⠀ ❝ And in the back of her mind, Katie knew that her words were a lie. Because if her nightmares could creep up into her mind and become her reality, she would be damned if this Remus Lupin - his lips, his hands, his ragged breath, his willing rec...
[ From his wand burst a brilliant, blue stag, looking as mighty as James must've felt. ]
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"I do hope that tonight will be a more productive session than our last." Professor Tolbert stood nearing the very front of his classroom where he kept all his odd knickknacks, all lined up neatly on his mahogany desk.
His demeanor was noticeably more tense than it ordinarily was, his eyes always catching a little too long on James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius in classes since that day in the hospital wing. Even now, when it was just James and Katie in the room, it was as if he'd been frozen in place, his movements and the usually smooth drawl of his words now a stiff maneuver.
Katie could feel her jaw cinch, and she had to bite at the edge of her tongue to quell the stubborn words that were threatening to make themselves heard. "I apologize for the setback." Her jaw tightened further when Tolbert let his gaze rest on her, his eyes calculating.
"Think nothing of it Miss Hart. But I do hope that tonight will not be a repeat of last week." For a moment she thought she saw a ghost of a smile on his lips, but it had been wiped before she could truly take note.
He took two steps forward, his posture more fluid now. "I'm sure that you two are well aware of what's needed from a castor to successfully create a patronus," he said, placing his fingertips at the end of his wand. "But I think it'll be more effective to show you two an actual patronus."
Katie caught James' eye before turning her attention back on Tolbert, studying his movements so that she might be able to duplicate it for when she tried to cast a patronus.
Tolbert's eyes fluttered shut, his shoulders rolling back, his posture straight but not stiff. For the first time since she'd known him, he looked relaxed, calm. It made him look years younger, and with a troubling feeling she felt as if she was familiar with this man. Not stiff, refrained Tolbert, but the calm, unchained Tolbert.
Uncomfortably, she remembered how this might've been the person her mother fell in love with or at least had a fondness for, if that picture had been any indication. It made her wonder what caused her mother to fall out of love with him, or what had happened to make him the professor that she knew now.
She didn't want to think about whether or not her mother was still in love with him.
Purging those thoughts from her mind, Katie focused instead on the way his wrist flew delicately through the air when he recited, "ExpectoPatronum."
