Survivors - 3

Knowing what he had to do, he tried to smile and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Take care of the Marauders. I want to leave remembering them this way," he said, his vision blurred. James, Remus and Sirius were laughing and good-naturedly shoving each other in the shoulder on occasion. It seemed the way it was supposed to be.

"I will," Lily said quietly, sniffing back her own tears. "Always remember that we love you, and that we're all so proud of you. You've grown into a fantastic young man, and I can't imagine a better son. I'm very pleased with the girl you've chosen. Be a gentleman and let her inside your head as well as your heart. Take care of each other."

Harry nodded, sniffling.

"I'm not going to make a horrid scene," Lily said, laughing through her tears. "I'll let you play macho. I love you, Harry."

Harry blinked, stunned. He'd never thought he'd hear his mother say that. He could feel his eyes filling and panicked that he was about to lose control.

"Oh, now I've done it," Lily said, swiping Harry's eyes and pulling him into a hug. "I'm going to stand with Tonks so you can return to the life you've made. It's a good life, son. Let yourself really live it."

Before Harry could reply, she hugged him once more and walked over to Tonks. Tonks wrapped her arm around the other woman and guided Lily's head to her shoulder.

"Live well, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, dragging Harry's attention back to the matter at hand.

Harry nodded and got to his feet, looking anywhere but right at Dumbledore's eyes. He allowed the Headmaster to lead him quietly from the common room, stealing one glance back at the laughing Marauders and noticing his mother still watching him.

When they reached the entrance where the portrait hole should have been, Professor Dumbledore stopped. Before he could think about it enough to stop himself from doing it, Harry flung his arms around the headmaster and held on fiercely. Dumbledore wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders and enveloped him in a warm embrace.

"You can always find me here, Harry," he said, resting his hand over Harry's heart, "even if we can no longer have our little chats."

Harry nodded, unable to speak.

"Simply imagine yourself going back, and your mind will do the rest," Dumbledore said.

Harry blinked and looked ahead of him, vaguely noticing that the great expanse of gray had brightened slightly. He could see most of Hogwarts and the Burrow dimly lit in the distance. He could even hear the crashing of waves and knew his and Ginny's private beach was not far.

As he began looking around and taking notice of places, shapes, and events in his life, he'd started forward, again floating above it all as his body moved toward the locked door. Craning his neck around, he realized he could still clearly see the common room, but it was vacant – a few empty mugs were the only indication that it had recently been used.

Harry shut his eyes to block the tears. It was time to go back.

**~~**~~**

Ginny stared out the window of the double room in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, watching the sun rise gloriously over the just-awakening city streets. There wasn't a single cloud marring the sky. She could see birds fluttering around the trees in a park at the corner, and even the smog from the morning rush of Muggle traffic appeared absent this day. It was as if nature itself was rejoicing over Voldemort's fall the previous evening.