60 Expecto Patronum

Ron was starting to worry about Hermione. She'd been gone for a while, although he wasn't sure exactly how long, and no part of their plan involved a signal to indicate that Hermione was in trouble. What if she'd been hurt? How were they supposed to know? Would Fred come find them?

So far as he could tell from George, everything had been fine at least up until Hermione had found the Twins. They were off to the Dungeons, or at least, that's what Ron had made out of George's cryptic word puzzle.

"The Twins said they were going down under," "Hermione" had told them. "A little dark and dreary for my taste, but that's George and Fred for you."

Unfortunately, the real Hermione was the one who always remembered they had their ear pearls, or whatever they were called, so it took Ron a while to remember he could just ask Ginny.

"Dungeons," she said. "Rose is with Snape."

"Why Snape?" Neville asked.

"Don't know," Ginny replied.

"I know Rose is fond of Professor Snape, but he'd be the first to give her up, wouldn't he?" Sally-Anne asked.

"She knows what she's doing," Neville said. "It's Rose."

"I can't say I'm a fan of this room," George said, not understanding their conversation. "The windows are nice, but it feels dismal. Not colorful enough."

"If you don't stop talking, you'll give yourself away," Ginny hissed.

George had convinced Madame Pomfrey that he didn't need to be looked over after Ginny returned with him, which was the first spell they dodged. After that, it was a matter of keeping up the charade, made more difficult by the endless sound being emitted from George's mouth.

"I talk all the time," George hissed back. "I– Ah!"

He fell to the ground as his bed suddenly vanished from beneath him. He stood up, realizing that his surroundings had changed. A pair of gloved hands hauled him out of view of the Hospital Wing.

"Rose!" he whispered.

"Good work, beautiful," she said, tapping his cheek with her palm. "But they're right, Brain doesn't talk half that much unless it's about books. It's a good thing Madame Pomfrey doesn't know that."

"You might want to stay that way, George," Fred, who was standing next to them, said. "You look way better."

"We look the same," George said, returning to normal.

"Come on. Everyone knows I'm the good-looking twin."

"Boys, settle down," Rose said. "Obviously, Ginny got all the looks in your family."

She stuck her tongue out at them, then vanished.

Albus was pleasantly surprised by a burst of rose petals in his office just before lunchtime. He internally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing not only that his student was alright, but that the search for her was over.

"Rose, I–"

"Me first," Rose said. "I'm sorry. I've been taking out my frustration on you, and that's not fair. So I'm sorry, Professor."

Albus smiled warmly. It was good to know that the girl was almost back to normal.

"Apology accepted, Rose. I'd like to apologize for not taking your issues more seriously. I've had a lot on my plate this year, but that's no reason to turn down the needs of one of my students."

Rose smiled at him, but it wasn't her normal smile. It was too condescending for her normal smile.

"You've got nearly 300 students. You can't make time for us all, so I'd say it was completely fair to ignore me for your own selfish reasons."

As nice as Rose was, she could be difficult to handle sometimes. Still, she was back and she'd settled down, and that was the important thing.

"What happened to not taking your frustrations out on me?"

"I said I was sorry, not that I was going to stop." Rose laughed. "Come on, Professor, it's like you don't know me at all!"

This time, it was Albus's turn to laugh.

"I see you are about back to normal."

"Just about," Rose replied. "Don't expect another pair of socks from Shadow and me for Christmas, though."

"Are you giving gifts as a couple now?" Albus asked. "Sounds serious."

"Don't tell her that," Rose said. "Although, speaking of Sirius, I need something he owned so I can find him and put an end to those wretched horrors outside."

Albus ran through his current assets for anything related to Sirius. He had a few possibilities, but only one he knew for certain.

"You'll want to ask Hagrid, then," Albus replied. "His motorbike used to belong to Sirius."

Rose shook her head, sending her bobbed hair flying.

"That's too easy," she said. "When that fails, what's our backup plan?"

