A/N: This is my post for the (reserve) Seeker of the Chudley Cannons in Season 5's round 2 of the QLFC.
Seeker: Hogsmeade Station
Word count before A/N: 1,180
I do not own HP or the universe or the characters or any of the things.
It hadn't been a very pretty ceremony, but then very little about the half-giant and his full-giant bride was pretty. Everyone thought Hagrid was silly for wanting to exchange vows with his..ah…lovely…bride on the trainstation in Hogsmeade, the Hogwarts Express glimmering brilliantly behind them. But when Harry arrived and saw the castle, perched powerfully on the other side of the lake, he understood.
How could he not understand?
Everything that had made this place home for him was there, beautiful to behold, and at a safe enough distance that the debris scattered across the grounds were out of sight. Just a few short weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts, no one had finished grieving yet. But of course, you never really finish grieving, do you?
Ginny breathed softly at Harry's side and he looked down to see her wide eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Ron and Hermione stood on Harry's other side and they whispered gently to each other.
"It's just like the first time we arrived," Hermione observed.
"Yeah," Ron smiled, "you were mental then. Not that different now, mind you." A soft thud as Hermione placed a playful slap across his chest.
"Honestly, Ronald, do you want to go to this wedding alone?" She couldn't hide the smile, of course, and Harry smiled, too.
He thought of the first time he rode his broom and wished suddenly that he and Ginny had brought theirs.
"We'll come back," she murmured, thinking the same thing.
Hagrid and Maxime's guests sat in all odd places to watch the ceremony. Some took to the boats, anchoring them and stabilizing them with gentle flicks of their wands, their faces aglow with the same joy that brought them across the lake in their first year. Neville poked nervously at the surface of the water, hoping to see a mermaid and terrified that he actually would. Hannah Abbott noticed, too, and approached quietly. Harry told that story at their wedding the following year.
Others of their guests preferred the benches that lined the train station's pad, and still others preferred to stand. It went without saying that Hagrid and Maxime were the center of the attention, largely because their vastness made them impossible to ignore.
Professor McGonagall, sparkling in her crooked hat and emerald robes, married the two in a short but very teary ceremony. Well, teary for Hagrid. Most of the guests tried not to laugh, and George almost smiled.
As beautiful as was the location of the ceremony, there was nothing beautiful about the sadness that hung over the guests like the fog that rolled over the lake. When Hagrid and Maxime began dancing, utterly lost in their devotion, many guests let their grief mingle with their joy, and tears of both sprung to many weary eyes.
Professor McGonagall, drawn ever into herself, surprised Harry, Ron, and Hermione when she gathered them up in a momentous hug. Her frailty belied her strength, and the trio was breathless very quickly.
"Professor!" Ron said, blushing.
"I know, I'm so sorry!" They were startled to see tears in her eyes. "It's just that Albus would—well he'd be so proud to see you three! And Hagrid! He always believed in Hagrid."
Harry put an awkward hand on her shoulder, hoping it would come off as comforting. "You always believed in Hagrid, too, Professor. You've always believed in all of us."
The lovely woman, full of years spent teaching and loving children without ever having her own, welled up, and produced a watery smile.
George Weasley had been standing at a distance all night, until a slightly drunk Angelina Johnson approached. George looked for a moment as though he might make a joke, and Harry imagined that it might involve her flying and her walking looking pretty similar at this moment, but his smile was dashed before it could form. Loudly, and quite to everyone's surprise, Angelina grabbed George's shoulders and giggled.
"You deserve to be happy," she slurred, smiling sadly, "is it alright if I try to make you happy?"
George looked taken aback, an expression rarely seen on his face.
"You can be happy, and remember Fred." She continued. Ron inhaled sharply and Hermione gasped audibly. Ginny remained quiet but her face was stern and set cautiously. It seemed it was easier to address the elephant in the room—or at Hogsmeade Station—after having several drinks.
Standing on her tiptoes, Angelina reached up and kissed what must've been a very squishy kiss on George's lips. His hands fluttered to her sides, either to keep her upright or to embrace her.
The silence was thick, covering almost every sound except the barks and guffaws of the various creatures Hagrid had insisted on bringing to his wedding. Even the baby dragons that Charlie Weasley had brought were silent, their reptilian eyes glancing from face to face. Harry hoped it wasn't a predatory examination.
And then, it was a lovely ceremony. And Hagrid clapped the loudest and the longest, cheering when Angelina and George separated and a wide smile was plastered across the grieving boy's face.
"I helped him across the lake! I met him on this very platform!" He shouted, waving his giant hands and crying. Madam Maxime was much more reserved but she, too, seemed to understand the significance of this moment.
It seemed that it took something giant to spark love in the hearts of grieving soldiers. Under the watchful eye of a castle that had brought them together and torn them apart, love blossomed for several people that night at Hogsmeade Station. Luna seemed particularly taken by a blonde boy who had come with Charlie to help with the dragons, and Neville and Hannah continued chatting for the rest of the night. George and Angelina didn't do very much chatting but they did spend a lot of time moving their mouths around, which was better than crying at least.
As the night continued on and the festivities became the warm fuzzy feeling that keeps a smile on sleepy faces, Harry finally found an opening to approach Hagrid. Ginny smiled and patted him on the arm as he left her with Ron and Hermione.
"You alright, Hagrid? This was supposed to be about you, after all!" They watched a small group of giggling students from Beauxbatons approach a bumbling bunch of Hogwarts students and Hagrid smiled.
"Of course, 'Arry. This was never s'posed ter be 'bout me! Dontcha see?" Hagrid swept his hands widely—Harry ducked—and his expression was so full of love that Harry's heart ached to see it. "Weddin's are s'posed ter be about lovin' each other an' tha's what this is all about!"
Harry remembered the first time he'd seen Hogwarts, gleaming as it did now, staring up at it from the station as he did now. Then, a hundred black robes twirled around students like ink. Tonight, the group was smaller, but the colors were numerous. It seemed, to Harry, that life is full of all sorts of colors, and Hagrid's wedding couldn't have been any prettier after all.