Title: Darkness Approaches Again

Rated: Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JKR does.

Chapter One

"That wand's more trouble than its worth," said Harry. "And quite honestly," He turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of his four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

Harry smiled reassuringly at Ron, who was still looking longingly at the Elder Wand. Hermione grabbed his arm lightly and steered him away, out of the Headmaster's office and down the stairs. Harry gave one last look at the picture of Dumbledore before he himself exited the room.

The castle was barely recognizable after the long, drawn-out battle. Holes were left in the wall, portraits lay scattered all along the corridors, their occupants fretting about nervously, and there wasn't one window that remained intact. Harry thought about his four-poster bed and how much he wanted to escape there and sleep forever. But he had more important things to take care of first.

He made the long way down to the Great Hall, where most everybody was still either celebrating or mourning. Harry's eyes swept the room until they landed on a small figure with flaming red hair, her head still on her mother's shoulder. Harry's breath caught in his throat at just the sight of her. He never really realized just how beautiful Ginny was, or maybe he could just never fully appreciate it because of his ongoing battle within himself.

Harry hesitated and then slowly made his way across the room. Gently, he placed one hand on Ginny's shoulder. She started and looked up at Harry, stony-faced and expression un-readable.

"Mum," Ginny said softly. Mrs. Weasley was looking up at Harry now too. "I'll be alright. You need to find Dad."

Mrs. Weasley stood slowly and embraced Harry tightly. Harry hugged her back, just as tightly, before giving her a reassuring pat on the back and she took off. Harry sank down on the bench beside Ginny and looked straight ahead.

Ginny took in a ragged breath before saying, "When I saw your body…"

And that was all she could get out before turning into a hysterical mess. Harry instantly wrapped his arms around her petite frame and rocked her back and forth, stroking her hair soothingly. "Its alright Ginny, I'm here. I'm okay."

Ginny didn't say anything for a long time; she didn't trust herself to speak just yet. She waited until she felt she was calm enough to finally talk. "But for those few horrible, gut-renching minutes, I thought you were dead. Gone from my life forever." Ginny finally managed to look up at Harry, starring straight into those amazing green eyes.

"Ginny…" Harry began softly.

"No," Ginny interrupted him, holding up a hand to stop him from talking. "Listen to me. Do realize just how hard this has been for me. A whole year you disappeared and I didn't have a clue where you were! A whole year Harry! I had never been more frightened in my entire life…or more alone.

"And then, Harry, I'm allowed to come back to Hogwarts and I see you, but you go right back into the battle and I was forced to sit and wait. Again. When Hagrid came out of the forest I thought…I thought I would never see your eyes again." Ginny placed a hand on Harry's cheek and looked at Harry's almond-shaped eyes, as though memorizing them in case she never got to see them again.

"Ginny," Harry started again. Ginny didn't object to his speaking this time, however, so he continued. "I'm sorry for everything I did to you. For ever making you doubt me and for leaving you alone. I can fill you in on everything later but for right now, you need sleep. It's been a long couple of days. For all of us."

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand that was still resting on his cheek and squeezed it lightly, letting her know everything was going to be okay now. He made to get up but Ginny gripped his hand even tighter.

"Don't go," She whispered. "Please, just stay here with me for a little bit."

"I'm never going to leave you again, Ginny," Harry whispered in her ear as he sat back down beside her. Ginny laid her head on Harry's shoulder and they sat like that for a long time. The Great Hall had almost entirely emptied. Harry could sense that Ginny had finally fallen asleep as Professor McGonagall came sweeping in the hall.

"Potter," She said. "What on earth are you still doing here?"

Harry gave his answer by simply looking upon Ginny's sleeping face. Professor McGonagall gave a curt nod of understanding and then said, "Well, Potter, you had better take Miss Weasley back up to the Gryffindor common room. We are going to try and send everybody home today. The school is obviously going to need repairs before term starts in September again."

Harry nodded again and tried to shake Ginny awake but she was in too deep of a sleep now. Harry, not really wanting to wake her after she finally fell asleep, scooped her up and carried her across the hall and all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

The common room was completely deserted even though it was going well into mid-morning. Harry figured that everybody needed to catch up on their sleep before starting the long journey home today. Harry laid Ginny down gently on the sofa in front of the fireplace and then sat down himself on one of the roomier armchairs. Not wanting to break his promise to Ginny, he did not leave her side. He grabbed her hand and finally fell asleep, his large hand intertwined with Ginny's small one.

"Harry," Somebody called his name from far away. "Harry, come on now. Time to wake up."

Harry opened his eyes slowly and saw the blurred outline of Hermione. She handed him his glasses and moved on to wake Ginny. "What time is it?" Harry asked, stifling a yawn.

"Nearly noon," Hermione answered, still prodding Ginny awake. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are still here, they want us all out of here today. Actually, McGonagall wants the whole school out today. They need to start repairs and everyone really needs to be with their families right now."

"How is everybody?" Harry asked with a meaningful look. Hermione got what he meant. He was asking how the Weasley's were dealing with the death of Fred Weasley.

"Well," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I think Mr. Weasley may still be in shock and Mrs. Weasley has finally calmed down some. It's George I'm really worried about though. It's almost like he lost half of his soul. Those two were always together, always practically the same person."

With a stab of pain, Harry tried to picture George without Fred and realized that he could not see it. In his mind, they would always be the Weasley twins. Harry pushed the mental picture of Fred lying dead on the stone-cold ground and focused on Ginny instead, who was finally waking up.

