Chapter One

"And, um, that's why I was wondering... wondering if you could teach me," Kendra whispered quietly, eyes nervously flickering up.

The boy's expression hadn't changed, which wasn't helping Kendra's nerves. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and with the way he was looking at her she felt like he could hear it. This wasn't the first time she had talked to him, but she had honestly never had any meaningful conversation with the seventh year before. He was a whole year older, in a completely different house, and one of her brother's best friends.

"You want to learn the Patronus charm?" He asked after a moment, a slight frown crossing his face. "It's not part of any years' curriculum–"

"That's why I want to know if you could help me, Bracken," Kendra blurted out. She mentally cringed, and forced herself to slow down as she continued. "I've been trying to do it on my own, I've read up on every resource I could find but I'm just not getting anywhere. Seth said that you knew how to produce a corporeal Patronus so I thought..."

"Ah," Bracken said, a small smile appearing, though his blue eyes looked distant. "Seth, of course."

"I don't want to be a bother," Kendra said hurriedly, glancing down at the ground. "But if you could help me in any way, just advice or–"

"Tell me, why do you want to learn to summon a Patronus?" Bracken asked, and immediately Kendra went still.

The memory rose in her mind, the horrible coldness washing over her. The way her body seemed to slow down, refusing the desire to run, the large shapes gliding in the distance–

"Never mind," Bracken said before Kendra could offer an answer. "I'd be glad to help you in any way I can. When do you Ravenclaws have a free period? We need to figure out a time to meet."

Kendra's heart leapt, slightly startled at this response. "I, um, you don't need to do that, just some pointers would be more than enough–"

The Slytherin smirked. "You said you wanted me to teach you, didn't you? In that case we should find a time to meet up. Any free time on Thursdays?"

"...The hour before dinner?"

"Perfect," Bracken said, sitting up a bit. "Ask that brother of yours to tell you how to get into the Room of Requirement, and I'll meet you there on Thursday," He smiled. "See you around."

Before Kendra could even ask what on earth the Room of Requirement was, Bracken had turned, the silver-haired boy heading down the hallways without another word, leaving her standing there.


Figures her brother had access to a room that could literally give you anything you needed, and he of course used it for pranks. She knew that she shouldn't be too surprised, Gryffindors seemed to have built up a reputation over the years for being pranksters. Besides, the look on Seth's and Eve's faces had been priceless when she had asked about the room, probably thinking she was going to sell them out to a teacher.

Of course Seth hadn't missed a beat, giving her a knowing smirk when she had said that Bracken had told her about the room, a teasing 'ooo' having escaped him once he learned that she planned on meeting the Slytherin male there. She had done her best to ignore him, she was just going to be studying with Bracken after all.

But there was no denying that he was cute.

Kendra scowled at the thought as she made her ways through the halls, trying to find this 'Room of Requirement'. Yes, Bracken was cute. That was simply a fact, not her opinion, and it was something that didn't matter. She was merely just going to be studying with him, learning how to finally master the Patronus charm, and that was where her focus would be.

Besides, there was no way the pureblood Slytherin would even glance at a muggleborn like her.

She paused outside a blank wall, glancing about. This seemed to be where Seth had told her the room would be, though she honestly didn't see any sign that any kind of room would be here. She hesitated, knowing that now she apparently needed to walk past it three times, but it didn't make sense that something so simple would activate what clearly must be a complicated charm. She had studied masking and hiding spells before, and they were very difficult charms to master, the spells involving a great deal of power and sometimes other magical sources for them to work properly.

She began to pace the wall though, focusing her thoughts on the fact that she needed a room to study in. That's what Seth had said to do. Was that really how to get the room to appear? Just thoughts? It wasn't adding up, there wasn't even some sort of summoning spell to make the door appear? She hesitated as she walked past it a second time, doubts starting to form. What if this was just a prank that Seth, Eve, and Bracken were playing on her? It wouldn't be the first time the three of them had caused trouble.

