Patronus Forms and Old Memories
"We're late!"
Remus, Melissa, and the rest of the gang were running out of the Gryffindor common room, clothes thrown on sloppily, and books getting hastily stuffed into bags.
"Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Double Shoot," Melissa rambled to herself, flying through the portrait hole.
Everyone had, courtesy of Slytherin's probably ("Dirty prats messed up our alarm clocks!"), woken up later than they were supposed to. Their alarm clocks had been changed and were to ring an hour after intended. No one was quite sure how they even managed to change their alarm clocks. Melissa, of course, instantly blamed Peter for her suspicion of him assisting the Slytherins in their dirty deed.
Melissa leapt onto the moving staircase just as it jolted to the side. "I hate these bloody stairs!" she shouted, stomping her foot.
Sirius grumbled. "I am," he yawned, "so pissed off. I hate Slytherins."
"Why would they do this?" Ariel asked, trying to fix her hair.
"They probably wanted some fun before we graduated, too," James said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He and Sirius had to be dragged out of bed, literally. Both were still fighting just falling onto the floor and sleeping again.
"We missed breakfast!" Remus said, fumbling with his tie under his robes.
"What!?" Sirius said, his eyes wide.
"Missed breakfast," Remus repeated, irritated. "Argh! Blast this thing!" He dropped the messy tie onto his chest.
The staircase stopped and the motley crew bombarded themselves off. They ran towards the DADA room, stopping to wrench the door open.
"Mr. Potter…Mr. Black…What…what are you all doing?" Professor Vassalo asked as the disheveled young adults practically threw themselves into the room.
"Our alarm clocks weren't working, sir," Sirius said through a yawn, heading to his seat
Professor Vassalo looked to the most responsible of the boys.
Remus nodded his head. "It's true, sir. All of us," he motioned around himself to Melissa, James, Sirius, Lily, Peter, and Ariel, "woke up later than we were supposed to. We apologize for running in here like this." He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Er…quite all right," said Professor Vassalo, staring at his students. "Just take your seats…I will leave it up to your Head of House to give you detention or not."
The Slytherins, Lucius, Crabbe, Goyle, and Snape to be exact, were having a field day in their seats.
"You are dead," James mouthed to them, running a finger along his throat.
"We're so scared, Potter," Lucius mouthed back, a sneer on his aristocratic features.
"You should be," James said, louder than he anticipated. He glanced back at his Professor, whom was staring at him questioningly. "Sorry, Professor. Talking to myself…"
"I see," Professor Vassalo said, twirling his wand between his fingers and staring at James oddly. "Well, today, class, we will be doing Patronus'!" He clasped his hands together.
The class burst out in excited murmurs.
Sirius had a lazy, almost drunken grin on his face. "Yay! We're doing Patronus'!" His forehead suddenly clunked down and met the desk.
Melissa turned and looked down at him. "Sirius?" She prodded his arm. "Sirius…?" With a roll of her eyes and a sigh, she whacked him upside the head.
Sirius snorted and jerked up. "What? What did I miss?"
"Nothing…" Melissa grumbled.
"Before we begin, I would like to ask you some questions about what you know about the Patronus Charm," said Professor Vassalo, glancing around the class. His eyes landed on the seven that had just ran into his room quite unceremoniously.
Sirius had his head resting in his hand, staring at Vassalo with a dazed look, one that made you question whether a word that was being said was going through to that guy. James kept nodding off, waking up whenever Lily swatted his arm. Remus was clumsily pulling his books out of his back, trying to hold back his yawns. Melissa was busy trying to snap Sirius out of his stupor, though on an occasion yawned.
Professor Vassalo cleared his throat, turning away from them. "What is a Patronus used for, and how can you produce one?"
It took her a moment, though Melissa raised her hand slowly.
"Yes, Ms. Ross," Professor Vassalo said, sending her a kind smile.
"A Patronus is used to fend off Dementors, sir. And to produce one, you have to think of a happy memory and say the incantation Expecto Patronum."
"Hmm, very good, Ms. Ross," Professor Vassalo said, impressed. "Can you tell me why we need to use a Patronus Charm incase of a Dementor attack?"
Melissa slowly, almost nervously nodded her head. "Dementors feed off of ever happy memory, feeling, or anything positive. They could drain a wizard of his powers if left with him for a long period of time." She took a breath. "Furthermore the Dementors are capable of performing what we call Dementor's Kiss. Though, I'm not sure a Patronus Charm could save you at that point…"
Professor Vassalo nodded solemnly. "Right you are, Ms. Ross."
