Hello everyone!

Chapter five, here. Umm, I don't really know what to say in the author's note here, because I feel like this is a bit of a filler chapter. It sets up a couple of tasks and has a small amount of fluff, but mostly it's just a bridge chapter. They are sort of just changing from being relieved that they survived to actually fixing their world. I hope you like it anyway :) Oh, and one important note, I usually use little asteriks to denote chapter breaks, but for some reason Fanfiction is deleting them. So instead, we have 'hhhhh'

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, PottedLilies, SiriusObsession, DukeBrymin, Snape1918, and LemonLime165. Thank you!

And also a big thanks to everyone who added me to their favorites/alerts lists!

I hope you like it!

hhhhhhhh

"We'll have to have the students stay over the summer," McGonagall was saying when I walked into her office. "We simply cannot catch them up during the normal school year."

"So we'll simply keep them here for a full year? I cannot imagine that the parents would agree, especially the first-year muggle-born parents," Sprout objected.

McGonagall just shook her head. "We will have to visit homes personally, and explain the situation in greater detail. And we will need to visit the homes of the second-year muggle-borns as well. I would imagine that those children are not keen on returning, and their parents will not be likely to send them without some intervention—"

"Professor? Erm, I mean, Minerva, can I just say," I cut in, and everyone's head whipped around to my place at the door.

"Harry," she called, waving me in. "I didn't notice your arrival. Please, have a seat."

She flicked her wand at a desk which instantly became a proper chair.

"Thanks, erm, Minerva," I said, taking the seat and looking around. Funny, a year ago I would have been nervous about so many faces trained on mine. I suppose I'm finally accustomed to the limelight. "I just wanted to point out that these muggle-born children might want to come back, if their friends have encouraged them to do so. I mean, we should go talk to them and their families, but it's also important that we talk to the other children, encourage them to write to their friends."

They all considered me for a moment. Finally, Professor Sprout spoke up.

"A very important point, Harry. We should absolutely send out a letter to all students, encouraging them to bond more with their muggleborn friends."

Everyone started nodding and murmuring in agreement.

"Well then, everyone," McGonagall said, calling the room back to order, "We will have to set to work on this issue. I trust that our combined efforts will allow us to map the friendships of the students, we will need to draft a letter to encourage correspondence between friends, and we must draft a speech with which to explain matters to the parents of the muggleborn students."

They kept talking about it for a few hours. I even stayed for all of the meticulous wording of the speech to parents of the poor muggleborn second years, who must be terrified after their only experience with the wizarding world.

But after all that fighting—and finally winning—I won't let Voldemort have the victory of keeping even one of those muggleborns away from Hogwarts. I will get them all back here, mark my words.

hhhhhh

"Ooh, that sounds lovely," Luna said, nodding and looking, as always, as though she had just finished daydreaming. I knew that was what Ginny was smiling about next to me.

"So, you'll do it, then?" I asked her, just to be sure.

She nodded. "Oh yes, that would be quite fun, I suppose. Should I come up with the painting myself?"

Erm, no. I don't particularly want any crumple-horned snorkacks or nargles in this mural. "Well, I actually have to run every detail through McGonagall first, but if you'd like to help me by coming up with a few different drawings, that would be great."

Damn politeness. I wish Ron were here.

She nodded again, looking slightly as though she was about to drift off into another daydream. Actually, maybe she was already thinking about the design and I just wasn't giving her enough credit. "I'll try to come up with something pretty," she assured me before turning away to ladle more potatoes onto her plate.

Ginny was still smiling next to me. She loves Luna.

I think it comes from Luna actually being unique, rather than the cardboard cut-outs we usually have to talk to.

Actually, I quite like Luna myself because of that.

"Heya! Harry!"

Oh Merlin, here comes another cut-out now.

"Hey, Seamus," I said, feigning as much enthusiasm as I could. I didn't think it was very much, but then, I didn't really have any patience for him.

And he was always wandering about with Dean, anyway, and if that bloke kept looking at Ginny like that I would have to go get the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave just so that I could curse him with it.

"Me and Dean were just chatting up that pretty bird from Ravenclaw, and she heard that Kingsley Shacklebolt is being asked to run for Minister! And the bloke turned down the invitation! Imagine that, won't you?"