Albus gave that some thought. Sirius was always friends with James, Peter, and Remus. With the deaths of the former two, Remus was all that was left of their group. Even though James was always Sirius's best friend, surely Remus must know something that could be helpful.

"I'll talk with Professor Lupin," Albus said. Noticing the blank stare he was receiving, he added, "He used to be friends with Sirius Black."

"Nothing about that surprises me," Rose replied. "I'm giving him a chance, since he's still better than Quirrell or Lockhart. You should screen your staff better."

"I agree, but unfortunately, not many people still apply for the position, and I can only call in so many favors."

"Oh! I've got an idea!"

"Teaching would require lots of boring paperwork."

"Never mind."

"I believe we've had this conversation before, haven't we?"

"No, I had it with Professor McGonagall, but I thought I'd ask again, just in case."

Albus smiled at the girl, happy that she was about back to normal.

"It's good to have you back, Rose."

"You're not the first person to tell me that today," Rose said. She beamed. "I must be special!"

"Indeed you are," Albus said. "Make sure to stop by and see Professor Lupin. He's worried about you."

"Worried" was putting it mildly. Remus was in his office, pacing back and forth like a caged dog. He was worried about the students, his job, and his condition. He knew he needed to take a break for the day soon, but he didn't want to leave the castle until Mses. Peta-Lorrum and Granger could be confirmed to be alright.

How had it gone so wrong? He had been doing fine, the students loved the boggart lesson, despite the harsh nature of a boggart, but now everything was falling apart. Remus had made the grave mistake of running into Septima earlier that day, and she chewed him out worse than Minerva ever had. Given his old gang of friends and the mischief they made, he didn't think such a feat was possible.

"My brother paces when he thinks sometimes."

Remus was startled by a high-pitched Scottish voice. He looked around wildly, then saw that Rose Peta-Lorrum had returned.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum!" he exclaimed.

"It's a lot faster to just call me 'Rose'."

"Rose, are you alright?"

She shrugged.

"I've been worse."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief, and felt as if an enormous weight had just been lifted from his shoulders.

One crisis down, he thought.

"How is Ms. Granger?" he asked.

"I fixed her up," Rose replied. She tilted her head. "Come to think of it, I don't think Madame Pomfrey likes it when I do that. Odd, considering she's in charge of keeping students healthy."

Remus let out a nervous laugh.

"I think she'd rather do it herself so she knows the work is good."

"I guess so," Rose said. "Professor Dumbledore seems to think I should let you know I'm alright. So, I'm alright."

"Thank you."

"And Professor Lupin, even though your class didn't go well, I trust you now."

Remus was confused. Why trust him after what had happened? He had forced the girl to face her worst nightmare, and failed to stop it from harming her best friend. None of the staff knew what that dragon was, or why Rose was terrified of it. This was the girl that could apparate at will despite a powerful ward against it, and that dragon scared her enough to run away.

"Why?"

"Because you tried to stop it. Quirrell and Lockhart would've stood there and laughed."

In spite of everything, Remus smiled. It was nice knowing he hadn't made a complete mess of things.

"Thank you, Rose. That means a lot."

Despite both girls having returned, neither Hermione nor Rose spent the night in Gryffindor Tower. Hermione was confined to the Hospital Wing until Madame Pomfrey deemed her well enough to leave, and Rose spent the night with Luna in Ravenclaw Tower.

"Peta-Lorrum, you're not supposed to be out of your room past curfew," Jackie Price, Luna's prefect, informed Rose when she found the crimson-haired girl sitting next to Luna's bed.

"Is it curfew yet?" Rose asked.

"You've got 10 minutes to get back to Gryffindor Tower, and I'm going to be checking up on Luna tonight, so I'd better not find you here."

"Okay," Rose said, knowing that Jackie was lying. Rose had spent the night in Ravenclaw Tower on multiple occasions, but she had never once seen Jackie check up on her girls. She always thought it odd, given that Alex checked up on them before and after her rounds, every night, like clockwork.

After Jackie descended the stairs, Rose turned to Luna, who was laying in bed.

