"To produce a patronus, one must think of their happiest memory," Professor Lupin recited once more to Draco, who sighed in exasperation.
The young Slytherin had, after the disastrous Gryffindor-Hufflepuff quidditch match, demanded to learn how to cast the patronus charm. He wasn't so naive to think that the dementors would stay loyal to the Dark Lord let alone the ministry. No, Draco Malfoy had a clear conscience when it came to such matters. After several days of pestering, Lupin reluctantly took on the young charge. Staring down at the boy, he couldn't fathom why he had agreed. A great lapse of intelligence to be certain.
"Well I can't, is there nothing else I can think of?" Draco replied defiantly. Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow and tucked his hands into his tattered pockets.
"I'm quite certain that you have at least one good memory."
"I haven't. Merlin, I bet even that idiot Potter can do this," the blonde huffed in annoyance. What was the use of happiness, when you were destined to a life of servitude? Emotions like that would get you nowhere fast. He cast his gaze around the dimly lit classroom where brightly coloured diagrams of redcaps and grindylows grinned out at him.
"Mister Malfoy. Focus," Lupin said sharply, "you will do this. Who are your friends?"
"Blaise, Theo, Pansy. Err... Vincent and Gregory?" Well, he wasn't sure if Vincent or Gregory really counted since they were more like his lackeys. Besides, they only liked him for his father's money. Just like everyone else.
"Have you had any happy times with them?" That weren't ruined by our families? Yeah, I'll keep trying, thanks, thought Draco.
"I suppose so," Draco took a deep breath and searched his mind. He had had a good time with Blaise the other week, hexing Potter and his friends. It would be good enough, he decided.
"Focus on that memory." The younger boy closed his eyes and visualized the time, he had felt superior and gleeful. Happy, right?
"Expecto Patronum," said the boy, a puff of silver mist and it was gone.
"Malfoy, that was close, try again." Close won't save your life. He looked up into Lupin's scarred face, searching his earnest hazel eyes. Peasant.
"I'm done for today." Lupin's brow creased in confusion, odd boy, he thought.
"I'll be here tomorrow," the professor replied, pulling a small purple Milka bar from his pocket and pressing it into the boy's pale hands.
"And Draco? I want that essay on redcaps by Friday."
Two hours, that's how long the ferret boy had been working on the spell. His shabbily dressed elder refused to let him leave. Draco was frustrated. Why couldn't he perform such a simple charm? He should just give up. But, he really did need to know how to protect himself from these beasts, considering that he was resigning himself to a lifetime of servitude to the Dark Lord.
"We are clearly not going anywhere fast. Goodbye," Draco proclaimed making ready to leave. Annoyance flitted across Lupin's face, he grabbed the arm of the boy in front of him as Draco made to leave.
"No, you are not," the professor growled. Lupin had gotten him this far and wasn't about to let him go, no matter how annoying the little prat was.
"Do it again," Draco was shocked at the way that the bag of bones was speaking to him. It was disgusting, he decided.
"Expecto Patronum," the boy spat, a silvery shield appearing for an instant. Lupin grimaced, nodding his approval. He would learn, eventually.
Looking at Draco's tired face, Lupin sighed.
"Here come to my office, we can have hot chocolate," he said turning to the small room leading off of his classroom, the younger trailed behind,
"You could really use some new robes, you know," the boy said as he spied a tear in the fabric.
"I happen to like them. They've got character, you know," mocked Lupin.
"I've nearly got the damn thing, it just keeps slipping," by his third week, Draco had managed to produce slightly more than a puff of smoke and he could hold a shield for a few minutes. Lupin smiled, Draco allowed himself to feel just a little proud, even if it was beneath him to feel happy about a pauper`s words.
"You just need a bit more pressure, I'll bring out the boggart." The blonde boy`s stomach twisted as Lupin reached over to lift the latch on the ornate mahogany chest.
"You'll be fine," he said, sensing the boy's apprehension, " now picture a dementor, we don`t need Voldemort appearing."
As he lifted the latch, a creature rose from within and the candles hissed out. Draco felt his breath turn to ice, the scent of death and decay filled the air. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts... The smell of his mother's perfume.
