DISCLAIMER: As the author of this fan fiction story I do not, in any way, profit from the story or claim any rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe. All creative rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe belong to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for letting me play in this amazing world.

CHAPTER FIVE

After they had spent a while chatting about anything but the previous year, Ron had gone back up to be with his family, and stop his mum from fretting about them. Hermione was currently lounging in the hot bath with her head propped up on a towel, eyes closed, as she soaked in the relieving heat of the water. Harry was going through the beaded bag for something to do as he lounged in the big bed, currently leafing through Hermione's copy of Beadle the Bard, keeping a watchful eye on his girlfriend.

He passed the page that showed the symbol of the Deathly Hallows and thought of Dumbledore, whose actions as a young man had led to so much regret in his long life over a want for eternal life. Harry hoped Dumbledore would live peacefully in the afterlife knowing that the Elder Wand was gone for good, and one person could no longer possess the three Hallows. For a moment after Voldemort was killed, Harry considered keeping the Elder Wand, knowing it could be instrumental in helping the Wizarding world repair itself from this long war. But as quickly as that idea came to him, it was replaced with the knowledge that it could do more harm than good if it fell into the wrong hands again. It could cause another war. He had thought to himself, the Elder Wand shouldn't exist in their world. In his hands, the wand had begun to vibrate and get hot. It suddenly turned into dust in his hand and fell to the floor. He stared at the pile on the floor for a moment, not knowing what had happened, and quickly reached into his back pocket where his "borrowed" wand was tucked under his shirt; he hoped no one had seen. Suddenly the room had erupted around him and they were once again battling against the remaining Death Eaters, the dust of the Elder Wand trampled beneath the feet of the battle. He would have to talk to Hermione about what had happened to the wand, once they were all thinking properly again, he knew she would be able to figure it out. Either way, he was relieved no one would be able to possess the wand again.

Harry snapped out of his musings over the Elder Wand when he heard a sigh break the quiet air. He looked over to Hermione and saw her head tipped to the side and her eyes closed. He smiled, knowing she had fallen asleep in the bathtub, but decided she was safe where she lay. There was a large dinner planned for the evening in celebration of the battle, so they would eventually have to come out of their room.

Suddenly, Harry heard a quiet knock on the door and slowly walked over to open it and see Ron and Ginny standing on the other side. Harry put a finger to his smiling lips to indicate they should be quiet, looking back to make sure Hermione was covered in bubbles before he let them in. She wouldn't appreciate it if Harry let Ron see her starkers, even by accident. Ginny walked through the door after Ron, wrapping her arms around Harry's neck and hugging him in a sisterly manner.

"I've missed you, big brother," she mumbled from where her face was pressed to Harry's shoulder, "I…I thought you were…I thought you were dead…If we had lost you…"

Harry squeezed his arms tighter around her, feeling his eyes tear up at her distress, knowing that the reality of the past year and the Battle was starting to catch up with them. The morning had been such a haze to everyone; no one had wanted to remember they had just fought a battle, and seen so much death and gore. "I missed you too, Gin. I'm sorry…But everything worked out, we're all here still."

Ginny pulled herself away from him and gave him a teary smile and nod, wiping her tears off her cheeks with her sleeve.

"We came down here to let you two know that they're serving the feast in the Grand Hall in a bit. Mum wanted to come get you both, but we figured you wanted a few more minutes of peace before being smothered," Ginny half-joked with him, knowing her mum wouldn't leave Harry alone when she saw him again. "We've been holding her back ever since everyone woke up, I hope you both appreciate it. She was really worried about Hermione, is she alright? I know you guys have probably gone through a lot, Ron won't talk about it, but was she right to be worried?" Ginny pierced him with a searching look, as if hoping his face would tell her what had happened that past year.

Harry didn't know what to say to Ginny. He couldn't tell her, but didn't want to deny it, so just shrugged his shoulders. Ginny seemed to understand because she didn't say any more about it, and just looked over at Hermione with a worried face.

"I should probably wake her up if we're going to make it to dinner. Ginny, would you mind searching through that beaded bag on the bed for a pair of her clothes? There must be something clean in there." Ginny walked over sit on the bed and rifled through the bag, smiling when she saw her arm disappear into its depths.