Remus was staring at Melissa. How could she possibly know that?
"I would like you all to say the incantation," said Professor Vassalo. "No wands yet," he added.
"Expecto Patronum," the class recited in chorus.
"Very good." Professor Vassalo smiled. "Alright, if you could all push the desks aside, we shall practice your Patronus'."
James picked up his wand. "Expecto," he yawned, "Patronum…" A small, barely visible wisp of silver came out of the tip of James' wand. He grinned. "Well, whaddaya know? I did it!"
"You did not, James," Lily said, frowning. "That's not a corporeal Patronus. If it were it would be in the shape of an animal."
"Oh, really, Miss Smarty?" James asked, though was smiling at her.
Sirius couldn't even stand up straight let alone try and create a Patronus. He yawned and slumped back down in the seat. "I can't do it, guys. I am just too tired." He yawned exhaustedly to prove his point.
"You have to try, Sirius," Melissa said, focusing on a spot in mid air. "Expecto Patronum!" Unlike James', a larger wisp of silver emerged from the tip of her wand, taking a hazy shape.
"How did you know all that?" Remus asked, staring at Melissa in awe.
Melissa turned to him. "Know all what?" She had a look about her that just shouted 'I know something you don't know'. Her eyes twinkled, though she looked like she had no idea what Remus was talking about.
"All about Dementors and…and everything you said!" Remus said, dropping his wand-arm, therefore causing his silver mass to disintegrate.
Melissa turned away, though, as someone in the class mastered a full Patronus. An eagle flew around the room, resembling something of a ghost.
The whole classroom was filled with everyone shouting the charm, to excited voices when someone had actually gotten it right. Mostly everyone at least accomplished a silvery strand of nothing.
"Expecto Patronum!" Melissa said quite confidently. A large animal erupted out of the tip of her wand. It bore a similarity to…
"Me," Remus gulped.
A werewolf bounded around Melissa's legs, throwing its head back as if it were howling happily. The class turned as yet another student mastered the complicated spell.
"I did it," Melissa whispered, shocked, watching as Moony trotted around her ankles and looked up at her innocently.
The class then all swarmed around Melissa, congratulating her on creating a corporeal Patronus.
"Well," Sirius said, leaning languidly against a desk, "that could be quite questionable."
Remus was standing dumbstruck. First, the burst of knowledge, and now her Patronus was him in his werewolf form, though he supposed the second was a tad expected.
James leaned over and shut Remus' mouth closed. When Remus sent him an odd look, James merely answered, "Your mouth was hanging, mate. Flies were going to go in…"
Melissa turned around and smiled at Remus. He, despite his incapability to think straight, felt his lips twitch slightly.
"Good job," he whispered, knowing she wouldn't hear him.
"A ha!" James exclaimed as, he too, mastered the art of the Patronus Charm. A gallant stag galloped around the room. "Awesome!"
Within minutes, Sirius, along with the majority of the class, had gotten into the swing of things as well. The big, bear-like dog the Marauders knew all too well had flown out of Sirius' wand.
"What can I say? I'm a natural," Sirius said smugly, looking at his Patronus with pride.
Just when the bell was about to ring, Remus had gotten his. He stared at it quizzically, his brows furrowing in mild confusion. The animal that elicited out of his wand was a female wolf.
"Well done, class! Well done!" Professor Vassalo said over the drone of the bell. "We will continue next class. I would like an essay explaining the Patronus Charm and add in your ideas as to why yours has taken shape to whatever it has."
"That was worth waking up for," Sirius said as the group moseyed their way out of the classroom.
"Mhm," Remus said distractedly, still thinking back to his Patronus form and Melissa's burst out of Miss-know-it-all.
"Just out of curiosity, Liss, what were you thinking of?" James asked conversationally.
"I may despise my parents above and beyond at the moment, but believe it or not I had a good childhood," said Melissa, a tinge of sadness in her voice. "I have enough memories to last a lifetime…" She smiled slightly and tried to make light of the situation. "And now I have all the great memories from here, too."
James gasped, looking appalled. "Your happy memory wasn't with us!? How dare you, Lissy?" He teased. Melissa laughed. He sighed dramatically and clutched at his heart. "You are breaking my heart. I thought I meant more to you than that. And Moony! Think about Moony!"
