Hey Everybody! So, this is my very first fan fic, I'm so excited I finally got it up! Please read and review, it would really mean a lot to me. I'll post more if you guys want more.

After the War: My Version of Those 19 Years

Chapter 1: Aftermath

They paced the hall, those two wizards-one hairless and red-eyed, a face straight out of my nightmares. Opposite him was a black-haired, green-eyed young man-this face also one of my dreams, though he was featured in my sweetest ones. The moment had come, as I knew it would: Harry vs. Voldemort. Only one would live. Even after years of knowing this moment would come, I had not been prepared for this-this-helplessness. Standing on the sidelines, watching the man I love face off against the fiend who once possessed me. The moment was drawing closer...and closer...

And as the sun's first ray burst through the hall, illuminating everything and everyone in the room and blinding me, I heard them both yell:

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

My heart stopped. The Killing Curse. There was no blocking that. Professor Moody had told us that back in my fourth year. For a moment, I thought maybe it hadn't worked. Then a long, dark shape flew across the hall towards Harry. He raised his left arm and caught it as Voldemort fell backwards, his eyes rolling up in his head. He hit the floor, and I knew he was dead-gone at last. We were all safe, thanks to the wonderful man standing before us. And then all hell broke loose.

Ron and Hermione streaked across the room to hug Harry, and my feet carried me toward him too, as I threw my arms around him, Neville and Luna by my side, and then my family was there, and Hagrid and all of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix, and all the teachers, and everyone I'd seen in the halls of Hogwarts, all pressing in on Harry, wanting to touch him, hug him, the Boy Who Lived, the reason we were finally free of this reign of terror. I held on to him for as long as I could, before too many people were there and I was forced back, away from him. I extricated myself from the crowd and looked around for my family. I found them, or some of them, sitting at the Gryffindor table. Bill and Fleur were sitting with George, trying to persuade him to eat.

"Come on, George, you've got to have something," Bill pleaded as I approached. I looked at George, heartbroken, the momentary happiness of Harry's victory gone. He was a mess. His blue eyes were dull and lifeless, and his red hair-so carefully gelled into spikes when at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-was flat and lifeless. He looked utterly woebegone.

"Oh, George," I gasped, sinking into a chair next to him and throwing my arms around him, hugging him tightly. For once, he didn't object, but leaned into my embrace, pulled me close, and sobbed. That scared me. George had never, ever, not in living memory, cried before. Not over the loss of his ear, not after Bill was attacked by Greyback, never. But now, with Fred gone, all of that changed.

"I'll never talk to him again. We won't be able to think of pranks to pull on you and Ron, and Mum'll know who I am now, and not call me Fred, and-and-and he's GONE!" George wailed. Something inside of me broke, and we sat and cried together. I didn't know what to say. The twins had always been my favorite brothers, nursing the fun-loving side of me. They were such fun, and you never saw one without the other. There was no Fred without George, and no George without Fred, but now there was.

We cried for the longest time, before I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Angelina Johnson, Fred's girlfriend, standing there, with my mother behind her.

"Hi," I said, and my voice was cracked from crying.

"Hey," she replied, with a feeble attempt at a smile. George looked up, then hastily wiped the tears from his face. "Can I sit here?" Angelina asked George in a very gentle tone.

"Yeah, of course," George answered, still not looking at her. I got up and she took my seat, laying her head on George's shoulder. And with no preamble, she began to recount all of her memories of Fred, how much fun he'd been and how she'd loved him. George was silent until about halfway through, when he suddenly burst out in speech, letting everything out to her. And she just listened, and when he broke down crying, she took him in her arms, patting his back, whispering words of comfort. I could stand it no longer.

"How about we give them some privacy?" came my mother's voice from behind me, and Bill, Fleur and I all quickly agreed. My mother and I took seats at the former Ravenclaw table and began to eat. We ate in silence for awhile before I remembered her battle with Bellatrix, how she'd come running in to save me.

"Mom," I began, and she just looked at me, and I found I couldn't speak.

"I know, baby," she whispered, and pulled me into her arms. I found myself crying again, for Fred, Lupin, Tonks, even that annoying Colin Creevy. None of them had deserved to die. And Tonks and Lupin had just had their son...Teddy. He'd never know his parents. Just like Harry. Which promptly set me crying again, because I'd thought Harry was dead. I knew I'd never forget that pain in my entire life. And speaking of Harry...

I dried my tears and looked around the Great Hall, wondering who he was talking to now. To my surprise, I saw him sitting next to Luna, conversing quietly. Then, all of a sudden, she pointed at the window and said something that made everyone in the vicinity look around at the window. I looked, too, but I couldn't see anything. When I looked back at Luna, I saw that Harry had disappeared, and I realized he wanted some alone time-something he definitely deserved. I laid my head on my mothers' shoulder again as Dad sat down opposite us.

