Chapter 3: A Ray of Hope

Percy had no idea how long he sat by the fire, but it was the early hours of morning when he seemed to come back to his senses. He was curled into a ball on his bed, with a vague recollection of being levitated up the stairs. The sun was starting to peek through his window, and every dust mote was visible in its rays.

Slowly getting up, Percy began to get dressed. The need to go somewhere, anywhere, was so intense. But where? He crept out of the house, and apparated without thinking. Probably not the safest idea, and yet, after what everyone had been through it seemed small and inconsequential.

The sight of Hogwarts was depressing. The towers had fallen, and not all the smoke had gone. No one was outside, probably not even inside, as anyone who wasn't found didn't exactly have a body to bury. Cautiously toeing the rubble, he made his way through one of the courtyards.

This one in particular smelled. The stench was not dissimilar to that of his potions supplies, but the feeling in the air was of grief and hatred. All the magic that had been there through his childhood, the magic that had carried hopes and wishes and carefree feelings, had been tainted.

Percy continued into the school, noting the various areas that were particularly bad. The floors were scarred by curses, and some places had looked as though the stone had been scooped up with a large ladle, and then splattered with blood. A particular wall had parts of- someone- and Percy exhaled through his mouth, staring at it.

He suddenly found himself looking down his arm at his extended wand. "Scourgify," he said, not sure why it bothered him so much. A little bit of the gore peeled off, but there was still more and the stone looked practically stained.

"Scourgify." It was still red. Why was it still so dirty, so wrong?

" Scourgify….. scourgify, SCOURGIFY!" he raged. Nothing mattered but that spot, as though that bit of wall had been the singular problem in the ruined school.

His magic, still fairly tired from the battle, poured out of him with a numbing tingling, and the blood seemed to whip off of the stone. Panting, a sense of peace reached him. How odd, to feel as though there is something I could do. He stayed a second longer, until he wrenched his eyes off the wall to apparate to the burrow.

As he raced in, he was greeted with the exclamations. Several people stood up, crying his name, but Ginny stood out as she furiously said, "Where the bloody hell were you?" Her flaming hair seemed to spark with her anger.

Stunned, Percy stopped. "What do you mean? I haven' t been gone for longer than an hour- you wouldn't believe it- I've had an idea-"

Harry had joined the group at that point, and he stepped forward. "Percy, it's past 5. You were gone all day."

Percy's eyes widened and he turned to see the sun setting.

"That can't possibly be… correct?"

He turned, the confusion evident in his eyes.

"I've been to Hogwarts," he said, noting that his family seemed to perk up a bit at the name.

"Did you seen any sign of him? Of George?" His mum said, wringing out the towel she held.

"No, but I have had an idea. What efforts have there been to fix up the school?"

The second half of his question was mostly aimed at his father, who had been in correspondence with those left from the rest of the Ministry.

"Percy, no one is even thinking of that right now. Without our government running, without our shops open and with so few left, it will be a colossal task to even think about the school being up again in August, let alone convincing parents that it is safe."

Percy took a step back, bumping into the door.

"But… I was there! It is possible. We just need more wands!"

Arthur sighed, "Yes, but all those who are capable need to help with rebuilding the rest of our society."

Ron suddenly pushed his chair back. "What about those who are still in school? The kids who have learned enough to help? It isn't as though The Misuse of Magic Office is going to give up a fight, considering they will be too busy with the rebuild. The kids, say 13 and up, can all do a reparo. And we may need physical workers as well, that are young and fit." His ear grew red as everyone peered at him.

"Ron, you are absolutely right. Especially with all the magical parents needing to help, the kids are going to be by themselves all summer, with no one to cope and recover emotionally with. The children with muggle relations have all been on the run- and have lost family members as well. We wouldn't just be rebuilding the school, we would be healing." Hermione thoughtfully said.

She reached into a ratty beaded pocketbook, and pulled out some parchment and a quill. After digging around some more, she pulled out her ink as well, and began to scribble her ideas down.

Percy watched Arthur address the room, "I need to owl some people. This-this could work." He looked squarely at Percy, and Percy could still see the grief- oh that horrible eating feeling of pain- "Percy, we need you. You can't spend your time only at Hogwarts. You are one of the few left who knew the working of the Ministry in and out."

Percy nodded, a sharp incline of his head.

After a quiet dinner, Percy retired to his room. Plans had to be made.

He pulled some supplies and began to make a list.

1. Owl those who are left, and start up a round the clock cleanup team.

2. Owl Professor McGonagall.

3. Harry and Ron will lead those, Hermione helping the younger ones emotionally.

4. Tents? For long term stay?

5. Set up schedule to also go to Ministry.

The way Percy saw it, the busier he was, the less the grief would eat at him. The constant pain in his chest, the anxiety wrapping around his throat, the urge to throw up at nothing- it had to be handled. If he could just handle it, learn to work around it- everything would be better.

As he settled himself into his bed, he prepared himself for yet another painful nightmare. His last conscious thought was or Fred's final laugh.