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justsomewritingblog · 5 months

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Late Night Lessons

Request: None

Requested By: Nobody

Prompt: "You are possibly the worst I've ever trained." "Thanks for the encouragement."

Pairing: Harry Potter x Gryffindor!OC/reader

Summary: Drastic measures are taken when Umbridge takes over Hogwarts, forcing the students to practice magic on their own. A certain Gryffindor is having difficulties, though...

Warnings: some mentions of injury and wounds (Umbridge's detentions), distant family

A/N: I know they had the meeting in Hogsmeade before finding the Room of Requirement, but the conversation felt like it flowed naturally this way, so I left it.

Word Count: 5K+

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was the worst year of my life.

Dolores Umbridge had taken over the school, restricting everything under the sun and causing torment for anyone that even thought about stepping out of the line she had drawn.

I walked with Hermione back to the Common Room, grumbling about the lack of practice in DADA.

“I mean, honestly,” I complained, “how does she expect us to defeat Voldemort if we can’t get any practice?”

“I know. The readings aren’t even very useful.”

“They’re useless!” I gestured wildly. “It’s not like Voldemort’s going to quiz us when he finally decides to rear his ugly head.”

Hermione was silent as I continued to rant, waving my free hand through the air and nearly accidentally slapping her a couple times.

I could feel my anger rising the more I spoke, just thinking about the situation getting me more and more upset.

“We need a workaround,” Hermione interrupted.

I turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“We need a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Someone with experience.”

I let out a scoff. “And who would that be?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t know if I can, Hermione.”

“Harry, we don’t have much of a choice,” the muggle-born pressed. “You’re perfect for the job.”

“And what if we get caught,” Ron questioned. “We’re likely to be in some serious trouble.”

I leaned forward in my seat. “Then we’ll just have to make sure we don’t get caught, won’t we?”

The three turned to me.

“And how do you propose we do that,” Harry questioned.

“I’m not sure yet. But we need to find a safe place.” I held my chin in thought. “Somewhere that’s off the radar…that we can work in privacy and security.”

The room fell silent as we all thought.

“An empty classroom might do it,” Ron suggested.

“It might,” I acknowledged.

“We’d have to place some protection charms, then,” Hermione noted. “Just in case someone walks in.”

“Especially if it’s noisy.”

“We’re bound to draw attention to ourselves either way,” Harry spoke up. “If anyone sees a bunch of students going to the same place-”

“That’s an easy fix,” I said. “We’ll just have to split up into smaller groups of twos and threes and have everyone show up at different times.” I looked over at Harry, holding his gaze in an attempt to provide him some assurance and strength. “No one will be the wiser.”

A few beats passed and he nodded.

“It’s settled, then.” Hermione looked between the three of us. “We’ll start looking tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’d probably be best if we split up,” I whispered to Hermione, Harry and Ron. “We can cover more ground that way.” I shrugged one shoulder. “And maybe it’ll look less suspicious.”

The three nodded.

“I’ll take this side,” Hermione gestured behind her. “Harry, you take that way,” she pointed to her left, “Davies, you that way,” she pointed ahead of herself, behind me, “and Ron, you that way,” she gestured to the right.

“What are we doing?”

Everyone spun to face the new voice.

“Neville…” I greeted with a grin that looked more like an anxious grimace. “What’s going on?”

He looked down at me. “I was about to ask the same thing.” His gaze shifted between everyone in the group.

We all exchanged glances.

“We’re building an army,” Harry admitted quietly. “We’re looking for somewhere private and safe to practice magic.”

“You can help us look, if you want,” Ron piped up.

Neville was silent for a few moments before nodding. “Which way do I go?”

“Er…” I trailed off. “Wherever you want, I guess?”

“We already each have a way, so you can pick your own,” Harry said.

“Unless I group with Hermione, or two of you boys group,” I suggested, crossing my arms. “Since boys and girls aren’t supposed to be within six inches of each other.”

Silence followed.

“I’ll go with Harry,” Ron finally said. He glanced over at his friend. “We’re always together, anyway. It might look more suspicious if we’re apart.”

“Good point,” I admitted.

