Just Plain Harry

Epilogue Life, Everywhere

Harry sat in front of his trunk, wondering how he always seemed to have so much more stuff when he left Hogwarts each year than when he'd arrived. Not that it was that hard to figure out; the Dursleys didn't exactly load him down with gifts, after all. At least Hermione had taught him the charm to make the trunk larger on the inside than the outside; if she hadn't, he never would have been able to make everything fit.

Still, he did need to organize everything. If he didn't, Dobby would, and he didn't want him to have to do that. Harry hadn't believed it possible, but Dobby was even happier than Harry was that he wasn't going back to the Dursleys'. Harry hadn't thought about what would happen in the summer when he'd agreed to take on Dobby, but he should have. The Dursleys would never have let a house-elf live at Privet Drive, and Harry doubted that Dobby would have been able to keep quiet and out of sight if he'd snuck him into his room. Luckily, he wouldn't have to worry about that, since he was actually going to be picked up at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters by Sirius. As soon as Sirius had been officially pardoned, which had been as soon as Professor Moody had been able to spend some one-on-one time with Cornelius Fudge, he'd rushed out and found a house, so he could finally take Harry to live with him. Remus had told Harry that he had Toby to thank for Sirius not spending far more than the house was worth, since he'd been so eager just to get a home for Harry that he'd have spent anything. Harry still caught himself giving his arms pinches, because he just couldn't believe his good luck. Of course, not everything was perfect - living with Sirius had come with the price tag of having to live with Aunt Petunia and Dudley as well, not to mention Mad-Eye Moody. Dumbledore insisted on Harry having the strongest protection possible, and that meant blood relations and the best Auror available. Still, even that couldn't ruin Harry's summer.

Of the five boys in the dormitory, only Neville and Dean had already packed their trunks. The two of them were outside, enjoying their last day with Hannah and Padma, respectively. Ron and Seamus were also out enjoying the sunshine, along with Hermione and Lavender, but their trunks were still open and messy. Ron's section of the room looked almost as bad as Harry's had back in second year, when Ginny had trashed it, looking for the diary.

Ginny was the reason why Harry wasn't out in the sunshine, celebrating his release from the O.W.L.s, Malfoy, and (at least for the summer) Snape. She'd told him that she couldn't possibly enjoy herself out in the sun until she knew her trunk was packed, and since she wasn't going to be out there, Harry figured he might as well pack, too. Ron and Hermione certainly didn't need him hanging around them just then, and everyone else seemed to have paired off as well. So, he'd come inside, but he was finding it difficult to sort through his things.

For instance, all his notes and practice tests from the O.W.L.s - he didn't need them anymore, truly, and yet his mind wandered back to the revision sessions in the library...in the common room...outside on the lawn after the kidnapping attempt... He carefully packed up the notes and put them in his trunk, and as he did so, his fingers hit something hard and unexpected. He drew it out, and read the title in bemusement. Animagi: A Guide to Finding Your Inner Animal. He'd completely forgotten about it. When Hermione had sent it to him for his birthday, he'd been so excited to try it out, but so much had happened during the year that it had just sat in his trunk, unread. Well, he'd have plenty of time over the summer, not to mention a godfather who could answer any questions he might have. Harry pinched his arm for the hundredth time, and then set to his packing, determined to finish.

Some time later, he slammed his trunk shut and dusted off his hands. He suspected that Dobby would still repack the whole thing to make it neater, but there was nothing he could do about that. For now, everything that should be in that trunk, except for clothes for tomorrow, was in there, and Harry could head outside with a clear conscience. He practically skipped down the stairs, then stopped as soon as he entered the common room, surprised to see Fred and George sitting at a table. They were talking very earnestly to Katie, who sat between them, looking like she was trying not to laugh.

"Now, when he refers to eckeltricity, don't laugh," George was saying to her. "Both Harry and Hermione have tried to get him to say it right, and it just hasn't worked."

