Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

Chapter 28: Construction

On Saturday morning, most of Gryffindor house went to the Quidditch pitch, as Ron had put up a notice at the beginning of the week for tryouts. As captain, he was really looking forward to the games this year. Not only was he in charge, but Ron felt their team had a very good chance of winning since they only had to replace one Chaser. Katie Bell had been the only seventh year student last year. Next year would be a problem as the team would lose three players, as Ron, Ginny, and Harry would all be graduating.

While several new students who hadn't played last year tried out for the position, in the end Ron picked fourth year Natalie McDonald from last year's reserve team to fill the missing Chaser position. He also found a third year boy to take the reserve spot Natalie left vacant.

Ron felt so confident about the team that he only scheduled three practices a week. He was the only one smiling about that.


The second week of school came and went. Everyone was getting settled into a normal routine. The second weekend was different though.

Saturday night was the party for the seventh year prefects and the Head common room started filling with people a little bit after dinner. Harry was a little taken aback that everyone came, but considering he'd mentioned snacks, drinks, and music, he supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised. He'd even managed to borrow a Wizarding Wireless Network radio from Tonks for the music.

All in all, everyone seemed to think it was a blast. There was barely enough Butterbeer with the three cases Harry had, but he felt it was a sacrifice that was worth it. He could always order more.

When the party ended near midnight, the remaining foursome considered it a success. The fact that everyone could go back to their dorms without getting into trouble because they were all prefects just made it better.

Harry had had several chances to talk to the Slytherin prefects and his quick passive reads of their current projected emotions (not thoughts) showed them to be friendly to him, Daphne a bit more than Blaise. He continued to reach out to them happy with the progress he was making.

Sunday morning seemed to come early, but the Potters got up anyway because they had scheduled their first trip home for today, which McGonagall had approved.

They dressed in work clothes and were at breakfast as soon as possible. After eating quickly, they went to the kitchens and found Winky who was assembling a picnic basket for them and promised to take it to the house to make it easier on the couple. So they let her do that and started walking for the gates. As soon as they were outside the Hogwarts grounds, with none of the other students apparently the wiser, Ginny grabbed Harry's arm for Side-Along-Apparation and they disappeared. A couple of seconds later, they appeared in the street right in front of their house. No one else was around.

Walking up to the house, the first thing they saw was that it was easier to get to the front door. Dobby had apparently cleared away enough of the overgrowth that the sidewalk was usable. As they arrived at the door, Dobby opened it.

"Harry Potter Sir! We is glad to see you." They walked in and were amazed at what had been done already. "We hope you like it, we've been working hard."

"You have," Harry struggled to talk. The difference was profound. "Dobby, you two haven't been overworking yourselves have you?"

"Oh no Sir, we've haven't been at Hogwarts very much though. We hope you don't mind." The elf seemed bashful.

"No Dobby, you are both doing a fantastic job," Ginny told him and Winky, who had just walked in from the kitchen area. Indeed, the room looked almost perfect. No dust or any grime was to be found; the room looked clean and bright - cheerful even.

"Thank you Sir. We are sorry we haven't got it all done. In fact, this room still needs work; it was so dirty," Winky apologized.

"Winky, Dobby! Please don't apologize. I know there was a lot to do and it's only been one week. There's plenty of time before Christmas to make it inhabitable," Harry admonished them. "Today, you get to do something different," Harry announced. "Dobby, you and I are going to work on the outside for awhile." The elf seemed pleased to work with Harry directly.

"And Winky," Ginny addressed the other elf, "you and I are going to make plans about decorating and what colors to make everything." Her elf brightened at hearing that. Harry had told Ginny she could do whatever she wanted in that area. It had taken her some time to accept that since she wanted to make Harry happy as he would be living there too, but he finally got through to her that she would do a far better job at that than he would.

The two males went outside and began clearing the overgrowth, especially the stuff growing up the side of the house that shouldn't be there. When an area was clear that also had a window, Harry would levitate Dobby up to the window so he could clean the outside of it. It took them all morning, but by lunchtime, they had the front of the house done for at least ten feet out.

Inside, Ginny and Winky walked around and talked about everything they saw, as well as what worked and what was broken and needed to be fixed or replaced. By lunchtime, the list was getting quite long and they'd only done the first floor.

Taking the picnic basket to the living room, which was the only one of two clean places in the house, the four beings sat down and ate. They also got to know one another better, and a very surprising thing was revealed.

"So, Dobby, is there anything that needs to be done to help you here?" Harry asked. "I want to make sure you and Winky are happy."

"We is mostly happy Harry Sir," he was told.

"Mostly Dobby? What's missing? What else do you need?" Both of the Potters truly cared for the elves; it must have showed because Dobby confided something neither of the teens was expecting.

