Luna and Ginny were the first two awake. They tiptoed downstairs together to find me exactly where they left me last night: feet tucked up on the couch with my book. The only exception was that I now had a cup of tea in one hand and a breakfast plate balanced precariously on my knees.

"Did you even come upstairs last night?" Ginny asked, as she fixed herself a mug of coffee.

"I fell asleep down here. Help yourself to breakfast, I think that I made enough for everyone."

"You've certainly been busy. How long have you been awake?" Luna asked, yawning.

"Just an hour or so." I dogeared my page in the book and set it on the coffee table, picking up my plate and joining the girls at the small table in the kitchen.

"So I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about this housing thing." Ginny said.

"Personally, I'd love it. I'm not very close with any of the other girls in my year, and as I spent the majority of last year either in the Malfoy's basement or the room of requirement, they probably barely remember who I am." Luna started.

"Yes, but don't you want a chance to enjoy the hard work that you put into your dormitory?" Ginny asked.

"Well, yes. But honestly, the dormitories are the same as they always were. It's the common room that's really been transformed. And McGonagall said that we had free use of that whenever we pleased, right?"

"Yes, but what about late study nights? You won't want to walk back here from the library at the wee hours of the morning."

"We can apparate, you know."

"Not from the library."

"Ugh. Hermione?" Both girls turned expectantly to me.

"Honestly, I understand both of your arguments. On Luna's side, I'd either be in a dormitory room by myself or in the same room as the girls from your year, Ginny, who I don't know at all, really. It could be a potentially really lonely situation. Yet, I also see Ginny's side. I do a lot of studying in the library, and, especially for the N.E.W.T.S this year, we'll have some late nights ahead. We can apparate from the point outside the gates, but I don't know how the neighborhood would feel about us cracking in and out at odd hours of the night." There was silence for a bit.

"So, we can't come to a conclusion." Luna sounded slightly downtrodden.

"Not unless you can come up with an idea of how we get from the castle to the house at bizarre hours of the day without disrupting the whole neighborhood." Ginny sounded definitive. At Luna's saddened face, she spoke quickly. "Look, it's not that I don't feel your pain of the dormitories. I was never close with that many girls in my year either, and they now know me as the girl who's brother died in the battle. But we also have never been allowed to sleep in the common rooms, and Hermione has a point with the apparition crack. So, unless we figure out how to get around that, we're in a lose-lose situation." Again, there was silence. I wracked my brain trying to find a solution to the problem.

"Wait a second. I've got a plan..."

Monday morning, as everyone headed off to their designated work areas, I asked McGonagall for a private moment. Alone in her office, I asked permission for my special project, which, astonishingly, was granted. As the construction on the Gryffindor tower could be overseen by Ginny, I was told to fetch Mr. Landish, who was more than capable of the job.

We started the tunnel behind the tapestry directly across from the library. It was quite interesting to see how magical tunnels were made- it never made sense to me that a tunnel could start on the fourth floor of Hogwarts, but take you to a cellar in Hogsmeade. This tunnel would not lead to a cellar, but, instead, to a back room where one's muddy things were kept. The tunnel would create no damage to the house, so there was no violation of our contract. After I gave Mr. Landish the address, I left him to do his spellwork, as I ran to collect Ginny and Luna and deliver the good news.

By end of day Tuesday, not only was Gryffindor tower's construction completed, but the newest Hogwarts secret passage was as well.

"You seriously thought of this?" Ron asked, flabbergasted.

"Always the tone of surprise." I gave a joking glare. "Yes, I thought of this. Not one of the three of us was terribly comfortable in sleeping in the dormitories, but we didn't want to be waking the entire neighborhood apparating in at odd hours of the morning, coming back from studying, and we also didn't want to be walking out in the village at odd hours, either. The only solution was to have a private way to access the house from Hogwarts."

"Well, personally, I think it's brilliant." Harry draped an arm around me.

"And I think it's worthy of being added to a certain map that was chiefly discovered by me, before being passed down to it's current owner." George added, poking at the bit of parchment sticking out of Harry's back pocket. As things had changed around the castle, Harry had been slowly making changes to the Marauders Map to make it accurate again.

"Speaking of that map, what are you going to do with it?" I asked.

"He's going to keep it with him, of course. He's it's rightful owner, I mean, it was created by his dad, his godfather, and Lupin!" Ron said indignantly.

"Yes, but they left it here to be found by future Marauders. Harry's father easily could have kept it, waiting to pass it on to his child. I think that it should be left here, in the spirit of the original Marauders." I was pleased to see George, Ginny, and Neville nodding in agreement.

