𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
032. ego boosts and ego bashes

          𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦 before they broke off for Christmas.

The class almost looked like a smaller version of the Great Hall. there was a funny rumour that the position of the DADA professor was cursed—hence no teachers ever lasted. The miraculous-looking classroom might be a way to draw teachers in and apply for the position. Large windows lined the four walls, and shelves containing polished, glinting trophies and show-pieces were held in the corners.

Professor Darlington just came back to Hogwarts after being in recovery for two weeks. It was a surprise she returned, her voice grew croaky when she spoke. "Greetings, students,"

"Pleasure to have you back, Professor Darlington!" James called out sarcastically, laughing along with Sirius who sat next to him. Small snickers sounded from the students.

Professor floated down the aisle smoothly, eyes shining with mischief as she spoke mockingly. "Mr Potter and Mr Black... never a pleasure to see you two back in here,"

That caused James and Sirius to look at the teachers in approval. Evan who sat beside Scarlet was left giggling at the teacher's wit. Some of the Slytherins found the interaction quite annoying, not laughing or chuckling along.

"All right, just to warm you up, I want you all to stand up and push the desks towards the walls, clear out the area in the middle," 

The students obliged, pushing the desks and chairs away. Scarlet did not do anything, merely stood in the corner and pretended to work. The students then stood in a circle, listening to the stern voice of the teacher as she spoke.

"I'm going to teach you an incantation that is extremely powerful magic," she told them. "It's called the Patronous Charm, it conjures a magical guardian and a projection of your positive feelings. It is one of the most difficult charms to cast, and most wizards and witches can only produce bits of it. if you can cast a full, corporeal Patronus, it will take the shape of an animal with whom they share the deepest affinity with."

Dorcas' hand shot up, brow furrowed. "What does a Patronous Charm do?"

"Great question, can anybody take that for us?" Professor asked.

Lily's hand was up in the air in no time, she almost elbowed James in the face as she raised her arm excitedly. 

"Yes, Miss Evans,"

"It protects you from the dark, like a dementor or lethifold, professor,"

"Correct," she smiled warmly at the young girl. "This is intensely advanced, do not be disheartened if you cannot fully perform it," she clasped her hands together. "I will be pairing you up, we can always learn from each other, can we not?"

She started to pair students up from the right end of the circle, putting together the ones who were already standing next to each other. "Nott and Macdonald — Evans and Longbottom—"

Scarlet did not mind being paired with anyone on either side of her, having Evan and Everest on her right and left. The professor continued to list pairs.

"McKinnon and Chasseur—" Least to say, Everest was quite contemptuous of her partner.

"Bridget and Black?" Confusion took over both Professor Darlington and Scarlet whose head shot to her left quickly. Besides her was no longer Evan Rosier but the victoriously smirking face of Sirius Black.

      The professor furrowed her brows. "Mr Black, I swore I saw you over there,"

"No, professor, been here since the beginning," Sirius spoke innocently, but the look of annoyance on Evan's face said otherwise. 

"Very well, Rosier and Meadowes — Avery and Snape—"

Scarlet's mood flattered as long as the pairing went along. 

"Now, get in your pair and be prepared to cast the charm!" The professor cheered excitedly. The students were quite joyful about having a practical lesson, all their cover work consisted of boring essays.

      "Bring your wand up and flicker it with strength," she commanded. "The spell is Expecto Patronum, repeat it."

"Expecto Patronum," they wrily repeated, wanting to cast it already. "You must think of your happiest thought to act as your light, now begin!"

Most students immediately began the incantation, yelling Expecto Patrnum. James proudly declared he was thinking of the moment he made Lily laugh two months ago, and Lily was hidden on the other side of the classroom in embarrassment. 

      Scarlet tried. Tried, again and again. And again. And whilst other students succeeded in making even a flicker of their Patronus, she failed over and over again. Her mind darted through her family and friends. Every moment that she found contempt in. None of it was strong enough, and it infuriated her to no end.

"Don't get worked up, Blondie," Sirius rolled his eyes. "You'll get it,"

"I always get things on first try," she seethed back. The fire in her chest blew wide open, and she mentally groaned. Surely, it could not be that hard. Strength and focus were all she needed to exceed in casting spells. 

Sirius watched her struggle and his mood flattered with her. He worried she did not have a joyful enough occasion to cast such a spell. 

      She cast the spell, thinking about the times she aced her exams. 

Sirius clicked his tongue, approaching her. She rolled her eyes. "What, now?"

