009. CHAPTER NINE
hold on to the memories
"JAMES, please go sit at your own table."
"Never, dear Saiorse."
The redhead groaned, her forehead hitting the table after slipping down her hand. Early that morning, some of the only students in Hogwarts, including Saiorse Evans and James Potter, awoke to see the first signs of snow that late November day. The Quidditch Cup having been won by Gryffindor the night before, James was ecstatic.
Mostly tired.
"Please, go fight over my sister or something. You sitting over here is gonna bring — "
"Oh, Prongsie!"
"The rest of them."
Remus, Peter, and Sirius dashed over to the Hufflepuff table, confusing students all around the Great Hall. Murmurs were thrown around the room as the three boys bounded towards the pair, wanting to know what was so special about Slutty Saiorse Evans.
"Hello, dear Saiorse." Remus smiled at the girl, using her new nickname used by the four, sitting down across from James, Peter sitting next to him. Sirius forced James and Saiorse to scoot over.
"Just scoot over, James." She huffed, glaring playfully at the other boy. "He'll throw a fit if not."
"Damn right, I will." Sirius told her, reaching over the girl and James to grab a scone from the dish. She pushed him back down, rolling her eyes as he happily broke it apart.
"Listen, if you guys are going to be sitting here, you, specifically one of you," she said pointedly, poking Sirius in the arm, "need to learn table manners."
"Table manners?" The black haired boy asked, shoving the pastry into his mouth as he spewed crumbs onto the plate below.
"Yes, like not talking with your mouth full, asking for food instead of reaching over."
"Both, I'm guessing, are for Sirius?" Remus asked her, spreading butter on a piece of bread. She nodded, looking over at the boy who was throwing pieces of granola over her head and at James.
"Sirius? Dear?" She asked him as he finally hit James in the eye. Her eyes trailed to the cup next to him filled to the brim with a dark brown liquid. She grabbed it, moving it to the opposite side of the four. "No more coffee for you."
"DEFENSE Against the Dark Arts has always been my favorite. Did you know that, Saiorse?" Sirius asked her, the four boys trailing behind the girl who just wanted to get to Professor Merrythought's class in peace.
"Wow, I had no idea. You know what's my favorite?"
"What?"
"When you shut the hell up."
James choked on his laugh, Saiorse beginning to laugh at the boy tripping up. Sirius pouted, crossing his arms across his chest. "Well, that's too bad for you because that's something I'm not too experienced in."
Saiorse simply turned around to flip him off, treading into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It almost looked like a smaller version of the Great Hall, the room containing arched wood ceilings and large glass windows lining the walls. The usual eighteen conjoined desks that sat in the middle of the classroom were pushed against the wall, the various trinkets that were usually strewn about the room were sat carefully and meticulously on the shelves lining the wall above.
"What are we doing?" Sirius asked the girl in a hushed whisper.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"You know everything!"
"Greetings, students." A croaky old woman's voice called throughout the room. The sixth year Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's eyes trailed to the ancient Professor Merrythought. Saiorse smiled at the woman, Professor Merrythought was somehow always in a good mood for her age.
"Hello, Professor Merrythought." The students greeted, Sirius and James adding an extra 'thought' to the end. Small snickers sounded from the students, the professor smiling down at the boys.
"Ah, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black." She floated down the stairs, her dark red robes trailing behind her. She stopped in front of the two taller boys, her eyes shining with mischief. "Never a pleasure to see you in my class."
Saiorse had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle at the teacher's wit, James and Sirius left smirking at the woman.
"I have a very special lesson planned for all of you this morning." The professor smiled. "As you can see, everything has been cleared from the middle of the room. Now, all of you, even you, Ms. McKinnon, stand in a circle."
All of the students glanced each other, the woman's odd behavior confusing them. "Did I say wait around and stare at me? Get in a circle!"
The students quickly listened to her, the stern voice scaring them into conformity. The circle was a bit lopsided, Saiorse squeezed in between Sirius and James. "Lilyflower!" He called out to the Gryffindor girl, who was stood beside Dorcas. "Come stand next to me."
The redhead huffed, waving a goodbye to Dorcas because she knew James wouldn't stop until she complied to at least stand next to him. Saiorse lowered her eyes, the professor beginning to speak again as all of the students got into their respectable places in the circle.
"Alright, now, I'm going to teach you an incantation that is extremely powerful magic." She told them. "It's called the Patronus charm. This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may suspect, but you will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it."
Another girl from Hufflepuff raised her hand, eyebrows furrowed. "What does a Patronus charm do?"
"A Patronus charm, as I had just explained to you, is the light of your soul all wrapped into an animal spirit that protects you from the dark. Well, what's one thing that is dark, and has no other defense?"
Saiorse raised her hand with bright eyes, waiting politely for the teacher to turn around. "Miss Evans?"
"A dementor, or lethifold, ma'am."
"Correct." She smiled warmly at the girl, the latter looking down with diffidence.
"As you can most likely guess from all of this explanation, we will be practicing this charm today in class." The students were moderately excited, curious to see what their animal spirits would be. "Now, I know you lot are excited to see what animal you have, blah blah blah, but just remember. This magic is intensely advanced. It is highly likely you will not fully perform this charm the first few times you attempt it.
"There are two types of Patronuses: the corporeal, which means a Patronus with a particular shape and form, and then there's the incorporeal Patronus. Incorporeal Patronuses have no particular shape and do not protect against dementors the way corporeal Patronuses do. Over the course of this semester, it'll be close to impossible, but I want at least 5 of you to be able to conjure a corporeal Patronus. Got it?"
