A/N: I also hoped that Dean and Luna ended up together. I mean they bonded at Shell Cottage and then the Battle for Hogwarts, however it was revealed that Luna married Rolf Scamander and had two children.
The minister's words come from Bill and Fleur's wedding in DH.
Disclaimer: Still broke. I own nothing.
A small family of four, with one on the way, appeared in the middle of the front yard of large house. The village of Ottery, St. Catchpole stretched out below them but they quickly turned their sights onto the building on the property. "This is Luna's house?" the pregnant woman asked her husband as they approached the towering structure, clutching their children's hands, the luminescent orb half hidden but still visible in the afternoon sun. Remembering it from a few years back, standing like a huge rook on the face of the hill, the man replied, "Yes it is, dear. I've only been here once but I'd recognize it anywhere."
They walked up the path to the front door, lined with Luna's radish bushes, keeping clear of the Snargaluff and rapped on the door with the brass eagle doorknocker. They waited a few minutes, warily eyeing the broken down signs of "Pick your own Mistletoe" and "Don't pick the Dirigible Plums" under the wildly growing mistletoe vines. The "Quibbler" sign seemed to have vanished. Suddenly, the door swung inward and they were greeted with the presence of their dear friend, Hermione Granger-Weasley.
"Ginny?!" the brunette woman exclaimed, reaching out for a hug. "Mione!" his wife returned, meeting her halfway. Coming out of it, Hermione looked around at the family. "Hi Harry. Hello James, Albus." Harry gave a swift nod as the boys chorused, "Hi Auntie Mione." Hermione turned back to Ginny, "You're finally here. And look how big you've gotten." Rubbing her swollen abdomen, Ginny happily replied, "7 months and counting." Almost as if remembering a funny joke, Hermione laughed, saying, "Look you standing out there and me being the bad host not letting you inside. Come in, come in."
She ushered the family inside the dark structure, the door closing effortlessly behind them. She led the family through Luna's old kitchen and out a barrel-shaped door Harry didn't notice his first time here. "Boys, Rosie's in the garden waiting for you." Hermione said to their children. They were outside again and walking up a threadbare path.
While the ladies chattered on about babies, Harry took this time to really take in Hermione. She was wearing a long lilac dress that went to her knees and hugged her body, which had been slightly distorted with her pregnancies. Her slim figure contrasted with his wife's enlarged stomach. For the event, Ginny was wearing a jade baby-doll dress, which ballooned from under her bust to her knees. He couldn't think of her ever being more beautiful but he had to refrain from expressing these thoughts aloud. Ginny already threatened she'd hex him if he said it for the 102nd time. Instead, he settled on wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Mione, where's Hugo?" Ginny asked, staring at Hermione's empty hands. Albus started pulling on Ginny's hand for her attention but she quickly shushed him. "Ya, where is the little guy?" Harry added, picking Albus off the ground. "Oh he's with Ron under the tent," she called over her shoulder.
They reached the top of the hill and Harry could see the top of the aforementioned tent. It was very large and could easily hold all its guests. It stood impressively beside the river, the occasional blue plimpy jumping around the edges of Bottom Bridge.
As they grew closer, Harry could make out his best friend and co-Auror, Ron Weasley, sitting in the last few chairs at the back of the tent, holding his sleeping son. Beside him, his niece was talking amicably with her father before she spotted her mother coming towards them. Hermione called out to her and Rosie ran from her chair to her mother. James and Albus, seeing their friend, ran over to Rosie, Albus jumping from Harry's arms. They ran off to Bottom Bridge as Ginny called out, "Don't run or you'll mess up your robes before the wedding." They ignored her in their childhood bliss, and Harry put a reassuring arm around his wife's shoulders.
Walking under the tent, Harry saw more people from his Hogwarts days. Seamus and Dean were talking in hushed tones near to the platform at the front of the tent. A few feet away, Neville and his wife were talking with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. The Patils and Lavender were sitting in the front row of chairs, whispering behind their hands. Ernie McMillian sat in row talking loudly to Zacharias Smith and Dennis Creevey about the upcoming Tornadoes match.
Harry and Ginny took a seat next to Ron, with Hermione on Ron's right. Grabbing his wife's hand as she sat beside him, Ron greeted Harry, "Hey man. How's it going?" Shaking his hand and clapping Ron on the back, Harry replied, "Good. Good. As Ginny said, 7 months and counting. Then it's hell all over again." A laugh was shared between the men, their wives glaring at their backs.
