First Sunrise

by Elise Marie

After the death of Dumbledore, Hermione is staying with the Weasleys waiting for Harry. She asks Ron for a favour so she can have one last normal night thinking of her parents before the Horcrux hunt. 8th in my "First" series. Before HP:DH. No Sex Inside.

Title: First Sunrise

Book: In between Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

Spoilers: All up until Half Blood Prince.

Warnings: None.

Rating: M/PG-16. Slight adult-ish theme.

Category: Ron/Hermione Romance.

Summary: After the death of Dumbledore, Hermione is staying with the Weasley's waiting for Harry. She asks Ron for a favour so that she can have one last normal night thinking of her parents before the Horcrux hunt.

Disclaimer: All characters and the universe they exist in belong to J.K Rowling and her publishers. This piece of fan-fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was exchanged. No copyright infringement was intended and the original characters, situations and plots are property of the author. This piece of fan-fiction must not be archived without the author's consent.

Author's Notes: 8th in my "First" series, but you don't have to have read the others for this to make sense. The flower I describe is based on a real one of the same name, but some facts have been distorted to fit this story! Also, this has become a lot longer than I thought it would be, but was actually my second idea for a First.

X X X X X

Hermione Granger knocked on the door to Ron Weasley's bedroom and then went straight in without waiting for him to say anything. He was sitting on his bed with his broomstick and he appeared to be cleaning it. She sat down on the bed opposite; the one that would be Harry's in a few days time. Ron looked up at her and smiled before returning to the task at hand. She watched him for a few moments before turning to gaze out of the window. Sometimes she felt odd around him, but then it had not been too long ago that she had danced with him for the first time. That was the afternoon when she had realised the true extent of her feelings for her best friend. Things were too complicated for anything to happen between them. Hermione had seen that up close when Harry had broken up with Ginny immediately after Dumbledore's funeral. Everything had changed for them in such a short space of time, but it all made Hermione realise that her decision concerning Ron was the correct one. It did not matter that the three of them were all going to go on a hunt for the Horcruxes, admitting any change in feelings toward her friend would make it all so much more difficult. She looked at Ron again, her heart jumping slightly at the sight of him and the thoughts in her mind. Everyone had been increasingly sad since the end of school, but Ron was always there for her. He hugged her when she needed it, taking her hand and squeezing it to try and make her smile and stroking her hair whenever she cried. Crying seemed to be a lot more frequent at the moment and she worried that it would continue for quite a while.

"Ron, can I ask you a favour, please?"

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, wondering what she was going to ask him. Ever since he had helped win the Quidditch Cup and had danced with Hermione, his feelings had been changing and growing. He kept reasoning to himself that the time was not right to act on those feelings, that he had no idea what Hermione felt for him and that times were about to get very difficult. "Of course you can."

"I was wondering," she paused. "The summer before I started Hogwarts, my parents took me to Kew Gardens and I saw this really lovely, amazing flower. It was called a Lady's Slipper Orchid. They are very rare and don't bloom very often. In fact, the time I saw one, it was the first bloom in ten years. These orchids are not only rare, but they also only bloom in June and July. The thing is, I know where there is one and I would really love to be able to visit it. Would you help me?"

"What, get to Kew Gardens? Isn't that in London or somewhere?"

"Surrey, technically. Thing is, that one isn't due to bloom but I know of a wild one which might be about to bloom."

"About to?" Ron sounded sceptical. "So you're not even sure that it definitely will?"

Hermione shook her head, involuntary tears misting her eyes. "I just feel like I really need to."

Ron put his broom aside and leant forward to take hold of Hermione's hands. "This is really important to you, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Ever since I put the charm on my parents, I've missed them." She smiled sadly. "I mean, I'm used to spending holidays apart from them and the school year, but at least I could speak to them." Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Now I can't. They don't exist anymore."

Ron gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "It's okay. I'll go with you." They both knew that it was too dangerous to go places alone and that Mrs. Weasley would have issues with the pair of them going anywhere. "I don't know how we'll convince mum."

"We could sneak out," she offered.

He looked at her suspiciously. "Are you really Hermione Granger?"

She smiled and laughed slightly. "I know, but this is really important to me."

He squeezed her hands. "Where is this flower anyway?"

She smiled nervously at him. "Hogwarts. The Forbidden Forest."

