After the End - after the Deathly Hollows

Debriefing with the Dursleys

Harry figured that there would be much more revealed to Ginny soon, and he didn't want to take time to discuss it now.

"Alright" she said. "But we will talk"

"Of course" Harry said, following a relieved looking Dudley into the kitchen.

"Mum, it's Harry. And he brought a friend" Dudley announced.

"I thought it was. Who's your friend?" she said, Aunt Petunia said, closing the fridge and turning to the teens.

"This is my girlfriend, Ginny Weasly"

"Well, pleasure, Ginny." His aunt replied, before continuing. "Now, how are you Harry? Am I right in understanding that things are better?"

"Um, yes, things are much better."

"And... the leader of the group, the one that...killed Lily... he's gone for good, right?" she asked, surprising Harry with the hint of emotion

"He was called Voldemort, and yes, he's dead for good." he said "him and his supporters, death eaters, attacked hogwarts, the school, and there was a long battle, but he fell in the end"

"Good" she said quietly

Dudley picked up a different piece of information from his cousin

"A battle? How did that end up?"

"Well, we had a few hours warning, so the younger kids were able to get out of the castle, but a lot of the older kids stayed. There was also a group of adults dedicated to fighting Voldemort specifically, called the Order of the Phoenix. They were there, about 20 of them, and some others. The other side, the death eaters, had us outnumbered, though. From what I've heard, both sides had heavy losses."

"Losses? Anyone you knew?"

"Of course, we knew most of them. One of Ginny's brothers"

Petunia responded to this

"Im so sorry dear"

Ginny answered

"It's been hard, but...we're getting better"

After a moment of silence, Dudley spoke again

"Your last name is Weasley, right? Isn't that...Harry's friend's name? The people that came to pick you up from the fireplace?"

Again, Ginny answered

"Yes, they did, before my 3rd year. The one that passed was one that came, Fred, one of the twins"

Harry took over "the twins gave you the taffy that extended your tongue, Dudley." he said with a chuckle.

"Really? Well, tell the other twin all is forgiven. We were being jerks to them. And you"

Another pause

Harry decided it was time to move on.

"Well, i'll have to go up to my room to get a few things, is that alright? Did you clear it out?"

"Go on up, everything is as it was." his aunt said

So, they passed the cupboard again (Ginny seemed to think it had eyes that she could stare menicengly into) and up the stairs.

They where in front of the room when Ginny spoke again

"Ok, locks i expected, but a flap door? Seriously?"

She was pointing to the small 'cat flap' at the bottom of the door that Harry had gotten so many meals through

"Well, before my second year, your first, they locked me in there for doing underage magic."

"What about the bathroom?!"

"They let me out for that about 3 times a day, morning, noon and night. I managed"

"And if Ron and the twins hadn't come in the flying car?"

"People would have come looking for me when I didn't show up at school"

"They weren't going to let you go to school?!"

With every relization, Ginnys voice seemed to get louder

"They never wanted me to go in the first place. Now, please keep quiet, i dont want them to hear you yelling"

"fine" she said with a huff. "Lets go in"

And so they did

Once in, Harry started to gather the few school and unnecessary things he didnt being with him last summer in his school trunk, still against the wall.

"What else should i know? What else did they do?" Ginny asked, not wanting to leave the subject alone.

"It wasnt much worse than you know. Id be looked in my room, did chores and cooking, and punishments for not finishing or doing magic"

"What about before hogwarts, when you where little?"

"Pretty much the same"

"So they had a what, 8 Year old? Locked in the cupboard, cooking meals, and being punished for underage, unknowing magic"

"Ya."

A pause as Harry put more things in his trunk (AN: yes, im too lazy to say what. The only thing i can think of is school book and uniform robes)

When Ginny spoke again, she was much quieter

"The punishments you said, did they...ever hit you?"

Harry should have knew that question was coming

"A bit. A couple swings, shoves and hits, nothing too bad. Dudley and his friends where..physical too. But mostly, punishments would be more chores, locked in my cupboard, or no meals for a few days."

"of course that's all bad, that's abuse and neglect"

Of cource it was. Harry figured those two words fit his life with the Durslys a few months into 2nt year, after seeing how different the Weaslys where

Now done with packing, he stood back up and faced Ginny

"i guess it was. But i'm alright now. And have been for years. Ive had the big, wonderful, Weasley family. And you"

He took a step closer, and gave her a quick kiss.

Ginny pulled away after a momert to "We'll talk more later...with Ron and Hermione"

"Theres no way to get out of that, is there?"

"Nope"

"Then of course"