He had never seen something so beautiful. He ignored the castle, the lake, the forest, and focused only on her. In a wide open field. Surrounded by fireflies and engulfed in twilight. There was no shimmer to her hair or glisten to her eyes as he had seen many a time in the daylight. No. Now her skin was glowing, a pale luminescence in the dying light. The rising moon reflected in her eyes. He realized that this was the first time that he had ever seen her at night.
He drew closer, unwilling to disturb the sight before him. In that moment, he knew that he had been lied to for his entire life. What he was witnessing now, her, with his eyes, that was true magic. None of that pathetic wand-waving or incantating or flying or brewing or any of it. No. She was magic.
He could see those precious little lightening bugs much clearer now. Could see the wings as they hovered in midair, a red stripe running down the middle as if they were all race cars. He could see what their lower halves looked like when they weren't lit up. Could see what their lights looked like as they danced across her skin.
She looked so happy. He had never seen a person look that happy. Ever.
"It's like standing with the stars."
It took him a moment to realize that she had spoken. He knew that he should answer her, wanted to answer her, but was too afraid to break the silence. He settled on finishing his approach and wrapped his hand around hers. He could feel the chill that had just begun to settle into her hand. She squeezed his hand before she spoke again.
"Look." She tilted her head back to look up at the sky. He followed suit and understood her meaning immediately.
Above them were thousands of stars. He had never known a night to be so clear. Constellation after constellation lit up before him, and he knew that if he tried hard enough, he could remember everything from his astronomy classes.
But they weren't important now. She was. Only her.
He looked back over at her and was blown away by the wonder in her eyes. He would never find the right words to describe it. There were none. They just didn't exist. Plain and simple.
By now the sun had almost completely set. There was only a faint blue glow on the horizon. They were swimming in fireflies and drowning in the stars and he knew that this was going to be the most perfect night of his entire existence.
Regretfully letting go of her hand, he took off his cloak and laid it on the ground at their feet. He took off his coat and turned it into a blanket. Her eyes had moved from the skies to watch him. With a slight gesture of his hand, she was on her back, lying on his cloak and staring up once again at the heavens above them.
He laid down next to her, keeping a respectable yet comfortable distance. Covering them both with the blanket, not quite needed but definitely necessary for later on, he cast an adapted form of a bug repelling charm, allowing only the fireflies to remain.
Laying his head back, he joined her once more looking at the skies above. From their perspective, they were able to see both the fireflies and the stars at once. She was right. They truly did blend together quite seamlessly.
He noticed her move out of the corner of his eye and felt her hand return into the warmth of his. She gave him a light squeeze. He squeezed back.
Yes. This was truly the most perfect night of his life.