Chapter 7! Year 5. Draco is confusing, Lauren is a bear. =3 Doesn't make sense? Read it and it will!

Once again super duper big thanks to PandaWong, SandyLovesKittens, XenaHades, nightworldangel, FonzFan, The Yoshinator, and Isa'ralia Faradien. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and all the ones after it.

Also hope you random readers enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Lauren and this plot. ^^

Chapter 7 – Little Miss Guardian

Lauren and Harry parted ways quickly after that. It was an hour off from curfew but loitering wasn't generally smiled upon, especially in Harry's case.

He left in the direction of Gryffindor tower and she in the way of the dungeons, looking to meet Professor Snape with her latest notes before bed time. She hoped she wouldn't run into Miss Toadface, er Miss Umbridge, and quickened her walk a little. The faster she was in the class room the faster the chance of their meeting was gone.

She did not like that woman.

"Who?"

Lauren nearly shrieked as a voice came suddenly from her left side and succeeded in jumping higher than she ever had. The sugar quills she kept tucked in her sleeves fell out onto the floor, a few of them cracking in half, and Draco Malfoy laughed as he stepped out of an alcove.

He plucked one of the dropped candies from the ground, an unbroken one, unwrapped it, and slipped the tip into his mouth while her face burned at the realization that she'd vocalized her thoughts. She very much hoped that she hadn't said Miss Toadface aloud.

She pouted up at him when he laughed again and noticed the candy in his mouth, he could've at least asked, and then leaned down to pick up the rest of the fallen sweets. Was he being nice or naughty today she wondered? Their friendship hindered on his attitude on any given day and she didn't like him when he was being unpleasant… Obviously.

When her posture was righted he casually rested a hand on the top of her head, ruffling her hair as he gave her a devilish smile.

"What are you doing down here Dari? Come to see me?"

She rolled her eyes but could hardly hide her smile. He was going to be pleasant then, that was good. She supposed she could be pleasant back.

"Yes" she smiled. "That's exactly why I came here. I missed your snarky attitude and teasing so much that I risked running into the pink wonder to see you." She laughed again and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I knew it! You ladies just can't get enough of me."

They both laughed again. Her relationship with Draco, on its good days, was reminiscent of brother and sister though sometimes tipped into the flirtatious friend's territory. She didn't know how it had happened, much like her relationship with Harry, but it had and she enjoyed it when it was good.

He wasn't a bad person just… misguided she guessed. There were a lot of bad people in his corner telling him to do bad things and after so many years of listening to it, it was just automatic now. At least, that's the conclusion she'd come to given the rather limited information she had about him and his business. It's what she wanted to believe.

She looked up at him and smiled, the smile mixing a touch with her sadness to make a melancholic look that he either didn't notice or didn't want to. She'd talked to him about this…

"Going to see Snape then?" he asked, turning them to walk deeper into the dungeons.

"Yep, got more notes to show him."

"Teachers pet" he laughed and she swatted him in the stomach, making him laugh harder. "Aggressive aren't you. Been spending too much time around Grander" he scowled at her name. Lauren thought it was a little funny that he was still sore about that punch from third year.

"Thought any about my offer?"

That wasn't as funny. She shrugged. "Have you thought about mine?"

He scowled again and moved his arm from around her shoulders, still walking beside her though. He looked away to the wall closest to him and she grabbed his hand. He still avoided looking at her.

"Draco" she said softly, running her thumb over the back of his hand slowly. "You don't have to-"

"Shut up" he didn't interject with a shout like she'd expected but the words were still powerful and she shut her mouth as told.

They walked down the dim hallway silently, hand in hand. Draco looked at the far wall, his eyes distant; Lauren looked up at him, her eyes worried.

Oh how these boys worried her.

She thought about saying something, trying again, but she knew he wouldn't listen. He hardly ever did.

They reached the Potion Masters door and Draco knocked, releasing her hand only after she gave it a gentle squeeze.

A moment later the door creaked open to reveal Snape watching them from his desk, a brow quirked.

"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Dari"

"Hello sir" Lauren smiled, the smile did not reach her eyes he noticed.

"Sir." Draco nodded then turned with a pat to Lauren's head. He stalked down the hallway and she watched him go. A part of her wanted to follow but she stepped into the room instead, wandering up to Snape's desk.

With a sigh she sat down in the chair waiting for her and fished out her notebook.

"Sorry to just show up Professor" she said, dropping the purple bound book onto his desk. "But I have some notes I wanted to show you um… Is something wrong?"

When she looked back up she found him watching her over laced fingers. That was usually only a look he gave when he was thinking, or when she'd annoyed him. She'd only been there for a few minutes so maybe he was thinking? She hoped so, otherwise she'd need to make a quick break for the door.

"You are well acquainted with Draco?" he asked.

She frowned "I wouldn't say well…"

He gave a slight hum and lowered his hands, reaching out to grab her note book. "The marked page?"

"Uh, yes sir" she nodded awkwardly. That question had been kind of out of the blue… Well maybe not so much so since he'd just seen her with Draco but why would he want to know? It didn't seem important… Did he maybe think she…

Lacing her fingers together Lauren propped her elbows up on the table and rested her chin against them, watching as her Professor read. His face never betrayed his thoughts and she wondered how he did that, always kept such a neutral expression. As someone who wore her heart on her sleeve it was inconceivable keeping her look so trained and unmovable. Maybe he did it with a spell.

