4) CARPE DIEM
Pacing, Ron walked up to Parvati Patil. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he finished mumbling to himself. "Parvati, can I talk to you?" he finally blurted out.
"Sure, what is it?" she said as she finished braiding her hair.
"Uhm." Ron started to blush. "Can we talk… alone?"
They walked over to a not-so-crowded corner of the Gryffindor Common Room. "Ron? Are you okay?"
"No—Well, yes. Yes, I am. But that's the whole thing, Parvati. I am okay. I'm better than okay; I am great and I'm alive. Do you know how great that is? I am here today, the blood is coursing through my veins and it is nothing short of a miracle. I mean, after everything we've all been through with Harry and You-Know-Who… Isn't it hard to believe? But here we are. We're living, we're breathing, we're… Look, Parvati, I know we graduate Hogwarts in two weeks and I know we don't have very much time left. But I just have to get this out before we leave. I really like you, and I have for a year now. I think we could have a great time together, and I know… I know ever since Percy… and ever since your sister… well, since they've been gone… It only brings a point to all of this. Life is ephemeral. We could be gone tomorrow. So what do we do? Life is today; it's not yesterday and it just might not be tomorrow. So, we need to just… accept who we are right now and let's see if we go anywhere. I mean, why not? It's just what we need… Y'know?" Ron finally stopped to take a breath.
Parvati smiled, eyes warming. She thought of Padma, and of Percy, and of all her friends lost to the War. "Ron," she said softly. "What brought this about?"
"Just something Professor Dumbledore said to me before… you know."
"Ron, I'd like to hang out with you sometime," she said, reaching out to hug Ron. "But what could he have possibly said to prompt such a huge speech?"
Smiling and he hugged Parvati tight, Ron whispered, "Carpe Diem, of course…"