“What are you doing here all alone?” Harry asked, falling into step besides me and motioning for me to start walking again. “Ron said you were with Ginny.”

“I was,” I replied, shrugging. “She just left, she’s gone to meet Dean. I’ve been doing some wandering of my own.”

“I’d get bored to death if it was me,” Harry pouted, glancing around.

I realized we were back in the grounds; dusk threatened to break across the skies any moment. The lights of nature dimmed, and the sun gleamed orange above us. Its light rippled across the lake, and I breathed deeply: It was a lovely scene.

Yes... I could never quench my thirst for loveliness derived from Hogwarts’ beauty. Harry, looking at me, seemed to realize this.

“Yes, it’s very lovely, isn’t it?” he asked me.

“It is,” I said, nodding breathlessly. “It always amazes me, how beautiful Hogwarts is. I feel alive all over again every time I see a sunset, here.”

We stood there, for a while, basking in beauty. The beauty of the orange glow, and the beauty of the pacific lake, and the beauty of the summertime scents, and the beauty of the sun setting in front of our eyes, sprinkling the earth with its last, luminous rays.

But better than all of these was another kind of beauty, just as pure but far more thrilling, though I would never admit its existence: The beauty of having each other there. To stand with, to talk with. To share with, to laugh with.

I felt warmth around my shoulders, and realized Harry had placed an arm around them. It touched the back of my neck, and I felt myself shiver, even though it was not cold. The sun set above us, and night fell in one, swift stroke.

All was dark, and sweet, and lovely.