Dream & Shadow

6* The Patronus Charm

A letter from the ministry told Leonor to get the potions for the examination on the first working day of the new year. Leonor felt still sick on her way to the visitor's entrance. New Year's Eve finished with an enjoyable party. There was some headache involved and a sour feeling in the stomach. But it had been worthwhile. Leonor refused to resolve everything with a healing draught and better excused her pale face with a regular cold.

There were three vials with different liquids, each of them exceedingly toxic. It was her task to develop the antidote until July. The vials in her pocket made her uneasy. What if she wouldn't succeed? Her thoughts travelled back to Hogwarts. Snape was the only person she knew and not involved with the examination committee. Richard and everybody at St. Mungo's was bound to refuse any help. Leonor wouldn't ask anyway. The witch damned that Hogwarts was the only hope of help in case needed. She had to find the solution herself.

Leonor was back at Hogwarts in the second half of January. Two venoms had been identified. It would only be a matter of time to develop the antidote. The third venom made issues. She couldn't detect the ingredients completely. She hoped for some time to browse the library or to catch Snape.

XXX

Severus patrolled the corridors. It was a full moon again. He had been busy with the Wolfsbane Potion for a couple of days and Lupin had been overly friendly on receiving it. Severus couldn't trust him, not yet, maybe he never would. What would happen if Lupin forgot the potion or didn't take it in time? It would be blamed on him, but he couldn't force Lupin to drink. The Marauders had always been careless about the essential and got away with it until Potter couldn't hide Lily.

There was light in the staff room. The door stood ajar. Severus watched and leaned against the door frame. Scott sat in a chair; her head supported by the left hand. The right hand with a quill was moving lazily on a piece of parchment. She looked frustrated and forlorn. The light from the hearth cast a red glow on the dark hair. Severus watched the woman in silence. Her face was lit by the small wand light. Leonor wasn't stunning at first glance. She was silent and smart. Severus could hardly ignore her and swallowed the mild attraction.

Leonor suddenly looked up, surprised about his presence. Her smile met the eyes. It was genuine. Lily never looked at him like this in school, never again since talking about dementors in the woods near the river.

"Good evening, Severus! Am I the one breaking curfew tonight?" said Leonor friendly.

He smirked and nodded an unspoken question towards all the scrolls of parchment around her workplace. Leonor's smile faded, and she moaned, "I'm supposed to correct the essays and return them to the students, but I struggle with the exam classes. Lupin wants me to correct them per ministry rules."

Severus moved towards the table, taking one essay from the pile and looking at the book in front of her. Lupin left her apparently without enough explanation of the examination standards. He took the chair next to Leonor and said with gritted teeth, "Did Lupin give you any guidelines on how to mark it?"

"Not much, only the book. Maybe I should leave it for today and re-read it tomorrow. There's no paragraph or chapter on Defence Against the Dark Arts. I wonder if the assessment depends on the task?"

Severus said nothing and scanned through the papers. Scott had marked them correctly and given hints to the students for improvement. She commented in case of missing details and there was an overview for each essay about the expected content to receive full marks.

"You've to mark by the exam standards for charms or theoretical work. There's another standard for practical exercises," said Severus and flipped to a page in the appendix of the book. "The grading as theoretical work will work for the fifth and sixth-years. The essays of the seventh-years are to be marked as charms. Should we start?" Severus looked at her. Leonor looked back and nodded in disbelief.