Written For:

- Day 21 of 366 Days of Writing Challenge: Patronus Charm

- February Event: Teamwork Exercise: (word) Affection/Affectionate, (emotion/feeling) Challenged

- Gringotts Prompt Bank/Secret Diary: (word) Angel, (word) Breakfast, (plot/action) Rearranging the living room furniture, (word) Professor, (word) Beginner, (animal) Horse

- Gringotts Prompt Bank/Said Synonyms: announced, mused, countered, started, scoffed

- Gringotts Prompt Bank/OC Names: Jessamine

- Word Prompt Express: Complicated

Pairings/Characters: Marius/OC (OC: Jessamine Crickerly)

Word Count: 1,395


Saint Jessamine

And I told you to be patient, and I told you to be fine, and I told you to be balanced, and I told you to be kind.

Marius yawned as he wandered into the kitchen of the home he shared with his fiancée, Jessamine Crickerly. She was using her wand to monitor a pot full of eggs that were scrambling, whilst two plates soared out of the cupboard and landed neatly on either side of the table.

"I could've laid the table, love," Marius announced as he entered the kitchen, watching as the pan that Jessamine was using jumped up from it's place on the hot stove and flew to hover above each plate, depositing a generous pile of eggs on each plate.

"Oh, no need," Jessamine replied breezily, signalling for the pot to return to it's position on the stove, before sitting down at her place at the table. Marius sat opposite her, and began eating.

It was no secret that Marius couldn't help but feel sad whenever he saw Jessamine using her magic. All it did was remind him that he was a failure—his parents had disowned him when it became apparent that he was showing no signs of magic, dismissing him as a squib. He'd never been able to go to Hogwarts like all of his siblings had. Instead, he'd been sent to an orphanage, and would've had to attend a Muggle workhouse, but he'd been adopted just in time.

It was the Crickerly family who took him in. The Minister for Magic, Venusia Crickerly, had died shortly before Marius was born, but her son was just as friendly and kind as his mother. He and his wife, who preferred to be called Mr and Mrs Crickerly, adopted Marius as their own, and taught him from home whilst Jessamine went to Hogwarts.

Jessamine seemed to notice the dismay on Marius's face as they ate, and she reached over and placed a hand upon his. "Tell me what you're thinking, my dear."

Marius threw his fork down, unable to eat a bite. "I don't know, Jessa. Sometimes, I just feel so full of magic...and it hurts me so much that I'm incapable of being like you; like Mother and Father; like...like my biological parents.

Jessamine nodded sympathetically. "I know it's hard for you, Marius. But we still have a good life. And who knows—maybe you're not really a Squib."

Marius couldn't help it; he shot her a dirty look, one that his real mother and father would probably be proud of. "Why would you say such a thing, Jessamine? Why would you try to fill me with such false hope?"

Jessamine shrugged. "You're only nineteen years old. I've heard cases of wizards and witches not discovering their magical talent until, ooh...I think the latest case was twenty-three. It's a very rare circumstance, of course, but it happened."

A flicker of hope passed through Marius's chest, but it dissolved almost immediately. Everyone else in the Black family was known for showing their magical talent very early. They were of the purest of pure wizarding blood. Strange, rare circumstances of late magic just wouldn't occur.

"Even if that was the case," Marius mused, pushing his food around his plate idly. "It's far too late for me to go to Hogwarts, of course. There's no way I would be able to learn all the skills to be a wizard."

"Of course you would," countered Jessamine good-naturedly. "I can be your professor." She was grinning, but Marius could see the genuine care in her eyes, and he smiled at her affectionately.

"You're an angel, Jessamine."

Jessamine only shook her head, laughing. "How about after breakfast, we move some things around in the living room and practice?"

oOo

Marius had thought that Jessamine was only joking about practising magic, but as soon as she had cleared away their breakfast, she had jumped into action. As soon as he entered the living room, he watched, mesmerised, as the settee and coffee table swam around in mid-air, seeking a location in the far corners of the room.

Jessamine stood in the centre of the living room, holding her wand aloft like a conductor. When she was happy with the placement of all the furniture, she turned around and smiled brightly at Marius. "Are you ready?"

"Jessamine," he started hesitantly. "I thought...I thought you were just playing, back in the kitchen."

Jessamine narrowed her dark brow together, and crooked her finger. "Come in, stop being silly. We're just giving it a go, right?"

Marius folded his arms, exasperated. "Don't you see, Jess? If I had any real magic in me, I would've been sent a Hogwarts letter. Surely my father would've known about it."

Jessamine shook her head. "Not if it's always appeared that you're a Squib. Now come on; it's not going to hurt anyone."

"It will hurt my pride," scoffed Marius. Jessamine curled her arm around his, and looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"I'll always be proud of you, Marius. No matter what you are." She backed away, and held out her wand. "Now, watch me. Expecto Patronum!"

He'd seen Jessamine perform the Patronus Charm before, but it still mystified him. A stream of white, pale smoke erupted from the tip of her wand, and formed into the shape of an animal slowly. Hooves appeared, then lean, strong legs, a thick body, and a long flank. It was a pure white horse, and it stalked around Jessamine slowly. As it scuffed it's hooves along the floor, small clouds of smoke puffed around it like dust.

"Even if I could do magic, I could never do such a complicated spell straight away," Marius snapped. "But your Patronus is beautiful, as always."

"Marius, you're an adult. You've been exposed to magic your entire life, even if you've never actually used it. If you really feel as full of magic as you say you do—who knows how strong you could be?"

Strangely, Jessamine's words sparked a new feeling inside Marius - it wasn't despair or dismay; he felt challenged. Fine. He'd try Jessamine's stupid Patronus Charm—and when it proved that he wasn't magical, then hopefully she'd leave the matter alone.

Jessamine held out her wand, and Marius snatched it from her palm. He stepped into the centre of the room, sidestepping the ghostly horse, which lingered beside Jessamine, and held the wand aloft. "Think of the happiest memory you've ever had," Jessamine ordered. Marius screwed his eyes shut, and let his mind flicker through various memories of his past; scanning through them like a moving picture.

The day Mr and Mrs Crickerly took him home from the Orphanage. The first day he met Jessamine. No, they weren't strong enough. When he knelt down on one knee on Brighton Pier during their holiday and proposed to Jessamine with her grandmother's black diamond ringand she said yes. Warmth spread through Marius at the thought of the memory, and he felt his heart fluttering. That was the one.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled, flourishing the wand like he'd seen Jessamine do a thousand times. He kept his eyes closed.

Nothing happened, of course. The memory remained strong in Marius's mind, but he felt no connection to the wand; no otherworldly sensation of using magic. "I told you, Jessa," he sighed. "It was a waste of—"

"Marius," she whispered. "Open your eyes."

Marius had hardly realised his eyes were still closed. He opened them quickly, and they landed immediately on the solid white horse, still kicking up clouds and butting the ground with it's flank. "It's just your Patronus."

"Marius!" snapped Jessamine. Marius turned to stare at her, and saw that her Patronus was stood beside her. The horse in front of him wasn't Jessamine's. It was his. They had the same Patronus. "You did it," Jessamine continued in a whisper. "You made a corporeal Patronus—on your first go! You're supposed to be a beginner!"

"I..." Marius walked around the horse, observing it. It was really there. He'd performed magic. He turned back to Jessamine and ran towards her, pulling her into an embrace that swept her off her feet. "I didn't do it. You did it. You gave me the motivation to try," he planted a large, wet kiss on the end of her nose. "I love you, Saint Jessamine."