INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-Five

It took a week or two for Lyra to truly get back into her school routine. But once she did, she felt on top of the world. Every class was going great for once now that she didn't have to stress about Herbology or feel like a failure in Care of Magical Creatures. 

And their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Robert Dowson, was excellent. He seemed well-versed in the subject, and he seemed to care greatly about his students. So, Lyra was doing better in that class than she ever had. Professor Dowson told her she definitely had a shot at an O during the N.E.W.T.s.

Remus, though, he didn't just have a shot at an O. The new professor basically told him that even if he were to not show up to any classes for the next to years, he'd still get top marks without even trying. It was a bit of a confidence boost for the usually insecure Remus. 

"He's even given me a couple of extra lessons when I have free periods," he said, smiling brightly as he patrolled with the Black girl. "I don't know if he does this with anyone else, but it really does make me feel special."

Lyra couldn't help but smile brightly at the pure happiness and pride on his face. Right now, his smile was so bright it was no longer overshadowed by the weight of his scars. "You are special, Remus! This is wonderful."

"He just said he feels like I've got a lot of potential and that he wanted to teach me things outside of the curriculum." Remus noticed how Lyra tensed at the words and quickly realized how it sounded. 

"No, no. It sounds shady but it isn't. He isn't teaching me dark magic or something," the sandy-haired boy reassured his friend, who sighed in relief. "Quite the opposite, actually. We've been working on the Patronus charm."

"Wow, really? That's ridiculously advanced." Lyra could see that Remus was about to give her some stupidly modest comment and she sent him a sharp look. "Don't you dare act like this isn't a big deal. It's far beyond N.E.W.T.-level even."

The Gryffindor fought a smile at her pride of him, meeting her eyes. But her excitement made it impossible, and he chuckled awkwardly as she clapped her hands together. "Well, I suppose it's pretty cool."

"It's more than pretty cool." Lyra pushed her finger into his side, making him smack her hand away as she smiled teasingly. "You need to stop being so modest about everything. You're brilliant, Remus. It's time for you to acknowledge it."

"I wouldn't go that far..." He scratched the back of his neck, refusing to meet her gaze because he knew he would soon start blushing because of her praise and gushing. "But during our last session... I saw something. Professor Dowson said I was nearing a non-corporeal Patronus."

Remus jumped as Lyra started squealing loudly. He had no idea her voice could even go so high. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, happily. "Blimey, Remus! That's wonderful. You could have started with that!"

"I just don't think it's that important. Loads of people can do the Patronus Charm. You don't have to act like I'm special for it," said Remus, blushing bright red at both the hug and the compliments.

"Yes, I do!" the blonde exclaimed. He was getting worried that her face would be permanently stretched due to the scarily wide smile on her face that hadn't faded even a bit during their whole conversation. "Most people can't do it. You're sixteen and you've only had a few lessons but you're basically there already!"

"Maybe it's a bit special. I can handle a bit of praise, but it's not like I invented the spell or anything." Lyra rolled her eyes at Remus's words, but he didn't seem bothered as she still hadn't stopped smiling.

For around a minute, they were completely silent as they ingested the conversation they just had. Remus had a very clear idea of what he wanted to bring up next, but he wasn't sure if she would take to it, so he had to take a little while to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.