I laughed. Of course Kingsley wouldn't want to be Minister.

"Well," Ginny answered for me, "I imagine he's had a taste of the job and doesn't want it for the next few years."

Seamus nodded at her. Dean, most fortunately for the state of his health, was staring over my shoulder somewhere. "I reckon you're right, little Weasley. Betcha he's had enough already. It's going to be a mess putting everything back together—what with Hogwarts only being the beginning and all."

"Yeah," I agreed. It's easier to think about conversation when you're not concerned with punching anyone, now that I think about it. "He wants Hogwarts back together first, says that it's the symbol of stability, you know."

"Well I think so," Ginny cut in. "Everyone always says that there's no safer place than Hogwarts, and for it to be blasted apart—"

"It wasn't blasted apart, though," Seamus interrupted. "Got a few scratches and bruises, sure, but it's still standing. We just gotta patch her up here and there."

I nodded. "True. The reconstruction could be a lot worse. But it's bad enough to see it like this."

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah, she's broken a lot of hearts. I swear I saw old McGonagall crying over a broken banister the other day…"

And then off he went, launching into an account of McGonagall's tears so extravagant that only Seamus could be telling it. I couldn't help grinning at it though, because that's the one thing that hasn't changed about him since first year.

Well, that and his Irish accent, I suppose.

hhhhhh

"Ginny!" I heard Mum call from somewhere up the girls' staircase, "Ginny!"

"Yes, Mum?" I called back, poking my head out the dormitory door and trying to decide whether she was up or down. Honestly, she's so loud sometimes that you really can't tell where it's coming from.

"Ginny, I need you up here for a moment!"

Up where? Well, I suppose I'll just start up the stairs and I'll sun into her eventually.

It took a few minutes, but I finally found her three floors up, in the dorms of the second-year girls. "What are you doing up here, Mum?"

She turned to my voice, and I was startled to see a few tears leaking down her cheeks. I hadn't heard any tremors when she was calling for me. "I was just thinking, dear, that these children have mothers who won't want to send them back."

I nodded as sympathetically as I could. She's been liable to burst into tears at anything recently, not that I really blame her.

"And Minerva is going to be talking to the children's parents, like they always do for muggleborns, but she'll be talking to the second-year muggleborns too, and their parents are the ones who won't want to send them." She paused to wipe a few tears away and then continued in her shaky voice. "But if a mother were to go to them, well, they might be more inclined to send the children back. Minerva always has been slightly cold about these things, you know…"

I just kept nodding, and went over to give her a hug. She started sobbing slightly.

"Well, Ginevra, I'm going to need you to go home, and try to put the house back together. You know it's been a shambles since February, when…when…when we had to leave…"

"Shhh," I murmured, hugging her and stroking her hair softly. "I'll take care of that Mum, it'll be fine."

She kept trying to talk, but her words were coming out in sobs and I wasn't sure what she was trying to say. I think I caught some nonsense about de-gnoming the garden, though. I wasn't about to bother with that, sorry.

"Mum," I said softly, trying to calm her down, "why don't you lie down? Have a nice rest—"

"I don't need to lie down!" She suddenly burst out, still sobbing. "All anyone wants me to do is lie down. It's driving me bonkers! I need to get up and do something!"

"Okay," I said, putting my hands up in a gesture of good will and inching back slightly. "How about you go down to the kitchens and get a nice cup of tea? I'm sure the houseelves will let you help with dinner if you ask nicely…"

She cocked her head to the side for a moment, considering. Then she nodded. "Yes. Yes, that's a good idea, Ginny, thank you."

And then she gave me one last hug before going out the door.

You know, come to think of houseelves, I wonder if I can sneak a few home with me. Just to help clean, you know, and then bring them back.

I'm sure no one would mind.

hhhhhh

"What are you doing?" Harry whispered.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry," he said, an entirely not-sorry expression on his face. He looks a bit amused, actually. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm wondering if Mum is still in the kitchens."

"Ah, is that why you're lurking about," he said, grinning. He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and tapped it with his wand. "You could have just asked me, you know."

I cocked a brow. "You still carry that thing around?"

"Force of habit," he shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. I let it be.

"Well, is she still in there?"