She walked by a third time, again focusing on the fact that she needed a room to study in. She turned back towards the wall, expecting it to still be a wall– and her eyes widened when she now saw a door standing there. It was a simple one, just like a door to any other classroom, and absolutely no sign that it had just appeared. Kendra approached it, staring at the door as she reached for it, half expecting an illusion.

Her hand grasped the handle, and the door pulled open with ease.

It looked just like the many classrooms in the school, a chalkboard and desks. Except for the desks had been pushed to the side, piled near some book shelves in the back of the room. Sitting on top of one of the desks was Bracken, twirling his wand between his fingers. He looked up as she closed the door, smiling.

"You came," He said, sounding quite cheerful.

Kendra was just staring at him. "...This kind of magic shouldn't be possible."

Bracken frowned. "What magic?"

"This!" Kendra exclaimed, gesturing around the room. "A whole classroom just hidden here? Responding to thoughts, not even a spell or a magical object? How is that even possible? Masking charms shouldn't be that simple–"

The Slytherin let out a laugh, causing Kendra to fall silent. He ran a hand through his silvery hair, before looking around the room as well. "I promise you there's no masking charms here. This isn't a hidden room, the Room of Requirement creates a room to fit your needs, not just revealing one."

"That's... that's even more impossible," Kendra protested, though her voice sounded more awed than anything. She glanced around the classroom one more time, mind thinking back through every book she had read and class she had attended– but she had never heard of magic such as this.

"It's very ancient magic," Bracken said, saying the only explanation that Kendra could think of. "I'm not sure if there is anyone today that could cast such complex magic– the few that know about this room believe that Ravenclaw herself made this room."

"...You have a magical room that the Rowena Ravenclaw might have created– and you use it for pranks."

Bracken grinned, though he looked slightly hesitant. "Well there was no point in just letting it go to waste... Besides, we are going to be using it for learning magic now," He tossed his wand up into the air, standing up and catching it. "So, ready to master the Patronus charm?"

Kendra still had a dozen questions about the room, but she was sure she could get answers from Seth about it later.

Bracken paused. "How did Seth react when you asked him about the room? He always said you were the last person that should know about it, that you'd sell us out to a teacher."

Kendra tried not to roll her eyes. "Of course he'd say that. As for how he reacted, it looked like he was going to have a mini heart attack– I'm pretty sure this room is the last thing he expected me to ask him about."

Due to being in different years and different houses she unfortunately didn't see her brother as much as she'd like to, and even if they didn't have much of the same interests she still considered them to be close. Seth was your typical Gryffindor though– reckless, a rule bender, and it would probably do him some good to put a damper on his pride. She still wasn't quite sure how he and Eve, who were only in their fourth year, had become so close to Bracken– but all three were best of friends.

"I thought that would happen," Bracken chuckled. "He's always been so adamant about no one finding out about this place," He cleared his throat. "Anyways, we're way off topic– Patronuses. You said you've been reading up on it yourself?"

"Um, yes," She said. "There's hardly any books about it in the library, and everything basically says the same thing. That it's a very advanced charm, but when done properly it can conjure a guardian to protect you. The guardian takes the form of an animal, unique to that person, and it's the only spell that's effective against... dementors."

Just saying that word sent shivers through her. Kendra shifted her gaze away from Bracken, trying to keep herself composed. She forced the memories to the back of her mind, but yet she could still feel the chills forming on her arms. She took in a deep breath, then returned her gaze to Bracken.

He was looking at her in concern, but when he spoke seemed relaxed. "Can you show me the charm?"

She stiffened up slightly. "Oh, I can't really do anything–"

"Just show me what you got," He replied. "Remember, it's a very complex charm, there's no shame in not having it mastered."

"You can summon a corporeal Patronus though," She said, hesitantly taking out her wand. She uncertainly gripped it, for some reason feeling very nervous. She knew that she couldn't do the spell... and she didn't want someone to watch her fail when she knew that she could pull off almost any other charm in a heartbeat.

Bracken's eyes shifted away. "...I practiced the Patronus charm the moment I got my hands on a wand... I've had plenty of time to learn," His gaze returned to her. "The best way to learn, Kendra, is to actually do it. Please just show me the charm."

