After the war, there weren't as many people left.  Not many who had been in the
administration and not many total.  People were looking at the Ministry, trying to figure
out how to get everything that had been done before done now.  What they needed, most
everyone decided while chatting with their friends at the inns and taverns, was a new
Minister of Magic first and then *they* could fix things down the line.

The problem came that there weren't that many qualified people for the job.  The majority
of the former section Ministers had died during the war, especially during the bombing of
the Ministry.  There were a few stable families that had members strong enough to pull
some support, but not many.  A lot of people started to look at Percy Weasley, but many
more saw the tiredness in him, the way he slumped whenever he moved, the way his eyes
glowed dully from constant medication for sleeplessness.  Still, he knew the job and he
would get things settled.

The paper was convinced to call for a general election for the position.  Suggestions were
taken over the next week and the Daily Prophet put out the ballots two weeks after the
nominations period was ended.  They only listed last names, most families didn't have more
than a few members and they thought it'd be easiest that way.  Save space on the ballot.

The day of voting came and went, and there was a small majority in the box marked
'Weasley'.  Someone went to find Percy, who was sitting in his house's garden.

Percy looked up at his visitor.  "What?" he asked calmly.  He didn't try to stand up, he was
having another tiring day and had just been contemplating a nap in the sun.

"Percy, you were voted for the Minister of Magic," the man said gently.

Percy snorted.  "I have no desire for the job."

"But...but someone put in your name and you were asked."

"I was not," he said firmly.  "I turned it down when the notification was sent to me.   I do
not want the job.  I don't have the strength or the desire any more."  He waved a hand.
"There are other Weasleys left."

"Yes, but the two responsible ones have left the country again," the man said.

Percy looked at him.  "Then find one of them," he said simply.  He went back to staring at
his mother's garden, wondering if he should weed it.  He would have to pull out his old
herbology books to look up gardening in the normal sense.

The man sighed and walked away; going to tell the electorate board that Percy had
declined the nomination.  The board talked long into the night.  A few of them argued
about making him do the job anyway.  A few of them decided they could look at other
Weasleys.  The family tree was pulled up from the Record's office.  It was magically
correcting so it listed all the members listed as dead and missing in the war.  Arthur, the
perfect candidate, was listed as missing and presumed dead after two years.  Ron, who
most of them might agree on with his history in the wars, was still in St. Mungo's and not
responding to anyone.  That left Bill and Ginny, both of whom were out of the country and
had publicly stated that they weren't coming back for a very long time because it was too
painful.  That left one last set of Weasleys.  The ones that no one wanted.

The person who was chairing the board banged his gavel.  "Either we have a new election
or we nominate them," he pointed out.  "Which do you want?"

"A new election will look just as bad," another member suggested.  "We can say that we
only nominated families.  Specific members were to be picked later."  That got some dirty
looks from his fellow members.  "Why can't we force Percy to take the job?"

"He'll end up in the bed next to Ron any day now," the chair pointed out gently.  "I really
don't want to do that to us, do you?"  That notion got a lot of headshakes.  "Good.  Then
are we decided?  The twins?"

One smartass in the corner looked at the group.  "The best compromise is the one that suits
no one perfectly.  At least we know they have business sense.  They're one of the few who
made profits during the war.  Plus they did participate in a few battles.  We can put that
forward before we announce them."  Most of the group started to nod.  "They'll have
Percy's help, and Ron's if he ever wakes up.  Plus Granger is still at the school and she'd
help them because she might as well be part of the family."

"If she had managed to trap one and forced the marriage to happen, she would be an ideal
candidate," the chair agreed.  "Unfortunately, she didn't.  Like most of us, she put the war
before her own happiness and it lost her both best friends."  Everyone looked away from
him, not wanting to have to talk about what *he* had sacrificed.

"Ron may yet wake up," the most optimistic member put in.

"If he does, then I'm sure he'll be in for a bit of healing," the chair pointed out gently, for
him.  "Do we have an agreement?"  He looked at each member in turn, and they each
looked away and nodded.