"Hermione," She said, starring at her friend. "What's wrong? Why are you waking me up?"

"We need to get a move on, that's all," Hermione answered. "Nothings wrong, we're just leaving the castle."

"Oh," Ginny said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze drifted over to Harry who smiled at her. Ginny looked around at her surroundings and finally seemed to realize that she was in the Gryffindor common room. "When did we come up here?" She asked Harry.

"Not too long ago, actually," Harry answered. "It was well after dawn. I carried you up; you were so out of it."

Ginny smiled. "Thank you." She leaned in closer to give him a swift kiss on the cheek. "For everything." She whispered in his ear.

"I need to go make sure Ron is waking up," Hermione said suddenly. Harry jumped; he had nearly forgotten Hermione was sitting right there. He was too busy staring into Ginny's deep brown eyes. "You two really need to get a move on."

Harry and Ginny finally removed themselves from the sofa and headed upstairs. The entire afternoon was devoted to packing and good-byes. The Gryffindor Tower was unusually quiet but it was quite understandable. Harry didn't have anything to pack, so he hung around the dorm, talking to Ron and Neville and waiting until Ginny was ready to go down to the Great Hall, where everybody was meeting later.

There was a soft knock on the boy's dormitory. Ron went to answer it and Ginny walked in. "Hi," She said. "Are you guys ready to go down yet?"

"Well I'm packed anyway," Neville said. He picked up his trunk and started to drag it towards the door. "I take it you all aren't taking the train."

Ginny shook her head sadly. "My mother wants us to go by Floo Powder."

"Well, bye then," Neville said heartily. "I hope to see you all really soon."

"You will mate, don't worry about that," Ron said, striding across the room to shake Neville's hand. Harry did the same and then Ginny gave him a quick hug. Neville gave one last smile and heaved his heavy trunk out the door and vanished from sight.

"Well," Ron said. "I'll meet you both down in the entrance hall." He gave them both a meaningful look suddenly. "Don't take too long."

Ginny gave him a devilish smile. "Oh don't you worry about us. We'll be down in plenty of time."

Ron took off for the door and Ginny spun to face Harry. "So, now what to do we do? Since this whole battle is over, I mean?"

"I suppose first we go back to the Burrow," Harry said, smiling. "Sort things out from there."

"We also need to give a proper good-bye to Lupin and Tonks and…Fred," Ginny choked slightly over the name Fred but no tears came. Harry admired how brave she was, for controlling herself at a time like this.

"Ginny," He said softly. "It's just me here. You don't have to put on a brave face all the time…" Harry took in a deep breath and wiped a tear that was slowly trickling down Ginny's pale face. "I realized something last night. I don't ever want to be separated from you again, no matter what happens. I love you Ginny."

Ginny stared at him for what felt like ages until she finally smiled amidst the tears still falling from her eyes. "I love you too, Harry. I've always loved you."

Harry embraced Ginny tightly, drawing her into his chest as he leaned down and kissed her passionately. She responded almost immediately, clutching to the front of his robes and he deepened the kiss, his tongue urging her lips apart. Somehow they both managed to stumble onto Harry's un-slept in four-poster bed. Ginny's hands trailed down Harry's chest and a small moan escaped from his lips.

"Please don't stop," Ginny whispered as Harry kissed his way down her neck and landed on her collarbone.

"Ginny," He said in barely a whisper. "Not until you're ready."

"I am," She said, throwing her head back onto the satin sheets. "Please, Harry, I know I am."

Harry shook his head and gave her a light kiss on the lips before drawing away from her. "No. You're grieving and confused. Not until you're ready." He repeated. "I won't take advantage of you."

Ginny, though admittedly highly disappointed, smiled in spite of herself. "Harry James Potter, you really know how to treat a girl." She sat up on the edge of the bed and straightened her shirt and robes before standing. "Shall we go down then?"

"We shall," Harry smiled, sticking out an arm for Ginny to take and she did, so they walked arm in arm down to the entrance hall to meet the rest of the Weasleys. The entrance hall and Great Hall were extremely crowded with students and teachers, all wishing each other good-byes and good lucks. Professor McGonagall made an announcement suddenly that the train would be leaving in thirty minutes and all students taking the Hogwarts Express should start heading down to the Hogsmeade Station.

Harry saw Hermione standing in the middle of the hall, talking to Ron, and a sudden thought struck him. "Hermione," He called out suddenly, walking towards her. Hermione turned around and smiled when she saw Harry.

"Hermione, what's happened to your parents?" Harry asked. Ginny gave him a questioning look and he answered it with a look that plainly said, I'll tell you later.

"Yes, I know, I still have to find them and right their memories," Hermione said, rather quietly. "I know they won't be too mad, it was for their own good and ours. The hard part will be finding them. All I know is that they're in Australia under the names Wendell and Monica Wilkins."

"Excellent, another adventure already lined up," Ron said, coming over to stand by Hermione's side.

Hermione smiled. "Not really. More like a holiday to Australia to convince a middle-aged couple that they really do have an eighteen-year-old witch for a daughter who was forced to temporarily erase their memories while she helped the battle against Voldemort."

"Well, children, are you all ready to go," Mrs. Weasley's voice startled all of them, making them jump. They all nodded their heads and headed in the direction of Professor McGonagall's office, where they all took turns throwing a handful of Floo Powder in the fireplace and stepping into the green flames, each shouting "The Burrow!" in turn.