It was the day after the "Great Battle of Hogwarts", as it was being called. Harry had found refuge in Gryffindor Tower and was ready to appear in the real world. He had not seen his friends for so long. He had not spoken to Ginny in private for so long. He wanted to just sweep her off her feet and kiss her. He wanted to just hear her laugh. But, he could not do this in Gryffindor Tower.

"Hey, dude. You okay?" Ron had intercepted Harry at the bottom of the spiral staircase. He and Hermione were sitting on one of the overstuffed couches in the Common Room.

"Yeah, you look terrible, Harry. Are you sure you got enough sleep?" Hermione added.

"Thanks, Hermione. After defeated the most evil, powerful wizard in the world, I should look fresh as a springtime daisy. Sorry to disappoint." Harry answered. But, what was different about this answer was, unlike his similar answers from the last six months, this was said with humor. Harry was actually making a joke. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're...okay." Ron had a tough time answering. His brother had died the day before. Ron remained quiet after his reply and Hermione stood up, walked over to him, and hugged him. Harry decided to leave Hermione to console Ron. Harry walked to the portrait. When he went to step through the hole, he looked back into the Common Room. Only then did he notice that it was empty. The only occupants were Ron and Hermione.

Harry slowly made his way to the Great Hall. He walked passed broken banisters, ripped pictures and holes in the walls. At one point, Harry stopped and looked out one hole. He saw the black lake, surrounded by different people. Some he recognized as students of Hogwarts. Others he was unfamiliar with. They were all camped around the lake. Harry saw that they had spent the whole noght there. They had sleeping bags and tents.

Harry continued on his way. When he finally eached the Great Hall, he found that it was full. As he walked up the aisle to find a seat, people's heads followed him and whispers broke out. Dean and Luna were seated near the end of a table and they waved for him to join them. Harry gratefully accepted a seat and reached for the toast.

"Hey, Harry. How ya' doin?" Dean asked. Luna had a look on her face that asked the same question.

"Fine. What about you guys?"

Luna answered him. "We are okay."

Before she could start asking other questions, Harry broke in. "Do you guys know why no one was in the Gryffindor Tower?"

"Yeah. You, Ron and Hermione were the first to go in. People decided to give you guys a 'safe haven', if you would. A bunch of us decided to camp by the lake. Some others just went into the other houses. Wait. No one went into the Slytherin Common Room. That place was left empty." answered Luna.

"Do you guys know what they are going to do with Voldemort's body?" Harry asked. He was very pleased when they did not flinch at the name.

"There ave only been rumors. Some say that he is going to be buried in a tomb in the Department of Mysteries. Others suspect that his body is going to be cremated and his ashes released over the Atlantic Ocean. No one knows for sure. A group of leaders is going to meet later and think about it." Dean told Harry. "Right now, they are just going to keep him in one of the dungeons. They moved him from that chamber about a half hour ago."

"Thanks. Have you guys seen Ginny anywhere? I need to talk to her."

"Ginny went for a broomride fifteen minutes ago." Dean and Luna looked at each other and smirked. Tey both knew what Harry wanted to talk to Ginny about.

"Thanks." Harry left, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the two of them. As Harry walked away, he turned and saw Luna and Dean holding hands over the table. 'At least some good came out of all this madness.'

Harry walked out onto the grounds to fly and find Ginny when he realized he needed his broomstick. Then, he realized that his broomstick was gone. The broomshed had burned down, to Harry's disappointment. He wandered over to the broomshed and found that an old broomstick had survived. It was the same broomstick he had used when his Nimbus 2000 had smashed in his third year. Harry absolute despised the broom, but he needed to find Ginny. A couple walking along the forest saw Harry's plight and handed him a Nimbus 1000. They smiled at him and ran off. Harry tried to follow them, but lost them when they darted into the forest.

'Wierd' Harry thought, but when he looked back on his life, he realized that much wierder things had happened. Harry took to the sky and felt at home. He soared over the forest and lake. When the people camping saw him, they all started to clap and wave. Harry quickly flew away, very embarassed.

After about an hour of flying, Harry began to give up on finding Ginny. He decided to do one more lap around Hogsmeade. He started off and passed the Shrieking Shack. That was when Harry realized that Snape's body was still in there. Harry felt that he owed it to Snape to get his body, at least. Harry landed by the front door and slowly opened it, expecting to find Snape's body about four feet away. To his surprise, it was gone. There was a small, white stone where the body had lain. A note was held down by the stone.

To anyone it may concern,

The body of Severus Snape was found here, killed of snake poison. His body will be placed with the other fighters defending Hogwarts. If you protest, you must know that the Albus Dumbledore has vouched for Snape. He will be seen as a hero. His job was to protect all he could from the wrath of th Dark Lord. He could do this better when he knew the Dark Lord's evil plans.

Sincerely, the Order of the Pheonix

Harry was pleased to know that Snape was seen as a hero. Knowing that this matter was taken care of, Harry looked around the shack. The wallpaper was peeling and the carpets were smudged with dirt and dust. The dust was disturbed in a few places, probably from Voldemort and his followeres being in here.

The only thing that did not fit in the picture was the broomstick dropped in the corner. Amazingly enough, the broomstick was the same make and style as the broom Ginny rode. A trail of displaced dust led upstairs. Harry followed the path was led to a bedroom on the second floor. He knocked gently and was answered with a sob. He pushed to door open slowly and looked around. The only thing he noticed was a giant four poster bed on the opposite wall.

He could not take anything in because he noticed who was on the bed. Ginny was curled into a fetal position, sobbing on the bed. She did not notice the visiter in her haven. Harry slowly walked over and gently laid his hand on her back. She started and pointed her wand at him. When she saw it was Harry who had found her, she lowered her wand and tried to wipe away the tears on her face.

Harry grasped her hands firmly but gently and leaned in to kiss her.

Ha! Does Ginny let Harry kiss her?! Thanks for reading if you got this far. I just wanted to write what I thought would happen after book 7. If you agree, write a review, write a review. If you do not agree, still write a review. I want some input. Keep reading this story please. There will be updates soon. Thanks!

And of course, as all of you should know, I do not own these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Defying Gravity