"Well, Kingsley's just been appointed the temporary Minster of Magic," he announced, grabbing a piece of toast and buttering it. "Those who were Imperiused have begun to come back to themselves and are horrified at what they've been forced to do. The true Death Eaters are being captured as we speak, and I'm fairly certain a good deal of them are in Azkaban, which is back in the hands of the dementors."

"Oh, how excellent. I'm glad they're already getting things under control," my mother replied. "And it looks as though, with Kingsley on top this time, that the government may be headed in the right direction."

"Harry and Ron will be thrilled. They've always wanted to be Aurors," I commented, ignoring the surprised looks on my parents' faces. Thankfully, Percy plopped into a seat next to me before either of them could say anything.

"Angelina's finally got George to eat," he reported, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Mum sat up, looking anxious.

"Did she really?" she asked Percy, still scanning the Gryffindor table for George.

"Yeah. She's a miracle worker, that girl. We really need to have her around often after the battle. She really connects to George over this," Percy answered.

"Perhaps we should," Mum said, and she sat back down looking satisfied. I looked to see what she had spotted and saw George and Angelina sitting next to each other, Angelina talking softly and gently to George as he picked up small forkfuls and put them in his mouth. He even seemed to say something to her once in awhile. I smiled, wondering where they'd be in 19 or so years.

Mum and I sat without talking for the longest time, both of us exhausted. I started to fall asleep on her shoulder, then jerked awake and decided to go to bed.

"Mum, I'm going to head up to the Gryffindor dormitory," I told her, and she nodded, giving me a sleepy smile.

"Goodnight, Ginny dear. Or, well, I suppose it's good morning, but you know what I mean..." I nodded, and then left the Great Hall, walking through the ruins of the once-magnificent castle. I didn't know if it could be repaired, and right now, I didn't care. All I knew was that there was a soft and comfortable four-poster somewhere upstairs in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, and that was my destination. I stumbled along hallways and up staircases, taking a very familiar path to the tower. How I managed to get there, I don't know. I was so focused on sleep I hardly knew where I was going.

But when I got to the Fat Lady, she swung open before I could give the password, and out stepped a certain someone-a certain black-haired, green-eyed someone.

"Harry!" I gasped, now fully awake. He looked startled.

"Ginny! What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"I was going to try to get some sleep. I was up all night fighting for my life, you know," I replied with only a trace of humor. It was true after all. I regretted my words almost instantly.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny. I never wanted any of this to happen. And all for me..." his voice trailed off.

"Harry...Did you really think this day would never come? We've been fighting, too, Harry. You didn't fight this war on your own. We were here, doing what we could. Fighting our own war, Harry. You have to accept that. You didn't force us into that. We all chose to stay. Fred-Fred-Fred didn't die..." the fierceness in my voice trailed off as I dissolved into tears once more, crumpling to the ground. But Harry caught me, held me against his chest, stroked my hair.

"Ginny..." he whispered when I had calmed some. I looked at him. "Ginny, I know what you did. I heard tell of how you and Neville and Luna tried to steal the sword. I heard you kept the D.A. going. To be completely honest with you, Ginny, I wanted to be there with you. I wanted to help. I know what you did. But if I hadn't come, or waited to...Some people could have been saved."

"Stop blaming it on yourself, Harry. Everyone would have come back. Stop denying it! You know it's true! Just admit it to yourself so you can move on and heal!" I looked him straight in the eyes as I spoke, and I saw something change in his eyes. He seemed to realize the truth of my words.

"I suppose you're right, Ginny. But I do feel guilty. It's natural to, I would suppose, but I'd be stupid to say it was all my fault. I've got to deal with this and then move on with life. I can't just shut myself away. Just like when Sirius died, they wouldn't want me to do that. I have to keep living." I looked up at him, surprised by the fire that shone in his green eyes. He was just so amazing.

"Speaking of which," I finally said, "What were you doing up? Ron and Hermione seemed to think you wanted to go to bed. Were you sneaking off to meet some girl in celebration of the victory?" He laughed, and laughed, and then I was laughing, too, and then we were rolling around on the floor, laughing so hard I thought we would surely burst, and that seemed to go on for hours until it turned into tears. I cried again, cried so hard, images of the war flashing through my mind: Watching Tonks fall, when they brought Fred into the hall, the look on George's face, Harry, seemingly dead, on the ground, and then gone...and the last the worst: Bellatrix, her eyes menacing and gleaming, her nostrils flared, hair flying, aiming her wand at me, and the curse zoomed so close to me I could feel it...

"Ginny...Ginny...Ginny, shhh," Harry repeated over and over, trying to soothe me, but when I looked up at him, I saw his eyes were also swimming with tears. I merely held him closer, and we cried together, sitting there on the floor in front of the Fat Lady, both of us crying and trying to comfort the other until, finally, sleep overcame us.