Harry apparated in the alley next to Mrs. Figg's house. He considered stopping in to say hello, but he was on a mission and honestly was not feeling social today. He knew there was more to this woman than just her cats, but he still worried about encountering most people he was not very close with. The Daily Prophet exploded with article about him the two times he made public appearances, and although he was sure Mrs. Figg was not going to call in the press, he worried about the reception he might receive around other people. He quickly altered his hair color with a simple charm and put on sunglasses to hide his eyes before heading down the street.

Overall, the neighborhood appeared to be its usual boring self. All the houses, except one, looked exactly the same with well-maintained gardens and expensive, but not flashy cars in the driveway. He stopped before the one house that was different. The door hung on its hinges. The garden was overgrown with weeds and the once obsessed-over lawn was far too long. He stepped inside and realized that most of the damage was hidden. Pictures were smashed. Furniture was broken and turned over. There were holes in the walls and ceiling and scorch marks everywhere. Apparently whoever had attempted to find clues on his or his relatives' whereabouts had been greatly displeased at find the house empty.

Harry went to the cupboard, which was pried open, and found his trunk. He had been searched through, but nothing was obviously taken. After all, what would a Death Eater want with a bunch of textbooks? He repacked the trunk and dragged it upstairs to his old room. There he found a bunch of cards, letters, and newspaper clippings under his floorboard. He took a moment and flipped through them. The ones on top focused around Dumbledore's death. Beneath them were all the birthday cards he'd received since he was thirteen. At some point, he wanted to reread all of them, but not today. He placed them in his trunk and added a few pieces of clothes to the load. He'd taken a few things with him during his year on the run, but he needed more, and although he should go shopping and stop wearing Dudley's old hand-me-downs, he was putting that off for now.

With his trunk packed, Harry turned to the rest of the house. He quickly repaired the broken furniture and pictures and sent them to their proper places. That was easy as a wizard. He also fixed the holes and banished the scorch marks in about ten minutes. But he was determined not to do all of this by magic. Once all the major damage was done, he found the broom and began sweeping the floors. This old cleaning routine, hammered into him from a young age quickly took over and he was able to lose himself in the work. He swept the kitchen, entrance way, and then the bathrooms. Next, he mopped those floors. While they dried, he vacuumed the rest of the house and took to scrubbing all hard surfaces, dusting wooden furniture, and cleaning mirrors. It felt good to do something so simple. Once the inside was acceptably clean, he went to the garage and set to work making the house as painfully boring as the other houses. The door was simple to fix with just a few new screws and grease.

As he weeded though, the neighbors, always nosy, noticed the activity in the recently vacant house. Mrs. Plum hesitantly stepped outside and crossed the street to stand on the sidewalk near the garden. She was nervous as she approached him. No doubt they all still suspected he was a delinquent and potentially dangerous. It was actually a nice reaction as opposed to the one he got from any magical folk. He sat back on his heels and greeted her warmly.

"Uhm, uh, hello," she began. "Harry, is it?" He nodded simply and waited for her to continue. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was just curious. Are Vernon and Petunia returning finally from Manchester? I know they intended to rent the house while Vernon was serving at the office there this year, but I guess no one wanted it after those hooligans wrecked the place. Such a shame. They always had such a nice house. Anyhow, are they returning soon?" She was a chatty woman by nature and her nervousness only made her talk faster. Harry smiled at her innocent perception of why the Dursleys had left. The Dursleys had been careful to spread a false story at Harry's suggestion.

"I believe so, but I don't know a date. We don't talk a lot. But I wanted to stop by and get the place ready for when they do return," he explained. The woman nodded in understanding and with a hasty good-bye retreated to her side of the street. Yes, it was nice to not be someone special.

XXX

Harry managed to get back just as Andromeda and Teddy were leaving. He said goodbye and hopped in the shower. He was sun burnt and sore from the chores, but it felt good. With the cold water, he felt a tiny piece of his worries wash away. He quickly dressed, shook out his hair, and hopped in the fireplace. A moment later, he was standing in the kitchen of the Burrow.

For once, the house was not bustling with activity. Tonight, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going out together and the remaining children were staying home. When he arrived, Ron and Hermione were standing close to the stove, flirting sweetly over the boiling pasta. Ginny was chopping vegetables at the far end of the table while Percy and Charlie conversed quietly on either side of her. As the flare of the fire and the thud of his trainers on the stone, everyone turned to look at him. Ron quickly crossed over to him, and embraced him strongly.

"Good to see you Mate," he said in the soft tone everyone was using these days. Harry responded appropriately and let go to accept a hug from Hermione.

"Come on in. Dinner should be ready soon," Hermione welcomed him with more bounce and cheer than Ron. While Hermione might have sacrificed the most with her family while they were on the run, her struggle was closer to being over. Her parents were all right, and that lessened everything significantly for her. As she turned back to the stove, her arm snaked around Ron's waist and pulled him with her. Harry loved seeing his friends together. Through all of this, they were a bright spot and their happiness was wonderful to see.