Ron paled.

X X X X X

Ron paused and motioned for Hermione to wait as he peered out into the castle. He could not hear or see anyone nearby. He then motioned for her to follow and they both headed out into Hogwarts. Ron had to admit that he found it a little bit odd to be in the school now. It was the school that he was not going to return to, despite how much it had served as his home over the past six years. It was very odd being in the school with it pretty much empty. During Christmas and Easter holidays, Ron had remained at the school and he had done his fair share of sneaking around with Harry and Hermione. It had never been summer and there had always been some staff around. Ron was pretty sure that Filch might be the only member of staff around. Possibly Hagrid could be, unless the Order had sent him on a mission. It did occur to him that he had no idea about the other teaching staff.

He glanced out of a nearby window and saw that the sun was in the process of setting just beyond the Forbidden Forest. Ron was still amazed that he had been convinced so easily by Hermione to come here. It was not just that they had snuck out, that they had come back to Hogwarts of all places, but that she had also convinced him to enter the Forbidden Forest. He hated that place and all of the spiders that were no doubt still living there. Ron's wand was already drawn as it had been from the minute they had left the Burrow. Together, they had Apparated to just outside of Hogsmeade and had quietly entered Honeydukes and used that passageway. There was still some doubt as to whether Hogwarts would even be re-opening next year after the murder of Dumbledore and the small battle that had occurred on site. Ron had assumed that the security would have been increased, but they had found no trouble getting into the secret passage. Ron was now leading Hermione through the school before they would make the uncovered journey into the Forest. Part of him hoped that it was only Filch at the school and not many other people that they would have to get past.

He heard a noise from around the corner and put his free hand up, motioning to Hermione to halt. Carefully, Ron peered around the corner and saw Filch coming straight towards them. Ron grabbed Hermione by the arms and pushed her backwards into a little alcove and around behind a small wall which jutted out. He pressed her tightly to the wall, hoping that the wall was wide enough to hide both of them from Filch's view. They both quietened their breathing, hoping that Filch neither saw them nor heard anything that made him suspicious. They really could have done with Harry's Marauder's map.

Hermione allowed herself to be crushed to the wall, underneath Ron's protective body. She was reminded of their dance just a few weeks ago in the Gryffindor common room, which was not too far from where they now were. Despite the severe differences between the celebratory party's dance and this hazardous, near life threatening situation, Hermione could not help but react as she had before. She tried to force the thoughts form her mind, closing her eyes in an attempt to both banish the thoughts and hide herself as a child would do. She heard footsteps nearby and held her breath in fear that Filch might hear it. Her heart was beating so fast, out of fear and excitement, that Hermione was convinced that Ron and Filch could hear it. She hoped that she was wrong, that Filch at least could not hear her heart thumping in her chest. It would just be typical that they would be caught by her heart after managing to successfully escape the Burrow unnoticed.

It had not been completely unnoticed; Ginny knew where they had gone and she was covering for them. Hermione had explained to her friend and room-mate that she had needed to do this in a similar way to how she had needed to charm her parents. Ginny had not been happy, but they were all in agreement that whilst Voldemort was still in hiding and more interested in taking over the Ministry as well as killing Harry, Ron and Hermione were probably off of his radar. Ginny was very concerned about them entering the Forbidden Forest, however. What better place for Death Eaters or Voldemort himself to be hiding? Hermione had argued with her that Hogwarts was still protected by charms and that Voldemort did not yet have enough power. With no new headmaster in situ, Voldemort was no more able to access the grounds than he had been with Dumbledore there. It occurred to Hermione that if Snape had been working for Voldemort all of this time and everything was going to his plan, Snape may become the next headmaster, allowing a very different Hogwarts to come to be. She shuddered at the thought and then felt Ron move slightly against her. It was as if he was questioning her shudder so she nodded against his chest in reassurance.

Ron listened as Filch's footsteps became more distant and he carefully peered out from their hiding hole. Glancing up the corridor where he assumed Filch had gone Ron saw Filch just as he rounded a corner, heading toward to the Great Hall. He then checked the other direction just to be on the safe side and once confident that they were alone, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and led her out of their hiding place. Once back out in the open, he released her hand and they both continued silently through the corridors with wands raised. Ron was leading with Hermione slightly to his left and behind him. He concentrated on the path ahead and she kept glancing backwards, checking that nothing was coming in the opposite direction. He had no idea what they would do should they happen upon a ghost. The chances were that they would not hear one of the ghosts unless it was Peeves making noise just for the sake of it. When he had questioned Hermione about it before they had left the Burrow, she had shrugged her shoulders and offered him no other solution. Ron was quite concerned that this plan was not fully thought out.