"There is one thing that would make us even happier, even better than if we was family, which would make us very happy too," Dobby told them. Then turning to look at Winky he said, "We be wanting to marry. Winky and I want to be together just like you and Mrs. Ginny." Winky got a big smile on her face and seemed to look down though her eyes stayed on Dobby.

Ginny looked at Harry and they smiled as they remembered when they had fallen in love and wanted to get married. They were very happy for the two elves.

"I think that would be wonderful, Dobby," Harry finally broke the silence. "If you can tell me how it's done for elves, I'll do my best to help you make it happen."

The two elves looked joyfully at him. "It is very simple, as our master, you say we are married and we are."

"But Dobby, we are not your master, only your employer," Harry corrected him.

"Same thing to us Harry Potter, you can do this for us. Will you please do this for us?" Dobby was very serious and wistful sounding, the first time Harry had every heard him sound like that.

"Is this what you want, Winky?" Harry thought it obvious from her face, but he felt like he had to ask. Ginny gave him a "you're stupid" look, but he didn't see it.

"Oh yes Sir. Winky very much wants to marry Dobby. He has been very good to Winky."

"OK, when would you two like to be married?"

"Would you do it today? Then we could stay here all the time if we were married," Winky told him.

Harry had seen this indeed was the cleanest room, though good progress had been made on the kitchen. "But why stay here, it's still dirty."

"Oh, our elf quarters are clean too," Winky told him. "We would have a very nice place to stay, Mr. Harry."

"Very well," Harry decided. He didn't have to ask Ginny, he could feel that she thought this was wonderful. "Since we have to leave in a few hours, how about we do the wedding just before we go, then you two can have the next week off."

"No Harry Sir, we could not do that," Dobby objected and Winky seemed to be about to do the same, based on the look on her face.

"We insist," Ginny backed her husband up. "All newlyweds should have a honeymoon. No work next week. Stay here and relax, go somewhere and have fun, whatever you want to do." When they looked like they were about to protest again, Ginny added, "That's an order." The elves started to argue then realized they really couldn't.

"Great, that's settled," Harry told everyone as he rose from his position on the floor. "Dobby, let's go work on the side of the house with that big vine on it. Hopefully, we can get that done before the wedding."

Ginny duplicated the list she'd made that morning with the spell Flitwick had shown them the previous week. She gave the copy to Winky and told her this was for the week after their honeymoon so she'd know what to do for paint, wallpapers, and so forth. Then they headed into the kitchen to clean together. Being married, the restriction on underage magic didn't apply to Ginny when it came to domestic spells. The redhead no longer found cleaning something to complain about now that she could use magic.

Outside, Harry and Dobby worked on the vines that seemed to be clinging to everything. Some of them came right off, but the big vine with pointed leaves and a number of little vines around it seemed to have a mind of their own, literally. They could not get anywhere near to the big vine without being attacked by it. It was obviously a magical plant, but neither Harry nor Dobby had ever seen it before and didn't know what to do.

With his afternoon all but gone, Harry finally decided that he'd suffered enough and accumulated enough scratches from the plant that he needed help from someone like Professor Sprout. He had Dobby find a small pot, then picking a small two foot long vine that was the farthest away from the biggest one, Harry quickly dug it up and put into the pot so he could take it to his teacher. He only got a few more scratches doing that. He was starting to wonder if he was going to have to Vanish the big vine, but he really didn't want to do that unless he had to.

Everyone washed up inside and then went to the living room. Dobby grabbed Winky's hand and they both looked at Harry. Suddenly nervous and unsure of himself, he looked at Ginny. She whispered to him, "Just make something up, you've been to a wedding recently, say something like that."

Harry looked down at the elves and said, "We are gathered today to join Dobby and Winky in marriage. Ah, Dobby, do you take Winky as your wife and promise to love, honor, and cherish her as long as you both shall live?"

Very softly and reverently, Dobby replied, "I do promise."

"And Winky, do you take Dobby as your husband and promise to love, honor, and cherish him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do promise," she squeaked nervously and actually blushed.

"Right, then I pronounce you, ah, husband and wife. We wish you much happiness. You may kiss the bride Dobby." Dobby now blushed, but he gave Winky a hug anyway and put his face to hers and touched foreheads and noses.

Harry looked at Ginny and saw as well as felt her reliving her wedding. Smiling, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door. As they got there, they heard, "Thank you Harry Potter Sir!" Looking back, he saw two of the happiest house-elves he'd ever seen.

"You're welcome. We were serious about taking the week off. No work until a week from tomorrow. Now go have fun!" He pulled his wife through the front door then locked it behind him. Picking up his potted plant from the front porch, they Apparated back to school.

