Hermione laughed as the wind blew through her hair and the sun soaked through her pores. She felt nothing but pure happiness and joy - nothing could faze her on this beautiful, gorgeous, day with the person she loved the most in the world. She looked out her window and smiled as she saw a small exotic bird zip by.
The driver went a bit faster on the road by the seaside and she gripped the side of the red convertible - a total impulse buy.
"Ron, slow down!" Hermione warned, but it was purely out of habit - she had to tell Ron this on a regular basis. He could have gone a million miles an hour and a huge smile would still be plastered on her face - nothing could bring her down right now.
"Hermione, we're losing the bloody light! We have to get there before sunset - it's crucial!" Ron cried, panicked, and Hermione looked to him, touching his tensed arm. She spoke softly.
"Ron - sunset, sunrise, twilight, midnight, evening, morning - I don't care as long as I'm with you."
Ron looked at Hermione with so much love in his eyes she was surprised she didn't melt into a gooey puddle onto the convertible floor. This wasn't the first time she had seen those beautiful blue eyes like that before, though. The first time, she believed, was during their second year, when she had been Petrified. Of course, she hadn't actually seen them, but last year Ron had told her how his feelings had begun in second year. She had admitted that she had harbored feelings for him since first year. She imagined her first-year self right now, who would have been absolutely boggled by the fact that she was now dating Ron. She would have refused to believe it, but who knew, here she was now.
The second time she had seen his eyes like that was during the Yule Ball. He had tried, but failed badly, at, for lack of a better term, ogling at her. She just wished she had dressed up for him instead. She saw it in sixth year - the year that Ron always hated to talk about, but she insisted it was a building block in their relationship - when she asked him to Slughorn's Christmas Party. She saw it in his eyes the year of the Horcrux Hunt, after she had been tortured by Bellatrix. She had never seen so much concern and love in his face and eyes, and all for her! It was overwhelming, touching and loving. Later, Ron told her the story of how he had cried for her, sobbed for her, in the cellar, while he heard her haunting screams coming from the floor above. She had told him it was him of who she thought of and that was how she had made it through. Both Ron and her still had nightmares about it. She had seen it just before she flung herself at him during the Battle of Hogwarts, and directly after Harry had - so rudely - interrupted them.
She had seen the look many times after that, and believed she had one of her own for Ron, which is what they shared now in the car.
"Eyes on the road, love." she reminded him.
"Right. " He said, tearing his eyes away from hers. "We're almost here, anyways."
"So, when are you going to tell me where we're going? You've kept me in suspense for long enough!" She chided gently.
"You'll find out soon." He told her, eyes shining. Ron came to a stop, but before Hermione could properly look around, he cried, "obscuro!" and Hermione found a thick, black blindfold around her eyes, with nothing to untie it with.
"Ron! What have you done! Get this thing off me this instant!" she cried.
"Sorry, Hermione, you'll just have to wait." She could hear the smirk in his tone.
"Once I get this off, just know that I'm going to kill you." she said calmly.
"Right - how many times have I heard that one before?" She heard him get out of the car and then open her door. He took her hand and guided her out of the car.
"Now, hold my hand, and I'm going to apparate us, okay?" he told her gently. She nodded, and felt the familiar sensation of being pulled through a tube, but it was quickly gone and she could breathe fresh air again. The air smelt salty, and the wind was strong wherever they were. She felt Ron's strong arm go around her shoulders, and his hand was still in hers.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Never better." Hermione quipped sarcastically. "Ron, take the blindfold off, I can't bear it any longer!"
She heard him mutter a spell and the blindfold disappeared. Hermione gasped : what she saw took her breath away. She and Ron were standing atop a high mountain cliff, surrounded by other mountains, and below, she saw the pristine blue sea, shimmery white sand and the sun that was slowly setting, exuding a lovely color between red and orange, lighting up the whole sky. She thought it matched brilliantly with his hair.
"Ron, it's - it's beautiful!" She told him truthfully.
"Isn't it?" He replied. After a moment's pause, he said, "this is where I came when... you know.. when I left y-"
"Shhh." Hermione said, placing a finger on his lips, knowing what he was going to say. "It's okay."
"No, I just wanted to tell you that the first thought when I discovered this place was that I had to take you here someday, and how much you would love it."
Hermione beamed up at him. "Well, you were absolutely right. It's just gorgeous."
They both enjoyed the view for a while, in each other's arms, before Ron cleared his throat, breaking the comfortable silence that had just been shared.
"My second thought was that... this should be the place that I did.. this." he said quietly, and before Hermione could think, he was bent down on one knee and staring straight into her eyes. Hermione gasped and covered her hands with her mouth. She couldn't believe this was happening, it was like a beautiful, amazing dream that she never ever wanted to wake up from. She pinched her arm hard to make sure, and the gasp of pain that escaped from her mouth assured her that it was, indeed, very real.
"Hermione Jean Granger, will you do me the huge honor of marrying me?" Ron asked softly.
Hermione let out a garbled scream and bent down herself, giving Ron a huge bear hug.
"I take that as a yes, then?" Ron whispered.
Hermione examined the ring on her finger, it was beautiful. A family heirloom, she gathered, from its vintage styling. She felt a little woozy from the champagne Ron had produced, and they had downed the entire bottle on the mountaintop.
"Nor - I mean, Ron-" she giggled. "Shlow down a little bit!"
"Ermione, you worry way too much!"
Hermione's eyes widened as they saw the approaching highbeams, shining straight in her face. The next thing she heard was a loud car horn and a sickening crunch before all went black.