"Just think," the optimistic member put in, "at least they'll make it fun to be alive again.
We'll have celebrations and holidays."

"Yes, we will," the chair sighed.  "Shall I tell them?"

"Go for it," one of the members said with a mean smirk.  "I had to face down Percy in his
mother's garden."

"Good point."  He stood up, pushing his chair back.  "Someone start feeding the Prophet
information to make this more popular."  He walked out, his cloak trailing him.  He
walked out of the Ministry and down a side alley, heading directly into Diagon.  In front of
him were a few stores showing fire damage, the bank, and the Weasley's store.  It was still
as pristine as always.  They had put on a fire coating, just in case, and it showed.  He
tapped on the door and it opened for him, admitting him into the store.  "Hello?" he called
in the darkened room.

One of them walked out, looking him over.  "Percy told you no?" he asked dryly.

The chair nodded.  "Which means it falls on yours, or Ron's if you can get him to wake
up."

The twin nodded at the door he had come through.  "C'mon.  We're packing right now."
He saw the startled look.  "We were the ones to keep the family together," he pointed out,
heading back that way.  "We were right."

The other looked at him.  "Percy said no?"

The chair of the electorate board walked in.  "He was staring at your mother's garden and
he is very tired.  That leaves you two."  He looked them over.  They were both strong, tall,
normal looking Weasleys.  One of them had a few more scars and the other a slight limp
after their last battle, but other than that they were the same as they had been physically.
"Will you accept it or do we have to do another election?"

The twins stared at each other.  "For two years," they said in unison.

"Just long enough to get Percy fixed," the one still packing noted.

"And to get everything back and running," the other put in.

The chair smiled.  "Thank you both.  It was more than we could have hoped for."

"It's too big a job for any one person," the packing one pointed out.  "We'll take turns."
He looked at his twin.  "Me first or you?"

"You I think. You do better with the bookish things and finances.  I'll start with the
education stuff with Snape and Granger."  They shook hands.  "Do have fun."

"Of course. What fun we will have.  What about the new holidays?"  They shrugged and
looked at the chair.

"We know you were going to call one, we have no idea which one you wanted," he offered.
"To mark the last battle?  To mark Voldemort's final defeat a few weeks later when he was
finally found and killed?  To mark Potter's birthday?  We will leave that up to you."

"I think it would be most appropriate to have a memorial holiday on the day of the last
battle," the one of the left noted, picking up the packing duties.

The other sat down and put his feet up.  "That was the turning point in the war, but we
could also mark a happier celebration on the day of his death.  Or we could do a first year
moment for both, and make the second an official holiday?"

"I like doing both and having it noted as a day to teach the young about the dark," the
chair pointed out.

George looked at him and shook his head.  "With those two being the only capable teachers
at the school, we never have to worry about that.  We'll call it Battle Day," he decided.
"Have a moment of silence this coming year and a large parade to celebrate.  That should
get people more in the mood.  Plus, we'll have to have a Yule celebration emphasized.  It's
important that we get back to normal."

Fred looked at his twin.  "That's the longest speech you've ever made on your own," he
pouted.

George smiled at him.  "I'm channeling Percy and Mum."

"Good job.  Did Percy finally pass on?"

"Just his mind."  George put his feet down and stood up.  "All right, let me get a few of my
favorite things to amuse myself during those dreadful meetings and we'll head over now."
He heard the sigh of relief and grinned.  "Don't worry, there's two of us.  We'll be
around."  He patted the man on the chest and walked away.

Fred looked at the man.  "How are you holding up?"

Harry Potter sighed and shook his head.  "I'm not me, Fred, you know that."  He gave him
a short hug.  "Pass that on to Percy if possible and Ron soon.  I'm going to go back to my
house and hide."  He waved and disappeared.

Fred looked back toward the shared bedroom.  "He's just as bad as Percy," he called out.

George came out with his squeaky realistically fake snake, the twin of which guarded Ron's
bedside at the moment, and grinned.  "Of course he is.  It's not like he has a life."  He
picked up his bag.  "I'm off to confuse people.  Do not start that sale without me."  He blew
a kiss.  "I'll see you when we visit Ron tomorrow."  He walked out the door, heading to the
Ministry.  The first person he met stared at him in shock.  "Did you think Percy was up to
it?" he asked with a bright smile.