They walked through the gate towards the front doors of the school. Ginny was very quiet and still sending out large waves of happiness and contentment. "No homework tonight, I suppose?" he asked her.

She smiled up at him and put her arm around his waist as they walked. "No, I think a bath after dinner and then to bed. Want to join me?" she asked mischievously.

"That's an invitation I wouldn't dream of passing up," he told her and quickly kissed her as they reached the steps to the front door.

They went straight into the Great Hall since it was dinnertime. Reaching their table, Harry looked up and saw McGonagall look at them and smile. He suspected she would be purposefully looking for them to make sure they got back. He sat the small vine down on the table next to his seat as he helped Ginny sit down. As he took his seat, he heard Neville all but shout, "Harry! Where'd you get the Cat's Paw!? Do you know how rare that plant is?"

"No, but I can tell you how much it hurts to try to pull one up," he replied a bit heatedly as he recalled his scratches.

Neville looked mortified. "You didn't really pull any up did you? That would kill them."

"No Neville I didn't, but it wasn't from lack of trying let me tell you. The big one wouldn't let me; this one was just far enough I got away with it without being killed."

"What do you mean the big one?"

"Oh about thirty foot tall or so, that big enough for you?" Harry thought Neville was going to faint.

Then Professor Sprout came up. "I did hear right, you do have a Cat's Paw!" She was excited too. "Wherever did you get it, Mr. Potter?"

Harry didn't know if he wanted to answer that, so he looked to his wife, who was dishing food onto their two plates. "Don't worry Harry, it's all hidden."

Realizing she had a good point, he told them, "There's a whole bunch of them at our family house. I'd like to get rid of them actually. You want this one, Neville?"

"You'd do that Harry?" Neville looked amazed. "They're fairly rare and worth quite a bit."

"Sure, it's yours. And I'll tell you what, come help me get rid of the big one and you can have another small one too." Harry thought he was getting the better end of the deal, but Neville had always liked strange plants.

"Done!" Neville agreed happily. "We'll just need lots of milk."

"Huh?"

"Milk, Mr. Potter," Sprout said as she stroked the plant's leaves which seemed to wrap slowly and sensuously around her hand. "It makes then docile for a short period of time. Did I hear you correctly that you had a thirty foot tall Cat's Paw?"

"Yes, Professor. Would you like it? I don't know what else to do with it and it's got to go as I'm afraid of what it will do to our house."

"Other than breaking windows, probably nothing," his professor told him. "They are good to have around the home, as long as they aren't too big, as they eat mice and other vermin. A thirty foot specimen? That must be a really old one. I don't know that I've ever heard of one that big." She paused and stroked the vine some more. "And yes Mr. Potter, I'd be happy to take it off your hands. Come see me when you're ready to transplant it and I'll give you a big barrel to transport it in. I'll go if I'm available, but you should have at least four people there with a plant that big."

"Thank you, Professor; I'll see what I can do." Harry told her as she petted the plant one more time before returning to the teacher's tables.

Harry dug into his food as he was really hungry from the work that day. On the other hand, Neville hardly ate anything more that evening as he was enraptured with his new plant. Looking at his friends, Harry saw the gleam in Ron's and Hermione's eyes as they'd followed that conversation. Smiling at them, he simply said, "The Sunday after our Quidditch game." Smiles broke out on their faces. He'd have to make arrangements with the Headmistress, but he felt she'd let his friends go since he was donating the plant to the school for study.


It was nearing midnight of the third Wednesday in September. Harry had finally gotten Ginny to stop doing homework and come to bed. He had her giggling as he kissed her neck when there was a pounding on their door along with a shout of "Harry! Harry! Open up!" that sounded a lot like Hermione.

"You think she'll go away if we ignore her?" he softly asked as he kissed and breathed into her ear. Hermione was shouting his name again and telling him to wake up.

His wife moaned with pleasure. "I think you're going to have to answer it to get her to go away, but don't be gone too long, I like what you've been doing."

He lit one torch with the wave of a hand then got up and put his robe on as he heard Hermione shouting for the third time. Opening the door, he saw the Head Girl with bushier than normal hair who was looking embarrassed at the sight of him in just his robe. Then he watched her look past him to see Ginny sitting in bed with the sheet pulled up to cover herself, though her bare shoulders were sticking out.

"I-I-I'm so sorry Harry, Ginny," she stammered in embarrassment. "I didn't know I was interrupting anything; I didn't hear anything outside the door."

"You shouldn't have, that's what Imperturbable charms are for. Don't look so surprised, we are licensed to do this sort of thing you know." He pointed to a small frame on the wall that Ginny had put up which held their marriage license.

