Now that my academic career was over, it was time to start focusing on what I wanted to do with my life. At the moment, I just wanted to continue with my research and find ways to make effective countermeasures for deadlier spells than we had already. Other than that, I still had the intention of travelling, helping Fred and George with their joke shop, and generally having an adventurous life. At the moment, that had to be put on hold as Dumbledore approached me after leaving school in order to ask me to officially join the Order of the Phoenix as well as give me a special task in particular. Mum worried about it at first, but I promised her that I could handle myself and after thinking it over for a while, she decided that if I was going to put my neck out to fight against Voldemort, then she was going to do the same before promptly joining the Order as well. Of course, Leo also joined with her, promising his wand to our cause though he humbly said he didn't know how he could help, but Dumbledore effortlessly suggested means and ways he could be of invaluable help to the Order.
With Leo's work, he was in the perfect position to make allies and contacts with other wizarding communities outside of Britain, whilst I also had contacts who I could go to and try to persuade to help us when the time came to fighting Voldemort. It was going to require a great deal of effort, but I was confident I would succeed. In the meantime, however, I allowed myself some precious time with my family, enjoying the peace and quiet by just being home. I had more than one, so I'd hop between them as and when I wanted, though when I returned to Grimmauld Place, I'd taken Kreacher aside in order to talk to him.
Harry told me how Kreacher had lied to him, telling Harry that my dad wasn't at home when he was in a bid to get Harry to go to the Department of Mysteries. I expressly forbade Kreacher to ever take orders from Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy, telling him that his actions had almost cost my father's life which would have driven me mad with grief. He did seem a little sorry after this, though he never apologised, merely bowed his head so I then gently told him that I understood his loyalty was to House Black and that he didn't like my father, but that he was under no circumstances to ever cause or be involved in a situation which would bring harm to us or any of our friends and allies.
With my orders clearly given, I was confident that there were no loopholes in which Kreacher could escape, so I made up with him by letting him scurry away with some ancient looking heirloom I'd tucked away for him to keep and add to his growing collection of treasures. I finished cleaning Grimmauld Place a few weeks into the holidays. It was now completely unrecognisable. Magic had expanded the hallways and stairs so that they were wide and spacious so that one needed to squeeze past another in order to get through.
The carpets had been ripped up and disintegrated as well as the curtains and wallpaper, the floorboards mended and the stairs polished so that everything had a warm, rich, mahogany tone with new wallpaper and rugs on the ground, the candelabras all free from their wax drippings and shining a bright golden colour to light the hallway where there were no windows. Otherwise, in all the rooms I had replaced the old with the new. The sweeping curtains that now framed the clear windows allowed the full splay of light, each room having a different theme and often depicting a different season or time of day.
The front rooms would show the clear view of the sunrise whereas the rooms at the back displayed the sunset, the dining room which would only be used in the evenings and to seat a large number of guests, had a night theme with a cosmic sky upon the ceiling which moved and twinkled similarly to my bedroom, the curtains looking like a rush of falling stars upon a canopy of midnight blue. The kitchen now shone to perfection, every pot and pan polished until it gleamed with no speck of dust or grime in even the furthest corner to be found. The guest rooms also had their own themes and colours, the attic which no longer housed Buckbeak, as he had been granted a full pardon as well and was now happily back with Hagrid, I had kept as an indoor forest.
Two rooms I had not touched, and those were my dad's room and my uncle's, Uncle Regulus. I went in only to clean and de-vermin the rooms before then leaving them, ploughing through everything else. I had chosen one room near the top of the house and cast an extendable charm on it so that it was now full of space, in which I packed every unwanted painting, ornament, carpet, piece of furniture, mounted house-elf head, cursed object and sinister looking thing I could find that I no longer wanted to be part of House Black, but couldn't get rid of lest I upset Kreacher and lose his respect, which I needed if I were to keep him on side. To pacify him, I tidied up his space as well, giving him a proper elf-sized bed in the boiler room where it was nice and warm, as well as replacing the dirty loincloth with a white, fluffy towel for him to wear. I put up shelves on the wall for him to put all his photographs he'd stolen, and boxes to hide his treasures as he pleased.