They made it out into the open and carefully started to head down towards the Forest and Hagrid's hut. This was possibly the most dangerous part of the journey as anyone in the castle could see them out of a window. Ron wished that he had some Felix Felicis to help the pair of them on the journey out in the wide open. He could only hope after seeing Filch walk to the opposite side of the castle that he was not about to have a gander out of the windows on this side of the building. The both paused behind a wall, Hermione now in front as they looked down toward the Forest.

Hermione knew that this was the riskiest part of the journey and she had only two wishes right now. One was that they could have apparated straight into the Forest to where she knew there was a Lady's Slipper. That way all of this could have been avoided. Her second wish was that they had the Marauder's map. It would make this part of the journey so much easier as they had no idea how many teachers remained within Hogwarts, let alone where they were. She remembered back to the fifth year when Trelawney had been sacked by Umbridge and Dumbledore had declared that Hogwarts was still her home. If this was Trelawney's home then surely she would still be within the castle? What about McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick? There were too many variables for Hermione's normal liking, but reason had left her as soon as she had decided she needed to see that flower. It was the only thing linking her to the parents who no longer even knew that they had a daughter. She was not an orphan, but her parents were childless and she needed to do this for them so that one day, after the war was over, she could find them and tell them. For her right now, seeing this flower was important enough to risk everything for, especially with how their lives were all about to change. She and Ron were already of age in the Muggle and Magical worlds; soon they would be hunting, fighting to protect their own lives and doing anything that was needed.

Something moved just off in the distance and Hermione ducked down behind the wall, reaching behind her for Ron. She hooked two fingers into his jeans pocket and yanked him down toward to the ground, motioning with a nod of her head to what she had seen. He moved his head closer to hers to see down towards the Forest. She could feel his warm breath on her neck and it sent tingles through her. Hermione had removed her fingers from his pocket, but she was slightly aware of the fact that she had been incredibly close to his groin when she had fumbled around to get his attention. She was convinced that she had not touched anything.

Ron looked down at Hagrid's hut and swore gently under his breath; they had hoped that he would not be here. Before they had left the Burrow, Ron had asked Hermione if they should actively seek out either Hagrid or McGonagall, but she had refused declaring it too risky. She feared they would send them home and she had pleaded with him to come here in secret. Ron understood that this mission was very important to her, but he was still concerned that she was not acting like the normal, logical, safety-conscious Hermione Granger that he knew so well. He could still feel the warmth of her hand when it had, for one brief moment, hooked into his pocket after fumbling around. Momentarily confused and distracted, it had taken Ron a longer moment than normal to realise that she was indicating for him to duck, but he was sure that Hagrid had not noticed anything. He had been busy looking in the opposite direction when her hand had first touched him, grazing his jeans very close to his groin and he was glad that she moved it to the right rather than the left; Ron was having a difficult enough time fighting certain teenage urgings at the moment.

They both kneeled there, heads close together until they watched Hagrid disappear into his hut. This was the perfect opportunity now for them to both make a run for it and get into the Forbidden Forest. They each turned their head to the other, their faces not even inches away from each other. Ron was strongly reminded of their dance and his desire to kiss her, but he knew that this was an even worse situation to attempt it in. Although, he thought, she was not going to run away from him right now because she needed him too much for her personal mission. He decided against it and nodded to her.

Hermione licked her lips and let out a very slow long breath. She was nervous and scared, but knew that they had to take this opportunity and hope that there were not any professors watching out of a window and that Hagrid would stay within his hut and away from his windows, too. Hermione nodded back to Ron and they ran at full pelt down towards the Forbidden Forest. They aimed for slightly further off from where they normally entered as that was too close to Hagrid's hut. As they ran, Hermione noticed that Ron momentarily paused. She glanced back and saw him stumble over something but wave at her to continue and that he was okay. Hermione continued running and waited until she was well hidden behind the tree line before turning and waiting for Ron. He ran straight toward her and came to a stop a few steps to her left.