The Head Girl blushed deep red and looked down, even more embarrassed. Harry also felt extreme laughter coming from his wife. A glance back showed her shaking and head thrown back, but he couldn't hear it since he was outside the charm.

Hermione finally took a deep breath and pulled her head up and looked Harry right in the eyes and managed to keep looking only there. "Harry, you have to come now. Professor McGonagall sent me a Patronus message that a troll is loose in the castle and we have to go help find it so it can be sent back to the forest."

"Please, Hermione, you're going to have to do better than that. That's so first year." He wasn't too thrilled with the joke considering what he'd been interrupted from.

"Really Harry, there's a family of wood trolls in the Forbidden Forest and one of them wandered in through the front door and is somewhere in the dungeon area. We have to go help."

"Actually, Dumbledore told me it's a small clan of eight trolls in the Forest. You're serious aren't you?" he asked as he started considering she wasn't just trying to pull one over on him.

"Yes," she said exasperatedly. "Will you please hurry up?"

"Very well, keep your knickers on, I'll be ready to go with you in a minute." He shut the door on her, but not before he'd seen an even more surprised look on her face at his comment.

Harry grabbed some trousers and pulled them on. Ginny was still chuckling. "We're licensed to do this ... Oh that was good Mr. Potter."

Finding and putting on his slippers, he walked over to her for a goodbye kiss. "Be back as soon as I can, luv. Don't go away."

With a light laugh she told him, "I don't think so, but do hurry Harry." He started to leave when she added, "Oh Harry, you might want your glasses."

Smiling at her, he said, "Thanks!" and then "Accio glasses!" Putting them on, he opened the door to see Hermione still there waiting on him. "Let's go," he told the Head Girl. Hermione was looking him over and Harry suspected he looked quite the sight with his slippers, pants and robe; not to mention his wild hair was even wilder than usual, plus his wand in his hand. No matter, that was what everyone was going to see in the middle of the night.

As they got to the main stairs leading to the dungeons, they heard faint shouts. Breaking into a run, they quickly came upon Professors McGonagall and Cobb trying to contain a medium sized troll as well as prevent it from doing too much damage to the castle. Because of the dual effort, they weren't really able to subdue it. Knowing that trolls were similar to giants in that many single spells wouldn't work on them, Harry watched for a few seconds before a plan suggested itself.

"Come on, Harry, we have to do something!" Hermione urged him when they'd arrived there. The professors were so busy they hadn't noticed the students.

"Patience, Hermione, patience." Harry watched for an opening. He knew what he wanted to do and had his wand ready. As the troll turned and started to walk towards everyone, Harry mumbled "Incarcerous!" and aimed the ropes at the troll's legs. Soon they were tied up, and because he was trying to walk, the inevitable happened: the troll tripped and fell over.

The two professors looked at the students, surprised at seeing them there and for containing the troll. "Might I suggest four stunners at once," Harry commented as if he were discussing the weather. "On the count of three, one - two - three - STUPEFY!" Four red jets of light hit the troll and he stopped struggling and went limp.

McGonagall turned to him and said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. That was very timely."

"No problem, Professor. I picked up some experience with trolls six years ago." He fought to keep a smirk off his face. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth to contain a laugh and even McGonagall seemed to have to work to suppress a smile. Only Cobb didn't catch the reference so he was looking amongst the other three for some sort of clue as to what Harry was talking about. Hearing footsteps behind him, Harry turned and saw Flitwick and Sprout arrive to help. "If you don't need me, I'd like to return to my room, Professor."

"Certainly Mr. Potter, I think we can handle it from here. Ms. Granger, you may return too." She turned to her fellow teachers to coordinate levitating the troll back out to the forest while the students left.

As they got away from the crowd, Hermione commented, "You're in an awfully good mood tonight Harry."

"Well, you would be too with a wonderful redheaded mate." Hermione blushed at his reply. "Oh wait, you're going to get one of those this summer aren't you?"

"Ha, ha - you're so funny Harry."

"Just you wait, Hermione, you'll see what I mean. Then all you'll be able to think about for awhile is," he switched to a false female voice, "Oh Ron!" He started laughing and she slugged him on the arm which only spurred him to make more girlish exclamations. After several of those, he finally stopped and told her in his own voice, "I'll tell you what, I'll let you borrow my island to help you get it out of your system."

"You have an island?!"

"Yeah, it's a secret though, so no telling. But yeah, that's where we went on our honeymoon. Talk about it with Ron. It'll be my wedding present to you if that's what you want," he told her. He and Ginny hadn't told anyone the island they had stayed at was Harry's, just that they had rented an island.

