Hello everyone!

This is Harry Potter's story after the war. I know it's been written before (many, many times) but I wanted to give it a try. So here is chapter one, my way.

Disclaimer: Blanket disclaimer, Harry Potter and all of his wonderful friends aren't mine. If I make up a character that I can call my own, I'll let you know :)

hhhhhhhhh

He stood there by the lake, looking for all the world like a statue of a god. He was perfectly still, and his muscles were taut as though waiting for another attack. Well, what little muscle he had left anyway. I imagine he didn't really have any buffets to eat while he was gone.

"Hey," I said quietly. I wasn't even sure he would really hear me.

But he turned.

"Hey," he whispered back.

I stared into those bottle-green eyes and, for the first time in a long time, I felt tears in my eyes.

"Hey," he said, a bit more urgently as he rushed to me, "Don't cry, please don't cry…"

His arms wrapped around me tightly, and I wanted to laugh at myself.

The whole year, I didn't cry.

All through detentions with that disgusting Alecto Carrow, I didn't cry.

The entire battle, I didn't cry.

But now, standing here in front of a boy, I was crying.

How amazingly weak.

Although, I have to admit that it got me something I've been wanting for so long. I wanted him to hold me again, make me feel loved…even if it might just be a lie. And admittedly he's not a boy. Everything he's been through the past few months most definitely qualifies him as a man.

For that matter, everything he's been through since his first year qualifies him as a man.

His lips pressed against my temple, and I couldn't help but let out a sob. He was safe, and that was what mattered. It was trivial and immature for me to be more interested by the question of whether or not he was still interested in me, right?

"Oh, Ginny," he whispered against my ear as his arms tightened around me, "I've missed you."

Was I imagining it, or was his voice a bit husky?

I pulled away just enough to see his face. There were tears in his eyes too.

His calloused thumbs wiped a few tears from my cheeks. Then I saw his eyes flicker to my lips for the tiniest part of a second.

He stiffened a bit. I could tell that it was because he was suddenly unsure, but that look was all I needed to know that he wanted me too.

Ecstacy.

That's what that did to me. Pure ecstacy.

He cleared his throat and looked away, blushing slightly. It would be an understatement to say that I was disappointed when he didn't kiss me.

"We should get back to the castle, your mum will be worried."

I nodded, ignoring the piercing reason for why Mum would be so worried. I buried it deep, to be looked at later. Then I forced a cheerful voice, "They'll want their hero back, after all."

That got his attention.

His face swung back toward me, and I immediately regretted that look in his eyes. My hand was on his cheek, trying to undo my damage.

"You're my hero too, Harry…you always were."

He drew in a shaky breath. I felt it in my own chest because he was still holding me so tightly. I stared into his eyes, even though I knew he wanted me to look away. I couldn't help it, after all this time. I just needed to soak up his presence for a while, just to convince myself that he was really there.

"Ginny," he started, looking down and letting go of all of me except for my hands. Why does he sound like he's preparing to disappoint me? But then he looked back up into my eyes, and when he said it again it sounded more like a sigh, "Ginny."

He stared into my eyes for a moment, long enough to make me forget that I was waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"Canyouforgivemeforleavingyou?" He blurted.

He wanted my forgiveness?

Well…that would imply that he…

"Harry Potter!" I said, louder than I intended because I was suddenly rather cross with him for getting his priorities all wrong. "You run off to defeat the darkest wizard of all time and when you come home you ask for my forgiveness? Forgiveness for what? Ridding the country of the most evil it's seen in centuries? Really, Harry?"

But the next moment he looked as though I had clubbed him over the head, and I felt bad immediately.

"I just meant…I really care about you, Ginny, and I worry…"

"Oh, Harry," I said with a small, humorless laugh. "Not as much as I worried about you."

I suddenly found that I was stroking his cheek and smiling. How inappropriate. I really shouldn't be smiling after all that's happened. But he cared about me. He was worrying about me.

"Really?" He asked, disbelieving, "I mean…wouldn't you rather have someone… easier to live with?"

