Beta: Cloudy

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Our first week back at Hogwarts meant it was time for our Patronus lessons. Harry and I met Remus in his office where he began to explain how we could defend ourselves against the dementors.

Harry was quite determined, while I was admittedly more curious what my Patronus looked like than worried about being knocked out by a dementor.

"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," said Remus, "which is a kind of anti-dementor—a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor. The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon—hope, happiness, the desire to survive—but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."

"What does a Patronus look like?" said Harry curiously.

"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."

"And how do you conjure it?"

"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."

"The incantation is this—" Remus cleared his throat and did a flowy wand movement. "Expecto Patronum!"

Harry and I mimicked his movements several times until he was satisfied.

"Now, since Harry's boggart is that of a dementor, I figured that would be the best way to practice. Rosie, please stand back while Harry practices. I don't want the boggart to take on your fear."

"Agree with you there," I dryly muttered.

Harry took a stand against the chest the boggart was captured in. Remus gave him a few more seconds to get ready then he opened the chest and the boggart-dementor popped out. I honestly felt no presence from it. Only Harry was affected since it was his fear. He seized, unable to conjure anything before he fell to the ground and Remus had to banish the boggart back into the chest.

"Are you all right?" worriedly asked Remus.

"Yes." Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it.

"Here—" Remus handed him a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had."

"It's getting worse," Harry muttered, biting off the Frog's head. "I could hear her louder that time—and him—Voldemort—"

Remus paled, his face darkened in grief. "Harry, if you don't want to continue, I will more than understand—"

"I do!" said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. "I've got to! What if the dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we've lost the Quidditch Cup!"

"All right then," Remus soothed. "You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on. That one doesn't seem to have been strong enough."

Again they tried, but that time around Harry fainted for a solid thirty seconds. Remus tapped Harry hard on the face to wake him back up. Harry was groggy and I offered him my hand to help him sit up properly.

"I heard Dad," Harry mumbled. "That's the first time I've ever heard him—he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give us time to run for it..."

"Listen, perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced. I shouldn't have suggested putting you through this..."

"No!" said Harry. He got up again. "I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is... Hang on."

Harry's face screwed up in thought.

"Okay," Harry said sternly.

"Ready?" said Remus, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. "Concentrating hard? All right: go!"

He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the boggart-dementor rose out of it.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

For the first time, there were streams of silver mist pouring out of Harry's wand. It wasn't enough to call it a success, as Harry's knees buckled in, but it was still impressive.

"Riddikulus!" roared Remus, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Harry's cloudy Patronus vanished along with the dementor; he sank into a chair, out of breath and trembling.

"Excellent!" Remus said, striding over to where Harry sat. "Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!"

"Can we have another go? Just one more go?"

"Not now," said Remus firmly. "You've had enough for one night. Here —" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes's best chocolate. "Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Rosie—"

"I know, I know. Simply speaking the incantation for now," I said.

I've got plenty of actual dementors to practice on during the Hogsmeade visit. Better to get the wand movement and pronunciation down first.

"For now, yes."

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

At the end of January I finally received the Daily Prophet headlines I wanted:

BIGGEST WIZENGAMOT SCANDAL IN RECENT HISTORY!

"Oh, yeah, this is gonna be a great day," I chuckled to myself as I began to read all about how Harper, Jacobs, Natters, Rowle, Travers, Trickles, and Fawley were caught in a disgusting orgy on camera—and apparently it wasn't their first one. The article doesn't go into the gritty details, but it was juicy nonetheless.

Madam Bones arresting Carrow and Rosier for their illegal position of dangerous Dark artifacts seemed rather dull in comparison.

But that was enough.

In order to replace Dark members with Light I needed to discredit them in the public's eye and then push them out. Once they had lost enough favor—both publicly and politically—I could propose for Lord Greengrass to put forward a re-election for certain seats.

The Dark seats would not have enough power or money to keep their spots. I had little faith in their ability to scrounge up enough wit between the lot of them to prepare for such a thing. Too arrogant to consider it a real possibility. They hadn't even publicized what they had lost, they wouldn't dare ask for a helping hand until they're blindsided.

They'd become a stain. No one would help them, not even the Malfoy family would dare do so in fear of incurring the public's suspicious gaze.

All I needed was time, a couple more scandals, and my own members to propose.

"Have people in mind?"

"Yes. Time I introduced Enáretos to them."

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

January faded into February and then into March. Exams came around once again and the babeh snakes found themselves studying with a few babeh lions. Namely Harry, Hermione, and Neville. Ron was still reluctant to spend time with the Slytherins, and he had stopped coming to running practice all together.

Our group was too big for the library, so we found ourselves studying together at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

I idly stroked my fluffy flufferkins textbook as Millie tried to come up with an answer to my question.

"Um... the... um..." Millie's face was screwed up in concentration. "I don't remember, sorry."