"Does she know I can turn invisible?"

"She probably forgot," Luna replied. "Probably the wrackspurts again."

"They get everywhere," Rose agreed.

Luna smiled, trying to show Rose that she was alright. She knew she was scared, but she'd learned not to show when something hurt. Not even Rose could fix everything.

"Intelligencer's feeling better," Luna said.

"That was my fault," Rose said. "Inar, Int, and Ob all felt it when I saw that thing." She shuddered.

"Rose?"

"Yeah, Luna?"

"I'm sorry for what that dragon did to you."

"You don't even know what it did."

"I guess not. It still scared you, so it must've been bad."

Rose gave a weak smile. She couldn't tell anyone. She couldn't tell them just how bad it was, not only because it was hard for her to talk about, but because it'd be even harder for them to hear. It was a burden that she and she alone had to bear.

"Thanks, Luna," Rose said. "It was horrible, but you don't need to worry about it."

"Okay."

Rose's head was still spinning from everything that had happened. She'd seen her worst nightmare come to life, then talked with her brother, sister, and best friend, not over the telepathic network, but in person.

It was okay now, though. Now, she could start to unwind before figuring out what to do next. She could let Ron and Hermione be in charge of that. They were better at it, and, most importantly, she didn't feel like it at that moment.

Luna opened her eyes and felt a surge of fear when saw she was in the cave again. She instantly knew it was a dream, but she couldn't wake up. She tried to run away, but something was holding her down. No matter how hard she struggled and fought against it, she couldn't break free.

"Help me!" she shouted.

"Luna!"

Luna spirits rose when she heard Rose's voice calling out to her. Rose would save her. Rose wasn't usually in this dream, but maybe it was a different one that did include Rose.

"Rose!"

Her heart sank when she looked around and didn't see her crimson-haired friend. She had to be around there somewhere, but Luna could hardly see in the dimly lit cave.

Luna was trapped in a nightmare, one that always ended the same. She took some comfort in knowing that she had started near the end. The worst was already past, but that wouldn't stop the beast looming over her from killing her. It always did.

"Luna! Wake up!"

"Help me!" Luna shouted again, struggling against the claw that was pressing harder into her stomach.

"I wish she were awake!"

The cave faded away, and Luna looked around in a panic. Rose was holding her tightly, a hint of fear in the girl's eyes. Luna's roommates looked at her with mild concern, although Jackie, who was also joining them, just looked angry.

"Peta-Lorrum, what did you do?!" demanded Jackie.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked Luna, ignoring the angry prefect.

Luna didn't reply, but buried her face in Rose's chest.

"It's alright, Little Moon," Rose whispered softly, stroking Luna's hair. "It was just a nightmare. It's over now."

"Peta-Lorrum, if you don't leave, I'll–"

"Silence!" Rose hissed.

Jackie opened her mouth to shout at Rose more, but no sound came out. Rose didn't want to deal with Luna's incompetent prefect just that round.

<Rose, I'm not sure this is a good place for Luna to be right now,> Reflectesalon informed her.

<I've noticed,> Rose replied, looking around at the other students.

Most of Luna's housemates looked annoyed that Luna had woken them up, and Jackie was furious about being muted. It made Rose wonder how Luna had dealt with them for so long.

"I'm taking Luna to Gryffindor Tower," Rose informed them. "Tell who you like, just remember that any points I lose will be given back by Professor Dumbledore at the end of term, and the professors hate spending time with me, so detentions aren't likely."

Without another word, Rose grabbed Luna's pack and brought herself and Luna to Gryffindor Tower. It was close to midnight, so everyone was asleep. Rose laid Luna down in her bed, then pulled the covers over her.

"Thank you, Rose," Luna said quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

"You'll be better off here. Alex won't mind you staying the night. She's nice."

Luna held Intelligencer close as she settled into the unused bed.

"Rose… erm…"

"What is it, Little Moon?"