Everyone laughed, even Remus forced out a small chuckle.
"Oh, stop yourself, James." Melissa elbowed him. "My world does not revolve around you!"
"Oh, but it should," James played, wiggling his finger. "The sun should rise and fall on my command!"
"You are so arrogant!" all the girls said, though all their voices came out garbled by peels of laughter.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Remus sat in the kitchens that night, sitting at the table, his chair propped on the back two legs, as he crossed his ankles on the table. A pensive expression was on his brooding face as he had a chocolate cake binge.
How could she have possibly known all that? He mused to himself, carving some of the icing off with his fork.
"Gah," Remus said. "I shouldn't worry myself about it." He picked up his glass of milk, though made a face as pieces of cake floated around in it. He sighed and put the glass back onto the wooden table.
A noise of the door opened disturbed Remus' thoughts. He gasped and fell to the floor with a painfully loud clunk.
"Sorry, mate. Didn't mean to scare you," Sirius said, walking into the kitchens.
"How did you know I was down here?" Remus asked, staring at his friend as the house elves swarmed around his ankles.
"I want a really big sandwich," Sirius said with a grin. "Thanks." He winked at the small, girl elf that giggled in response. He slid out a chair beside Remus and flopped himself down. "I didn't know, actually." Sirius reached over and picked a piece off of Remus' cake.
"You didn't look at the Map?" Remus questioned, his eyebrow raised.
"Yeah…about that," Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "We kind of…lost the Map on our little escapade last week."
"You lost the Map?" Remus repeated, his eyes wide. "You lost it?"
"Well, while you were flirting with Snivelly we lost you guys for a bit. Unfortunately for us we ran right into Mrs. Norris, go figure, and our genius friend James, in our haste to get away, slipped and his foot fell out of the Cloak. We kind of dropped the Map and ran for it. "
"You lost the Map!?"
"Moony, is it really going to come in handy for us now that we're graduating? Huh? I mean really, I thought you were the sensible one," said Sirius, resting back into his chair.
"But, Padfoot you don't understand!" Remus said, his hands clamping his hair. "Do you know the trouble this school could be in if an enemy finds it?"
"Puh!" Sirius said, waving his hand. "That is not going to happen, Moony! Stop being so negative!"
"Or what about our idea to pass it on through generations. Filch found it and he's probably going to burn it!" Remus added with a distasteful frown.
"What if…" Sirius leaned forward, "no one found it at all and it's still lying in the middle of the hallway."
Remus snorted. "Very unlikely." He then sighed. "I suppose you're right, Padfoot. It doesn't really matter now, does it?"
"Now that's the spirit!" Sirius clapped Remus on his shoulder. "And I highly doubt any enemy will know how to open it." There was a mischievous glimmer in Sirius' eyes. "He'll probably end up just getting insulted."
Remus smiled. "You're right. I was worrying about it too much."
"Ah, but I am always right," Sirius said, a wide grin spreading across his face as the large sandwich was placed in front of him. He rubbed his hands together and positioned them on both the top and bottom, his hands having to stretch a bit. "So," he said, taking a bite, "what are you down here for? Usually you never come unless you're with the Marauders or Lissy." Lettuce and bread pieces flew out of his mouth.
"Well, I was thinking about Lissy," Remus said, using Sirius and James' pet name for her.
"Ohh," Sirius said, realization dawning across his features. "Your Patronus forms and her little…er…burst of bookworm?"
Remus sighed, poking at his cake. "Yeah…"
Sirius smacked his hand. "Stop that! You are wasting perfectly good cake! Give it to me." He slid the plate over. "I wouldn't let them bother you," he added, once he had the cake securely in front of himself.
"Right, but I know for a fact Melissa did not look up the Patronus Charm and Dementors…" Remus said, his eyes roving from Sirius' stuffed face back down to his former chocolate cake. "How else could she know?"
Sirius shrugged and took a large bite out of his sandwich, took a forkful of cake, then washed it all down with Remus' tainted glass of milk.
"And the Patronus'." Remus tangled a hand in his hair. "Her Patronus form was Moony…and mine was a female wolf."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well, that much is obvious. Werewolf," he inclined his head towards Remus, "werewolf's mate," he nodded his head to the door as if signaling to Melissa.
