Harry Potter After the War
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.
A/N: Harry Potter - After the War takes up the story of Harry, Ginny, their family, and friends beginning on the day after Harry defeated Lord Voldemort. While there are additional characters, this storyline is based on Canon, and follows JKR's post DH interviews and comments on what happened with H/G/R/Hr, etc. after the war, or at least how I imagine that post-war life could be. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
Chapter One
There was nothing but peaceful, velvety darkness, and he drifted along contentedly, barely even aware even of that darkness.
"Harry."
Ripples stirred in that soul-soothing blackness, and the happily floating mind tried to ignore the intrusion.
"Harry! Wake up!"
A not so gentle shove, and the shout brought Harry jarringly awake, and the beautiful, emptiness and dark was replaced by searing brightness and foggy disorientation as he opened his eyes, shut them again, and groped blindly for his glasses.
"Nice of you to join us finally," Ron said as he stepped away from Harry and sat on the bed next to Harry's - the one that had been his up until a year or so ago.
"What time is it?" Harry asked, sitting up in the bed and putting his glasses on. He squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness, and looked at Ron.
"Quarter past eight, and about twenty-one hours since you crashed yesterday," Ron reported. "Get up and ready - most everyone is already in the Great Hall having breakfast, and I'm starving. Your bag is on the floor next to you. Hermione left it here for you."
Harry took a second to adjust to the fact that he'd been out of it for most of a day. His battle with Tom Riddle had been yesterday. "Have I missed much while I was out?"
Ron nodded. "I haven't been up that long myself, but was up for a few hours last night. In all of the confusion after you-know - er, Voldemort - died, most of the Death Eaters and their pals escaped. Minister Shacklebolt isn't happy about that at all, but apparently everyone was celebrating, and nobody was watching the Witches and Wizards we'd captured. The place was crawling with Ministry officials last night - mostly sucking up to Shacklebolt. Most of the injured have been moved to St. Mungos, with just the milder injuries still being treated in the hospital wing. There's going to be a Memorial service here the day after tomorrow. I think that's all of the highlights that I know about."
"Okay," Harry answered, climbing out of the bed. "I'm going to grab a quick shower. Why don't I meet you in the Common room in fifteen?"
Ron stood up too. "Try to make it ten, mate. I'd really like to get to the Great Hall before the food's all gone."
Harry nodded, grabbed his bag, and left for the washroom. He wondered how long it would be before he found comments like Ron's funny again. Getting moving allowed him to become acutely aware of the aches and pains that exhaustion had temporarily saved him from feeling, and as he stripped down for his shower, he could see all of the dark bruises and abrasions that he'd picked up during the battle. The hot water helped some, even with the sting of the soap on some of those cuts and abrasions. Ron might have wanted him to hurry, but he still took the time after his shower to shave and brush his hair before taking his bag back into the dorm and heading to the Common room. He stopped short and smiled when he saw Ron kissing Hermione next to the stairway to the girls' dorm.
"Should I run for cover?" he asked them. "Last time I saw you two doing that, things got a little crazy around us." Hermione jumped, stepping back from Ron, who just turned and grinned at Harry.