They all nodded, Professor Merrythought nodding back in content.
"Now, bring up your wands, do not say the incantation, Mr. Potter. You must swish your wand like so." The teacher flicked her wand above slowly, students around her memorizing the actions and stance. "Now, you try."
The children re-enacted the woman's steps, multiple of them laughing at Sirius and James's exceptionally dramatic repetitions.
"Okay, wands in pockets, wands in pockets." She commanded. "The spell is Expecto Patronum. Repeat it, repeat it."
"Expecto Patronum." They boredly repeated.
"The way to conjure a Patronus, let alone corporeal, you must think of your happiest thought."
"Any happy little thought?" Sirius asked in a child like voice.
"Think of Christmas, think of snow." James sang, receiving a stern look from the professor. The two quickly stopped singing.
"Think of sleigh bells, off you go." Saiorse sang quietly, alerting the attention of Sirius. He laughed at the girl's quite rebellious action, (for her, anyways), and began to finally give the professor his full attention.
"Before I was interrupted, Mr. Black, think of your happiest memories. This is the power behind your Patronus, the light of your life. Begin."
Most students immediately began the incantation, yelling Expecto Patronum with no thought. Yet, Saiorse had to rack her brain. Countless times she thought of moments with her family, her sisters, Caspian. But, the issue was, they didn't make her happy. They made her incredibly dejected.
She thought of anything, even the smallest little thing that had ever made her happy. A memory came up, a memory that she knew would work. It had to.
"BLACKBIRD singing in the dead of night,"
Paul McCartney's silky voice came through the radio's speakers, Caspian, Saiorse, and Lily sat around a bonfire in the backyard of the Evans small home on the countryside in the summer of 1975.
"Take these broken wings and learn to fly," Caspian sang, quite horribly if Saiorse would admit. She clamped a hand over his mouth, forcing the sound away from the group.
"Dearest, have I ever told you how horrid you are at singing?" Saiorse asked him, removing her hand once she knew he had stopped that unpleasant noise.
"Are you kidding? I sound exactly like him!"
"Yeah, in your dreams." Lily laughed, knocking her glass with her sister's.
Caspian scoffed, standing up to dust his pants off in front of Saiorse. He stuck his hand out, bowing to her. "Miss Evans, do accompany me in a very formal classical waltz that is most definitely not a joke."
She laughed, taking his hand reluctantly as the two began to dance around dramatically to Blackbird. Lily began to dance with her cup, trying her best to make the awkwardness of being the third wheel funny.
Saiorse held the boy close, listening to his heart beat as she laid her head against his chest. He hummed along to the song, the sound of his voice being therapeutic to the smaller girl. Saiorse loved small moments like this, when it was just her and the people she loved most together, just being in each other's company.
"Caspian?" She asked quietly as Lily drunkenly sang the Beatles song.
"Saiorse?"
"I love you a lot."
"I love you a lot."
He pressed a small kiss to her forehead, setting his head atop of hers.
"Blackbird, fly, blackbird, fly."
"Into the light of the dark black night!" The group yelled into the night sky.
"EXPECTO Patronum." Saiorse quietly casted. A bright ball of light shot from her wand, startling those around her.
The ball of light quickly dimmed a bit, showing the shape of a small bird. A blackbird.
It flew around her, her eyes lighting up as she watched the bird swoop around each student. "Oh!" The professor gasped, watching the Patronus with absolute amazement. It swam around Saiorse's head, floating directly in front of her.
She tilted her head to the side at the small creature, the latter doing the same. It looked towards the right, towards the one person Saiorse did not want it to go to. Lily.
Lily watched the thing in awe, the small bird slowly approaching her. It stood upon her shoulder, twitching it's head at the girl. Lily looked at Saiorse, both girls being completely dumbfounded at her own soul's actions.
The figure began to fade, the light disappearing from Lily's shoulder. The students were still watching the two with bewilderment, Professor Merrythought looking towards the Hufflepuff girl.
"Miss Evans. See me after class."
"DID I, uh, do something wrong, Professor?" Saiorse asked the teacher timidly as the rest of the students filed out of the large classroom.
"No, no, no. On the contrary, really." The professor answered. She watched Saiorse's face, watching one of the most powerful witches in Defense Against the Dark Arts she had ever taught. "Have you ever casted a Patronus charm?"
"I wouldn't have any reason to, Professor."
"You do know that the Patronus charm is a piece of extremely advanced magic, correct?"
"Yes, of course." The girl answered. She was completely baffled by her first attempt at a Patronus charm. "I was actually gonna ask you if you knew how it was possible to even conjure a corporeal your first time."
The professor thought for a moment, staring at the young girl through her wire rimmed glasses. "Well, the only reasonable explanation that I can think of is that you had so many bad times in your life, your good is all the more powerful. Your happiness is very mighty because of how much you've gone through, Miss Evans."
Saiorse felt shocked. She hadn't realized that she hadn't been happy. For a year.
"Oh." She responded.
"I would like you to meet me after class tomorrow." The teacher told her, leading the girl towards the door. "You're very powerful, Miss Evans. Don't let anyone tell you different."
Saiorse was led out of the door, left outside of the classroom. All she could think of was that small, tiny blackbird that sat on her sister's shoulder.
a/n
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hey yall 😌
idk why but i really liked this chapter kinda cute kinda likeeeeee but its a bit of a filler, but idc i like it
anyways thank yall so effing much for 2k grateful no cap 🤣😈🥶🥵
hope you guys enjoyed this ChApTerRRRrrrrRrRrRrR