It was the best time of his life. It had been 4 years since he first entered Hogwarts. Now he was here. Sitting by the lake with Lily. He wished time would freeze and it would remain like this forever. Slowly, they both pulled back. He smiled. He had never felt this happy before. He wanted to scream. He had kissed her. His mind was still disorganized after the kiss. Nothing seemed to matter. The upcoming tests seemed to be a lifetime away. They held hands as they looked at the sunset. “I will love you till the end of time” Oliver whispered into her ear. He knew he had to go in soon, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay here all night with Lily. After all, she was his girlfriend now. He ought to protect her. He put his arm around her. They both lay down and stared at the stary sky. ”The sky is beautiful. Just like you” he said while booping her nose. There was silence. Then he heard a rustle of leaves and snapping of twigs near the forest. Something… something big was coming. It was coming their direction. From the dark forest, one thing aside from trees could be recognized, big bright yellow eyes.

Freedom!

Classes had let out for the day at last and Colin decided to go down to the Lake. Not for a swim, but to relax and read a bit. He read the tale of Deirdre of the Sorrows, how the king desired her for her prophesied beauty even before she was born, how she fell in love with another, how the enraged king contrived to get her back, how he sent a man to kill her beloved and forced her to marry him, and finally how she denied the king his prize by throwing herself from a chariot.

He fell asleep and dreamed.

He dreamed of Clair.

They were sitting in a high place, in the mountains above the school. There they took each other's hands and kissed and flew up into the air! They flew down towards the Lake, only they weren't riding on their brooms. Just flying! And Colin heard voices, but he didn't know who they were. One voice said "I didn’t know you felt the same way about me!” and another voice said "I always loved you." As Clair and Colin flew away again, the voices said “I will love you til the end of time.”

They laughed as they flew back up to the high place. Clair said: "They could have been talking about us, Caileann! I will love you til the end of time.”

Colin turned towards Clair again and kissed her. He said: "The Moon rises." He stood up then and began to take off his robes and shirt. "I shall love thee too, until the end of time, Clair!"

And it became night and the wolves howled in the mountains! An army of wolves and basilisks and dragons came running over the mountains. The castle below fell into darkness and still Clair stood in the high place under the full Moon and Colin sat with her, the silvery blond wolf turned to face his enemies. The king had come to claim his beloved. Even his own brothers stood against him and he fought. Clair fought at his side, her wand and her sword bring down many warriors.

He heard a voice again speaking. ”The sky is beautiful. Just like you.” The words came from his mouth, but Colin was the wolf. He knew they couldn't have been spoken by his mouth! As the king's spear pierced his heart, he heard the last words of love from Clair: "Go! You I love; I will follow."

Colin awoke from his dream. It had become night and the stars shone above, just as they had in his dream with Clair. He heard the sounds of leaves rustling and the snapping of a tiny twig. The book he had been reading from slipped from his hands fell to the earth. He heard voices nearby and he shifted to listen. His movements stirred the leaves anew. The smell of earth and dying leaves and small creatures filled his nose with the scents of life and decay. And other scents came to him. People. Fellow students. One he thought was familiar.

He peeked through the undergrowth. There sitting by the water's edge he saw a mass of long reddish hair. He knew exactly who that hair belonged to. He could see the face of a boy kissing the red haired girl. He smiled. What was his name? Lee Ollivander? Olivia Lee? O something. Colin remembered his cousin Lily had a lad meet her at Bailey's cat party last month. Must be him.

He decided to go out and tease his dear cousin a bit. They were just lying next to each to other looking at the stars, Lily and Olivier. I really need to find out what the boy's name actually is, Colin thought. Silently his bare feet got him out of the undergrowth and across the grassy space towards the young couple.

Colin crouched down behind Lily. He was pretty sure Olivier had seen him already, as he wasn't looking directly at the girl. It was obvious that Lily had eyes only for Olivia. A smirk spread across Colin's face as the plan coalesced in his mind. He tried to make his voice as low as he could make it. Admittedly, that wasn't very low, but he did try hard to make himself sound like a Prefect.

"Lily Brown. What are you doing outside of the castle after curfew? Do you know how school rules you're breaking right now?"