Hermione listens avidly as Harry describes how to cast the spell. A happy memory and an incantation; it sounds simple enough. But she knows from Harry's experiences with the Dementors two years ago that it's a lot more complicated than that. Requiring an accurate memory, true happiness and a decent amount of magical power, it's one of the hardest spells the DA plans to tackle this year.

She's determined to do it within the session.

"Alright, you can start now. Just remember not to let yourself get frustrated. If you're stressed, it's much harder to cast."

With a last glance at the blue-eyed boy standing next to her, Hermione closes her eyes. She doesn't even have to think about which memory to use; one comes to mind almost immediately. Last Saturday, she and Regulus were sitting on a transfigured lounge in a quiet corner of the library, their arms brushing against one another as they talked and read in turn. Being with him felt so peaceful, so right, and it had hit her that that he was everything she wanted in a wizard. As a child, she had always assumed that romance would come once she'd finished school, if it all. But it had come early, and it had come to stay.

Picturing the scene in her mind, she basks in the sense of sheer joy that washes over her. It feels like a sunrise, filling her with light and warmth and stunning her with its beauty. Holding tightly to it, she whispers, "Expecto Patronum."


A/N: Prompt: 'spell'