It hurt her, to see the rubble that had taken the place of the school she loved. It looked desolate and empty. Abandoned, even, as if everyone had given up on it, on everything. A war had that effect on people. Everyone she knew had lost someone; friends, family, acquaintances, anyone they loved, really. But what was worse, the empty fields strewn with rocks and dust simply served to remind them of the loss, again, and again.
She couldn't find it in her heart to celebrate what could not be quite called a victory, but she thought that the castle deserved better. She kneeled down onto the ground and put her hand on the rock. She supposed that if she tried hard enough, she could still hear the thousands of years of laughter and playfulness that had been spent in this quaint, out of the way stone structure. She could not let all that history, all those memories be destroyed because of one Dark Lord. She thought of the everything the Founders and countless generations of teachers and students after them had put into this place. She had to fix it, she knew, and she would at least try, but she couldn't do it alone.
The next time she visited the former battlefield, she brought along quite a few helping hands. A fair number of the students had been willing to help to restore the place they had spent so much of their childhood in, and the crowd that walked up to whatever remained of the castle only grew in number as they walked through Hogsmeade, with more and more joining them.
Within moments of their arriving at the castle, rocks were being levitated, pillars were erected and stairways magically formed. It was fascinating to find every person aiming their wands and concentrating on doing their small part. It brought them all together, again, despite all the feuds that the war had brought about. It was everyone, working together to save something they loved. No one complained when some other bricks were incorrectly aligned, or some of the pillars were crooked. They were too busy laughing, bonding, with each other, a feeling that the war had deprived them of. The vague structure of the castle was slowly becoming visible, towering against the background of the orange, setting sun, that told them that it was time to go home, and return when a new day dawned.
She couldn't resist leaning her against the stone walls before she left. She smiled.
Hogwarts was alive.
Notes: For TGS Scavenger Hunt!