The dummies fired spells, and Ginny dodged consistently. The stuffed cloth was animated to learn, and react as a human would depending on what setting they were on. After relieving the dummies of their wands, they would draw their swords and continue attacking, so Ginny had to use wandless magic to defend herself from those as well. Finally, the last dummy's wand was gone, and Ginny wandlessly brought out her swords.
With a sword in each hand, she battled through the simulation, and as she disarmed them, they slashed at her with daggers. Once the daggers were eliminated, they took out wickedly curved knives, and had no better luck fighting Ginny. Finally, the dummies grew the human equivalent of desperate, and drew guns, beginning to rain fire down on her. Rather than create a magical shield, which would drain her of all her energy, Ginny dodged the bullets. They were smaller and faster than spells, but she dad trained with them for that exact reason. Eventually, the dummies ran out of bullets, and began to run, a perfect human simulation. Ginny captured every last dummy.
The simulation ended, and Ginny flopped into bed. Once again, Kreature woke Ginny, and she came down at exactly eight thirty. After breakfast, Kreature humbly bowed and handed the map to Ginny. "Kreature is almost certain nothing else is hidden, Mistress. Kreature spent the entire night double checking."
"Very well, Kreature. Make sure the passages are clean and usable." Ginny ordered.
Kreature proudly said, "Kreature cleaned them last night, when he doubled checked everything. Can Kreature do more for Mistress?"
Ginny replied, "Yes, clean the second and third floors, Kreature."
The house elf hurried off, and Ginny exchanged the morning pleasantries with "Aunty Black" the woman was pleased with the way Ginny was running the house, and shooed them off.
The next three days went in much the same way. Ginny would give Kreature the next day's orders, he would have them done and Ginny would look everything over after breakfast. She would give him a new set of orders, and then would disappear into the library to catalog all the information. Draco would try in vain to become flexible, and would then eat lunch. Then he would do his laundry from the day before, and do one of his summer assignments for school. Draco would eat dinner, read a few chapters of a book, and go to bed.
On Friday, the routine was interrupted as Kreature brought a letter to the breakfast table. "There is mail for Mistress."
Ginny took the letter and letter opener from the elf, and removed the parchment from within. After a moment, she remarked, "It's a letter from Dumbledore. There's an Order meeting tonight. We're being inducted and officially given our assignments. He doesn't want us to be startled when people start coming in the front door." Ginny shook her head sadly, and handed the letter to Kreature, "Burn it." She instructed. The elf immediately threw it into the flames of the dining room fireplace.
Deciding to change the topic, and actually talk for once, Ginny asked, "So how is the stretching going?"
Draco sneered, "I doubt you can do a split or a bridge, and I work on it every morning until lunch, and I never get any better."
Standing, Ginny dropped into a split, and then did a straddle, rolling to her feet, and then bridging to look at Malfoy upside down. "I can't, huh? I think you should come and watch exactly what this is good for. Kreature, clean up breakfast. Tonight we are going to have a good many guests over for dinner, so open up the ballroom and get it in order by this afternoon. I'll come down with Draco while he eats and direct the table placing. You have this morning to clean it only. This afternoon you're cooking for an estimated fifty people."
Kreature bowed, and Ginny dragged Draco off, calling a good morning over her shoulder to Mrs. Black. Inside her room, Ginny warded everything and armed her dummies. "Draco, you are about to see a simulation of a battle with ten Death Eaters. They are armed, and I have to ask you not to interfere in any way. This is the highest setting besides Voldemort, and I really still find it a tad challenging with ten or more dummies. They cannot kill me, and anything else, the wards will take care of. Watch."
Ginny battled the dummies for twenty minutes before she had the last one bound and tied. Draco had sat the entire time, transfixed. "Wow. How do I learn to do that?" he asked as Ginny turned off the simulation.
"Two ways. You can fight me with that same series of weapons and learn by experience, or you can get on the damn floor and start stretching." was the irritated reply.
To Ginny's slight surprise, Malfoy stood and drew his wand, "Let's do the learn by experience. But for now, let's stick to just magic."
Consenting, Ginny had him attack her. Draco hit the floor in less than ten seconds. With Ginny on either offense or defense, Draco invariably hit the floor in under ten seconds. At first, he barely lasted two, but he trekked closer and closer to lasting ten seconds. By noon, when they went downstairs for lunch, he had a record time of eighteen seconds.
While Malfoy ate, Ginny drank a glass of water, and remarked, "You chose the more effective, but harder way. You picked the same one I did. I'm warning you now, be prepared for bruises, broken bones, pulled muscles, twisted ankles ectera. Be prepared to get shot at, cut, and otherwise bleed. Know, that once you have developed some kind of technique, I am going to have to teach you to tolerate and fight the worst sort of people. Once you break the thirty second mark, you'll be fighting the dummies so I can watch and see where you need to improve. Drink this potion. It'll prevent people from noticing your new black and blues. I'm going to arrange the ballroom, bye."
Before any of Ginny's speech could properly register, she was gone, having only left a phial of red liquid. Malfoy drank it, and promptly felt a tingling sensation, and then nothing. Ginny, meanwhile went into the sparkling clean ballroom, and Kreature was instantly bowing at her side. "Push the small round tables to the sides, and seat them for two or three." Kreature snapped his fingers, and it was done. Ginny continued, "Have the long tables make a large square, and seat it for about fifty people." Another snap of the elf's fingers, and it was done. "The small square tables should be pushed together in a long line down the left side of the room for all the dishes to be laid out on, and the silver ware needs to be polished again before it can be used." A final snap of Kreature's fingers, and the table finshed sorting themselves out, while the silver ware shown perfectly.
Kreature bowed, and disappeared to the kitchen where he began to cook. Ginny went up to the library, and began working on the last shelf of books in the library. All the others were now categorized, and in alphabetical order within their individual category. Ginny cataloged two particularly short books, and placed them on the correct shelves before going to the foyer to warn Mrs. Black about the Order coming over.
"Ah, Ginny dear, how are you?" Mrs. Black asked.
Smiling, Ginny politely returned, "I'm well, Aunty Black. I thought I might warn you, Sirius has allowed for that filth to return, and they are coming tonight. We, of course, have nearly completed the restoration of the house, we are down to cleaning the attic, and then re-painting the house, along with a few odd fixing jobs. I have had Kreature prepare the ballroom, since it seems a large number of them are coming, and he is cooking dinner as we speak. I believe they may begin to arrive at any moment, so I would like to know if you want your curtains closed, so you don't have to see what the dog dragged in."
Mrs. Black chuckled, for she had told Ginny of Sirius being a dog animagus, and replied, "Leave my curtains be, if you would. I thank you for your consideration, but I would like to welcome them to our home. Now that I am confident it is nearly back to it's old glory, it doesn't matter what filth resides temporarily in it, since it will be an easy mess to clean."
Both women laughed, and the clock struck four. Ginny went back upstairs, changed for dinner, and met Kreature on the stairs, since he had been looking for her, "Mistress, dinner is ready."
Ginny nodded, "Very well, light the candles in the ballroom, and then go the foyer and send our arrivals in to be seated, I must get Draco. Oh, and Kreature, no muttering, nor taking any orders from anyone but myself, Aunty Black, and Draco. If our guests don't want to be seated in the ballroom, they may not leave the foyer. Is that quite clear?"