Chapter one

The first few weeks after the battle of Hogwarts, the magical world was slowly getting on with lives that were now safer, safer than it's ever been. Since the fall of Voldemort, everyone finally realised how tense they had all been, so there had been a lot of celebrations going on, even with people that were mourning lost loved ones, they still celebrated that the worst dark wizard in history was finally defeated and they didn't have to fear someone else they loved would die.

Shop owners that had their shops either destroyed or damaged by death eaters were slowly getting them repaired ready to open again, but people from all over kept turning up to help wherever they could.

Mr. Ollivander who was still recovering from his ordeal at the hands of Voldemort also had people turning up every day because they knew just like Garrick Ollivander knew that there were a lot of people out there that had their wands taken, but there were also all the eleven year olds that would need their first wands. So as people helped clean his shop and repair shelves, Garrick would check through wands to find out which could be kept, repaired or needed destroying. One of the first things he did was make three new wands for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for their assistance in rescuing him.

When Harry read the letter, he turned up to speak with Mr. Ollivander and showed him how he repaired his wand using the elder wand, then explained that the wand was going to be hidden away where no one would ever find it again. Harry had seen an expectant look on the old wand maker so Harry allowed him to inspect the wand since this man dedicated his life to wand lore, Harry thought he deserved it. But he had explained to the old wand maker that he was getting rid of such a sort after and dangerous wand, the last thing Harry wanted was more fighting or anymore danger.

Just like with the shops, people turned up to help with Hogwarts. As everyone in that country went there to learn, they wanted to help bring the old castle back. During this time, Harry stayed at Hogwarts, much to Mrs. Weasley's and Ginny's displeasure. He explained he wanted some time to himself, but he also wanted to help repair Hogwarts.

Hermione had explained to the Weasley's that Harry called Hogwarts his first real home and that is how he still thought of it. One thing Harry didn't tell Mrs. Weasley was that he just couldn't be treated as a kid anymore or be restricted like he used to be. He didn't need to stay in hiding or under guard, so he was going to stay at Hogwarts then buy his own home. He found he liked a drink or two of a night, he would head down to Hogsmeade to the Hogshead, have a drink while he spoke with Aberforth. Even though his small pup still didn't get many customers, the ones that did drop in there were a lot better than the last lot, which was mainly anyone into dark magic.

Ginny was upset because they had finally talked everything out and they decided to date again but Harry wanted to take it slow, he told her that they would see each other just not all the time and not every day. Harry made sure he only saw her once or twice a week. With everything he had gone through and how long it had been since they dated before, he wasn't sure how he felt anymore, that's why he wanted to take his time.

Some days Harry spent with Teddy, getting to know his godson, so Ginny had to get used to seeing Harry just occasionally which didn't sit well with her one bit. So after a very heated argument Ginny realised that Harry was stubborn, that nothing would change his mind, so she'd just have to put up with it. If she pushed him too hard she knew he would just say forget it and go, so she tried not to show how upset she was.

The day that Voldemort fell, Severus Snape had been found barely alive in the shrieking shake, but Harry never found that out until two weeks later. Harry explained to McGonagall and Kingsley about Snape's role and how he was truly on Dumbledore's side.

Harry did this so he could have Severus's name cleared, Minerva explained how he was healing and decided to wait before allowing that piece of news out.

Horace Slughorn stayed to help repair the castle but he did tell Minerva that he was going back into retirement and hoped she found someone suitable to take up the post of potions master. Minerva had spoken with Kingsley about that, but she also spoke to Harry and wanted his opinion on whether they should offer that job to Severus Snape. Since Severus had proven to be on their side, Kingsley agreed, Harry thought he should be given his old job back even if he wasn't sure how he felt about Snape, not now he knew how he had felt about his mother.

Harry had thought about going to speak with Snape, and even though he knew he should, he hadn't. He wanted to think some more about what he had learned about Snape before approaching him. He knew he wanted to thank him because without that memory Harry knew Voldemort would still be there because Harry would never have known that he was the one that kept him here and kept him alive. That was another reason Harry wanted time to himself, he wasn't sure how to cope with that, knowing he'd lived all his life with a part of Voldemort inside him, the man that had murdered his parents.

During the first few months a lot of funerals were held, Harry seemed to feel compelled to attend everyone, but he wasn't the only one. A lot of people who had buried one of their own, turned up at the other funerals as well. People that didn't lose anyone also turned up because they wanted to pay their respects to the people that helped ensure their freedom.

On the days that Harry visited the Burrow, everyone realised that Harry was a bit different than he used to be. He had always been a very quiet boy now as a young man he would only say what he needed and no more, they would see him sitting alone a lot and no matter what Ginny would say or do, Harry would give her a smile, but still never said a lot. They all worked out that Harry needed time to come to terms with everything that had happened, not just during the battle and the death of the man that had killed his parents and had tried to kill him so many times, but also he was trying to come to terms with everything, especially losing Sirius.

Harry never had a chance to grieve for the man that had come to mean so much to him, a father figure in a way and even though Molly Weasley thought Sirius wasn't a very good influence on Harry, she did know that Harry cared for him deeply and his death was still affecting Harry.

But now that everything was over, the war finished, Harry was feeling the effects of yet another loss. They also realised that Harry lost Remus, the last connection he had to his parents, so now he had no one left that could tell him things about them, things that no one else would know, so the death of Remus was also causing Harry a lot of heartache. But everyone believed he would just need time, just like the Weasley's would need time to cope with the loss of Fred.

Like with everyone that lost someone, they would always feel that loss, they would grieve for a long time but eventually they'll learn to live with their loss, learn to live with the fact that one of their own was no longer with them.