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I swear the world is conspiring against me.
Seriously!

We had double Potions, ON A MONDAY MORNING! Then, we had Care of Magical Creatures, in the RAIN, and now we have DADA, and I hate the professor. She's acts so pathetic and fluttery, but she knows just how to humiliate you so that it stings. Today, she expects us to create a corporeal Patronus, and that's hard! Most fully-trained wizards can't create a proper Patronus, with an animal form. I bet her Patronus would be a wasp, if she could do one. I bet she can't.
I'm sitting in my seat, stomach grumbling, as it's lunch next, when she suddenly announces "Wands out!", like we didn't already have them out. We're at a school of magic, for goodness' sake!

I sit next to James in Defence, so we usually swap notes at the end to make sure that neither of us have missed anything, but now he's sitting up straight, not writing anything, and when Professor Oola tells up to stand up, he does it so enthusiastically that he knocks his chair over. After a lot of groaning, the whole class is up on their feet, wands raised. I look at James, who's grinning broadly, and grumble. "Who put a Cheering Charm on you?"

He laughs, "It's just that I can do this. Mum taught me over the holidays. Have you tried before?"
I shake my head and try to remember what it said in my textbook about the Patronus Charm. Desperately racking my brain for a powerful happy memory, I focus on when I first entered the Great Hall, and wave my wand.
"Expecto Patronum."

A wisp of silvery vapour billows from the end of my wand, and James puts his hand on my arm, so I turn to look at him.
"You're nearly there, Lily! It has to be a really powerful memory, the happiest you've ever felt. Let it fill you up." He gives me a moment to think, and then covers my hand with his, guiding it. As I bring my wand down and whisper the incantation, I think of the boy next to me, his hand covering mine.

I think of running in the rain, and laughing by a fire.
I think of peppermint hot chocolate and faded tartan blankets.
I think of black, messy hair and warm hazel eyes.

I think of James Potter.

A beautiful, glowing doe erupts from the tip of my wand and canters around the classroom, stopping in front of Alice, and head-butting her; the Patronus just goes straight through my friend. My doe trots over to James, who looks like he's about to faint for some reason, bowing her head underneath his hand, and rubs her head against his leg. Then, she walks over to me, stares at me with beautiful, regal eyes and disappears in a swirl of white mist, flying around my head in a circle before fading into nothing as I lose my concentration.

Alice beams over at me and Remus claps politely so I smile gratefully at them, before turning to talk to James. However he's not there, he's huddled next to a desk with Sirius, conducting a heated conversation in whispers, and I can hear snatches of it.
"-a doe, Padfoot,"
-ask the Professor!"
"-means?"

Just then, the bell goes for lunch and everyone starts filing out, chattering excitedly, and Sirius claps James on the shoulder before bounding out after Remus and Peter. I look over at James, who's fiddling with his bag strap, and apparently waiting for everyone to leave. I cross the room quickly and touch him on the shoulder tentatively.
"Is everything okay?" He jumps, and rubs the back of his neck, a faint blush staining his neck.
"Yeah, I just want to ask Oola something. You don't have to wait for me, just go down to lunch. I'll be there in a minute."

I nod, and walk out of the classroom, but wait by the door; I'm worried abut him.
He approaches the teacher's desk quietly, and she looks up from the stack of parchment on her overflowing desk. "Oh, how may I help you, Mr Potter?"
Taking a deep breath, he ruffles his hair and asks in a tentative voice.
"Professor, what would it mean if two people's Patroni matched?" She narrows her eyes behind her ugly spectacles.
"Are you talking about anyone in particular , Mr Potter?"
"No, no." He's hurrying now, his words coming out in a big rush. "I'm asking for a friend, you see."

"Very well. In the instance that two people's Patroni were identical, they would have to be related, such as a father and a son having the same Patronus. This is quite common in the wizarding world. However, if the Patroni were in the same species, but with a small variation such as gender, then the two people would most likely be perfect for each other, or "soulmates", as people are calling it these days. Personally, I think it's all tosh, but hypothetically, if two people, say a boy and a girl, were to have Patroni that were exactly the same except for the gender, then they would supposedly be perfectly fitted for each other, as their spirit animals would most likely be together in real life. This is extremely rare in the wizarding world, and is not something to be taken with a pinch of salt, as this method of determining "soulmates" can be dangerous if the two people do not get on. Does that make sense, Potter?"

James looks like he's just been dragged backwards through a hedge, and I'm just confused. What?
"Yes." he stammers, breathing heavily. " Yeah, ummm t-thank you, P-Professor."
She smiles at him, though it looks more like a grimace to me, stands up, pulls on her cloak and walks briskly out of the room without a second thought.
I go to walk in, but stop when I see him wave his wand and mutter something.

A magnificent stag bursts from the end of his wand, gallops around the room and comes to a stop in front of him.

Dumbfounded, I swish my wand and concentrate on the memory of his lips meeting mine. My silvery doe flies out of my wand and stands next to me, her head held high, and I gasp as I look at the two Patroni in front of me.

"Perfect for each other."
"soulmates"
"perfectly fitted for each other,"
"together."

I know that my brain needs time to process this information, but I can't hide the fact that I know from James.
I suck at lying to my friends.
I'm just excellent at lying to myself.

Silently urging my Patronus forward, I pull my green hair ribbon from my hair and smile in disbelief as my doe runs up and nudges the stag, so they start bounding around, chasing each other across the desks. James looks up, and I hear him gasp as he notices my doe. Dropping my ribbon on the floor, I ignore his call of "Lily?" and hurry down to the Great Hall for lunch, fully aware that I'm no longer hungry.

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Nandri,
She-who-loves-fanfiction xx