"Right sad, that is," Fred said, shaking his head and frowning. "Makes you wonder if there might not be a tail feather loose in his wand, if you know what I mean."

"Fred!" Katie said, elbowing him in the stomach. She looked up, saw Harry, and waved him over. "Harry, please tell me these two are exaggerating," she said.

Harry had to laugh. "If they're talking about Mr. Weasley, they're actually not, for once."
Her eyes went wide, and she looked back and forth between Fred and George, who both crossed their hearts and looked solemnly back at her.

"Are you going to be visiting at the Burrow, Katie?" Harry asked. It suddenly struck him, yet again, that the three of them, and all the rest of the seventh-years, wouldn't be back at Hogwarts next year. This fact had been hitting him in waves, every time he did something for the last time with them. The match against Hufflepuff had been horrible, even though they'd won, because every time Lee Jordan called out Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, or Alicia's names, Harry thought about next year. Next year, not only would none of them be playing Quidditch for Gryffindor, but Lee wouldn't be the one announcing the games, either. The party the night before had almost been worse, because Harry wasn't the only one feeling it then - Gryffindor parties had achieved legendary status because of these six seventh-years, and the whole tower would miss them.

Now, Katie shook her head, but before she could answer Harry, Fred did it for her.

"She's going to be working with Dad, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department," he said.

"Taking over for Dad, more like," George said. He looked proud, but his voice was fierce. "Which isn't a sinecure anymore, y'know." He turned to Katie and added, "At least you're training with Moody, so you can defend yourself."

Katie jumped up and turned to face him, her hands on her hips.

"Are you saying I couldn't defend myself before, George Weasley?" she said, glaring at him. "Because I remember -"

"No, no," George said, holding his hands up in front of him in horror, "I would never say that. But, Katie, Death Eaters aren't exactly going to be trying to tickle you."

Katie opened her mouth, and then shut it again. Harry could see that she had tears in her eyes.

"So, you're going to be training with Professor Moody," he said, just to say something to break the mood.

"The way she always should have," George said.

Katie shook her head, but she still didn't seem able to say anything, so it was a good thing that the Fat Lady opened just then. Ron and Hermione climbed in, and came over to the four of them.

"All packed, Harry?" Hermione asked. When he nodded, she added, "I brought this one in to do the same. He'd leave it 'til midnight if I let him."

Ron smiled down at her, while making an obscene gesture at his brothers, who were snickering. Hermione pretended not to notice as she walked over to the girls' dormitory stairs. Ron glared at Fred and George, and at Harry as he started to laugh as well, and then stomped over to the boys' stairs. Harry could hear his stamping footsteps all the way up the stairs and into their dormitory.

"Shut it, you three," Katie said. "I think they're cute, and you boys certainly can't talk. Speaking of which," she added to Fred and George, "what are you doing inside, and not with Angelina and Brenna?"

Fred and George sprang to their feet and gave her two smart salutes.

"Brenna's packing, and told me to meet her at four o'clock, ma'am!"

"Angelina is saying good-bye to the Quidditch changing rooms, ma'am, and I wanted to leave the two of them alone!"

Katie giggled. "Well, I suppose you're excused," she said, then turned to Harry. "Ginny said to tell you that she'll meet you at the usual place." She cocked her head at him. "Just out of curiosity, where is the usual place? You don't have to tell me," she added.

Harry shook his head. "I don't mind. It's that bench out by the lake."
"The one where...she still goes there?"

"Of course she does," Harry, Fred, and George said in unison, and then laughed at themselves.

Katie shrugged and shook her head. "All right," she said. "You want to head down, Harry? I'm meeting Theo."

Fred and George snickered, but she ignored them, and Harry followed her out of the portrait hole and downstairs to the main doors.