"You're flickering it too weakly," he pointed. "It's a strong charm, you can't zone out in your happy memory—you'll have to use strength,"

"Expecto Patronum," she cast again. Nothing happened. 

"Here, let me show you." Sirius positioned himself right behind Scarlet. Her breath hitched suddenly, she could feel the warmth of his body behind her, radiating off to her back. His hand gently placed on her arm, and he slid his fingers down to the knuckles. 

Her throat started to close up, she gulped lightly. He wasn't speaking, thankfully, even if he was, she doubted she could process anything. His breath landed thickly on her neck, his face lightly touching her straightened hair. 

      His fingers tightened around her hand, and he gestured for the move required. A full circle. It was a harsh move that contradicted the softness of his hand.

Then she turned away, stumbling away from him. "Thanks, Sirius, but I don't think my wand movement is the problem."

"Then what is?" Sirius asked, it was only now he could see the peony-pink shade her cheeks turned to. He didn't comment on it though. "It's not like you to fail in something."

"I'm not failing," that boiled her blood. "I just can't think about a good feeling or whatever rubbish Profesor was on about."

This confirmed Sirius' thoughts. 

"Perhaps when you went to Greece with your mother last summer," Sirius chirped up, Scarlet wondered how he could grin so many times.

"No."

"Okay—you must, you must have one happy memory... you know, one where it's only happy," Sirius encouraged her to try again. 

The order shot through her mind, searching for an answer. There was no happy memory that did not clash with something tragic. The moments she spent with her friends—she was worried bystanders would snitch to her mother about her associating with muggle-borns. The late-night conversations she had with her best friend, Everest, were always followed by gruesome nightmares.

      And if not nightmares, she was hit with sudden, murderous urges to rip all of a loudly snoring Everest's hair out. There existed no such memory that was not tarnished. 

      Then there was. A specific, eventful morning by the lake, staring at her own reflection with birds chirping in every corner of the trees. Watching the sun rise over its horizon, sitting next to the infuriating Sirius Black. His voice. The voice she preferred over the songbirds'. The grey eyes she preferred over nature orchestrating various colours in the sky. 

"Expecto Patronum!" She cast. No animal took form, but a silver-blue light shot from it. It was progress. Sirius laughed in amusement, then she did, sharing a look with him in victory. 

"See, not so hard now, was it?" Sirius hopped on his feet a little, excited. 

"You know, some might say you're actually getting better in this class," she smirked, feeling satisfied with her improvement.

Sirius sent her a wink. "I have a certain brilliant tutor to thank for it,"

She shrugged it off, turning away. Strange thing was: Scarlet could not help but blush a little.

"I told Remus about what I know, by the way," she told him in a whisper. "I bumped into him last night."

"I know, he came back to the dorm last night and pretended to be mad," Sirius explained. "Freaked us all out, that fury little thing,"

"Class, will you give me a moment," Professor Darlington urgently started to make her way out of the class. "Professor McGonagall seeks me, by the time I come back, I don't want to see any scandals forming."

The moment she exited, chatter started. Although everybody focused on the task at hand, they started conversing loudly with their friends nearby.

"Hey," she gathered Sirius' attention, and he stopped showing off his abilities and turned to her with his divine attention. "I know you don't like to talk about this stuff but I'm sorry about Andromeda, I know she was your favourite."

Sirius sent her a smile—one that said he was confident he was going to be all right. "I'm happy for her... she deserves a break, that girl."

"You might not see her again."

"What matters is that she's happy." Sirius assured, there was not a hint of heartbreak in his tone. It was at moments like this that Scarlet was startled by how insufferably good Sirius Black's heart was—it could practically light up an entire town for that matter. 

      She watched silently as he cast the incantation over and over again, wanting something a little more than just a flicker of silver sparkle. 

"I hate this stupid wand," he grumpily hissed, now flickering it in all directions like a madman.

"You're just not doing it right!" Scarlet told him in exclaim.

"I have had just enough of this," Sirius angrily spoke to the wand, beyond frustrated at the object. "It's time to show this thing who its daddy is,"

"Salazar fucking Slytherin," Scarlet wanted to curl up into a corner and never see Sirius again. "If I have to learn another one of your preferences in bed, I will hex you,"

"That's another one of my preferences," Sirius pointed with an intolerable smile. It was unusual for anyone to unintentionally make Scarlet smile or grin or laugh or show any positive expression, Sirius did it with ease. It bothered Scarlet. 

She hated him.

Their interaction was broken and everyone's attention was gathered with a yelp for help. "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!"

