Madison Potter: After the War

Chapter 19: Wedding Bells

AN: I'm absolutely awful at describing clothes, so there's a picture of the wedding dress in here lol

"You can't be serious," Hermione said as Luna, Ginny, Fleur, Angelina and I sat on the floor of the living room at Shell Cottage, where we were having my bachelorette party. Parvati, though one of my bridesmaids, was unable to come due to her being scheduled for a night shift.

"What, Hermione? It's just harmless fun. The twins invented this truth or dare thing, where you hold onto this stick, and it glows green if you're telling the truth and red if you're lying. I promise you nobody's going to ask intrusive questions," Angelina stated as she brought out the stick from her bag.

"George said he's not having one of those in the house," I snorted into what must have been my fourth glass of firewhisky of the night. "He said it's because he doesn't want Padfoot or Teddy getting a hold of it, but it's definitely because he doesn't want me figuring out he lets Teddy ride the dog."

"Fine, I'll play," Hermione grumbled in agreement.

"Excellent. Thinking that the bride-to-be should go first," Angelina stated. She tossed the stick to me.

"Alright, who wants to ask me the first question?" I cheekily stated.

"I'll go! Who is your favorite Hogwarts Professor?" Hermione asked me.

"Hermione that's the most boring question ever!" Ginny groaned.

"I think it's quite wonderful. Our favorite people says a lot about us," Luna said.

"Uhm... Well, I think Remus was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had... but I think my favorite is Professor McGonagall," I said. The stick glowed green.

"Really? Professor McGonagall?" Fleur asked, sipping from her cup of firewhisky.

I gave an over-exaggerated nod, "She turned into a cat in our first ever Transfiguration lesson! That was so cool to me. Plus, she's a badass and always looked out for me and Harry. She gave us biscuits once."

I then asked Fleur if Gringotts had more than one dragon— to which she responded truthfully with a no. Everybody took a turn, and soon enough Ginny was asking me a question.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she asked me, "How's George?" She winked suggestively.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, aghast.

Angelina's shoulder shook as she laughed. Fleur chuckled, and Luna looked at me curiously.

"What? This is a bachelorette party, Hermione! We're not in a bloody church!" Ginny responded, nearly spilling her drink as she laughed.

Hermione gave her a disappointed look. Despite that, she looked at me curiously.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, if you must know, he's damn brilliant. He does this thing with his—"

"Alright, that's enough! Don't need to hear about my brother's sexual habits!" Ginny said.

Everybody laughed and took a drink before we ditched the game and discussed last minute details about the wedding.

"I have a confession to make," I said seriously. The tone of the room shifted from bubbly and chaotic to serious. "I invited Draco Malfoy and his mother to the wedding."

Shell Cottage went so silent that the only thing you could hear were the waves brushing the shoreline outside.

"You what?" Hermione asked in a low and grave voice.

"I invited Draco Malfoy and his mother to the wedding. And before you ask, George knows. Molly doesn't. Thought I'd say something to you all since you're my bridesmaids," I said simply. Everybody looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Madison," Hermione began, her voice tight and her face displaying betrayal, "what possessed you to do that?"

I shrugged. "He's not that bad, Hermione. Yes, he was a prick in school, and a bit of a bully, but he's changed a lot since. I think our sixth year really changed things for him, and Harry said that he didn't blow your cover when you were at Malfoy Manor. He doesn't have many friends. Besides, even Seamus Finnegan has come around to him! Seamus, Parvati, Draco and I sometimes go out to the pub after work. I wouldn't go out to a pub with people I don't trust."

Hermione's face didn't change. "He—"

I gave her a pleading look. "People deserve second chances. You gave Harry and Ron a second chance after the troll incident in our first year, so why can't you give him one?"