Both of them were breathing heavily, Hermione leaning forward slightly, resting her arms on her legs. He seemed to recover quicker because he was physically fitter than her due to his Quidditch training. Hermione remembered when she had realised the real reason for his increased fitness and new muscular, toned body. He had hidden his Quidditch practicing from everyone and Hermione had assumed his muscular look was from cleaning all summer or growing. She could still remember the day when he admitted to her that when she had come to his dormitory to complain that he was not doing his homework, he had been outside training and then reading his Quidditch book. She had been very impressed with his desire to learn and improve his skill.

After she recovered her breathing well enough to speak, she stood back up straight and turned to him. "What happened to you? You looked like you stumbled?"

Ron nodded, looking around them. "Can we start moving towards this flower of yours please? I'd rather get home as soon as possible."

"Sure," she nodded. As he followed her through the Forest, both of them still had their wands drawn and they constantly looked all around them for any sign of movement.

"I did stumble," he admitted. Ron knew that he was clumsy sometimes, but he had paused in his running stumble because he had been confused at how he had stumbled on grass. "I paused to check what it was I stumbled on."

"What was it?" They were both speaking in hushed tones as if their conversation was private and they did not want to be overheard.

"Remember in third year when we believed Scabbers was dead?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she replied in case he had not seen her head from behind.

"I just tripped over the grave marker that you made for him."

"Oh, Ron, I am sorry," Hermione apologised.

"What for? Scabbers wasn't dead and he tried to kill us all. I'm not sorry." They continued on in silence, Ron patiently following Hermione further into the Forbidden Forest. After what seemed like a very long time especially given that they had to light their wands to see the way, he began to lose his patience. "Hermione, you do know where you're going, right?"

"It's not too far now," she mumbled sounding slightly unsure of herself. Ron let it go though, not wanting to anger her because he was too concerned as to how far they were heading into the Forest and the hope that they did not get lost. Hermione came to a stop abruptly and Ron worried that she had seen someone.

"What is it?" he asked, moving to stand directly next to her and following her eyes to a small clearing in the trees.

"There it is," she whispered. Hermione's voice was so quiet that he had to look directly at her to hear her words. She had a huge smile on her face and tears were brimming in her eyes.

Ron put his arm around her shoulder as comfort and security and looked at the small clearing. He could not see what she was looking at. "What?" he asked gently.

She laughed at him and then moved forward, crouching down in front of a knee-high green stalk with closed flower bud on top. "This," she looked at him, "is a Lady's Slipper Orchid." She smiled a wide smile and then looked at the closed up flower head again.

"Uh, Hermione," Ron said, scratching his head in concern, "it's … it's closed. It isn't even in bloom." He had known this was a possibility and he now assumed that they would make the dangerous journey back home.

Hermione settled further down onto the dry soil, sitting with her legs crossed and continued to look at the boring, plain looking flower. "It will. It only blooms for two days a year and according to my calculations that could be either today or tomorrow."

"Either!" he repeated and saw her blush. "You knew this before we got here, didn't you?" He could not help the anger that was in voice, but he did try and keep his voice down. "You knew that there was a fifty-fifty chance that we'd have to wait until tomorrow and you didn't tell me? Hermione, do you know how dangerous this is?"

"Oh, Ron, please!" She stood up and ran the few steps towards him, placing her hands on his chest. "Please, don't make us leave and please don't be angry with me. I've been visiting it every year in case it blooms and I performed a small spell that would help calculate the days when it could be in bloom, but it only narrows it down to two days. That's why we left so late, Ron, so we wouldn't have to wait too long or make two trips." She paused. "I really did think that it would be today."

He sighed and felt his anger dissipating. "You have a really good reason that you want to see this?"

She nodded, smiling again. "It's my parents, Ron, and after tonight we only have the wedding and then we won't ever have the chance to be carefree teenagers or children ever again."

His anger continued to thaw until three things dawned him. He took hold of her hands and removed them from his chest. "Hang on a second. You're telling me that we have to stay here over night?" She nodded. "We have to sleep in the Forbidden Forest?" Again, she nodded. "With no sleeping bags and giant spiders and centaurs roaming around, let alone what else?" She nodded slower this time. "And with no safety so that anyone could wander past and find us?"

