The three of them headed to the seventh floor, the place where it all started, where Harry had discovered that he was designated for greatness. The seventh floor corridor was deserted, it seem like every body in the castle was either in their common rooms or in the great hall, celebrating or mourning. They walked silently towards the fat lady, who was asleep, but she didn’t seem upset when they woke her up asking her to open the door, she smiled at the three former kids, now adults, and without asking for the password, let them in.

Harry walked through the portrait hole slowly with Ron and Hermione in front of him; suddenly they sped up and before Harry realized, they were disappearing up the staircase.

It took Harry two more minutes to realize there was somebody else in the room. When he saw her, his world stopped. A gorgeous red headed, brown eyed girl was smiling at him, she was standing in the same spot she had when they had shared their first kiss. He remembered that glorious day, when besides winning the quidditch cup as captain, even if he hadn’t actually played, he had finally been able to accept that he was crazy for that girl.

“Harry� Ginny said. While he walked silently and slowly towards her, not stopping until he could touch her nose with his.

“Ginny� he said softly in her ear. “I’m…� but he couldn’t end his phrase, because Ginny’s finger lay across his lips, shushing him.

“Not now, Harry, not now�.

Harry moved her finger away and leaned in to kiss her, it was the most passionate kiss either of them had ever had, even better than the one they shared on his birthday. It spoke of how much they had missed each other, of the unspoken love they had for the other and of the previously banned hopes of a future together.

Harry ran his fingers through the hair he loved, and slowly, very slowly he moved his hands down her back until they reached her waist. Ginny played with his hair making it look more messed up than ever, moving her hands towards his neck, where her fingers taunted him in a very sensitive spot she had discovered last year, her hands drifted from his neck to his chest, staying there.

They end up in one of the common room’s armchairs kissing each other. Ginny was laying on her back with Harry resting on top of her, doing his best not to smother her with his weight. Harry’s hands had somehow found their way under her shirt, and he was caressing her back and stomach. While his had mysteriously disappeared revealing what a year of hiding and having next to no food had done to his body. Oddly, he had toned up quite a bit, but he was thinner. Ginny explored his chest, stroking each and every bruise or cut, hurting inside at the thought of how he had gotten them.

When they finally broke apart and caught their breath, Ginny said:

“That could fill up all the time I hadn’t been able to touch those lips� while pointing to Harry’s mouth.

“Could?� Harry asked

“Yeah, could, or did you think I hadn’t missed you and your lips?� Ginny replied smiling.

“No way, I wouldn’t have thought that during the past year, nor in a hundred more.� Harry said grinning.

“So…� Ginny whispered.

“I was only asking because I might need another ten thousand kisses like that to fill up for the past year� Harry said grinning while Ginny giggled.

A long silence followed that little laugh, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, it was the kind of silence you enjoy when you are hugging someone and you don’t know what to say.

During that pleasant silence, both of them were thinking about the same thing, they both knew they had lots of things to say to each other about all that had happened in the previous year. Harry though about the horrors he and his best friends had faced, but then he remember that school had been run by the Carrows and that Ginny as well as Neville, Luna and many others had suffered for him while he was hiding. Suddenly he felt Ginny’s eyes on him and realised that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Ginny,� Harry said breaking the silence, “I’m sorry…� Ginny looked back at him but said nothing. “About everything,� he finished.

“Me too,� she replied.

In that moment Harry realised that behind that happy smile, that behind that happiness of being together once more, both of them hid the same mixture of feelings: sadness, desperation, need and many other sensations that were slowly coming to terms with. But they still had something that, for now, wasn’t gone, each other. Harry remembered Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin, Mad-Eye, Hedwig, Dumbledore, Sirius, Cedric, his parents and so many others that had died for him, that had died fighting for a better place to live. He knew he would show them that their sacrifice hadn’t been worthless; he would help take care of Teddy, he would show the world a little love and laugh; he wouldn’t let their names be forgotten.