Harry walked over to the still-sleeping Hermione after he had grabbed a fresh towel and knelt beside her at the edge of the tub. He wished he could let her sleep more, but knew she didn't want to miss the feast tonight. Like Harry, she had always seen Hogwarts as a home, and they had both missed it over the past year. Harry placed his hand on the side of her face.

"Hermione…come on, it's time to wake up now…You're turning into a raisin…If you don't get up soon all the pudding will gone." He knew how much she loved the Hogwart's pudding. Hermione yawned as she woke up, smiling up at Harry.

"Am I still in the tub?" She asked him, disoriented from her nap.

"Yup, now let me help you out and we can get ready for dinner. Ginny and Ron are here waiting for us." Hermione looked around as he said this, seeing Ginny wave from the bed and Ron staring at the far wall, seemingly waiting for her to get out of the bath. She nodded at Harry and stood up stiffly, letting him wrap the warm towel around her and help her out of the bath. Harry put his arm around her waist and helped her to sit on the edge of the bed, grabbing the dittany from the pile of items Ginny had taken out of the bed in her search for clothes. Hermione's back was facing Harry and Ginny, and Harry took this chance to shake his head at Ginny, trying to tell her not to react. Ginny looked confused at Harry, but understood as he pulled down the back of the towel and exposed Hermione's marred back. She watched as he once again dripped the dittany on the wound and it only slightly healed a bit more. Harry saw Ginny knit her eyebrows together, confused that it hadn't worked. Harry quickly knelt in front of Hermione and dabbed more of the healing potion on the back of her legs, as well as the word carved into her arm. It was a little further healed, but still raw and scabbed. Hermione was unaware of Ginny's horrified stare at her arm from behind her back, still feeling half-asleep and dazed.

Harry walked to the side of the bed to grab the pile of clothes that Ginny had pulled out, and Hermione seemed to wake up fully at that moment realize that both Ginny and Ron were in the room as Harry was about to help her put her clothes on. Although it was a routine that she and Harry were used to, she was embarrassed to have Ginny know that she and Harry were this comfortable together.

"Umm, Harry, I can take care of that, Ginny will help me if I need it. Really, it's okay…" She smiled at Harry, who looked confused at her for a moment, then nodded his head. After he had walked away to go talk to Ron, she slowly started to put her clothes on, wincing as her body protested the motion, a combination of the strain from the battle and her ongoing pain from the cruciatus. Ginny suddenly appeared in front of her and smiled as she helped Hermione pull on the rest of her clothes. After she was done, Hermione stood and clasped her friend in a tight hug, having missed her closest girlfriend and sister over the year. She felt tears fall from her eyes and onto Ginny's shoulder, and felt her friend reacting the same way. She pulled away from Ginny after a few long moments, and grabbed Ginny's hands in her own, giving her a watery smile. Ginny gave her a cheeky smile and looked obviously over to Harry, who was on the other side of the room chatting with Ron, and looked back at her wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Hermione just laughed and shrugged her shoulders, feeling her cheeks go red.

"I knew it!" Ginny mouthed to her, giggling. "well, we should probably get to dinner now, or mum will really come looking for us!" She grabbed Hermione's hand, and started to lead her to the door. "Come on boys, let's go get some dinner, I'm famished!"

Harry and Ron followed the girls to the door, smiling at Ginny's exuberance over having Hermione back and dinnertime. Harry felt conflicted over leaving this room, which had been his and Hermione's safe haven in the short 12 hours that had passed since the battle. He had made himself forget about the deaths he had witnessed, the partially destroyed castle, the friends and professors to unite with. He would need to face it all now, as the Boy Who Lived once again. He wasn't ready, but how could anyone be prepared for this, really? He walked through the door and set his shoulders, prepared to deal with whatever would greet him.

Hi everyone, this is a short chapter but I thought it would be a good lead-in to what is going to happen next in the story. I won't give the details away, but Harry and Hermione will have to deal with the castle cleanup, St. Mungo's, the death of two friends, and eventually Australia. Thanks to everyone who has been following this story so far, I have big plans!