Blood Status || Marauders Era

Chapter 52|| Patronus

I sat next to Marlene in Defence Against the Dark Arts, listening to our Professor drone on about different curses and jinxes. It was rather boring, as all of it we had learnt in third year. This term had almost felt like a recap year, and then there was the warning about exams next year, O.W.L's that every teacher viewed as important, but then there was also N.E.W.T's they talked about. 

It interested me how Fabian, Gideon and Leon were doing their examinations this year but weren't stressed at all about grades. In fact, they viewed it as a competition between themselves to get the highest grade.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and talk to Marlene as my form of entertainment, "Hey Marls, have you ever had a strong crush on someone?" She looked at me thoughtfully, as though it was taking her a lot to even think about this question, she asked, "Like actual feelings? Not a child's crush?"

I nodded and she continued, "Perhaps, maybe it was that Ravenclaw who rejected me and told me it was a joke. Or maybe who I'm thinking about now, they're in our year." I grinned at the new information, it wasn't everyday that Marlene confessed that she had a crush, "Is it a Ravenclaw?" 

She smiled and shook her head, "Not this time. I've learnt my lesson long ago with them. I've had way too many Ravenclaw crushes, it might be because they're smart or just unreachable. I might like those I can't have." I thought about everyone I'd ever had a crush on, and it wasn't many, before I came to Hogwarts it would've been disallowed by my mother to even talk about a member of the opposite gender like that.

Defence Against the Dark Arts finished rather quickly, everyone always hurrying to be the first to walk out of the doors and get to lunch first. The only change was, the usual group of boys were all whispering to each other and after eating quickly, they started to walk out of the Great Hall in a rush, not looking back. I was curious, so I finished my sandwich and stood up to follow them.

"Going somewhere without me boys?" I asked them, shouting down the nearly empty corridor. Remus turned around and waited for me to catch up to him, the other three boys continuing to walk without him. Once I reached the scarred boy, I walked with him, waiting for him to explain where they were going. He said as I caught up, "They're trying to find an empty classroom and practice their Patronuses."

"Does it help in any way with.. the thing?" I questioned him, looking around to check that nobody was near us or behind us and listening in to our conversation. Remus shook his head and explained the boys' thought process, "No, but, it may be able to tell you what animal you will change into, and it can protect you from certain dark creatures if we're ever in need." 

I shrugged nonchalantly, I guess their ideas were relevant and so, Remus and I continued to follow the three boys in front of us, who turned many corners and finally came to a stop.

Remus and I walked up to them, just as Peter said, "This classroom is empty and hardly ever used, it will be perfect." We walked in and took in the fairly large classroom. It had an extremely high ceiling, the walls being made of stone, and there was a slight breeze coming in, even though the windows in the room were closed. There were also a few desks and chairs pushed to the side, and a bookshelf that was collecting dust.

We all pulled out our wands and James said, "What was the incantation for the Patronus conjuring again Moony?" 

Remus groaned at the nickname that had stuck, and then recited, "Expecto Patronum, a spell which is fairly difficult to learn as you need to think of a happy memory and let it fill you, focusing clearly on it." It seemed quite difficult, what if someone never experienced anything that made them happy? I knew certainly it wouldn't be anything with my parents.

It was in a decided order that Remus would try the spell first, he was the smartest and the most capable of producing a hard spell. It took him around seven tries to even produce the smallest of vapours and when he did, we all cheered. James decided to go next and after his twelfth try, he put a hand over his head and threw himself onto the nearest chair, trying the spell one more time. 

He finally succeeded.

Sirius only took nine tries, Peter eighteen, myself ten times, and all each of us had produced between us was no more than silver wisps of smoke that would eventually resemble an animal to protect and represent us. We decided to give it a break for a while, sitting ourselves on desks or chairs at one side of the classroom and talking, going through what we would like our Patronus to be.

