A Generation Lost

A/N: I want to thank my beta, MadBrilliant, for all her hard work. I realize this chapter doesn't contain a lot of dialogue. However, this chapter needed to told this way, in order to show the depth of the loss involved and what is left behind for the survivors after such a tragedy.

***

The Death List, as it was named, came out and the people crowded around to get their hands on a copy. For a minute, all one could hear was "Accio!" being said repeatedly as scrolls flew in all possible directions. Kingsley stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the next, waiting for the first cries to start. It was an interminable wait. Even with Gawain at his side, he still felt alone and very responsible for all the lives lost.

Then it came, the first choked scream, followed by strangled cries of the mothers and the curses of fathers above the din of wails of younger children who could not possibly understand the magnitude of what was happening, only that their mothers and fathers were upset and that scared them.

Kingsley swallowed and waited for the people to turn to him. He stood on the make shift podium for this occasion and once enough time had passed he began to speak. With his wand at his throat, he addressed the assembled.

"My fellow witches and wizards, as the newly established Minister of Magic, I am grieved and heart-stricken to be the bearer of such horrific news. Yes, we were victorious against the criminal, Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, but at such a cost! The exact details as to what took place upon the battlefield have yet to be revealed. There are two unconscious survivors at the Hogwarts Infirmary. Once they are able to give their eyewitness testimonies, then we shall have an accurate picture of what actually took place the day before yesterday," Shacklebolt said, his voice magically booming as he spoke.

"My friends, the Ministry's Unspeakables have been dispatched to Hogwarts and are there now to assist you in collecting your loved ones remains' and their personal effects, if they were students. If they were Aurors, or members of the Hit Squad, or other part of the Ministry staff, do not expect personal effects there, but here, where they worked."

He took a deep, shaky breath. "I ask for the families of the fallen Hogwarts students to begin immediately Apparating to the castle. The Unspeakables will meet you at the main gates to aid you. Those of you who are here on the behalf of the parents of the fallen Muggleborn students, I ask that you please leave your information with the Secretary at the main entrance for our records.

"Those who are family members of the fallen Aurors, I ask that you come to the Auror Department with our Head Auror, Gawain Robards. He will assist you, along with some of the junior Aurors here, to collect your loved ones' personal effects. All other family members are to report to their loved one's department. There will be a Ministry official to assist you in gathering personal effects. I shall be handling any questions or sensitive inquiries you might have. Along with the help Wizengamot, I shall handle each petition with care and dignity.

"I am so deeply regretful for your losses. There shall be in the very near future a more in depth time to answer all the questions you must all have. However, that time is not now. Now is the time to collect the dead and begin to put them in their final resting places. I only ask that the parents of the fallen students be given enough lead-time before the rest of you go to collect your dead. Thank you."

A second later, families began their exodus to Hogwarts while another large group flooded Gawain Robards. The burly Auror squared his mighty shoulders and gave a glare to his junior staff that said, "Don't you even think about backing down!" He led his staff to the Aurory Department and the families began to collect their loved one's possessions.

Kingsley Flooed directly into the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. He would keep the connection open until Severus Snape could take over and could disconnect his fireplace from the Floo Network at his own discretion. If he had even entertained the thought that how he handled the families of the dead at the Ministry as "easy", which he would not, this next step in the rebuilding would be a monstrous undertaking. There were still numerous underage students who would be expecting to return to Hogwarts in the fall to resume their studies. The question was who would teach them?

Kingsley lost himself in his musings as he made his way towards the Great Hall. Certainly, Severus can pull double duty as Headmaster and Potions master, but not for more than a year. It would wear the wizard down to a frazzle! Miss Granger can take on the Charms position just as soon as she sat for her N.E.W.T.s. Then she could double as Transfiguration or Defense Professor. It will be unorthodox, to be sure, but these are now desperate times! he thought shrewdly.

Kingsley agonized long and hard at how he was going to keep the doors of Hogwarts open. There was no caretaker and no game keeper. There weren't even any house-elves, for they all had perished in the battle as well. He was going to enforce the more affluent pure-blood families to hand over their house-elves, as well as declare that every Death Eater's body found would have their estate forfeit to the ministry, on a case to case basis, as was done in the case of Andromeda Tonks, and their house-elves would be taken to Hogwarts to work. He would also ask...no, beg...for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to send instructors. Possibly, instructors from the United States could be persuaded to fill in a couple teaching positions. That would just yet another item to add to the growing list. As he neared the entrance to the Great Hall and began to hear the wails and cries echoing around him, he thought that if he could only survive the next few months, nothing would ever bother him again. Life would be pure gravy from here on out.

***

The Unspeakables had been a Godsend! They had the intuitive nature to comfort and discreetly guide the grieving through the process of identification and then lead them to the separate common rooms to collect their children's personal property. Kingsley felt helpless to give comfort. He stayed in the Great Hall for hours to let them know the Apparition wards had been lifted so the family could Apparate straight from the Great Hall to their private home.

It wasn't until the wee hours of the morning that the last of the parents had left and were the family members of the Aurors could come. It was dawn when the Great Hall was empty at last and all that remained were the bodies of the Weasley family, Luna Lovegood, and Harry Potter. Molly's Aunt Muriel was far too elderly to undertake the possession of ten bodies (Fleur's parents had allowed their daughter's body to be buried next to her husband, Bill Weasley) and their personal effects. A group of Unspeakables decided to take care of the transportation of the bodies to the Wizarding cemetery in Ottery St. Catchpole. Mrs. Prewett had arranged for the internment there. Then, there would be another department of the Ministry who would help with the dismantling of The Burrow its of contents.

Another family that had been wiped out was the Lovegood family. They had been neighbors of the Weasleys, so another group of Unspeakables volunteered to work with the Records Office to find the next of kin. The girl's father had been killed by Death Eaters before the final battle. If none could be located, Luna would be buried at Hogwarts as a hero.

The worst blow came upon the thin and weary shoulders of Andromeda Tonks. She had lost her husband, daughter, son-in-law, both sisters, both brothers-in-law, and a nephew. She was more than happy to hand over Malfoy manor to the Ministry and the house-elves to Hogwarts. Not that it could replace all those she had loved and had once hoped to reconcile, she was now a very wealthy widow. Being the sole guardian of her only child's son, Teddy, she would never want for anything again, at least monetarily. She put up a brave front when she was informed that all Death Eaters were to be burned, not buried. So, in the end, Andromeda Tonks arranged for the transportation of her daughter and son-in-law's bodies for burial near her home.

Kingsley had to think long and hard about how to care for the body and estate of Harry Potter. The boy had only a Muggle family that had hated him. The closest person he had in this world that was close to being a relative was Hermione Granger. That would mean she would have to decide how to care for the body and all of his estate, which included Grimmauld Place. It was a heavy load to place on her shoulders, but it had to be done. At least, she should make the decision about what to do with his body.

Once Kingsley and Poppy were alone, they alerted the four young "greenhorn" Aurors keeping watch of the grounds that they were closing up for the night. Much had been accomplished, but the personal effects of the fallen professors had to be sorted through, not to mention looking after the two survivors who remained mercifully unconscious. They would be time enough for them to be hounded and questioned as to why they lived when all the others had perished.