Glory |A. Potter|

Twenty-Seven

The Slytherin common room was sank in darkness. It was the end of January, the school sank in the dead of winter. Outside, the wind was harsh and howling, the grass frozen, but underneath the surface, in the dungeons, underneath the Black Lake, it was all serene. No one would have been able to guess what distraction was happening above if they stayed down there – they would only be able to feel the cold as it sipped through the walls. Most people, though, couldn't even realise that. It was late, almost midnight, and the common room was deserted as the students had long ago retreated in their beds for the night. Among the couches and the armchairs of the common room, though, in front of the fireplace, a girl stood, her back turned on the flames as she warmed up her backside, a wand loosely held at hand.

She was the only person in that room. A few ways away, a cat sat on the arm of an armchair, its brown fur with the black stripes not all that noticeable in the darkness of the common room. Golden eyes were watching the girl carefully, not missing a movement, even though for now she was completely motionless.

Cleopatra's ears flickered for a moment as she picked up a sound her human companion could never have noticed, although she kept quiet as the girl raised her wand and closed her eyes. Her brows furrowed in clear determination and focus, jaw clenched tight before she let it loose once more and exhaled. With her eyes still closed, she spoke, the tone of her voice, even though it had a normal volume, heard all over the common room in its desolate state.

"Expecto Patronum."

Nothing happened as she opened her eyes, and for a moment, her expression crumbled, eyes rapidly welling up with tears before she forced herself to blink them away, moments before the person hidden in the shadows made their presence known.

"Why does it mean so much to you?"

The girl jumped, eyes wide as she looked around and finally located the one that had been watching her, her posture relaxing at the sight of Albus walking towards her, his hands raised in a show of surrender, an apologetic smile on his lips. Her eyes briefly fell on the lit cigarette between his fingers as he lowered his arms and walked over to sit on an armchair a few ways away from her, close enough to feel the heat of the fireplace.

"Why is it so important to you to learn the Patronus charm, Jane?"

She blinked as she looked away from him, her gaze on the floor. "I don't fail in Charms."

"Nobody said you are," he pointed out with a shrug, "you don't have to keep trying." There was a beat of silence as he looked over at her while she was busy looking away. He raised his cigarette to his lips, drew in a breath of poisonous smoke before he spoke, moments after letting it all out. "Is there a more personal reason?"

She looked over at him, attempting to not show how unnerved she was by the accuracy of his question as she met his gaze. "Why do you keep on smoking?"

He smiled at her diversion tactic. "We aren't talking about me."

"Are we not friends?"

His brows rose, "Barely."

A slow smile curved in the corner of her lips, "But we are."

His eyes narrowed, "Barely."

"You say barely yet you insist on asking me personal questions."

"I thought we were friends."

Her smile widened and she let out a small chuckle as she walked over, sparing a moment to gently caress Cleo's head before she moved to Albus and sank in the armchair next to his own. He looked at her for a moment before he took the cigarette off of his lips and without a moment of hesitation, threw it in the fireplace. He turned to face her, his whole body turning towards her. She mirrored his stance.