“Alright.” Harry nodded, looking between everyone. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

I made my way through the school, observing every door. With each one I passed I mentally made notes on them. So many of them were in crowded halls. There was no way we were going to be able to use them secretly.

Letting out a huff, I tugged on my hair in annoyance as I turned another corner.

Dead end.

With a sigh, I headed back to the Common Room.

Maybe the others had better luck.

~~~~~~~~~

I strode back to the Common Room as quickly as I could, desperate to hear how the others did. Approaching the Fat Lady, I instantly supplied the password, not even slowing my steps and walking inside.

The portrait closed behind me.

My name was called and I turned, seeing the golden trio and Neville waving me over. I walked over, sitting on the floor between Harry and Hermione. “How’d we do,” I asked.

“Neville found a secret room,” Harry supplied quietly, leaning over to avoid the rest of the students hearing.

I looked over at him, slightly taken aback by the proximity and the intensity of his blue eyes. I blinked before clearing my throat. “That’s great,” I said hoarsely. I forced my gaze to Neville. “Where is it?”

“It just appeared on the wall. I’ll show you guys when I can.”

“We want in, too.”

We all snapped our heads to the voice, seeing Fred and George leaning over us.

The matching serious expressions looked very out of place on their faces.

Harry looked up at them. “Fine.”

“We should find out who else is interested,” Hermione suggested.

“We have to be careful, though.” I looked over at her. “We don’t want anyone telling Professor Umbridge,” I warned.

“Who do we really trust? We can’t exactly just send out an advertisement,” Hermione said.

The group fell silent.

“We’ll work on that,” Harry decided.

I nodded and looked over at Neville. “Where’s this room?”

~~~~~~~~~

“You’ve done it, Neville,” Hermione said as you all observed the large, open room. “You’ve found the Room of Requirement.”

“The what,” Ron asked.

“It’s also known as The Come and Go Room,” she expanded. “The Room of Requirement only appears when a person has real need of it, and is always equipped for the seeker’s needs.”

“So…say you really needed a toilet…”

Everyone turned to look at the redhead.

“Charming, Ronald,” Hermione said. “But yes…that is the general idea.”

“It’s brilliant,” Harry finally spoke up. “It’s like Hogwarts wants us to fight back.”

I looked around before turning to Harry. “Maybe it does.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Neville stared at the practice dummy, his wand raised.

Harry gave an encouraging nod.

Neville looked back to the dummy. “Expelliarmus!” His wand flew backwards out of his hand.

I, and everyone else in line, ducked out of the way.

“I’m hopeless,” Neville mourned.

“You-you’re just flourishing your wand too much,” Harry advised. He held up his own wand. “Try like this.” Looking at the dummy, he flicked his wand. “Expelliarmus!”

The dummy’s ‘wand’ flew onto the floor.

I grinned.

The line in front of me shortened as Ron, Hermione and Luna all tried, each with varying levels of success.

Harry looked over at me. “Your turn.”

I nodded, stepping forward and raising my wand. Taking a deep breath, I narrowed my eyes at the dummy. “Expelliarmus!”

The fake wand shot out of its hand, landing a few feet away.

I grinned as I put my wand in my pocket.

“Nice work,” Harry said, nodding at me with a smile as he placed the wand back in the dummy’s hand for the next student.

I beamed at him, moving to the side to allow Fred to go.

“Great job,” Hermione whispered to me as Fred and George easily performed the spell.

“Thanks,” I whispered back. “You, too.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal,” Harry stated, walking between the two sides we had formed. “It-it’s sort of a wizard’s bread and butter, really.”

I made a confused face at the odd analogy.

Ron chuckled.

“...on then, Nigel,” Harry said. “Give me your best shot.”

Everyone turned to look at the first- or was that second- year boy standing several paces opposite an unarmed Harry.

The ginger boy shuffled a little on his feet before aiming his wand at Harry. “Stupefy!”

The spell hit Harry and he shot backwards, landing hard on his back.

Nigel also got flown backwards, though not as far.

I winced.

“Good,” Harry said, a little breathless as he pushed himself off the floor. “Not bad…at all, Nigel. Well done.” He stood, clearing his throat and dusting off his hands. “Next.”