When he reached them, though, he realized that there was somebody else he needed to see first. He waved at Katie and headed over to Remus' hut. Halfway there, he stopped short. Remus' hut. For four and a half years, it had been Hagrid's hut, and now, after just six months, it had become Remus' so completely that the thought had just slipped out. Harry wondered what that said about him. There wasn't a day that he didn't miss Hagrid, but he didn't like to think about it. There were so many people he missed; if he thought about them all the time, he'd never do anything else. He started walking again, determined to enjoy the day, and not to let his thoughts drag him down.

The door of the hut stood open, so Harry could hear Remus' and Sirius' voices as he approached.

"I do hope you're not planning on doing this often during the summer," Remus was saying. "What an example to set for Harry!" He'd managed to keep his voice somber for the first sentence, but Harry heard amusement in the second.

Harry stopped immediately, one foot raised to climb onto the first step leading up to the door. He put it back down onto the ground; he wanted to hear this.

"Shut up, Moony," Sirius said. His voice sounded muffled, as though his head was buried in his hands.

"So, where did you go?" Remus asked, definitely amused now. "Rosmerta always closes at midnight."

"Erm..."

"Or should I say, with whom did you go? I don't know if I'm impressed or appalled - you just bought your new wand last week."

"Impressed, Moony. You know you're impressed."

Harry grinned at the smugness in Sirius' voice. He wished he could see the two of them, but he knew that if he put a foot on the wooden steps, they'd hear, and they'd stop talking. This was the happiest he'd ever heard the two of them, and he didn't want it to stop.

"What was her name?" was all the answer Remus gave Sirius.

"Erm," Sirius said again. "It was...Jay? Wren? Didn't matter, she didn't like it. Wanted to be called - never mind."

Remus chuckled. "Wait 'til I tell Toby. She's been wracking her brain, trying to think of one of her friends that would suit you."

"Wracking her brain? Is it that hard to think of someone who might be interested in me?" There was a pause. "Oh, all right. Shut up, Moony."

"And here I was going to ask you what she's like," Remus said, at his most bland.

"Oh, dark brown hair down to here, bright blue eyes, the cutest little bump on her nose...and fun. Lots of fun."
"I'm glad," Remus said.

"Yeah, me, too," Sirius said.

Harry swallowed. He knew he shouldn't be hearing this, but he, too, was glad. He turned around and sat down on the bottom step, knowing that Remus, at least, would be able to hear him, but not caring. He blinked a few times and stared out over the lake.

"Get some sleep," he heard Remus say. "I'm certain you need it."

"Shut up, Moony," Sirius growled, yet again, and Remus laughed.

After a moment, Remus walked out of the door, shutting it behind him, and came to sit next to Harry on the steps. Harry grinned at him, and Remus smiled back.

"I'm glad, too," Harry said.

"Be as glad as you want, but don't get any ideas," Remus said, but he didn't seem able to wipe the smile from his face. "Oh, well," he added, glancing back over his shoulder, "it was his first night out as a free man; he's certainly earned the right to celebrate."

Harry nodded. He turned back to look out over the lake. As happy as he was for Sirius, that wasn't why he'd wanted to talk to Remus. He wondered how to bring up that reason.

"You want to talk about Draco, don't you?" Remus said, once again showing his uncanny perception.

Harry didn't turn his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the lake while he nodded. He could see Ginny's bench from where he sat, and the sun glinting off her hair, even from there. She would want to hear this, too, but Harry needed to have Remus tell him by himself. He wasn't sure how he'd react, and he didn't want to show Ginny any more ugly outbursts.

Dumbledore had expelled Malfoy as soon as he'd heard what he'd done. It was the first time Harry had ever seen the Headmaster act so decisively without listening to the other side of the story (Malfoy had still been Stunned). He had said that nothing could excuse Malfoy's actions, and he had repeated that when Lucius Malfoy and Cornelius Fudge had descended on him in protest. Lucius had, of course, demanded a hearing, and Fudge had forced Dumbledore to accede to it, and to allow Draco to sit his O.W.L.s as well.