"You got this Millie," Hermione encouraged her. "Remember the song?"

A lightbulb went off in Mille's head. "Ah! Yeah, um, then the answer is the gillyspeil?"

"Correct," I praised her. "You're going to do well for your Creature exam."

"Thanks," Millie said with a big smile. "I—I wanna work with dragons."

"Ron's brother works with dragons," Harry mentioned across the table where he and Draco were quizzing each other over Potions.

"Yeah. When Ron mentioned it at the start of the year I couldn't get it out of my head," Millie admitted.

"Have you talked to a professor about it?" I asked. "See what you need N.E.W.T.s for?"

"Yeah. A lot," Millie sighed. "N.E.W.T. in Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures."

Tracey grimaced. "I feel you. I was looking into what the requirements were to be a Healer."

"A Healer?" Hermione gasped, her eyes brightening. "Me, too."

"What! No way."

"It was a thought," Hermione admitted. "I did consider Cursebreaker but I don't think I could be brave enough for that."

"You've got plenty of bravery to spare, Hermione," I told her.

"Yeah, you're a Gryffindor," Daphne added with a nod.

Hermione only shrugged, a small smile on her face. "Maybe."

"Anyone else know what they want to do?" I asked.

"I'll be taking over my father's spot in Wizengamot," said Daphne as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. "Don't really need a N.E.W.T. for that, so I'll take whatever interests me."

"Likewise," said Draco as he looked up from his Charms book. "But Father and Mother want at least five N.E.W.T.s."

"Dueling for me, obviously," Theodore said with a shrug. "There's nothing else that holds my interest."

Gregory fiddled with his textbook as he grunted out, "Was thinkin' going pro Beater."

"You're a bloody nuisance to face, you'd do well," Harry complimented him which earned him a shy smile.

"I don't really have a dream," Pansy muttered, her gaze narrowing. "Just some job at the Ministry will do."

"I'd like to go into art," said Blaise as he took Pansy's Transfiguration textbook and looked it over. "Pansy, these notes are terrible."

"I don't see your notes, Blaise."

"Why would I need them when I have you?" Blaise asked with a flirty wink.

Pansy's face soured and she took back her book to hit him on the shoulder with it.

I cleared my throat. "Vincent, how about you?"

"I—I like Zonko's. Maybe I wanna work at a joke shop," Vincent hesitantly put in. "I don't really know yet."

"And Neville?"

Neville scratched at his cheek. "My dad was an auror. I'd like to be one, too."

"That makes two of us," Harry said with a nudge.

"And let me guess for you, Rosie," Draco snidely added. "Minister of Magic?"

"You're thinking too low," I laughed.

"What could be higher?"

"Queen of Wor—I mean Magic?" I joked.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Mid March I was on yet another visit to Hogsmeade and trying desperately to teach Booboo the spirit fingers.

He only stared at me.

After an hour of wiggling my fingers to the point where they were aching, I gave up and switched back over to Patronus practice. I had made some nice progress over the past few months, and the other dementors seemed amused when I tried to chase them around with my barely visible Patronus.

"Today's the day," I told Booboo as I readied my wand. "Today I'll finally see my Patronus!"

Booboo stared at me. The other dementors were circling us.

"You said that the last two weekends."

"Hush, eye-candy."

"Oh I'm eye-candy now?"

"What do you mean now? I've always called you pretty and handsome."

"Eye-candy seems to be an upgrade."

"I—I mean I guess. Hmm... what's after eye-candy, then?"

"Unparalleled."

"Tom, you're unparalleled in your beauty."

"Thank you."

I let out a long breath then bellowed out, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The surge of joyous magic shot out from my heart, down my arm, to my fingertips, and out my wand as it, at long last, took on a shape. I let out a big yelp of happiness as I saw my Patronus dance around me.

A fox.

"Thank God, I was worried it would be a phoenix."

"Why would it be a phoenix?"

"Uh... Look how adorable my Patronus is! What do you think yours is?"

"I would assume a type of snake."

"That goes without saying. But do you think you'd get an occamy?"

"Doubtful."

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Harry and Remus were ever so proud of me when I displayed my fox Patronus. Harry was able to produce his own corporal Patronus the same day.

It was not a stag.

I repeat: Harry's Patronus no longer matched canon.

It made me whistle when I saw it. I had always been a believer of nurture over nature, but I hadn't considered that Harry's life with me would have had such a change in his personality compared to canon that his Patronus would no longer be a stag.

When I stopped to consider it, it seemed obvious.

Canonical Harry was prideful, stubborn, noble, heroic, reckless, and fiercely loyal. He was an admirable hero to read about, but he had his own human flaws—he was quick to anger, reluctant to forgive, and he struggled to see the bigger picture.