"I do have some charms that could hide us both, for a short time, anyway." Ron shook his head in exasperation. "I know I'm acting a bit odd, Ron, but everything's about to change and this flower," she walked back over to the stem, "is something for me to hold on to. We're going to be fine. You-Know-Who," she whispered his name as if he could possibly be close by, "wouldn't dare get this close to Hogwarts with the Ministry still active. I can set up proximity charms for any spiders that might come along and the centaurs will leave us be as long as we don't interfere with them. Anyway," she glanced at her watch, "it's gone ten so the sun's already set and sun-rise is only in another six hours or so."

"Oh, only six hours! Hermione, where are we going to sleep? We don't have anything to sleep on or in!"

Hermione looked around their immediate area quickly and then pointed to a tree in the middle of an overgrown section. "Here," she walked into the trees and Ron followed. "One of us can lean against this tree whilst the other sleeps on their arm. I'll put the charms around it and we'll be alerted if anything happens. That way, we'll be more comfortable and warmer because we'll be close to each other." She looked at Ron with a pleading innocence and he just could not say no.

"Fine," he relented. "You set up the charms and I'll take first watch, but if a spider comes anywhere near me Hermione Granger, I will never forgive you!"

Her lips twitched into a smile.

X X X X X

Ron had no idea how long Hermione had been asleep, but he was starting to get very bored just sitting against a tree in the dark. They had both decided that it was best to extinguish the light from their wands and sit in the dark without thinking that the darkness may cause Ron to fall asleep. Thankfully, he was not cold due to the heat of Hermione's body against his left arm and because the daytime had been quite warm. Not that Hermione would have allowed him to even consider lighting a fire or doing anything magical to keep warm. Luckily, it was a warm and clear night and the moonlight did provide some illumination. Ron was not sure that he would want to try and walk anywhere in this light, but he was now accustomed to it so that he could see the nearest trees and just past the flower which was so important to Hermione.

He could still not believe that he had been tricked into this. Nor could he believe that Hermione was taking such a risk, but this flower seemed very important to her. She had explained how her father had taken her to see the flower in Kew Gardens and that he had described it as something wonderful. He had told her that no matter how bleak things can be, no matter how hard things seem and how alone and sad you can feel, there can always be one moment of joy and beauty. It had been his reassuring speech to her with regards to leaving a few weeks later for Hogwarts. He had not wanted her to be alone. Ron understood why she needed to see it one last time before everything was going to change. Who knew what might happen to the Forest if the Magical and Muggle community continued to be attacked.

Ron yawned and shifted slightly, his bum becoming slightly numb from the ground. As he did so, Hermione moved and snuggled into his arm more. Her head was against his upper arm and her body was leaning against the rest of his body. Whilst his legs were outstretched in front of him, Hermione's were tucked up into a ball to keep warmer. Her right hand was on the floor in front of them, gingerly touching his leg and with her wand limply held in its grasp. Her left hand had been on his arm, near to her head until they had both shifted. Once he had moved and she snuggled closer, her hand had dropped and Ron was now very aware that it was palm side up on top of his groin.

Involuntarily, Ron found himself holding his breath as if hoping that in doing so she would notice and move her hand. She was not applying a huge pressure, but he could feel it never the less. Carefully, Ron picked up her hand and tried to move it, but she shifted back mumbling slightly in her sleep and returned her hand to rest on him. He breathed slowly, trying to maintain some composure. At first he tried to take his mind off the fact. It was an impossible task. Next he tried to reason with himself that they had spent the night sleeping closely before, in the second year in fact. This did not help him either. In second year, they had both been asleep on either ends of a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, with her feet on his legs. She had never had her hand this close to his groin before, not even earlier when she had fumbled behind her to pull him down to hide. There may have been a slight brushing of her hand across his jeans earlier, but this was a definite touching. His thoughts continued wandering down a path which he normally tried to hard to stay away from. As he tried to control his breathing, Ron's heart started beating harder and louder and then he realised where his blood was going.

"Bloody hell," he mumbled, closing his eyes and trying to ignore everything. He was in the middle of the Forbidden Forest alone with no safety or help if it was needed and there could be spiders nearby. Even his arachnophobia could not stop his altered blood flow. Without too much thought or concern for his sleeping friend, Ron jumped up and freed himself from the torturous moment.

