A/N If this chapter seems like it's coming out of nowhere, that is because it literally did. I was laying in bed one night while working on the other ep chapter and this scene came to me and I had to add it. I considered making it a stand alone, connected one shot but decided against that. Anyway, as its not really the proper ep I will post both today.

Epilogue part 1

22 August, 1978

They were celebrating little Percy's second birthday and the mood at the Burrow was as celebratory as could be expected. Hermione had done all of the cooking for Molly, even baking the chocolate cake. Between mourning the death of her brother and caring for four month old twins, Molly was struggling to keep up. Arthur had to work. So, in order to help, George and Hermione had moved in temporarily.

That afternoon, Percy—ignorant to the lingering sorrow of the adults and older children—was positively delighted to be the center of attention. He made an absolute disaster of his piece of cake and enjoyed ripping into his presents. Now that the party was winding down, he even got his parents undivided attention. Molly, having miraculously gotten both twins down for their naps at the same time, had pulled her brand new two-year-old onto her lap on the sofa beside Arthur to read one of his new books. It was a rare peaceful moment.

Deciding it was the perfect time to start cleaning up, Hermione sent George outside with the older boys and set to work. She had the kitchen to herself for all of five minutes before George and the boys were back. She tsk'd, propping her fists on her hips and turning away from the sink. "It's much harder to clean with all of you…" They weren't alone. "Kingsley."

The Auror smiled sheepishly. "Helen. I apologize for interrupting your afternoon. The boys here tell me you were celebrating a birthday."

"Yes." Hermione tossed her dish towel over her shoulder and smiled weakly, her eyes frowning. "Why are you here, Kingsley? Has something happened?"

He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope my visit will be friendly one of these times."

George, having shooed the boys into the living room, clapped Kingsley on the shoulder. "He said he's here about something from Dumbledore's estate."

"I can't imagine what that would have to do with us." Hermione frowned deeper, turning her nose up slightly.

"Well, I thought you would be the best people for it. Where are Molly and Arthur? Why don't we all sit down and talk?"

After a reassuring nod from George, she smiled and followed them through to the living room. Arthur stood and greeted Kingsley, Molly nodding warily from where she sat with Percy.

"Hullo Kingsley. What can we do for you?"

"Well…" He clapped his hands together, looking around the room as Hermione sat on George's lap in one of the chairs. "We've been sorting through Dumbledore's family estate since shipping him off to Nurmengard. Nothing too shocking—loads of old books, a few valuable heirlooms, the typical amount of restricted dark artifacts for an old pureblood family.

"But, the reason I'm here… Albus was, besides his equally childless brother, the last of his line." Kingsley shrugged. "Aberforth didn't want anything to do with any of it, of course. So that leaves me with a bit of a problem."

"Won't everything be sold off, the money going to the Ministry?" Arthur frowned up at the other man. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Well, the Dumbledore family, as an ancient mostly pureblood family of some means, had a generations-long bond with a family of house elves."

Old annoyance flooded Hermione. It must have shown on her face. Before she could open her mouth and tell Kingsley to take a hike, George squeezed her hand and murmured against her ear. "Hear him out, Love."

Huffing, she gave him a sullen look but didn't interrupt. Noticing the hopeful interest on Molly's face made her feel like she'd never known the woman.

"Alright," Kingsley said encouragingly to no one in particular. "Go ahead and show yourselves."

Suddenly, four house elves smartly dressed in clean pillow cases appeared in the room between them. They looked around the room with obvious interest. When their wide eyes landed on the children, the smaller two—clearly both female—perked up immediately, smiling and touching one another with excitement.

"This is Molly and Arthur Weasley, their cousin, George Prewett and his new wife, Helen. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves."

The tallest of the group stood a little straighter. "I is Corym. This," he gestured to the female beside himself, "is being my mate, Mippy. We is having only one son, Talby, as the Dumbledore family magics be ending." He shook his head solemnly. "Poor Mippy is always wanting more but the old master is not being interested in ladies and his brother is only having his goats. There will be no more Dumbledores to serve, so no more little elves."

He nodded to the last elf, "Young Penny is being very sad to not be having any little elves at all. She is being Talby's mate. We was planning to send them to the Malfoys. That's being where she was from originally."