Ginny asked her brother, "Where's Luna?" Shrugging, he said, "Don't know. She could be still in the house. Mione, weren't you suppose to be helping her?" Hermione's hand flew to her mouth in surprise. "Oh my god. I completely forgot. Thanks honey. I'll take Hugo and make him nap for awhile inside. Ginny, come and help me." Giving a swift kiss on his lips, Ginny giving one to Harry, Hermione took her son and they walked quickly back up the rook tower.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Hermione forgot something important," Harry said amused. Ron laughed, explaining, "Ever since the kids were born, she's been a bit stressed." "So it's your fault," Harry said accusingly, pointing a finger at his friend. A look of mock shock graced Ron's features, "How dare you accuse of such a crime, Mr. Potter." "You know it's true Weasley. I should lock you up for doing such a horrible thing." A wild look appeared on Ron's face, "You'll have to catch me first, Potter" Ron bolted from the chair, running from the back of the tent in the direction of the river, Harry hot on his trail.
During their days at Hogwarts, with the threat of Voldemort looming so near, they never had the time to run around like the 11 and 12 year olds. They were too caught up in a war they were too young to understand. Now older and Voldemort gone, they had all the time in the world to be immature and they were expressing themselves freely.
Sending mild hexes and curses at Ron's back, Harry chased the man towards the river. In the distance, he heard laughter and could see his children and their cousin laughing as their fathers ran to them.
This was the happiest Harry had been in awhile. Sure, there were many fun times at his home with his own kids and other times when the whole gang were together, but today was special. Today the last member of their extended group would start her life anew and they were reveling in the last moments of immaturity.
Ron ran past the children and rushed through the river where it only reached his ankles, stopping on the other side. Pointing his wand at Harry, he said menacingly, "One more step Potter and you'll have to pick up pieces of yourself from the ground." Frantically, Harry looked around and picked up Rosie, holding her in front of him like a shield. "You'll have to go through her first Weasley." Rosie giggled with mirth at the men's antics. Fake fear crossed Ron's face. "That's low, using a man's daughter for safety." Grinning, Harry called from behind the girl's body, "All's fair in love and war." Grabbing Albus, who had taken the bridge to get onto the side where his Uncle Ron was, Ron held him over the river water. "Put down my daughter or your son goes under." Real fear struck Harry as Albus' face grew pale and he struggled in Ron's arms. "Ron!" Harry called out quickly. "Don't hold Albus over the water, he's scared." "Oh sorry Harry. Sorry Albus," Ron apologized holding the scared boy to his chest. Wading through the water, still carrying Rosie, and James, who had jumped on his dad's back to join the fun, Harry traded Rosie for Albus and cradled his son to his chest. "Don't worry Albus. We were just playing." Looking at Ron, he said, "Come on Weasley. We can continue this battle back at home. Loser wear a dress for a week?" "You're on!"
They waded back through the river, goofy grins on their faces, their children's chatter in their ears and Albus' soft whimpering. Drying off the legs of their pants, they walked back over to the tent where the guest were getting ready, taking their seats. They moved to a row closer to the front, seating their children between them.
After a minute, Ginny and Hermione came back down the hill. They waved their wives over and they sat in the row. "Luna, coming out now," Ginny said to the men. "She so beautiful. Dean's very lucky" Hermione added.
Soon music wafted through the folds of the tent from an indistinguishable source. Dean took his place at the front of the tent, beside the minister and his best man, Seamus. They were both dressed nicely in black tuxedos and wore white roses in their top pockets.
The guests swiveled in their seats to watch as Dean's mum and stepdad came down the aisle. Mrs. Thomas was crying slightly, clutching to her husband's arm tightly. He led her to the reserved seats on the right side of the tent.
The music started again and the guests rose in their seats. Soon the mouth of the tent parted to reveal Luna walking down the aisle, holding her father's arm. Xenophilius Lovegood beamed with pride on this glorious day, feeling just as important as the bride on his arm. Luna stared straight to the front of the tent at her soon-to-be husband. Light silver eyeshadow covered her eyelids, her flowing white dress, fanning around her legs. But she still wore her radish earrings. Small cherubs carried the train of the gown as she processed up to the platform. Sighs escaped Ginny and Hermione as she walked pass them. Luna looked their way and gave them a small wink.
