Chocolate Frog Card: (Gold) Raczidian: Challenge: Write about someone who can't form a patronus.

Gringotts: Hermione/MarcusB [Hermione - Pairings], Expecto Patronum [Spell], Black Lake [Location],

Ultimate Hermione Pairing Challenge: Hermione/Marcus Belby

February Event: 39. Challenged (emotion), 55. She's The Man (title)

Word Count: 504

"Hey," Hermione greeted as she sat next to Marcus Belby by the Black Lake. "Are you okay? You're looking extremely annoyed."

He exhaled out his nose and leant back against the tree, tempted to bang his head against it but knowing she'd reprimand him and panic and he couldn't deal with that right now.

"I'm fine," he replied through gritted teeth. She didn't leave him but she didn't response and he started to think she believed him; tilting his head to get a look, her raised eyebrow showed she didn't. "I'm just struggling."

"Struggling? With what?" she asked curiously, curling her legs beneath her as she adjusted the way she was sitting. "Maybe I can help."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, knowing that she could in theory, but he didn't have a happy enough thought for her to help him complete it.

"It helps Aurors to have the Patronus Charm as one of their skills. Okay, it is vital to being one and I can't do it so now I'm going to have to find a new career option."

"I can help you learn the Patronus," she offered, getting her wand out of her sleeve. "I've done the spell before and I understand how Harry taught it to the DA."

Marcus smirked with amusement. "Oh yeah, your little gang against Umbridge. Pretty good idea, that was," Marcus chuckled, his laughter getting louder when

Hermione flushed with embarrassment. "Go on then," he told her. "I need a happy thought, though."

"Just think of something that makes you really happy. It's got to be a powerful emotion."

"I've tried that," he confessed, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't got anything that strong. This spell is really challenging and if I can't do it, then I'm a failure to Ravenclaw."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his dramatics, but seeing that he was still blabbering, leant forward and planted a kiss on his lips. He froze, his eyes wide before he seemed to melt and his hand ended up buried in her hair as he returned her kiss with a fiery passion.

"What was that for?" he asked, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against hers.

"It felt right," she replied just as breathless. "Try the spell now. Think happy."

His eyes stared into hers for a moment longer before he focused on the kiss and the feelings she'd managed to provoke within him before saying the incantation.

"Expecto Patronum!" he bellowed, his wand moving with his words and the large, white otter that sprung from the end, startled him. "I did it," he gasped. "I actually did it."

"You did," she agreed. She repeated the spell and her own smaller otter appeared, dancing next to his. "It matches mine."

"You managed to teach me an extremely hard spell," he said slowly, struggling to wrap his head around what he'd just managed to do in the ten minutes since she'd arrived compared to the three hours he'd tried before she'd arrived. "You're the man!"