Ginny might have known what Harry was thinking because her eyes were full of tears. He cleaned them and kissed her on the forehead, Ginny looked back at him and decided it was time for her to get some rest. Slowly she got up with Harry behind her and started to move away. Harry, who still had her hand in his pulled her toward him and said softly in her ear, “What happened to my good night kiss?�

Ginny giggled and kissed him softly on the lips before vanishing through the staircase.

Leaving Harry alone drowning in his thoughts of guiltiness, of despair; thoughts that made him feel like the worst person alive, yet he knew that all of those who had died during that last great battle against Voldemort did it because they believed in him, they believed he would be able to restore peace in the wizarding world, they believed he will be able to defeat dark magic because they believed he was destined for greatness. They knew he was the chosen one, but above all of those reasons they had fought because they loved Harry and he loved them back. The only thing that made Harry feel better was to think about the fact that he knew he would have died again in order to stop the war.

---------------------------------

Ron and Hermione were holding hands, entering the Gryffindor common room with Harry shortly behind them, when they saw Ginny, who with just an expression, informed Hermione of her plans.

“Let’s keep moving,� Hermione said in a soft voice so that only Ron could hear her.

“But…� Ron said trying to object, but Hermione pushed him forward and started running while pushing Ron to the staircase.

“It’ll be better if we leave those two alone,� Hermione said before opening the boy’s dormitory door to see if anyone was already in there.
“It’s empty,� Ron said. He had entered before Hermione so that if the door closed suddenly, no one would panic.

“And why did you want to know if it was empty, Mister ‘I won’t leave my little sister with my best friend’?� Hermione questioned Ron, putting her hands on her hips.

“Well, since you brought it up, Ginny is my baby sister, but we need a little ‘Harry-free’ time, don’t you think?� Ron commented, desperately hoping that Hermione wouldn’t get mad.

“And for what do we need a ‘Harry-free’ time?� Hermione asked.

“For being alone, maybe,� Ron slipped wishing he hadn’t.

“For what do we need to be alone?� she asked with a more interested tone and a knowing smile playing in her lips.

“I don’t know, to talk?� he replied.

“About what?� she asked suspiciously.

“About us, about our future� Ron answered.

“Us? Future? So you think there will be an ‘us’ in the future?� She demanded, trying to hide her smile.

“Yes I do. But I thought you kinda’ cleared that up when you kissed me,� Ron responded.

“Oh, that. I was only reacting, but I have wanted to kiss you for a while,� Hermione said.

“And would you like more?�

“Why do you even ask?�

But Ron wasn’t able to answer her last question because in that moment Hermione surrounded him with her arms and started kissing him while Ron kissed her back. When they broke apart, Ron saw Hermione in a different way. For him, she was a woman now. He touched her cheek and she closed her eyes.

“That felt good,� Hermione said without opening her eyes.

“Really good,� Ron finished while taking her hand in his.

He lead her onto one of the empty four-posters, where he sat bend over the pillows, while Hermione leaned backwards, putting her head on Ron’s chest and quickly, they both fell sleep.

After a few more moments thinking, Harry realised it was almost four in the morning and that he was falling asleep. He walked slowly up the staircase, his legs practically dragging behind him, and entered his former dorm. He headed to his bed, which looked just as he remembered it. It hadn’t been used during the past year.

He sat on it, and his gaze stopped suddenly on Ron’s bed where his two best friends were sleeping in each other’s arms. He didn’t wake them, but got up, walked towards the bed and closed the curtains around it so that no one else would notice them.

After a minute, Neville, Seamus, and Dean appeared in the room and started telling Harry what had happened earlier in the day. He found out that everybody except Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and himself had been celebrating in the Great Hall.

“It wasn’t until McGonagall started talking and asked you, Ron and Hermione to come forward that we realised you weren’t there,� Neville commented.

“It sounds like you missed us a lot,� Harry replied sarcastically.

“Actually, everybody cheered for you, Harry, with some for Ron, Hermione, and for the deceased... and even for Neville,� Dean added.

