"Ah, there you are," Professor Dumbledore spoke to the silhouette of a man in the shadows of Hogsmeade. "Right on time, as usual."

The silhouette nodded, stepping onto moonlit High Street. Professor Dumbledore bowed to Sirius Black.

"Were you able to get Remus? And Rose?" he asked the Headmaster.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I am afraid we will have to proceed without them. They were otherwise occupied. I'm sure Mrs. Hagrid will understand."

Black gave a wry smile, and another nod. His eyes shone over-bright as he pulled out his wand, warming up with a little swish-and-flick.

Professor Dumbledore did the same. "Shall we?"

Black flashed him a grin. "After you."

"Together then," Dumbledore proposed graciously. Both wizards pointed their wands and spoke into the darkness.

"Reparo."

And bit by bit Ivy's old house began to rise from the dust and the rubble. Scattered rocks that had once been part of the foundation rumbled, slowly re-planting themselves in their rightful places. Pieces of glass that had been shattered flew together in flashes of bright, reflected moonlight, re-assembling in once-splintered window casements. Thatch from the roof flew in from every direction, fitting back into its original position.

The furniture was Summoned and arranged with care, just as Sirius remembered. The only thing missing, the one flaw that would not be repaired, was a place on Ivy's bedroom wall. A portion of the dragon-decorated wallpaper was nowhere to be found, no matter how much Summoning Sirius attempted. Finally, as morning dawned, the wizards gave up. They shook hands, wearily, and said their goodbyes, each Apparating in different directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Ivy,

I hear congratulations are in order. Believe it or not, I'm very happy for you. For both of you. Hagrid is a lucky man. And one day I may yet be able to tell him so. For now though, I leave you a gift. A wedding present you will find where your cottage used to be.

Remember me whenever you look at the vulture tree.

Yours Truly,

Blackie

"A present," Ivy exclaimed, re-reading Black's letter. "Hagrid, come on. Let's go see what it is."

Hagrid let Ivy lead him down the forest path, mystified. He didn't know anybody named Blackie, but his love for his wife was more than enough to propel him through the woods. When they got to the stream, he crossed first, then turned to lift Ivy over the water. And so he was the first to lay eyes on Blackie's gift in the daylight. He rubbed his eyes, then turned Ivy around so she would be able to see.

"My house!" she exclaimed, running across High Street.

"He fixed my house."

Hagrid scratched his head wonderingly. "He who?"

"Blackie," Ivy grinned, running back across the street to tug on her husband's arm. "Let's go look."

The way she said the name this time rang a bell in Hagrid's head. "Yeh mean tha' big dog, used ter hang aroun' here?"

She nodded, pushing open the gate and rushing up the walk.

"Remember... I lost the house when I didn't pass the magic test?"

"But Dumbledore said Zonko cheated," Hagrid reminded, trying to keep all his facts straight.

"He switched wands," Ivy said, entering the house and heading for the kitchen. It was all there. She smoothed a hand across the dragon-lighting-a-cauldron wallpaper. "He bumped into me, just before the test. I thought he was being rude, but... turns out he was stealing my wand and replacing it with one of those trick wands he had at the joke shop. Nobody could have done magic with that wand. Not even Dumbledore."

"So yeh did magic, did yeh?" Hagrid asked, moustache twitching as he watched his wife head down the hall, her fingertips trailing along the wall as she went.

"I did," she grinned, turning back to look at him. "I made cups float, and set things on fire."

"Summoned me back ter yeh."

She laughed, stopping in her tracks when she got to the bedroom. There was a note attached to the wall where a portion of the plaster showed through.

I couldn't get this piece back for you, Ivy. Don't know what went wrong. Maybe Hagrid can fix it. Your friend, Blackie.

"Yer gonna have ter tell me who this Blackie feller is," Hagrid muttered. He watched as Ivy brought something out of the pocket of her robe. It looked like a slip of paper. She unfolded it, pressing it to the empty place on the wall.

"Could you?" she asked, revealing the missing piece of Charlie's wallpaper. "I sort of... kept it.... When I saw what they did to my house."

"Ivy," Hagrid murmured, eyes narrowing. "I wish I coulda saved yeh from all this."

Ivy laughed. "You did."

Hagrid surged forward, shaking out his pink umbrella and pointing it at the wall.

"Reparo," he spoke, and the torn places melded together.

"See, one expertly tamed dragon." Ivy jumped on the bed so she could look Hagrid in the eye. "Thanks."

He quirked an eyebrow at her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yer welcome."

"Come to think of it, I have a lot I need to properly thank you for," she said as her fingers worked through his hair. "How many times now have you saved my life?"

"Oh, 'bout 500," Hagrid teased.

"500?" Ivy gasped. "It's going to take me forever to make up for that."

"Only the rest a yer life," Hagrid said as his wife's fingers drifted down his shoulders to play across his chest.

Ivy pressed her lips against his, and he could feel her smile. "Then I'd better get started."

"Don' see how anybody can say yer not magic," Hagrid told her, repeating a phrase very close to what her mother had said the day she was born.

"It's love, Hagrid," Ivy answered, working industriously on the buttons of his shirt. "Just ask any witch or wizard. They'll tell you. It's the strongest magic of all."

"An' it's one magic test yeh pass wi' full marks," Hagrid announced softly, kissing the top of her head.

"You think?" Ivy countered, looking up at him with one raised eyebrow.

Hagrid grunted from deep in the back of his throat, "Reckon even a Muggle could figure that out."

And together they finished what Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore had started the night before: making Ivy's house a home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The End...