Harry was lying on the grass by the lake, his hands folded behind his head, gazing up at the sky. Ginny was lying next to him doing the same.

"Your turn to pick one," she said.

"Okay, how about that puffy one all the way over there?" Harry said pointing at the sky over Hogsmeade.

"Let's see. Mmm… To me it looks sort of like a squashed pigmy puff. What about you?"

"To me, it looks sort of like Hagrid's head, except his beard is white and he's missing both ears and his head looks a little bit like a squashed pigmy puff."

Harry and Ginny both laughed.

"This is nice," said Ginny.

"Yup."

The past three days had been the best three days of Harry's entire life. For the first time since he was one year old, he didn't have to deal with the Dursleys, he didn't have to fear Voldemort, and he didn't have to think about homework and tests. All he had to do was enjoy being with the girl he loved, at his favorite place on earth – Hogwarts – at the nicest time of the year, early spring, when the weather was perfect. Not hot. Not cold. Just right. Everything was just right.

For three days, Harry and Ginny had followed the same routine. They would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Great Hall, and spend the rest of the days wandering around the Hogwarts grounds, enjoying the weather, and noticing the little things. The flowers starting to bloom. The leaves appearing on the trees. The sounds of birds returning to the Forbidden Forest. They would stop to chat with people they passed. But they would only chat briefly. Because mostly they spent their days…snogging. They snogged by the lake. They snogged behind Hagrid's hut. They snogged down by the greenhouse. They snogged down the third-floor corridor on the right. They snogged in the Room of Requirement. They snogged in empty classrooms. They snogged so much that their lips had started to get a little sore. Then they snogged some more.

When they weren't snogging, they played silly games like saying what they thought clouds looked like. Once, they borrowed Ron's Wizard Brickbreaker and played that for a while. They went on broom rides and had broom races. But mostly they would go back to snogging.

Hogwarts had turned from a school into more like a vacation resort. Most of the students were gone. They had escaped through the Room of Requirement the night of the great battle, and had not returned. But everyone who had been there the night of the great battle had remained. The parents and relatives, the members of the Order, the Weasleys. The experience they had all gone through together at Hogwarts had been so incredible, nobody wanted to leave. So they just hung out, relaxing, consoling each other, sharing stories of the amazing duels, telling each other tales about what each of them had seen that night. Recounting the spells and counter-spells that had been cast. As people who had been at different places in Hogwarts at different times fighting different Death Eaters shared their stories with one another, people slowly developed in their minds the full story of the great battle.

People constantly came up to Harry at meals to ask questions. He must have had to tell something like forty times the story of how he lay on the ground pretending to be dead, and how he let Voldemort bounce him up and down. Every time he answered a question, there was always another one for him. "When did you figure out that the Elder Wand was really yours? Remind me, what was the fourth Horcrux?"

Meanwhile Ron kept telling the story of his battle with Fenrir Greyback. People kept asking Hermione about her duel with Bellatrix Lestrange. And everyone kept saying to Neville: "Your parents would be so proud of you." His grandmother was always by his side with a look of pride in her eyes, but also with a little tear. Neville always answered: "Forget me, my gram is the real warrior."

The Kitchen Elves made every meal as lavish and delicious as a banquet, and people spent hours in the Great Hall, continuing to sit with each other at any table they wanted to, and drinking no small measure of fire whiskey. By the end of these very long meals, people were talking loudly, laughing constantly and doing a lot of singing also.

There had even been a couple of Quidditch matches. They weren't house against house. Anyone could play. In one match, Harry and Ginny played Seeker for opposite teams. For one hour, they forgot all about snogging and competed against each other so intensely one would have thought they were playing for the Quidditch world cup. But in the end, Harry took his eyes off the Golden Snitch for a split second to watch Ginny's beautiful red hair flying in the breeze as she flew by him on her broomstick, and that second was all it took for Ginny to swoop down, grab the snitch and win the match.

"Ha!" she shouted at him, as she flew past him and blew him a kiss. "We won!"

"No, you didn't," he laughed. "All you did was grab the Golden Snitch. I got to watch your beautiful red hair flying behind you in the breeze. I'm the real winner."

At that, Ginny flew closer to him and this time the kiss was real. So real that they both almost fell off their broomsticks. When they recovered, they quickly landed their broomsticks on the ground and snogged some more.

The next day brought everyone back to reality. Since so many people had died the night of the great battle, they had one funeral service out on the lawn for all of the fallen heroes. Student after student, professor after professor, relative after relative, came to the front to make a speech talking about their memories of different people who had died. When Harry went to the front, he had so many people to think about. He wasn't sure who to talk about or what to say. And then he knew. He remembered his third year. How it had started on the Hogwarts Express with his first encounter with the dementors. That cold horrible feeling. And how he had met Remus. Remus had spent that year feeding Harry chocolate, and teaching him to conjure a patronus, a skill that had saved Harry and others so many times since his third year. Harry knew what he was going to say.