“Well, I don’t need that again, you know,� said Harry.

“But it’s cool,� Dean added.

“Not for me,� Harry responded. “And what did McGonagall say?�

“Well, it’s kind of complicated, but in the morning we are going to honour the fallen,� Neville explained.

So, without another word, the four of them got into their beds and fell asleep. Harry, who had been waiting a year to sleep without a wand next to him, slowly drifted, remembering that last kiss with Ginny. But his sweet dreams didn’t last long, he had flash-backs from the battle, combined with pictures of the bodies of the dead and the sensation of Ginny in his arms.

***

Harry appeared in the Great Hall at one o’clock, after a brief talk regarding Snape with Professor McGonagall and Kinsgley, who had been named as the new Minister for Magic. Ginny, Ron and Hermione had waited for him in the Common Room, and when he came back, they made their way towards the Great Hall together.

As they approached the Gryffindor table, everybody got up and started clapping and congratulating them. Ginny tried to run to where her mother was, but before she could start walking away Harry, pulled her closer and whispered, “Please, I need you here with me.� After that, Ginny didn’t attempt to run away again.

The four of them walked towards the Weasleys, and sat next to them. Harry caught the look Mrs. Weasley was giving her only daughter, and realised that he was holding her tightly by the waist. He loosened his grip and felt Ginny relax. They ate in silence, and Harry, who hadn’t had such a meal in a while, felt as if it was the best meal he had ever had. When they finished eating, Harry could feel five pairs of eyes staring at him; it felt like the Weasley men minus Ron were trying to enter his brain and read his intentions with Ginny, because surely all of them had mixed reactions and even more mixed feelings towards him after he left.

At the exact moment Harry felt like he couldn’t stand their stares anymore, Professor McGonagall stood up and spoke, “Now if everyone is settled, we can go out to the school grounds and honour the fallen. If you will all follow me, we may start.�

McGonagall’s words reached everyone, a melancholic silence invaded the Great Hall. They all stood up and slowly, like a funerary procession, and walked out of the castle.

When they arrived in the grounds, they found a huge statue which looked like an obelisk. The obelisk had a shining star on the top and a plaque on the bottom. It stood a few yards from Dumbledore’s white tomb.

“Now I need everyone to take out your wands, point them at the statue and think of a word, just one word that may explain the reason we are all here now. The reason for trying to defeat Voldemort and the reason each of you had for fighting�.

Everybody lifted their wands and did as McGonagall asked. Harry knew the exact word to choose: “Love�. The reason his parents had died trying to save him, the reason Sirius had fought Bellatrix on the day he died, the reason Dumbledore had died in the Astronomy tower, the reason Harry had walked towards the Forbidden Forest last night. That one syllable word said it all.

Too busy with his thoughts, Harry didn’t hear the spell McGonagall used, but he did see how hundreds of strips of light came out of everyone’s wands. The lights rushed towards the statue and engraved the word each person had thought.

“Now, my friends, I shall name all of the fallen in battle; and I want after every name I say for all the ones that loved or cared about that person step forward. Then, for only one of them to engrave the name of that fallen and what they meant to all of us,� Professor McGonagall informed them.

She started calling out familiar names to Harry, familiar because most of them were people Harry had heard about but never met. Harry lost count of how many people were named, even though he stepped forward every time.

“Colin Creevey,� Professor Sprout called, and Harry felt pain.

All sixth years, professors, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Dennis (who had arrived as soon as he found out about his brother), and a man who looked like Mr. Creevey stepped forward.