"Wow, thanks Harry! I'll mention it to him and see what he thinks." They were back at their rooms and she went straight to hers. Harry waited a moment before he opened his door as he could guess what he would find waiting for him when he opened it based on the feelings he was getting from Ginny. That caused him to wonder if there was more room somewhere behind one of his walls to make a bigger apartment so the bed wasn't visible from the doorway.

Feeling a bit of impatience from his wife, he smiled and walked in to find her lying on the bed, on top of covers. "I thought you'd never return," she told him huskily. All thoughts about his quarters left his mind as he shut the door behind him.


The next morning when the Potters came to breakfast, Ron greeted them with a bit of a smile on his face. After his best mate started helping himself to the food, he decided to have some fun. "So Harry, what's this I hear about you telling my fiancée to keep her knickers on?"

It took him a second to cotton onto what Ron was talking about and to see the slight smile, recognizing it for what it was: an opportunity for fun. Hermione must have already told him about what happened last night. "Yeah, she seemed to get them in a twist and I was afraid of what might happen after that." He kept his face as normal as possible and out of the corner of his eye he could see Ginny trying to do the same, but not totally succeeding.

"I see," but Ron didn't seem quite satisfied. "But what I don't understand is why she got so, ah, twisted."

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. "Ron," she hissed. Ron tried to look innocent.

Ginny had to join in. "Yeah, I don't see what the problem was. We have written permission to enjoy ourselves."

Everyone's smiles grew, except for Hermione's. "Really now, I was just doing my job as Head Girl." Ron tried to put his arm around her, but she shrugged it off making him try again. He finally got a hold of her and held her close until she stopped struggling.

"Sorry, 'Mione, it was just one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time, and I wanted to have some fun with Harry too," her fiancé told her.

"And you're so fun to mess with Hermione," Harry told his usually serious friend.

She harrumphed.

"You really are, you know," Ginny told her. "Why do you think Ron's done it all these years?" That got her a caustic look, though Ron received a more thoughtful one.

"And Harry?" Ron waited until his friend looked back at him, "thanks for the wedding present offer. We'll think carefully about it."

"No problem as long as the secret part stays secret."

"You got it," the redhead said.


While Ginny was in the library doing research for a Runes essay that evening, Harry was sitting at his desk in his room looking at the Marauder's Map and thinking about last night. He could see a dot labeled with his name on it as well as the room he was in very easily. The other rooms around him were also quite obvious, except for along the back wall behind where the bed was; there appeared to be nothing there. Yet, in looking at layout of the other floors, especially the fifth floor, it looked like there should be something there.

Getting up and looking out the window to the right, the bottom of the turret that three floors up held the Headmistress' office was clearly visible. So what was in that area behind the wall in his bedroom? Maybe he needed more help, and there was one person who he could always turn to when it came to knowledge about finding an unusual place in the castle.

"Dobby? I need your help."

The house-elf popped into his room. "Yes Harry Sir, how can I help you?"

"Dobby, do you know what's behind that wall?" He pointed at his back wall.

"I have never been there, Sir," he said after a few seconds of thought. "There is nothing there."

"But there should be something there Dobby. I can see a wall on the outside, and rooms all around the area, so it must be enclosed," Harry argued.

"Yes, Sir. I meant that there is nothing built there; it is empty."

That sounded promising to Harry. "Is there a way to get into the area?"

"Not that I know of, Sir."

"Dobby, do house-elves know how to do construction, like build walls and ceilings and such?"

"Yes Sir; we use magic to do that. That is what we are doing at your house too."

Harry was surprised to hear that. "I thought you were only cleaning and organizing?"

"Winky and I is doing that Sir, but we are also fixing holes in the walls, replacing rotten boards, and other repairs too." Dobby looked quite proud of himself.

"So if I found a space back there behind this wall, you could help me fix it up, Dobby?"

"Yes Sir; I would be happy to help you."

"Thank you, Dobby." Harry was pleased to hear that. "I'll keep that in mind."


When Harry went to Saturday morning breakfast a few days later, he approached the Headmistress as she appeared to finish eating. "Professor McGonagall, I have a question about the castle. Could you come to our quarters for a few minutes so we could discuss it?"

McGonagall was intrigued and wondered what Harry had in mind. "Should I bring Professor Dumbledore? He has more knowledge about the building itself."

Harry hadn't thought about that for some reason and he realized he should have. "That might be a good idea if he's free. I'll leave that up to you and him though."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. We'll be there shortly," she told him.

As he went back to his spot at the table, Ginny asked him what that was all about. He smiled mischievously at her. "Come back to our room and you'll find out." She gave him a small, exasperated sigh, but got up and followed him back. While Harry was having a bit of fun, he didn't want to announce his project to the whole world, or even Hogwarts, just yet.