Harry then turned to the rest of the group. Charlie indicated for him to take a seat next to him, and Percy said hello with his eyes glued to the table. After his part in the smear campaign against Harry, he was still nervous around him even though Harry held nothing against him. His attention then turned to Ginny, though to be honest with himself, he focused on her the minute he entered the house. A decision had to be made soon. While he was still crazy about her, and he suspected she was still interested, he worried his new celebrity status would scare her away. This new life might be too much for her. And maybe, just maybe, she was realizing he was less than ideal for her. She was so amazing and despite what everyone thought, he was so average.

"Hi Ginny." It was not the most impressive of openings, but she still looked up and smiled at him anyways.

"Hey Harry. How are you?" That question carried a lot of weight with it these days for everyone.

"Good. I got a lot done today. I went back to Privet Drive." Everyone looked at him as if he'd suddenly burst into song.

"That is your uncle and aunt's house?" Percy clarified timidly.

"Why would you ever do that?" Ron burst out, which actually made Harry laugh a bit. He explained that his need to retrieve his stuff and his plan to try to connect to his mother's family. Ron, naturally, thought he was mental, and Harry had to agree it did sound a little crazy. However, Hermione was on his side.

"I think that's a wonderful plan, Harry. With all the hate in the world, it's good to know some peace is being made." Charlie also agreed. The conversation was cut short as water began to boil out of the pan. Charlie, Percy, and Harry made light conversation about the new plans Kingsley was proposing for the Ministry as Ron and Hermione dished out spaghetti and Ginny finished the salad. They'd all sat down and started eating when Ron suddenly became very excited.

"Oye, Harry! I forgot to ask, but did you get a job offer from the Ministry yesterday?"

"Yeah, to be an auror. I take it you did too?" Ron excitedly nodded and ran upstairs to get the letter. From the looks of surprise from his brothers and sister, Ron had kept this a secret from them until he had time to confer with Harry.

"I got one too," Hermione said simply. Harry looked over at Ginny.

"What about you? You were just as involved in the fighting as we were." She lowered her head and pushed a meatball around on her plate.

"No I wasn't. I stayed behind for half of it. But it's fine. I... I do want to go back and maybe have a regular year. I haven't played Quidditch in awhile." Harry was relieved that she did sound genuinely enthusiastic about being able to go back.

"Here it is! Look, look!" Ron cried as he returned back downstairs with the letter. Charlie wiped his mouth and took it from his youngest brother as Percy got up to look over his shoulder.

"Congratulations Ron! You truly deserve this!" Percy praised him.

"Definitely a first for the family. Mum's never been able to brag that one son made auror without taking his N.E.W.T.s," Charlie added. Ron's ears flushed a deep crimson and Harry thought back to their first year and Ron's reflection in the Mirror of Erised. He always felt overshadowed by his older brothers, but he'd finally found a way to stand out. Harry smiled with him.

"To the future," Hermione suddenly toasted, holding up her bottle of butterbeer. The others raised theirs as well, repeating her words and drank deeply. The future was here and though the past still lingered heavily upon them, life was definitely beginning to be a little brighter.

"I have an idea," Harry announced a little while later once they'd returned to eating. "Let's have a Quidditch match tonight. Ginny's right; it's been too long since we've had some real fun!" Ginny immediately agreed, but Hermione refused. She was wearing a dress and dresses and brooms make for a very tragic combination. Ron also declined, electing to stay behind with Hermione. Percy was never very apt on a broom and Charlie said he had to be getting back to his dragons soon. It was then agreed that Harry and Ginny would still play a little one-on-one.

Dinner finished and Ron and Hermione began cleaning the kitchen. Charlie said his good-byes and Ginny ran upstairs to grab a jacket before they played. Ron took his sister's absence to have a talk with his best friend.

"You know Ginny's still in love with you, right?" Harry nodded awkwardly as he began unnecessarily tying his shoes. This wasn't something he really wanted to talk about with Ron. "Well you need to decide what you want to do about this. I'm cool with you seeing my sister, but I don't want you dragging her along. I think she assumed once the war was over and things calmed down a bit, you two would be back together and nothing's happened yet."

"I know that Ron! But it's not over yet for me. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately," he snapped at him. Ron realized his error and sighed as he sat down next to Harry.

"I know Mate. We all have. I just mean... you know with everything we've been through... I mean, we're safe now. And no one's over what happened, but we're safe and life has to go on. It's really helped me having Hermione around and I know you have Teddy to look after and we're always here for you, but maybe Ginny, if you're still willing, would be that little extra something you need."

"Thank you Ron," Harry said as he pulled his best friend into a hug. His support and concern meant the world to him. He broke apart as Ginny came back down the two left the kitchen and went to the shed in the yard. Although Harry could have easily gone back for his Firebolt, he wanted it to be a fair game for now and took one of their old, rickety brooms. Ginny grabbed the Quaffle and then started towards the Quidditch pitch over the hill.

Harry now had a choice to make. He could say something or not. Or he could grab her hand. He didn't know why, but that felt like the boldest thing he could possibly do in this moment. Her hand was right there. Tempting him. Go for it. He went for it. His fingers entwined around hers and he pulled her just a little bit closer. Ginny looked down at their hands and then up at him.

"Are you sure about this?" is all she asked.

"Definitely. I want nothing more." She dropped the Quidditch stuff and pulled him against her. In that one kiss, a year's worth of frustration, fear, loneliness, and sorrow was unleashed. They never made it to the pitch as they sank into the tall grass and just silently held each other close.