Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.
Title: Rebuilding
Author: Keira-House M.D.
Pairings: Hermione/Bill Harry/Ginny Remus/Tonks Sirius/OC Blaise/Luna Draco/Astoria Ron/Verity Fred/Angelina George/Katie Neville/Hannah Molly/Arthur
Summary: A companion piece to 'Heir To The Four Founders', focusing on the time between the Final Battle and The Epilogue as the Order are trying to rebuild the wizarding world. Each chapter will highlight the main events of each year up until 2014, the year the epilogue was set in.
Any constructive criticism or reviews are extremely welcome, I adore feedback of any kind. Enjoy the chapter.
1998 AKA The Year The Order Kicked Voldemort's Ass
After the dust had cleared from the Final Battle and the month of what seemed like constant funerals had passed, the first thing the Order did was throw a party. Hermione, being the sensible one, suggested that perhaps they should wait until Hogwarts was rebuilt so they could celebrate that as well. However, everyone else was desperate for a party and knew that the repairs would take a few months. Therefore, Hermione dropped her resistance and the party was held exactly five weeks after the Final Battle, complete with blindingly bright decorations, loud music and a rather unhealthy amount of firewhiskey.
Everybody had a great time at the party - it was celebrating the downfall of Voldemort after all and they couldn't help but be amused by the banner Fred and George had made, with flashing red and gold letters proclaiming, 'We Kicked Voldemort's Snakey Arse & Lived To Tell The Tale.' Mrs Weasley, or Molly as she had asked Hermione and Harry to call her, had chastised the twins for their language, but the mood of celebration meant she was unable to stay mad at them for long, especially after someone had slipped her some of the spiked punch. Hermione had learnt from that night that if you ever wanted to get something past Molly, you should do it when she was a bit tipsy because she'd forgive pretty much anything then. Of course, once she was sober and remembered what had happened, you were likely to be ripped into twice as badly to make up for it, as Fred and George had found out many a time.
Hermione had a great time, forgetting the pain that the losses from the war had caused and dancing with practically everyone, before sneaking off a little early with Bill for the night. She could only thank Merlin that the men had been drinking or something painful might have happened to Bill's appendages - they were such an overprotective bunch, but she loved them all. Hermione herself hadn't had any firewhiskey, preferring to laugh at the drunken antics of her friends and make sure that little Teddy Lupin was safe and put to bed on time. She was immensely enjoying being a godmother to Remus and Tonks' son, enjoying the experience of looking after little children that she had missed, being an only child. She also enjoyed being able to tease 80% of those who were at the party the next morning because of their hangovers - Hermione wasn't a vindictive person by nature, but she enjoyed occasional mischief and couldn't resist talking very loudly and causing everyone in a ten metre vicinity of her to groan and grasp their heads in pain.
Once everyone had recovered from the party, the Order held a meeting to discuss what they were going to do with their lives. All the teenagers were capable of passing their NEWTS, even Ginny and Luna, who were a year younger than the rest, thanks to all the work they'd done in training. Since it was now June, they were going to work on rebuilding Hogwarts, before taking their NEWTS at the Ministry in October. Once the results were given in November they could decide what sort of career they wished to pursue. Meanwhile, some of the adults would be helping at Hogwarts, while others, such as Kingsley, Tonks and Arthur, would be helping reorganise the Ministry and rid it of the corruption it was full of.
Things had been a little confusing to begin with, but soon Kingsley had been appointed the new Minister for Magic and the whole Order was delighted, knowing that it meant that wizarding Britain would be in good hands and could start to rebuild. His first act was an entire reshuffle of the top Ministry positions, with Arthur as a chief advisor and Sirius (who had been an auror before his arrest) in charge of the Auror Department with Tonks. Remus was also appointed to a position that would allow him to destroy the prejudice against half-breeds like werewolves, as well as eradicating pro-pureblood laws.
Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Blaise and Draco studied like crazy for their NEWT's, Neville fretted over everything and even Harry and Ron were seen picking up books, despite their complaints about actually having to do their tests because, as Ron put it, "we helped defeat Voldemort, who needs tests." Hermione had smacked him over the head for that comment and while it had amused everyone, they had withheld laughter in case she decided to turn her temper, which always got frayed in exam season, on them. The entire Order kept reassuring Hermione that she could pass the NEWT's with her eyes closed, but being Hermione she still worried dreadfully and revised all hours of the day until Bill or one of her friends would pull her away from her work.
Of course, in the end Hermione did brilliantly, smashing a whole lot of NEWT records by achieving seven Outstandings. Harry received four Exceeds Expectations and an Outstanding (in DADA obviously), while Ron got four Exceeds Expectations and an Acceptable. Ginny got six Exceeds Expectations and Luna, Draco and Blaise all received three Exceeds Expectations and three Outstandings. Neville shocked himself with an Outstanding in Herbology, two Exceeds Expectations and two Acceptable - the work with the Order had definitely boosted his confidence. Sirius insisted on throwing another party to celebrate the results and since everyone was in the mood to let loose it was agreed upon. No one learnt their lesson from the last party and there was a large proportion of hangovers, while Hermione once again took the opportunity to make it painful for them all.
Bill surprised Hermione a week after her exam results had come with a late Birthday present combined with a congratulations on her exams - a two week trip to Italy with him. She'd been very surprised, but completely delighted, and had proceeded to kiss him enthusiastically, much to the annoyance of the Order, who were all there at the time. Of course, Hermione just had to remind Harry and Ginny of how hypocritical they were being and all the attention was directed off her as Ginny's brothers glared menacingly at Harry for 'corrupting' their little sister. Harry sent a helpless look to Hermione, who just shrugged and grinned, cuddling into Bill's side with a smile.
