Chapter One: The Morning after the War
Harry awoke in his four poster bed feeling rested yet tired at the same time. his body ached all over. He sat up and winced, rubbing his shoulder.
He could almost pretend that this was just another day at Hogwarts. But it wasn't. Everything had changed. Voldomort was dead. And Harry had killed him.
Relief and a flood of grief swept over Harry all at once. Voldomort had died, but the price they had payed to be rid of him had been great. Countless people had died fighting in the battle. Harry squeazed his eyes shut thinking of their faces.
Harry didn't want to think about them. It hurt too much. It had been his fault. He knew he couldn't stay numb forever, but for now he rolled painfully out of bed.
He realized he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing the day before. They were stained with blood and dirt. It disgusted him. He was all alone in the common room so he pulled off his shirt and grabbed a fresh change of clothes out of his trunk and headed for the washroom.
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After Harry had showered, Shaved and Dressed he walked down into the Gryffindor common room. He was surprised to find it empty and suddenly wondered what time it must be. Looking out the window at the sun he guessed it must be around noon.
Figuring that everyone was in the grand hall he slipped out of the portrait hole into the empty corridors. The fat lady in the painting instantly started cheering as soon as she saw him. He smiled at her but continued down the corridor before she asked him to recount the whole story to her.
He could hear a crowd talking in the grand hall. He didn't want to walk in there and have everybody staring and asking questions. He wished he had his invisabilty cloak so he could slip passed everyone quietly and find Ron and Hermione or Ginny, but sadly he had left it sitting on his bead.
Ginny. thinking of her had just given his stomach a nervous flip flop. He hadn't spoken properly to her in what felt like ages. He wanted desperately to find her. Hold her close to him, kiss her feel her life and know she was okay.
He wanted to get back together with her. But would Ron approve? he hadn't been to happy when he had found Ginny giving Harry his birthday present. He didn't want to make his best friend mad again. But could he keep himself from Ginny? He didn't know.
For now he took a deep breath and want though the giant doors to the grand hall. A huge crowd of people sitting along the four tables immediately started cheering when they saw him. He smiled and waved shyly. He noticed lots of familiar faces, but his eyes scanned the tables for Ron and Hermione.
He spotted them sitting at the end of the gryffindor table. He walked as quickly as he could toward them, trying to be polite to all the people wanting to stop him to shake his hand. When he finally got over to them he took his normal seat beside Ron. He noticed that they were holding hands. He smiled. He was happy for them.
"Harry! You're awake. Did you sleep well?" Hermione said looking anxious.
"Yes." Harry lied. Truth is his night had been filled with nightmares. His friends dead faces, Voldomort's body coming back to life, flashes of green light. But Hermione didn't need to know this. "I slept like a rock." He finished. Hermione smiled a relieved smile and went back to eating her lunch and reading her book.
Ron patted Harry on the back. Harry new he must have been talking in his sleep. But Ron didn't say anything about it. One of the nice things about Ron was that he never brought up these kinds of things. Ron had always been a great friend of Harry's. The best one he'd ever had really. He tried to tear his mind off of thoughts of Ginny. And why she wasn't sitting at the table with them.
No sooner had Harry thought of Ginny's red hair when he looked over and saw her standing in the entrance to the grand hall. She was looking at him. She smiled. She looked even more beautiful than he had remembered. Her red hair hanging down on her shoulders. She had a small bruise on her forhead, but otherwhise looked unharmed.
She waved at him. Harry couldn't help himself. He leaped off his seat and took off at a full run toward her. He didn't care that he was in a crowded room. He didn't care that everyone was watching. He didn't care that he and Ginny were technically still broken up. And for a tiny second, he didn't even care what Ron thought about it.
He ran at her..and folded his arms around her as tightly as he could. She smelled like soap. He had wanted to hold her close to him like this for so long. And before he knew it, without even meaning to, he kissed her. He kissed her like he'd never have the chance to do it again. Because he might not.
He pulled away and she smiled at him. "Harry?" she whispered. "people are staring." Harry blushed looking around at all the people watching them. He blushed. George gave a wolf whistle. This moment reminded Harry terribly of his and Ginny's first kiss in the common room. A few people laughed or smiled but then politely turned back to their food.
Then he remembered Ron. Suddenly he was kicking himself
for kissing her right here in front of everyone. He looked back over at the gryffindor table. Hermione was beaming. Ron even looked okay with it. He shrugged at Harry smiling, then turned back to his chicken.
Harry gave a sigh of relief then turned to face Ginny. "Wanna take a walk? You know. Just like old times?" She looked at him in a playfully stern way.
"On one condition, Harry Potter."
Harry smiled. "Anything."
She looked him in the eyes and said, "Don't ever break up with me again."