She swallowed, but turned towards the center of the classroom. She tried to focus on the fact that she was going to be learning more about this spell, something she had wanted for a long time. She knew the spell was fueled by happiness, so she let that thought be her focus.

She raised her wand, taking in a deep breath, and moved it in a circular motion. "Expecto Patronum."

Her voice was quiet, but firm. She felt a warmth in her wand, and a silvery cloud burst out of the end. The misty light hovered there in the air for a moment, before it began to disperse– the same result she had always gotten. She had been excited when she had first summoned the silver wisps, but she had never been able to improve from there.

She turned back towards Bracken, whose eyes were wide.

"I know, it's not much," Kendra began.

"Not much?" He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Kendra, you do realize that's the most that many wizards are able to summon, right?"

"But it's not the whole spell–" She protested, but Bracken held up a hand.

"No, what I mean is that many adult wizards struggle to even summon that much of a Patronus. The fact that you've gotten yourself this far just from self teaching... that's impressive. Really impressive."

He smiled, and she felt some heat in her cheeks.

"Um, I'm sure–"

"No, not just anyone could," He said. "Like you said yourself, this is a really complex spell," He took a step towards her, grabbing her wrist so that her wand was higher into the air. "Now, as for where we should start, I'd say hand movement. You got the right wave, but it's the final point that's very important–" He was moving her hand about as he spoke, showing her how to hold the wand, when he suddenly stopped. He let go of her, taking a slight step back. "Oh! Sorry, I shouldn't have just–"

"No, it's fine," Kendra said swiftly. "You're... you're just showing me what to do..."

He flashed her an apologetic smile. "That was still no excuse to just grab you," He walked over so they were standing side by side, but still there was a pace between them. "Here, just watch what I do."

He went over how to wave the wand once more, which was the same as what Kendra had read, but he showed her how to put the correct emphasis with the wave. She tried the spell once more, quietly muttering it with a wave, and was startled at the warmth that ran through her. A small silvery light shimmered at the end of her wand, though it quickly faded due to the lack of force behind the spell.

But the fact that the movement itself had been enough to summon some light was what surprised her, she quickly tried the spell once more, raising her voice and focusing on the small happy feeling in her chest. A bright burst flew out of the end of her wand, the same silvery mist as before, but it came much swifter than any of her previous attempts.

And maybe she was just being hopeful, but it most certainly had looked brighter.

"That's perfect!" Bracken beamed, a smile on his face as he looked at the light that was beginning to fade in front of them.

"Still not how the spell is supposed to be though," Kendra said.

"Stop being hard on yourself– that was very good," Bracken insisted. "It's going to take more than one day to master it, but you are well on your way."

Kendra hesitated. "...Do you think you could show me what your Patronus looks like? Maybe seeing an actual one will help me?"

Bracken's smile immediately fell. He glanced at his wand, thumb running along its base. He hesitated for a moment. "...Next time," He said slowly. "It's almost dinner time, so we should probably wrap this up. Do you want to meet here next week?"

Kendra's heart skipped a beat. "Are you okay with that?"

"I said I would help you, didn't I? As long as it still works for you, let's meet here again next week, same time."

"Actually I have Quidditch practice next Thursday," She said uncertainly.

"...Friday?"

She racked her brain. "Before dinner again? I think that should work..."

"Perfect," Bracken said, and he smiled again. "I'll see you then."

"Thank you for everything," Kendra began. "If there's anyway I can repay you–"

"Just keep this room a secret," He winked. "You know, because Seth would kill me otherwise."

She shook her head. "I highly doubt Seth would be able to do a thing to you."

"Don't underestimate him, last time we dueled in here he left me with quite a nasty burn."

She paled. "Seth's been dueling?!"

He paused. "...Um, yeah– keep that a secret too. And before you hex me, no, we're not actually dueling– just practicing," Bracken grinned. "You know, just some more learning. You should be cool with that as a Ravenclaw, right?"

"Well, maybe he should be putting more effort into schoolwork..."

He laughed. "I'll see you around Kendra."

And with that he headed out of the Room of Requirement, leaving Kendra alone in the empty classroom.