The real problem was that Fudge had decreed that neither Harry nor Ginny's evidence was allowable at the hearing. He'd considered Harry dangerous and unstable for over a year now, thanks to Rita Skeeter, and he was well aware that Ginny had been the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets. No matter what Dumbledore said to him about who had been the real culprit, Fudge wouldn't change his mind. In fact, none of the people who accused Draco with kidnapping held much weight with the Minister of Magic. Remus was a werewolf, Toby a reclusive Seer, Brenna the daughter of Squibs, and Moody was, well, Mad-Eye Moody. The Weasleys were all suspect, of course, and Theo was the cousin of a formerly imprisoned accused Death Eater. Fudge had had to pardon Sirius, when confronted with an alive, kicking, and confessing Peter Pettigrew, but he hadn't had to like it.

The hearing had been this morning. Since Harry couldn't be there, he'd tried to put it out of his mind and enjoy the day. Remus hadn't been there, either, but Harry knew he'd have found out what had happened as soon as it was over, and he felt more comfortable asking Remus about it than Dumbledore.

"The governors upheld the expulsion," Remus said, now, and Harry had to restrain himself from punching the air and yelling with joy. Remus wasn't completely happy, he could tell, and he wanted to find out why.

"I'm worried about them," Remus said, staring off over the lake. "And their families. Lucius Malfoy is not going to forget this."

That withered Harry's joy. Remus was right, and Malfoy certainly had both the power and the inclination to punish whomever displeased him. The governors had done a very brave thing, since they had to have known that, too. Harry didn't even know all of their names, but he would find out.

"I suppose he'll go to Durmstrang," he said, remembering how Ron had dreamt of Malfoy at Durmstrang, getting pushed off an iceberg.

"Probably," Remus said, and sighed.

Harry raised his eyebrows at him.

"The boy will have no chance at Durmstrang," Remus said. "Here, at least, there was the possibility that he might see the error of his ways and come around, like Severus. There's no hope of that now."

There was precious little hope of that before, Harry thought, but he didn't say anything. Remus hadn't spent five years in school with Malfoy, he couldn't know what an evil, sick, twisted - Harry stopped his thoughts before he became too angry.

"Severus is beside himself, of course," Remus murmured. He gazed out over the lake, and Harry suspected he'd forgotten he wasn't alone. "He'd thought he was getting through to the boy."

Harry jumped to his feet. He didn't think he could stand hearing Remus call Malfoy 'the boy' in that tone of voice one more time...as though he were Theo, or...or Ron. He wasn't, and no amount of wishing by Remus or Snape could make him so. Harry started off towards Ginny's bench, waving at Remus as he left. Remus waved back, but he didn't seem to really notice that Harry had left.

As he walked, he thought about Professor Snape. Hermione had told him what Snape had done, when he and Ginny had been kidnapped, but even so, he'd been surprised at how worried she, Remus, Toby, and especially Sirius, had been until Snape had returned to Hogwarts. Ginny hadn't been able to sit down until he did; she'd felt guilty that she'd told Joanna Snape was a spy, and no amount of logical reasoning from Hermione calmed her down. Hermione had pointed out that since both Wormtail and Malfoy had been captured, if Voldemort knew Snape was a spy, it wasn't because Ginny had told him. It hadn't done any good. When Snape finally returned Ginny had practically thrown herself at him, and had received in thanks a tongue-lashing she wouldn't forget for awhile. Neither would Harry; there was just something about the words, "kindly refrain from emotional outbursts that do everyone around you, including yourself, more harm than good," that sticks in your mind, especially when they were uttered in a sneering, bone-tired voice.

The knowledge that Draco Malfoy had at least said that he'd known Snape was a spy hadn't made any impact on the Potions professor. He'd merely said that it changed nothing, and continued his report to Dumbledore. The kidnapping, as they'd suspected, had been a rogue operation; apparently, Malfoy hadn't even told his father his plans. Which, of course, only added to Lucius' wrath when he'd been informed of his son's expulsion from Hogwarts.

