Harry opened his eyes to a very familiar four-poster bed. The fact that he had resigned himself to never again seeing the red and gold hangings made this the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Harry lifted his arms to stretch and immediately regretted it. It seemed every muscle in his body was screaming in protest, now that he no longer had terror and despair to keep them tense. It was odd. Harry had spent so much time fearing Voldemort, fleeing Voldemort, and eventually destroying Voldemort. And Voldemort was gone.
Voldemort was gone. That thought was so alien. Harry's head was swimming with possibilities in this new world where he was no longer a target, no longer the sacrificial lamb. No longer the Chosen One. It was wonderful.
With a pang, Harry thought of the people who would never see this new world. His parents, Fred Weasley, Professor Lupin, Tonks, Dobby, Sirius... Dumbledore.
Harry realized that last night was the first time he had set foot in this castle since Dumbledore's memorial. How he wished he could talk to him always as he had two nights ago.
"HARRY!"
Harry whirled, his old holly wand already in his hand, searching for danger, but all he saw was-
"Ron, mate! Wake up!" Harry walked to his best friend and put his hand on his shaking shoulder. Ron's eyes opened in a look of panic, but he visibly calmed when he saw Harry.
"What's going on?" a muffled voice from the third bed in the room seemed less than pleased to be woken in such a manner. But as the voice sat up, recollection and understanding flitted across Dean Thomas' face.
"Been a rough few months, yeah?" commented Dean. Harry tried to think of how to answer when the room filled with a loud BANG!
There at the door, aiming her wand and looking fit to kill, was Hermione Granger. For a brief second, her gaze rested on Harry, and he was very glad that she didn't usually look at him with that particular expression. She was terrifying.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Hermione turned her head around the room, looking for danger. On finding none, she dropped her wand arm and looked at Harry in utter bewilderment. Harry could imagine her perspective - Harry, brandishing his wand in new pajamas as the three appeared to be having a casual chat.
"Nothing, nightmare," mumbled Ron darkly, scowling into his knees. "Sorry you heard me."
"I'd be surprised if you haven't woken the whole castle." Harry's heart skipped a beat as Ginny's voice flitted into his bedroom just before her. Is this really the moment? he was reminded of his own question to Ron and Hermione.
"Hey!" Dean was not pleased at the arrival of his ex-girlfriend. "This is the boys' dormitory you know!"
"And if Harry were actually in trouble I suppose you were going to kill the Death Eaters by snoring them to death?" Ginny had a point. Harry saw that Dean's wand was nowhere in sight, and he had made no motion to draw it.
"Mmmmffff- 'sgoing on?" the muffled sounds from Neville's bed curtains told Harry they had succeeded in waking the entire room. Neville had always been a heavy sleeper.
"Harry and I were just thinking about breakfast." Ron gave Harry a meaningful look, which Harry knew meant not to mention the nightmare if he could avoid it.
Neville's head appeared between the curtains. He looked round and saw-
"Hermione! Ginny! What're you doing here?"
"Keeping me from sleeping!" Dean Thomas was fit to be tied. "Honestly, He Who-Voldemort died yesterday morning, and I don't know about you, but I was planning to sleep for at least a week. And as I said," he looked meaningfully at the girls, "this is the boys' dormitory!"
"Right, right, we're going, we're going." Hermione turned to usher Ginny out of the boys' dormitory.
"Wait up in the Common Room, I'll come to breakfast!" Harry called. Dean and Neville both disappeared behind their curtains, and Harry and Ron shrugged at each other. They began to get dressed.
Turning and looking for his trunk out of habit, Harry found only his small rucksack with what Muggle clothes had survived the last year. He pulled out the least mangled jumper and pair of jeans and put them on. He wished he had purchased robes for this year...
Ron dressed quickly, clearly invigorated by the thought of his first Hogwarts breakfast since last year. The two descended the stairs to the Common Room, but Harry paused at the foot of the stairs. Remembering the raucous applause he had received yesterday morning when killing Voldemort, Harry steeled himself for anything. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. Except for Ginny and Hermione, the room was deserted.
"Where do you s'pose everybody is?" ask Ron, making for the portrait.
"There's not a lot of everybody left," replied Hermione "Everyone underage was sent home when the battle started, and most aren't coming back for the end of term." She caught up to Ron and slipping her hand into his. Ron give a little funny laugh, turning back to Harry. His smile died on his lips when he saw Harry's eyes.
"Not everyone underage. All of Slytherin's still here," Harry could still hear Pansy Parkinson's voice. But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!
"Look mate, you'll have to see them eventually." Ron was right. But Harry wasn't sure he was ready to face that many people whose parents he'd recently imprisoned.
"I know how to get to the kitchens," Ginny volunteered. "Zacharias Smith showed me when he was trying to get me to tell him what happened the night-" She glanced at Harry- "the night Sirius died."
Harry's stomach flipped over, in spite of himself. To be alone with Ginny, right now!
"Would you show me? It's just, all those people all at once, I just want some food." That much was true, anyway.
"We'll stay with you, Harry."
"No, that's alright, Hermione." A knowing look passed between Hermione and Ginny that Harry rather hoped Ron wouldn't notice.
"Besides, I'll bet they're serving pumpkin pasties," Harry knew this would clinch it.
"Alright, but be careful if you see any Slytherins in the halls." Ron twirled his wand with a grin.
"You're more likely to fight them than me!" It was mostly true.