He seemed satisfied with it, at least, he didn't say anything insulting or complain about my father being his master so I took it as a positive. My mother had been helping me all the while with both my dads also on the case whenever they had a moment spare. Now that he was allowed back into the world, my dad had thrown himself into helping Dumbledore with the Order, taking full advantage at being able to be free and useful once more. He'd never been more alive, his eyes shining with youth, never ceasing to smile and I overheard my mother even admit that he was now much more like the man she remembered.
The two of them didn't exactly get along very well, my mum and dad. They often quipped and argued, finding each other difficult to tolerate but they mostly just ignored each other, and the one thing they could agree upon was that they both loved me so very much. Leo had seemed a little lost for a while, as if concerned that he no longer had a part in this family but mum and I soon set him right, and he was once again his chipper, cheerful self. Oddly, he and my birth father got along famously. I'd even go so far as to say that they were becoming friends.
By the time we got the house finished, dad had to take several tours around it in order to take it all in, his childhood home having been completely transformed from a dark, miserable place into one that completely flooded with light. By opening up the grand, sweeping staircases and cleaning the windows, light now bounced off in all directions to hit the crystal chandeliers which sparked off prisms of light in every colour, rainbows dancing tastefully and even dad admitted that he wouldn't mind living here now that I had completely gutted the place and redecorated. There were new clocks about the house, ticking and chiming softly with the faces showing the time through numerals, star patterns and flowing chambers of golden sand in an hourglass that turned itself every hour to begin again.
Hints of magic permeated the rooms, the shift of a new portrait or photograph which now lined the central hallway, depicting memories of my father's childhood and now mine all the way through our life, with a painting of dad, James and Lily Potter, Uncle Remus, myself and Harry that we'd got painted hung on the wall in the centre. It was a large canvas, framed with gold and so lifelike I couldn't help but stare at the six of us in there. I was grinning back at myself, smirking most mischievously with my arm slung around Harry with his mother's hand on his shoulder, the four adults standing behind us.
The enchantments were still settling in and I had to teach my own image how to talk, think and act like me, however dad and Uncle Remus had given the artist memories of James and Lily so that he could recreate their character for the magic to take effect, and soon enough they would be able to talk too. I couldn't wait for it all to be finished so that I could bring Harry here to show him, he'd love to talk to his parents, to hear their voices for himself. I knew it would mean more to him than anything else in the world, so this painting was worth the small fortune we'd spent on commissioning it.
It was a beautiful house now, one that I felt proud of and could even see myself living in permanently in the future, perhaps even raising a family of my own one day, but that wouldn't be for many years yet. For now, there are other things that require my attention. Harry was one of those priorities, since Voldemort was now known to be at large, there was no need for him to hide in the shadows anymore and could attempt to attack and kill Harry at any moment, so I had been assigned by Dumbledore himself to be part of his guardians as – according to Dumbledore – my magic was as quick and brutal as my tongue. I wasn't sure whether or not to take it as a compliment at first, but Dumbledore's smile had put my mind at ease and I agreed to helping watch over Harry once he came to the Burrow.
Having spent a great deal of time with my family, I then kissed them all goodbye and apparated to the Burrow, appearing down the road so that I could walk up to it, waving my wand to inspect their protective enchantments and found them to be rather impressive. When I got to the front garden, the door flung open and Molly Weasley came rushing out, wellington boots clopping noisily, her red hair flying in all directions as she beamed. "Mia! Thank goodness you've arrived, I was starting to wonder…"
"Hello Mrs Weasley, it's good to see you." I smiled to her but stopped short of the house. "Should I ask the secret question now or…?"
"Oh…oh! Why yes, I suppose so. Arthur always insists when he comes home…it seems like a lot of faff but he says it's necessary." She said and I noticed that her cheeks were rather flushed the way they always looked whenever she was annoyed or angry at something. I wonder what had happened?