Hermione looked at me, and explained as if she was talking to a two year old: "He called me a mudblood! And then his Aunt did this!" Hermione pulled up her hoodie sleeve to reveal the word "mudblood' etched into her skin, no doubt the work of Bellatrix Lestrange.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and then I felt myself bubble up with anger and annoyance. "Bellatrix Lestrange was a vile human being. But she did that, not Draco. It's awful what Draco called you in second year, but I owe so much to him at the moment."

"What could you possibly owe to him?" Hermione asked, arms crossed.

I gulped, but took the leap anyways. "What I'm saying doesn't leave this room, alright? It's on a need-to-know basis. Can you all promise me that?"

Luna, Fleur, Ginny and Angelina nodded eagerly. Hermione hesitated for a moment before nodding as well.

"Charlie Weasley came to me because he needed help. He was addicted to OxyContin, a dangerous narcotic in the Muggle world. We decided that he would fake an injury and set up an appointment with me at St. Mungo's, and he would mention that he needed help, and I would refer him to a Healer who specialized in substance abuse and mental health, and was one of the best in it, and that Healer was Draco Malfoy. I told Draco about the plan, and he agreed that he'd help. So Charlie faked an injury, and I fake healed him, but couldn't do anything else to help since substance abuse isn't my speciality.

"So, Charlie saw Draco for a while and got help. And then he relapsed, and decided that he was going to rob a Muggle bank to get money for drugs. He came to my place, but apparently talked to Draco first, who said that he couldn't help him if the Muggle police were after him. So Charlie showed up at my house, admitted to what he did, asked me for more help, and I told him I couldn't, and then he verbally berated me— called me a whore, a bitch, all the fun stuff. Meanwhile George called the police and he got arrested and was taken to Muggle jail, and then I bailed him out. Charlie confounded the guards and police, and there's no record of any wrongdoing and there's no warrant out for him. Draco and I had him checked into a substance abuse center, and Draco has been helping him ever since. According to Draco, Charlie's doing really, really well."

Everybody in the room just gave me looks of complete and utter shock.

"Draco and I both compromised our jobs, and if anybody were to find out about how we knowingly let somebody fake an injury to get services... we'd be in a lot of trouble. Draco didn't have to do this, but he did. He could have walked away and decided not to help, but he didn't. He could have stayed out of it so he wouldn't suffer the consequences, and he could have alerted higher-ups, but he didn't. He did what a friend would do. And that's why he's invited to my wedding," I ended.

The room erupted into questions about Charlie, but Hermione looked at me and gave a sigh. "Alright. Just don't expect me to socialize with him," she said to me.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry, Hermione. You won't have to if you don't want to."

I brought my fifth glass of alcohol to my lips and drank it with a smile, happy to spend my bachelorette party with some of my closest friends.

"Madison, Hagrid will be here any minute to walk you down the aisle!" Hermione exclaimed with glee as she walked into Ginny's room at the Burrow, where I was currently pacing the room in my wedding dress.

The dress was white and reached the floor, covering my feet, and train flew behind me. It was a V-neck, and it hugged my torso before spreading out to be more flowy once it hit my waist.

I had refused to wear heels— why would I if they were just going to be painful?— so instead I donned a paid of white converse. My nails were painted dark blue to match the color of the bridesmaids dresses. I wore pearl earrings that I found in the Potter family vault that had belonged to my mother.

For the occasion, my red hair was half up and half down, falling down my back in soft waves. I had natural make up on, and a dark lip.

"Hermione, what if he's not there?" I stressed.

Hermione stopped me in my tracks. "Madison, I've seen him— he's out there, and he's ready to marry you. Fred's had to stop him from coming up here, actually."

There was a rough knock on the door. "Madison? Hermione? It's me, Hagrid!"

Hermione opened the door, and sure enough, Hagrid was there.

"Yer looking beautiful, Madison. I'm honored that ya' chose me to walk ya down the aisle," Hagrid said, wiping his eye with his tie.

I smiled at him and together we walked down the stairs.

First, Teddy stumbled down the aisle with the rings, Padfoot trotting next to him. He was adorable, in his little black suit and blue tie. His hair kept changing colors with excitement before it finally landed on turquoise, which was one of his favorite colors.

Following Teddy was Parvati and Lee Jordan. Parvati, like all the other bridesmaids, wore a dark blue, satin v-neck dress, and also, like the other bridesmaids, held a bouquet of Easter Lilies. Lee, like the rest of the groomsmen, wore a black suit, a dark blue tie, and a white Calla Lily boutonnières.

After Parvati and Lee went Fleur and Bill, then Angelina and Percy, followed by Luna and Ron, Harry and Ginny, and then, finally Hermione and Fred.

Then it was my turn. Hagrid gripped my hand tightly as he opened the door and we began to walk down the make-shift aisle from the kitchen of the Burrow and into the backyard.

Everybody stood up as Hagrid and I walked slowly towards the front. I kept my eyes on George and George alone and gave him the biggest smile I ever could. He looked so handsome, and it seemed like he might have started crying as soon as he saw me.

I was barely aware of the sound of Molly beginning to cry as Hagrid and I made our way towards the front. Once we reached it, I gave Hagrid a huge hug.

"Thank you so much, Hagrid," I whispered to him. "I love you so much."

Hagrid hugged me back and once again wiped his eyes with his tie. "I love ya too, Madison. And don't you forget it." He gave me a pat on the back as he went towards his seat, almost knocking me over in the process.

I took the final few steps and found myself in front of George.

"You look... stunning. Absolutely stunning," George said to me, tears in his eyes and a smile on his face that was bright enough to light an entire mall.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I cheekily responded. He took my hand in his.

George and I looked at each other with adoration. I was unsure of how long we stood there, but soon enough Kingsley, who, as Minister of Magic, had the ability to issue marriage licenses and certify marriages, spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today..."

I wasn't sure about what words were being said— I was too busy looking at George, too busy being full of happiness, and too busy feeling on top of the world to notice. I was knocked back into reality when I heard that it was time for us to say our vows.

"Madison, you may say your vows," Kingsley said.

I nodded and took a deep breath before smiling and beginning.

"George, I love you so, so, so much. That's it," I said. The room was silent, and I heard some murmurs. "I'm just joking, I have more." I heard Molly exhale a sigh of relief, along with Hermione, who stood behind me.

I continued. "George, I've always been a little bit broken. I lost my parents when I was a baby. I didn't grow up in a loving household. And then I found out I was a witch, went to Hogwarts and met you. Through those years, I lost a lot of people, and even though I've never said anything, I was terrified that I was going to lose you too.

"When Harry and I walked into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort last year, the last thought I had before he shot the killing curse at us was of you. I thought of your smile, your laugh, your eyes, everything about you. And I was ready and prepared to die because it meant that you would be safe from any more harm, and that you could have a future where you were safe.

"I think I'll always be a little bit broken. But when I'm with you, the cracks in my heart are sealed up with glue. George Weasley, you make me feel whole. I can't wait to spend the rest of my days, however many there may be, with you," I finished, tears in my eyes.

It was George's turn next. "Kingsley, why'd you have her go first? I can't top that!" Kingsley chuckled and I gave a hearty laugh— one so full of glee and excitement that it even took me by surprise. "Just kidding. Actually, I probably won't be able to top yours Madison.

"I remember my first interaction with you— I helped you put your trunk on the Hogwarts Express before your first year. I didn't think much of it then, but now I do. I remember taking you to the Yule Ball, and how beautiful you looked— how beautiful you always look— and realizing then when you tried to talk sense into my brother for being a jerk to your best friend that I truly loved you.

"You've always supported me in whatever I do. When a lot of other people didn't believe that Fred and I could pull off the joke shop, you stood by my side and believed in me. You taught and showed me not just to how to be a better wizard, but also a better person. You've had so many hardships in your life and you've overcome them all and I admire you so, so much for that. You light up my world, you laugh at my jokes, and you are my happily ever after. It will always be us against the world," he finished.

"Us against the world," I whispered to him, tears threatening to fall out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

Molly then erupted into a sob, joined by Hagrid, causing everybody to look their way in concern.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just me gettin' all emotional," Hagrid sniffed, wiping his eyes with his tie again before calming down. Molly calmed down after him.

"Alright," Kingsley said. "Do you, George Weasley, take Madison Potter to be your lawfully wedded wife as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," George nodded.

"Madison, do you take George Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I nodded.

"I now present Mr. George Weasley and Mrs. Madison Potter-Weasley. George, you may kiss your bride," Kingsley said with a smile.

"Finally," George stated before wrapping his arms around my waits and planting a big, passionate kiss on my lips. My arms wrapped around his neck and I felt my foot lift up. A sudden heat erupted from George, and I opened my eyes only to see flames dancing on his suit jacket.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

Everybody looked at people started screaming, but Kingsley acted fast and brought his wand out.

"Aguamenti!" He said. Water shot out of his wand. The flames ceased to exist, leaving George soaking wet in his suit.

I looked behind George, and saw Fred looking sheepish and holding a firework that I didn't recognize to be from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Oh my God Fred, did you just light George on fire?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I created a new firework to sell and I call it the George and Madison, after you two, and I thought it would be great to test them out here, when you kissed, but clearly they need more work," he winced.

While the idea he had was sweet, he had lit his brother— my husband— on fire. Before I could start to give him a piece of my mind, Molly came up to him and gave him a slap on the back of his head and began to yell at him.

"Well, we'll see everybody at the reception to follow in a few minutes— got to sort this out, and I've got to dry out," George announced to the crowd.

Sadly, this wasn't the first mishap that would happen on our wedding day.

For most of the reception, George and I made our rounds of greeting everyone and thanking them for coming. It was exhausting, honestly, and both George and I just wanted to be able to enjoy the party. I had lost track of where Padfoot and Teddy were long ago, but I figured neither or them could go very far.

We had one more table to greet, and with my luck, Teddy was there, in Andromeda's lap. Andromeda was sitting at the table next to Narcissa Malfoy, and they both were discussing some memory from long ago.

Even more odd, the mix of people at that table was one that had I been told about it two years previously, I would have accused someone of pulling my leg.

At the table with Andromeda, Teddy and Narcissa was Draco, Dudley and his girlfriend Penny, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Padma Patil and Neville Longbottom, who had Padfoot on his lap. They were all conversing with each other very animatedly about Quidditch.

I looked at George with a smile. His looked bewildered at the sight, and I'll admit, I was bewildered too.

"The Kenmare Kestrels are going to win this year, I'm telling you!" Seamus exclaimed, his already strong Irish accent strengthened by the beer he had been drinking.

"That's a load of dragon dung," Dean replied. "Everybody knows it's going to be the Falcons—"

Draco nodded in agreement. Dudley looked very confused, even as Penny explained what Quidditch was to him. Neville cut in with a cry that the Chudley Cannons were going to finally have their year, which caused Padma to snort loudly and tell him that the Cannons would never have their year.

"I don't know, I think Holyhead has a good chance this year. I've heard they have a new star chaser," I smiled, making me and George's presence known. 

"Madison!" Dudley's eyes lit up, seemingly relieved at the prospect of knowing somebody other than Penny at the table.

"Hey Dudley, this is George—"

"Sorry about pulling that prank on you," George said, wringing his hands nervously.

"It's alright," Dudley said. "It's in the past."

"Madison, the ceremony was so lovely," Penny said to me. "I love how you had everybody sit together, and not have a side for the bride and a side for the groom."

I knew she meant well, but I couldn't help the morbid response I gave her. "Well, it'd be pretty depressing if we had sides— after all, most of my blood family is dead."

The table went silent at my statement, with Narcissa and Andromeda even stopping their conversation. I blushed. "Sorry, that was morbid, and rude. Thank you Penny, and I hope you can forgive me, I know you didn't mean—"

She smiled. "It's quite alright, Madison. Now, tell me, where did you get these centerpieces?"

I smiled. Padma nodded. "They are certainly beautiful. What's the jar, though? I've never seen one like it!" Padma said.

I smiled. Truthfully, the centerpieces were just mason jars with Easter Lilies, and Fleur and I had spent all night making them.

"Those are mason jars," I explained. "Muggles use them a lot. They're used to preserve fruits and vegetables usually, but they have more craftier uses as well."

"My mother loves mason jars. It's a bit of a problem, actually," Dean said.

"We never had those in the house growing up. Mum and Dad thought they were too... abnormal? Hippy?" Dudley said.

"I can't imagine Aunt Petunia doing anything involving a mason jar," I snorted.

George and I had a good time talking to them, and Padfoot had taken quite the liking to Neville. It was almost time to eat, and I gave Padfoot a nice belly rub before turning to Teddy to pick him up. He looked absolutely adorable in his little suit.

"Are you going to save me a dance, Mister?" I asked him. His hair flamboyantly changed colors in excitement as he looked up at me, before it then changed to a dark brown color, which I had learned usually meant he was going to—

Teddy then lurched forward and threw up right onto George, creating the second mishap of the day.

After we had eaten, it was time for speeches. George and I decided to just limit speeches to just the maid of honor and the best man, because otherwise it would get out of hand.

"As most of you may know, I'm Hermione Granger, and I'm Madison's maid of honor," Hermione said, standing from her spot at the head table. She used her wand as a microphone and looking at the guests with glee. "I've known Madison since we were eleven. We met on the Hogwarts Express and became fast friends. I've seen her at her worst, and I've seen her at her best. I've seen her cry, and I've seen her laugh. I've seen her be absolutely terrified, and I've seen her be absolutely confident. I've seen her be sad, and I've seen her be happy. And those happy moments, more often that not, have to deal with a man named George Weasley.

"I'll admit, the first time I met George I thought he was an idiot," she said. George gave her a mock-disappointed look while guests laughed. "He spent much more time pulling pranks and getting into trouble than doing actual schoolwork, and I've never seen him read a book in the entire time I've known him. And then there's Madison, who got in trouble for the most random of events, did her schoolwork, and always seemed to have a book near her. I honestly didn't think that their relationship would last because it seemed like they were completely different people— but they're not.

"They're both kind. They're both funny. They're both brave. They don't care what other people think about them. They compliment each other so well, and they deserve each other. George and Madison are such great people, and they deserve this— they deserve so much. But what type of maid of honor would I be if I didn't tell a funny or embarrassing story about Madison?" Hermione turned and looked at me with the sneakiest smile I've ever seen her wear.

My eyes went wide. I racked my brain for moments that Hermione was present for that made me want to crawl under the table and hide forever. Unfortunately, there was quite a few of those moments, but I had faith that Hermione wouldn't reveal anything too embarrassing.

"Parvati, you'll remember this," Hermione said, looking a few seats down the table. Parvati, in response, also widened her eyes. "And Professor McGonagall?"

McGonagall, who sat more towards the front and sat at a table with Hagrid, Kingsley, and some other adults that must of been from the Weasley side, looked nervous and narrowed her eyes. She looked like she was ready to dock points from Gryffindor, despite none of us being in school anymore. "Yes?"

"This happened in third year, so five years ago now. It was also the reason the third year Gryffindor girls were... not very focused in one specific Transfiguration class," Hermione said.

McGonagall gave Hermione, Parvati and I a disappointed but curious look and sat back down.

"Anyways," Hermione continued, grinning at the audience. "One night in third year, all the girls in the third year dorm were talking about how we were... changing. Lavender had mentioned that her mum once said something about a hair removal spell, and Madison wondered if it would work on leg hair and armpit hair. None of us had razors with us, you see— so there wasn't exactly a way to remove it. None of us knew the answer, so we decided to try it out."

Parvati started bursting out with laughter, and took a minute to calm down. I narrowed my eyes at Hermione and blushed. "So, the four of us pointed our Wanda at our legs and said 'Calvorio'— and it worked. It worked a little too well. It removed all the hair on our body— eyebrows, head, eyelashes... We looked like aliens."

The crowd burst into laughter and I grimaced. I even saw McGonagall's lip turn up a little bit. My face felt like it was on fire.

"We freaked out, and didn't know what to do. We sat there for hours, well into the morning, unsure of what to do. We searched through books, we even contemplated going to the library at three in the morning to do something. The only thing that stopped us from doing that was the fact that the Fat Lady was gone at the time, and Sir Cadogan was her replacement. We knew we wouldn't be able to get back into the dorm if we left, since he changed the passwords multiple times a day without telling us. It wasn't until right before our first class that Parvati remembered the Hair-Thickening Charm.

"So we all cast the Hair-Thickening Charm, and our hair began to grow back. We made our way to class, but we were so, so itchy. It was awful— it was like we had lice! It was so bad that we all botched our spells in Transfiguration that day. It was awful," Hermione said, laughing a little bit. I couldn't help but laugh as well.

She continued. "There's so much more that I could say. But I'll be here forever if I talk about more moments. So I'll end with this— Madison, you are more than my best friend. You are my sister. And I'll always be on your side, and I'll always be there for you. You deserve love, you deserve happiness, and I'm so happy that you've been able to find that with George. Oh, and George? If you ever do anything to Madison, not only will I curse you so hard that you'll never be able to sit right ever again, I'll make sure that your ear won't be the only thing missing."

I started tearing up and stood up and gave her a huge hug. "That was beautiful, Hermione. Thank you for being my sister," I told her. She hugged me back, and the pair of us sat down. Everybody clapped, and then it was time for Fred to speak.

I wasn't really worried about Hermione's speech, because she had tact. She knew what to say and what not to say, and more importantly, when not to say things.

She also didn't set my husband on fire.

"Well, I can't top that," Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I saw Andromeda put her hands over Teddy's ears, even though he was sleeping. I saw Padfoot curled up by Molly's feet. She looked at her son with horror.

Fred gave a chuckle, before turning to George. "Georgiepoo. Georgiekins. Forge. My holey-ness. My apologies for setting you on fire earlier— it was an accident. Anyways, I don't know if I'm the first to say this, but I have no idea how you managed to pull Madison Potter. She's a wonderful person— extremely smart, brave, funny, an extraordinary Healer, and of course, beautiful. Not as beautiful as Angelina of course, but Angelina's a goddess."

I smiled at his words. Despite my announce that Fred and Angelina were constantly going at it, they were a good match for one another.

Fred continued. "I guess that I'm the second to admit that I wasn't always sure about George and Madison— but that's just because of the idiotic things George's done. For one, he assumed that they would just go to the Yule Ball together because they were together. Took him so long to ask her to go. He's made her cry more than once, and not a good sort of cry— sorry Mum, you know I can't help but make those sort of jokes— but they still manage to patch things up and make their relationship stronger. It might sound like I'm complimenting Madison here more than George, and that's true, but she was, quite understandably, pretty mad at me earlier. Love you, Madison. Hoping that you can forgive me for setting George on fire."

"Just don't do it again," I said pointedly. Fred grinned, relieved.

"Perfect. Now, let's see... Hermione told a lovely story about Madison, so I'll have to tell a lovely story about George. I have a ton, but my favorite one is from way before Madison came into George's life. In fact, it was sixteen years ago. George and I were five years old, and we believed that it was time that we rode a broom. After all, Bill, Charlie and even Percy got to ride brooms, and Percy's only two years older than us, and he hates flying.

