The Project | Sirius Black x reader | ✔

Patronus

The bright light of the moon shone through the water and refracted in the window of your dorm, illuminating your figure. As quietly as possible, you paced around the room, gathering your coat and your wand; careful to not wake your roommates up.

The technical exams had ended with potions being the last subject. To the relief of the seventh years, you all had three days before the N.E.W.Ts resumed with the practical assessments. You were looking forward to those a lot more because they'd be engaging, and so the few days between them would be used to perfect the most complex spells up your sleeve to ensure top marks.

After closing the door of the dorm behind you, you quickly strode down the stairs and past the lounge, leaving the Slytherin common room in a hurry. The cold dungeon's corridor was illuminated by the faint glow of torches that never extinguished, and you followed their trail until you were on the ground floor of the castle.

Before reaching the main corridor that led to the Great Hall, you transformed into your animagus crow and grabbed your wand in your beak. You weren't supposed to be out at this hour, and getting caught by the prefects or Filch wasn't in your plans.

Gliding close to the roof to go unseen, you soared out of the warmth of Hogwarts castle through the courtyard into the night sky, in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. You didn't particularly like it much, but it was the best place to practice spells without being caught by any on-duty professors.

Flying past the trees, you observed the forest ground below you to make sure there was no one and nothing where you had decided to land. Transmuting back into a human, you stumbled on a few protruding roots of a tree and casted Lumos to check your surroundings one more time.

"Here should be fine," you mumbled and stepped away from the large tree, pointing your wand forward.

There was one spell in particular that you were determined to perform: the Patronus charm. It was hard for your pride to admit that you had yet to cast it successfully after practicing it for so long. Alongside Legilimency and Occlumency, those three had become a magic blockade you had never encountered before.

If I'm able to perform at least one of those in the practical exams, that would set me apart... You bit the inside of your cheek as you did some practice spells of lesser difficulty. I've practiced Leglimency and Occlumency with Marco for months to no avail, so this is my only alternative.

Closing your eyes, you remembered what Dafne had told you in the courtyard towards the beginning of spring: 'Surfacing your happiest memories isn't something that can be taught in a book'. She was right, and so you would take this cold quiet night to dig up your memories to find the right one.

"Expecto Patronum," you said, slightly opening one of your eyes to see the result of your spell.

Nothing.

Maybe I'm not thinking about it enough... you sighed, thinking back on anything you could remember. 

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes again and thought of the first Hogsmeade trip with Sirius. Back when you had gone into the Shrieking Shack for the first time, and he had somehow convinced you that going on a date with him was a form of payback. The thoughtful preparations he'd made at the shore of the black lake, the first kiss you two could've shared if James hadn't interrupted...

"Expecto Patronum."

No bright corporeal creature emerged from your wand, not even a gush of bright light. That was a memory you held close to your heart, but it had not sparked a Patronus as you had wished. With a slight frown, you focused on the memories of the holiday spent at the Potter's. You remembered the warm house that smelled like gingerbread and cinnamon, the welcoming smiles of Euphemia and Fleamont, the foolish tricks that James showed off on his gifted broom, the ride on Sirius' motorbike to your date in the Muggle town...