"True, but think of the statistical average." Ron gestured to himself and Hermione. "Neither of us has died." He chuckled as he took Hermione's hand and the two exited through the portrait.
"What does he mean, neither of us died?" Ginny asked Harry.
"Oh, erm, yeah. Well, it's kind of a long story..." Harry began, as he caught Ginny up with his last nine months. He told her about the Malfoys', Gringots, Grimauld Place, the locket-
"And you didn't take if off?!" Ginny was almost shouting as they reached the kitchens, their trip having been blissfully devoid of people.
"Harry Potter!" a small familiar voice bellowed from the corner. The kitchen suddenly fell silent.
"Winky!" Harry recognized the house elf that had once belonged to the Crouch family. Her arm was in a sling and there was a bandage over her left ear. Harry looked around the room and saw that many of the house elves were sporting bandages and crutches, and most of the others had cuts and contusions on their arms and faces. Still, they were working, or they had been until Winky's exclamation. Now, all eyes were on Harry. An older elf in a spotless tea towel shuffled forward.
"Harry Potter," he began, "I am Figwit. I is running the kitchens here for 50 years. Never have I heard of a Wizard who is fighting so bravely, and who remembers the house elves in the kitchens."
"Oh," Harry blushed, "right, actually I was hoping to have some breakfast- away from the Great Hall." And from attention, Harry added silently to himself. That plan seemed to have backfired.
"Harry Potter misunderstands," Figwit replied, the white hair from his ears twitching as he talked. "During the battle, your friends is remembering us and is coming to help. Dobby and Winky are telling me of your kindness, sir, but I is never imagining you would want to be helping us.
"You all shouldn't have to work like this!" Harry cried, "All your injuries-"
"We want to work, Harry Potter." the elf closest to Harry squeaked in a lowish throaty voice. "Serving the Heroes of Hogwarts is the highest honor we house elves could have."
"But you all look-" Ginny looked embarrassed, and turned a deep shade of red. Harry had the sneaking suspicion she had been about to say awful, which frankly was true.
"-you don't look well."
"And how many of Master's friends is injured, or not surviving?" Kreacher appeared from behind a cluster of elves, holding two steaming bowls. Regulus' locket bounced as he made his way toward Harry and Ginny and handed them each their own bowl of french onion soup. Harry eyes welled up, as the familiar smell of home filled his nostrils.
"Kreacher." Harry spoke very quietly. "How did you know I was here?"
"A good elf is always knowing where and how he is needed." Kreacher spoke dismissively, as though it was nothing that he should happen to appear exactly as Harry was missing home with his favorite recipe. He led the pair to a table in the corner of the room near where Winky was stirring some oatmeal with her good arm. Harry was surprised to see it was human-sized.
"Hufflepuffs is always coming in for a late night snack." Winky explained, seeing the surprise on Harry's face. "We don't see other houses, though." Winky smiled and Harry thought she might know why he and Ginny hadn't wanted to eat in the great hall.
They ate in comfortable silence at first, the hot soup a welcome respite from the roots and overdone fish Harry had survived on for the better part of the previous year. Ginny told Harry about her year, how Hogwarts had been increasingly miserable before the Easter Holiday. As the two finished their soup and thanked the elves for their hospitality, Kreacher especially, Ginny recounted the Weasleys' mad scramble to hide the family after Harry's night at the Malfoys'.
"At first we couldn't reach Charlie," Ginny breathed, as the pair stepped out the front door of the castle and onto the grounds. "Mum couldn't stop crying. But eventually he sent us a letter by stork - apparently there aren't many owls in Romania. You could've knocked Fred over with a feather when that bird landed on his plate at break-" Ginny's voice caught on something, "-at breakfast."
Ginny stopped and looked over the lake. They were very near Dumbledore's grave. Harry remembered another conversation they had very near this spot, almost a year ago. He thought of all the people they had lost the previous day.
"Ginny-" Harry began.
"Save it, Harry, I don't want to start crying again." Ginny looked very near tears anyway.
"That's not what I was on about, actually." Harry took a deep breath. "Look, Fred, and Lupin, and Tonks, and-" Harry's eyes passed over the stone monolith beside them and now his voice caught, "-and Dumbledore. They're gone. And we can't bring them back."
Harry thought a tiny bit wistfully of the angular stone he had let fall somewhere in the forbidden forest. He had never been this terrified of a conversation in his life. He remembered his mother's face just two nights ago, smiling so gently, giving him so much courage. He had an inkling she wouldn't be as helpful just now.
"Ginny, it all goes by too fast, and before you know it, it's over, you know?" Harry was making a mess of things. "I mean, you know, there's just so much that goes wrong-" Why couldn't he stop talking? "And Hermione and Ron, it was always the three of us-" Why the hell was we talking about them?
"Harry-"
"I love you!" He hadn't meant to scream it in her face. He felt his cheeks become roughly the temperature of the surface of the sun. "I'm sorry, I had better ways to say that in my head-"
And he suddenly couldn't talk anymore, because Ginny's lips were pressed to his. His arms wrapped around her waist of their own volition, and he felt her hands lightly on the back of his neck. Ginny pulled back and rested her head on his chest. Harry swallowed hard and cleared his throat.
"Ginny, I-"
"Harry," Ginny lifted her chin and met Harry's eyes and smiled. "Shut up."
"Right." Harry did, and he kissed Ginny again. It was the best decision he made all day.
