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Scarlet

Scarlet rested her elbow on her desk, one hand cupping her cheek as she listened to Professor Clay in the front of the class. This Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson wasn't a practical, unfortunately, and like many of her other classes Scarlet was struggling to reel in any form of interest. Which was unfortunate, since Professor Clay had said that this particular material would be on a test and the exam. Just perfect.

"The Patronus Charm is one of the most ancient charms known to wizardkind, and one of the most difficult." Professor Clay was saying. "It comes in two forms: corporeal and incorporeal. What is the difference between the two? Mr Thorne?"

There was a quiet snort and Thorne's head came up. He rubbed his eyes and blinked blearily at the teacher. "Wha?"

"Mr Thorne, I'd advise you to not fall asleep in class in future." Professor Clay told him sternly.

Thorne just shrugged.

After Professor Clay had repeated the question, Thorne yawned and, voice still heavy with sleep, answered, "One of them looks like an animal."

Professor Clay sighed. "That is technically correct Mr Thorne, but the answer is was looking for was an incorporeal Patronus lacks any sort of shape or form and is weaker than a corporeal Patronus. A corporeal Patronus possesses the form and substance of an animal that embodies a sort of hidden part of the caster. Factors influencing the shape or your corporeal Patronus can be obsession or love. It is also important to note that your Patronus's form isn't set in stone, and it can change if you undergo a major change in character, a traumatic experience or if you fall in love. Due to the difficult nature of the spell, we won't be practicing it until later on in the year, so for now, I'd like you to research the method, technique and history behind the charm."

A sudden round of coughing drew Scarlet's (admittedly little) attention away from the teacher. She frowned in concern as Wolf lowered his hand from his mouth and quietly apologised. He'd been looking unwell all day. It wasn't uncommon for students to get sick, and it clearly wasn't letumosis. Still, Scarlet found herself worrying about the big, scarred boy with a gift for jinxes.

"Are you alright Mr Kesley?" Professor Clay asked concernedly.

"I'm fine." Wolf murmured in reply. Scarlet resisted the urge to deny it.

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale."

"I'm sure Professor."

Send him to the medical bay anyway! Scarlet silently encouraged the teacher. Look at him! He's obviously sick!

But all Professor Clay did was frown doubtfully and say, "Open your textbooks and read pages 217 and 218."

Huffing, Scarlet obliged, though in her irritation hardly any of the words on the pages registered.

She glanced at Kai who was sitting next to her, hoping to see her own outrage mirrored in his face. But he wasn't looking at her, or even his book for that matter. He was looking at Wolf, eyes narrowed with… suspicion? But what was there to be suspicious of? Did Kai think Wolf was faking sick or something?

Scarlet shook her head in bewilderment and looked back down at her book. It wasn't any of her business.

The words she was reading had just started to actually make sense in her head when another round of coughing snapped her attention away from the textbook.

Wolf lowered his hand from his mouth and kept reading, his startlingly green eyes glued to his book. He's probably read it over twice already. The thought was enough to pull an amused smile across her face.

"Hey Wolf!" she murmured, trying not to catch the attention of the teacher.

Wolf jumped, nearly dropping his textbook and when he looked back at Scarlet she couldn't help but notice that his ears had turned red.

"What do you think your Patronus might bed?"

He blinked at her, looking almost nervous at her question. "I-I don't know."

"Oh, come on!" she smiled teasingly, "You've got to have some idea!"

"I thought Patronuses represented a secret part of your personality that not even you know about." He said with a confused frown.

"Well, yeah but come on! Surely you must have a few guesses!"

He shook his head. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'd probably be a sheepdog or something." Scarlet said airily.

Wolf gave a small smile. "I'm not sure if a sheepdog would be fierce enough."

Scarlet barked with laughter.

Wolf's smile widened, just slightly, before he was overtaken by another round of coughing. As he lowered his fist, Scarlet couldn't help a disappointed frown when she saw that his slowly growing smile had dropped away from his face. "Are you sure you're okay? You're looking pretty sickly."

"Trust me, I'm fine."

"Fine people don't break out into coughing fits."

Wolf pressed his lips together but said nothing.

Scarlet pressed on. "Here's what's going to happen. This period's almost over, and we've got only one more left until break. You are going to go to the med centre during break, or else I'll be forced to give you a reason to go."

Wolf regarded her, eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you threatening me?"

"Maybe."

He blinked at her. Once. Twice. Scarlet glared back.

She expected a protest, an irritated scowl. What she didn't expect was for him to suddenly burst out laughing.

The entire class turned in their chairs to stare at Wolf, serious, stoic Wolf, as he shook with laughter. Scarlet herself was in shock. Sure she'd seen him smile and maybe give the odd chuckle, but never actually lose it like this. If she didn't know better she'd think he'd been struck with a tickling jinx.

His smile was greater than she'd ever seen it, practically beaming. Abnormally sharp teeth gleamed up at her, almost as strange as the simple fact that Wolf was beside himself with laughter. Almost.

More coughs tore themselves from his throat, cutting short his sudden overflow of mirth, though he was still smiling when the fit ended.

"What you don't think I can follow up?" Scarlet asked once she was sure Wolf had regained control of himself.

"No, I know you can." He assured her, grinning. "I just ended up imagining what it would feel like to be hit with Melofors, that's all."

She raised an eyebrow. "And that's what made you temporarily lose your mind."

"It was the image more than anything that brought that on."

Scarlet smirked, feeling laughter bubble in her chest as her imagination constructed the picture. It was pretty funny.

A loud throat-clearing from the front of the room jolted Scarlet back to the present. Professor Clay gestured between her and Wolf. "If you two have quite finished…"

The class immediately started oohing and making wolf-whistles. Scarlet felt her face burn as red as her hair, and from what she could see Wolf wasn't faring much better.

Professor Clay cleared his throat again and the class (reluctantly) fell silent. "You're homework assignment is simple: I want you to write down all of your happiest memories in preparation for when we start learning this spell on a practical level, due in next week."

The clanging of the school bells filled the room, and students jumped up from their desks already scooping up their books and stationery in preparation to leave for their next class.

"Remember what you're supposed to do at break!" Scarlet called after Wolf's retreating back.

"Go see one of the healers or end up with a pumpkin head. Got it!" He replied without looking back at her.

Scarlet tried not to feel hurt by this.

A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, prompting a surprised yelp and a furious glare at whoever jumped her like that.

"We also have to do something at break." Kai told her, "Your next class is with Titanium, right? Can you get Cinder then? I'll get Thorne, Iko and Jacin, and we'll find Winter and Cress during break. I have a theory I want to talk to you guys about."

A/N: Ooooh, a theory! What has Kai found out?

The class has learned some stuff about Patronuses, Wolf busted out laughing and he and Scarlet faced full-class embarrassment courtesy of Professor Clay! What do you guys think our main characters' Patronuses will be? Let me know in the reviews!

What does Kai want to tell the group? Is his theory correct? Will Wolf dare to defy Scarlet and end up with a pumpkin head?

Please review!