It was Dennis who walked to the statue and wrote:

Colin Creevey
Brother, Son and Friend

More names were called, until Harry recognised another one: “Remus Lupin.�

Almost every student taught by him, every professor, and every Order member stepped forward. As well as the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry. Basically everyone who knew him well, but nobody attempted to walk near the plaques. Harry took a deep breath and slowly stepped towards that magnificent statue. He took out his wand, and in the best handwriting he could manage, wrote:

Remus “Moony� Lupin
Father, Husband, Professor, Marauder, and Friend

As he finished engraving those few words, Harry realised he was crying. By losing Lupin, he had lost the last father-like figure he‘d ever had, the last link he had to his parents and he wouldn’t be the only one suffering. Teddy, his godson, would have to live like him; without a father, without a mother. But Teddy’s case was different - he would be raised by Tonks’ mother, and he would have a father-like figure; Harry would make sure of it. In that moment, without even noticing, he promised himself that he would help raise Teddy. He would be there for him, as Sirius would have been there for Harry if he hadn’t gone to Azkaban.

Harry felt Ginny taking his hand, and looked down. He hadn’t moved from next to the statue, so the others couldn’t go on.

“Come on, Harry. Let’s go back to our places,� she whispered. He obeyed her and walked back.

As if nothing had happened, Professor McGonagall continued, “Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin.�

Harry was surprised to see so many people step forward, but only one in particular caught his eye: Andromeda Tonks - Tonks’ mother, a lady Harry had meet about a year ago, and who now, Harry realised looked nothing like her dead sister, she was the picture of a broken woman, she had lost everything to the war, her husband, her daughter and her son in law. She stepped forward, looked for someone in the crowd, and walked straight to Harry.

Without saying anything, Harry took the little boy nested in her arms. Andromeda smiled softly and turned around to walk towards the plaques. She then took out her wand and wrote:

“Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin�
Daughter, Mother, Wife, and Friend

When she walked back, she didn’t ask Harry to give her Teddy. She just looked at both of them and smiled at the silent conversation godfather and godson seemed to be having. As always Harry stepped forward at each name, even when Snape was called, it seemed like McGonagall and Kinsley had decided that he should be mentioned. Besides Harry, just the ones who knew about his true story stepped forward. McGonagall walked towards the plaque and simply wrote:

“Severus Snape�
Professor, friend and faithful spy

A few more names passed but this time Harry wasn’t paying as much attention as before, he only had eyes and ears for Teddy, until the last name was pronounced: “Fred Weasley� Professor McGonagall finished. Harry stepped forward, looked up and realise that almost everyone had stepped forward; but the only faces Harry could distinguish were the Weasleys, Hermione and Lee Jordan, who were standing right next to him. George with his eyes totally red walked towards the statue, took out two wands and with the one from his twin he engraved:

“Fred Weasley (Forge)�
Brother, Son, Joker and Friend.

George slowly, walked back to where his family stood crying in silence, as McGonagall declared the ceremony finished and everyone started walking back to the castle.

Harry felt like an intruder in the Weasleys grief so he held Teddy more tightly and walked back to the castle, the place he had once called “Home� that was now destroyed and full of terrible memories for him and for others.

He walked silently trough the corridors looking for Andromeda, while talking to Teddy about all the adventures the marauders, he and his friends had had between those now destroyed walls.

Harry walked with Teddy into the Great Hall and saw Andromeda crying next to Mrs. Weasley, who was also crying. She spotted him and tried to smile, and he answered with a half-smile before continuing his walk, knowing Andromeda would go looking for them in a little while.

He entered the room next to the Great Hall and gasped -- there were more than one hundred white coffins in that little room. Terrified, Harry turned on his heels and almost ran towards the Gryffindor common room. On the way, he saw Professor McGonagall, who told him that everyone would leave in the morning, and that the coffins he had seen were to be carried by families of the fallen. Suddenly, she stopped talking, but Harry could tell she still had something on her mind.

“What’s wrong, Professor?� Harry asked.

“I imagine you will take Remus’ coffin?� she asked, trying to hide the pain in her voice.

“Yes, I will,� Harry answered without thinking; after all, Remus had been the last link he had had with his parents, he had been like a surrogate godfather to him, and he was the only one of The Marauders he had gotten to know during his third year. Harry sniffed, he had never realized how much Remus meant to him, he had been both a teacher and a dear friend to him since he was thirteen, and now he was gone, leaving his newborn son an orphan.

