Hogwarts was a perfect picture ruined.
The tall towers were burning, the smoke clouding the air and adding more tears to people's already wet eyes. The steep, spindly turrets were falling in on themselves. Shards of glass and the bricks that used to make up the school's walls littered the floor.
The grounds didn't fare much better; the grass was easily catching fire, which flared onto the trees and shrubbery. Hagrid, with a few others, luckily managed to subdue the flames before they grew into a full-fledged wildfire.
The Black Lake, home to the Giant Squid and many other magical wildlife, was completely fine - if you ignored all the rocks and debris that had landed in the water, turning its usual pristine blue to a murky brown.
The great school of magic, the safest place in Wizarding London after Gringotts, that had nurtured and taught so many eager students, was crumbling to dust right in front of their eyes.
The Great Hall, the place where everyone once sat and talked, was now a makeshift hospital of sorts. People sat on the floor, softly weeping as their injured loved ones moaned in pain from their position on the cold floor.
Some poor souls were dead. Their families were just as destroyed as the rest of Hogwarts.
People held whispered conversations, their eyes downcast with sadness. The air was so heavy with tragedy that it felt crushing, hard to stand.
But still, in the middle of it all, some scarred people managed to find comfort. Some people just breathed; it was a miracle to be alive at all, and they wanted to relish in the feeling of pure living for a moment. Lovers and friends hugged and cried in joy for their lives being spared.
In fact, May 2, for all the catastrophes that happened, was also the day that two boys, Dean and Seamus, had their first kiss. And as their lips met in the room, people realized that eventually they would have to move on.
It lifted their spirits to have some reassurance that they would heal, one day. That one day, they would be able to live without thinking of the losses and the sacrifices and the tragedies, and that they could proudly tell their story of survival to their grandchildren.
The mixture of new love and new death left a bittersweet feeling in the air.
A/N: Different writing style; not sure if I liked it too much.
Word Count: 401
Done for:
Globetrotter Drabble Competition - Prague, Czech Republic (Write about Hogwarts).
Ultimate Pairing Drabble Challenge - Dean/Seamus with the prompt lake.
Fanfiction School - Visual Arts 1 (Photograph, the scenery being Hogwarts right after Voldemort died.)
Pairing Diversity Boot Camp - Prompt #38: Picture perfect.