When they got back to their room, Harry left the door open and also opened the window. Finally he called Dobby and had him wait with them. "What's this about, Harry?" Ginny asked. As he was about to answer, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore arrived.

"Please come in Professors," Harry closed the door behind them after they had entered the already crowded room. He came right to the point, "Headmistress, I know this is quite unusual, but I'd like permission to make a permanent modification to the castle."

Both professors were taken aback by that. "Yes, that would be most unusual, Mr. Potter. What did you want to do and more importantly, why?" McGonagall asked.

"If it was only me living here, I would not ask this," Harry told them, "but since there are two of us, I've noticed there are times when we need a bit more privacy." They looked at him to go on. "You see, there are times when one of us needs to open the door and the other is, ah, not ready for that. So if someone else is outside in the common room, it ah, causes difficulties." Harry was trying not to be embarrassed and failing as he was turning slightly pink.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Yes Harry, I think I can understand the problem. What did you have in mind? I assume you do have an idea since you asked us here."

"Yes, Professor. As far as I can tell, with Dobby's help, there is empty space behind this back wall." Harry pointed to the named wall. "I'd like permission to take a few of the stones out of the wall to verify that, and assuming I am correct, take enough out to make a doorway and then take over that area as a bedroom, so we have an extra door, and therefore some extra privacy. If you like, you can look out the window and see that area should be enclosed, yet no one knows of a way to get in there; so we think it is empty space."

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, "I don't think I have a problem with that. Albus, since you know the building better, what do you think?"

"I can't think of any reason not to. Exactly how did you plan to look in there Harry?"

"Well sir, I thought I'd shrink down a few of the blocks and then pull them out. Once we have a hole big enough for Dobby to go through, I thought he could carefully take a look for us so we didn't have make too big a hole." Harry looked at Dobby, "Would you be willing to do that for me Dobby?"

"Yes Sir, I'd be glad to do that. It sounds easy," the elf said.

Everyone seemed to agree to that, and Ginny really liked the idea. So Harry moved the bed over and pulled three good sized blocks out very carefully, making sure nothing was going to fall before he conjured a torch for Dobby and had the little elf crawl through. Fortunately, there was a floor there, which wasn't a given since they were on the third floor to start with; there might have been a hole two stories deep.

"Yes Harry Sir, you guess correct, this is the bottom of the turret and there are no doors in here. The ceiling is very high Sir. There is much cleaning to be done." Harry smiled at the last comment. Since the elf now knew both sides, he popped back into Harry and Ginny's room.

"May I build a doorway, Headmistress?" Harry asked. She gave him permission.

"Allow me, Harry." Dumbledore started waving his wand and blocks started coming out in a line going up, then a thick board appeared. The same happened on the other side. Finally the top of the doorway was done. For the finishing touch, all the blocks left in the middle came down and stacked themselves in the new room, and then the blocks in the old room flew in and joined them.

"Thanks, Professor!" Harry lit his wand and walked through, the rest followed. It was indeed the bottom of the turret, about twenty feet in diameter and when all of them lit their wands, it appeared that the ceiling was two stories up.

"What would you do to this area Mr. Potter, besides remove all the dust?" McGonagall asked him as she tried not to sneeze.

"A door for the doorway obviously." That brought smiles to everyone. "Then I thought I'd have Dobby help me with the construction of a window, a ceiling, and add a fireplace or a stove. I'm assuming that with a magical stove pipe and Floo, we could vent it to the outside. Anything else, Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ginny had been very quiet the entire time. Harry searched for her feelings and found a glow of happiness. She moved over to him and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you Harry. I can live with you anywhere, but I truly appreciate you thinking of me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

When Ginny let him go, Harry looked up and saw his two professors smiling at him. "We'll let you get to work, but I do want to see what you've done when you finish." McGonagall told him before the professors left.

"Ginny, go get your books and things and go spend the day in the library. I'll meet you at dinner and then bring you to see our new and improved home."

"You think you can be done that fast, Harry?" She was shocked.

"I think so. I'm a wizard and I can use magic." She still gave him a questioning look. "And, Dobby's no slouch with magic either, so go on, off with you." She wasn't sure about him doing all this, but she did as she was told. After all, she did have a lot of homework.

When it was just the young man and the elf, Harry told Dobby. "All right, I want you to get Winky so she can start on the cleaning while you and I work on changing the room. Here's what we're going to do... "


As Ginny entered the Great Hall for dinner, she saw that Harry was not there yet, so she went to sit in her usual place near Ron and Hermione. Feeling for him, she felt satisfaction coming from her husband. That thought thrilled her, she loved being married to Harry. Searching for him directionally, he seemed to still be up in their room, so she assumed the project wasn't done yet.

