Chapter 8:

I'm sorry to say that no-one got the right answer for Chapter 4, it was Avery or McNair (not as smooth-talking as Malfoy or Lestrange)

But well done to leeannpitbull, who is so far the only one to win the prize for Chapter 5: Congratulations, you rule!

The classroom was a hive of activity as desks and stools were shoved roughly against walls to create space enough for the 7th years to attempt a Patronus. As one of the more difficult (and, one of the most useful...) charms, Flitwick was surprised the Frost boy had already achieved it so young! No-one really expected NEWT students to be able to do so, they just had to know the theory. ¾ of Hogwarts graduates were too weak to produce more than the vague mist that could hold a Dementor off for less than five seconds.

Shaun just wandered until he saw Remus was struggling. He almost hugged the man for giving him something to do, Flitwick was eyeing him suspiciously, like he had faked a Patronus to get out of working. He sped up and practically jogged toward the Gryffindor.

Remus could feel sweat beading on his forehead as he tried harder and harder to perfect the charm. He'd never had to try this hard at anything before. He needed to do this: examiners and students alike would see werewolves could achieve things too if he could just do this, they would have to...

He gasped softly as someone wrapped cool hands around his wrist. A male voice whispered into his ear. "Relax, Remus."

He did, and the mysterious man stepped around to face him. His eyes widened and his eyebrows raised in surprise. Shaun Frost.

Then again, Flitwick had asked him to help people. So maybe he shouldn't be too shocked.

Shaun appraised his...friend? He supposed Remus was his friend, on about the same level as Ron had been. But nowhere near what Snape meant to him. He had a feeling nobody else would even get close to that.

"Okay," said Shaun briskly, getting down to business before Snape could intrude on his thoughts any further. The fruity rope that wound through both their auras was straining as Snape was across the room. Shaun felt a glow of pride as Snape's mist almost formed into a solid shape. Remembering where he was (currently staring slightly dreamily at the worst enemy of the man across from him), he continued speaking. "Sometimes, if a single memory doesn't work, you can try a sort of concept/collective memory."

"Like all my Christmases?" asked Remus hesitantly, as if Shaun would laugh at him if he was wrong.

"Exactly!" Shaun said happily, "Now you try it!"

Remus closed his eyes tight and opened his mouth, but Shaun clamped a hand over it. Remus's aura was filled with an undercurrent of desperation, and he wasn't near sweet enough for him to be reliving any sort of happy memory.

"Stop." He said bluntly, well aware that Sirius was looking at him warily, while Potter was all out glaring. "One: relax, you don't have to prove anything to anyone about what werewolves can do unless you want to," by this time, Remus was open-mouth-gawping at Shaun's powers of perception.

"Two:" continued Shaun, as if Remus wasn't staring in amazement, "You have most certainly lost yourself in the memory. It will take a while the first time, but you will get faster. You can to this, Remus."

Shaun's voice took on a deeper tone, as if he was channelling whatever entity had possessed him last night. "Now, let go!"

Slightly shaken, Remus closed his eyes and breathed deep, trying to relax completely. He concentrated lazily on Christmas, and sensations flooded him. The joy of his family was multiplied ten times over by all the times he had seen it. The excitement, the slight anxiety, the crippling laziness that caused everyone to pile into his living room and flop onto the floor after Christmas lunch, it all came back to him and his aura began to emanate the sweetness he was feeling.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM" he roared.

With an anticlimactic flash of silver, a dog-like wolf leapt from the tip of Remus' wand. It howled randomly, and poofed into silver smoke.

Nonetheless, it was a Patronus, and Shaun noticed Remus was still very happy: happier than he had been in a long time, judging by the state of his aura. Shaun gave a manly squeal, and threw his arms around Remus' shoulders. He tasted a neutral flash of shock (far lighter than if he'd done it to Snape, if he was still alive to read this aura), which disappeared when it was obvious Shaun wasn't going to jump away and scream in revulsion.

"You did it!" Shaun crowed in pride, to cover the small voice he used milliseconds later to whisper in Remus' ear:

"Don't be silly! Stop worrying and get some sleep, I won't tell anyone your secret."

Remus stiffened, and said with a suitable degree of suspicion, "How do you know these things, Frost?"

Before he pulled back, he went against his Slytherin instincts and answered, "I know many things. And call me Shaun, please."

As engrossed as the two were in their secret conversation, they didn't see Snape.

They didn't see his eyes widen in shock when he saw his Patronus' true form for the first time.

And they definitely didn't see him hug the white wolf tightly, as if he was never going to let go.

AWWWWW Slash has been REVEALED!

Alright, lame-ish question:

What is the background pairing going to be in this story?

REVIEW PLEASE, even though this was a little short....

In was unbelievably hard to write!