She whimpered.  "But you?"

He put an arm around her shoulders and walked her back to their new office.  "It's all
right, dearie.  Which office do you presently work in?"

"I'm doing most of the magical creatures and species work," she said pitifully.

He smiled at her.  "Then we'll do a meeting right now, before everyone else that way you're
the top of the list, and you'll tell me what you need to get back up and running."  Her face
lit up.  "Then you can help me figure out who to put on the new holiday committee."

"We're celebrating the final defeat?"

"We're celebrating the final battle.  We'll have a parade to get everyone back into their
normal life and to mark the end to a year of grieving for the last fallen ones."  She gave
him an adoring look.  "Of course, I believe Fred is going to be handling the parade itself.
We're doing it together."

"Of course," she said with a happier smile.  "Most of us expected Percy."

He grimaced.  "Percy's a bit tired still.  We expect him to admit he needs help and go to the
hospital soon.  We're the most stable of the Weasleys."

She laughed.  "Which bodes ill for the world at large."

"Of course," he agreed happily.  He let her show him where his office was and let him
inside.  He inhaled then lifted his wand and started a fan charm.  "You can tell Fudge died
in here, after beshitting himself."  He opened the windows and took out the glass where he
couldn't open the windows.  Then he strung banners and ribbons around the room, making
it look much happier in there.  "There," he said, nodding in satisfaction.  "Wonderful of
me of course."  He sat down behind the desk, dropping his bag onto a chair beside him.
"Now then, what can we do to help everything nasty, slimy, and the goblins get back onto
their old footing?"

She pulled out a long list and handed it over.  "I need about three more staff members,
sixteen reams of parchment for forms, and I want to make those changes."

He looked at the list, then looked at her.  "How bad will this change procedure?"

"Vastly, but not doing it will mean more forms with less people to do the work.  I've
rearranged the forms so they'll work better with less staff to handle everything."  She
leaned closer.  "In addition, the new forms will cost a bit to get going, there's always a fee
for a new form, but it shouldn't be so bad.  We simply don't have the personnel to deal with
things the old way, with dependent auditors for each species."

George smiled at her.  "Then we'll find you the new staff first if possible and you can use
mockups of the forms until you're sure it won't need more tweaking."  She beamed.  "Good
girl.  Now, how should we schedule each department?"

She pulled over a piece of blank parchment and wrote out a quick list of each department,
each head, and who she would take first.  "I'm listing this by level of aggravation.  Some of
the nicest people are also the worst assholes to deal with in a crisis."

"That's why I have a twin," he said with a wicked grin.

She laughed and finished it, handing it over.  "I put myself at the bottom, without a
ranking since you've already handled me.  When are you calling a full staff meeting?"

"After I've met with everyone.  I'm thinking a small picnic next weekend?"  She looked
impressed.  "Informal settings for now.  I loathe the old banquets dad used to drag us to."
He sat up when someone knocked on the door.  "Enter!"  A man walked in and stared at
him.  " Yes, it was us, not Percy," he said patiently.  "You are?"

"Fitzsimmons, Sports and Recreation?" he said weakly.

George smiled, noticing him near the top of the list.  "I'm just getting settled in and doing
the lists of who I'm going to meet with first.  Sit, please.  Deal with me today, and my twin
tomorrow."

Fitzsimmons sat down, looking at the woman next to him.  "And you are?"

"Sheila, Magical Creatures and Species at the moment.  From the former."  She shook his
hand.  "I put you near the top of the list because you'd be less fussy to start off with."

"Good," he said, liking this idea a lot.  He looked at George.  "As someone who used to
play our greatest sport, when should we start the new season?"