It seemed like a moment when I would need more than words to convince him, so I threw his glasses into the grass and pulled his face toward me, kissing him with all the emotion I had. His lips were just as I remembered. I molded myself to him without having to think. I barely even bothered to breathe as I started memorizing him again, reabsorbing all the details that I can't believe I forgot.

My hands were in his hair. I don't remember putting them there. But it's soft and silky…and a little long…oh well, it's nice to run my hands though…

I don't know how long we stayed that way. I would have liked to kiss him forever, and I could tell that he felt the same.

When I let him go we were both panting heavily. He looked like he had been clubbed over the head again.

I had to laugh at that look on his face before I answered his question. "No, I think I like you best."

hhhhhhhhhhhh

The afternoon was really starting to wear on me by the time Ginny and I finally got back up to the castle. The adrenaline had disappeared, and if I didn't find my bed soon I was likely to fall asleep on the cold stone floor.

Ginny sensed my exhaustion and didn't try to guide me toward the Great Hall. "Come on," she murmured into my ear, "Let's get you up to Gryffindor Tower."

Or what's left of it.

We walked together through the halls of Hogwarts, able to really see the damage for the first time. I hadn't really registered the magnitude of it this morning. If I had, I might have known to just stay in my bed, and not venture out of Gryffindor Tower before I had some rest.

"Ginny?" I asked quietly.

She turned to me to let me know she was listening.

"Thank you, for keeping yourself safe, I mean," I mumbled, stumbling over the words. As I said them, the memory of all the others who hadn't kept themselves safe, of Fred and Lupin and Tonks, especially, came rushing back to me. It put too much fervor into my words, and the burn in her eyes did nothing to help calm me down. "I would never have been able to do it if I didn't know you were okay…I might have given up…"

She hugged me fiercely then.

"Harry, you would never have given up." She laughed without humor, "You're Harry Potter, you never could have given up."

I stared into her eyes for a moment as they blazed. I've never seen brown burn before, but then, Ginny's never been anything that I've ever seen before.

I wondered how many times I had missed that blazing look while I was…away. No doubt she had that look all the time since she was such an active part of the renegade DA.

I felt a frown cross my face. That reminds me that I'll need to have a talk with her later about how reckless she's been since I've been away, even if she has managed to keep herself in one piece.

"Come on," she said quietly, "Let's get you into bed."

I blushed, thinking of what she said. She just rolled her eyes at me. "Oh relax, Harry."

When we finally got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, I was ready to collapse. And apparently I looked it.

"Tut tut," the Fat Lady trilled at me, "I told you not to leave until you'd had a good rest, but off you went, and now look at you! Miss Weasley, I trust you will not let him out of his bed until he's slept a decent amount?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Ginny smiled.

"Er," I said, trying to think, "I don't actually know what the password is."

Ginny laughed, for real this time. "I don't either. Can't you just let us in?"

"Sorry, dears," the Fat Lady said, "I can't just let you in, I'm bewitched to need a password."

Ginny looked at her in disbelief.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" the Fat Lady scolded, "Just say anything and I'll pretend it's the password!"

"Harry Potter," Ginny said decisively, "That's the new password."

"Alright, dears, go on, then," the Fat Lady said, swinging forward to let us in. I heard her muttering to herself as we climbed inside, "Honestly, I'd do better with the Ravenclaws, can't figure out that I'm bewitched to need a password…"

"Hey, Ginny?" I hesitated to ask as she walked me up to my bed.

"Hmm?" She answered.

"You must be tired too…"

"Yeah, I'm exhausted."

"Well, I mean," Damn it! Do I always have to blush? "You could sleep next to me, if you wanted to…"

She blushed too, but she smiled. "Maybe I'll just take Ron's bed, since I'm already up here."

I nodded through the disappointment. "Yeah, good thinking."

hhhhhhhhhhh

I woke to a pillow beating my head.

"Ouch! Ron! Geroffme!" I tried to mumble between blows.

"Sorry, mate," he said, giving me the offending pillow, "Just making sure you hadn't died in your sleep. All that exertion, you know, bound to tucker a bloke out."