Confused and more than a little horrified, Hermione interrupted, ignoring George's whispered plea to let them finish. "Why can't you have any more babies? What does that have to do with the family that owns you? And, the Malfoys are terrible to their elves, and haven't had any children yet either. Why on earth would you send them there?"

All four elves swiveled around to gape at her as though she had eight heads. Beside her. George apologized for her. "I'm sorry about her. She's a muggleborn and isn't familiar with house elf magic and we've never had house elves, so maybe we weren't the best to explain. She doesn't mean to offend you."

They eyed her curiously as she glared up at her husband. "George!"

"Love, Fred and I tried to show you your fourth year. You just don't understand, and there's nothing wrong with that. This isn't something they teach at Hogwarts and isn't written in any books so far as I know. Let them explain but please don't start shouting at them and making assumptions. You've upset them."

Grinding her teeth to hold back her tirade on slavery and oppression, Hermione turned back to the elves and the—clearly embarrassed for her—other humans in the room. With a huff, she gave the elf her attention.

Corym cocked his head slightly, glancing between Hermione and his mate as if wondering if she was worth the explanation. That did not bother her in the slightest.

"My family is being bonded to the Dumbledores, four hundred and thirty-six years. A house elves' magic is tied to and somewhat reliant upon our family. Before we ever started living with Wizards, elves were a vulnerable and weak race. Wizards be protecting us and making our magics and families stronger and we be helping Wizards by making their homes stronger and their lives easier.

"The Malfoys may be struggling to be having a baby, Missy, but they be trying. And their house, like most elf homes, is being on ley lines. Powerful magics."

Here, Kingsley interjected. "That's why, for the most part, only old families with particularly located manors keep elves. That, and the rarity of finding an unbonded pair of elves. Centuries of inbreeding weakens the family magic that bonds with the elves, but the ley lines make up for the lack."

He shrugged. "That's why I brought them here. The Weasleys have so many children, their family magic could easily support Corym and Mippy and any offspring they decide to have."

The smaller female elf, Penny, frowned deeply and looked, if it were possible, down her nose at Hermione. "The Malfoys is being perfectly nice to their elves. I should be knowing better than you. My mum and her family has been bonded to the Malfoys since before they is coming from France." Her haughty look softened at Hermione's indignant scoff. "You're mate is saying you is from muggles. He is right. You is just not understanding. We is teaching you."

"But what about Dobby? I've met… or well… I will meet him. He was terrified of Lucius. He said he was punished cruelly!"

At this, Penny sighed and shook her head. "Dobby was Abraxas Malfoy's elf and Master Abraxas allowed his Dark Lord to use him. That man was a bad man. He was being like you. He was from muggles. He was not understanding either. Master Lucius did not let his Dark Lord use Dobby after his father died but Dobby is…" Her ears drooped. "Dobby was very hurt. He is not a normal elf now. It is being very sad."

"But…" Hermione was stunned. She felt chagrined at not having known any of what the elves had told her, even after her many forays into the Hogwarts kitchens. Then again, she had mostly talked to Dobby and Tipsy. She sighed, annoyed. "I still don't understand why you can't have more children if you want to. And why isn't any of this taught at Hogwarts?"

Probably sensing her upset, Penny approached cautiously, patting her knee. "Students from old families already be knowing, and students from muggles won't usually be having elves so they don't be needing to know."

Hermione scoffed. "Well I would have liked to know. I spent so much time and effort trying to free the elves at Hogwarts—" All four elves gasped, Penny taking several steps back to her mate. "—because I thought they were slaves. I thought you all were and the only reason you didn't take my hats was because you were all brainwashed. How are muggleborns expected to fit properly into Wizarding society if no one ever bothers to teach us anything about the culture and history of that society beyond goblin wars and how to bank at Gringotts? Especially if nothing important is written down anywhere or treated like some kind of special secret?"

She was almost shouting now, long since having stood from George's lap. This was something of a sore subject for her after all.

Kingsley took pity on her. "The old families don't usually care if you do and the rest don't rightly think about it much, I expect. But you're right. It's something that's lacking in our education. Maybe you should take it up with Minerva McGonagall, the new headmistress."