She dropped her hands and tilted her head, staring at him openly.

"Yes Ms. Dari?" he asked, eyes moving from the notes to regard her wondering eyes.

"H-Hu?" she blinked, noticing her folly. "S-Sorry" she laughed. "Drifted away I guess."

He regarded her for a moment longer then looked back down at her notes. "Is it perhaps not a good time for conversation then?"

"Oh no, not at all… I mean, yes, I mean… Conversation is fine" she laughed again, eyes sparkling with mirth as was usual. He nodded once slowly and began to question her on her newest theory.

The conversation continued for a good forty five minutes, long enough that if she were to leave the dungeons now without a note she would be in detention tomorrow.

Snape took note of the time and made her aware, her face flushing slightly at this new revelation.

"Whoops" she sighed, brushing a hand absently through her hair. "Could I get a note sir?"

"Certainly." He found his quill and began to write while she packed her notes away.

"Ms. Dari?" he did not look up from his writing.

"Hm?" She blinked at him anyway.

"Do you happen to know the Patronus charm?"

She spluttered some unintelligible reply and he finished his writing. He gave a pointed look. "Do not lie to me Ms. Dari. You know I will know."

She bit her lip and nodded in agreement with that statement. He always knew when she was lying. It was a little creepy actually but she'd gotten used to it.

Weakly she muttered "yes."

"Where did you learn it?"

Her dark skin took on a bizarrely ashen complexion and he chose to ask another question. "Will you show me?"

She looked around, not sure if she should, and toyed with the wand hidden in her sleeve.

"The room is warded, if you are worried about someone seeing" he stated. "Show me."

She blew out a breath and turned away from him, flicking her wand free of her sleeve. She held it aloft in her slim fingers, closed her eyes and spoke softly. "Expecto Patronum"

A smile crossed her face and behind her closed eyes flowers grew and bloomed in a garden, a garden where she stood wide eyed as her own magic exploded all around her. In the back ground her mother was singing You are My Sunshine and she could smell the brownies that her father was making, could still taste the chocolate chip pancakes from breakfast. She was chilly in the fall wind, but the sun was shining and the sky over Ireland was clear and blue and bright.

In the world outside of her memories Severus Snape stood from his desk to regard with some wonder the large Patronus stalking and rolling playfully around the small girl. A full grown bear, maybe even a little larger than average, sat back and blinked as she opened her eyes and smiled at it with a sweet and tender fondness. It came forward, sniffing her, nuzzling her affectionately, and then disappeared into the air as wisps of silvery blue light.

She turned to him, that look of fondness still on her face, and he wondered not for the first time when this girl was going to cease to amaze him. He hoped she never would.

"Would you like to know something Ms. Dari?" he asked.

"Certainly" she smiled.

"The Patronus is often a reflection of one's heart… Yours is full of surprises isn't it?"

Her smile turned to a laugh. "More than you'd think. I'm sure it's still growing to hold them all."

"May it continue growing indefinitely" he wished to her, holding out the note as a distraction. "Good night, Ms. Dari."

"Good night Professor."

She was out the door just moments later and he watched after her. He felt a little more at ease than he had previously. Things in their world seemed to be getting darker, Umbridge was proof of that, and he worried for Draco. The boy was teetering so dangerously on the edge between good and evil, between servitude and salvation.

Severus did not want him to take the mark, he did not want Draco to destroy his life, his future as he had. Even now those old ghosts haunted him, even now…

He stared at the empty chair where she had just moments ago sat, turned to look at the place where her Patronus had stood tall and imposing but gentle, loving, guarding with its paces around her. At heart she was a guardian. It was not something he had suspected, not something he expected, but something he thought sensible once it was made known and something he was glad for.

While the professors of Hogwarts would protect their students in body, no one was there to guard their hearts, their thoughts. He knew none of the other students knew of Draco's problems, not even his so called friends. They might think they knew but they didn't, and even if they did know something, like his two flunkies and that Pansy girl, they did nothing to try and stop his road to self-destruction. He also knew she did not know of them either and yet still tried her hardest to let him know that he had a choice. He knew, from an earlier overheard conversation, that she was trying to give him a way out. She had even offered to set him up with a place to stay.

Draco would never take her up on the offer he was sure, if anything in fear for his own life and possibly for hers, but knowing that she cared enough to offer, to try, made him glad the two were acquainted. Perhaps her heart could help his grow, like her magic to those flowers.

A faint smile found its way onto his face as he turned towards his chambers. In his mind he could picture it, spring time in fall under a blue, blue Irish sky and bright green eyes reflecting a mother bear's heart.

Was that good? I hope so. XD Did her patronus surprise you. It surprised me when I came up with it but I think it works. =3 Um, the Draco thing probably won't be touched on any more in this story, but if I decide to go on with the larger scale one I have planned questions regarding that shall be answered~

Any questions, comments, advice? Drop a review or a PM! If not, have a good day/night/other!