After Death

The first thing Harry saw on the other side of the veil made him choke back a sob. Voldemort's eyes welled up and a serene smile graced his lips. There in front of him were his parents. They stood hand in hand, with smiles on their faces in swirling mist like he had seen from outside the veil. To their left stood Sirius, a large wicked grin on his face, he looked much better than when Harry had last seen him, he had crinkled laugh lines around his eyes and his hair was short. To his parents' right hand side stood the tall form of Albus Dumbledore, his long beard and hair shining silver under a tall red hat, and his eyes twinkling merrily behind his half moon glasses, on his long crooked nose. To his right stood Mr and Mrs Weasley arm in arm and nodding approvingly towards him.

"Mum? Dad?" he asked, his cold high voice surprised him.

They smiled together at him. "Hello Harry," said his father.

"Well done Harry," said his mum, "we are so, very proud of you."

Harry felt a tear run down his unfamiliar face.

"I have to tell you Harry," said Sirius, "I'm not too fond of your new attire." He gestured towards Harry's clothes. Harry looked down at himself and laughed, at the thin dark robes. "Black's not really your colour you know."

"I'll wait a moment to pick a better wardrobe next time," Harry replied, Sirius smiled at him.

"Which will hopefully not be for a very long time," said the deep voice of Albus Dumbledore, "you have done magnificently Harry, but this is not your time, you must go back, and live a long and prosperous life." He held both arms out to the side with a wide smile and Harry noticed that they were both whole and well.

"We'll take it from here Harry," said his dad. His parents let go of each others hands and drew their wands, Sirius circled him so that he was standing between him and the arch which was behind him, and Harry could vaguely make out the chamber in the department of mysteries through the veil. "You have done what no one else could, and it is wonderful to see you," he smirked and waved a hand towards him, "even like that... but it's time for you to go back to your own body now, time to return to the world of the living."

"Just know," said his mum, "that we love you very, very much."

Harry felt another tear streak down his cheek, he was sure Voldemort was writhing in pain right now.

"I want to stay, its not enough to just see you, I-I've finally found you all again... I don't want to –"

"Harry." He turned to face Mrs Weasley who had spoken. "You need to go back dear; there are people who need you."

"Ginny needs you," said Mr Weasley from beside her, his face turned serious, "she needs you now... she's in trouble Harry, you have to go back."

Harry glanced one last time back to his parents' faces; he lingered on Dumbledore's for a second, and swept his eyes past the Weasleys to Sirius. He gave a tiny nod and tipped one of his shoulders back out of the way to give Harry a better view of the veil.

Harry sucked in a massive breath as he slammed into his own body. He was on his knees with his hands pressed heavily on the floor. His eyes rapidly adjusted to the view of the Death Chamber. He was exhausted. He felt like he had just been beaten with a stick. He felt like he was returning from the dead.

Harry slowly pushed himself up so that he was sitting on his heels. He was struggling to keep his aching neck from letting his head droop. He breathed heavily through his mouth and groaned.

There was a noise up at one of the doors into the room, and Harry rolled his head so that he could see. A black robed figure was descending and circling the large steps towards him. The closer he came, the less Harry wanted to be there, so exhausted that he could not raise his wand.

When Snape was but a few feet away, he crouched down in front of Harry.

"You have done it?" he asked. "You have killed the Dark Lord?"

"Voldemort's dead," whispered Harry as loudly as he could.

Snape's eyes closed slowly and what looked like relief passed across his face. Snape stood back up towering over Harry. Harry noticed then, that his wand was no longer in his own hand... it was in Snape's.

"My wand," he breathed, "give me... my wand."

"I should kill you now and be done with it," Snape cursed in a menacing whisper while raising his wand... It hung there for a few seconds before it lowered again. "I am going to disappear now Potter, and you are going to call the Aurors off of me." He stared down at Harry as though he were staring at dirt. "You will not look for me, or ever come after me. Know this... if we ever meet again, I will not be on your side... I will not be on anyone's side. I've had enough."

He through Harry's wand on the floor and disappeared with a CRACK.