Ron and Hermione stepped forward, sharing a quiet exchange, before Ron walked to the other side of the room, standing where Harry had.

They studied each other for a moment.

Ron opened his mouth, but he was too slow.

Hermione yelled out the spell, shooting Ron backwards.

I covered my mouth with my hand, eyes wide.

“Next.”

I stepped forward, turning to see who else had joined me.

One of the Weasley twins stood before me, too far away to tell which one it was.

I did my best to mask my apprehension.

“I’ll go easy on you, love,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “I am two years ahead of you, after all.”

“Don’t do me any favors, Weasley,” I shot back, trying to force my nerves down as I raised my wand.

The twin shrugged, moving back to the spot Ron had previously occupied.

“You got this, Freddie,” the other twin called.

I narrowed my eyes at the twin I now knew to be Fred, swallowing a lump in my throat. I snapped my arm forward, yelling out “stupefy!”

Fred blocked it with another spell, sending a “stupefy” my way.

The spell came at me so quickly I had no time to deflect it.

I flew backwards, landing on the ground with a very audible thud. I winced.

Fred leaned over me moments later. “Sorry, Davies.”

I groaned. “I thought you said you’d take it easy on me.”

He shrugged, giving me a cheeky grin. “You said not to do you any favors.”

Letting out a huff, I nodded in recognition.

His grin grew as he reached down a hand to help me up. Pulling me to my feet, he clapped a hand on my shoulder before walking back to his counterpart.

“Next,” Harry called.

I rubbed at my back as I moved out of the way for the next students.

“Are you alright,” Harry asked quietly.

I turned to look at him, meeting his concerned gaze. “I’ll be fine.” I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He held my eyes a moment longer before nodding, turning sharply away from me to look at the dueling students.

~~~~~~~~~

“Have you heard?”

I turned my head to Hermione briefly before looking back towards where I was going. “Heard what?”

“Professor Umbridge is holding interrogations between classes,” she hissed.

I snapped my head towards her.

“She knows something’s going on.”

My steps slowed to a stop. I stared at Hermione for a long moment. “She can’t get to us, can she? I mean…” I lowered my voice to a whisper, “won’t the Room know that it needs to keep her out and adjust for it?”

“I don’t know. I suppose it depends on the magic of Hogwarts in comparison to her own.”

I huffed, falling into step beside Hermione as she started walking again.

After several beats of silence, Hermione quietly wondered “I wonder what she uses to try to get the students to talk…”

I frowned. “I don’t want to know.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Very good- keep your concentration,” Harry said as he made his way through the groups of students. “Nice work.”

I focused on levitating one of the third years, my eyes narrowed as I tried to keep him up.

“Good job,” Harry’s soft voice came from right beside my ear.

My attention faltered, the third year dropping slightly before I regained focus and kept him hovering, though lower than previously.

“Widen your stance just a little,” Harry advised.

I felt a pair of hands land on my waist, a foot working its way between mine to shove them a little further apart.

A quiet, but audible gasp escaped me as my face flared.

The boy fell.

I blinked at him. “I am so sorry.”

He stood, rubbing his elbow. “It’s alright.”

I turned to glare at Harry, who stood only a few inches away from me.

Our eyes locked and my expression, without my consent, lost most of its malice.

He looked over at me. “Sorry.”

I hummed, wanting to look angry at him, but finding myself unable to.

He held my gaze before clearing his throat. “Try again.”

At my hesitant nod, he moved on.

I let out a harsh exhale, turning back to the third year. “Are you ready to try again?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you?”

~~~~~~~~~

“Working hard is important,” Harry began, adjusting people’s grips on their wands as they practiced against each other. “But there’s something that matters even more: believing in yourself.” He helped a student send a spell at another before moving on, after looking to see if they were alright. “Think of it this way…every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now…students.” He continued to move through the room, maneuvering around people. “If they can do it, why not us?”

I smiled.

Harry pulled out the practice dummy again, wheeling it between everyone. “Form a circle.”

Everyone walked closer.

“Now, don’t let the dummy touch you,” he instructed. “If it gets close, send a spell at it to knock it away.”

I pulled out my wand. “Sounds like a game, Harry,” I said, grinning.