My little Harry was certainly stubborn, but he was cautious by nature and was more than willing to show flexibility to appease an argument. He was quiet, studious, and never struggled with his temper. He wasn't the type to go out of his way to make friends, nor did he feel that he had to bend over backwards to keep friendships. He was confident in himself, content with his family, and happy with his life.

Both were loyal, brave, and loving. But my Harry had no temper, and was raised in a loving home that allowed him to more easily forgive those who have slighted him. My Harry had decent self-confidence, but his pride wasn't so great that he couldn't admit he was wrong to people he disliked (canonical Harry would sooner eat shit than admit Snape was right about something prior to the reveal).

The stag was a Patronus of heroism, nobility, and pride. My lovely twin was heroic and noble, but not nearly so prideful.

Instead of a stag that stood proudly beside him it was a little cat with a thick coat of fur. Remus identified it as a Siberian cat after flipping through a Patronus guidebook—and he confirmed my fox was a red fox while he was at it.

A cat. My twin was a cat!

I hoped our Patronuses would match our animagus forms so we could be extra cuddle buddies.

Things were going well. It had been a very relaxing school year, all things considered. Rookwood had made no appearance anywhere near Hogwarts, so the Ministry was planning on removing the dementors before the end of the year. There had been no real sign of Rookwood, so I had to wonder what he was up to. I didn't know much about the fella since he was a minor Death Eater.

Did he play it smart and take a year to recover his strength before looking for Voldemort? He was an Unspeakable, so surely he had some intelligence.

Or was he like Karkaroff and would take the opportunity to flee and never be seen from again?

How did he even escape, anyway? Was he also an illegal animagus? Where the heck was Peter Pettigrew? The Weasley's didn't have a rat—which made sense, since Sirius was alive, active, and probably on the look out for a rat.

In time, I suspected I'd find out. I wasn't able to break into Crouch's mansion to prevent that whole fiasco from going down, so I had a pretty good feeling that the TriWizard Tournament and resurrection thing was still going to happen next year.

Peter would either return to Voldemort or never bother us again.

He and Umbridge were the only two people I made exceptions to murdering regardless of their use—because yes, I could think of better ways to use them. I chose not. Peter as honorary vengeance for James and Lily, and Umbrdige because fuck that bitch. She was a savvy politician, I did not want to deal with her outside the capacity of burning her corpse. She was smart enough to get an Unplottable home so I couldn't track her down for any attacks, but that only aggravated me further.

Present Voldemort was a creature I honestly could not think of a way to deal with outside of murder. He was insane, impossible to reason with, and very dangerous. He was someone who actively wanted to hurt my family. I couldn't ignore that.

I could differentiate Voldemort from Tom, which was why I was open to the idea of judging Tom as Tom instead of Voldemort. I had not picked up on any of the insanity of Voldemort in Tom, and I found Tom easy to converse and reason with. Presently, I saw no reason to view him as someone dangerous enough to outright murder.

My scandals were working out well. There had been some effort to refute it, but the press just gobbled up my fabricated story and ran with it.

I couldn't let it die down yet. Scandals were momentary things. I had to keep up the pressure for as long as I could which meant it was time for more scandals.

So in between my studies I had to come up with several more sensational yet believable incidents and feed them to the Daily Prophet. They were things ranging from so and so having a bastard squib, to blah blah skimming top off donations to charity. Everything and everyone on my list was a target.

By the time I finished my third year exams a few members on my check list were as good as done. They resigned, leaving their empty seats to fall with their remaining allies. Still, an empty seat was progress.

I didn't plan on asking my neutral allies to propose re-election until I could secure the Light seats. I estimated it would take a couple of years.

If everything went as canonical, I could likely force a re-vote at the end of my fifth year. Assuming Voldemort came back, the Ministry tries to hide him, and then once he gets revealed they look like an idiot.

Actually—

It would be the perfect finishing blow.

A rallying cry for change. The ultimate push to tip the politics in Light.

Heck, I could probably even make a bid for Minister of Magic as Enáretos If I started campaigning—

"Oh, Tom. I think I've just thought up of something utterly brilliant."

"Care to share?"

"I think I want to surprise you. I think you'll be so impressed with me you'll declare me as your forever best friend then and there."

Tom's magic quivered like quiet, suppressed laughter. "I'm looking forward to it."

My musings in the Slytherin common room—our group had been studying with the babeh lions—been interrupted when I caught wind of part of my babeh snakes' conversation.

"... the dementors will be heading home today now," Theodore casually told Hermione while she looked over his Transfiguration homework.

"The—The dementors are leaving?" I gasped. "No, please, I must say goodbye to Booboo at least."

"Rosie, no," Harry sighed but it was too late. I was already running to Professor Dumbledore's office. At a dead sprint—and ignoring Professor Snape's snarl of outrage—it took me a few minutes to reach Dumbledore's office. Luck was on my side as he was just exiting his office.

