After the War

Chapter 2

Hermione walked down the stairs and promptly into the Weasley circle. Ron scooted over in his armchair so that she could squeeze in next to him, both taking obvious comfort in the others' limbs pressed against theirs. Harry followed slowly behind her, trying not to show the pain that rattled through him with every step he took. Mrs. Weasley stood quickly when she saw Harry at the foot of the stairs and ran towards him.

"Oh Harry," she cried in between heaving breaths. "You're alive! I thought--I thought you had died!" 

Harry hugged her back tightly, ignoring the pain erupting in his chest at the added pressure.

"I'm alive," he confirmed softly into her hair. Mrs. Weasley managed a small chuckle and looked at him to confirm the fact before patting his cheek and returning to the sofa, dragging him with her. Before he had a moment to breathe, a flying mass of long red hair came at him and Ginny hugged him tightly, freezing his arms to his sides. Harry gave a small moan of pain, but breathed deeply anyways. His brows furrowed--her rose-scented perfume was missing. She pulled away abruptly before he could figure out what the new small was and slapped him in the arm. Hard.

"Ginny!" her parents reprimanded, but she ignored them.

"I thought you were dead," she accused, crossing her arms angrily.

"I--I know," he said, truly understanding the pain of loss that he had caused them, not only with his own supposed death. "And I'm sorry. But, I... I had to." 

She looked taken aback at this statement, but grabbed his hand and pulled him to the empty seat waiting for him in the circle while she sat next to her mom on the sofa, arms still meticulously crossed.

"Well? Are you going to explain why you had to fake your own death and how it's even possible to do that to you-know-who of all people?" Her usual fire burned behind her eyes.

"And what were you three doing for the past year?" added Bill, which earned him a slap in the arm from Fleur. He shrugged an apology for his tactlessness, but faced the trio expectantly nonetheless. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione in the chair next to him.

"We can tell them now, can't we? I mean it is all over," Ron said. 

Hermione shot him a look before adding compassionately, "Only if you're up for it, Harry." 

Ron nodded his agreement instantly. Harry hesitated, having no wish to relive the past year, let alone the past few years that he would have to share in order for them to truly grasp all that had happened. But, at the same time, the Weasleys deserved to know the truth after all that they had been through. Genuinely unsure of what to do, he looked at his scuffed shoes and found Dumbledore's voice echoing through his head. 'Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.'

"Fine... yeah, okay," Harry said with a deep breath. He saw looks of curiosity spread across the group, except for George who sat at the edge of the sofa next to Charlie, looking like he could barely sit up. His eyes were puffy but glazed over and he stared off into the distance, seeing nothing. Charlie had his arm around him and was crying quietly, but he knew that any consolations would be useless, so the brothers sat silently.

"But I only want to say all of this once, so can we get Professor McGonagall here, too?"

"Oh! And Kingsley--well he is the Minister of Magic now," Hermione defended herself to Harry's questioning gaze. He nodded his agreement.

"Allow me," said Mr. Weasley and he muttered the incantation to send two separate silver weasels running out of the common room to deliver their messages. The group sat in silence, the crackling fire and soft sniffling balancing each other out. Harry looked at each of the surrounding group and saw that while some had showered, none had recovered. Each was solemn and constantly on the verge of tears escaping, even though there were not enough tears in the world to relieve anyone's pain. He had recently discovered that painful truth himself.