McGonagall awkwardly hugged Harry, and as she let him go she half-smiled at him as Harry continued his journey. When he finally entered the Gryffindor common room, he was surprised and disappointed to find it empty.

Harry sighed — he really hadn’t hoped for anything consciously, but some part of him wished Ginny had been waiting for him. He realized that his wish was impossible, after all she had just lost a brother, and she would most likely be with her family, grieving.

Harry thought that what had happened the previous night maybe hadn’t meant that much to Ginny as it had to him. After all, he had left her alone for almost a year after their kiss on his birthday. During that year, many things had happened, and maybe now she was with somebody else; she was gorgeous and many boys would want to be with her. But she had kissed him… maybe she still was in love with him, and after all this time she might still want him.

Harry kept thinking about Ginny — about her eyes, her voice, her lips, her smile…

Eventually, he fell asleep after a tiring day, thinking of Ginny, and sitting in his favorite armchair with Teddy in his arms.

********

Ginny was walking alone near the edge of the forbidden forest, thinking about what had happened the night before with Harry. It had meant a lot to her; last night, instead of feeling the worst of pains, she had felt happiness, love and hope. But had it meant the same to Harry? He had broken up with her the previous year, after all. Ginny started remembering the same questions she had thought about during the past year. Had he missed her? Had he thought about her as much as she had thought about him? Did he still love her...? He had never actually said it, but she could tell from the way he looked at her. Would he know if it was love? After all, he had been raised by those awful relatives of his, who had never showed him anything but revulsion and contempt. Maybe, just maybe, he would still look at her with that same sparkle in his eyes… maybe he STILL loved her…

She moaned — of course he didn’t; now he was the hero of the wizarding world … again. Even if he didn’t care for all those names and titles, he wouldn’t be interested in her, at least not like before. Both of them had changed a lot…

Unconsciously, her feet had wandered to the place where Harry had told her he wouldn’t be coming back to school; the place where he had broken up with her after Dumbledore’s funeral... The place where her hopes and dreams had collapsed; where, for the first time in her life before the war, she had considered begging and crying, but hadn’t.

She sat down and started crying in silence, hoping no one could see her. She mentally fought with herself, the two Ginnys inside of her battled to the death. The eleven year old Ginny, a scared little girl, that had been fooled and controlled by Tom Riddle, a girl who was still tormented by the insecurities he had raised vs. the nearly seventeen year old Ginny; the one who had joined Harry in his fight in the Department of Mysteries two years before; the one who had wrestled death eaters the night Dumbledore was killed; the one who, along with Neville and Luna had reformed and lead “Dumbledore’s Army� the past year; the one who had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts against her mother’s wishes; the one who would never take “no� for an answer.

In her mind she could still hear Tom Riddle’s voice teasing eleven year old Ginny: “He is Harry Potter, and you will never be more than his best friend’s little sister to him�.

While the stronger Ginny yelled: “That’s not true, you mean a lot to him, he made you his girlfriend, he broke up with to protect you from Voldemort, he could live with the idea of HIM hurting you because of his feelings towards you… don’t you get it Ginny? He loves you, even if he doesn’t know it himself!�

“He was just playing with you… just like I was…� Tom’s voice said again.

“No he wasn’t!!!! He kissed you Ginevra; he left you because he didn’t want Voldemort to find out how strong his feelings for you were… Snap out of it Ginevra and just ask him!�

And the fight inside her head stopped, she could no longer hear Tom Riddle, nor the voice of her eleven year old self, she realized that she should ask Harry the questions she had tormented herself with for a year; she should let Harry know how she felt. She would look into those green eyes she loved and speak her heart out, hoping he felt the same way, putting everything at risk, just like the girl Harry had fallen in love with.

