The dawn was just starting to break as Harry stumbled blindly out of the Forbidden Forest, blood and dirt streaked down his face. It was over. After seven long years, it was finally over. Ron and Hermione had managed to kill Voldemort's snake Nagini, in turn, allowing Harry to defeat Voldemort once and for all. He was gone and the wizarding world was safe once again. Harry continued to stumble forward, trying to make his way back to Hogwarts castle. He had lost his glasses in the battle and everything in front of him was a blur. He just wanted to make it back to the castle, to his friends and those who cared most about him. It didn't take long to find his way once he figured out where he was, which wasn't an easy feat given his lack of sight.

As he reached closer to the large castle, he could hear people running towards him, but he didn't have the strength to raise his wand in defense. He felt extremely weak and was ready to collapse when he felt two people grab his arms. He could make out that they were leading him back to the castle, and knew immediately that they must be the good guys. Harry could barely keep himself on his feet. His body was completely worn out and over exhausted. As soon as the two people set him down on a bed in the hospital wing, everything went black and Harry succumbed to the beckoning darkness.

"Get her over here, quickly!"

Harry was suddenly roused from his state of unconsciousness by a loud shout two beds down from his. He kept his eyes closed, but listened to the voices around him.

"Do you know what happened?" asked the voice that had woken him.

"No... best we can figure is that she was caught in an explosion. We only just found her. There's no telling how long she was out there. Is there anything we can do?" asked another voice Harry didn't recognize.

"We'll do what we can. I'm not going to let that family lose anyone else if I can help it."

Curiosity finally overwhelmed Harry and he opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. He had no idea how long he had been out.

"Mr. Potter, you're awake." A blurred figure approached his bedside as he sat up. The woman who had spoken sat on the edge of his cot and placed a pair of glasses on his face. "Can you see everything all right?"

Harry simply nodded in response as everything in the room became clear. He realized he was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, which, he deducted meant that he hadn't been out for long. He glanced throughout the room, seeing his friends and classmates lying in the beds, along with teachers, Order members and the occasional person Harry didn't recognize. He then glanced over to where the voices had come from earlier and saw mediwizards and Healers crowded around a bed three away from his.

"Who...?" was all Harry managed to get out before the mediwitch shook her head.

"Mr. Potter, please don't think about it now. You need your rest and I promise you that you will be filled in later."

Harry wanted to argue, but instead, laid back down. He hated not knowing who was suffering because of Voldemort or whether his friends were okay. He couldn't help but partially blame himself for everyone's injuries. If only he had defeated Voldemort faster. If only he had been more prepared... There were too many 'if onlys' and 'what ifs'. Instead of dwelling on them, Harry tried to figure out who was okay. He noticed Neville in one bed, looking a bit peaky, but otherwise fine. He saw Charlie getting a particularly nasty gash on his shoulder which wouldn't heal properly magically stitched up, with Mr Weasley looking on in interest, remembering his own stitches from only a few years ago. He smirked a bit as he watched Fleur fawning over Bill for a moment on the other side of the room.

Harry continued to let his eyes wander until they landed on the bed surrounded by Healers. It was only until he managed to catch a glimpse of long ginger coloured hair that he knew who had been badly injured. Harry's stomach sank as he came to realize that it had been Ginny who had been caught in the explosion.

"We're losing her. She may not last the night. There's nothing else we can do for her now."

The Healers started to disperse slowly to look after other patients and Harry looked away. He couldn't stand to lay there and watch Ginny die. That was the very moment when he made up his mind. He was going to leave that night.