Hello everyone!

So, I'm really glad that people gave me such positive responses to the first chapter. And I'm also really excited about the fact that a lot of my reviewers from Unforgettable and Mere Mortals are reading this as well—it makes me feel like you guys really like my writing, which of course is amazing encouragement! So thank you so much!

A big thank you goes out to all my reviewers, PottedLilies, SiriusObession, missivypotter, Snape1918, DukeBrymin, Ang922, and Shroomy-eyes. Thanks so much, guys!

Also, thank you to everyone who added me to their favorites/alerts lists. You're amazing!

Alright, here it is. I hope you enjoy :D

hhhhhhhhhhh

"He's not here either!" I yelled, trying to contain myself and failing miserably.

"Ginny!" Hermione reprimanded.

"What?" I yelled, accidentally smacking the edge of a table a little too hard in my frustration. Honestly, these two are supposed to be his best mates, why aren't they worried about where he is?

"Oh," I murmured, a blush slowly blossoming on my cheeks as I realized that Hermione was trying to point out the frenzy I had made with the house elves. The poor things were running all about the kitchen, worried that they had lost Harry Potter, most precious and beloved Boy-Who-Lived. "Sorry!" I yelled again, this time with a slightly contrite note to my voice, "Sorry, we just thought he might be here…erm, you haven't lost him, so don't worry…"

I trailed off when I realized that I wasn't making any sense.

Well, I suppose I was, but the point was that I hadn't found Harry yet, and we were all wasting precious time. Merlin knows that there are still Death Eaters up and down the country, and some that we think fled to France—I've even heard that they might go so far as tracking Dolohov after he fled to his native Russia—and Harry is out there, alone and unprotected. I don't care how much everyone worships him, the three people standing here know that he's human and always needs help.

Or, at least, I do.

For some reason, Ron and Hermione haven't felt the need to worry about it just yet.

Although, I might be expected to take the absence of longing stares as worry. Apparently there's nothing they can do about the constant blushing. Bloody love-sick idiots.

Well, I suppose Hermione can't actually be called an idi—

HARRY! Back to Harry! He's still missing!

"Where could he have gone, then?" Ron asked, scratching his neck and, finally, looking appropriately concerned.

"I don't know," Hermione whispered, looking into his eyes. Oh Merlin, they're sharing a look. Nothing is ever going to get done now.

hhhhhhhhhh

The grass made a soft plopping noise as I sat down in it. I looked around for company, but thankfully there didn't seem to be any muggles here. No one normal would want to visit a graveyard on such a lovely day.

And it is a lovely day, for once. No storms or threats looming on the horizon, just the prospect of some beautiful weather. If life had been normal, I could have been at Hogwarts now, taking a final dip in the lake before the end of seventh year. I might have even seen Ginny in a bathing suit…if I was normal.

"Did you ever get to do that?" I asked their gravestone, idly playing with the grass. "I expect that I'll get to visit more often now," I said to them, wondering if they could hear. If they were really anywhere at all. "Now that Voldemort's been taken care of, I mean…Although I reckon I should check to make sure Bathilda didn't get turned into an inferius by anyone…"

I was rambling.

About very unpleasant things, too.

That wasn't what I wanted. It's not what I came here for. I came to celebrate with them, to share in this first truly happy moment. I was allowed to experience things now, truly experience them without the constant nagging pain that someone was trying to kill me, and was more than willing to go through the entire world—muggle and magical—in the process.

Well, that's kind of difficult, isn't it. It wouldn't be for a normal bloke, but lucky me. "Er...this is harder than I thought it would be," I told them, looking at the grass and frowning. Don't I have anything happy to tell them about? I mean, nothing, really? There had to have been something.

Oh.

Ginny.

And then thoughts of Ginny led to thoughts of the rest of the redheads, the rest of my family really, and I decided to start from the beginning.

"Well, when I was trying to get on the train first year, I didn't know how and then Mrs. Weasley—you would have liked her, Mum, she always tries to get me to eat third helpings of everything—well, she helped me onto the platform. And then I met Ron on the train. He told me all about quidditch, Dad, I never heard of it before him—well, that's wrong, I suppose Hagrid mentioned it too…"

hhhhhhhhhh

Before long, we had an organized search party on the grounds.

"Alright, everyone," Kingsley said in his deep baritone. I wish I had a voice like that. It always has the instant effect of silencing everyone and making them listen to whatever it is that you'd like to say. "The majority will stay here, on the grounds, as I find it difficult to believe that Harry Potter has been kidnapped from his bed."

"Unless the acromantulas got to him," Ron muttered quietly next to me. Hermoine squeezed his hand.

"You will search the Hogwarts castle and grounds. Two groups in the castle, one to begin at the top and work down, the other to begin in the dungeons and work up…"

Soon we were all assigned to groups and had begun searching. I was supposed to stay with the group that would search the grounds, but I grabbed Kingsley at the last moment and found myself in Godric's Hollow.

