A New Breath of Life

The Nap, The Sandwich and The Girlfriend (Maybe)

AN: Hi everyone! So I said that I'd start a Harry Potter fanfic for after the war, because personally, I never really got any closure from the books or the movies, and what better way than to write one of my own? It will be serious, and funny. It will be deep, and ridiculous. And it will have ups, and downs. We're talking about Harry Potter and the Weasleys after all...

Harry walked out of Dumbledore's office feeling...tired. Exhausted beyond all measure. All he wanted was a nap. Preferably a long one, in which no one would bother him. He supposed the grief would return later, in full force. Never had he lost so many loved ones.

As he walked in the hallways, stumbling from exhaustion, people stared and pointed. Whispers, happy jubilant whispers followed him as he dragged his feet in the direction of Gryffindor tower. He supposed the staring and pointing would only get worse. He had finally defeated Voldemort after all, and in plain sight of hundreds of people as well. But he had no desire to celebrate, or to even smile. He had lost so much to get to this point, well...he'd believe that it would get better when it did.

As he approached the Fat Lady, he frowned. Having been on the run for the past year, he didn't know the password to the tower, but even if he did, he doubted he would have remembered it. As he looked up though, he saw the portrait swing open. Before he could even speak, he heard the Fat Lady speak, in a rather thick voice, "You've earned the password, my boy, after all you've done. Thank you."

He shook his head and smiled, just a little. He never thought he'd see the day when the Fat Lady would admit anyone without the password. As he walked up the tower, which was remarkably unscathed, he saw the bed he'd used for 6 years of his life. He walked up to it, and without even taking off his glasses, he collapsed into it.

There was no doubt. A bed was much better than a cot in a tent on the run for your lives. Much better.
...

The first thing he registered when he woke up was that the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. He almost felt...happy. For the first time since they set off on the Horcrux hunt. Until he remembered who wouldn't be here to enjoy it. Fred, Colin, Tonks, Remus, Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, Sirius, and...his parents. He had never let himself cry for his parents, because he had always focused on making sure that they didn't die in vain. He had always had to keep his fear, his grief, his anger, his desperation within him. He was the leader, the Chosen One after all. He had to keep it together.

But now? He just sank back into his bed, curled up and cried. Cried for the first time in 9 years. He cried for the family he never got, the friends he never got to say goodbye to, the people who had taken him in, the people who kept him alive for so long. He cried out all his emotions. He cried in relief, that no one had to die anymore. He cried because he was free, free for the first time ever, but the ones he wanted here with him to celebrate weren't here.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, and ended up falling asleep again, because crying out his emotions from the past nine years was quite tiring.
...

As Ginny stood up from where her family sat in the Great Hall, she announced shakily, "I'm going to look for Harry," and cringed, thinking of what her family would say. Ron and Hermione smiled and nodded, knowing why she was going after him. Mrs. Weasley nodded through her tears, and choked out, "I want him here with us, dear. He's as much a part of our family as you kids are." She broke off sobbing, remembering Fred. Ginny brushed away a few tears and walked out of the hall, with a few stares following her.

As she reached Gryffindor tower, she noticed how empty it was. The Fat Lady had let her in, with a knowing smirk, and had told her, "He's right upstairs dear. I've been looking forward to seeing you too together again." Go figure, a portrait could make her blush now.