A/N: So this is it, the very last chapter. It's hard to believe that this story is finally done, but I'm glad that it is – juggling four fics a week is a bit much, even for me. I know that some people were disappointed with the fact that I didn't focus more on Harry and his family, but that wasn't really the story I was intending to tell. This was, first and foremost, a love story between Harry and Ginny. With that said, I hope that you enjoy the epilogue!

/Mental Speech/

Harry Potter was waiting less than patiently in the little side room off of the Great Hall, where – in another world – he had once been taken to discuss whether or not he would participate in the Triwizard Tournament. Shaking his head, he peeked through half-open door and swallowed hard when he saw the tables of children waiting for the Sorting to be over. Harry had wanted to be Sorted in private, but the headmaster had decided that after the first years were finished, he would be Sorted in front of the whole school. The very notion of going through that all over again made him feel sick to his stomach and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

After the death of Riddle, the summer had gone by far too quickly. Lily and James had taken their children on a family vacation across Europe, and it had given Harry some much needed time to bond with his parents and siblings. While they were out of the country, Dumbledore made arrangements with all the right people to make sure that the majority of Riddle's evil plans came out into the open. The wizarding world had been shocked by the news that Tom Riddle, beloved Hogwarts professor and political activist, had been a future dark lord who had been plotting in secret for years. How exactly the man had died remained a secret, with most of the population believing that Riddle and Dumbledore had come to blows over the discovery. The Death Eaters who had helped had been helping Riddle had recently been sentenced to Azkaban for the rest of their lives.

Just like he always did when he thought about Tom Riddle, Harry unconsciously stroked the slender yew wand that he carried with him all the time. The fact that he'd literally gotten away with murder didn't exactly sit right with him, even if the victim had been a psychotic wannabe dark lord. It had been disturbingly easy to cast the killing curse that night, and that was something that haunted him even now. He had taken to keeping Tom Riddle's wand with him as a constant reminder of what he had done, but slowly, with the help of some long talks with his father, he was coming to terms with the guilt he felt. James had proved to be an excellent and encouraging listener, and for the first time since his peek into Snape's pensieve, he felt proud to be James Potter's son.

As though he'd heard Harry's thoughts, James glanced in his direction. The older man grinned when he spotted Harry peeking through the door and winked in his direction. Harry smiled a little, comforted by the sight of his parents, the twins, Remus, and Sirius sitting at the head table with the rest of the professors. Because the twins were so young, they ate meals with their parents at the head table instead of sitting with the rest of the students. Knowing that he would not be separated from his family had made the return to Hogwarts a great deal easier for Harry, even if he would have to sleep in the dormitories. He nudged the door open a little more so that he could see the Gryffindor table.

Lia, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione sat in a close cluster at the end of the table. Ginny was watching the Sorting with a bored expression on her face. Ron had his arm around Lia's shoulders, and Hermione kept shooting them small, smug grins. The two of them had taken to exchanging letters that summer, and apparently they'd become even closer than Harry had anticipated, much to Hermione's relief. She was nothing short of thrilled that Ron was no longer interested in her. He watched as she twisted around and waved in the direction of the Slytherin table. Draco was too composed to wave back, but Harry couldn't help noticing that the blonds' eyes brightened with Hermione's acknowledgement.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," Professor Dumbledore said as the Sorting of the first years finished. Harry jerked to attention, his eyes darting back to the head table as the elderly man stood up. "This year, we have one additional, sixth year student to Sort. It is my great pleasure to introduce you all to Harry Potter."

Thunderous applause made Harry blush as he stepped out from behind the door. He was pretty certain that he heard James and Sirius whistling, and shot a murderous glance towards the two of them as he walked over to where Professor McGonagall was waiting. She graced him with a comforting smile as she motioned for him to take a seat. Harry perched on the stool and allowed her to drop the Sorting Hat on top his head. Unlike when he was a first year, the hat fit him comfortably instead of dropping down over his eyes.

/Well, well, well... Hello again, Mr Potter./

"Again? You've never Sorted me before," Harry muttered back. This time, he would not ask the hat for a specific house. He had promised Lily that he would allow the hat to put him wherever it desired.

A chuckling sound reverberated through his mind. /I haven't, but my counterpart did, and that is surely close enough. Hmm, let me see here... Yes, it is as I expected. Like most children, you fit the criteria for all of the houses, Mr Potter. It is simply a matter of which house will suit you best and fulfill your needs for the next two years. Your desire to prove yourself was what made me believe that you would be a worthy candidate for Slytherin, and I maintain that you would have done well there. But having seen your memories, and knowing what lies in your future, I can safely say that I made the best choice the first time around. You'll be in.../

"GRYFFINDOR!"

