Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"In my defence, I have none, for never leaving well enough alone."

When Astoria made her way up to the Heads Common Room, she felt more hopeful. She had spent the entirety of the afternoon thinking up a happy memory that would be strong enough to conjure a full corporeal Patronus and she finally thought she had one.

"Good afternoon, Astoria!" Hermione smiled at her from the end of the corridor, "come on in!" She pushed open the door to the Heads Common Room and immediately Astoria's mouth fell open. "It's lovely isn't it, just like our common room."

Lovely was an understatement. It was nothing like the Slytherin Common room, light streamed in from all four corners of the room, illuminating it with golden sunlight. Armchairs were dotted around the room in all four house colours, scattered around various small tables. But the centrepiece, the centrepiece was the fireplace. A radiant golden flame brought a dancing glow into the room.

Astoria ran her hands across the armchairs, "this is far more than wonderful."

"So," Hemione pointed over to a suspicious chest in the corner of the room, "I borrowed a boggart and charmed it to only appear as a Dementor so we could have some practice, but that won't be for a while so don't panic. First, I thought we could just try some of the wand movements, and then cast the spell without any risk. How does that sound?"

Astoria had barely been paying attention, she was too enthralled by her surroundings, "sounds good Hermione."

Hermione sat herself down in front of the fireplace, "when you conjure a Patronus, you need a happy memory. It must be strong enough to repel all the darkness that the Dementors bring. But it doesn't have to be real."

This part stopped Astoria in her tracks, "what do you mean?"

"The memory, it doesn't have to have happened." Hermione explained to her, "as long as it would be a happy memory, you can just imagine it. Imagine a scenario that would make for a happy memory, I know it's what Harry did for his Defence Against the Dark Arts exams."

"I never knew that." Astoria was unsure if she even had the power to imagine a scenario powerful enough to repel a Dementor. Her imagination was strong, but she wasn't sure what she could even imagine that would be happy enough.

"For now, just think about the memory," shared Hermione, "think about what you can see, the smell, what you can touch." She guided Astoria through her memory.

Astoria closed her eyes and let herself be transported back in time. Back to a happier memory.

She let herself sink into the chorus of sun-warmed grains, letting the salty oceanic air enter her lungs. Next to her sat her mother, their hands interlinking as she hummed a sweet lullaby. Astoria rested her head on her mother's lap, allowing her heartbeat to match each tumbling wave. Her mother's dainty fingers found their place in Astoria's chestnut hair, twirling the strands and tumbling through them.

"Astoria?" She snapped back to reality, "you were gone for ages."

"I have a memory."

Hermione smiled in approval, "ready for step two?"

She nodded.

"So now we need our wands out, and what we need to do is draw circles in the air, each circle you want to be thinking about your memory stronger as each circle helps to increase the power."

Astoria followed her steps, every circle she drew, focusing more on the feeling of her mother's hands running through her hair.

"Now we put that together, so the memory, the motion and the enchantment."