"Remus Lupin was my best Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Maybe that's not saying much. After all, my first Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher had Voldemort in his head." Everyone laughed. "My second Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was a complete fraud. My fourth Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was really a Death Eater. My fifth Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was a sadistic torturer. And my sixth Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was pretty mean to me even though it turns out he was loyal to Dumbledore and was a hero in the war against Voldemort.

"But Remus Lupin wasn't just a great Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Remus Lupin loved me. He loved me like a father. I could feel his love. What makes me saddest is that Teddy will grow up without feeling that love. I'll miss you, Remus." And with tears streaming down his cheeks, Harry returned to his seat. Ginny squeezed his hand in hers.

When the funeral service was over, everyone headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Unlike the meals the previous three days, this meal was somber. People talked to each other quietly. Instead of talking about the great battle, they shared stories about the people who had died, and consoled each other. Every few minutes, someone would break down and cry.

After dessert was served, Professor McGonagall stood up at the front of the room. The room grew quiet.

"I have an announcement to make. We have all been through an incredible experience together. Together, we stood up against the greatest, the most powerful evil our world has ever known, and we were victorious. And we all lost our friends and loved ones. Life will never be the same for any of us. And, yet….

She paused.

"….life must go on. All the people in this room have lives. Some of them have jobs, family and friends to go home to. And some of them…"

She paused again.

"…have classes to go to." There was some friendly booing and hissing around the room.

"Yes, remember, children. This is a school. It's only March. There are three more months of classes before summer. Tonight will be the last night of Camp Hogwarts. Tomorrow morning, everyone who doesn't belong here will say goodbye to their loved ones and return to their homes. Tomorrow night, the Hogwarts Express will arrive bringing all the students back. And the next day, classes will resume.

"So, to our guests, let me say on behalf of all of the professors how much we've enjoyed having you stay with us. And to my students, let me say, 'Enjoy your last two days of vacation.' "

McGonagall smiled at everyone and returned to her seat.

"What are you guys going to do?" asked Ginny, looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron, stuffing his mouth with chicken and gravy and potatoes all at once.

Hermione turned to Ron. "I think all our snogging has addled your brain, Mr. Food Mouth. Don't you realize? We don't go to Hogwarts anymore. We dropped out last summer. We have to leave tomorrow morning."

And suddenly it dawned on all three of them. They had nothing to do. When they dropped out of Hogwarts last summer, it hadn't seemed like such a big deal. There were Horcruxes that needed to be found and destroyed. Dumbledore had left them with a mission. It was more important than anything at Hogwarts. It was more important than everything else. The fate of the world, not just the wizarding world but the Muggle world as well, had stood in their hands. But now that it was over, all of a sudden dropping out of Hogwarts did seem like a big deal. For as long as she could remember, school had been the most important thing to Hermione. And now she would never graduate. And without graduating from Hogwarts, Harry could never become an Auror. Ron wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do when he grew up, but he always had assumed he'd work at the Ministry of Magic like his dad. But without graduating from Hogwarts, he wouldn't be able to get a job at the Ministry. As all three of them thought about it, they felt a little lost. For almost a year, they had been as focused on their mission as anyone had ever been focused on anything. And now… Now they had no idea what they were supposed to do next.

Then Harry heard Ginny's voice in his head again, "What are you guys going to do?" and he turned back to look at her. She was looking at him, with a tear in one eye. And then it dawned on him. More important than graduating from Hogwarts, more important than being an Auror, more important than not knowing what he was going to do for the rest of his life, Harry realized what Ginny had been thinking about ever since McGonagall had made the announcement. Tomorrow morning, he was leaving Hogwarts. That meant leaving Ginny. He wouldn't be able to see her again until at least the summer. Now he wasn't just feeling lost. He was upset. He was angry. He couldn't say goodbye to Ginny tomorrow. He had never known this much happiness in his life. It couldn't be ending. Not this soon. Not after only four days.

The four of them were sitting by the lake. They had escaped from the crowd in the Great Hall to be alone. They had walked in silence, each one of them lost in their own thoughts, no one really leading the way but all of them heading together in the same direction to find a quiet place where they could think and talk.