At the top, Mr. Lovegood gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek as he handed her to Dean and took a seat on the reserved side. Smiling at each other, the couple turned to the minister, who smiled in return. He then held out his hands to the guests, signaling them to sit down.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister proclaimed, the folds of his neck shaking from the effort. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls. Through all the hardships and struggles the final war had to offer, these kindred souls have made it through together and now they want to make it as one."
Grasping Ginny's hand, Harry remembered a time 10 years ago at Bill and Fleur's wedding. That was the first wedding Harry had witnessed and the last before Voldemort's end. His thoughts then drifted to his own wedding, and then Ron and Hermione's, then Neville's and lastly, it was Luna's turn.
"Do you, Dean Andrew, take Luna Celeste, as your lawfully wedded wife?" Looking into his wife's eyes, he replied, "I do." "And do you, Luna Celeste, take Dean Andrew, as your lawfully wedded husband?" Staring back, Luna airily replied, "I do." "Then I declare you bonded for life."
The minister raised his wand over the couple's head, the sleeve of his robe falling down, revealing his saggy arm. A shower of silver stars fell onto Dean and Luna's head, spiraling around their fingers, materializing into two identical silver bands. The audience applauded for the couple as the minister pointed at the ground. "Ladies and gentlemen, would you please stand up!"
The audience stood and gold sparks shot from the wand. A liquid floor sprouted from the centre of the aisle and outwards until it reached the edges of the tent. Small tables with light blue tablecloths popped out of nowhere, spindly silver chairs around them. The dance floor was now dark blue as the night sky with twinkling stars.
"Ritzy," Ron commented beside him. They went over to a nearby table and seated the children around it. Hugo had woken up during the ceremony and now was fussing in Hermione's arms. "I'll stay with the children, you get the food."
They went over to the buffet, loading up plates of food. Harry saw Luna talking with Neville and the Hufflepuffs, laughing and hugging each of them. Walking back to the table, putting each person's respective plates in front of them, Harry sat down.
They ate quietly when Hermione said, "So now that's all of us." Swallowing the food in his mouth, he said, "The last of them. Now we're all grown up." Ginny laughed, "We've been grown up for a few years now darling." "But now this marks it." "Yea" Hermione said quietly. Then, "Guys, do you want to go Australia with me and Ron next week. We can invite Luna and Neville and all be together again." "Sure Hermione," Harry said. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," Ginny added.
Luna slowly strode up to their table, taking a seat between Rosie and James. "Hey guys. Hello James, Rosie, Albus, Hugo." "Hey Auntie Luna," the children chorused. "They are so adorable," Luna gushed, patting Rosie's hair slightly. "Congratulations Luna! You've finally joined the club." "I know Hermione," she sighed, "We're all growing up now." "We just said that," Ron laughed, causing the others to join in. "But it is true. No more Hogwarts memories, no more clothes shopping, no more fooling around just because we can…" Luna let the end of her sentence drift, her eyes staring out, holding back tears. Harry held out a hand to her, rubbing her knuckles softly, "Who says that all has to stop? We'll just be…more mature about it." Chuckling softly, Luna rubbed her eyes with her other hand, some off the eyeshadow coming off. "Sure, Mr. Potter. Like you could be mature." The other adults at the table laughed as Harry looked appalled. "I can be mature." "You just disproved that theory," Ginny spoke up. He glared at her and she rubbed his arm saying, "It's okay dear. That's why I love you." They shared a quick kiss and Hermione said, "Luna, next week we're all going to Australia for a week. Would you like to come?" "Sure," Luna responded, her eyes lighting up, "I'll have to ask Dean but I'd love to go." "Great," Hermione smiled. "I'm sorry guys," Luna said, getting up, "but all these wedding guests want a piece of me. See you later." "Bye," they called as she got lost in the crowd.
They continued eating, trading small talk about the children, work, Lily, the coming addition to the Potter family. Dances were shared and laughs spent. Luna had her dance with her new husband, then her father. She then joined their merriment, dancing with her friends and their kids, Dean even sharing a laugh or two when he could. The last dance was between the happy couple. Then Dean stepped up and said, "I'd like to thank you all for coming to this special day in my and Luna's life. We will honour your blessings of well-being for us for the years to come, and now we bless you on your leave. Have a nice night." Guests started leaving, one by one. Hermione mentioned the plans to Neville and soon they all left the party.
Luna turned to her husband, surveying the empty tent and said, "Tonight was magical," Staring straight in her eyes, growing closer, he replied, "It sure was." They shared a long passionate kiss under the tent where their dreams have just started.