Harry let out a deep breath and entered the Gryffindor Common Room. All of the Weasleys were in there…except for Fred. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, holding back tears. When he opened them, he was staring straight at Ginny.

She pushed past her brothers and went straight to him, scanning his body before reaching for his shirt and starting to unbutton the buttons.

"Gin—," he began.

"Ginny, what the hell are you doing?" Charlie growled, as she ran her hands over the growing bruise that marked the spot where he was hit by the killing curse a second time.

"Checking him out." She murmured. "If I know you, you haven't been to the hospital wing yet." She said to Harry, not looking him in the face.

Harry took both of her hands in one of his and tilted her face upwards with the other. She gasped at his touch.

"You scared me so bad out there with Bellatrix." He murmured. Then he kissed her hard. It was quick, and when he pulled away he pulled Ginny close to him, his arms tightly around her, and buried his face in her hair, his shoulders shaking.

Ginny stood frozen for a second, shocked, and then stroked his head with one of her hands and hugged him with her other arm.

Her family stood around her, watching with various looks of shock. They had seen Harry get angry, but no one had ever seen him cry like this. Mrs. Weasley was the only one not surprised.

Charlie was muttering furiously under his breath to Bill, and an evil and sad smile was starting to spread across George's face as he pushed his way between them, interrupting Charlie's words with whispered plans of pranks to play on their sister.

Harry was now still, breathing in the scent of Ginny's hair, and after a moment of thinking he pulled away like lightning had struck. Ginny was looking at him in surprise and shock.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry." He croaked. "I just…you probably don't even want to see me." He muttered, turning and running towards the stairs to the boys dormitories, shaking his head.

"Harry, stop." Ginny said, running after him.

He kept running and Ginny stood at the foot of the stairs for a moment, glanced back at her family, and then followed him up.

Charlie and Bill immediately started after her, but then stopped at Mrs. Weasley's order.

They turned to her incredulously. "You're just going to let them both go up there, to Harry's dormitory?" Charlie demanded.

"They need to talk." Mrs. Weasley said. "They need each other."

"In what way?" Bill growled.

Mrs. Weasley glared at her sons. "Ginny is a responsible young lady and you don't have anything to worry about because Harry is a respectable young man. I want them to talk, and they should be asleep soon anyway. They're not going to try anything up there, and in the morning you will all be there. I'll send you up when they're asleep, and I don't want to hear anything tonight. Harry and Ginny…they have something together, and they need each other to develop it. Normally I would not allow it, but tonight, we all saw something pretty surprising. You were all there when Ginny thought Harry was dead tonight, you all saw her reaction."

"I didn't know she could scream that loud." Charlie said quietly.

"And I know I have never seen Harry open up like that. They love each other, even if they don't realize it yet." Mrs. Weasley said matter-of-factly.

"Ginny's sixteen. They haven't even gone out." Charlie said.

"Actually, they have." Ron said from behind. He was standing in front of the Portrait Hole, holding hands with Hermione. "They went out for a month or two at the end of Ginny's fifth year. On Harry's seventeenth birthday I found them all over each other." He snorted.

Hermione elbowed Ron. "Harry…has a tendency to think that he is dangerous." she said carefully. "He thought anyone close to him was in danger because Dumbledore, Sirius, and his parents died protecting him in some way. He broke it off with Ginny because he didn't want her to get hurt. He's an idiot, because Ginny can help him in ways that no one else can, and because she was already in a lot of danger by just being a Weasley. Of course, in a way it was probably better that he broke it off, because there was no way Ginny could have come on the Horcrux hunt with us. I mean, for one, she's underage. But anyway, the point is that Mrs. Weasley's right."

"Hermione." Bill said suddenly. "Did you just say…Horcrux? Hunt?" He growled. This really was quite scary considering his scars.

Hermione's eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth. "Harry's gonna kill me."

"Nice going, Hermione." Ron muttered.