"Well then, here we go." Giving a light laugh, I then proceeded to ask Molly my security question for her. "What did Fred and George promise to send Ginny back from Hogwarts in our third year of school?" I asked, having chosen something memorable but only to the people who were in on the joke, and when Molly laughed aloud I knew without a doubt that it was her and not some Death Eater in disguise.
"A toilet seat. How did Euphemia Black break her arm when she was twelve years old whilst visiting us in the summer?" Molly questioned and the answer immediately rose into my mind, throwing back my head with a laugh.
"I fell off my broom after Fred and George dared me to try and do a flip on it. You smacked them so hard on their butts they couldn't sit down for a good few hours afterwards." I recalled, both wincing and relishing in the memory. Now cleared, I rushed to Molly and eagerly accepted her hug, feeling her give me a motherly squeeze before ushering me into the house, saying that I had grown again and that I was far too skinny and needed feeding up. The moment I was inside, however, a blanket of silvery blonde hair caught my eye as something came flying at me.
"Mon amie!"
"Fleur!" Feeling her slight body slam against mine, two swift kisses fell upon my cheeks before I was able to actually see Fleur Delcacour herself standing before me. "You're already here? I thought you said in your letter you wouldn't be here for another week or so?"
"I 'ave come early in order to meet Bill's family. It is…quite charming 'ere." Fleur said to me before we both switched to French for a bit, chattering away quickly and eagerly whilst Molly huffed quietly behind Fleur with a shake of her head. Fleur had written to me only a few days ago to announce her engagement to Bill, and I think other than the happy couple themselves, I was the only one who was genuinely excited for them. It seems that Molly was not impressed, so I made a mental note to get the full story later. "I am so glad you are 'ere, Mia, I was beginning to grow a little bored."
"I'm sure we'll find ways to liven things up around here, don't worry." I promised her, giving her another squeeze as Ginny, Ron and Hermione came down. "Hey guys, how are we all?" They all seemed happy to see me, but Ginny and Hermione seemed to share the same sentiments of Molly towards Fleur who seemed to be quite oblivious to the fact, or was merely very good at pretending to not notice. Soon the kitchen was full of chatter as Molly got food on the table for us all as I had arrived just in time for lunch, where I told them all about the changes I'd made to the house and thanking Molly for her hard work in cleaning my dad's house. "You really did a wonder on that place, Mrs Weasley, after you and everyone else deep-cleaned it last summer, there wasn't much left for me to do."
"I'd like to see it. Can we go visit soon mum?" Ginny asked hopefully and suggested that we could even have Christmas there again, probably envisioning a repeat of the feast from last Christmas. If that was the case, then I'd probably be tempted to get some more house-elves to help me because there was no way I was doing all that again on my own, though I suspect Hermione would disapprove.
"We'll see dear, we'll see." Molly responded absently as she piled more mashed potatoes onto my plate. "And how are your parents, dear? All getting along well I hope?"
"Surprisingly, yes." I answered as she then insisted that I had an extra serving of chicken pie as well. "Mum and dad argue a bit, but it's more because their personalities clash than anything. It's a wonder they were ever together in the first place, but they keep things to a minimum. Dad and Leo actually get along really well, though dad was adamant not to in the beginning but Leo is just so likeable…oh it's really confusing, trying to call them both dad and explain it all." I laughed and Molly patted my arm in understanding.
From there, Fleur began to talk about her plans for the wedding after I asked her, though the others groaned slightly and I had a feeling that they probably heard nothing other than wedding talk, so I sent them all an apologetic look. Fleur had big plans, wanting a beautiful wedding where both families could all come together in order to celebrate with them on their special day, and she was just talking about dresses when she suddenly dropped a bombshell on me. "And of course, I would be delighted if you were to be my maid of 'onour, I will 'ave no one else." I choked on potato and pie.
"I…what?" Spluttering, Ron gave me a helpful thump on the back to dislodge the pastry that got stuck so that I could speak again, though my voice was slightly strained and my eyes were watering from the lack of oxygen from before. "You want me to be your maid of honour?"