"That's…absurd," Remus said, shaking his head.
Sirius smirked, taking a bite of his huge sandwich, or rather a pile squashed between two pieces of bread.
Remus frowned. Sirius, of all people, was acting like a certain someone. A particular Headmaster by the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore, to be precise. He had the same mysterious, sneaky insightful knowledge, which you had to look quite deep into to understand.
Sirius smiled into his sandwich, still staring at Remus. He swallowed before he talked again, knowing that Remus would most likely have his neck for chewed food flying about. "I would've thought that be obvious."
"What?" Remus asked, tapping his fingers on the table absently.
"That hers is Moony and yours is…well, Lissy," Sirius said, swiftly pulling the cake away as Remus moved to grab it. "You understand?"
"Yes, Padfoot, I understand your analogy perfectly well, but…" Remus sighed, "oh, I don't know."
"You have perfectly good reason to be a tad bit confused," Sirius said, looking from Remus' face to his hand that was slowly creeping closer to the cake. "Though, mate," he laughed, "it honestly shouldn't be that hard to get."
"I know," Remus said, frustrated.
"Talk to her about it," said Sirius, flicking a crumb off of his shirt. "Lissy will listen to you and she'll tell you how she knows all that stuff. She has nothing to hide from us."
Remus stared at Sirius. "Sirius…are you feeling okay?" He leaned forward and felt the black-haired boy's forehead. Sirius laughed. "Usually you never give me advice unless you are telling me to shag more…"
"And I stick true to that!" Sirius said, still laughing. "But…there comes a time when we need to be serious too." He bit his tongue to hold back the remark. "I think you're being ridiculous. It's just a Patronus and the animal can change."
"Knock knock." Melissa walked in unannounced, hitting her fist against the doorframe. "Are we interrupting something?"
Remus and Sirius turned and looked. James and Melissa stood at the doorway, school uniforms still on, the Invisibility Cloak draped over their shoulders.
"You guys have been gone a long time," James said, taking the Cloak off himself and Melissa. "It's almost passed curfew. Though," he chuckled, "when has that stopped us before?"
Melissa, smiling, slipped passed James and sat herself down on Remus' lap. She moved her arms around his neck and leaned her cheek on the top of his head.
Sirius cleared his throat and glanced at Remus, jerking his head towards Melissa. "Hey, Prongsie, let's go." Sirius stood, scooping up his sandwich and cake.
"But I just got here, mate. I'm hungry!" James said as Sirius dragged him out of the kitchens.
"Have some of my stuff," Sirius said, though as James went to grab the sandwich, added, "that is after I've had my fill." He smirked.
"Har har," James said, rolling his eyes.
Melissa moved back and looked down at Remus. "Why the long face?" She tapped his nose.
Remus smiled slightly. "Melissa, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," said Melissa with a careless shrug of her shoulders.
"How…how did you know all that earlier?"
"I did live in a house full of wizards and witches, Remus," Melissa pointed out. She breathed out. "My sister wrote to me about them. They were at Hogwarts when she was in 7th year." A frown crossed her face. "But…I found out all that information by her Defense professor." She tilted her head. "I never even knew his name…"
"Mum, I swear I'll just be a few minutes. I need some air," said 13-year-old Melissa, fanning herself pitifully with her own hand. She pouted her lips. "Please?"
Diana sighed. "Yes, alright. Go. But don't wander…"
Melissa, already halfway out of the Great Hall, waved her hand, signaling to her mother she heard. "Stupid heat…stupid graduation…stupid school," she mumbled to herself as she stomped down the stairs. Melissa flopped down on the last one, stretching her legs forward and out onto the grass.
The weather was dreadfully hot that day in June. There was little to absolutely no breeze at all, and the sun was burning its way down onto the extravagant, historical school known as Hogwarts.
Melissa leaned up against the stairs, staring out at the landscape with squinted eyes. The Black Lake glistened in the sunlight, every so often a tentacle peeking its way up and out of the water. She laughed quietly, enjoying the magical atmosphere around her.
Someone cleared their throat, a male to be exact. "Mind if I join you?" the voice was masculine and slightly hoarse.
Melissa turned around and looked. "Erm…sure."
The man sat down a few stairs above her, clasping his hands between his legs. He breathed out, his eyes narrowing as he looked out to the lake as well. "It's far too hot today for them to have graduation…"
"Mhm," Melissa said distantly, watching as the tip of the Giant Squid's head showed on the stretch of listless water.