Harry did not know how long he struggled with his body, or when he first became aware on the footsteps closing on him, but he did not think it was long before he managed to get a foot under him, and push upwards.

He staggered as he pulled his other leg off the ground and clapped his hands to his knees to try and get some balance. He had to get to Ginny. Mr Weasley had said that she needed him. He managed to straighten enough to see Hermione just as she grabbed him in a hug.

"I've done it Hermione," he said quietly. "He's gone."

She gently brushed his hair off of his forehead with her injured hand, only using her thumb and her little finger as she was now habitually doing. She wormed her way underneath his left arm to support him and summoned his wand from the floor.

"Are you ok?" she asked seriously. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm ok... just... tired..." Leaning on Hermione he started to walk slowly back up to the way out. "I need to get to Ginny. I think she's in trouble."

Harry could never remember the trip up from the bowels of the Ministry. The first thing he remembered after Hermione turned up was the view of the Atrium as the grills to the lift opened.

The cacophony of sound that reached Harry's ears was deafening, a drone of screaming and shouting. He could not see any curses flying now, only people running, and screaming, and shouting. Wizards and Witches that Harry recognised as Healers tore around with bags full of peculiar looking potions and casting spells as fast as they could. Some of the metallic instruments they were flailing about look frankly frightening.

"We need to find Ginny," Harry said feebly.

They searched, or rather, Hermione searched and Harry slowed her down.

There was a huge BOOM and suddenly fighting erupted around them. It looked like the Death Eaters had not been beaten, simply pushed back for a while, because now they were attacking again, with everything they had. They still did not know that their Lord was dead.

"Oh Merlin. Here Harry, get under this." Hermione pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over him. "Try and find Ginny... I'm going to help fight."

Harry wanted to go and help too, but he hurt too much... and he was more worried about finding Ginny.

He pottered about, moving slowly and jerkily, in between still bodies and lumps of architecture that had been blasted to the floor.

He nearly tripped over Lucius Malfoy's body as he rounded one of the larger pieces of roof; he stopped dead... and then fell to the floor next to the prone form of his girlfriend. His own pain forgotten, he let out a sob at the state of her. She looked like she had after Voldemort had kidnapped her and tortured her in the chamber of secrets. Except now she was not moving.

Harry crawled up to her side and took her shoulders in his hands. "Ginny? Please Ginny, don't be dead, please, please, please."

A pulse... he had to find a pulse. He felt at her throat but couldn't find anything... he didn't know what he was looking for. Panicking, he grabbed her wrist. Ginny suddenly flinched away and her chest expanded with a gasp. One eye opened a crack, but the other one was swollen shut. Harry dropped her wrist and she jerked in pain again.

"Ginny? Ginny you're going to be ok." Harry looked around. "HELP... SOMEBODY HELP." He was so weak all he could muster was a dull cry.

He yanked out his wand in frustration. "Episkey," he cried, not knowing what else to do. Her face rearranged itself and remarkably healed. He let a breath out in relief. Both of her beautiful eyes glistened back up at him. "You're going to be ok. Just hold on."

"H-Harry... I-I,"

"Shh, shh it's going to be ok."

"I l-ove y-you."

Harry knelt in shock and horror as Ginny eyes slowly closed and her head fell to the side.

Harry knelt on a patch of grass that was by now used to his knees. He had been coming here once a week for four months since he had killed Voldemort. He knelt in the same spot and shed a few tears, brushing them away angrily as soon as he realised anyone else was near by. The grave stone was simple, just a name really. The funeral had been rushed; more a list of names rather than a personal ceremony, but Harry was grieving in his own personal way. He hated how Voldemort had taken so many people from him. Almost everyone he had ever cared about.

