Hello, everybody!

So, I've previously started one of these fanfictions meant to cover the 19 years between the last chapter of Deathly Hallows and the Epilogue. However, it's been years since I updated that story, and I've mostly forgotten what I had planned for it. So I decided to start a new one. In some ways, this will be a reboot of my first one, as it will use some plot points I'd planned to use in my other story, but it will be a completely new story.

Also, with this, I'll be following the books more closely than the movies.

Let us begin.

Chapter 1- Reunited

Harry slowly opens his eyes, staring up at the top of his four poster bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. After his discussion with Dumbledore's portrait in the Headmaster's office, he really began to feel the exhaustion from the previous night's fighting begin to set in, and had quickly made his way to the dormitory to catch a good night's sleep. He had fallen asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Harry stares straight up for several moments before he slowly sits up in bed. He groans as he does so, feeling sore all over his body.

"Well. He lives."

Harry looks up and sees Neville sitting on the bed next to him, smiling at him. Neville chuckles a bit before he says, "You must have been tired. You slept for a day straight."

"Really? A full day?" Harry asks with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah," Neville says with a nod.

Harry is quiet for several moments before he asks, "What's happened since then?"

"All the bodies of Death Eaters, and Voldemort's body, have all been moved out of the castle, and the current plan is to have them all buried in a mass grave. Plans are already underway for the burial of all the dead defenders, and a memorial here at Hogwarts for them. Oh, and Kingsley's now Minister, and he's already lead people to the Ministry to start cleaning up the place and getting rid of any more of Voldemort's supporters within the Ministry," Neville says.

Harry just nods once in response. Neville then smiles a bit and says, "I'm actually here on guard duty. A lot of people have been trying to come up here to see you. Ron and Hermione keep them out at first, but eventually they wanted some time together, so I took over."

Harry smiles and says, "Thanks, Neville."

Neville nods, then says, "So, took those two long enough to get together didn't it?"

Harry grins and says, "Yup." The two exchange a laugh.

Neville looks at Harry and says, "How are you doing, Harry? With all of it?"

Harry's face grows serious. He sits there in silence for a minute before finally saying, "Well, the whole dying and coming back thing honestly doesn't really bother me. I had accepted it, and knowing now that I have a real chance at life…it's liberating. But….knowing everything that happened…everyone who died…" He then just trails off, emotion threatening to overtake him.

"It's not your fault. All of us who fought did it to try and free our world from Voldemort. And I guarantee every one of them, if you could ask them, would do it a hundred times over," Neville says.

Harry looks up at Neville, who looks back at him with a reassuring look on his face, staring intently at Harry. After a moment, he slowly nods once and says, "Thanks, Neville."

Neville smiles at him, then says, "You might want to head down to the Great Hall. The Weasleys want to see you, and I don't think I can keep Mrs. Weasley from charging up here again. I've had to do it several times already."

Harry smiles a bit at that, while part of him wonders why the Weasleys would be so desperate to see him after Fred died because of him. At the same time, the mere mention of the name Weasley brings images of Ginny to his mind's eye, and he feels a feeling he can't quite describe swelling in him at the thought of her.

"Alright. Thanks for warning for me. I'd better go down and see them," Harry says.

Neville smiles and reaches out to pat Harry on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're alive, Harry," he says. Harry smiles back at him before he stands up and walks towards the portrait hole.

Harry walks out through the portrait hole and walks slowly down the many staircases down towards the Great Hall. As he walks down the staircases, he sees all around him the damage caused by the battle. Parts of the castle are no longer even recognizable. He starts to feel the feelings of guilt welling up again, but tries as best he can to push them back down.

Finally, he reaches the Great Hall and walks slowly through the doors. Almost immediately, he sees that the rubble has been cleared out of the Hall, and the House tables have been replaced. People are sitting at the tables without regard for house, eating from food prepared by the house elves.

A second later, Harry spots the Weasleys sitting together at the Gryffindor table not far from him. He quickly sees that both Ginny and George are missing, and Hermione is sitting next to Ron, hand entwined with his.

Harry stands there for several moments, wondering what to do, feeling his courage start to fail him, not sure if he can bring himself to face the Weasleys after the death of Fred. However, before he can really do anything, Mrs. Weasley sees him. She quickly stands up from her seat and runs up to him, throwing her arms around him and nearly crushing his ribs from the strength of her hug.

After several seconds, Mrs. Weasley finally says, "Oh, Harry! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried about you!"

Harry stands there for a second before he slowly smiles and hugs her back. "I'm okay, Mrs. Weasley," he says.

Mrs. Weasley pulls back and looks Harry right in the eyes. "Harry, you're of age and you're family. You refer to me as Molly, understand?" she says, smiling slightly.

Harry smiles back. "Yes. Molly," he says.

It's about then that the rest of the family recognizes that Harry is there. Within a few seconds, Harry is surrounded by Weasleys, all trying to give him a hug. It takes a minute before all of them are through with Harry. They then seem to herd Harry over to the table, and before he realizes what is happening, he's sitting at the table with the rest of the family.

Harry finds himself smiling and laughing to himself. He may have lost his parents, but the Weasleys have shown him what it's like to have family.

