The Light

Chapter 50- The Fable

Before her, regarding her with large eyes, was a wolf. It was beautiful, pure and white, and regal in its stance. The corporeal Patronus padded over to her and nuzzled her temple and Hermione laughed slightly, before it retreated and leapt around the room, over people's heads and soaring near the ceiling. The wolf came back round, heading for her, coming to a stop-

Remus shot up. He cringed, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to simultaneously wake himself up and dispel the image of the Patronus, but to no avail. The wolf shone despite it, haunting his daytime as it had his night.

In all honesty, he didn't know why it affected him so much. Perhaps because, when Hermione had cast her Patronus, he hadn't expected the projection of her soul to take the form of him. Or, he supposed, of Moony. But Remus didn't know whether he was just being whimsical, or whether it meant something far deeper than what met the eye. He'd read about the spell before, in depth and he remembered being just as fascinated as he was now. He knew all about Patronus forms, how they were subject to change if the caster went through some sort of 'emotional upheaval,' but Miranda Goshawk was a fanciful woman, and Remus found she tended to exaggerate certain details. Although, Hermione had told him that her Patronus had not always been that. So what had changed? What emotional upheaval had she encountered?

"A magical guardian that takes the form of the animal with whom the castor shares the deepest affinity."

He hadn't had chance to talk to her about it yesterday, as she had disappeared afterwards and he hadn't seen her since. Not even Lily had seen her, when he'd asked. He knew it wasn't his job, nor right, to know where Hermione was, every minute of every day, but he couldn't help but feel like she was hiding something from them. Remus knew that her secret was heavy, heavier than most and he, of all people, knew what heavy secrets did to a person. His furry little secret, as Sirius dubbed it, was difficult enough... He couldn't imagine the burden that knowing the future of the world would entail. He didn't know how she had managed so far, never mind how she would continue to cope.

And yet, he knew that, regardless of anything else, he would stay with her, by her side, until the very end.

"Remus?"

He looked over in the direction of the voice. James was sitting up in his bed, looking bleary. His hair was all over the place and his eyes were narrowed, dropping with sleepiness. He smiled. "Good morning."

"Morning," Remus replied.

James blinked a few times, before he said, "I have a funny feeling about today."

Remus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging a shoulder, like he wasn't overly concerned about this. "It's just a feeling I've got, you know?"

But Remus didn't know. He had no other feeling apart from the one where his stomach clenched and the urge to projectile vomit arose at the thought of the wolf. He disliked not knowing things. And he disliked feeling things that stretched beyond his borders of control.

"Maybe today will the day Lily finally confesses her love for you," the lump that was Peter mumbled from the far bed. Remus' lips curled in amusement, despite himself.

James threw himself down on his pillow and said, "One day, at our wedding, you'll be giving your speech, telling stories of how heroic I was and how I'm the best thing that ever happened to you, and you'll talk about this day and recall how foolish you were to ever doubt my charm."

Peter sat up at that, face contorted. "I can't tell whether you're still asleep or not."

Remus scoffed, taken aback and thoroughly amused by Peter's gall.