"Really? And I'm sure it had nothing to do with wanting to know why your sister was sleeping on your bed."

"If I wanted to know why she was sleeping on my bed, I would have woken her up."

"You would not have. In her state you know she would have cursed you in her sleep before actually waking up. You're lucky I didn't do the same."

I mean, really, there are times when you shouldn't wake a bloke by beating him upside the head. The day after he defeats the darkest wizard of all time is one of them. Honestly, it's for his own safety more than anything else.

And sometimes a bloke just needs his sleep, too.

"You're right, and I don't fancy the sectumsempra she was firing at the Death Eaters, thanks. I blame you for teaching her that."

"You're welcome," I groaned sarcastically before rolling over and stuffing my face into my pillow.

He was silent for a moment. I thought he realized to just let me sleep.

I was wrong, of course. Tact was never one of Ron's strengths, I suppose.

"So why is Ginny sleeping on my bed?"

"She turned down the offer to sleep in mine."

He hit me with another pillow. Quite a bit harder this time, too.

"Well, I'm dead tired. I came up here, wanting to crawl into my bed—"

"Then go get in your bed! But let a bloke sleep, will you?"

He was silent for another moment. Then I heard him cross the room and whack someone else with the pillow.

"Ginny, go sleep with your future husband. I want my bed."

Really? Er…okay.

I heard her grumble and get out of bed so I moved over to make room for her. But she didn't hop in right away like I'd hoped. She stopped hesitantly and pulled back the hangings.

"Um...Harry, do you mind?"

"Er, no…not at all," I said, gesturing to the space I made. Damn blush.

She crawled in and I wondered if she would let me hold her. I mean, she's the one who didn't want to get into my bed in the first place.

It's amazing though, really. I can defeat Voldemort, but no way do I have enough courage to risk wrapping my arms around Ginny right now. Instead I fell asleep desperately longing to take her in my arms without fear of getting bat-bogey-hexed by her.

Or getting my bits chopped off by Ron, for that matter.

But the Harry in my dreams was much more courageous than I. He took Ginny into his arms and was rewarded with her sweet embrace.

Funny, I didn't think that things like this counted when they called Gryffindor the house of the brave.

hhhhhhhhhhhh

Hermione told me later that I had slept through that day and the next.

No one woke me. I suppose they thought I'd earned the right to be comatose for a bit.

But when I wandered down to the Great Hall the next morning, I found it buzzing with plans for the rebuilding of Hogwarts. McGonagall had her wand pointed at the wall behind the teacher's table, highlighting a blueprint of the work to be done on the cold stones.

Oddly, the Great Hall had barely been damaged by the battle, and it needed only a few repairs here and there, replacements of flagstones and the like.

The entire Astronomy Tower had been almost completely demolished and needed to be rebuilt, which I thought was a fitting memorial to Dumbledore. And many of the turrets needed to be fixed, as they had either suffered various contusions on their surfaces or been entirely blasted apart. Parts of walls all around the castle needed to be fixed.

It might be a bit silly, but I feel a sort of loss about this need to rebuild Hogwarts. I mean, besides the fact that this was always home, always will be home, there was so much history in those ancient stones. Mum and Dad, Sirius and Remus used to walk on these very stones. My grandparents stepped foot on them, and my great-grandparents, back for generations. My family used to sit at these very house tables, eating their breakfasts and maybe even their Christmas feasts like I always did.

I suppose it just pains me to lose that idea, which I've grown quite attached to, that when I'm here I can reach out and touch them…if I can imagine hard enough.

So I don't want to replace a single cracked stone. I want it all to stay exactly as it is.

I took a deep breath and tried to listen to Professor McGonagall, but she just couldn't keep my attention. With this odd wave of nostalgia washing over me, I know exactly where I want to be right now.

I slipped back out of the Great Hall and surreptitiously pulled on my cloak.

More nostalgia.

This cloak was worn by Dad.

And Granddad.

And Great-granddad.

I wonder if they ever washed it?

I felt ridiculous doing it—if anyone could have actually seen me I never would have dared—but I sniffed the fabric.

