Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
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An achingly bright azure painted the skies above, mixing together with the scent of wheatgrass and wildflowers that were purely summer. Rolling hills were blanketed in green and willowy trees danced in the smallest of breezes. The scene was beautiful enough to make even the most busy man stop and smile, telling himself how incredibly lucky he was to live on the earth. This scene was quickly burning into fall, soon to become a world of warm reds and fiery oranges, but it was something no one would notice until it happened.
I'm sorry to say, however, there was a problem with this scene. This problem outweighed everything, the gloriously bright sun shining high in the sky and the harmoniously singing bluebirds sitting on the tips of the trees. It loomed over everything, shadowing it and causing the world to bow down before it without a second thought.
What is this problem? The problem was that you couldn't see this scene because it wasn't there. Perhaps in some other time it did appear to be so beautiful but on that late September day it was only depressing.
The thought provoking blue sky was switched for a depressingly ashy gray and the rolling hills appeared desolate and dead. The birds were utterly, heartbreakingly silent for fear of what might happen if they were to make a sound and the smiling sun appeared dismal and lacking of heat. Sadness and fear radiated off of the numerous living things that had seemed to have lost every ounce of their once tremendous beauty.
The grey and worry was produced by a number of things; death eaters roaming the streets frequently, people disappearing daily, and dementors patrolling through the night, bringing more terror than safety. Hanging over all of this was Voldemort with his near genius plan and cunning insight. He was prepared unlike so many of the witches and wizards upon the land.
Their lacking was something he strived off of, something he looked forward to seeing. It gave him confidence in what he was getting ready and confidence was something very important indeed.
His plans were finally falling into place, piece-by-piece, item-by-item. He was nearly invincible and there was a small price to pay for the near guarantee that he would live forever. All he had left to do was crush the Order, crush their remaining hope, only then would be have the upper hand because as much as he despised admitting it, there were far more people rooting for freedom than reform.
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While Voldemort had his plans, Albus Dumbledore had his own and though he was not one to wallow in self-glory, he was confident in what they would bring. Albus was a hopeful man, always sure that things would turn out the way they were supposed to be. The thing was, he was positive the way things were supposed to be did not involve anything Tom had planned.
His former pupil was shallow and one to think ahead, he did not, however, evaluate the things more essential for they were the things he did not understand. Perspective, hope, and most importantly love were the things that kept the people going; the people who still believed there would be sunnier days.
The brilliance of his communication spell shown with these qualities. A Patronus charm was one of the most pure forms of magic in existence, which meant that only the pure at heart could use it to the best of their abilities. It was hard to have happiness when all of your hope was gone. The Order ran off of hope, which was the very reason why Albus Dumbledore believed that they had the upper hand.
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"Two words Sunshine, you can do this," Sirius spoke encouringly, jumping around her a bit and rubbing his hands together.
His expression appeared hopeful and not the least bit worried seeing as Lily was a genius when it came to mastering spells. Granted, her talents had always lingered in the charms, but Lily excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts as well and he had no fear. After all, Lily was generally a happy person yet when he thought of this he became worried. The Patronus Charm ran on the happiness that came from within and there was no way to really know whether or not Lily contained that needed happiness.
"It might take time," he corrected after a few moments of deep thought. "You can do it though, I'm positive."
Lily was reminded momentarily of James during Quidditch matches at Hogwarts. He was always so jumpy, yet encouraged the others that they'd do fine while they all knew he was only trying to convince himself. That seemed to worry Lily even more, however, and she hadn't thought her nerves could become any more frazzled.
"Yeah, two words I have to master in a matter of hours," she spoke in obvious distress.
She began pacing back and forth, hands clasped tightly behind her back. A pair of strong, worn hands suddenly stopped her motions. Her head turned to face a pair of warm hazel eyes that instantly calmed her racing heart.
"You can do it Lily, it'll be okay, I promise," James pleaded, wishing for her to gain confidence in herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and said his words over and over again in her head, slowly beginning to believe that she could actually do it.
"You're right. Of course you're right. I can do this! When haven't I been able to do a spell? It'll probably be easy!" she said aloud, trying to convince herself more than she was actually sure of it.
"That's the spirit, Lils!" Marlene spoke, patting her best friend on the back encouragingly.
Lily smiled brightly at Marlene, suddenly thinking of what Sirius had told her not long before. She knew that Marley felt his same love; Lily could see it shining in her eyes constantly. That love was embedded in everything that she did and the only one left to notice it was Sirius himself.
"Ready to try?" James asked her, causing her thoughts to swirl away.