Ron and Hermione had been fine of course. Once Ron woke up he seemed back to normal... if a little bit woozy for a while, but nothing serious, his nose was still quite crooked, but he said he liked it, said that it reminded him of Dumbledore. Hermione still had her damaged fingers, but apart from that had sustained no injuries from the fight in the atrium. Harry had been ok after a couple of strengthening solutions and a pepper up potion. But the three of them returned to St. Mungo's every day to visit the injured. And there were many. Laura Bonit and her husband were both injured, and being a medi-witch herself she was not a good patient, she kept trying to get up to help people. Charlie Weasley was hobbling around on crutches everywhere, enjoying it immensely but getting in everyone else's way, and nobody knew what was wrong with Fred. He seemed completely lucid one minute and showed no signs of life the next. George was fine after Bills arm had been removed from his forehead and reattached to the appropriate place on its rightful owner. But those people had been extraordinarily lucky compared to those who had died; those whose grave stones now stood before him. His eyes drifted to Nymphadora Tonks on his right; she had looked oddly at peace when she had been set to rest. No new hair style or peculiar nose, she looked much more like Nymphadora than Tonks at that moment. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was to his left, he had most certainly not looked at peace, scars vivid, body parts missing... he had looked every part the grizzled Auror that he was. And then his eyes settled on this last grave in front of him. The name brought a lump to his throat, the name of a person who had taught him more than anyone else he knew. He reached out and touched the stone, tracing the name, 'Remus Lupin,' his fathers friend, and the last of the marauders to pass away. Harry would miss him dearly.

He felt a small hand rest on his shoulder and he got up quickly. He turned around and took Ginny in his arms. She smiled blissfully.

"You were told quite specifically not to leave your bed," Harry chastised her.

"Mmm, I know, but I wanted some fresh air and the healers are annoying."

Ginny was still hurt; she had curses on her that had still not been removed; ghastly curses that Bill had to regularly attack just to keep them from overcoming her. She had been in St. Mungo's longer than any one else, and Harry had stayed with her every day. It had been a constant battle, not knowing whether she was going to be alright, and Harry took a perverse satisfaction in knowing that Lucius Malfoy was going to live out the rest of his life in Azkaban.

Their time after the downfall of Voldemort had not been nearly as enjoyable as Harry had hoped for. There were no fireworks this time... no celebrations. There was a sense of relief... but it was mingled with doubt. People had thought that Voldemort had been gone before, but he came back. Harry knew that he was gone for good, but most people did not want to believe it, because they feared he would return again.

Harry had been plagued with questions, everyone wanted to know how he had done it, and he did not want to tell anyone. Only Ron, Hermione and Ginny knew what Harry had done, and it was going to stay that way. It was becoming a bit much for Harry really, he had always been famous, but he had not had hordes of people waiting outside his house to ask him questions before. And now that the Fidelius charm had been lifted, that was exactly what was happening. They got a rather nasty shock if they tried to enter the house though.

They wizards who were not about to question him, were set on praising him instead. It was a matter of minutes after he had arrived at St. Mungo's with Ginny when a witch with bright green hair fell upon him sobbing. He could just make out the words of thanks coming from her... She had had to be taken away and giving a calming draught before she could speak coherently again.

Voldemort had destroyed so many lives and it would be a long, long time before the repercussions faded somewhat... but Harry did not want to wait that long.

"What do you reckon to moving away?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Moving away?"

"Yeah, to get away from here... I thought that everything would suddenly make itself right once Voldemort was finished... but it's not... I want to go away... until everything has settled down."

"Where to?"

"Around... travelling... I've never been anywhere but Britain... it'd be nice to have a holiday."

"We could go see Charlie's dragons."

"And Bill's Pyramids."

"And I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights."

"I'll happily see anywhere that's not got reporters."

"Bill thinks he'll have me tip top in a week or two."

"A Week or two sounds fine."

"How long would we be gone for?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know... how long does it take to see the world?"

A/N : A Very rushed finishing chapter... Deathly Hallows comes out in 48 minutes thought... so I wanted to finish this first. I hope you all enjoyed the story... I have a thought for another already, but I'd like a beta for that... and it'll be Alternate Universe. On JK's website she writes about her original opening chapter... where Hermione's dad rescues Harry from his parents house out on the rock in the sea. She said it was a bad idea, but I fancied having a go at a 'what if' story where Harry grows up as Hermione's little brother... any thoughts? Thanks again.