"Please," I panted, "let me say goodbye to the dementors! To my Booboo!"

"Your... Boobo?" Professor Dumbledore repeated that name slowly, twinkling eyes befuddled and amused.

"Yes. He's a lovely dementor."

"Ah... I had... heard a student was seen frequently near the dementors at Hogsmeade," Professor Dumbledore said slowly. "Miss Potter such creatures—"

"Please, Professor," I cut in, my tone pleading. "I know the Patronus charm if that helps."

"Do you really?" Professor Dumbledore's expression was filled with delight. "Might I see it?"

"Oh—oh, of course. Expecto Patronum!" I called forth my fox Patronus, and it swirled in the air gracefully.

"That is most impressive. Professor Lupin had said you and Harry were receiving extra lessons for that charm. Very well, Miss Potter. You may accompany me to meet with the dementors, although the aurors have already arrived and will be leaving with them shortly."

Professor Dumbledore was quick in his strides as he guided us out of the castle and to the gates where indeed I saw a few aurors and many dementors.

"Booboo!" I shouted out at the horde of dementors that was getting ready to leave. I furiously waved and jumped, trying desperately to get Booboo's attention. To my elation, the dementors took notice of me and Booboo broke apart from the horde to descend upon me.

The aurors moved to stand between us, but I ran past them to reach Booboo. I heard Professor Dumbledore say something to them, but I couldn't make it out.

Booboo stared at me. My bottom lip quivered.

"Booboo—I—I—" I was getting choked up. We had been through so much together. He was such a fantastic listener.

Booboo continued to stare at me.

"I'll never forget you Booboo. I love you," I whispered, my eyes stinging at our departure.

Booboo stared at me for a long moment, then he slowly lifted his skeletal arm and placed a hand on my cheek. It burned. It was literally like dry ice touching bare skin. It brought instinctive tears of pain to well up in my gaze but I didn't dare move away. That kind of thing could be fixed up, but nothing could repair the heartbreak of losing Booboo.

I sniffled, the first of many tears rolling down my cheek. "I'm going to miss you so much."

He patted my cheek, withdrew his hand, and then slowly drifted back up at the horde. I cried, waving goodbye at him through my tears.

Just before he was out of sight, he lifted both of his hands and wiggled his skeletal fingers at me.

It was the spirit fingers.

I wept. "I knew you could do it, buddy. I'm so proud of you..."

Professor Dumbledore and his phoenix Patronus arrived at my side. He offered me a handkerchief and patted my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll meet Booboo again one day."

I blew into his handkerchief. "You really think so?"

"A friendship like that won't easily be broken," he kindly told me. "Let's treat that frost burn on your cheek now."

"Okay..."

The aurors were giving me a funny look as Professor Dumbledore escorted me back to Hogwarts.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Bonus (an alternative Patronus):

"Expecto Patronum!" I shouted, focusing everything I had on that hazy memory of happiness.

After months of training, the wisps finally solidified and transformed into a—

"No," I whispered in horror. "NO!"

It was not the occamy I had so desperately wanted, nor the fox I was okay as a backup.

Prancing cheerfully in front of me was a goddamn unicorn Patronus.

I fell to my knees in despair as I listened to Tom's laughter in my head. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Booboo continued to stare at me while I wallowed in misery.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Bucket List Completed:

43. Learn Patronus (I bet Kreacher mine is an occammy, Kreacher bet fox, and Sirius bet unicorn). Note: Kreacher wins another bet. Fella on a roll!

45. Can they learn how to do spirit fingers?

46. Keep Remus's furry little secret an actual secret

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

***~***~***

ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

I struggled picking between occammy, fox, raven, or phoenix for Rosie. I did get Occammy on the Pottermore quiz as Rosie so I was tempted to go with it, but it felt too special. And I really like foxes.

But raven was so tempting because of her obvious association with death. But foxes are so fluffy and cute.

Harry's Patronus was also another struggle. I was originally going to pick a bird for him—his love of flying made it an obvious choice—but I ultimately went with something fluffy to match his family.

Per mugglenet:

Fox Patronus - Associated with cunning, the fox has a place in many ancient cultures' folklore. Foxes are sometimes thought to be tricksters, leading the unsuspecting down a path of demise. The calculating fox can outwit its enemies with strategy and adaptability.

Siberian Cat Patronus - Siberian cats are perfect as Patronuses. Fearless yet easygoing, they seem to always know when their humans need them for support or comfort. They can be quiet, with soft melodic purrs and chirps. While these may not be the cats to chase down a Dementor, they will stay with you, protecting and calming you until the Dementor fades away.

Young!Dumbledore would be a ride or die bff and you cannot change my mind about that.

Answer: Expandable feather-light bag if possible. I would not want to lug around those textbooks up and down steps every day for seven years.

Question: What's your Patronus?

Reviews are love!