He grinned back. “It is. Kind of.” He looked back to the rest of the students. “Alright- someone send the first spell.”

Fred was quick to cast a “stupefy” at the dummy.

It shot across from him, towards one of the fourth years.

“Wingardium leviosa!”

The dummy spun around the room, getting spell upon spell cast at it.

“Stupefy!”

It spun to Neville.

“Expelliarmus!”

It rocketed towards Ginny.

“Reducto!”

The dummy exploded into ashes.

Everyone whipped their heads to face the youngest Weasley in amazement.

“Geez, Ginny,” I muttered, looking back to the pile.

~~~~~~~~~

Harry moved to step in front of everyone, Ron and Hermione on either side of him. “So, that’s it for this lesson. Now, we’re not going to be meeting again until after the holidays…”

Disappointed groans filled the room.

“So, just keep practicing on your own as best you can, and- and well done everyone. Great, great work,” he said with a proud smile.

Everyone clapped.

Students began to file out of the room, thanking him as they went.

I hung in the back with Ron and Hermione, waiting for everyone to get their turn, as well as not having everyone rushing out of the same place at the same time.

We didn’t need to draw more attention to ourselves than we already had.

Once everyone had left, Harry approached the three of us.

“Good job, Harry,” I said, smiling at him.

“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “Well done, mate.”

Hermione grinned. “I told you that you’d do well, Harry.”

The Boy Who Lived stopped in front of us. “Thanks.” He looked between us. “You’re all doing really well, too.”

“Well, it helps to have a teacher with experience,” I stated. “The only other people here with experience like that are actual teachers, and they can’t help us.”

Ron and Hermione sent quiet goodbyes our way, saying they’d see us in the Common Room.

I waved.

“See you, guys,” Harry replied. When the two left, Harry turned back to me.

Silence filled the air.

I wrapped my arms around myself, lowering my gaze to the floor as I scuffed my foot against the stone. Clearing my throat, and without looking up, I asked “do you have any plans for the holidays?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t really have a family to go back to, and Sirius is…” he trailed off.

“Elsewhere,” I supplied.

Harry nodded before looking up at me. “What about you?”

“I’m staying at Hogwarts for the holidays,” I confessed.

Harry addressed me silently for a few moments. “Do you have a family?”

I looked over at him. “Yes. But they’re away.” I turned my head to the side, looking at the wall. “Some business trip, or something.”

“Well, we’ll be here together, at least.”

My gaze shifted to the boy and I let a small smile form on my face. “Yeah.”

We stood in a few more beats of silence before Harry spoke up.

“We should get going. I think enough time has passed.”

I nodded, gesturing to the door. “After you, Potter.”

~~~~~~~~~

“I snagged these from the kitchen.” Grinning, I set a plate of cookies down on the table in the Common Room.

Harry looked up at me from his spot on the couch, his expression a mix of amusement and shock. “You stole them?”

I shrugged one shoulder, sitting down beside him as I picked up a cookie. “We practically have Hogwarts to ourselves.” I bit off part of the cookie and chewed it. “Unless these were for the teachers.”

Harry reached forward, taking a cookie for himself. “Well, if you’re eating them, I might as well.”

I sent a crooked grin his way. “I really pulled your arm there, didn’t I, Potter?”

He chuckled, a little bashfully, as he ate his treat.

We fell into silence, the only sounds being our own breathing and the crackling of the fireplace.

The fire’s warm glow filled the room, the heat radiating off of it covering me like a cozy blanket.

The Christmas tree sparkled in the corner, snow falling in front of the window.

I let out a long content sigh, relaxing into the couch and letting my eyes flutter closed.

This was the epitome of comfort.

The couch shifted beside me and I opened my eyes, turning to look at Harry.

He glanced at me before looking back at the table sheepishly. “Sorry.”

I chuckled. “You’re good.”

The silence that followed was slightly tense.

“Is Christmas your favorite holiday,” I asked, leaning forward to better see Harry, resting my elbows on my knees.

