✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

24 | P A T R O N U S

been feeling so alone in every
crowded room.

   EMBER'S HEART WAS about to burst, as her feet slammed into the ground, whirling up dirt and pebbles, while her hand was stretched towards the sky, tiny golden wings struggling against her grip. A canary yellow crowd was cheering and screaming, and she felt herself lifted from the ground, and now she was sitting on Anthony Rickett's, the second Beater's, shoulder.

   "Excellent!", Heidi was yelling, jumping high up into the air in front of Ember. "Absolutely perfect!"

   It was right on cue for Ember to catch the snitch. Gryffindor's three Chasers still did an amazing Job, so when the match ended, it was onehundred and fifty for Gryffindor, and only onehundred and sixty for Hufflepuff.

    Ember was sat back onto the floor as more and more Hufflepuffs streamed onto the field, and she felt herself being wrapped in Susan and Hannah's arms, both girls squealing.

   "I'll never forgive you, you know that?", she suddenly heard a familiar voice speaking into her ear, and turning around, she locked eyes with the chocolate brown, amusedly twinkling ones of Fred Weasley.

   "If I'll find nosebleed nougat in my cereals, mister, I will —"

   "Don't worry, Potter, you don't think if we had ever really planned to do this, we would have told you about it, do you?" He winked at her, ruffling Ember's raven black hair. "That was really impressive, I have to admit. I guess someone is really proud of you right now."

   Cheeks flushing hot, Ember's smile got even brighter, throwing a gaze up into the cloudy sky, before she turned back to Fred. "Thank you, Fred", she said, feeling her eyes getting wet, and she quickly wiped them, before she was pulled away from Fred by the partying Hufflepuffs, losing sight of the smirking ginger in this jungle of hugs, cheers and euphoria.

·

   "You've got to think of something happy!"

   Easy said, Ember thought, as another puff of silver vapour was shooting from the end of her wand. She sighed in frustration, giving her wand another flick. "Expecto Patronum!" Nothing. Just another pityful gaze from Harry.

   It wasn't that she didn't have happy memories; but she didn't have a Mirror of Erised memory of their whole family waving at her like Harry did own.

   "What's wrong?" Ron, who's Jack Russel terrier Patronus was gamboling around him.

   "Dunno, it won't work", Ember muttered, running her fingers through her hair. The room by now was filled with Patronuses, silverish animals of all kinds. But Ember's was not amongst them, no matter how hard she tried. It was like there was something inside her working against it, and the longer she thought about it, the clearer it got. While a Patronus was representing light, happiness and hope, Ember herself was carrying darkness and shadows. And maybe she wasn't even capable of conjuring something as a Patronus, no matter how happy her memories were. But on the other hand, the happiest she could think of right now, was — well, to be honest, she couldn't even think of something happy in this moment.

   "Don't try too hard", Ron said, just in that moment a silver hyenna hunted a coyote of the same glimmering color right behind Ron's back. "This is no competition, you know that, do you?"

   "Having to face a Dementor would be competition enough for me", Ember replied, tugging her wand behind her ear. "Can I ask you something?"

   "Whatever you want."

   "What's your memory?" She watched his ears turn red, and immediately regretted asking. It was private, of course it was, and now she sounded terribly nosy ... "I — I didn't want to — See, I was just wondering what kind of memory would work, so ... Uhm."

   "A happy one of course", Ron snorted, staring at his right knee. "I — erm — have this memory ... Well, I'm sure you don't think it's anything special when I tell you, but it obviously works, so ... yeah."

   "If you don't want to tell me, it's okay, you know —"

   "It's my first train ride", Ron blurted, almost stumbling over his words. "The first ride with the Hogwarts Express."

   "Really?"

   "I told you it doesn't sound that special", he replied, rubbing his neck, "but it was the start of something great, don't you think? It all had started with this train ride. My friendship with Harry, meeting Hermione, learning that Malfoy is a bloody git. You." Crimson fleaks grew on his cheeks, and so Ember's heathened up.

   "M—Me?"

   "Well, you're my friend", he said and shrugged. "And I met you that day."

   "But I wasn't with you in all those adventures", said Ember. "We aren't even in the same house. I mean — it's not that special. I'm not really a part of this."

   "I prefer to decide myself who's part of my happy memory, thank you very much", Ron scoffed, and though his ears were still firey red, he playfully rolled his eyes. "So what did you use as a memory that didn't work out?"

   "Oh, I — well, I thought I was pretty happy when Harry and I were told that we could leave the Dursleys and go to Hogwarts. But then I remembered how awful I felt when we got sorted in different houses and were separated for the first time in our lives. And then I was happy when you and your brothers flew a car all across the country to save Harry and me." She smiled by the thought of Ron's freckled face appearing in front of her window on the second floor of the Dursleys' house. "But your mum really scared me back then", she laughed, "and I was so sorry you got yourself into trouble because of us." She sighed. "This is how it goes on. I met Ced. And he died. I found out Harry and I had godfathers. And mine was Scabbers. Every good thing has turned out to be disappointing, scary, or just utterly devastating ..."

   "Try the trainride."

   "Haven't you understood —"

   "Yes, I have", Ron said. "Therefore you should try the trainride. See, nothing turned out to be bad afterwards, did it? We're all still friends, and alive, and none of us turned out to be a rat."

   "But it's — it's just not the same for me, is it? For me it wasn't the beginning of all those adventures, and let's be honest, if there was no Harry, Hermione and I would barley speak to each other. I —"

   "Yeah, but still I would get you out of Little Whinging in the death of the night, wouldn't I? And I'd punch Malfoy for you at the Yule Ball. We'd practice Quidditch together. You'd do my Herbology drawings, and I would help you with Charms." He stopped for a second, face burning, but his eyes kept locked with hers. "Give it a try. The worst to happen would be nothing happening at all."

   Ember hesitated, just blinking at him, lost for words and with her mind wrapped around what he'd just told her. It was enough to have her cheeks blush, to tuck down her sleeve with her left hand, while the right one took the wand from behind her ear.

   "The trainride, you say?"

   "Nothing to lose, I say."

   "Fine." Lifting her wand, she watched Ron stepping aside. In her mind the pictures played to a scene, and her lips parted, ready to build the incantation —

   Crack. "Dobby!"