Hogwarts, May 8 1998
"Steady! Hold it there."
"Almost got it!"
"3...2...1, and down." Harry called over to the group, slowly lowering his wand as the stone gargoyle was finally righted back in its place. It muttered crossly as it settled down on the cold podium.
"Nice one, guys. I think that's it for this floor." They had worked solidly all morning restoring every shattered window and fractured wall. "Let's take a break and head out to the pitch after lunch." Harry clapped Neville on the back and walked over to Hermione.
"Good call with the featherlight charm. Definitely didn't think of that." He looked sheepishly at her.
She shrugged her shoulders. "You're really good at this, you know. Giving instructions and barking orders." She could see how much he enjoyed organising people, even if he didn't see it himself.
"You mean I'm good at being bossy?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Not even close to how I was in first year. Merlin, that's embarrassing to think about." She hid her face in her hands as Ron and Harry grinned at the memory.
Come on, I'm starving. I think Kreacher and the house elves have put together some lunches," Harry said.
Ron's stomach growled noisily.
Sure enough, the kitchens had provided neat baskets of sandwiches and cakes for the helpers at Hogwarts. Their numbers had definitely dwindled as the Ministry scrambled back on its feet and normality attempted to resume around them. The hunt was on for the remaining Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters that had fled into hiding. The trials for the already captured would start in just a few weeks, meaning fewer volunteers to help at the school as the world tried to move forward.
The house tables had been broken up into smaller scattered benches and a few people sat with their heads together across the hall. Hermione spotted Firenze deep in conversation with the Patil twins, and Hagrid casting Professor Vector and Michael Corner in his giant shadow as they ate together.
The late spring air still had an acrid, smoky smell to it from the fires set on the ravaged pitch and Hagrid's poor hut. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Seamus ambled down towards the remains of the Herbology greenhouses and sat themselves down under a surviving tree.
"Sprout's absolutely devastated," Neville said, looking sadly at the broken frame of Greenhouse Two.
"So is Hooch." Said Seamus, grimly.
He'd found Madam Hooch knelt on the edge of the quidditch pitch, mouthing wordlessly, the day after the battle. It would have been a hilariously funny sight if it were any other situation.
"We'll get there. We'll rebuild." Harry said firmly between mouthfuls.
At first, the extent of damage to Hogwarts had been staggering – the mountains of rubble before them an overwhelmingly daunting prospect. But in almost the week that had passed, the skyline of turrets and towers had been gradually patched, the endless corridors and staircases slowly repaired.
"Are you guys coming back in September, too?" Neville asked.
Hermione and Luna nodded.
"I don't know if my mam will let me," Seamus said, "but our year will have to sit the exams externally at Christmas or something. Never got to take them, in the end. All that bloody work!" He pulled a face.
Neville looked to Harry and Ron.
"Shacklebolt said he could jump me and Ron up the application list for the Academy." Harry said quietly.
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Unlikely || George Weasley
FanfictionGeorge knows it can't happen, even though he's loved her since he was 16. They wouldn't make any sense. It would be the most unlikely pairing that nobody saw coming. But were they looking close enough? Split between George and Hermione's points of...