The voice belonged to Mary Macdonald, Scarlet had to squint her eyes to see the commotion. Theodore Nott was left laughing, and a large blob of cloud formed above Mary, soaking her wet.

"What, now?" Sirius whispered, turning to look.

Metelojinx incantation was used, clearly. The cloud rested over Mary no matter how much she stumbled back, trying to move away. The downpour never stopped. Slytherin students laughed, and the Gryffindors looked around for the culprit, burning with anger. 

"Whoever is doing it, stop, STOP!" Lily was screeching, looking around helplessly. 

"That's bloody awesome, mate!" Mulciber went along, patting Nott on the back. The boy had his wand trained on Mary—not that anybody noticed soon enough. "Look at the drowned rat!"

People whirled around to see a victorious smirk on Nott. Mary's robes were not heavy and water-clogged, causing her to trip and collapse to the floor due to lack of balance.

      However, the laughter died down when the cloud darkened, crackling with thunder and lightning. The thunder started to shoot around, now threatening other students too. Two Slytherin girls nearby screamed in fright. 

"Stop it! Now!" Lily was tearing up. 

It looked like James and Remus had enough, the two of them practically hovering over Nott as the Potter casts, "Expelliarmus!" 

Theodore's wand was knocked out of his hand, and he growled. "Get off, Potter!" The scowl on his face was back, heavy cheekbones clenching. He shoved James who then grabbed him by his collar and threw him against the wall nearby.

      Scarlet turned to Mary who was being assisted by Lily and Alice, helping her to get up and move away from the block of cloud. 

"Finite!" Scarlet cast, the rain stopped at once. The classroom went silent. Mary was trembling and frightened. Alice sent her a thankful smile which she nodded in acknowledgment.

Sirius sent her a surprise look all of a sudden, as though he found it hard to believe she had taken any action at all when Slytherins were watching. The prank Nott played was not something usual—nobody knew how to handle it. She merely ignored his astonished look.

"I'll fetch Madam Pomfrey—" Everest was running out of the class in a hurry, trying to seek help for the breathless Mary.

"What in Merlin's name has happened here?" The booming voice was Professor Darlington sounded, she was left flabbergasted at her classroom soaking wet. A crying, looking rather ill Mary along with James almost ready to hit Nott in the face, his hands clutching his collars angrily. "Class is dismissed... Mr Nott, can you stay behind?"

"Professor, he was attacking me!" He gestured to James who almost lunged forward again, only to be stopped by a whimpering, frightened Peter.

"Mr Potter, stay behind too,"

James gasped dramatically, stomping over to the professor and flapping his hands in the air like a bird. "I didn't do anything! He was—he's—"

"Mr Potter, I know," Darlington whispered to him quietly. "I need someone to tell me what has happened,"

James let out a sigh of relief. To his advantage, Lily sent her the slightest, appreciative smile which practically made his year. He smiled back. Not arrogantly or jokingly like he always does, it was merely genuineness. 

      AFTER CLASS, SCARLET STOOD BESIDES SIRIUS, leaning against the wall. He had his arm draped around her shoulder, putting on a show for the students who grew to care less and less about the infamous 'couple'.

"I forgot about you two's act," Remus shot them a look, glancing at the closeness between them, or rather the lack of it.

"Me too," Scarlet chimed in, a scowl on her face.

"Are you still mad about not being able to cast a full Patronus?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Of course, I am!" She exclaimed, her hands shooting up in the air in defeat. "I'll just ask my mother to teach me."

"Did Chasseur not come back?" When Peter asked, Scarlet realised Everest never returned from the Hospital Wing after asking Madam Pomfrey for assistance with Mary. 

Scarlet shrugged to say she had no idea, then her mind ran through another question. "Do you think Mary will be okay?"

"Pretty sure, she will," Remus shrugged.

"After all, she does have a notorious group of Marauders on her side." Sirius' eyes glinted with mischief when she shared a knowing look with Remus. It was no surprise the Gryffindors would strike back. 

James exited finally, and Remus threw an arm over his shoulder as the four Gryffindors started to walk alongside Scarlet. Sirius' arm never left her shoulder. 

"What are you doing for Christmas?"

"My mum is inviting everyone over, it's going to be bloody awesome!" James shrieked, jumping on his feet. 

"I'm already dreading the holidays, I can't stand being at home," Sirius said, grumpily. He turned to Scarlet. "What about you, what European country are you visiting this year?"

"None, my mother thinks it's best to spend it here, apparently my cousin is coming over," at her words, all four boys groaned as loud as they could. They could not stand Lucius, and the mere action made her laugh to herself.