If Harry had thought the applause was loud before, it was nothing compared to what happened when the hat made its decision, as the Gryffindor table practically exploded. Sirius and James were whooping and even Lily and Remus were cheering loudly. Harry grinned at them as he handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall and walked towards the Gryffindor table. Hermione threw her arms around him in a quick embrace and the twins made a big show of shaking his hand. Lia kissed his cheek and Ron patted him on the back before he was able to sit down beside Ginny, who smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. He winked at her, relieved that he'd been put back where he belonged.

"Now that the Sorting is truly finished, I'd like to invite you all to tuck in," said the headmaster.

A veritable feast appeared on the tables as he spoke. Ron gave a yelp of joy and grabbed a slab of bread, which he shoved into his mouth as he began hastily filling his plate with food. Hermione rolled her eyes and scolded him for his lack of table manners as Lia giggled and poured pumpkin juice into everyone's goblets. As everyone around him began devouring the delicious meal that the House Elves had provided, Harry found himself fiddling with the yew wand again instead of eating.

"What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?" Ginny asked him.

"I was just thinking, that's all," said Harry, looking up at the ceiling. The sun hadn't completely gone down yet, which meant the sky was in that odd stage between dusk and night. Just visible through the pinks and oranges and yellows of the setting sun were the twinkling stars. "I really am sorry about your family, Gin."

Ginny sighed and set her fork down on her plate. While Harry had been off having fun with his family for the first time ever, she had been struggling with acquainting herself with hers. That had been more difficult than she had originally anticipated. It was the little things that got to her, like the way their family no longer had to worry about money, or how her mother didn't seem to be quite as concerned with keeping track of her children, or the very different job that her father had. She hadn't realized just how hard it would be. They were virtual strangers with familiar faces to her, and they, in turn, were bewildered with how "strange" that she had been acting. Having Ron there as a buffer had helped a little, but even her brother could only do so much.

"I know you are," she said gently. "But there's nothing you can do about it, so I wish that you would stop dwelling on it, Harry. You have enough to worry about."

Harry just shrugged and picked up his goblet of juice, effectively ending the conversation. The truth was, he desperately wished that there was something he could do for his girlfriend, but what? Erasing her memories of the old world wouldn't do anything about the memories that she was lacking from this world, and aside from that, Ginny would murder him on the spot if she ever found out he'd contemplated such an act. This was one of those annoying situations where there wasn't a good solution, and he didn't like it.

"See? Look there, Sirius is giving up his galleon," Lia said suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. She pointed towards the head table, where a pouting Sirius was reluctantly fishing a large golden coin out of his pocket. "He was so convinced that you'd be a Gryffindor that he bet Remus you'd only have less than ten seconds under the Sorting Hat."

"And how long was I under there?" Harry asked.

"About thirty seconds," Hermione said, dipping her spoon into her soup. She was smiling. "Professor Lupin knew that you would be a Gryffindor, too, but the Sorting Hat almost always takes longer than ten seconds. You'd think that after all this time, he would know better than to make bets against Professor Lupin."

"Sirius will never learn." Lia shook her head. "Hey Harry, did Professor Dumbledore figure out what's going to happen with your O.?"

"I'm going to re-do them at the end of the year with you guys instead of taking my sixth year exams," Harry answered. "He said he talked it over with Mum and Dad, and they decided that they wanted to make sure I had time to get adjusted and caught up on everything. I'm fine with that. It just means one less set of exams, and even though I never got my results, I'm pretty sure I did fairly well on them the first time around." He shrugged, trying to hide how nervous the thought of taking his O. a second time made him.

"So I guess this means you're stuck with Divination for another year?" Ginny said.

"Nope," he said, grinning broadly. "Mum helped me to figure out my schedule. She told me to look at it as though I had already taken and passed my O., so I'm not going to bother with it. I'm taking Transfigurations, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures. That will give me a good basis for anything I might want to do in the future."

Ginny's lips twitched. "You mean you don't want another year of being told you're going to die soon?"

"I know, what was I thinking?" Harry said, rolling his eyes. He'd never quite gotten over the fact that it was Trelawney who had made two prophecies that nearly ruined his life. "I don't even want to know who the Divination teacher is in this world. I've had more than enough of that subject to last me a lifetime."

As the meal continued, the small group chatted amongst themselves. Harry ate sparingly and finished the meal off with a large piece of treacle tart. Professor Dumbledore stood up once everyone was finished and gave the closing speech, warning students to stay away from the Forbidden Forest and giving another greeting to Professor Dawn Emerys, who was the replacement Arithmancy professor, before releasing the students. A tall, slender woman Harry didn't recognize emerged from the same door that he'd come through earlier and collected his younger brother and sister, who waved to him. He waved back as he stood up and made his way towards the head table.