When Harry neared Ginny's bench, he realized that she wasn't actually sitting on it. Instead, she sat on the ground beside it, her head propped up on her hand, gazing out over the lake. Harry dropped down beside her, laying both of his arms out over the bench.

"The governors have upheld the expulsion," he blurted out.

"That's great, Harry!" Ginny said. She turned a bit and took one of his hands in both of hers, her eyes sparkling. "I'm glad for our world to know that Professor Dumbledore still has more influence than Lucius Malfoy."

"Me, too," Harry said, "but, Ginny, because they did, they're going to be in danger. Their families are going to be in danger. I just remembered that Geraden Gard's father is one of the governors. I don't think that his being a Slytherin is going to stop Lucius -"

Ginny put her fingers to his lips to stop the torrent of words.

"I know, Harry," she said. "I know what can happen to the families of people who anger the Malfoys. But there's nothing you can do to help them. They've made their choice, and we should honor them for it."

Harry nodded, but he barely heard her words. His entire world had just come down to her fingers on his lips. He didn't want to move, hardly even wanted to breathe, because he didn't want her to take them away. When she did, he felt his skin still tingling.

"Ginny," he said, because the tingle had reminded him, "you promised that you would explain the Protection Charm to me today." She had. They'd been on his Firebolt, flying over the Forbidden Forest, and she'd asked him to wait for an explanation until the day of the Leaving Feast. He hadn't wanted to, hadn't understood why she would want to wait, but she'd said, "Please, Harry," and he could never resist that.

"That's right, I did," she said now, turning her head to look out across the lake. She still held his hand, and she rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, forcing him to hold himself very still so as not to twitch in response.

"Remember how I told you that the charm required something?" she asked, and Harry tried to tear his thoughts away from her thumb and back to the conversation.

"Yes," he said finally. "You said that both of the people had to do whatever it was. I assume you meant the caster and the person she's casting it on?"

Ginny nodded. "But it's not something you have to do, it's something you have to feel." She took a deep breath. "It's love," she said.

Harry just looked at her. "So, why couldn't you tell me this before? Of all the people in the world, I certainly know how strongly love can affect magic."
Ginny jumped up, took a few steps away from the bench, and stood there, not looking at Harry.

"Both people have to feel love, Harry," she said. "Both of them. Not affection, not tenderness, not sympathy for a little girl with a crush, love. And I didn't know...how you felt."

She barely murmured the last words, but Harry heard them. Or maybe, he just knew that she was going to say them.

"Now you do," he said, gazing up at her.

"Yes," she said, "now I do, and, oh Harry -"

She turned back around, and he barely had time to register her bright eyes, her swirling hair, before she flung herself at him, pushing him over onto his back on the ground. Harry's head hit rather painfully, but he didn't care, because Ginny was covering his face with kisses, and he would have endured a concussion for that.

Quite a long time later, they sat up again and returned to lounging against the bench. Harry knew they should head inside - the Leaving Feast would begin soon - but he didn't want this time with Ginny to end.

"You'll come visit, this summer, won't you?" he said suddenly.

Ginny looked at him sideways, through her eyelashes.

"If you invite me," she said, and her lips quirked into a half smile.

Harry quirked back. "Consider yourself invited," he said. "'Course, it's going to be a madhouse. Putting Sirius, Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and Mad-Eye Moody together in one house was not one of Dumbledore's better ideas."

Ginny turned to him and put a hand on his arm. Her gaze burned into him; he'd never seen her look quite so serious.

"It's necessary, Harry," she said. "You need the protection of your blood relations, you know that."

Harry gave her a comical grimace, hoping to diffuse her intensity somewhat. He didn't want to be this solemn, on the last day of the term.

"I know," he said. "And hopefully, your mum has softened Aunt Petunia up enough that she'll be almost human."

Ginny chuckled. "She probably has," she said, "but what about Dudley?"

Harry leaned over to whisper in her ear, for no other reason, obviously, than that he wanted to do it.