George thought about it.  "It can't be too soon, there's too many grieving people out there,"
he noted.  The man's face fell.  "But I do agree that we should start to get back to normal
this year."  He looked out the window, in the direction of the shop.  "Give us two days.
We'll draw up a calendar."  He gave the man a smile.  "Fred suggests after Yule.  Make
Yule the first official holiday after the battle.  We'll do it up well."  Both people smiled at
that.  "Then we'll have a Battle Day parade to officially stop the year of grieving.  When,
between Yule and that, would you like to start the season?"

The man pulled out a calendar and looked it over.  "We'll hold tryouts in February."
George nodded.  "Then start the year in April?  That's after the worst of the forecasted
rains."

"That seems decent enough.  By then, people will be looking forward to moving on," Sheila
told him.  "Wasn't this supposed to be a World Cup year?"

"It was," Fitzsimmons said, starting to look miserable again.  "Everyone understood why
we're not participating."  He brightened up.  "A great number of our players did hide
overseas.  We should be able to reform most of our teams quickly, even this year."

George clapped. "Good job.  What sort of help will you need?"

"On the contrary, I've got people to lend," Fitzsimmons assured him.  "The team captains
and managers do most of the work anymore.  I only handle the bigger things, like
tournaments.  I can do it with a staff of three and I've got five left."

"Any I could use?" Sheila asked.

He shrugged.  "Most of them are former players, I'm not sure what else they're good at.
I'll definitely give them to you if they want to go."

"Let's be fair," George interrupted.  "Have them write out their top areas and what they
feel confident they can handle doing with a bit of a brush-up."  Both of them nodded.
"Then we'll put them in a big pile and let people draw."  Sheila looked disappointed but
shrugged it off.  "Sorry, dearie, but we do have to be fair to everyone or we'll get problems
like Fudge."

"Good point," she agreed.  "Thank you.  Which one are you?"

"I'm Gred," he said, shaking her hand.  "Forge will be in tomorrow."

"Thank you, Fred."  She grinned and left.

George looked at Fitzsimmons.  "We're taking turns.  Do you want to sit on any special
committees?"

"I think I'll have my hands full with restarting quidditch, but I might be able to sit on the
Yule Ball committee.  Specially if I get a prime place on it," he said with a wink as he stood
up.  "I'll let you get settled in.  Do call around if you need anything.  I'm usually living in
my office these days.  The wife hates it, but I think it's important to start things up again
correctly."

"Go home to her," George said gently.  "Wives and husbands need to be together more
than ever."  He nodded at that wisdom and left.  George changed the colors of the ribbons,
then contemplated them before the next person decided to 'surprise' him.  It was Percy,
which was a surprise, but the papers he came with weren't.  "Leave of absence," he said
when Percy walked in.

"I want to fix the house," he said quietly, handing them over.

George stared at him.  "I'll allow this under two conditions.  You get real treatment, not
home treatment from whomever's doing it now, and you help by sitting on some of the
celebration committees as a voice of reason and taste."

Percy looked surprised and sat down.  "Why me?"

"Because Fred and I are only taking this for two years.  Just long enough to get things back
in order.  We'll get everything restarted but we'll need to have a capable leader after we're
done.  There may be some posturing, but no one here has enough experience to deal with
the everyday battles of favoritism like you and dad did."

Percy nodded.  "I'll consider it.  Which holidays are we forming panels for?"

"Yule and the new Battle Day parade."

Percy smiled.  "A wise choice.  To mark the end of the year of mourning.  When did you
tell Fitzsimmons to restart the game?"

"Tryouts are in February and the games start again in April."

"Then I'll gladly help with both," Percy agreed.  "People will be manic to celebrate this
year."  He heard a hissing and looked at the moving bag.  "Your snake's going off."

George pulled it out, looking at the message coming out of its mouth.  "Ron's telltale is
going off.  He's starting to wake up again."  He smiled at Percy.  "It could have been him."

"I dare say Ron would have lost his temper and beaten most of the Ministers bloody the
first time they tried anything on him.  Shall I handle Ron?" he asked as he stood up.

"Only if you see someone yourself," Fred said as he walked in.  "Good job so far, George.
Ready to switch off?"

"Which one cornered you?" Percy asked him.

