"Expecto Patro—" He lowered his wand once his chosen memory had been taken over by the chilling memory of dementors. Sirius had been trying to conjure a patronus for the past week to no avail.

After a late night conversation with Hermione where she revealed how and where she'd learned to conjure a patronus, Sirius decided he wanted to give it a try as well. Although, now he was regretting that decision. To him, it was quite embarrassing that he was a forty-two year old wizard who had never learned to conjure such a spell.

"Sirius, don't. You're brilliant. I mean, you and the rest of the Marauders created the map when you were just fourteen. This is the only time I'm going to say it so listen well, but I'm quite jealous." Sirius couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips at her words.

"Darling, you spent twelve years surrounded by those foul creatures. It's only natural you'll have a hard time conjuring a happy memory. We can stop, if you'd like, but I don't think we should. You can do this." Hermione reassured him by giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I can…I can feel them everywhere. They…it feels like they're still here. Surrounding me, taking everything from me. I can't—" He shuddered. It felt like he was learning magic all over again and for that, Sirius wanted the ground below him to swallow him whole.

"It's alright. We can stop. Would you like to stop?" Hermione was standing before him, staring up into his eyes with all the patience in the world. Surely this brilliant witch had other things to do, but here she was, teaching an old dog new tricks. The look in her eyes seemed so sincere, so understanding, that the thought of turning her away and potentially upsetting her was not an option.

"No." He shook the rest of his thoughts away, focusing on the moment. Focusing on her. "No, I don't want to stop." In his mind, though, what he'd just said aloud translated to 'don't leave, please.' The smile she returned in response was enough to tell him he'd made the right choice. Not to mention, he could have sworn her eyes twinkled at his answer.

"Okay." Hermione continued determinedly, softly bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I want to try something. Do you trust me?"

"More than anything." Sirius replied almost instantly. He was surprised to find that he meant it and didn't feel the least bit embarrassed at all for having said it.

Not answering him and keeping her gaze on his, Hermione moved from her spot before him to beside him. With one hand, she grabbed his — the one holding his wand — and pointed it straight ahead, her other arm wrapped behind his waist. Once she had his arm nice and steady in front of him, she moved her hand and placed it right in the middle of his chest.

Sirius followed her every move with his eyes.

"Alright. I think…" her voice was now a bit shaky. "I think we need to simplify it a bit. It doesn't have to be a big moment. Just any moment where you remember being unbelievably happy. A moment…a moment where you thought if you could stay just like that, you'd be the happiest man alive."

Sirius looked at her once more before turning his head to look straight ahead. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let his mind relax.

For a second, he thought he had nothing but then— then he saw his back porch. Beyond that, the green grass he'd been intently taking care of since moving to his new home. Above, he saw the bright sky on a rare sunny London day, with a few clouds floating lazily about.

Then, if he turned his head slightly to his left, he saw her. Hermione holding a cup of coffee in both her hands, her legs hitched up before her on the chair. He smiled at her and she smiled in return.

Sirius realized that the memory was only from that morning, having coffee with her.

He felt his chest swell with warmth and love and he felt safe. With his memory now secure, he opened his eyes, took another deep breath and yelled "Expecto Patronum!"

At first, Sirius felt like nothing was happening but then suddenly and all at once, a burst of white light emerged from his wand. Only, the light seemed more like a bright shapeless cloud that slowly started taking the shape of a four-legged animal with a tail.

Sirius was feeling so many things at once, but the thing he was feeling the most was…love. He had realized that he'd been laughing and Hermione was laughing along with him, a look of absolute pride in her eyes.

"You're a brilliant, brilliant, witch!" He said, sweeping her up into a hug and spinning her once.

"It's a coyote!" She explained as the furry creature came between them and circled Hermione, almost rubbing his fur against her legs as if it was an actual animal.

"A coyote? But my animagus is a dog." He questioned still keeping his eyes on the animal that was now slowly dissipating.

"Well, patronus' don't necessarily take the shape of one's animagus." She stated matter of factly.

"James' was a stag." He muttered.

"I never knew him so I'm not too sure why his would be a stag." She said timidly, almost afraid of coming off insensitive. "I do know, though, that patronus' are more likely to mirror that of what we really are."

Sirius chuckled to himself. "Do you have any knowledge on coyotes in that brilliant mind of yours?"

She looked down to her feet, hiding a smile and a blush that was rising from her neck to her freckled cheeks. "Coyotes are known to be trickers and adventurous. Very curious creatures. I can't imagine why that'd be your patronus." She finished sarcastically.

Before he was able to reply, she continued. "Coyotes are also known to be, well, to be monogamous. They mate for life with only one partner and are extremely protective of their mate."

Before he knew it, he had closed the gap between them once more. He placed his hand on her chin, lifting her head so she was looking at him. He looked at her lips and back again into her eyes. She barely nodded, answering his question.

Sirius lowered his head, slightly tilting it, and pressed his lips against hers. He had imagined this moment in many different ways but none of them compared to the real thing.

Hermione broke their kiss, sighting contentedly. "Do you mind if I ask what memory you chose?"

He shook his head, smiling.

"What, um, what memory did you choose?" She whispered.

He pressed his forehead against hers. "This morning, with you, having coffee."

If the very simple moment that morning was enough to conjure a full corporeal patronus, Sirius couldn't wait for the many more moments that awaited him with Hermione.