"Well, I was planning to leave it with Ginny, to be honest." Harry said. "I was going to leave it with you, Hermione, but I figured, once a prefect, always a prefect. You'd probably use it to get firsties in trouble or something." He cracked a grin and I rolled my eyes at his ribbing. "Whereas Ginny, on the other hand, is not only a relative of the previous owners of the map, but will also put it to good use, like to fetch something from the kitchens when you've forgotten to do the grocery shopping or something." In a very dramatic gesture, he pulled the map from his pocket. Holding his wand to the paper, he stated, very stoically, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Wednesday dawned bright and early. It was confirmed that today would be our last day. The furniture was all moved in, the final decorations put in place, the glass gleaming on the Greenhouses. Everyone woke unwillingly, moving slowly, packing their things back in bags. At days end, the only people left in the house would be myself, Ginny, and Luna. The big house would seem very empty.

We decided to walk to the castle instead of apparating. All we'd be doing today would be a walk through, looking at each room that had been repaired. McGonagall had told us just to be there by noon, and we left the house a final time at eleven o'clock, after everyone had apparated back to their respective homes briefly to drop off their bags. McGonagall met us at the gates.

"Before we enter, I want to chiefly say how proud I am of each and every one of you. Though you are from different years and different houses, you pulled together, truly showing the unity that Hogwarts is meant to bring, and creating a castle that is, if possible, even more beautiful than before. You have done our founders very proud." She paused, collecting herself, and pulling something out of the bag draped over her shoulders. "What I have in my hands is a plaque, to be hung in the Great Hall, next to the founders' plaque. It is to commemorate the nineteen incredible individuals who stepped up to help repair this castle when it was needed. So. Let's pose for a picture shall we?" And immediately she set to putting us in order for the picture, giving the plaque to Harry, who stood in the center. "On three, then? One, two, three!" The flash popped, and our touching moment was over. McGonagall was all business, and off to the castle we went.

Everything really did look more majestic than I remembered it. Maybe it was because my strongest memories were of rubble and fire, but the castle gleamed in it's self importance. The Quidditch Pitch was completely renovated, the stands standing proudly in colors of each house. The greenhouses beamed, the light reflecting off of them in rainbows. Yet, nothing got quite the reaction of the Gryffindor common room.

Even I had not seen the finished project. While Ginny and I had worked in the girls' rooms, Ron, Oliver, and Dean had been working feverishly, and secretly on the common room. If I had so much as peeked at anything but the floor whenever I walked through, I was greeted with someone screaming "YOU CAN'T SEE IT YET!"

My jaw, along with everyone else's, dropped as I entered. The room still had it's wonderful cushy vibe- with a great fireplace along the wall of windows, and squashy couches and armchairs all around the room. The bookcases had all been refurbished, and the new study nook was more removed from the main room than it had been before, meaning people could have a slightly more private area to do homework with friends. There was a bookcase filled solely with new chess boards, Gobstones sets, and packs of Exploading Snap cards. The room shone of gold and red and dark wood and soft rugs. Yet nothing, nothing, took anyone's breath away as much as the wall of tapestries.

Each individual that they'd wanted on it was there. Starting with Harry's parents at the top of the first, and with Fred and Lavender and Collin at the bottom of the last. Birth date, death date, children, spouses, achievements, everything listed. But the most magnificent was the pictures. It was as though they shone with light all their own. Harry stepped up first, gazing at the tapestry which held his parents, Sirius, and Lupin. As everyone oo-ed and ahh-ed, I followed Harry's lead. Moving to the last tapestry, I knelt down to read.

"Fred Weasley. Born 1 April, 1978. Died 2 May, 1998. An honorable death in the Battle of Hogwarts. Taken from his family and friends too soon. Achievements include: Beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team 1989-1996, proudly joined the ranks of the best pranksters the castle has ever seen. Went on to become co-owner of successful joke shop. Is missed daily by those who knew his cheerful smile and contagious laugh."

I couldn't stop the tears from coming to my eyes. Suddenly there was a hand gripping my shoulder. I hadn't noticed George coming to see his brother's remembrance. Tears feel silently down his cheeks, but he offered a genuine smile.

"He'd have liked to know that his only achievements listed were Quidditch and pranking." He joked. It was true. I couldn't find my voice, so I just pulled George into a hug instead. When I let go, I saw Angelina coming over. I left George to be with his brother and his (maybe?) girlfriend, and went to stand in the study nook by myself for a moment.

I knew that I wouldn't be visited by Fred in a dream again. No matter how desperately I might want to see him, it was only painful for me to bring him to me and be left with all of the what-ifs. But now I had another way to visit him. The tapestry was as good as any dream for me. His portrait was genuinely the brightest of them all, his smile the whitest. You could see that wonderful glint in his eye. And even though the tapestries didn't move or talk, like photographs and portraits, his didn't need to. I know what he would have said right now. "Why are you crying, silly girl? You've got your whole life ahead of you for crying. Don't waste those tears on a picture of me. They didn't even get my good side."

And...fin. Thank you for sticking by this story. I know that it was drawn out, I know that I had a million excuses as to why it was so slowly updated. I have appreciated each and every review, favorite, update, any acknowledgement of this story what so ever. And with that, I take my final bow on Acceptance. -Shane