The holiday had been a hugely welcome break for both Hermione and Bill. It was nice to get away from the hordes of people that seemed to follow the war heroes around. Also, while they loved everyone in the Order, it was nice to finally have some alone time without hints of marriage from Molly and teasing comments from Sirius, Fred, George and Ginny. Italy had been absolutely beautiful and Hermione had found it fascinating to discover both the magical and muggle history there. Still, she also loved the hotel they were staying at - swimming in the pool, using the spa and spending a lot of time in the huge suite she and Bill had.
However, the biggest shock - though a good one - was yet to come.
It was their last night in Italy and Bill had taken her to a cosy restaurant with some of the best food Hermione had ever tasted. They chatted animatedly and Hermione had enjoyed just relaxing without the constant worry of having to check her surroundings for hidden death eaters or dangerous situations. After dinner, Bill had grasped her hand gently and they'd gone for a walk, meandering around on the beach near their hotel until they came to a secluded spot away from the buildings and noisy traffic. When Bill stopped Hermione thought nothing of it, thinking that perhaps he just wanted to sit a while. She was taken by surprise when he knelt down in front of her, hand digging into his pocket and pulling out a ring box.
Hermione gasped as Bill gave a hopeful smile and opened the box, revealing a gorgeous engagement ring. It was a thin gold band with a ruby stone - she guessed it signified their shared Hogwarts house of Gryffindor - and she absolutely loved it. Bill smiled again, "Hermione Granger, will you do me the honour of making me the happiest wizard on earth and marrying me?" She beamed down at Bill, there was really only one answer she could give to the man she loved so much, "yes, a thousand times yes." She couldn't help it when the tears started, but really she didn't want them to stop - it had been such a long time since she'd cried out of happiness rather than pain or sadness. Bill slipped the ring onto Hermione's finger and they walked back to the hotel, neither able to keep the huge grins off their faces. They had spent the rest of the night celebrating in their room and consequently slept through most of their plane flight home (they'd travelled muggle).
Shockingly, it had been Sirius and not one of the women who first spotted Hermione's engagement ring. Since they were having a casual Order get-together at the time it saved Hermione and Bill from having to tell everyone separately. Molly burst into tears, so happy that her eldest son was finally settling down with the girl she considered another daughter, while Ginny, Luna and Tonks immediately swarmed Hermione, talking about wedding plans and gushing over the ring. Meanwhile, the boys, including Bill's own brothers to Hermione's amusement, took her new fiancé into the kitchen for a little 'talk', ensuring he knew the sort of pain he would be in if he hurt Hermione. She'd laughed at that - anyone who knew her well knew she was perfectly capable of making Bill suffer more than adequately if he did something wrong.
Bill and Hermione quickly decided that they wouldn't get married for at least a year or two, so wedding plans could be put to the side while the wizarding world got back on its feet. Harry, Draco and Blaise were all going into Auror training, while Ron and Ginny were scouted by Quidditch teams; the Chudley Cannons for Ron and the Holyhead Harpies for Ginny. Both Weasley children were delighted at being picked by their favourite teams. Luna was currently in training to be an Unspeakable and, as was the norm for that occupation, no one but Minister Kingsley had any idea what she was doing. Neville was taking over as Herbology Professor, since Sprout was to retire the next year. Currently he was assisting lessons, ready to teach properly in just under a year. Then there was Hermione - while the Ministry was improving under Kingsley, there was too much bad blood between the institution and Hermione for her to consider working there and so, in an effort to make her work hours flexible, she had decided to become an author.
Hermione loved books and so it seemed to her that getting to write them herself was a brilliant job. Her experience of war, along with her knowledge of the lives of some of their time's most famous witches and wizards meant that she had all the information to write a lot of books. The entire Order were delighted when they discovered that she was going to write the true story of the two wars and the fight against Voldemort, which was so lengthy it would take several volumes. She hadn't planned much on her next book, but she was thinking of one about all the different spells - from DADA, charms, transfiguration etc - which were useful in battle and defence situations, it was ridiculous how many people were incapable of basic defence spells. Remus, ever the bibliophile, was especially happy about her career choice and had offered to help her whenever he had the time. Sirius, Draco and Dumbledore had offered unlimited use of the Black, Malfoy and Hogwarts libraries respectively, while Bill had offered to be a proof reader and to share his knowledge of foreign spells and curses learnt during his curse-breaking escapades in places like Egypt.
Christmas passed in a blur of happiness, though it was occasionally tinged with sorrow for those who had been lost. Her presents were brilliant and this year she managed to miss her parents without the tears that had come the year before. She laughed at the twins jokes, giggled with the other women, reminisced about Hogwarts with Harry and Ron, spoke of the work being done at the Ministry with Kingsley and Remus, teased Sirius and made sure she spent a lot of time under the mistletoe with Bill.
"All in all," Hermione thought as they all stood counting down to the first Voldemort free New Year in years, "it's been a pretty good year; defeating Voldemort, getting engaged and beginning work on my very first book." She smiled wryly to herself, "I can only hope things remain just as good in the years to come."
Thanks to all those who reviewed the last two chapters of Heir To The Four Founders and who gave me to motivation to get the first chapter of this sequel out; ladygoddess8, readerforlife, SweetSweetRevenge, The Sexy Muggle Librarian and Elfsquire90. Also thanks to moonlightonmalfoymanor, who reviewed chapter 33 of HTTFF.
The next chapter, detailing the events of 1999, should be up in no more than a week.
