallow, because she wasn't, but she had grown up without much jewelry, or anything really, to ever show off and so she liked having something that was all her own to show off as much as she pleased.

It was a simple ring. It had a platinum band with a single diamond. To a casual observer it would seem like a perfectly ordinary, although beautiful, engagement ring. The thing about Harry though, was as ordinary as he might look on the outside; it was his inside that made him extraordinary. On the inside of the band Harry had a personalized inscription engraved: "For loving me, I love you. – Harry." The first time Harry had said those words to her had been nearly four years ago, but she still couldn't help but feel the same rush of warmth when she heard them.

The week follow the battle had been… trying. Hogwarts was a constant bundle of activity, as it seemed like the entire wizarding world had congregated there. First people came to pay their respects to where so many had fallen. They came to try and find old friends whom they had lost touch with over the last couple of years. They came because it seemed to be the thing to do these days. But for the most part people came because there was a chance, a slim one but still a chance, that they would get to see him.

Most thought that if they would just get to see him, to shake his hand and thank him, that maybe that would be enough time to figure him out. He was their hero, the wizarding world's very own knight in shining armor. Harry, meanwhile, wanted none of it. That's not to say he wasn't visible because he was. He attended the mass memorial held the next morning to pay his respects for all that had fallen. He gave a brief interview to The Daily Prophet saying only that Lord Voldemort was truly dead although hunts for the death eaters would continue, that he advised no imprisonments without trial as had happened after the first war, and that Severus Snape's name should be cleared of all charges relating to the death of Albus Dumbledore. He gave no intimate details of his life over the past year or what he intended to do in the coming days and months. All in all it was a very impersonal interview. In fact, with one notable exception Harry maintained a very low profile in the immediate aftermath of the war.

That one notable exception arose about 7 hours after Voldemort's death. McGonagall took Harry into a separate room with Ron, Hermione and Ginny not far behind. It was there that they learned from the other order members that no one would touch Voldemort's body. Everyone was afraid to move him, and what to do with his body besides. It seemed that they all expected Harry to know how to dispense of the most evil wizard of all time. "I'll take care of it," Harry sighed. "Leave him where he is for now, and I'll deal with it."

"Thank you Harry. We were all just… we couldn't… Thank you," McGonagall smiled. She and the other order members then dispersed to join the festivities. The four of them stayed behind to discuss what to do with his boy.

"Well mate, what do you do with the most evil wizard of our time? Or his body at least?" Ron piqued.

"I dunno," Harry said. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Hermione sat silently for a moment, thinking. "Well, where do you want to dispose of the body Harry? What's appropriate?"

Harry seemed stumped by the question. "Well, it can't be a place where there are lots of people around, because that'll just freak them out," Ron jumped in.
"And it can't be a place where happy memories could have happened or will ever happen again," Hermione added, "because that's just wrong."

"Okay Harry, so just find a deserted miserable place and drop him there," Ron summed up.

"Right Ron, because I know of so many of those places off hand."

"Burn it Harry," Ginny found herself saying. "There's nowhere that's evil enough for him, no soil that wouldn't be worse off with him in it. You… We have to get rid of whatever traces of Lord Voldemort are left in the world."

The room fell silent as everyone considered this. "She's right," Harry finally murmured. Tonight, when everyone else is asleep, we'll move his body outside of Hogwarts' gates. And then, we'll burn him." They all nodded, agreeing to the final end of Voldemort.

As they turned to leave the room and head back into the great hall Harry made his final statement on the matter, "and please guys, don't tell anyone. No one's death, even his, should be rejoiced. I don't want people dancing and laughing as he goes up in flames. It has to happen, and I'm glad to be rid of him, but to treat Voldemort's death as a joke, well it just wouldn't be right." Hermione and Ron nodded as they left the room. Ginny, unable to think of anything better to do or say, followed suit.

They did burn Voldemort's body that night and as Harry had said it would be, it was a melancholy affair. The four of them felt no need to speak of the matter much after the fact. It was unsaid between them that they did it because they had to, and should feel neither joy nor pain over the matter.

