3 weeks after the battle
Family dinners had been temporarily relocated to the hospital, so that Hermione and Fred could participate. Hermione was doing much better, but the wound on her arm had been slow to heal from infection and she'd had a few bad reactions to a few of the antibiotics that her healing team had tried. (It turned out that magical amoxicillin and muggle amoxicillin were, in fact, one and the same, and Hermione hadn't known she was allergic to either one.) She'd be in the hospital for a while, yet.
Fred would likely remain in the hospital for even longer. His fractures and injuries were healing nicely. He'd recently begun intensive physical and occupational therapy to relearn what Hermione called activities of daily living: basic wand skills, cooking, showering, etc. His speech was getting better, but he seemed to struggle with assigning the correct name to the correct Weasley. It was a work in progress.
"So, Ron, how is the Hogwarts rebuild going?" Molly asked as they all sat around Fred's room in conjured and stolen chairs, eating Indian takeaway.
"It's going well. One of Fleur's architect friends is letting me help with some of the design plans. The foundation structure was damaged so much that they're considering only rebuilding up to the third floor and adding other buildings on the grounds in its place, instead of making the entire castle 10 stories tall like it used to be,"
"That's what a lot of muggle school campuses look like. They have different buildings for dormitories, classrooms, cafeterias, and so forth," Hermione chipped in.
"Is that what they're planning to do, Ron? Different buildings for everything?" Charlie asked.
"That's what it seems like. The Hogwarts grounds are so big, it makes sense to use more of that space. The Hogwarts Foundation just got a huge anonymous donation. Super generous of them, so we're hoping to make the most of it,"
That "huge anonymous donation" was likely the recent deposit of 70% of the Malfoy family's assets, but Percy wasn't about to tell his family about that. They did know that Draco had recently begun working with Percy at the DMLE, because Ginny had heard from Neville who'd heard from Dean.
"Quidditch and Quodpot fields, housing for faculty and staff, practical classrooms and study areas for students. They want to add a monument to the memorial site, and we've been talking about building an auditorium for large gatherings and shows," Ron shrugged his shoulders modestly, "I've been helping with the design plans for the student dormitories. A lot of the returning 6th and 7th years are pushing us to build the dorms organized by year, rather than by House."
"After the last couple of years, we students got to thinking that we don't need any more reasons to be separate and build animosity. Plus, when we were all camped out in the Room of Requirement, the Room didn't seem to care what house we were in, it just made beds and hammocks for all of us," Ginny added.
"That is how we did it at Beauxbatons," Fleur spoke up, "My classmates and I lived in a large dormitory of students organized by year. First years with second years, third years with fourth years. Fifth and sixth years got their own dorms with more privacy,"
"Hogwarts houses could still help to organize students for classes and quidditch. Maybe it would finally be about school spirit instead of about division," Harry chipped in. Percy thought he was the only person to notice that Harry was taking small sips of something from an opaque muggle water bottle, and that his speech was getting slightly more slurred as the evening went on.
Percy turned his attention away from Harry to Hermione, who was seated on his right. She looked much better than she had a few days ago, though she still had a trace of a rash from her reaction a few nights ago. Her cheeks were rounder, though, and she only needed oxygen support occasionally.
Hermione was also falling asleep as she sat.
"Hermione, are you ready for your evening potions?" Percy asked. Hermione smiled gratefully.
"Yeah, I think I am," Percy offered his hand to Hermione, and she stood, "Good night everyone, it was nice to see you all and catch up,"
"Of course, my dear," Arthur said, "We are so glad that you're doing better. We can't wait for you to be able to go home,"
"Neither can I," Though they hadn't said it out loud, it was definitely not a secret to any of the Weasley children that Hermione would be moving in with Percy after her discharge from the hospital. Whether Arthur or Molly had caught on to this yet was anyone's guess.
Before they could bid their final goodnights, a mediwitch knocked on the door.
"Hello, Arthur? An owl just brought this to the desk for you," The mediwitch offered a letter.
"Oh?" Arthur broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter, "Oh my. Molly," Arthur's voice caught, "It's Aunt Muriel, she's passed away."
"Oh, no," Molly brought her hand to her chest, "Oh, Muriel," Bill conjured his mother a handkerchief. Fred looked confused, but George murmured to him about who Muriel was.