"Where's Harry?" her brother asked.

"He's up in our room working on a project." She felt his direction changing, coming more down to the level of the Great Hall. "He should be here in a few minutes."

"What's he working on?" Ron grabbed some of the steak and kidney pie, heaping it onto his plate.

"Anything special, Ginny? I noticed Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore coming out of your room this morning, though I don't think I ever saw Harry come out," Hermione said.

"Well, he's trying to find us a little more privacy." Ginny hoped that was vague enough for now. She'd sensed Harry's reluctance to discuss the project.

"Oh, you mean like with the troll incident?" Hermione couldn't help but blush slightly as she said that, momentarily reliving the episode.

Ron looked like he wanted to have fun with Hermione again over that when Harry came in and sat down, putting his arm around his wife and giving her a quick hug for a greeting. "All right, my favorite. Did you request this for me?" he joked with her as he started dishing up the food, including some treacle tart for dessert.

She smiled at him again, enjoying his happiness. "Making good progress on your project?"

"You could say that," he told her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm done actually."

"Already?" That shocked her and she started to wonder what he had done as she thought it would take a lot longer. In fact, she was starting to envision something very minimal and almost crude. She would just have to trust him.

As they were finishing dinner, Harry saw the Headmistress wave to him, so he went up to see her. "How's your project coming, Mr. Potter?"

"I'm done Professor." She looked shocked as well. "In fact, I was about to take Ginny on her grand tour. You're welcome to come as well, or you can come tomorrow afternoon, whichever is more convenient for you."

"Thank you Harry, I think I'd like to come now if you don't mind." He nodded acknowledgment and returned to Ginny.

A moment later, she, as well as Hermione and Ron were following Harry towards their room. As they reached the doors to leave the Great Hall, Harry saw that Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, Cobb, and Flitwick were also coming. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised his project would generate this much interest, but he was. He also decided that entire school body wasn't going to take a tour however.

As the troupe neared the Head Boy and Head Girl rooms, Colin Creevey came running up. "Harry! I need you to come to the Gryffindor Common Room. I was just told there's a fight up there."

Harry didn't break stride as he looked at the sixth year. "Collin, I'll tell you what I told Pansy Parkinson. You're a prefect, act like one. You're also a sixth year, so not much should be able to take you by surprise. That being said, if it's a couple of seventh years fighting and they turn you into a chimp, come find me, and then Hermione and I will come help, but you should be able to do all this yourself now."

Colin hung his head in shame a bit as he really did know that. He was just used to leaning on the older kids.

Ron addressed him next. "Colin, since we're almost at the Head rooms, why don't you come in and take the special passage to the Gryffindor tower; that will speed you up." There was always a special door for the Head Boy and Girl to get back to their House Common room quickly if needed. When Ron opened the door for Colin, everyone heard shouting, but that's all it sounded like, so Ron didn't bother to follow him.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you both handled that well," the Headmistress told them. Ron grinned at the complement since McGonagall didn't hand out many, but Harry was watching Ginny who was reading the card attached to their door under a big red bow. He'd written:

Ginny - While you deserve the whole castle, I hope this will make you happy while we are here. - Harry

She turned to him and gave him a big hug after she'd silently read it. "I love you, Harry!" she fiercely whispered in his ear. "I'll live with you anywhere."

When she let him go, he told her so everyone else could hear, "It needs some decorations on the walls as they're a bit plain, but I'll let you do that. I'm sure you'd do it far better." That made her smile. Then he opened the door for her, and holding her hand he led her in.

Ginny saw a living room like it was out of a magazine. There was a nice fireplace with a small blaze in the far corner with a couch and low table in front of it with a vase of flowers, as well as a couple of very comfortable looking chairs. It looked wonderful for conversations. Where there were two windows on the outside wall, there were now four, and the curtains she'd picked out when they'd moved in were over them all. In addition to the small picture of them on their wedding day that was now on the mantel, there was a large still Muggle picture of them from their wedding on the wall; it showed them as they were about to come back down the aisle after having finished the ceremony. Finally in the area near the door, the old stove, desks, and wardrobes were gone and there stood two shelves which held various small curios, plus their Order of Merlins and other awards they'd been given.

"Harry, I don't know what to say, it's wonderful." Ginny was in awe.

Everyone else liked it too, but Hermione asked, "Harry, where are your desks? How are you going to study?"

He chuckled at that, Leave it to Hermione to notice there were no desks, he thought. "They must be in another room then, Hermione." Harry then led Ginny to the door across the room from them that was about five feet from the inside corner. The others slowly followed.

