After the End

"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

Harry turned back to Dumbledore's portrait.

"I'll come back tomorrow; there are still some things I'd like answers to."

And at that Harry turned around and headed for the door, with Ron and Hermione at his side.

"Harry?"

"Yes Professor?" said Harry as he turned around.

"Just because things happen inside your head does not mean that it is not real," said Dumbledore, with a wink to Harry.

Harry smiled and headed for Gryffindor tower. He was in no mood to return to the Great Hall tonight. He'd face everything in the morning. When the trio arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady they realized that they didn't know the password.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Ron.

"Maybe if we ask politely she might let us in," said Hermione.

"Worth a try," said Harry as he walked up to the Fat Lady. "Um, excuse me? We don't know the password this year, so could you just tell us and let us in, surely you remember who we are."

"Ah, yes, Harry Potter," replied the Fat Lady.

"Yeah that's me, so can you tell us the password?"

"I just did."

"What? Was it "ah"? "Yes"? Oh! The password is me?"

"Yes. Harry Potter," said the Fat Lady as she swung open to reveal a beautiful red and gold common room.

"Looks the same as when we left it," said Ron as he flung himself onto the couch by the fire. Hermione followed suit and sat down next to Ron, resting her head on his shoulder, while Harry sat down in his favorite armchair.

"Well this has been one busy night," said Ron, putting his arm around Hermione.

Harry got the idea and decided to avoid feeling uncomfortable, so he addressed both of his friends. "I think I'm going to go to bed, see you guys in the morning."

"Oh, ok," said Hermione.

"I'll be up in a bit Harry, don't wait up for me," said Ron with a grin.

So Harry climbed the stairs towards his favorite bed in the world. He reached the door which creaked open when he placed his hands upon it. He walked over to his four poster bed and fell onto it, not even bothering to change into pajamas. There were so many thoughts going through his head that he thought it very unlikely that he would be able to sleep at all. Everything was so much of a blur that he couldn't even remember the exact order everything happened in. He felt sort of a good quality feeling toward the man he hated, he was both angry and happy with Dumbledore, and he had a strong surge of joy in the fact that he had just defeated the most dangerous and cruel wizard of all time, and in doing so, both fulfilled the prophecy and took the wizarding world out of a state of open warfare. He knew that everything would change now, and it would of course be for the better. He would be remembered forever as The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, and most importantly The Boy Who defeated He Who Must Not Be Named. Harry rolled over to face the window and wondered what tomorrow would bring.