"Her gardener found her this morning. Looks like a stroke," Arthur related to the family, "She was nearly 115, rest her soul,"
"I am sorry for your loss, I remember Aunt Muriel from the wedding, and she was lovely," Fleur came to embrace Molly. The Weasley children shared amused and uncertain glances. Though it was sad, none of them had been particularly fond of old Auntie Muriel. She'd been a persnickety and critical woman in her old age. Fleur's description of "lovely" was kind, but definitely inaccurate.
"I can check on the estate and her Will tomorrow morning," Percy volunteered, after a few seconds of silence, "Gringotts has been awfully caught up in red tape lately, but this one should be pretty straightforward."
"Thank you, Percy. I'm so glad we got to spend a few of her last days with her. She was so gracious in allowing us to stay with her last month,"
"She was, mum, I think she was glad to have us for company," Ginny said. Harry held Ginny's hand, but his other hand was still on that muggle water-bottle.
3 weeks, 1 day after the battle
The next morning, Percy popped into Gringotts.
"Hello, my name is Percival Weasley, assistant director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I have come to see about the Will and Estate of Mrs. Muriel Prewitt, who passed away yesterday morning," Percy had watched a number of other people in line get turned away to sit and wait, but the goblin heard Percy's title and snapped his head up.
Pulling rank certainly had its advantages.
"Please present your wand for identification," the goblin said. After a scrutinizing glare at Percy's wand, the goblin rose from his seat, "Follow me,"
Percy was promptly led into a small, ornately decorated conference room. The goblin, Rockshaw, sat across from him with a small stack of papers.
"Mrs. Muriel Evangeline Prewitt filed her Will with Gringotts 20 years ago. She was of sound mind and sound body. According to her will, she has bequeathed the monetary contents of her Gringotts vault to her surviving family. 20 percent to Molly Evangeline Prewitt Weasley and Arthur William Weasley, 40 percent to be divided evenly amongst the offspring of Mr. And Mrs. Arthur Weasley, and the remaining 40 percent is to be donated to the Hogwarts foundation,"
That made sense, Muriel had once been the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts, some 50 years ago,
"She had no muggle stock holdings," Rockshaw continued, "Mrs. Muriel Evengeline Prewitt has also bequeathed her worldly possessions to her niece, Molly Evangeline Prewitt Weasley. She owned one property, 800 Weatherby Way, Donegal. The estate is bequeathed to her father's namesake, Percival Ignotius Weasley,"
Percy nearly fell out of his chair.
"ME?! Auntie Muriel left her house to me?"
"It would appear that she did. If you would, the deed of the house can be signed over to you today," The goblin handed over a quill and deftly slid a piece of parchment towards Percy.
"But, I'm just one of her nephews. I barely knew her at all. Why would she leave her house to me?"
"It is clearly stated in her will, she bequeathed her home to her father's namesake. Muriel's father was Percival Ignotius Prewitt. Your name is Percival Ignotius Weasley," The Goblin impatiently tapped his knuckles on the table.
Percy, dumbfounded, signed the papers, requested triplicate copies of all the paperwork, and immediately apparated to the Burrow.
"Mum, it's me, Percy," Molly appeared, gave Percy a kiss on the cheek, and offered him a cup of tea.
"I've just spoken with Gringotts about Aunt Muriel's estate," Percy passed her a stack of parchment, "She's left money to you and dad and the rest of us, and some to Hogwarts, and she's left you her belongings,"
"What about the house?"
"She's...well, she left her house in Donegal to me, mum," Molly's eyebrows rose, "Her exact words were "bequeathed to her father's namesake, Percival Ignotius Weasley," Molly softened.
"Oh, Muriel. She was always so sentimental. She loved her father. I only met the man a few times, when I was a girl. But she thought the world of him, and we liked the name Percival, too,"
"You did?"
"Of course. It's a lovely name. And Percy was always a very sweet nickname," Percy melted a little under his mother's soft voice. He couldn't remember ever being called 'sweet' or 'lovely' before.
"I haven't been to Aunt Muriel's house in years. I'm not sure I could apparate there by myself. Do you think you could take me?"
"Of course, Percy," Molly glanced at the clock, where everyone's hands were blessedly in places like 'mischief' and 'home'. No one was in 'mortal peril.' "I've got a bit of time before starting supper, would you want to go now?"
"Sure," He rose and pushed his chair into the table. Molly led the way out into the sunshine and they walked in silence to the edge of the property.
"Ready?" Molly offered her arm, and Percy took it.
"Ready, mum," And they disapparated together.