That was a gamble. I hadn't been sure if he was going to Godric's Hollow or Privet Drive. Thank Merlin I got to the right place.

Because Harry's here. I just know he is.

hhhhhhhhhhh

"So anyways, that's the story of my life," I told them, still gingerly touching my hair where the wind had mussed it.

Well, I say the wind because saying that Dad did it would make me sound slightly crazy. But honestly, Dad did it. I mean, really, I'm completely covered in the cloak, and somehow, a gust of wind that didn't move any leaves got under my hood and mussed my hair the way I saw Dad muss his in the pensieve. And it was right as I was telling them all about Ginny.

Honestly, no one will believe me, but after all the magic I've witnessed in the last seven years, it's not hard to believe that spirits could muss my hair—

What was that?

I pulled the cloak tighter around myself and turned toward the voices, but they were too light to make out. Almost as though they had been carried a long way by the wind.

"Percivus," I muttered quietly, pointing my wand at my own head. All my senses were instantly heightened. I was hyperaware of the metallic taste in my mouth and the fluidity of the silk cloak. I could smell the grass of the cemetery, which I can now guess may have been tended only a few days ago. But most importantly, I could see and hear figures in the distance, who appeared to be searching for something.

"—for an hour. I don't think we'll find him here—"

"—the Weasley girl thinks he's more likely to be here…"

What? They have Ginny?

Alright, maybe they're not Death Eaters, let's not jump to conclusions. I definitely can't see their faces or hear their voices properly at this distance, after all.

I moved closer, taking care to walk behind tombstones as often as possible so that they didn't see the grass bending surreptitiously as I walked. Finally, I was close enough to recognize Kingsley's face and the characteristically deep baritone of his voice.

What are they doing here?

"—might have already found him at Hogwarts, we'd have no way of knowing."

"No," Kingsley answered the man, "Let's keep looking. I gave orders that the first group to find him was to send appointed apparaters to the other search parties to inform them of his location…"

Who are they looking for?

And why would they be concerned with where Ginny thought he wa—"ARGH!" I yelled, falling face first into a pile of dirt. And it smells freshly manuered, thanks to that perception spell.

Then suddenly my cloak was being pulled away.

"HARRY! Oh, I knew I would find you here as soon as they mentioned…" Ginny trailed away, looking at my face. I was sure that I looked confused.

Wait…had they been looking for me? Merlin, how long must I have been gone?

She pulled me back up to my feet and hugged me tightly.

Then she pulled back and slapped me. Hard.

"OW!" I yelled, rubbing my cheek. "What in Merlin's name was that for?"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Harry Potter!" She yelled, beginning to pace and reminding me very much of Mrs. Weasley. I tried not to wince as I took the perception charm off. Her volume had already alerted Kingsley and his partner to our position.

"Bed empty! No note! Not a scrap of anything to let us know where you were! You could have run into some Death Eaters! You could have died! You could hav—"

I cut her off with a crushing hug. I figured it was the easiest way to shut her up for the moment, at least until she had calmed down a bit.

"You could have died," she mumbled into my cloak. It was at this point that I realized I was still partly wearing it, and I took it off to stuff it into my pocket before anyone got close enough to see that I had it. It's a family secret, after all.

"Sorry, Gin," I said quietly, mostly because I was afraid she might start screaming again if I spoke any louder.

She sighed and hugged me tightly again. "What even possessed you to leave Hogwarts?"

"Well, I, erm…I was talking to Mum and Dad, I suppose…"

"Talking to your Mum and Dad?" She asked, the confusion evident on her face.

"Yeah, erm, you know…I thought they should know it was over…that we won…"

"Oh, Harry," she murmured, running her fingers through my hair. My eyes closed of their own accord. "Of course they should know, but why didn't you come find me or Ron or Hermione? Why did you come by yourself?"

Why did I come by myself?

"I dunno," I shrugged. Then I made a split-second decision to trust her with my insanity. "But I think they like you."

A shocked giggle escaped her lips. "What makes you think that?"

"Just a feeling I got," I said, shrugging again as Kingsley and his partner finally reached us.

"Harry," Kingsley said. That's the one thing I'll never understand about Kingsley, he's always calm no matter what's happening. Although I suppose that makes a good leader. "We've found you. Portkins, apparate back to Hogwarts and inform them that we have found Harry, then immediately appoint someone to apparate to Privet Drive and inform that search party as well."

"Yes, Minister," the other man said, standing at attention. I held in a slight chuckle at his stance. Honestly, I'm surprised he held back from an actual salute.

Well, salute or not, in less than a moment he was gone with a pop.

"Now, Harry," Kingsley said again, focusing on me fully.

I gulped slightly. That constant calm also makes him slightly unnerving to everyone else.

"Yes, Kingsley?"