He looked over at me. “Probably.” Glancing back at the cookie tray, he rubbed his hands together. “It was never very nice with my Aunt and Uncle, but since coming to Hogwarts, I’ve enjoyed it more. I get to spend the holiday with the people I care about.” He looked over at me. “If that makes sense.”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

“What about you?”

I clasped my hands together, looking at them. “Well… my family isn’t very close.” I pulled my hands apart, gesturing with my right. “We would spend the holiday together, but it wasn’t like the Christmas’ I would hear about from the other families I knew. Theirs would be filled with laughter and happy memories.” I looked at the fireplace, resolutely not looking at the boy next to me. “I got presents, and we would be together all day, but…” I trailed off, shrugging. “I don’t know. It just…felt fake.” I finally looked over at Harry, meeting his concerned blue eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

I smiled somewhat sadly. “Well, like you said, now I have Hogwarts. I have you, Hermione and Ron.” My smile grew. “I have Ginny, the twins, Seamus…” Reaching forward, I grabbed Harry’s left hand with my right. “I enjoy Christmas a lot more than I used to, too,” I finalized, reaching forward to grab another cookie with my free hand.

Harry smiled, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before grabbing another cookie, himself. “Merry Christmas, Davies,” he said quietly as we settled back into the couch.

“Merry Christmas, Potter.”

~~~~~~~~~

I made my way to Harry’s class, strolling through the castle halls. I was still going to be early, and I had to make sure to not draw any suspicion to myself, so I wasn’t hurrying. Nearing the entrance to the Room of Requirement, I turned a corner.

The sight had my steps faltering slightly.

I quickly recovered, crossing my arms and halting in my steps, plastering a confident smirk on my face. “Well, if it isn’t Malfoy and his goons… formerly.”

Draco sneered, marching towards me with quick steps, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him.

They walked behind him, as they always did.

I briefly wondered if they knew that Draco only kept them around to be his bodyguards and viewed them as no more than that.

“What did you say, Davies?” Draco’s tone was harsh as he approached me, using his height to try to intimidate me.

I looked up at him. “Well, I said ‘formerly’, because you’re no longer ‘Malfoy’s gang’.” I took my time in raking my gaze across the three of them, eyes drifting across the badges they’d received from our new ‘headmaster’, letting my words sink in. “I’d say ‘Umbridge’s puppets’ is much more fitting…” I looked up and held Draco’s cool gaze, lowering my voice slightly, making sure to add bite to it. “Don’t you?”

Anger flashed through his gray-ish blue eyes. “I could take you in, Davies,” he said sternly, gesturing at the badge hanging from his robe. “I have the authority.”

I let out a short laugh. “For what?”

He looked down at the space between us before looking back up at my eyes. “You’re within six inches of me, Davies.”

“You invaded my space,” I reminded.

Malfoy grabbed my arm, leaning down slightly to crowd me as he gave a vicious smirk. “Professor Umbridge doesn’t know that.”

My eyes widened as he dragged me away.

~~~~~~~~~

I hurried to the Common Room, cradling my hand to my chest. Stopping in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, I wiped my watery eyes and quickly uttered the password.

The portrait swung open, even as the Fat Lady looked at me with concern.

Stepping in, I went to make a beeline straight to my dorm but a call of my name had me halting in my quest.

I closed my eyes. If I didn’t go over, they would know something was wrong. Taking a brief second to steel myself, I turned around, approaching the three Gryffindors sitting on the couch. “What’s up, guys?” I forced my tone to sound more cheerful.

“What happened,” Hermione questioned. “You weren’t in class…” she prompted quietly.

“I…” I pulled my sleeves down over my hands. “I got held up.”

“We were worried about you,” Ron said.

I smiled at him. “Thanks, Ron.”

“You missed a good lesson,” Hermione informed. “We started learning about how to cast a Patronus.”

“Really?” I shifted my gaze to Harry before looking back at Hermione. “How’d it go?”

“It’s bloody hard,” Ron deadpanned.

Hermione gave him a slightly exasperated look before smiling up at me. “It is difficult, but we’ll get it.” She looked over the red head to look at the Boy Who Lived. “Harry’s been trying to walk us through it.”

I shifted my gaze to Harry. “How’s that been going?”

He smiled. “It’s the hardest thing we’ve done yet, so it’s a little challenging.”