"Definitely," she breathed. "Let's get this finished, we don't have much time after all," she turned and inspected those around her as she spoke. Several glowing creatures dashed around the room brightly bringing a smile to her lips.
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Remus watched as his friends began to explain to Lily how to correctly execute the Patronus charm and felt something deflate within him. How could he be expected to find such bright happiness when he was only just beginning to climb out of his own personal pit of despair? Granted, he was getting better, once more finding little pieces of happiness every now and again in the silliest things. It was a start, but he was still struggling.
His eyes flicked around the room and his confidence sank further at the smiling faces and bright eyes around him. His arms prickled, reminding him of the pain he had gone to to try and find a cure and his happiness level sunk farther. It was as if the world was pushing him down, not wanting him to succeed in preforming the spell.
He didn't want to be pushed down any farther though. He wanted to be pushed up. He wanted to be the fun, loving, Remus Lupin he had always been. His endless brooding was beginning to get on his nerves. He realized almost instantly that there was one simple solution, however. He nearly laughed at the thought that he had only just realized that he was the only one who could quit the wallowing and that he could do it whenever he wished.
"Are you all right, Mr. Lupin?" a calm and soothing voice spoke. He turned to see Dumbledore looking at him thoughtfully with his blue twinkling eyes that Remus had always remembered.
"I'm…wonderful really," he spoke with a weary smile. His moods were really all over the place, he decided. Perhaps it was a side effect of the endless tiredness he so often felt.
"Have you tried the spell yet?" the man asked.
"Not quite,"
"Hesitant?"
"Definitely. I feel like there's nothing worth fighting for if I fail," Remus spoke without a second thought. His own words surprised him.
"You're a clever man, Mr. Lupin."
"Why do I feel that way?"
"Well tell me, what does it take to make a Patronus?"
"Happiness,"
"The only way happiness comes is through hope. If we don't have hope then I'm afraid there's nothing worth fighting for for any of us."
Remus contemplated his words for a moment before slowly drawing out of wand with deliberate movements. He didn't concentrate, didn't focus deeply on doing it correctly. He just did, letting all of his hope glide out of the wand and get pushed into two beautiful words.
"Expecto Patronum,"
He knew his hope was more than enough when the bold figure of a werewolf stood before him.
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"Do you understand?" Sirius asked once they finished explaining the mechanics of the spell best they could.
"Of course. Waving the wand, saying the words, love, happiness, and memories," she confirmed nodding her head confidently.
"Well go ahead then," James urged her, beaming at the sight of Remus' patronus across the room.
"Wait, what?"
"Do the spell," Marlene urged.
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now," Sirius spoke.
"You just want me to do it! Just like that!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Just like that," Sirius said grinning.
"I can't just do it!"
"Well why not?" Marlene asked.
"Because….because….well it's a hard spell!" Lily spoke with wide eyes.
"How would you know if you've never tried it?" James asked, trying to hold in his laughter.
"I know," she spoke so assuredly, completely convinced.
"Well I know that you need to do the spell because I want to go home and sleep," James spoke, amused at his wife.
"I don't know…" she said biting the corner of her lip. "Maybe I should just wait, try it when I need it. I know how to do it after all," she spoke quickly.
"Stop stalling, Sunshine," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "Just do the spell."
"What if I can't do it?" she asked.
"Then you'll try again," Marlene spoke as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"Try again?" Lily asked hesitantly.
"You can do it as many times as you wish, I assure you Lily," a new voice spoke which Lily instantly recognized as Dumbledore.
"I'm just a little worried is all," she said wringing her hands.
"There is no need to worry,"
"I'm…hesitant. What if I can't do it?"
"I would take Miss McKinnon's advice. Is there anything I can do to calm your nerves"
"Tell me, what is Voldemort planning? Why did he tell you? I need to know,"
"He told me to be afraid. It is the very thing we must not do."
"That's all he said?" Sirius asked.
"It is all that is important at the moment,"
It was then that a nails-on-chalkboard voice filled the room causing Lily's ears to ache and heart to throb.
"Members of the Order. In this moment my people are gathering in the streets with lists of Mudbloods and goals of cleansing the earth. It is foolish of you to retaliate for there is no stopping my numbers. It is set in stone. Welcome to the beginning of your end. I assure you most readily that you shall not miss out on all of the fun."
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I know I spoke of a battle in this chapter and I know it's a filler of sorts, but I decided I needed to develop a number of things farther, set some things up and the sort. You don't notice in this chapter I'm sure, but it's there. I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but I promise the next chapter will be nothing short of brilliance with action and surprises that the story has sort of been lacking. You're all amazing, of course! Please review and tell me what you think will happen next.
-Sweets5236