Arthur looks at Harry and asks, "How are you feeling, Harry?"

"Well enough. A little sore, but after everything, I think that's to be expected," Harry says, drawing a laugh from Arthur.

"So, what's the plan for now?" Harry asks.

"There's going to be a memorial here at Hogwarts tomorrow. Then, we'll be heading back to the Burrow the day after, and…we'll prepare for Fred's funeral at that point," Molly says, choking up a bit at the mention of Fred's name.

"Molly, I'm sorry about Fred. I should-" Harry starts to say.

"Harry, don't even try to say it. Nothing that happened was your fault," Molly says firmly, looking Harry right in the eyes until he nods once.

Percy then starts talking about some of the political cleanup that Kingsley is leading, and he is helping with, but Harry is slowly tuning him out, his thoughts turning more and more towards Ginny. After several more moments, Harry turns towards Arthur and asks, "Arthur…where is Ginny?"

Arthur looks at Harry and smiles knowingly. "Last I saw her, she was down by the lake," he replies.

Harry nods once before he says, "I need some air." He stands up from the table and hurries off out of the Great Hall. Arthur smiles as he watches Harry go, knowing he couldn't ask for a better man for his daughter.

Harry walks briskly away from the Great Hall and into the entrance hall. He walks through the vast doors, which are still broken, and heads down into the grounds, making his way towards the Black Lake. As he walks across the grounds, his thoughts are racing, wondering what he's going to say to Ginny. After so long apart from her, he knows that he loves her more than ever. However, as he walks down towards the lake, he wonders whether or not she would even take him back.

As he nears the lake, he stops, looking down at the shore before him, wondering where Ginny could be, he suddenly gets a feeling and looks to his left. Sure enough, down the shore of the lake, he can just see someone leaning up against a tree, watching the water. Even at this distance, he can tell that it's Ginny.

Harry slowly makes his way over to her, his hands in his pockets. He's silent as he walks closer until he's standing beside the tree, just a few feet from Ginny. Ginny, completely unaware Harry is there, continues to watch the lake.

Harry stands there, watching her for several moments. Then, he steps forward and sits down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

Ginny instantly tenses up and slowly turns to look at him. Harry looks back into her eyes, and can see in them the pain and grief she is trying so hard to contain.

Harry slowly reaches up and brushes a strand of hair out of her face. "You're so beautiful," he says. He sees a flash of emotion in her eyes, but Ginny manages to keep from crying.

"You look rather well for someone who died," Ginny replies softly.

"As good as can be. My chest still hurts, but other than that I'm pretty good," Harry says.

Ginny continues to look at him for a moment longer before she can't seem to contain herself any longer, leaning against his chest and clutching him tightly. She doesn't really start crying, but Harry does see a few tears running down her cheeks.

"I thought I lost you forever," Ginny manages to say.

"You'll never lose me, Ginny. I'll always come back to you," Harry says.

Ginny looks up at him. "You didn't know you were going to survive. You were planning on dying!" she exclaims.

"I know. I was because I had to," Harry says.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asks.

Harry is quiet for several long moments before he says, "The reason me, Ron, and Hermione disappeared over the last year is because we were searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes. Now, a Horcrux is very dark magic. It's an object in which a dark wizard has concealed a part of their soul. Through murder, you can split your soul, and then hide part of your soul in an object. By doing that, you're protected from death. You pretty much can't die. As it turned out, Voldemort made six Horcruxes. Me, Ron, and Hermione went on a journey to find and destroy all the Horcruxes."

Ginny looks at him in surprise, just listening. Harry pauses for a moment, then says, "But, it turns out there was one more. Snape gave me some of his memories right before he died, and when I used the Pensieve to look at them, I learned that when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby, and the Killing Curse rebounded on him, it broke his soul again, and part of it latched onto me. Because of that, I pretty much became Voldemort's seventh Horcrux. Because of that, I had to die. Voldemort himself had to kill me in order to destroy the piece of his soul inside me."

"Then, how are you still alive?" Ginny asks, looking a little confused.

"When Voldemort came back, he used my blood in the potion that brought him back. Because of that, he tied me to life so long as he lived. I had the choice to go on to the next life, but I came back because I felt like my work wasn't done. And, now that I think about it…I came back for you," Harry says.

Ginny looks Harry in the eyes, and now the tears begin to roll out of her eyes. She reaches up, pulls Harry closer to her, and kisses him. He kisses her back, putting all of his love for Ginny into the kiss.

After what seems like an hour, the two finally separate. Harry looks down into Ginny's eyes and says, "I love you, Ginny."

More tears come out of her eyes. "You've never told me you love me," she says.

"I know. And I've taken too long to say it. Because I do love you, Ginny," he says.

She smiles softly and says, "I love you too." She then kisses him again. This kiss is much shorter, but still sweet and loving.

Ginny leans her head against Harry's chest, and Harry wraps his arm tightly around her. The two sit together, watching the sun continue to rise over the Hogwarts ground, not sure what the future holds, but knowing they will face it together.

And, I'll end there. I hope this was a good first chapter.

Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, follow and favorite the story, and stay tuned!