I nodded, looking to the wall as my hand trembled. I slowly reached my other hand over, resting it on top of it.

“Are you alright?”

My head whipped back to look over at Harry, dropping my hand instantly. “Yeah. Why?”

Harry looked at me for a few moments before holding his hand out, palm up. “Can I see your hand?”

Hermione and Ron fell silent, turning to look at us.

I stared at Harry, remaining as stoic as I could. I gave him my right hand.

He didn’t break eye contact with me. “The other one.”

“Harry-” I tried to protest, but he reached forward, taking my left hand carefully and rolling up my sleeve. I winced at the sudden air to the open wound, as well as the knowledge that everyone was staring at it.

Everyone gasped.

‘I must not harass boys’ was carved across my hand.

Harry looked up to meet my eyes, his blue eyes filled with fury. “What-”

“It was Malfoy,” I interrupted, looking down at the words in my irritated skin. I cleared my throat, trying to get rid of the lump that formed there. “He claimed I had crossed the ‘six inch’ rule to get at him.” I clenched my right hand. “In reality, he was the one that invaded my space.” Letting out a huff, I moved my gaze from my hand to the floor. “But of course, it was the testimonies of three against one.”

“Crabbe and Goyle,” Ron supplied, frowning.

I nodded.

Hermione reached out, holding my other hand.

I looked up at the ceiling, trying to force the tears away.

A silence fell over the group, which Ron thankfully broke.

“Malfoy’s the worst.”

~~~~~~~~~

“That’s it.” Harry walked through the students. “Think of a powerful memory. The happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up. Keep trying, Seamus.” He walked over to the twins. “George, your turn.”

George flicked his wand. “Expecto Patronum!”

Pale wisps, a whitish blue, spiraled out of his wand.

Harry continued walking. “A full-bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce, but shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents.”

Ginny’s wisps turned into a horse head that whinnied.

Harry beamed. “Fantastic, Ginny!” He kept walking. “Remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focused, so Luna-!”

The girl kept staring at the floor.

Hermione’s Patronus, an otter, floated around her head.

“Think of the happiest memory you can.”

“Expecto Patronum.” Neville’s wand let out a few spirals, but nothing more. He turned to Harry. “I’m trying.”

“I know,” Harry assured. “It’s good.” He moved on, even as Ron’s dog Patronus ran between Neville’s legs, knocking the boy over. “This is really advanced stuff, guys, you’re doing so well!”

A bunny formed in front of Luna, hopping around the room.

My wand sparked again.

I glared at it.

“Stupid wand,” I grumbled under my breath. The urge to throw the thing that had chosen me five years ago was getting increasingly difficult to ignore. I huffed, closing my eyes, trying to focus.

“How’s it going?”

I snapped my eyes open, looking over at Harry. I was certain he could guess based on the expression I was sure was on my face, but I humored him. “Dreadful.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Watch.” I closed my eyes again, focusing hard on my memory. I opened my eyes again, holding my wand out. “Expecto Patronum!”

My wand let out a few white sparks.

I looked over at Harry. “Maybe my wand’s busted.”

“I think that’s unlikely. What memory are you thinking of?”

I hesitated, gaze shifting between his eyes. “Getting my Hogwarts letter.”

“That’s your strongest happy memory?”

My gaze lowered to my wand. “It was all I could come up with.”

Harry pursed his lips, regarding me thoughtfully.

I shifted a little uncomfortably under his stare.

“We could try private sessions? I’ll work with you one on one.”

I sighed, nodding.

Harry clapped a hand on my shoulder before continuing on his way.

~~~~~~~~

Harry and I walked to the Room of Requirement, hidden under his invisibility cloak.

My heart raced as we strode through the empty halls, terrified of encountering a teacher and a little unnerved at being in such close proximity to anyone, let alone Harry Potter.

The Room of Requirement opened and we walked in, the door closing behind us.

Harry pulled the cloak off us and I let out a breath of relief.

“Merlin, that was scary,” I mumbled.

“Sneaking around after hours still unnerves me a little, too,” Harry remarked, dropping the cloak to the side. “It gets easier the more you do it, though.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Got it: break the rules more often.”

