The sheets felt amazing to his searing skin. For once in three years Harry Potter felt as though he could sleep without fear, and he could not wait to let the world disappear. Moments before, the remaining Death Eaters had fled, leaving the students and teachers left to roam the halls of Hogwarts with relief. Harry remembered the cheers and crying after Voldemort had been murdered at last, and Harry himself could not believe it. After all this time, it was done. Just like that. He did not know if it was adrenaline or fatigue, but Harry fell to the grounds of Hogwarts in heap in attempt to steady his breathing—it was finally over.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed. He felt her frantic hands grab his shoulders turn him over to his back. He squinted in pain. "Harry, you're going to be fine! Poppy is coming!

Harry could hear the older woman attempting to get through the crowds, clinking the box of potions she had been furiously passing out for hours. "MOVE! Out of the way, Longbottom!"

He turned and saw Hermione over Ginny, and she was smiling softly, relieved and proud. Harry tried to return it, but found the tearing in his lungs impossible to ignore. Harry whispered to Ginny, "I can't breathe, it hurts."

Ginny's hands tightened but Madame Pomfrey did not give her a chance to speak through her tears. "Potter! Thank Merlin you are here! Out of the way!" She shooed Ginny away quickly and began muttering to herself, fumbling over his body to see the damage. "Nothing I cannot fix, I can promise you that." Pomfrey noted. She removed three vials from the box and sighed. "I only have what can heal your ribs and lungs. The pain potion is a low dose. I need you to take these and rest the best you can, Potter. I must brew more of the stronger pain relievers." Before Harry could politely tell her anything she gave him was sufficient, his throat burned of vapors and sent his lungs bursting in pain. Harry screamed in protest, forced down by Pomfrey, but in a glorious instant, the pain faded so he could at last take a deep breath of smoky air. Hogwarts was still smoldering.

"Help him to bed!" came McGonagall's voice. Harry was fading fast from pain and weariness and he felt himself pulled up by Ron and Neville. "Griffyndor common room with him, and make sure one of you stays in the common room!" She didn't need to say more before Harry felt himself drag off inside the castle.

…...

It was morning when Harry was placed in his bed and fell asleep instantly. Ron gave a huge sigh of relief watching his best friend's chest rise and fall, thinking that moments ago he had lost another brother in the family. He choked back his tears and Neville patted his back sympathetically. "We've done it, mate. He's done it. I'll be done in the common room and you be with your family."

Ron nodded, suddenly feeling his heart sink at the thought of his Mother and Father alone with Fred's body. "Thanks, Neville. You were great out there, you really were."

Neville nodded with a smirk and gestured to the stairs. He was going to get himself the largest cup he could find and fill it with Firewhiskey—Merlin they deserved it!

…...

Pain shot through Harry's muscles and forced him to wake from his sleep. He moaned deeply, feeling everything burn and spasm like they had to one by one attach back to his bones. Groaning, Harry lifted himself from his pillow and noticed that it was dark and the moon lit up the lake below. "How long have I been asleep?" he wondered. Everything hit him at once—the bodies, Voldemort's laughter, dead, empty eyes...and Dumbledore. Harry glanced around frantically, analyzing the dark room around him, but he could find no danger. The painfulness in his body was sure proof he was still alive, yet it also proved to be an inconvenience as he was feeling voraciously hungry. Stumbling, he made it to the door and slid against the wall until he made it to the common area. Harry smiled, relieved, as he saw all those important to him huddled in the corner with glasses of pumpkin juice and trays of sandwiches. Their voices were pleasant to listen to.

Hermione saw him first. She stood immediately. "Harry, you're awake! We knew you would be exhausted." Harry accepted her embrace without thought and grinned at Ron.

Ginny squealed and almost knocked all the glasses over. "Oh, Harry, you were asleep for hours! Do you feel all right? Do we need to get Pomfrey?"Ron rolled his eyes over her behavior.

Harry laughed. "Yes, actually. I can barely move, but how are all of you? What time is it?"

Ginny left at once and Hermione led him to the reading chair and handed him a sandwich and drink before replying. "We slept most of the day also. I think we've only been awake for a few hours now. Too much to do. Most of the students ate in the Great Hall but we missed the meal so they gave us this for now."

Harry felt as if time were infinite. He was horribly confused. "Yes, but what time is it?"

Ron laughed. "About 10:00 at night."

Harry couldn't believe it. He was also concerned. "But what about the school? Who's helping McGonagall sort everything out? What did they do with Voldemort's body?" Eating did not seem so critical at the moment.

"Don't worry about it, Harry,"Hermione sighed, pushing the food closer to him. "The Ministry has begun working out a plan and getting everyone on a train back to London." She looked at his angry face. "Kingsley is in charge, you know? He will get it done right, and he already made sure Voldemort was gone. Dumped out in the ocean as far as you can see."

It didn't seem to satisfy him. Harry took a bite of the sandwich and glared at the floor. He should be helping the Ministry do all of this. Instead he was upstairs sleeping and letting everyone else take care of it. "I need to support him. I want to get Lupin and Tonks somewhere so we can bury them. And what about the others? McGonagall will need me to help her!"

This time Ron waved for Harry to relax. His mouth was stuffed with food but he talked anyway. "She knew you would say that, mate. That's why they did most of it when you were asleep."

Harry shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and pouted a moment on the couch. "They are still doing it! They think I can't do anything. I just died and came back to life, don't they know that?"

It was still for a moment. "So you did die," Hermione whispered. "I wasn't sure. I didn't want to believe it." Ron found something interesting in the arm of the chair and was silent.