Luna smiled at hearing her mum's pet name for her. She loved that name. To other people, it was just a name, but to her, it was a promise that the nightmares would all go away, and that everything would be alright. It was hope that even without her mum, the good days would return.

"Can you sing a lullaby?"

Rose smiled back at Luna.

"That's the only thing I can sing."

Just as her mum had done for her hundreds of times, Rose softly sang her lullaby and stroked Luna's hair. As she sang the line "Silver, how it gleams", an idea struck Rose. As she finished up the second verse, she added a new one:

Red like Roses

The snow glistens white

I'm always here for you

Everything's alright

After Luna fell back asleep, Rose settled in next to her for the night.

"Rose, hasn't Hermione told you not to kidnap Luna?"

Rose looked up and saw Alex standing over her.

"She had a bad dream," Rose said.

"Rose–"

"She was screaming and thrashing in her sleep."

Alex stopped short, and her exhaustion changed to concern.

"How's she doing?"

"Better now that she's somewhere where people ask about her well-being and not just whine about the presence of an outsider."

"What?"

It was three o'clock in the morning, so Alex was already tired, but as she began to understand the situation, she became angry. Alex knew all the prefects, so she'd met Jackie Price on several occasions. She also knew that Luna had been harassed by Ravenclaw the previous year, so she was already sceptical about Jackie's ability to take care of her girls. Now, Rose, who had proven to be a credible source in the past, was telling her that Jackie didn't even think to ask if Luna was okay, but instead got annoyed at Rose's presence in Ravenclaw Tower.

"Not even a word about it. No 'Is Luna okay?' or 'What's wrong with Lovegood?'," Rose confirmed.

Alex took a deep breath to calm herself down, then began to work out a plan of attack.

"Thanks for informing me, Rose."

"She's my little sister!"

"Do you just decide people are part of your family?"

"Only when they are!"

In spite of everything, Alex laughed at the absurdity of it all. Rose had to be the strangest person she'd ever met, evidenced by her deciding that Luna was her sister being the least weird thing she'd ever done.

"Good to have you back, Rose," Alex said. "Like I said at dinner: I'm glad you're alright, and if you ever want to talk, I'm always available."

Rose nodded.

"Good night, Rose."

"Good night, Alex. Thanks for being the best prefect ever."

Alex smiled with pride. Even if she hadn't gotten her dream of Head Girl, it was nice to know that she was still doing her job well.

As Rose had suspected, Hagrid was of no help to them. Apparently, someone had ripped his bike to pieces less than a week ago.

"That's no good to me, then," Rose said. "Even if it's repaired, it might not count as the same bike that Sirius owned, so it won't work reliably."

"I'm sorry I can't be any help ter ye," Hagrid replied. "Especially after what happened with Buckbeak. If it hadn't been fer ye kids, he'd a been in a lot o' trouble."

"I'm glad everything worked out," Sally-Anne said.

She felt a little bad for Professor Hagrid. He got a lot of grief about his teaching methods, but she really liked his classes. They were more engaging than most classes, especially given her apathy towards the subject. She was only taking Care for Magical Creatures because her friends were, but it was hard not to get excited after hearing Professor Hagrid talk about whatever dangerous animal they were going to be learning about that day. His enthusiasm reminded her a little of how her dad talked about theatre, and it was just as contagious.

"So now what?" Neville asked.

"What else?" Rose replied. "We continue with Plan B. We've got Charms next, so after that, we ask Professor Flitwick to show us the Patronus Charm."

"I still can't believe Snape told her," Ron said.

"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected.

"What if Professor Flitwick doesn't tell us?" Harry asked, once again the voice of pessimism.

"Then we start asking every professor about it," Rose replied.

"He didn't mind showing me the summoning charm," Ron said. "I think he likes it when people ask him strange questions."

"I think it's simpler than that," Sally-Anne said. "He likes it when students take an interest in Charms."

"Better than Madame Pomfrey," Harry said. "What did Ron do wrong?"

"It's impossible for a professional to work with an amateur trying to tell them how to do their job," Hermione said. "Mum and Dad have that problem all the time."