"Snape."  He shrugged.  "He does not want to be the new Headmaster.  Too much crap
paperwork."  He smiled and hugged Percy.  "Go help Ron wake up.  We'll be here or at the
shop for you to come check on."  Percy nodded and left, after George signed his forms.
"Good job," he praised again, winking at his twin.

"Thanks.  I think he'll be able to handle it once we get all the frustrating things out of the
way."  He searched until he found the accounts book, frowning when he saw the state it
was in.  "If we ran out business like this, it'd be horribly dead by now."  He looked at Fred.
"Can you schedule me a meeting with someone in Gringotts?"  Fred nodded so he stood
up.  "Very well.  I'll go talk to Ron, you deal with the next one.  We've seen Magical
Creatures and Species in one person.  She drew up the list.  Plus we've seen Fitzsimmons,
over quidditch."  He grabbed something from his bag and left, taking the account book
with him.   He had to make sense of all the purple and red ink.  They were not the right
colors and he couldn't tell what someone had been doing.  As soon as he walked into Ron's
room, he saw the open blue eyes.  "Good morning, sleepy head," he said with a smile.
"How are you feeling?"

"Prat," Ron whispered hoarsely.

"That's Minister of Magic prat," George pointed out dryly as he sat down.  Ron turned his
head to look at him.  "True.  They voted yesterday."

"Poor country."  He yawned again.  "How is everyone else?"

"Ginny and Bill refuse to come back until things are less painful.  I'll help you write them a
letter soon.  Fred's taking the office for a bit and Percy's downstairs somewhere.  I'm sure
someone grabbed him to treat him.  He looks like the walking dead."

"Wonderful.  Hermione?"

"She's one of the few capable of teaching," George said gently.  "She's at the school.  I can
call her if you want."  Ron shook his head.  "Are you sure?"

Ron nodded, yawning again.  "I think I'll take another nap."

"Don't make it two months this time," he chided gently.   Ron grimaced.  "Harry's alive."

"I figured as much or you would have told me first thing.  When is he coming?"

"He's back in hiding, Ron.  I don't think anyone's going to be seeing him again unless we
get pushy."

"I'll go pound him later," Ron said with a slight smile.  "How did you two get to be
Ministers of Magic?"

"We voted, but they did it by family.  It was waking you up or us.  Percy's really in bad
shape.  Losing mum and dad destroyed him."

"I remember."  He reached over.  "I still hate you two."

"I know, but we adore you just as much, Ron.  You're a wonderful younger brother to pick
on."  He leaned over and gave him a hug.  "Go back to sleep if you want."

"I'm tired but I don't think I could sleep yet."  He had some help propping himself up.
"How is Fred?"

"Fred's wonderful.  He's happily chewing someone a new one at the moment and I expect
to see him any time now.  After all, I got the money sense and the patience.  He got the
wickedness and the desire to cause harm."  He grinned as the nurse walked in.  "Look who
woke up."

"Well," she said, smiling at him. "It's about time.  Next thing you know, you'll be
complaining about leaving."

Ron nodded.  "Yup.  When can I go so you can have the bed back?  I'd like to wear my
own clothes for a bit."

"As soon as we're sure you won't go back under, Mr. Weasley."  She looked at George,
then the book in his hands.  "Percy gave it to you?" she asked hopefully.

He shook his head.  "We were elected, dearie.  The both of us."  He gave her his best
lecherous grin.  "Oops?"

She whimpered.  "A big oops.  Will we all survive?"

Ron looked at her.  "They nearly woke me to do it."

"I like them better," the nurse said firmly.  She handed Ron a little cup of liquid.  "Drink
that please."

"No."  He handed it back.  "Thank you anyway."  He looked at his brother.  "Where did
Ginny go?"

"She's working in Charlie's old spot.  Said the dragons were good company and didn't
mind her crying."  He reached over to brush a strand of hair out of the way of Ron's eyes.
"First things first, we're getting you a haircut and then we'll help you write letters.  Should
I call Hermione now?"

"I think she's found her calling," Ron said dryly.  "I can't compete with a book."