As Harry sat by the lake, he thought about how he had lay there with Ginny the day before, laughing, snogging, looking at clouds with not a care in the world. He had imagined life would go on like that forever. And now, one day later, the world looked so different to him. Tomorrow he would have to leave Ginny, leave Hogwarts, and… And do what? He didn't know. All he knew was that the thought was unbearable. He thought about the end of sixth year. How he had had a few glorious weeks with Ginny before he had to break up with her to protect her. This time, it had been only four days. Why did life have to be like this for Harry? Nothing good ever lasted. Sirius. Lupin. Dumbledore. He had lost so many friends. He was finally safe and with Ginny. Why couldn't people just leave them alone and let them be together. Right then, it was all Harry really wanted.

Ginny broke the silence. "I'm dropping out of Hogwarts also. Wherever you go, Harry, I'm going with you."

Hermione turned to Harry, waiting for him to answer. Harry didn't say anything, but Hermione could see his look of misery turning into a look of relief. Hermione shook her head, rolled her eyes, and took a deep breath, as if to say,"Harry, if you're not going to do it, then I guess I'll have to do it for you."

"Ginny. You are not dropping out of Hogwarts!"

"Yes I am. You guys did at the end of your sixth year. I only have three months left in my sixth year."

"It's not the same thing. Harry dropped out to save the world from Voldemort, and to save his own life. We dropped out to help Harry."

Ginny started to speak. Then she stopped. She looked at Harry. He was sitting silently. She looked at Ron and Hermione. They were holding hands. She looked down at their hands. Quickly, Ron and Hermione let go of each other. Ginny had a tear in her eye. Her lips started to quiver. Quickly, she stood up and walked away from the group over to the lake so they wouldn't see her crying.

Harry started to get up, but Hermione held up her hand for him to wait, and Hermione got up and followed Ginny to the lake, where Ginny was sobbing quietly.

"Ginny, I know," said Hermione.

Ginny sobbed harder. "It's just not fair."

"I know. But Ginny, you know better than this. You do not drop out of school for a boy."

"First of all," said Ginny, "it's not A BOY. It's Harry. And second of all, it's not for him. It's for me. I waited for this for almost seven years. I finally have it. Being with Harry is what I want."

"Ginny, Harry will still be there when the school year is over. It's not that long. You'll be okay. You need to finish your education. Besides, you know your parents will never let you drop out of Hogwarts."

"I don't care what…"

Hermione interrupted. "Besides, Ginny, you know Harry will never let you drop out of Hogwarts to be with him."

Ginny looked at Harry, sitting with Ron on the grass, then back at Hermione.

"Harry wants to be with you more than anything, Ginny. This is killing him as much as its killing you. But you know Harry. He always tries to do the right thing. He's the heroic type. He just can't help it. And as much as the thought of leaving without you is killing him, he's going to tell you that you need to stay at Hogwarts and finish your education. You know he's going to do that. That's one of the reasons you love him so much."

Ginny knew Hermione was right. She looked back at Harry sitting on the grass and cried even harder. This time Harry got up. With tears in his eyes he walked over to Ginny, while Hermione headed back over to Ron. Hermione felt guilty getting to be with Ron, while Harry and Ginny only had one day left together.

Harry and Ginny just hugged each other. Harry didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Hermione had said it all for him, and Harry knew that Ginny understood.

After a few minutes, Ginny and Harry dried their tears on each other's robes, giggling a little, and then Ginny said, "So what are you guys going to do?" This was the same question she had asked a little while earlier in the Great Hall. Harry shrugged. He still didn't have the slightest idea.

All of a sudden, they all jumped as they heard a loud CRACK. Kreacher had appeared on the grass by the lake, and he came running over to them. "Professor McGonagall gave Kreacher an assignment. Kreacher must bring Harry, Ron and Hermione to the Headmistress's office immediately. Hurry, hurry!"

"I'm coming too," said Ginny.

"Kreacher was only told to bring Harry, Ron and Hermione," said Kreacher.

"I'm coming too," repeated Ginny. Kreacher shrugged, and the five of them started walking back to the castle.

Soon they were standing in front of the gargoyle. "Catnip," said Kreacher, and the gargoyle leapt aside revealing the circular staircase. They headed up, wondering what McGonagall wanted. When they entered the office, they saw McGonagall sitting behind her desk. Dumbledore was in his portrait behind her desk, and when he saw them, he waved and winked. They all waved back.

Then they realized that they weren't alone in the room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting on a sofa. Then, all of a sudden, Hermione screamed.

"Mum! Dad!" She ran across the room, where her parents were sitting on another sofa, smiling at her. She jumped on top of them and they turned into a jumble of hugs and kisses.

"How did you get here?"

"It was thanks to the efforts of the Headmistress's Elf," McGonagall answered for them.