Harry sighed. "Look, I will explain it to you later, okay? Long story short I did. I let him kill me and take out that disgusting Horcrux. Dumbledore explained everything to me. It made sense, but I wasn't angry. I'm not sure how, but I wasn't. It really felt like my whole life was meant for this, and I was going to do it." He downed a glass of butterbeer, wishing it was something stronger. "And I had a choice to come back and finish it...so I did."

Hermione refrained herself from letting the tears escape her eyes. None of them spoke for a time until the sound of the portrait turned their heads. Harry expected Ginny and Madame Pomfrey, but he did not prepare for Professor McGonagall and Kingsley to arrive in the common room.

"Eat up, Potter!" Pomfrey ordered. "I heard the stories of you three wandering around Britain without food in your stomachs, no thank you! Eat at least three to balance your blood."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yes, Mrs. Weasley."

Ron snorted.

"Feeling your normal self already," remarked McGonagal with a small grimace before sitting a few spaces from Harry on the couch. "Yet, truly Potter, it is a comfort to know you are still with us. Yesterday was a nightmare we hope to forget one day, and we thank you and your friends for all you have done."

Harry was quiet for a moment while he allowed Pomfrey to force the potions down his throat. The pain went away quickly at last, but he had a pain in his chest that could not be fixed with an elixir. It was definitely disappointment."Why didn't you let me help at all today? I can make sure Hogwarts is restored and tell the Ministry what really happened!"

"Certainly not!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed.

McGonagall closed her eyes, "Poppy, not now." The old woman stared at her wrinkled hands on her lap with deep concentration, as if she were thinking of the right words to say. Harry hung onto her muteness as hungry as he was minutes before. What reason could she possibly have?

"I would like to speak to Harry, Minerva," Kingsley said, breaking the pause. "He should really hear what I have to say about what will be done." Harry turned to the Order member behind McGonagall and felt his muscles tense up. He had hoped that Kingsley would be the person disagreeing with the Professor. "Harry, you are a strong young man. I would be honored to have you in the Auror Department when you are ready and able. All of you have risked your lives and we honor that, but I must ask that you enjoy this time now. Let us build back what has been lost. It is what all of them would have wanted."

"Look," said Harry, feeling a lick of anger rising in his voice."I understand why you didn't want me involved beforehand, but I just found out a day ago that my sole purpose in life was to die. I did it! And as much as I wanted to stay with my family and everyone I had lost, I came back to help. You need to let me!" Harry could feel his friends shrink in their skins, yet he knew that if he asked them for support, they would look away uncomfortably at nothing. Ron was already fiddling with his empty glass as if wishing the tension would disappear.

McGonagall inhaled loudly, "Potter, I cannot tell you how sorry we are for that. Dumbledore in his portrait told me everything this morning. All of it. He had no right to keep that to himself!"Her rage was palpable and Harry had to look away before his tears became more apparent. "I cannot begin to tell you how it made me feel, or how you felt. But please, Potter, your life is not over! Go out and live. Work through what has happened these past few years and when you are ready, Kingsley will work with you to join his department."

Harry opened his mouth, but Ginny interrupted him. "Listen to her Harry. We all need to rest. I need to know your safe, that my family is going to be fine." He felt her touch his shoulder gently and he shut his eyes. "I need you to be there for us when we bury my brother."

Harry tore her hand off of him in frustration. "Don't you get it? He should be alive! All of them! I came back to get rid of him for good and mend what damage my name has caused." He glared right into Ginny and Ron's eyes, but Ginny was the only one who maintained his eye contact. He could see her breathing shudder and tears roll down her face, but she did not budge.

"Potter-,"

"NO!" he exclaimed, cutting off his Professor before she could say more. "Everyone knows that I should fix this. I will not relax while people grieve and wish that their loved ones were alive. They see me still here—I cannot do it!"

He was fuming, the anger boiling in his chest as it had in Dumbledore's office after Sirius had died. They were all dead—James, Peter, Sirius, and Lupin...and his breath hitched when he realized why—him. All dead over the idea that a child was the savior of the Wizarding world. It made him sick to his stomach.

No one spoke for a moment. It made Harry angry. He wanted them to blame him and acknowledge that he needed to repair what was broken. Couldn't they see that?

Kinglsey was the first to make an attempt to break the silence as he patted the couch McGonagall sat in. "We will speak about this at another time and place, Harry, but not now." His eyes were locked onto Harry's with fierce intensity. "Heal your wounds and be with your friends, and never put this blame on you. Do you hear me?"

Harry wanted to laugh. "I really cannot see how this isn't."

"Enough!" Pomfrey hissed. "All of you! The school can wait—what everyone needs is some rest and peace. Our families need peace!" She turned to Harry, "And YOU! You have a family right here who knows you had nothing to do with any of this! You are grieving. You are trying to find answers. Give yourself some time to heal before you say such things."

Harry stifled a bout of tears the fire was attempting to expel with great difficulty. Hermione reached out and held his hand and he ripped it out of her grasp. "I need to be alone for awhile. Don't wait up." McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, but he escaped out the portrait before she could speak. He had to get away. Anywhere.

He ran down the spiral staircases, past the crying 5th years near the 2nd floor, and bolted toward the main door. As Harry glanced into the Great Hall he saw the bodies still lined in rows, and a group of fiery redheads in the corner. He couldn't stop. Before the door could fully open, Harry escaped his regrets in the castle and headed in the direction of the place he felt was the safest. The Whomping Willow.