"Sirius," he said, "is going to take care of Dudley."
Ginny burst out laughing, and Harry watched her, a huge smile on his face. She really was amazing. Seeing her like this, you wouldn't have thought that she'd been kidnapped and threatened with the Imperious Curse (and maybe worse), just a short time ago. Of course, compared to her first year at Hogwarts, this latest experience was probably relatively easy to assimilate. And he wasn't doing too badly, either.

"Ginny," he said suddenly, because now seemed like a good time to ask a question he'd wanted to ask for awhile, "remember when Malfoy went berserk?"

Ginny looked at him as though she thought he had sunstroke.

"Right," he said, "of course you do. But right before he cast the Furious Curse at me, he called me...well, you remember." He didn't know why he didn't want to say 'bastard' in front of Ginny - she'd obviously heard much worse from Ron, at the very least - but he didn't. "Do you know why he was so angry? I mean, it was obviously something you wrote in your diary, and..."

He trailed off, because Ginny had buried her head in her arms. Before she did it, though, Harry had seen her face quite clearly; she was blushing.

"Well, it couldn't have been anything you said about anything we were doing," he went on, knowing he was floundering, but plowing ahead anyway, "because we weren't really doing anything." Ginny gave an indignant, though muffled, squeak, and Harry hurried to reassure her. "I mean, what we were doing was wonderful - is wonderful - but it wasn't anything to make him have that reaction, and...dammit, Ginny, if you know why, tell me!"

Ginny giggled, and finally raised her head. She was still blushing, but she was smiling, too.

"I had a vision that...that...oh, this is embarrassing," she said. "Why do I have more visions about mundane things than important ones? A vision of the kidnapping attempt would have been extremely useful, but all I Saw was the aftermath. What good is that? And one of my brothers' wedding? Why did I see that?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I'll tell you this, though. That vision you had of Sirius, the one where he was laughing and carefree, was pretty important to me." He saw sudden tears spring up in her eyes, and went on, "And don't think you can distract me that easily. What was this vision that you described in your diary that caused Malfoy to lose it?"

Ginny buried her head in her arms again, but this time she spoke into them, too.

"I Saw...something that...that indicated that we...have a future together," she said.

"Oh," Harry said. He stared out across the lake and thought about that. A future together. What exactly did she mean by that? Had she Seen them holding hands at his seventh-year Leaving Feast? Living in a flat together? Their wedding in the Weasley garden? He looked back down at the bright hair spilling out over the bench, and knew that he couldn't ask her. Not for the first time, he realized that Trelawney was right about one thing: the gift of True Sight was a curse. If Ginny knew that they would stay together, maybe even get married someday, she must be feeling like all of her choices had been taken away.

"Ginny, he said, reaching out and putting a hand on her head. Even in the midst of all this, he couldn't help but marvel at the silky fire of it, and at the fact that he was allowed to touch it. "Ginny, I don't want you to feel trapped."
"Oh, I don't," she said, raising her head and reaching for his hand. "I probably should, but I don't."

Harry held her gaze for a long time before he nodded. He believed her, but he knew that he wanted to, and that probably influenced him. But he also knew Ginny, and knew that if she did feel trapped, she wouldn't hesitate to break free.

"All right," he said finally, and she smiled and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He reached out to hold her there, but she jumped up with a laugh.

"C'mon, the Leaving Feast is about to start, and I'm starving," she said, pulling him to his feet.

Harry looked instinctively towards the castle when she said that, and saw Ron and Hermione waving at them from near the doors. He grabbed a tighter hold on Ginny's hand and started to run towards them, pulling her along with him. He knew that nothing was really over, that Voldemort was still out there, and that someday he would have to face him. But that day was not this day, and Harry decided to enjoy this day, and as many days to come as he had, to the utmost. He owed it to his mother and father, and to Cedric, Hagrid, and the Creeveys, and to all his friends, who wanted him to so much. And he owed it to himself. He and Ginny almost plowed into Ron and Hermione, and it was as one laughing, connected mass that they headed into the Great Hall and the summer to come.

The End