"How'd she get away with it?" Harry asked.

"Her official reason was sedating Cohort for his own good to prevent a panic attack," Rose said.

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"Harry, calm down," Sally-Anne said.

"How does she know?" Ron asked.

"She just had Ref tell her," Hermione said. "Honestly, how else does she learn anything?"

Ron was beginning to get annoyed. Ever since Rose had gotten back, it was as if he had just faded into the background. Hermione no longer paid him any attention, and people kept shooting him down whenever he made a suggestion. He might as well not exist.

It wasn't that he liked Hermione or anything, but she challenged him at chess. She was an insufferable know-it-all the rest of the time, but it was more fun to play against her than almost anyone else. With Rose taking up all her time, there was no way she was going to bother with him.

The more Ron dwelt on it, the more annoyed he became. All through Charms he tossed idea after idea around in his head.

Hermione's just happy Rose is back, he told himself. Things will be back to normal soon.

That's just what you said when Percy was named Head Boy, he argued. No one seemed to care what you did last year, nor that your marks were almost perfect. It was all 'Oh! Percy made Head Boy! Who cares that Ron helped kill a basilisk?'

Hermione's better than that. You'll see.

Says who? Hermione's always cared more about Rose, who already has the entire school talking about her. Every time there's a choice between you and Rose, Hermione's going to pick Rose. Remember what Charlie said over the summer? Mum and Dad have always liked him and Bill and Percy better than us. Everyone likes them better than you.

Except Harry and Hermione, and that's not what Charlie said. He said that you're one of seven kids, and you've got to share Mum and Dad. He said that they could do better showing that they care, but they do care.

Right. They care, they just care more about Harry.

Like Hermione said, Sirius Black's probably just after Harry. That's why they're worried. If he were after you, they'd be just as worried about you.

"Ron!"

Ron looked around and saw that people were starting to leave.

"Class is over," Sally-Anne said. "Did you fall asleep again?"

"No!" Ron shouted defensively. "I'm fine!"

Sally-Anne had spent part of the class listening to Ron's argument with himself, so she knew what was bothering him now. Similarly to Harry, there was just nothing she could do about it.

"Sorry," she said.

Some protector I turned out to be, Sally-Anne thought as she, Rose, and Hermione left for Runes.

"Professor Flitwick!" Ron called as he and the other two boys approached the teacher.

"Mr. Weasley! I hear you're becoming quite the expert summoner!"

"I guess," he said.

"Professor, we were wondering about the…" Neville closed his eyes as he concentrated on the name. "Pat… Patron…"

"Patronus Charm?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"That!" Neville exclaimed, glad that he had remembered enough of it to be understood.

"I've had a lot of students asking about that lately," Professor Flitwick replied. "It's to be expected, given the Dementors on our front doorstep. What would you like to know?"

"Anything you can tell us would be helpful," Neville said. "We've all got a free period now."

"Wonderful," Professor Flitwick said. "There will be another class in here soon, but I'm glad that I don't have to worry about keeping any of you. The Patronus Charm is an interesting spell, since it doesn't have wand motions as many other spells do. That's not to say that it doesn't use a wand, of course. Instead of using a wand movement, the energy for the spell is generated by a happy memory. The happier the memory, the stronger the spell. This results in a variety of different manifestations of the Patronus Charm."

The Charms Professor drew his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Before their eyes, a silvery, glowing orb appeared. It floated around the professor for a moment before vanishing.

"That is the most basic manifestation of it. The next form is that of a shield, which is often sufficient to ward off Dementors. However, the most powerful form is this."

Once again, he cast the charm, but this time, a silvery owl sprang out of his wand. It flew around the classroom, catching the attention the first-years that had just arrived.

"It is often said that the animal is indicative of the caster's personality," Professor Flitwick explained as the owl vanished. "Others say it is simply an animal for which the caster has an affinity. I once knew a man nearly as large as Professor Hagrid whose Patronus was a mouse."

