Hello! This is my first ever Harry Potter fic even though I've been an obsessed fan since I was 10 years old. The reason for this was that I was always extremely happy with the outcomes of the books/movies. However, after watching the final Harry Potter film, I realized that I was really a Harmony fan! Funny, I didn't really mind Ron/Hermione in the books, but after the movies, I was slowly converted. My liking for HHr started when the HBP movie came out. I think it might have something to do with Dan and Emma's chemistry (it's just so awesome!). Anyway, after watching the final movie, I reread the books and ... well, I realized that, in the books, I'm okay with both RHr and HHr. But because I'm super HHr in the movies, I'm HHr overall by default (:

Therefore, I wrote this little thing here as a ... sort of, alternate ending for the movies because it completely disregards the epilogue. It's RHr in the beginning, but will be HHr in the end. This chapter is a little fluffy friendship between Harry and Ginny as they break up, but don't worry, the angsty/hurt/comfort will come later on, I promise! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that no copyright infringement is intended. I do not own the magical world of Harry Potter and/or any of the characters mentioned.

Chapter 1: The Most Amicable Breakup in History

"Awkward."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," Harry, looking as apologetic as possible, nodded. He looked at the beautiful young woman before him, afraid and guilty of what he's said, but he could hide his discomfort no longer.

It had been a few hours more than a day since the seemingly endless war against Voldemort had ended, and all the survivors were only taking the first baby step into getting their lives - and the rest of the wizarding world - back on track. Immediately after Voldemort's downfall, Harry had gone straight to his two best friends. Ron and Hermione - after seven years of constant bickering, four years of tension and two years of painfully obvious romantic feelings for each other - have finally closed the distance between them and officially transformed their dysfunctional friendship into a relationship.

Of course, Harry had always suspected that such an event would occur eventually. However, something about the start of their relationship didn't sit with him right. They had gotten together in the middle of a war, amongst all the pressure, violence, loss and victory. What kind of a place was that to start a relationship? It made Harry completely uneasy. When he saw the pair emerge from the doors of the Great Hall with their hands intertwined, however, he couldn't help but smile at their obvious happiness. Despite all the deaths, they had managed to smile because of each other and that erased most, if not all, of Harry's worry for the two. For the first time after it all ended, he had genuinely smiled for the sake of his two best friends.

Seeing Ron and Hermione's apparent love for each other though, had made him question his own relationship with Ginny. He had no doubt in his mind that he had been in love with her during Dumbledore's funeral, Bill and Fleur's wedding and even the Horcrux hunt. But as he mulled his thoughts all over his brain, he remembered the kiss they shared amidst the battle; it was quick, rushed ... and completely desperate. Unlike the times when he and Ginny first got together, Harry did not feel the connection between them. It was as if the year-long distance between them had created a shift in him - in them.

Harry was seen as a representation of hope when in truth, he felt like a scared schoolboy who got extremely lucky during duels while Ginny had to deal with her family's constant reminders of her young age, when they all truly knew that she possessed great skill and true Gryffindor courage. They were both trapped in a world of chaos and after it all ended, Harry didn't feel the need to run to her and hold her in his arms until all the oxygen had escaped her slim body and neither has Ginny felt the need to run to him. They cared and loved each other, that's for sure, but he no longer felt that they were in love with each other. Of course, Harry wasn't sure if Ginny felt the same way and, not wanting to hurt her feelings with his overactive analyzing, he had decided to let things calm down for a few days before approaching the subject.

This plan went down the drain, however, when Ginny had approached the subject herself at the Gryffindor common room. Thus bringing Harry to his current predicament.

"Harry, when we kissed ... you know, before," Ginny had started, "How did it - well - how did it feel?"

Harry was dumbfounded by the sudden nature of her question, but felt that, after all they'd been through in the past few months, there would be no sense in beating around the bush to such a straightforward question.

"Awkward."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

To his surprise, Ginny's lips started to form into a smile and soon, a laugh. It wasn't long before she was doubled over in hilarity while Harry stared at her, dumbfounded once more.

"Er - " he muttered, not quite knowing what to say, "Ginny, what - ?"

"Oh, Harry," she smiled, wiping a stray tear from her right eye, "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say those words."

Harry's eyes grew wide. Was she really okay with this? "Are you joking?"

She shook her head, "Not even a little."

He smiled, "Really? Because you know, it's not like I never lov - "

"I know, Harry. I feel the same way."

"You do?"

"Harry, I ... I really missed you when you three just disappeared after the wedding," Ginny explained, smiling sadly, "I was worried and I really was in love with you. But, after a while, the hurt seemed to go away to be replaced by a different kind of hurt. I was constantly worried about my family and friends and that includes you ... just that, not in the same way anymore. I was just generally worried because I care about you and ... well, when I saw you again, it was as if - as if I was reverted back to when we first got together."

"That's when I knew that something was different. Being apart from you for practically a year was no vacation, Harry, but ... it wasn't like the whole world just paused for us. We couldn't just resume everything as if nothing's changed because everything's changed. Oh, good God, I don't even know if I'm making any sense right now - "

"No, I ... trust me, Ginny, I understand." Harry nodded, "I mean, in the beginning, I always wondered what you'd be doing, and where you were and if you're alright and how much I wished I was there with you, but ... after a while, something seemed to gradually change. I don't really know what, of course, but ... it just did."

They both looked at each other in a sort of bittersweet smile. Harry added, "I still care about you though."

Ginny, with a friendly gesture, placed her hand on top of Harry's shoulder, "I do too, Harry. The fact that things have changed, doesn't mean that I didn't care for you anymore and didn't want to be with you, and ... well that brings us to the day of the battle. I saw you and throughout the urgency of it all, I just kissed you, with as much heart as I could. And, just like you said, it was awkward."

"It really was, wasn't it?" he commented, recalling the moment, "I mean all the butterflies I used to feel, they were just gone and, when you kissed me, it was like - it was like kissing a - "

"- brother!" she finished, "I know!"

"Well, uh, I was going to say sister, because war or not, I doubt I'd ever - "

"Oh, shut up!" Ginny laughed, "You knew perfectly well what I meant."

"I know, I know. I'm joking!" He laughed, shaking his head slightly. Harry was amazed at how in sync their minds were sometimes, he and Ginny.

"This is mad." He commented with a toothy smile on his face.

"You're right," she nodded, looking down. After a long sigh, she looked back up with her warm eyes, "But it's true, as well."

They nodded in agreement and, after a few moments of comfortable silence, Harry retreated from the comfortable arm chair and decided to head down to lunch.

"Yeah, I bet they're looking for us," Ginny replied, getting up from her seat. "I'm getting hungry too."

Harry reached for her hand without hesitation, "Friends?"

She took his hand with ease, "Friends."

Harry and Ginny grinned as they walked down the Grand Staircase, both looking greatly relieved. For now, just for now, they didn't have to think of the funerals, the deaths ... for now, they just basked in their newly rebuilt friendship.

And that's it! Sorry, there's no Harry/Hermione interaction yet :( It'll be in the next chapter, I promise! Please share your thoughts in a form of a review (: