she seemed older, much more mature, strangely enigmatic. Her black eyes were inscrutable.
'Lucy,' a voice announced, interrupting James just as he opened his mouth to speak. He glanced aside and saw his Uncle Percy, Lucy's father, approaching, resplendent in his navy blue dress robes and mortarboard cap. 'Come along now. We can't afford to be late. The usher is waiting for us. Where were you anyway? Never mind, never mind.'
He put a hand around her shoulder and led her away. She glanced back at James, her expression mildly sardonic, as if to say th
James liked Molly and both of Lucy's parents although he knew them rather less than he did his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. Percy traveled an awful lot, due to his job at the Ministry, and he often took his wife and daughters with him when he went. James had always thought that such a life might be rather exciting—traveling to faraway lands, meeting exotic witches and wizards, staying in grand hotels and embassies—but he'd never thought it would actually happen to him. Lucy was used to it even if she didn't seem to particularly enjoy it herself; after all, she'd been accompanying her family on such trips ever since she'd been a baby, since they'd brought her home from the orphanage in Osaka, before Molly had ever been born. She'd had time to get so familiar with the routine of travel that it was virtually drudgery. James knew his cousin well enough to know that she had been looking quite forward to the consistency and pleasant predictability of her first year at Hogwarts.
Thinking that, he felt a little bad about telling her that the coming trip would be easier for her. At least he'd had two years at Hogwarts already, two years of classes and studies, dorm life and meals in the Great Hall, even if all of it had been overlaid with some fairly spectacular events. Just when Lucy had been expecting to get her first taste of such things, it had gotten neatly snatched away from her. Considering Lucy's personality, it was easy to forget that she was, if anything, probably even more upset about it than he was.
'Welcome back, James, Albus,' his father said, smiling and tousling the boys' heads. James ducked away, frowning, and ran his hand through his hair, matting it down.
'Well then,' a woman's voice trilled, barely concealing her impatience. James looked toward the front of the small group and saw Professor Minerva McGonagall, her eyes ticking over them severely. 'Now that we are all nominally present, shall we proceed?'
'Lead the way, Professor,' Merlin said in his low, rumbling voice, bowing his head and gesturing toward the forest. 'We'd hate to keep our giantish friends waiting any longer, especially on such a momentous occasion.
McGonagall nodded curtly, turned, and began to cross the lawn, striding toward the arms of the Forbidden Forest beyond. The troupe followed.
A short time later, deep in the shadow of the huge, gnarled trees, Ralph spoke up.
'I think we're nearly there,' he said, his voice tight and his eyes widening. James looked up. The path curved up around a steep incline toward a rocky crest, and standing atop that crest, framed between the trees, stood a monstrous, lumpy shape. The giant was easily twenty-five feet tall, with arms that looked like a herd of swine stuffed into a tube sock and legs so thick and hairy that they appeared to take up two thirds of the rest of the body. The head looked like a small, hairy potato perched atop the creature's stubby neck. It was dressed in yards of burlap, enormous leather sandals, and a cloak made of at least a dozen bearskins. It regarded them gravely as they approached.
'Bloody hell,' Ralph said in a high, wavering voice. 'I knew I should have just sent a gift.'
Several hours later, as the sun descended beyond the trees, casting the world into copper twilight, the troop of witches and wizards shambled back out of the Forbidden Forest, looking decidedly less crisp than they had when they'd entered. James and Ralph walked with Hagrid, who had gotten rather louder and substantially more rambling as the evening had progressed. The halfgiant's footsteps meandered back and forth across the path, one huge hand each on James and Ralph's heads.
'S'for the best, o' course,' Hagrid was saying mushily. 'S'for… s'for… s'for the best, it is. Jus' like the Headmistress says. Where is the Headmistress? I want t' thank 'er for bein' there, for showin' 'er support for li'l Grawpy an'… an'… li'l Grawpy an' his byootiful bride.'
'She's not the Headmistress anymore,' Ralph said, his voice strained as Hagrid leaned uncertainly, pressing down on the boys' heads. 'Not since year before last. But she's behind us. Don't worry.'
'Where does th' time go?' Hagrid went on, weaving onto the grass and aiming, with some difficulty, for his hut. 'Why, it only seems like yesh… yesh…
Under Hagrid's ponderous weight, James felt like he was being driven into the ground like a tent peg. He pried Hagrid's large meaty hand off his head and held it, pulling the half-giant toward the door of his cabin. 'Norberta made a nice wedding present, Hagrid. I bet they'll all be very happy together, up in the mountains.'
'Do yeh think so?' Hagrid boomed suddenly, taking his hand from Ralph's head to wipe a tear from his bloodshot eyes. 'I hope so. I do. The Headmistress knows best, she does. I think I need to sit down now for a… for jus' a minnit.'
Hagrid turned as if he meant to enjoy the beauty of the sunset, wobbled on his feet for one long moment, and then fell backwards onto his garden, smashing a few unusually coloured pumpkins. Immediately, he began to snore loudly.
'He'll be fine,' Ralph said uncertainly. 'Right?'
James shrugged, heading toward Hagrid's hut and pulling the door open. 'Yeah, it's a nice night. Probably do him some good. I've never seen anyone drink so much mead though.'
'I did!' Ralph countered, ambling toward the doorway. 'Merlin put that stuff away like it was water! Didn't seem to affect him at all, either, not like the rest. Maybe it's some sort of special power or something.'
'Maybe it's just part of being eleven hundred years old,' James called from the darkness of the hut, grunting to himself. 'Maybe he can, sort of, spread it all out over a lifetime, so it doesn't affect him as much at any given moment. You think?'
Ralph heaved a sigh. 'I try not to, at least when it comes to Merlin. He makes my head hurt. The food was good tonight though. The chicken and kabobs and everything. I've never had whelk before, especially cooked like that.'
'You mean spit-roasted by a dragon?' James replied, dragging a huge quilt through the door of the hut. 'Kind of gives it a weird aftertaste, don't you think? I thought it tasted a little like the potions closet smells on a humid day.'
Ralph shrugged, helping tug the quilt over Hagrid's huge snoring bulk. 'There. Sleep well, Hagrid. See you next year.'
'Ugh, stop saying things like that,' James said, rolling his eyes.
'What?'
James shook his head. 'I just don't want to be reminded. Come on, there's McGonagall. If she beats us back