"Don't run off again. It's not good for my sanity."

Ginny squeezed my hand, agreeing with him. I suppressed another chuckle.

"Alright, then."

hhhhhhhh

After we rounded up the rest of the search party that was left in Godric's Hollow, we headed back to Hogwarts in a series of pops.

"Hey," I whispered to Ginny, "Do you need me to side-along you?"

She seemed to consider it for a moment before she nodded. But then she hugged me tightly and said, "Alright, I'm holding on."

Her warm arms around me made it easy to think of home, and we were at Hogwarts within moments. She let go but took my hand as we walked through the gate.

Everyone seemed to be congregated on the front lawn of the grounds, waiting for us to return. Everyone that I remembered seeing was standing there, so they must have called back all the search parties. I still can't honestly believe that they went to so much trouble to search for me. I mean, honestly, it's not like they need me anymore. Voldemort's gone, there no need to idolize a hero.

But they had looked for me, and it felt nice.

It felt really nice.

And Ginny squeezed my hand, and Mrs. Weasley was waving us toward her as she ran across the lawn, and Ron and Hermione looked relieved to see me, and maybe I'm not about to be thrown out with yesterday's trash. Maybe I have a family now, that wants me around, I mean.

"Harry Potter!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed as she ran. I urged a rather reluctant Ginny forward so that her mum wouldn't have to run the whole way. "Harry! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" And then she engulfed us both in a bone-crushing hug, and I suddenly realized why Ginny had been so reluctant to loose her air supply sooner rather than later. But it felt so good to be hugged that I couldn't bring myself to be bothered by it.

I just grinned across Mrs. Weasley's shoulder to Ginny, who rolled her eyes in return.

hhhhhhhhhh

"So, er, what are we going to do now?" Ron asked. The three of us had taken refuge in our old dorm so that we could get away from the crowd. I think rebuilding was secretly depressing to Ron and Hermione too, but they were trying not to show it.

"Oh, honestly, Ron!" Hermione scolded.

"What? I'm just asking!"

I laughed.

I laughed so long that they both turned to me with slightly worried expressions.

"Are you alright, mate?" Ron asked, thumping me on the back a bit.

I nodded, trying to pull myself together. Finally, I managed to take a deep breath and talk.

"It's just, you guys can argue all you want now," I told them, grinning at their utterly bewildered expressions, "Isn't it nice to be back to normal?"

Hermione giggled after a moment, and Ron gave a bit of a guffaw.

"Well, as normal as Hogwarts can get, anyway," Hermione said through a fresh wave of giggles. We all laughed for a long time before we all collapsed onto the floor, trying to breathe.

"Well," I finally said, "What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted.

"Hey!" Ron called out indignantly.

She giggled again, but it cut off abruptly as she sat up. She did not look happy.

"I want to go to Australia soon. To find Mum and Dad, I mean," she said, glancing between us.

"We'll go with you."

"No, Harry," Ron said, "You stay and I'll go."

"What?" I cried a little louder than I intended, "I want to go! Can't I help one of my best mates to find—"

"Harry, I want you to stay," Hermione cut in softly. "And you should stay too, Ron."

"What?" He yelled, even louder and more startled than I had been. "I'm going with you, and that's final!"

Hermione just rolled her eyes at him. "Ron, I don't think your mum can handle loosing any more of her children at the moment."

"Well alright then," I cut in, taking my chance, "I'll go and Ron can stay."

Both of them shook their heads at me.

"Harry, people need you here to be their leader and their icon," Hermione said, shaking her head, "You can't go."

"And besides that, mate," Ron told me, nodding his head sagely, "Ginny will follow me to Australia and murder me if I let you get lost again."

I chuckled at that. Hermione was not amused.

"Ron, I said you weren't coming—"

"Hermione, I'm coming."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Think of it this way," he told her, leaning over to take her hand. I averted my eyes before berating myself for being immature. "You can't stop me from coming. I could apparate there any time I wanted. And don't you at least want some company?"

"Well, I…"

I nodded covertly to Ron, both of us sensing that she would cave if he played his cards right.

"Listen," he murmured, leaning and closer and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, "I want to be there for you. Does that make me horrid?"

I could see her face turn to mush. Well done, Ron. Although I didn't think he had it in him, honestly…

"Well, no…alright," she sighed, giving in. "You can come, Ron."

"And me too?" I asked, deciding to push the envelope.

But they both shook their heads at me again.

"You need to be here, mate," Ron said, reaching over to clap me on the back. "I heard Kingsley saying he wanted you in charge of rebuilding Hogwarts with McGonagall, it'll lift spirits, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "Kingsley's right. You need to be here, rebuilding. It'll lift your spirits too, help you to come to terms with…"

She trailed off. She didn't need to finish the sentence.

Well, maybe if I help rebuild this place, I can come to terms with it.

hhhhhhhhhh

I hope you liked it! Please review :)