Ginny hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Harry much after that. He was constantly ducking out of interviews, sneaking around the castle for a quiet moment, or attending some type of memorial service. It wasn't until nearly nine days after the battle when she, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Harry were sitting around the Gryffindor common room fire that she felt that things were slightly reverting back to normal.

"Well I suppose we should probably catch up with the rest of the world and head down to the Great Hall. Another feast tonight," Ron thought aloud.

Neville and Ginny agreed, although half-heartedly.

"Uh huh," said Harry hardly looking up from his parchment, "let me wait until I finish this letter."

"Right mate, we'll see you down there then?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Ginny, come look at this for a second and tell me if you think this sounds right."

"Harry, why don't you ask Hermione? She is the…" but whatever Ron was about to say he never got to finish because Hermione grabbed both him and Neville by the elbows and herded them out of the common room. Upon reflection Ginny probably should have seen what was coming next, but at the time she had so innocently thought that Harry wanted actual help with his letter.

"What's it you want me to have a look at Harry?" She asked.

Harry raised one eyebrow, "What?"

"Harry you asked me to have a look at your letter," she continued walking over to him. "Or have you already forgotten?" She leaned over his shoulder to have a closer look at the parchment. She never got a chance to see what it said though.

She had remembered that kissing Harry felt good and right and safe, but she had apparently forgotten that it was also mind blowingly fantastic.

Even later that night Ginny couldn't quite remember how she and Harry had managed to get up to his dormitory without tripping over anything and dying. They were far more concerned with maintaining the deep, lengthy kisses they had going. She did remember the shock she felt when she started feeling Harry remove her shirt and even more shock when she noticed she was doing the same thing to him. After that she stopped remembering the night in words, mostly they were brief flashes of images, sensations and feelings.

Some time later she and Harry weren't moving, they were just laying next to each other, intertwined, holding hands, and staring into each other's eyes. They were also smiling like fools, but neither seemed to particularly mind.

"I missed you Ginny," Harry finally said.

"I missed you too, Harry."

"I thought about you every day."

"I thought about you every day."

"I really, really like you Ginny."
"I really, really like you too Harry."

"I like you more than treacle tart, quidditch and sunny days, all combined"

"I like you more than bat bogey hexes, chocolate frogs and trips to Hogsmeade all combined."

"I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Harry."

Ginny had thought Harry's smile couldn't get any bigger, but she had clearly been wrong. "I love you. I love you. I love you," he said over and over as he leaned in for another kiss. Ginny couldn't help but respond with everything she had.

"Jesus Christ Ginny," Harry said, breathing heavily as he rolled onto his back, "keep this up and you'll be the death of me."

"Harry Potter, The Chosen One, The Boy-Who-Lived, hero of the wizarding world and defeater of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named dies at the young age of 17 due to too much sex. You can't deny it would be a catchy headline," Ginny laughed.

Harry snorted. "You know, after years of thinking that I would die in much more sinister ways, I can't deny the appeal of kicking the bucket while between your thighs."

Ginny rolled over and pushed herself up a little so she could look down on the face of the man she loved, the smirk gone from her lips. "Harry, when you were fighting, did you think you would live to see the other side of the war?"

"I hoped I would. On the coldest days, on the darkest nights, I would see your face and I couldn't feel anything but hope. I hoped I would live, but I thought I would die."

Ginny lay back down, her head on his shoulder and started tracing her finger along his chest. "I knew you would live. I knew you would live because to know anything else, to imagine or think of any other alternative would have killed me."

"Thank you Ginny."

"For what?"

"For believing in me. For giving me hope. For saving my soul. For loving me."

"Harry, I can't help but be there for you. I guess this is something you're going to have to put up with for awhile."

"Wait which?" Ginny looked up to see a smirk growing across his face. "The soul saving and hope giving or the amazingly naughty sex?"

"All of the above Harry."

"Ginny Weasley, have I mentioned that I love you?" Harry smiled as he leaned in for another kiss.

"I love you, Harry Potter." Ginny managed to get out before fully descending into another world of feelings and sensation.

"It's definitely the inside that's extraordinary," Ginny said aloud to no one in particular.