"Exp- Expecto Patronum!" he cried, a thin shield formed between him and the dementor. The shield whisped out after a moment. Lupin stepped in front of him, and the creature changed into a silver disk that looked suspiciously like the moon.
After a moment of heavy breathing from Draco, Lupin spoke once more,
"Again." Shock flitted across the boys face, swiftly replaced with a blank mask.
"You've nearly got it, a few more tries and you may be able to hold it." Draco nodded and braced himself for the cold, burning dread that came along with the creature. Just to think that nearly half of his family had spent time in a prison filled with these bloody creatures was revolting, no wonder Aunt Bella was insane. He took a deep breath and nodded to the professor,
"Do it."
Lupin flung open the latch, the thing rose up and Draco pounced before it was fully aware of it's surroundings.
"Expecto Patronum," He cried. A waxy flowing shield formed between himself and the dementor. It let out a faint wail of anguish as Draco drove it slowly into the chest. He let the spell go and Lupin swiftly shut the iron lid, feeling happy for the young Slytherin. The candles spluttered back to life and happiness flooded into the pair`s bones at the dementor-boggart`s lost presence.
"Finally," Draco gave a half smile, he had done it.
"Yes, that was wonde-" He was cut off by the thirteen year old boy pulling him into a hug. Lupin's eyes softened, "-ful... I'm proud of you."
Realizing that he had just embraced a pauper who was probably a mudblood and far below him. Draco swiflty released his professor, snapping his arms behind his back. With a stiff nod of his head, he told his professor to be there on Wednesday, as he had quidditch tomorrow. The man chuckled and promised to be waiting as the boy stalked out of the chamber. Harry would be arriving soon for his own lesson, Lupin thought, dusting himself off.
Lupin braced himself against the iron rimed chest. He had be working with Draco for several hours, the sweating boy refused to give up just yet. The brown haired man smiled, the child was growing up a fighter. But whose side would he end up fighting for?
"I'll lift the latch up... Now!" Draco pushed the icy death radiating from the dementor from his mind, immersing himself in the feeling of rough cut fabric pressed against his cheek, the scent of the woods filling his nose. He was at peace, as close to happy as he would ever be.
"Expecto Patronum!" he cried, a small silver wolf leaping from his wand, filling the room with white light and leaving a trail of shimmering smoke in it's wake. The wolf growled, then rushed at the dementor-boggart, charging it back into the chest.
The frost receded and the candles flickered to life.
His first corporeal patronus. Through Draco`s amazement, the thought of how odd it was that he, a Slytherin, would have a wolf as his patronus never reached his mind until much later that evening.
"Hrrumph, about time," Draco proclaimed, letting the patronus fade into the air. The older man shook his head,
"Good work, which memory did you use?" The blonde stuck up his nose and looked off to the side,
"It was nothing spectacular."
Three weeks later, Lupin resigned from his post as the DADA professor. A werewolf was not good teaching material.
Draco watched from the threshold, musing about how unfitting the scene before him was. Sunlight streamed in through the thin window and birds sung merrily as the reedy professor packed his meagre belongings. Leaning against the door frame, the boy made his presence known,
"Well I suppose this explains an awful lot." Upon hearing Draco's voice, Lupin turned slowly to face him,
"What do you mean by that?" The boy looked up into the mans face.
"You can work it out professor, even if you are an uneducated pauper."
A short bark of laughter burst from Lupin's lips at the snipe,
"You're not half bad yourself, even if you're a green-kneed noble." Draco let a small smile flit across his mouth, before swiftly turning back down the hall,
"Goodbye professor," he whispered. The man must have heard him, for he replied.
"You as well, and Draco?" the boy turned, his ice blue eyes meeting Lupins warm hazel ones, "Good luck."
He would need it more than he could ever know.
Years later, a cloaked figure visits a small graveyard. A lone headstone blazed white in the spring sun. Tracing the names etched into the stone, the man day-dreams of rough cut fabric and the scent of the woods. He presses his forehead to the cool marble,
"Expecto Patronum."
I`ve been iffy about putting this up. But I might as well go for it, critique much appreciated!