"I'd like mine to be a wolf, it would suit me, and it fits well, don't you think?" Remus joked. I grinned at him and said, "I'm not sure Remus, I think an owl would fit you better, I have no idea where a wolf came from." James blinked at me and started to speak questioningly, as though I had forgotten that my friend turned into a werewolf once every month, he could be stupid sometimes.

Lunch had finished far too quickly, and it was time for Herbology. That meant we all had to rush outside to the greenhouses and, as Peter checked his watch, we had less than two minutes to get there. Considering the amount of corners and corridors we walked past to get here, it was a struggle finding the doors to the grounds amidst the maze that was Hogwarts.

Once we finally stepped out into the chilly afternoon air and made our way down the grass to the greenhouses, I was certain that everyone was already stood in them. Once we walked in, one after another, Professor Sprout turned to us all and sighed, "Get in quickly you lot, and grab some leather gloves while you're at it." We all got to the small cupboard, pulled out some gloves and stood by a table.

We were always slightly late to Herbology, whether it was the grounds themselves or just our poor time management, Sprout knew that most of us were always going to be at least two minutes late every lesson. We were harvesting a Chinese Chomping Cabbage this lesson, and it was definitely a good idea to use leather gloves. The Cabbages had a strange habit of biting the person harvesting them.

I stood by Alice as we were both pulling at a Cabbage, and she asked, "Why are you always late when you're with the boys?" I answered her honestly, knowing it's never going to be anything harmful, "We're having too much fun and lose track of time, that's all." She raised her eyebrow at me and then glanced at the Marauders who had their Chomping Cabbages in hand and were shoving them in each other's faces, the Cabbages teeth chattering.

"Boys, get those Cabbages out of each other's faces, you might hurt someone!" Sprout scolded them. I heard Sirius whisper, "At least James has his glasses on this time." This caused the brown haired boy to gasp, offended, and throw a biting Cabbage on his friend, the black haired boy jumping out of the way slightly and catching it, causing an impressed Ravenclaw girl to laugh annoyingly.

"Don't you get annoyed with all these girls laughing at Sirius, Athena?" Marlene asked me, leaning over the table where her Cabbage lay in a pot, completely disregarded. 

I frowned at the blonde, "Why should I? I admit they are all irritating and they have no right to just intrude upon our business, like I was talking to Sirius and Peter the other day, and some bitch came up to us and was like, 'why is she here? What are you talking about?' It's none of their business."

Marlene and Alice shared a look and I ping ponged my eyes between the two of them, not catching what they were now so invested in. Alice asked, "Are you planning to go somewhere with Gideon sometimes soon?" I shrugged, I hadn't really thought about it much, our day in Hogsmeade was fun but we both hadn't talked much outside of Quidditch or the common room.

Marlene then asked, "When are you planning to go to Hogsmeade with the boys?" I knew this one, we had been talking about it for a while, wanting to try and sneak into the Hog's Head and drink Firewhiskey. "Next month, that's the next Hogsmeade date, isn't it?" I answered. The two girls shared another look, insinuating that they knew something I didn't, and it highly annoyed me. What did I say this time?

Walking through the grounds and towards the castle, wanting to go back to the common room and sit by the fire, I walked with Sirius and Peter. Remus was trying to run away from James, who wanted to discuss something stupid, and I was surprised it was Remus and not the starry friend walking next to me, making simple conversation. 

"Why did Marlene and Alice look so smug earlier in Herbology?" Sirius asked.

I sighed wistfully, crossing my arms, "That's what I would like to know. Believe me, I asked, but they just shared looks and left me to think, was it something I said?" Peter laughed and shared his view, "Don't worry about it Athena, girls are always like this." 

I turned to him slowly, was I not a girl? The blonde boy seemed to realise his mistake as his eyes widened and he stuttered, "I meant Marlene and Alice, of course, you're still a girl.." All Sirius could do was laugh at his friend's misfortune while I attacked the smaller boy gently.