"That's brilliant," Harry breathed.

"I can tell by the looks on your faces that you'd like to know more, so I'll direct you to Professor Lupin. It is his job, after all, to teach you to defend yourselves against dark creatures such as our unwelcomed guests. He's also got quite a knack for the Patronus Charm."

"Thank you, Professor!" Neville said as the three of them started to leave.

"My pleasure, gentlemen. Would you do me a favor?"

"Sure," Neville said.

"Tell Ms. Peta-Lorrum I say 'thank you'. She did the right thing helping Ms. Lovegood, no matter what anyone else says."

Neville looked to his two companions, but they had already left the room.

"I will," Neville said.

"That's what Professor Babbling said," Rose said when Neville told her.

"How's she allowed to be a prefect if she treats Luna like that?" Neville asked.

"Percy's allowed to be a prefect," Ron said, chuckling at his own joke.

"That's a horrible thing to say about your brother," Sally-Anne said. "Alex says there's more to being a prefect than just watching a few students. That's just the part she's best at."

"There's also sucking up to the professors," Ron said. "That's the part Percy's best at."

In another part of the castle, someone else was also seeing to Luna's well-being.

"Jackie," Alex greeted the Ravenclaw prefect.

"What do you want, Nertlyn?" Jackie spat. "Here to gloat?"

"No," Alex replied. "I'm here to hear your side of the story."

"One of your kids broke into Ravenclaw Tower and stole one of mine. That's what happened."

"And the rest?" Alex asked.

"That's it."

Alex pressed her lips together and nodded, delighted that her encounter was going as expected.

"Okay."

In a flash, Alex had Jackie physically pinned to the castle wall.

"Don't waste time struggling. I've got three little cousins that don't listen to words or reason, and I can't use magic outside of school. I've gotten good at intimidating people. I don't like to, but I can."

"Let go!"

"If I ever hear that you ignored one of your girls when she was suffering again, I will personally see to it that you're stripped of your prefect status, and that it's added to your transcript. That way, everyone will know what happened."

"You can't!"

"I will. You don't get to pick and choose which of your students you help. You help all of them. That's what it means to be a prefect. You put your own needs aside and help your students, because some of them haven't got anyone else."

"Lovegood's a freak! So is Peta-Lorrum! You only want a reason to be mad at Ravenclaw because Clearwater was picked for Head Girl and not you! Everyone knows you wanted it!"

That struck a nerve. Alex had her wand on Jackie before she herself knew what she was doing. Her anger threatened to boil over when she saw Jackie smirk.

"Go ahead, Nertlyn. Do it. Show everyone that you're not really Little Ms. Perfect."

Instead of blasting the girl's head off, as Alex would've liked to have done, she took a step back, allowing Jackie to fall to the floor.

"Here's how it's going to be from now on," Alex said as Jackie climbed to her feet. "You treat Luna like she's blood. If you don't, I'm not going to stop Rose next time she tries to go out and kill you in your sleep. And I'll get you removed as a prefect, because I might not be Head Girl, but I am friends with the Head Boy."

Alex looked Jackie dead in the eye.

"And if you ever call one of my girls a freak again, I'll kill you myself," she hissed.

Alex stormed off, satisfied that she had accomplished something.

After a moment, she realized in horror what she'd done. She felt awful about it, but at the same time, told herself that it needed to be done. Among her group, she had an orphan and two Muggle-borns, all of whom had counted on her at some time or another. Alex couldn't stand the thought of leaving one of her girls, even those who didn't need it, to fend for herself.

We just thought better of you, Alexandra. I guess we were wrong.

"You're not a kid anymore, Alex," she told herself, shaking off a bad memory. "It didn't have to be done like that. You're an adult, so you should handle it like an adult."

It was lunchtime, but she figured if she moved quickly, she could intercept Professor McGonagall on her way to lunch.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," she muttered as she walked quickly through the halls. "Next time, Alex, let one of the professors handle it."

Professor McGonagall told her the same thing not a minute later.