She would do just that. They may not have the close relationship she'd enjoyed with her in the future, in fact she wasn't sure she had even met her yet in this time, but she knew she could be very persuasive. In fact… maybe a better idea would be some kind of elementary, pre-Hogwarts program for muggle borns and their families. That would be an excellent use of her talents and if she had plenty of help, she would have plenty of time to raise the family she had told George she wanted. Perhaps she should introduce herself to Andromeda. Would Narcissa be willing to help?

She would have benefited immensely from such a program, but maybe now her younger self could. They still needed to get back in touch with her parents. When was the first time she'd shown signs of magic?

A clearing of a small throat pulled her from her rapid thoughts and she realized she'd begun pacing. She looked up, four sets of wide eyes were regarding her warily. "Ah… sorry. I'm afraid I got carried away in my head."

"You weren't just in your head, Love. Something about a muggleborn school, time for your family and catching up with your parents?" George's smile was knowing.

She blushed furiously. "We can talk about it later."

"Anyways…" Kingsley was smiling hopefully. "I wasn't aware you had any negative opinions about elves but… I guess I had assumed that now the war is over that the pair of you would settle down too. I figured Talby and Penny might like to bond with you. There aren't a lot of other families that could take them and they said they'd prefer a family to Hogwarts."

She had suspected this, but it still knocked the wind from her. Looking back to the pair of elves in question, Hermione found herself being studied closely.

"Would you promise to be keeping your clothes to yourself?"

Hermione blinked hard, surprised to be on the receiving end of the elves' interview. "Um…" She glanced at George. He folded his hands across his stomach and arched a brow at her. Whatever he might want, he was leaving this entirely up to her. What did she want?

It was clear from the look on Molly's face that she was excited by the prospect of having a pair of house elves. Mippy had already introduced herself to little Percy and the older boys who were chatting animatedly with her and Corym. She did plan on having a few children… maybe several. Who could say. If she wanted to start essentially a new school, it would be helpful to have their extra hands and magic.

"Yes. I promise not to free you. As long as you promise not to punish yourself."

Penny sniffed, giving Talby a quick glance. "Was Kingsley right? Would you and your mate be being good masters and be trying to have babies? Penny is wanting hers to be staying in her family. We is wanting to bond with another family for many many generations like we was having before."

Hermione chuckled, blushing to be asked something so personal with an audience. "That's… that's the plan. I don't know how many, but I think we'd like a few, right?" She looked at George, smiling in question.

He reached out for her hand, pulling her back to his lap. "Oh, at least that many."

Thinking of something else, Hermione bit her lip and turned back to Penny. The little elf was smiling for the first time, her hands clasped together excitedly. "Do you think… would you be willing to help me with explaining all of this to other Witches and Wizards like me? So that we can understand? Would that be alright?"

Penny smiled up at her. "If Penny can be having babies and be having your babies to be helping take care of then Penny would be happy to help Mistress with her projects. Penny would be happy to introduce Mistress to other elves that is being very old and be knowing much more than she does."

"Well!" Kingsley clapped his hands together. "That settles that." He smiled at Arthur. "As we're in your home, Arthur, would you and Molly like to go ahead and make it official? I need to get back to the Ministry and let them know I've settled things."

The Weasley patriarch looked questioningly down at Corym. "Would you and your mate be happy with us?"

Corym arched a brow and looked at Mippy, still happily playing with the children. "Oh, I think she'll be just fine."

Mippy beamed up at him before standing and coming to his side. "We is ready to be bonding."

Practically in tears, Molly stood too, setting Percy on the floor to stand beside Arthur. "Oh… you know, dears, I've two more little ones upstairs. Only four months old. It will be so much help to have you here."

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Mippy clung to Corym's arm with a bright, tearful smile. "Oh! Mippy hasn't had babies to care for since Missy Ariana. Mippy is so pleased and so excited that Mippy can finally be having more babies herself and know they will be having families and be cared for."

The look Corym gave her was purely indulgent as he patted her hands. "Yes Mippy, Corym is pleased too."

Hermione watched their interaction with fascination. Until that afternoon, she had never even known house elves paired for life. There was so much she didn't know. She hated not knowing.