"Are you here for a family member? I don't believe I've seen you in class."
Melissa nodded and looked up at him. "Yeah, my sister Emma…" Realizing that he probably had more than one Emma, she added, "Ross. Emma Ross."
"Ahh," he said, smiling. "She's a very good student…" The man looked uncomfortable, though Melissa associated it with the heat. He tugged at his collar.
Melissa sighed. "Sir," she looked back up at him, "can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he said, sending her a friendly smile.
"Is it true that Dementors are here?" she asked.
He sighed, nodding. "I'm afraid so, yes."
Melissa stared at the stone stair beside his shoe. "Sir…perhaps you can tell me about them? I'm…I'm curious."
That man and Melissa sat there for about a half an hour, just talking and him sharing his knowledge with her. He truly was a bright man, and quite handsome as well.
"Melissa, there you are!" Emma came out of the school in the graduation robes. "Oh," she smiled, "hello, Professor." Emma turned back to Melissa. "Come on, Lissy, mum and dad are looking for you. You guys are going back home soon."
Something flashed in the man's eyes when Emma had addressed her.
"It was really nice talking to you," Melissa said, smiling softly at the pleasant professor. He was quite easy talking to, she noticed, and he was easy to listen to as well.
He bowed his head. "Same here, Ms. Ross…"
Melissa gave him one more smile and waved before disappearing into the sea of people.
"Melissa…" Remus shook her shoulder. "Melissa!"
"Huh?" Melissa jumped. She blinked a few times. "Oh, what?"
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, staring at her with concern.
"Mhm. Just fine." Melissa slid herself off of Remus' lap. "Come on, we should go back to the common room."
"Okay…" said Remus slowly, taking her hand. "Melissa, love, are you sure you're alright?"
She took a shaky breath. "Just a little flashback is all…"
Now that she thought about it, her sister's professor looked oddly familiar. Melissa pushed the thought aside, though, thinking it ridiculous to know that man. She frowned. When her sister got home she was absolutely devastated, for the kind, sweet professor had been sacked for reasons Melissa never found out for her sister was just too upset.
"He was the best Defense teacher we ever had," Emma had said, always one to worry about school. Melissa, not one to miss an opportunity, had reminded her sister that she graduated and was not going back to the school. Therefore she needn't harbor any hard feelings about not having that Professor.
"Did Sirius tell you he lost the Map?" Melissa asked, looking up at Remus as they walked in a brisk pace through the corridors. Without the Marauders Map, they had no knowledge whatsoever if any teachers, or worse Filch, were walking around the hallways, too.
"Yes," Remus said. "I suppose it's not a big deal considering we are almost done with school." He and Melissa ran onto the moving staircase. "Though I will admit it could've still come in handy."
Melissa smiled. When they reached the common room, it was vacant and the only light in the dark room was the dying ember of the fire in the grate.
Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Geez."
"Is it really that late?" asked Remus, looking around the deserted common room.
"Nope." James popped up from the back of the couch. He smiled.
"You guys made curfew." Sirius came up next to James.
"What are you guys doing?" Melissa asked, laughing.
James shrugged. "Sitting behind a couch."
"No, really," Remus said, a small smile on his face.
"That's what we were doing," Sirius said. "We were just sitting here, waiting for you guys to come back."
"Well, I was kind of hoping you might bring some food back," James said, looking at Sirius with a glare. "The mutt wouldn't let me have any of his food."
"I'm hurt, Prongs." Sirius placed a hand on his chest dramatically.
Melissa laughed. "I'm going to bed, guys."
Remus stared after her. "You're leaving me?"
She smiled. "No. I'm just going to bed." She smirked. "That is…if you want to come with me?"
Remus glanced down at his friends. "I'm going to bed, you two," he said, quickly following Melissa.
Sirius smirked. "Have fun," he said in a singsong voice.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Behave."
"We'll try if you will," James and Sirius said, identical smirks on their faces.
Melissa, laughing, grabbed Remus' hand and dragged him up the stairs, for if she didn't he was most likely going to pound his two friends heads in.
A/N: It took me forever to get that flashback scene. I know it's probably a little fuzzy and some of it might not make much sense, but somewhere down the road (not saying where) all will be explained. Hope you liked the chapter. Review please!!
