"Hurry up, Harry! I don't want to miss our time slot," Ginny called to her boyfriend while eagerly sitting on the couch in his living room. Knowing that Harry was chronically late, she had told him to be ready a whole half hour before it would be time to leave and he was cutting it closer than she felt comfortable with. Today, they were extremely lucky because the magical Vincent Van Gogh exhibition was finally touring England. Ginny had always been fascinated with it, the colors, the way Van Gogh created movement with the brushstrokes. While most Muggles were familiar with Van Gogh's work, they were unaware that the famous artist was a wizard.
"Ok, ok, I'm ready," he answered. When he walked into the room and saw Ginny sitting on the couch, all he wanted to do was coax her back to bed, but she had made a big deal about visiting this exhibition and suspected any overtures on his part would not be appreciated if it jeopardized seeing the exhibition.
Ginny popped up as soon as she saw him. "Brilliant! Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and practically dragged him from the flat to the Apparition point.
"Tell me again about this?" Harry was still confused as to where they were going.
She rolled her eyes. "I've told you at least five times. It's an exhibition for Vincent Van Gogh."
"Yeah, ok, but you said this one is special? We could have gone to see the show any time, right? We could have arranged a portkey to one of the Muggle museums."
"Harry! Vincent Van Gogh was a wizard," she stopped mid-step, their hands still clasped, in the alley behind his flat so she could look him in the eyes when explaining this concept for what seemed like the hundredth time. "All that rubbish they put in the Muggle museums isn't the important stuff. These are his magical works."
"Uh-huh…" Harry nodded his head slowly and leaned towards her. "But what does that mean?" he whispered in her ear.
It dawned on Ginny that Harry had no idea what these types of magical exhibitions would be like. Granted, all of them were different because different artists used different magical techniques, but they were always spectacular. Ginny herself had only seen about two enchanted exhibitions similar to this, but she had heard stories from people and it should be lovely. "I'm sorry, love, for my impatience. I don't know how to explain it to you. I think you just have to experience it. It should be unforgettable." She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and rose onto her tiptoes and licked the outer shell of his ear and murmured, "And if it's not, I'll make sure the rest of the day…memorable."
Harry shivered and tightened his arms around her smaller body. "Then let's get going," he whispered back.
The couple arrived at the bustling exhibition hall just in time for their appointment. When Harry walked inside, his breath was taken away by the artwork. All of the work must have been at least twenty feet tall spanning from ceiling to floor. The colors called his attention to different areas of the room. This first area was focused on his flower paintings. There were irises, sunflowers, poppies, oleanders, cherry blossoms, and several other flowers that Harry didn't recognize.
"You were right," Harry said in awe. "This is unforgettable."
"Just wait until we get to the last room of the show." Ginny had a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
Ginny steered him towards a queue where another couple was waiting their turn for something. Harry watched the couple step into the painting and disappear.
A friendly-looking older witch was waiting at the front of the queue to direct them. "I have the Field of Irises open or would you prefer to wait for something else? Everyone wants to go into the Sunflowers."
"Irises would be lovely," Ginny replied.
The docent nodded and pointed them towards the proper painting. They walked right in. Harry was stunned. It was like they had entered the painting itself. Because the painting was so large, they were the size of bugs in a field of flowers. It reminded Harry of being in a pensieve memory, but with the otherworldly quality of the impressionistic landscape around them. They wandered around in silence for a few minutes absorbing the experience. Touching the dirt, smelling the flowers, feeling the gentle sunlight on their faces.
"Ready to go see some more?"
Harry and Ginny spent the next couple of hours wandering through various works of art until they arrived at the last room of the exhibition. In this room, all the walls were covered with a single piece of art.
"Is that what I think it is?" he wondered incredulously.
"And what do you think it is?" Ginny smirked.
"It's like we're in a giant painting of Hogwarts at night. I'm sure I read back there that he attended Beauxbaton. Why did he paint Hogwarts?" Harry was astonished not only by the sheer size but also was curious as to why the Dutch artist had painted the Hogwarts castle.
"He did attend Beauxbaton for school, but I think you missed the part where he came to Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard Tournament one year."
"Was he their champion?" Recalling the trauma of the Tri-Wizard tournament brought back painful memories for Harry.
"No, but he travelled with the delegation and spent a year at Hogwarts. I guess it made impression on him and later on in life he painted this. Of course, in the Muggle version, he changed the look of the castle so it doesn't look like Hogwarts, but it's still one of his most famous. Want to go in?"
"Hell yes." Harry was so excited to explore this one.
They waited their turn in the queue and when they arrived at the front of the line they were handed brooms. He was a little confused about why these were necessary but excited that they would be flying.
Once inside he understood. They were able to mount the broom and fly above Hogwarts in the night sky. They zoomed around chasing each other between the castle towers and weaving in and out of the treetops. It was like being back at Hogwarts, but everything was both hyperreal and had the blurred edges of impressionism at the same time. It was indescribable. Though what he enjoyed the most was flying through the sky with the love of his life and sharing this once-in-a-lifetime experience with her.
When they had tired themselves from flying they decided it was time to leave. On the way out, Ginny popped into the gift shop and came out with a medium-size canvas frame in her hands. She refused to let Harry see it.
"No peeking! I'll show you when we get back home," she assured him gleefully.
"Can I take off the blindfold now?" Harry had been waiting several minutes with his eyes covered by a blindfold that Ginny had charmed to stay in place.
"Just one more sec." Her voice was a bit strained and he could tell she was reaching to adjust the canvas. He heard her footsteps on the floor walking near him. Helping him stand, she positioned him right where she wanted him and held his hand. "I hope you like it!" And released the blindfold.
For not the first time that day, Harry was left speechless. On the wall was a smaller version of Van Gogh's Starry Night painting of Hogwarts. What made this one special was that in the painting he could see two silhouettes flying around the scene. Their silhouettes.
"It's brilliant, Ginny! I love you." And he leaned over and kissed her deeply. She always knew just the right thing that would make him happy.