Quickly, she got up and ran through the almost full hallways of the castle, asking everyone she knew if they have seen Harry. On her way, she found Andromeda, who told her she believed Harry was in the Gryffindor common room and asked her to tell him she wanted Teddy back.

She arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady who didn’t even ask for the password, and entered to the common room. It was empty at first sight, but when Ginny got closer, she saw him sleeping in an armchair with baby Teddy in his arms. It was such a sweet scene. Ginny looked at them for a while and then remembered Andromeda. Slowly, she approached Harry and took the baby out of his arms, then left the room quickly to find Andromeda outside the portrait hole.

********

Harry felt someone taking Teddy out of his arms. His first instinct was to blast the threat to his godson through the nearest wall, but a familiar scent caused him to open his eyes a fraction in time to see a redheaded girl walking out of the common room, and he heard her talk with someone outside.

“They were sleeping, so I took Teddy for you.� His heart flipped as he recognized the voice he had been wishing to hear since the ceremony ended.

“Okay, thanks, Ginny. Goodnight,� Andromeda, Harry thought, answered.

“Good night,� Ginny said, and Harry heard the portrait door open and close. He closed his eyes and pretended to still be asleep; he didn’t want her to feel awkward around him after what had happened the night before.

********

Ginny got back to the common room to find Harry still asleep. She looked at him, so peacefully sleeping and thought that even if he couldn’t hear her, she should take those words and questions out of her chest; maybe it would help her feel better.

“Harry, I really need to talk to you — I know you can’t hear me, but anyway... I’ll do it… Last night was amazing for me; you made me feel as though nothing had changed between us. But I know it has. You spent almost a year fighting Voldemort, and I know you experienced terrible things… And now you are a greater hero than the one you were before. I, on the other hand, spent a year in here, trapped; fighting the Carrows and Snape, but that wasn’t half as hard as what you did.� She stopped talking and took a deep breath before continuing, “Harry, I’ve missed you terribly during the past year, and even though at first I wanted to kill you for leaving me behind, I came back to Hogwarts and remembered everything we did together, everything you meant to me, everything you still mean to me.

“I realized that I— I realized that I still love you. Yes, I never told you that before; and now that I get up the nerve to say it, you are sleeping... Brilliant…! But, anyway, I love you more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone; it’s really hard to admit it, but I do. I love you with all my heart…� Ginny realized she had tears falling from her eyes, so she cleaned them away and took a deep breath.

“I really hope last night was a new begging, not an ending to us… I hope, and I wish with all my heart that we can have a life together… It scares me to think about it, after all I’m only sixteen years old, why on earth would I be thinking about the future and about a life with someone?... But I am, and for once I feel like my dreams are within my reach�.

Ginny wanted to run away and scream, for the first time since her first year; she was crying in front of someone, she was pouring her heart out for the first time since Tom Riddle, and for the first time since her first summer between Hogwarts, she wanted someone to hold her and console her, she wanted, no… she needed Harry. She tried to steady her breath and her sobs started to subside, she took one final breath before saying:

“I know you might not feel the way you did about me before your left, but you know what? I don’t care. I just want you to be happy and alive; I don’t care about anything else. Because I love you, and I want you to be able to enjoy your life for once.� She finished her monologue and looked down as tears started once again falling down her cheeks.

And then she heard the voice she had been waiting to hear all day long.

“You’re right,� Harry said as he opened his eyes, stood up and started walking towards Ginny. “I don’t feel the same way towards you, that I did before I left…�

********

As Ginny looked up, she saw Harry’s lips move; she heard those words, but even though she recognized the voice that was saying them, she couldn’t believe it had been Harry who had spoken. All her hopes and dreams collapsed, and all she wanted to do was run to her dormitory and cry…

She looked again at the floor and started running towards the staircase, but as her foot landed on the first step, Harry grabbed her hand and then her waist. He moved her body so that she was facing him. Ginny looked into those green eyes, determined to say, “Let go�, but as she opened her mouth, she saw Harry’s lips moving and heard him pronounce just five words...

“I love you even more.