"Harry, my boy! I knew you'd be a Gryffindor!" Sirius crowed, grabbing him in a headlock.

"Actually, he's my boy," James said, aiming a Stinging Hex at Sirius' arse. The man yelped and released Harry, who ducked away laughing. "Sorry, Padfoot. You'll have to create your own."

Professor McGonagall choked on the tea she was drinking. "James Potter, do not give him any ideas!"

"Don't worry, Minerva," Lily said, giving her husband a look. "If Sirius ever gets any woman pregnant, I'll be sure to give you the full nine months warning so you can move to the other side of the planet."

Sirius muttered something under his breath about paying Arabella to pretend that she was pregnant, but he was silenced by the strength of Lily's glare. Professor McGonagall, who seemed severely shaken by the idea of contending with a new generation of Potters and Blacks at the same time, stood up and allowed herself to be ushered away by the headmaster. If his twinkling eyes were any indication, Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to think that more Blacks would be a bad idea, but he had the good sense to remain quiet.

"Honestly, Sirius, you're going to give the poor woman a heart attack," Lily said once the two professors had left the hall.

"It's going to happen sooner or later. Reg and I have to pass on the Black name. She'd best get used to the idea," Sirius told her, smirking. "We'll have to have babies at the same time, Jamie-boy."

"Stop calling me that!"

As the two of them began to bicker, Remus rolled his eyes and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor, Harry," he said warmly.

"Thanks," Harry said, grinning as Lily finally interrupted the fight and began scolding Sirius and James.

"Honestly, you two. With the example that you set for the students, it's a wonder anything ever gets done," she said, hands on her hips. "I swear, I feel like I'm married to three children sometimes rather than just one."

"Hey!" James protested. "I'm not a child. Neither is Remus. It's this big kid here who causes all the trouble!"

"But you got the best of all three worlds, my dear," said Sirius, ignoring James and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Would you like to see who is best in bed, Lily-bear?"

Lily pretended to consider this as both Harry and James choked. "That is a tempting offer."

"Lily!" James whined.

"Alright, I'm officially weirded out," said Harry. "I'm going to the common room before Sirius scars me for life."

"You mean I haven't yet?" Sirius asked innocently. "Obviously we haven't been spending enough time together, pup. We'll have to remedy that. What do you say you ditch your homework tomorrow night and we sneak out to Hogsmeade?"

"Stop corrupting my son, Black," Lily ordered, coming over to give her son a warm hug. She kissed him on the forehead. "Say good-night to your sister for me, Harry. Have a good sleep."

"Good-night, Mum." He gave Remus and James a hug, and protested when Sirius – under the pretence of a hug – tried to catch him in another headlock. His Seeker reflexes served him well and he dodged under his laughing godfather and ran towards the Hall doors. "Nice try, old man!"

"Old!" Sirius squawked, looking genuinely offended. "Get back here, you little..."

Harry smirked and walked through the doors, leaving his family behind. He found Ginny leaning against the wall waiting for him and headed over to her. "You could have come in, you know."

"I know," she said. "But I was okay here. Ron convinced Lia to make a quick run to the kitchens for something to snack on, even though we all just had a massive dinner. Hermione went to go track down Draco and see if she could talk him into come back to the common room with her. So I thought I'd wait for you and we could walk back together."

"Thanks," he said, reaching for her hand and lacing their fingers together. The two of them walked down the corridor in silence, heading towards Gryffindor Tower. Harry knew that as soon as his Sorting was finished, house elf magic would have transported his trunk into the sixth year boy's dormitory, where an extra bed would have popped up. He was looking forward to sleeping in a familiar place. "Are you nervous about classes starting?"

Ginny shrugged. "Not really. At least I don't have to write my O. twice," she said impishly.

"Cute," Harry said, looking down at her. She grinned up at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief, and he stopped suddenly. Ginny looked back at him in confusion when their joined hands forced her to pause as well.

"What's up?" she asked.

He stepped forward, leaning over her, and lifted his free hand so that he could tangle his fingers into her hair. God he loved the fiery softness of Ginny's hair. "I love you, Ginny."

Her face softened, and she smiled lovingly. "I love you too, Harry."

Every time she said those words, it was like a little firecracker of joy went off inside of him. Harry leaned down a little more and kissed her, releasing her hand so that he could place an arm around her waist and pull her flush against him. Ginny responded to the kiss happily, wrapping her arms around his neck and levering herself up a bit. Eventually, they had to stop for lack of air, but Harry didn't move away. He rested his forehead against Ginny's and just stood there, gazing into her eyes, and realized that he had never been happier than he was right then. For once, fate had worked out in Harry Potter's favour, and he fully intended to enjoy every minute of it.

The End

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