He deadpanned at me before his expression shifted into a grin. “Very funny.”

I grinned back. “I thought so.”

Harry shook his head, moving to stand beside me. “Alright. I hope you have your wand on you, or we’ll have to sneak all the way back.”

I grimaced, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wand, a quiet sigh of relief escaping me.

Harry nodded. “Good.” He gestured at me. “Alright, think of your happiest memory.”

I held my wand out in front of me, once more thinking of receiving my letter. “Expecto Patronum!”

Nothing.

Not even sparks.

I huffed.

“That’s okay. Try again,” Harry encouraged.

And so I did.

For half an hour.

“Do you have any happier memories?”

I looked over at Harry.

“Remember, it has to be strong,” he advised.

I huffed, closing my eyes. Getting my letter wasn’t enough. Maybe arriving at Hogwarts? Seeing the school for the first time was definitely one of my favorite memories.

Opening my eyes, I brought my wand forward, a new determination filling me. “Expecto Patronum!”

A few wisps left my wand before dying out.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

Harry patted my back. “That was an improvement.”

I whipped my head around to glare at him.

He pulled his hand off me, raising his hands in surrender and taking a step back. “Sorry.”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Harry.”

He pursed his lips. “Let’s go to bed. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Expecto Patronum!”

My wand produced a few wisps, lasting longer than before, but still dying out rather quickly.

Harry chuckled.

“Harry Potter!” I glared at him. “We have been doing this for almost a week- don’t you dare!”

He held up his hands. “Sorry. It’s just… you are possibly the worst I’ve ever trained.”

I deadpanned at him. “Thanks for the encouragement.”

“I think you need some happier memories,” he admitted, his smile fading.

I frowned, looking down at the ground. “Well, I won’t argue with that.”

He walked over to me. “What do you care about? What’s important to you?”

I lifted my gaze to meet his, staring at him in silence for several moments. “My friends. You, Hermione, Ron…”

Harry nodded. “So think of a memory with us. Was there a memory with us that filled you with such a happiness you’d never experienced before?”

I paused, looking away as I tried to think.

Meeting the golden trio was fun. I enjoyed listening to them as they told me about their adventures. Spending time in the library studying. Visits with Hagrid.

Then it came to me.

I remembered the Christmas holiday. I thought back to the warm fire, the tasty cookies I had snuck out of the kitchen, the comfortable silence, the winter coziness that I had shared with Harry.

I had never felt more content in my life.

I looked back up at Harry. Lifting myself to stand tall, I turned back to the open space before me and raised my wand. “Expecto Patronum!”

Pale wisps emerged from my wand, spiraling out.

A chestnut mare formed at the end of them, tossing its head and neighing.

Harry beamed. “You did it, Davies!”

I turned to face him, grinning. Reaching towards him, I pulled him into a tight hug. “Ugh, after weeks-!”

“You did it,” he congratulated, hugging me back.

I sighed in relief, resting my chin on his shoulder.

He mirrored the action for a few moments before we separated. “What was your memory?”

I blinked at him, face flushing. I wrapped him in another hug, just so I didn’t have to look at him.

He stiffened, taken aback, but returned the hug again.

“Do you remember the Christmas holidays…” I trailed off, keeping my arms around him.

I felt him nod against me. “Yeah.”

I paused. “Do you remember the night I stole the cookies from the kitchen? The snow was falling, and the Common Room was decorated…” I tightened my hold of him. “We were sitting on the couch… the whole place to ourselves…”

At Harry’s prolonged silence, I loosened my grip, pulling away slightly, but not enough to look at him.

“Harry?”

“I- I remember.”

I waited a few beats before stepping back so I could look at him.

He met my eyes, but I couldn’t read his expression.

I held his gaze, ignoring the way my voice wavered and my cheeks reddened. “It meant a lot to me, Harry.”

He swallowed. “It meant a lot to me, too.”

Staring at him, I tried to figure out what exactly he was trying to imply by that. I took a step towards him. “Did it,” I asked quietly.

He nodded, his gaze flickering to my lips briefly.

It was all the confirmation I needed.

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to his, closing my eyes.

He returned it instantly.