"But of course, you are my dearest friend, and are also a close member of zis family, no? It is perfect. Bills says you are like 'is leetle seester, and you 'ave been a wonderful friend since ze tournament. Will you accept? Please say you will." She looked at me imploringly and before I knew it, I'd stammered out in agreement which made her squeal happily and kiss my cheek. I forgot how much the French kissed each other. After getting over my shock, I felt deeply honoured that Fleur would give me such a special role on her most important day and made a mental note to ensure that Fleur's wedding would be the celebration of the century.
After dinner, I was allowed some time to talk to Ginny, Hermione and Molly in private, whereby they told me that none of them really approved of Fleur, and Molly felt that Bill had rushed into this proposal without really having thought it through. They found Fleur far too prude for their liking, and I admitted that she did take some getting used to, but I knew her to be friendly and very characterful in herself, but my defence fell on deaf ears. "We know you like her, Mia, because you both did the tournament together." Ginny said to me with a slight glare out the window where Fleur was investigating the gnomes and soon learned that they would bite if you tried to poke them, so now she was blasting them with her wand. "But I think she's a pain in the backside. She's always intruding and poking her nose in on everyone else's business."
"She just takes some getting used to, that's all." I insisted, but try as I may, it was like they were determined to dislike Fleur, and as it turned out, she was not unaware of their feelings towards her. She was up in Bill's room, sharing with him whenever he was home, so I was now sat on the end of the bed as she paced up and down with irritated flicks of her long hair.
"I know what zey think of me, they disapprove. They think that I am not right for zeir Bill, but Bill and I love each other. Nothing zey do or say will drive me away, I do not care!" She said with her nostrils flaring with every deep exhale.
"It's nothing personal Fleur, it's just not common for families to marry others from outside of Britain, really. Even marrying an American is a push, our communities are quite close-knit." I explained to her then decided to switch to French, just in case the others were listening with an Extendable Ear. Fleur became confused as to why I had switched languages, so I explained quickly and she agreed to speak this way whenever we didn't want to be understood. I found myself in a tough situation now, as I was devoted to the Weasley family but Fleur was also my friend, and a close one at that. I somehow managed to find a balance, as both parties seemed to silently agree to not pull me into any arguments, and often I'd just settle them somehow.
Finally there was some peace and quiet as I took a walk outside on my own, going up to the hill in order to see the view. It was when I was overlooking the village that I recalled that Cedric Diggory lived not too far away, and I found myself wondering how he was and decided to write to him in order to find out. We'd become good friends as well in our last year since we were both Head Boy and Girl together, and I felt it important to continue and maintain bonds so that we were not so divided in this time of fear and uncertainty.
I wrote the letter upon my return then sent it with Orion, expecting that I would probably have a reply that same evening. Harry was due in the morning, so I went to bed happily much later, Orion having returned just as I was about to climb into bed. Cedric had been prompt with his reply, as I had expected, and his letter was filled with his description of his holidays so far and his plans, which included looking for a career outside of the Ministry since it was what his father expected, and he didn't want to be stuck behind a desk for the rest of his life. I agreed, Cedric was too handsome and too talented to be wasted as a cleric. He seemed just as undecided as I was about the future, which brought a great deal of comfort. He speculated on becoming a healer, and I thought it would suit him well.
Cedric had such a calm, approachable look about him, he'd make a good healer. Perhaps we'd even end up working together if I pursue my magical theory in counter-curses and their application to medical advancement. Especially considering Neville had told me all about his parents, I was determined to help somehow and I had actually made considerable headway with my research. There was now a solid foundation to build up on, but it would take time. However, with the theory all in mind, I was confident that I could improve if not cure Neville's parents of their afflictions from suffering through the Cruciatus Curse. I still needed time though, it could be years before any real improvement was made.
Still, laying back in bed it was nice to read through Cedric's letter and once I was finished, I put it on my nightstand to reply tomorrow, settling down and flicking off the lights with my wand before going to sleep to dream sweet dreams about dancing hippogriffs, Fleur in a meringue wedding dress and a baby dragon setting it on fire. I was so glad I'd never taken Divination, otherwise I would have shuddered to think what such a dream meant.