"Voldemort had Horcruxes?" Bill asked, shocked.

"Is it really that surprising?" Hermione said. "Bloody hell! If any of you say anything…I swear you will regret it." She narrowed her eyes at Bill and then looked to Mrs. Weasley.

"You're right, they do love each other. However, Harry doesn't realize it because he's never been shown the love that Ginny has. Ginny knows…but she's waiting for the right time to tell him."

"How do you know that?" Mr. Weasley croaked.

"Ginny's told me, and I can see it in Harry's eyes. Plus, he hasn't exactly had a good childhood. The Dursley's had stupid rules and they never gave Harry what he wanted, or needed, which is a loving and caring family. Then again, he didn't exactly realize this, because he didn't know what that was until he met you. You have helped him in more ways than you will ever know. A second family, a girl he loves very much and can't live without, and a best friend that he never could have made it without."

"Look in my eyes and tell me what I'm thinking." George said with a shake of his head.

"You just can't understand why anyone would take the time to figure that out. It doesn't take me long."

George's mouth dropped open and Hermione gave him a sad smile. "You're not that hard to read."

"Hermione, would you go upstairs and see if they're asleep yet? You're the only one I can trust to go up there at the moment." Mrs. Weasley said.

Hermione nodded ran up the stairs, giving a sad smile when she pushed open the door. Harry and Ginny were lying on Harry's bed, arms tightly around each other, covered by blankets, and fast asleep.

Then she ran back downstairs. "They're asleep."

"Well, boys, go on up to bed. There should be enough for you all to squeeze into Harry and Ron's dormitory, and if there isn't you can conjure another bed for now. I want all my babies in the same spot tonight.

Up the Stairs and Into the Dormitory

Ginny ran up the stairs and burst through the door of Harry's dormitory. Harry was standing in front of the bed, his back to her, staring at the room. Ginny took a calming breath and walked up behind him, snaking her arms around his waist and pressing her lips to the back of his neck.

Harry immediately relaxed and held her hands to his stomach in a vice grip.

"I...I'm sorry." he croaked, his voice choked. "I shouldn't have kissed you before we talked. Jeez I don't even know what's going on in your life." If you have a boyfriend or not. They both knew what went unsaid.

"I'm waiting." Ginny whispered, her breath tickling his neck. "Waiting for my one and only, to be with me always and forever. He had something he had to do, but now he succeeded and I'm hoping he still wants to be with me."

Harry was silent a moment and then he let her hands go and turned to face her, cupping her face in his hands. "Of course I want to be with you. Forever." he breathed, moving his lips right next to her ear. He bit her earlobe gently and Ginny gasped. "You are the main thing I thought about at night, and you are what kept me going. I think you're what kept me alive, in part, when Voldemort sent the Killing Curse at me."

His breath on her ear made Ginny shiver.

"What makes you say that?" Ginny murmured, pulling a small bit away to press a kiss on Harry's jaw.

"Well, when the curse came at me, the last thing I saw was you running towards me the first time I kissed you."

Ginny ran her hands up Harry's chest and to his shoulders in answer, pulling her head back so their lips were inches apart. Then Harry leaned forward and their lips met for the second time after Voldemort had gone. It felt amazing. All Ginny could feel was his body against hers and his arms tightly around her and she knew there was no place she'd rather be.

When they pulled away, they just held each other until Harry sighed.

"I'm exhausted and I really need to get some sleep, and I bet you do too." he said quietly, holding her at arm's length.

"I'm staying here." Ginny said firmly. Harry opened his mouth to mention her mother, but Ginny cut out that reply before he had a chance. "She hasn't sent anybody after us yet."

They both snuggled into the blankets on Harry's bed. He hadn't been in it all year long, and yet the sheets were clean and crisp, not a speck of dust on them. The House Elves were still doing their jobs.

When Hermione came up to check on them, they really were fast asleep, and not pretending. Actually, it was the quickest either of them had fallen asleep in a long time.