Harry opened the door for her and she saw a wall about five feet in front of her, which created a small alcove on the right that had a brass pole in the middle of it. "Don't touch the pole anyone, I'll explain that shortly." He pulled her to the left and into the room proper.

There, Ginny saw the round room was now very clean and had a normal ceiling. It too had four windows with her same pattern of curtains and a nice fireplace that was probably backed against the one in the living room. Over the fireplace was their framed marriage license. Their queen sized bed was here as were two very nice nightstands. In front of the fireplace was yet another couch. There were a couple of tapestries on the wall, but it was otherwise plain, awaiting a woman's touch obviously. Their two magical wardrobes were also there, as was a new full length mirror and a vanity dresser for Ginny.

Ginny moved the small distance to him and put her arm around his waist and pulled him in tight. "Thanks, Harry, this is so much more than I was expecting." She was beaming at him. Others were also offering their congratulations on a job well done.

"But Harry," Hermione spoke up again, "there are still no desks. You aren't planning to do all your studying in our common room, are you?"

Harry smiled at her, as he knew she'd sort of taken over the common room for a place for her and Ron to study together. "Oh ye of little faith, my sister-in-law to be," he said jokingly to her, which got a few chuckles from the professors and Ron too. "Come this way, everyone." He walked back to the little alcove by the door.

"Now, when the pole has a slight greenish glow like it does now, it is safe for you to walk up to it and grab on. If the pole has a slight redish glow, you should stand back as someone else is about to use the pole," he explained.

"What's it for?" his wife asked.

"Ah, I guess you'll just have to use it to find out. Grab on when it turns green again." That said, he stepped forward and grabbed the pole. It changed to a slight redish color for a second then Harry was propelled upward and appeared to go right through the ceiling. That caused several gasps. A couple of seconds later, the pole became green again.

After she stood there for a few seconds, Ron looked at Ginny. "What are you waiting for, that looks like fun!"

She had to agree, so she stepped forward, grabbed the pole, and a second later she had a sensation close to flying. It was so cool she forgot to be afraid of running into the ceiling. Suddenly, she was in another round room and Harry was standing there holding his hand out to pull her away from the pole. "Wow!"

"You like it?" he asked her and she nodded vigorously. Harry saw Ron come up as he turned away to show Ginny the room. It had two full sized desks instead of student sized desks, four more windows, another fireplace with a fur rug and a love seat in front of it, while the rest of the walls were lined with bookshelves and had a number of books already on them.

"This is incredible Harry." He turned to see Hermione nodding appreciatively at the setup as she complimented him. Ginny was silent but Harry could feel her wonder and love for him. He also noticed she seemed to be eying the fur rug near the fireplace which did have a very small fire in it.

When everyone was up in the library, as Harry called it, it was the Headmistress who spoke for them all. "I'm very impressed, Harry. I'm also quite amazed you could do all of this so quickly too."

"Thank you, Professor. I did have help from Dobby and Winky, and I had been thinking about this for a few days. Still, other than building the ceiling and floor, it was mostly a matter of getting furniture out of stores and bring it up that took the most amount of time."

"Harry," Professor Dumbledore spoke up. "How much of this is being held up with magic? Or how much of it would fail if a large enough Finite Incantatem was done?"

"Oh, only the decorations sir," the Head Boy replied. "We used magic to levitate things into place and to otherwise speed the process up, like nailing all the nails quickly, but Dobby attached everything to the walls in the normal construction way. Even the pole would still work as far as leaving here, as it really is a brass pole that can be slid down. It's just that the glamours that hide the hole, the levitation charm that propels you up, and the proximity wards that cause it to glow the appropriate colors would fail. It's all structurally sound. I added the second floor because I just couldn't stand to see the space go to waste."

"Amazing!" Flitwick exclaimed. "I wondered how you'd done that. Simple and yet ingenious use of charms. Your mother would be proud of you."

Harry blushed a bit, then more as he felt Ginny start to run her hand up and down his side and back. Then he felt her twist a bit and mold herself to him and kiss him. "Thank you Harry, this really is incredible." He felt her pride in him and his work too.

"Thank you for the tour, Harry," Dumbledore told him. "I believe I'll go as I suspect you and Mrs. Potter would like to discuss the decorations." The twinkle in his eyes was very pronounced as he turned to go back down the pole.

As the rest started going out, Ginny turned to Harry and whispered, "After you let them out, I'll be waiting for you here." She let him go and went over to feel the softness of the Alpaca fur in front of the small fire. Seeing the look on her face and feeling her emotions, he barely tore himself away to see everyone out. When everyone was gone and the door was locked, he extinguished all the lights downstairs and hurriedly went back up to the library for the rest of the evening.


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