"That's right," said Kreacher, nodding his head excitedly. "Professor McGonagall gave Kreacher the assignment to go to Australia and bring Hermione's parents back. Kreacher is good at finding people. Kreacher found them very quickly. Hermione's parents were working at an ice cream store. They didn't remember anything. Hermione did a very good memory charm on them. But Kreacher did a reverse memory charm, and they remembered everything."

"Sorry, mum and dad," said Hermione. "I needed to protect you…."

"We understand," said Hermione's mother. "Professor McGonagall has explained everything to us. Looks like the four of you are real heroes."

"How did you get here?" asked Hermione.

"Kreacher apparated us from Australia right into Professor McGonagall's office," said Mr. Granger.

Hermione started to speak. "But you can't…."

"I dropped the protective spells so they could apparate right to my office," interrupted McGonagall.

"We tried to bring you an ice cream cone from Australia," said Mrs. Granger, "but it turns out ice cream melts when it apparates."

Hermione sat between her parents on the couch. She was so happy to be with them again that for a minute she forgot she was leaving Hogwarts tomorrow for good. Harry, Ron, and Ginny hadn't forgotten, but first they needed to be polite.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," they all said together.

"Nice to see you kids," said Hermione's mother.

"Kreacher tells me you've been snogging my daughter," said Hermione's dad, standing up, glaring at Ron, and heading across the room toward him with clenched fists.

As Hermione looked on in horror, Ron started to mutter, "I… er.. I…," not knowing what to do. But then he saw that Mr. Granger was grinning. Mr. Granger walked over to Ron, threw his arms around him and gave him a solid hug.

"Just remember," said Mr. Granger to Ron, smiling. "She'll always be my baby girl. You hurt her, and I'll kill you."

"No, sir. I mean, yes, sir," said Ron, with a sigh of relief.

Finally, Harry couldn't wait any longer, and he turned to McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter."

"Did you call us here for any other reason?"

"Why no, Mr. Potter. You may leave now. I will arrange to have some Dormitory Elves bring your trunks to Gryffindor Tower later." McGonagall was indicating toward the far wall behind the sofa on which the Grangers were sitting.

"Our wha…?" all three of them started to say at the same time as they turned to look where McGonagall was pointing.

Lined against the far wall were Hermione's, Ron's and Harry's school trunks. They just stared at them, not knowing what to say.

"I sent Kreacher to pack your trunks and bring them here," said McGonagall.

The three of them just gaped. They were speechless.

"But surely you plan to stay at Hogwarts to finish your seventh year and graduate," said McGonagall with mock surprise.

"But…" "We thought…" "How can…?"

All three started talking at once.

"What are you all going on about?" McGonagall said again with mock surprise. "Surely, you didn't think that we would let three of the finest - although I admit somewhat unique – students who ever graced the halls of Hogwarts leave without graduating, did you?"

"But how can we graduate?" asked Ron. "We dropped out of school last summer. We haven't attended classes for most of the year. We haven't learned anything."

"You haven't?" asked McGonagall. "Rumor has it that you spent the year living in a tent hiding in the woods, that you broke into the Ministry of Magic under the noses of the Death Eaters, that you broke into one of the most protected vaults at Gringotts, that you discovered three Deathly Hallows, tracked down and destroyed five Horcruxes, and helped destroy Voldemort. Are you sure you haven't learned anything at all this year?"

"Well….", Ron hesitated.

"I've spoken to the Hogwarts Board of Governors about the three of you. We agreed that the experience you each gained this year was worth at least as much as time in the classroom. So we're giving you credit based on "life experience" which will count as if you attended classes all year. By my authority as Headmistress of Hogwarts, I am hereby reinstating you as seventh year students."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione could hardly believe what they were hearing.

"You mean…?" said Ron

"We get to stay?" said Harry.

"As you children are fond of putting it…yup," said McGonagall.

There was a sniffling sound as Ginny started crying again.

"It's not going to be a picnic," said McGonagall. "You're going to need to start studying hard and fast, if you want to take N.E.W.T.s in June. That only leaves you with three months to learn a year's worth of material."

"But what about all our life experience?" asked Ron.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but unfortunately we don't offer a N.E.W.T. on Horcrux destruction. Just your basic subjects."

Hermione wasn't worried about the studying. As for Harry and Ron, they would worry about all that studying later. They were back at Hogwarts. That's all that mattered to them. Life was good. Harry looked at Ginny, then at Ron. Ron gave Harry his, "If you must" look.

"Thanks, professor," said Harry, grinning at McGonagall. And without a word, Harry and Ginny walked out of McGonagall's office, holding hands, as Dumbledore watched them leave with a smile on his face.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far.