From the Ashes

At first there was only darkness; unending and utter darkness. Harry couldn't see or hear anything, and this caused him no emotion at all. Then slowly a chill came that wound itself in to his body and made him rack with shivers. Suddenly he felt as though he should be somewhere, and Harry started running forward, in to darkness, and the further he went the colder it got. He needed to find something but he couldn't remember what it was, and his black surroundings started to make him nervous. A shrill cry came from ahead, but if sounded muffled, as if under water. Running towards the scream, Harry saw a figure facing away from him, shrouded in black. Slowly it turned around and a pair of red snake like eyes shone at him with amusement while its thin mouth twisted in to a smirk. Harry reached for his wand but Lord Voldemort was already falling, already dead. It was then when Harry realised that there was people lying around Voldemort, sleeping. But when Harry looked closer he could see blood, and spell scorch marks, pale shocked faces; their eyes blank and unseeing.

Harry was standing in a sea of dead, and he was drowning in it.

Gasping, Harry opened his eyes and opening his mouth to scream, still not totally out of the dream. But a deep grunt of a snore made his eyes flash towards a bed where Ron was splayed across the covers, and it was then when harry realized where he was.

He was back in his old dormitory, in his old four poster bed. Even though Dean Thomas had left Hogwarts last year, fearing for his life, his football posters were still on the wall above what used to be his bed. Harry chuckled remembering the annoyance they caused Ron simply because they didn't move. But quickly the chuckle turned in to a shiver as his dream came back to him. Yes, he had defeated Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle he corrected himself, but they received far greater losses caused by the dark lord, and now it was time to grieve for them. To grieve for his mother and father, and any siblings he could have had. For Muggleborns everywhere who were hunted down and killed just because of a sadistic man. For those who gave their lives in the Battle of Hogwarts to protect him, whose names kept popping in his head, no matter how hard he tried to force them out. Fred. Remus. Tonks. Colin...

Again Ron distracted Harry, and looking over it was obvious his friend was having a bad dream himself. His face was screwed up and he was whimpering slightly. Disentangling himself from his bed sheets, Harry stumbled over to Ron and shook him vigorously. Ron too woke up with a gasp and for a moment his blue eyes darted around the room as though he was expecting something to jump out at them. Finally Ron's eyes rested on Harry, and for a long moment the two friends just looked at each other, before Ron finally whispered, "We really did it, didn't we?"

"We really did." Again a silence and then quite suddenly both were laughing and crying, as they thought of all the hardship they had suffered, all the losses they now grieved, but also the fact that both of them lived, even after their dangerous quest they both survived, along with Hermione, and now the trio could finally start to plan to have a future; a future where they grow old, get married and have children.

But before that future could begin, it was time to put the past behind them. "Come on; let's go down to the Great Hall. People will be waiting for you." Ron said, pausing for a moment, "Plus, I'm hungry." Harry laughed aloud, a sound that he had heard too few times over the past year. But as he thought about it, Harry realized he was hungry too; no not hungry, ravenous would be the more suitable word. Plus, he was hoping to finally talk to a particular Weasley.