"No, not with her affections.  Who knows, maybe she'll humanize Snape."  He grinned at
the weak laughter.  "Then let me call the boy-who-used-to-be-Harry-Potter and we'll see if
we can coax him out of his house."  Ron looked confused.  "He says Harry died and he's
now someone else but he won't pick a name," he said with a shrug.

"Maybe they could help each other," the nurse suggested.

Ron nodded.  "Hopefully.  Or I'll have to kick his ass for being that way.  I don't put up
with a pouting Harry."  He looked at the nurse.  "I'm really okay now."

"I'm sure you think you are."  He started to sit up and she pushed him back down.  "Not
yet!"  She went to call for a healer to check on him.

Ron forced himself to sit up and flip onto his side.  "Get me out of here so I can nap in
peace?"

"We'll see.  We will not allow this napping to continue much longer.  Either you rejoin the
world or we're holding a funeral service for you and burying you while you sleep."

Ron grimaced.  "Try it, I can kick your ass."  He grinned suddenly.  "Percy's on his way
up."

"You can tell that?"

"I did some spells to check on the family," he admitted.  "It kept me sane during the last
few battles.  Who finally cut off his head?"

"They captured him and Harry walked up to him while he was being interrogated, taking
it off suddenly.  The aurors were rather pissed, but they understood that only Harry could
have killed the big snake."  He looked over as Percy was led in by a nurse.  "Ron, get up
and let him have your bed."  Ron nodded and slid off the bed, wobbling over to an empty
chair.  He flopped down with a sigh of relief and waved at the bed.  "There, that's
apparently the special Weasley bed," George said firmly.   "He is one of us."  She settled
him onto the bed and he cast a gentle sleep charm, watching as Percy drifted off.

"Did you give him something for the nightmares?" Ron asked.  The nurse glared at him
but did nod.  "Thanks.  He's having violent ones."  The nurses left them there.  "Good.
Now can you spring me?"

"Not yet.  We want to make sure you're fine," George said calmly.  "You could curl up
with him like we all used to do when we were little and Bill gave us nightmares."

"Nah," Ron said with a grin.  "I think I'm going to run away now."  He stood up and had
to grab the wall to hold himself up.  "Or maybe not.  How do I get to Harry's?"

George created a small portkey and handed it over before the nurses could come back.
"There are protections but I think they were set so we could go in directly.  If not, yell and
he will hear you.  He's having hyperactive hearing recently."  Ron nodded and
disappeared.  George settled himself in to watch over Percy.   By the time the nurse came
back in, he had a convincing story.  "He took my wand and made a portkey," he defended
at the angry looks.  "He went to Potter's."  He looked over at Percy as he started to move.
"If you upset him, I'm siccing Ginny on you."  They stepped back and let him soothe the
older brother.  "There, there, Percy.  Don't worry, Fred and I won't destroy the Ministry
and make you rebuild it.  We'll just make it more fun."  Percy whimpered and swatted at
him, making him smile.  "Good boy, Percy.  You rest."

"Git," Percy hissed, fighting the sleep spell.

George laughed.  "See, you're stronger already."  He blew a kiss and stood up.  "I'll leave
you here to sleep.  I'm going to save Fred from the groundskeeper."

"Tell him he's a prig," Percy offered.  "For me."  He gave him a short smile, until George
left, then he tried to sit up but the nurses ganged up on him.  "For Merlin's sake, I can go
home!"

"You can lay there and heal or you'll never see home again," one of them informed him.

He settled back against the pillow.  "Fine.  I'll allow myself to stay here tonight."

"Your brother signed the admittance order.  You're staying as long as they want.  Be
thankful we haven't taken you to the mental health ward yet."  She tucked him in and
helped while the other nurse forced medicine down his throat.  "There," she said happily.
"You rest, we'll be back later to check on you."  The nurses left him there, dosing in a
medicine haze.

"I will get the mistakes," Percy vowed.   "They might have been the 'oops' that Mom used
to fret about, but I will get them."  The medicine took over again, making him see all the
pretty colors.  It was soothing.

The End.