"Ow, Ron, what is it?" Hermione asked, sitting up and grabbing her wand tightly and holding it out in front of her, ready for danger. Her other hand reached up to her head where it had just smacked on the floor and rubbed the slight bump.

"Nothing." He coughed, trying to clear his throat and then realised that it had been quite a loud cough. "Uh, sorry, it's time to switch over."

"Oh, okay," she replied, shifting to sit against the tree. Ron remained standing for a while, trying to calm his raging hormones so that he could go to sleep. He knew that she was confused. She had probably thought that they were under attack the way that he had just abandoned her and let her head smack against the floor. As he was about to sit down she spoke to him, "You might want to lie down and lean on my leg, Ron. I think you're a bit too tall to lean on my arm."

He nodded mutely in the darkness and lay down on the floor, resting his head on her left leg. Ron's heart rate and blood-flow had returned to normal and he sighed, closing his eyes and trying to go to sleep.

X X X X X

Minerva McGonagall was too old for this. She was seventy-one years of age, almost seventy-two, and that was too old to be chasing around teenagers and staying out and awake all night long. She settled herself back down and got comfortable once more, deciding that despite her age she was still young and agile. Minerva could keep up with the best of them. That was why she had remained at Hogwarts because no matter her age, she was still needed and tonight was just another of her missions. She had spotted the two teenagers running across the grounds just before dusk and had watched them run straight into the Forbidden Forest alone. With no other adult present! Minerva considered that they had gone insane because to be out during these dangerous times was one thing, but it was another to run straight into the Forbidden Forest. She had left the window out of which she had seen them and headed straight for her room and her private connection to the Floo network. Minerva had contacted the Weasley's and spoken to Molly. Poor Molly Weasley had had no idea that her youngest son and Hermione Granger had left the Burrow. Sometimes Minerva did despair for that woman, anyone who was a parent to the Weasley twins needed compassion. Minerva had witnessed and heard Molly's screeches at Ginny regarding the two runaways and reluctantly Ginny had explained to both of them.

That was why Minerva was now sitting in the middle of the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, watching the pair of them. Ginny had explained that it was Hermione's idea as she wanted to see something before Harry's birthday and the impending trouble that would ensue with his magical protection gone. Ginny had pleaded with her mother and Minerva to allow them to spend the night in the Forest and not tell them off; Molly had very reluctantly agreed saying something about teenagers and growing up too fast and that it must be important for Ron to risk going that close to spiders. Minerva had then agreed to follow them into the Forest, keeping her distance, but watching and protecting them.

Minerva had to admit that sometimes she preferred being in her cat state, as she was now. In her transformed state, Minerva became younger, faster, and more agile and she could stay warmer at night in the middle of a Forest. She would wait here, watching the teenagers, in her cat form until they woke up, did what they needed to do and then headed back to the castle. She would then follow them until they were safely in a Floo network or able to Disapparate and then she would return to her human form. Then, she may treat herself to some milk.

X X X X X

Ron awoke slowly, trying to remember for a brief moment where he was. Then it all came back – he was in the Forbidden Forest, asleep on Hermione and they were alone. He moved slightly, trying to assess without getting up if he was sore anywhere from lying on the hard ground. Nothing felt sore, he decided, but his head did feel as if it were on something decidedly softer than Hermione's thigh should be. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly, rapidly blinking to adjust to the very dim light. His pillow had been Hermione's jumper and not Hermione. Ron's eyes shot wide open, adjusting automatically to the dawning day. His hand held his wand out protectively in front of him, but he soon saw Hermione and relaxed. She was sitting a few meters away near the precious plant of hers that they had risked the night for.

"Hermione?" he questioned, picking up her jumper and taking a few steps toward her.

"Look, Ron," she said without taking her gaze from the Lady's Slipper, "isn't it beautiful?"

He could not look at the flower, he saw only Hermione Granger sitting on her haunches and staring at something very attentively. The first rays of the morning sun were on her face, lighting it up with its yellow-orange beam. It was making her face glow like an angel, like his very own angel. He could not tear his gaze away, studying every facet and feature as if once the sun had fully risen this moment would cease, never to be again. She was amazing and… "Beautiful," he murmured.

X X X X X

The End!