"It was late at night— or early in the morning— when George and I snuck out of the Burrow and went to the broom shed. The door was locked, but George and I had learned to pick a lock pretty early on. Mum had tons of hair pins lying around— well, before I go into that, I should probably say how old everybody else was at the time so it makes sense for the story. Also, I need to make you understand why Georgiekinns and I felt the need to do what we did."

Molly looked absolutely mortified at the idea of Fred revealing her age to the crowd. I myself was rather curious, because I'd always wondered how old the Weasley parents were but it would be rude to ask.

"Right," Fred continued, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "It was early July 1983. Georgie and I were 5. Mum was 34 and so was Dad. Billy-boy was turning 13 that November, and Charlie-poo would be 11 that December. Percy was 7. Ronniekinns was 3, and Gin-Gin would be turning 2. Madison and Harry, who are in now way relevant to this story, would still be 2 at the time. Actually, now that I mention it, the ages aren't important, I just wanted to say them. Sorry, Mum.

"Anyways... so we used a hair pin to unlock the door to the broom shed. What we didn't know at the time was that Dad had put a few random Muggle objects in the shed because he ran out of room in the garage. So, while I grabbed a wizard broom, Georgie here grabbed a muggle broom. That's important later. We closed the door, and snuck back into the Burrow and went to our rooms and opened the window. I held mine out the window and got on it and flew off, and George held his out the window and got on it and... flew down. But it didn't stop there— he fell down into the garden where all the garden gnomes were. George got bit by all of them everywhere— and I mean everywhere. To make matters worse, the broom hit him in the head once he was on the ground— which actually might explain the weirdness he has. And, to top it all off, he broke his leg. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the breeze. And then I wasn't, because suddenly I ran into a tree and fell down as well.

"Well, Mum heard the entire commotion, and came rushing outside, and I've seen her mad before, but that was the very first time I saw her fuming. It wasn't pretty. George and I were pretty stupid to do that in hindsight, and maybe we've gotten stupider— I know that's not a word Hermione and Madison, but it goes with the joke. George and I have done a lot of stupid, immature, and dumb things in our life. But I think the smartest thing George has ever done is help you put your trunk on the train on September 1st, 1991. George's world was already magical, but you introduced more magic into it. You make him so happy, and he talks about you all the time. George loves you so much, and I wish you both the—"

He was interrupted by an owl flying into the tent, flapping it's wings and squealing in a way I wasn't aware an owl could. The owl flew right into his face and then fell onto the table. Rolled up in its little talons was the month's edition of some Quidditch Magazine. Nine more owls flew in after that, dropping the same magazine off to Harry, Ginny, Ron, Angelina, Seamus, Dean, Draco, Neville, and George respectively.

Then the owls started shitting, absolutely everywhere, and Aunt Muriel started screaming out curse words that I didn't even know existed, because an owl had decided to relieve itself all over the hat she had worn. It took everything in me to not scream with her.

George and I were dancing, alone on the floor. Teddy had been excited and wanted to rush up to dance with me first, but Andromeda held him back.

For you, there'll be no more crying
For you, the sun will be shining
And I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

My arms were around his neck, and his arms were around my waist as we danced slowly to the soft and gentle sounds of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird. I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me, and everything else in the world fell away as I looked into his eyes.

To wyou, I'll give the world
To you, I'll never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

Nothing else mattered at that very moment besides me and George. There could be a whole battle going on, and bombs could be falling down on us like it was the Blitz, and neither of us would know because we were so wrapped up in the existence of one another.

And the songbirds are singing,
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

I brought myself closer to George and leaned my head on his chest, his pulse echoing into my ear. He rested his head on top of mine and moved one of his hands to the small of my back.

And I wish you all the love in the world
But most of all, I wish it from myself

I felt on top of the world. I felt invincible.

And the songbirds keep singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before, like never before
Like never before

I was finally getting my happy ending.