AN: Yet another one from the 30 breathtakes challenge - 27, sunrise. Not my characters, you know that by now.
It's been a long trek up the mountain, overnight, using Lumos spells to keep from tripping on rocks, tree roots and Merlin only knows what else on the narrow path. Following Charlie Weasley all this way, for a reason he won't tell me. Can't explain, maybe. Sometimes he just decides we're doing something and it would take the end of the world to persuade him otherwise. As far as I'm concerned, this hike in the darkness is just another one of those times.
Head down, eyes only on the patch of ground in front of me, I'm so exhausted I don't even notice when the ground starts to level out as we reach the summit. Only Charlie's hand on my arm stops me from trudging resolutely onwards.
"Hermione, you can stop now."
I don't argue, just slide down onto a conveniently positioned fallen tree at the side of the path. My eyes are closing of their own volition, and I'm convinced I could fall asleep here, at the top of a mountain in Romania, in the chilly pre-dawn air, on a log damp with dew. Charlie sits beside me, something for which I'm exceedingly grateful, as it means I can use his shoulder as a pillow, and his arm around my waist will stop me from hitting the floor in an unceremonious heap if I do fall asleep.
"Open your eyes." His voice murmurs in my ear, and I slap him, then wince and wish I hadn't. I always forget that hitting him is a bad idea, what with the amount of solid muscle he possesses.
"Too tired."
"Too tired even to talk? That must be a first. Seriously, Hermione, open your eyes."
It takes far too much effort to do such a simple thing, but when I manage it, I'm glad I did. Now I know what he brought me up here to see. The sunrise, viewed from up here at four in the morning is absolutely breathtaking, so much so that I'm not even going to try to describe it. I just wouldn't do it justice. Drag yourself up a mountain in the middle of the night, then wait for dawn, and you'll understand.
"I'm sorry I complained." I lean closer into his embrace, unable to take my eyes off the view in front of me.
"Complained? That, my dear, is possibly the understatement of the century. You absolutely cursed me out all the way up here, using descriptions I've never heard before, and that's saying something."
I know that I'm bright red by now. I'm sure I didn't mean to do that, and I don't even remember all of what I said. Just bits of it, and none of it complimentary. Burying my head in my hands, I apologise again.
"Hermione, it's ok, really."
Looking back up, I find him kneeling in front of me, something hidden in his hands. "Hermione Granger, I love you. Will you marry me?" He hands me a small velvet box, gesturing for me to open it. The ring is a ruby, blood red in the morning sunlight. I nod, unable to speak, and he slides the band onto my finger.
We sit there for a while, holding each other and enjoying the respite from the chaos down in the reserve. It isn't long, though, before I'm falling asleep again. "Now we just have to get back down there," I murmur sleepily.
"Are you a witch or not, Mrs Weasley-to-be? Apparate!" He laughs, finding it funny that I still, sometimes, revert to the Muggle way of doing things, especially when I'm not thinking properly. I brandish my wand at him, then disappear with a bang. Moments later, we're curled up in bed, where we should have been hours ago, as far as I'm concerned. But now, at least, I know why he went to all that effort, and I can't help but love him for it.