Hopefully, if she would be pregnant soon Penny would have the patience to answer all of her questions.

Kingsley pulled an ancient looking bowl from his robes along with a small knife. He passed the knife to Arthur and stood beside the Weasleys and the elves, holding the bowl out between them. "Go ahead, Arthur."

Making a small cut across his palm, he passed the blade to Molly who copied his actions before passing it to Corym. Both elves followed suit, all four of them letting their blood fall into the bowl where it mixed together.

"I Arthur, Wizard and head of this house of Weasley and my wife, the Witch Molly do hereby bind our family line to the elf, Corym and his mate Mippy and all willing offspring until our line or magic should fail. I swear on our blood and magic, to protect and house any elf from this pair should they need refuge or aid. I swear to treat all in our care with the respect and dignity they deserve. So mote it be."

Hermione listened, slack jawed as he spoke. Both elves and Molly chorused the final line before a surge of magic, seeming to originate from the house itself, filled the room. The floor shook beneath their feet and the walls trembled.

The Burrow had always been cozy and well kept. While it may have looked precarious from the outside, it was sturdy, held together by Arthur's magic. The magic that shook the Burrow now felt different.

When Hermione looked back at the newly bonded elves, she saw that they were in control of whatever was happening.

"It's elf magic," she whispered to George in awe. It was elf magic, strengthened by Weasley family magic.

The whole place groaned as it expanded. The room they stood in grew by at least twenty square feet. All of the furniture, already worn by age and use, repaired itself, looking brand new in a way wizard magic would never have been able to accomplish. Walls and beams looked somehow sturdier even though they hadn't been lacking before.

As the magic settled, Hermione wondered suddenly what Malfoy Manor would look like without the house elves or ley lines. It was incredibly fascinating to realize just how much the old Wizarding families relied on their house elves.

"Oh wow. I had no idea that would happen. Our house… it's … bigger." Molly turned around as if seeing the whole thing for the first time.

"There is being a new room near the kitchen, Mistress, for us. Does that suit?"

Still stunned, Molly nodded. "Oh, certainly, Mippy dear."

Curious, Hermione started to walk towards the kitchen when Corym stopped her, addressing George who'd been standing behind her. "You is being Master and Mistress' baby. The youngest but also the biggest." His huge eyes peered up at George carefully before sliding over Hermione. "Hmm. You is both in the wrong place. Strange." He shrugged. "It is good. Talby is Corym and Mippy's first little elf. We is happy for him to stay in our new family, even if it is being called something else."

"How can you possibly know that?" Hermione stared down at the elf, glancing nervously at an intentionally distracted Kingsley.

"Elf magic, Love. They're bonded to the family now. They can sense all sorts of things." He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently towards the kitchen.

"Huh. That makes sense I guess…"

Almost in a daze after such an influx of magic and new information, Hermione let him guide her to the new door in the corner of the kitchen. The room was quite a bit larger than it had been before in exactly the right and most useful ways, but the door was still just in the corner. It couldn't possibly have more than a closet behind it.

"Wait…" Hermione reached for the door handle.

"Missy Hermione, er, Helen…" Penny was suddenly at her side, her hand on her arm. "It is being very rude to be barging into a house elves room. It is being private."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She pulled back but was no less confused. "But… how can that be a big enough space for two house elves, let alone babies?"

The look the little elf gave her was pure condescension. "Missy Helen, you is being a witch. Trust Penny that it is plenty big enough."

Hermione flushed. Of course. It was bigger on the inside, like her beaded bag. Damn elf customs, now she wanted to look even more.

She folded her arms to hold herself back. "Ah. That makes sense. I have a bag that I charmed. Obvious now that I think of it. Silly of me." Turning to her husband, she smiled, steadfastly ignoring his amusement at her confusion. "Shall we go home?"

He chuckled lightly, kissing her forehead. "Of course, Love." Addressing Penny, "Are you quite sure you'd like her as your Mistress, Penny?"

The little elf nodded. "She is being adequate. If you will be giving her babies, Penny will be very happy."

"Adequate?" Hermione huffed indignantly as she followed a laughing George back through to the much larger fireplace.