"Yep," he grinned. "Working alongside some elves named Ginevra, and Harold, and—"

I turned around and marched straight into the kitchens.

But I had never done that before, and I hadn't expected them all to rush at me like I was a giant sugarquill.

"Hello Miss!"

"How may we help you, Miss?"
"What would you like, Miss, some lemonade, perhaps?"

"Oh, erm, lemonade actually sounds great, thank you," I said, startled. I heard Harry chuckling behind me.

"Never been to the kitchens?" He asked, sounding amused but genuinely surprised. "I would have thought you'd have found this place years ago."

"Nah, Fred and George told me about it, but wouldn't bring me along. Said it was one thing to get themselves into trouble, another to corrupt their entirely innocent little sister."

"Entirely innocent little sister?"

I grinned. "Well, in a manner of speaking."

He just rolled his eyes at me.

"Master Harry!"

He looked down at his feet. Oh, I remember that one. Made for a very cheery Christmas holiday a few years back, if I recall.

"Kreacher," Harry said with a smile. "You're still here?"

"Kreacher will be happy to leave, if Master Harry wishes. He only stays to serve Master Harry, because none of the other elves know how to make Master his steak and kidney pie the way Master likes—"

"Well, thank you, Kreacher," Harry rushed to say, blushing slightly. "But we've gone over this. You don't have to call me 'master.'"

"As you wish, sir," Kreacher said, bowing low. I rolled my eyes. He doesn't even like houseelves to defer to him. But I suppose that's what makes him Harry.

"Actaully, Kreacher, that pie does sound delicious. Would you make me some?"

"Kreacher would be delighted, sir!" And the wrinkled little green thing rushed off somewhere into the mass of elves.

Harry and I sat at a table just as another elf came up with a tray. "Your lemonade, Miss, and Victory Punch for Master Harry Potter!" The elf said with an extravagant bow.

Harry looked confused. "But I didn't ask for any Victory Punch."

"I made it special for Master Harry Potter, sir, because yous saved us all!"

"Oh, well, thank you," he said, blushing slightly and taking the goblet. The little elf squeaked his delight and then left.

"So," I asked, trying to keep the smirk off my face, "How does victory taste?"

He sniffed it, then took a sip. "Tangy."

I laughed. "Excellent."

He made a face at me, then asked, "So what did you come down here for?"

"Erm, lemonade?"

"Ginny," he said, his tone indicating that he didn't believe that for a second. Well, I might as well tell him, I suppose.

"Mum wants me to clean up the Burrow, and I thought I might borrow a few houseelves to help me do it."

He laughed. "Alright, well, you can take Kreacher. And as for any more, well, how many did you want, anyway?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Maybe five? I think that would be more than enough to finish the cleaning in a day or two, don't you think?"

He nodded, thinking. "Five would do it, the Burrow isn't that big from top to bottom. You might even be able to do it in a day and a half…we could smuggle out a couple more, say seven, and then you could really get the cleaning done."

I grinned. Sometimes I really love my boyfriend.

"How are we going to get them out, though? They're bound to the house that they serve."

"I've got an idea," I whispered conspiratorially, looking about for the elf that brought us our drinks. "Did you catch the name of the elf that gave you the Victory Punch?"

He shook his head. "I forgot to ask."

I laughed. "Right, what with the invention of Victory Punch just for you and all."

That was met with a grimace, as I knew it would be. But then I spotted the elf just a table away, setting a platter of steaming rice onto the table. It promptly disappeared, and I had to assume that we were missing dinner in the Great Hall. Taking my chance before I lost sight of him, I went over to that table.

"Erm, hello," I began awkwardly.

"Miss! What can Bonky do for yous, Miss?"

"Well, erm, Bonky, I need to ask your help with something."

"Anything, Miss! We serves the people of Hogwarts with the highest honor!"

Right, Hogwarts. That's the problem.

"Well, Bonky, I need to take you and a few of your friends home with me for a few days, to help me clean up the mess that Voldemort made."

I wasn't sure if I should take the gamble and say Voldemort, but the elf became instantly solemn.

It took a few moments, but eventually, "Bonky would be most honored, Miss, to help you fix yous home now that You-Know-Who is gone, Miss. Most honored."

hhhhhh

I hope you liked it!