I never noticed before, but it does smell a bit of stale firewhiskey, if I concentrate hard enough. I wonder who that was from.

But either way, I wasn't planning on sniffing a cloak all day long, although I found that I had a new reverence for it as I rushed down the path to the gate. It had been blasted apart by all the people who had swarmed in to stand with us, and so it now was unhinged and creaking in the slight spring breeze.

It was easy to slip out of the gate and disapparate with the breeze.

hhhhhhhhh

It was odd, I suppose.

The last time I was standing here, there weren't so many muggles out and about so I didn't have to watch how they all managed to just miss the memorial.

I wonder whose idea it was anyway. If it was the minister's or…or Dumbledore's.

Because it would mean so much more if it was Dumbledore's.

No matter what that awful woman wrote about him, he's still Dumbledore. He made mistakes, yeah, but he spent the next hundred years trying to make up for them, didn't he?

A little girl flounced past it, and her dress barely brushed the base of the statue, bending with the hard stone almost unnoticeably in the odd wind that enveloped it. You stepped into that circle and silence enveloped you.

I longed for that silence.

For that moment alone with Mum and Dad.

So I made my way carefully to the statue, trying not to touch any muggles as I went by in my cloak. For a moment I wanted to go back to Hogwarts, and find the stone, and call them back to tell them in person. But then I slipped into the silent circle that seemed so welcoming and looked up into Mum and Dad's faces. Those faces were beautiful and perfect, just exactly the same as the pictures Hagrid gave me, so many years ago. I took their hands, touched each of them and drew in a deep breath.

"You did it," I whispered to them, "You really did it."

hhhhhhhhhhh

"Where could he have gone!" I screamed at Ron, messing up the bedsheets as though Harry might suddenly turn up underneath them. "You were supposed to be here with him whenever he woke up!"

"Well, I meant to, but it got a bit boring and Hermione was telling me to come down to breakfast—"

"Hermione was telling you to come down to breakfast?" I asked, but he was quickly backing away. He recognized the tone of false calm in my voice. "You were bored?"

"Well, I, I mean, really, Ginny, I'm sure it's fine, you're over-reacting—"

"Like hell am I over-reacting Ronald Weasley! I told you that I'd stay up here with him! But you insisted that you wanted to be here when he woke up! And instead you decided to go down to breakfast because he was getting a bit boring?"

"I, well, I –"

"How could you!"

"Ginny!" Came Hermione's voice from the foot of the stairs, "What are you screaming about?"

"What am I screaming about?" I called back to her, running down the stairs, "What am I screaming about, Hermione? I'm screaming about the fact that you left my boyfriend by calling your own down to breakfast, that's what I'm screaming, about Hermione!"

"Well, we all need to have breakfast—"she tried to reason with me.

"I offered to stay with him myself!" I screeched, effectively drowning out the rest of her argument, "And this one," I jerked my thumb back to Ron, who shriveled at the attention, "told me to go because he wanted to be there when Harry woke up! No doubt what he actually wanted was to be a pain in the arse!"

"Okay," Hermione said, her hands up in a way that pleaded with me to calm down. "Let's think about this. If Harry's not here, he must be somewhere nearby, maybe he just wanted a bath—"

"We checked them all already!"

"Okay, okay," she said, backing away herself now that she could see the fire wasn't leaving my eyes. "I'm sure we'll find him on the grounds somewhere, Ginny, but you won't do him any good by screaming this way."

"Maybe I will!" I screamed, inventing wildly now. How dare Ron? How dare he? "Maybe if I scream loud enough he'll hear and tell us where he is! Did the library give you that possibility?"

"Erm, no, it didn't. But common sense tells me we might find him the kitchens, where he can get food without dealing with everyone in the Great Hall," she said, quietly and calmly. Funny, the sudden change in volume is actually what made me listen.

"Oh," I said, fizzling out myself once I realized the logic of her solution. Well, it's not my fault if I got the red-head temper but none of my brothers did.

"Yeah," she pursed her lips, and I couldn't tell if she was hiding a smile or a grimace, before turning and leading us both out of the portrait hole.

hhhhhhhh

I hope you liked it!