𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 82

CHAPTER EIGHTY TWO
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH THEY CAST PATRONUSES

. . .

The group watched as Professor Rakepick practically danced around the classroom, the eccentric side of her jumping out. A silvery blue ferret-like creature followed her doing all sorts of twists and turns in the air like it was water.

They were yet to cast their own patronuses, listening to Rakepick explain the theory behind the pretty yet protective and practical spell, as well as the uses of it. 

Tiger was stood in front of James, twiddling her wand in her fingers as she watched the patronus dance, entranced by it. James was just as interested, but he was also massaging his girlfriend's shoulders as he did so: she looked rather tense.

And the Howell girl was. Her memory seemed to remember everything bad, but anything good sifted through her mind like it was filled with holes, slipping out like it were a sieve. 

Anything from before August of the year before were tainted by Leo's death, the overwhelming sense of dread returning whenever Tiger came back to it. 

Instead, most her good memories came from her time at Hogwarts. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Lily, Lydia and Marlene. Those seven people had made everything better. Tiger just needed to forget anything involving Olivia and she was golden. 

"You got any good ones?" She asked, as the group dispersed around the classroom - which seemed so much bigger without the desks and tables.

"Any memories you mean?" James asked, and the girl nodded, following him, Sirius and Remus into a corner of the room, Rakepick having told them to get into partners. "A few, yes." 

"Any including me?" Tiger blinked innocently up at her boyfriend, the animagus smirking slightly, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and cupping her jaw with his palm.

A thumb rested on her lips, and Tiger's eyes widened, her lips gentle pressed under his thumb. "Possibly." He said, before he was shoved by Sirius, him and Remus laughing about pda. 

They got to work, trying to cast the charm, muttering the charm over and over, replaying different memories in their minds, trying to remember some in more details, others discarded with no use other than to make someone smile.

"Look at him!" Tiger practically squealed. Whilst her and the three boys were stood in a corner trying to cast the charm, Peter had partnered up with a pretty blonde girl from Hufflepuff - her name was Amelia Abbott, according to Sirius. 

"Absolutely adorable." James immitated her, a smirk on his face as Tiger hit him on the shoulder without even glancing back at him. "Stop fawning over him." 

"Good one." Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. Remus and Tiger stared at him. "Deer puns you deaf -" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Professor Rakepick appeared beside them.

"Language, Mr Black." She said, before looking to the other three. "Has anyone managed to cast anything yet? Corporeal or not." 

"Not yet miss, not got a memory happy enough yet, I suppose." James said, and the others nodded. "Still wracking our brains for more."

"Well, Mr Potter, I suppose you'll find one soon. Good luck, you for. And no more chatting about Mr Pettigrew and Miss Abott." Rakepick smiled before walking away. 

"Of course Professor." The four of them chorused, Rakepick walking way. 

"Merlin." Tiger leant against the wall. "Can you borrow people's happy memories? I've got none."

"Just go over most of the time you spent with James." Remus said, and the other three stared at him. "I've never seen you so happy." 

"Awww, Tigs." James practically sang, turning towards his girlfriend. "You're happy since meeting me."

"Partially." She grumbled. "Mention that again and I'll hex the lot of you." She continued, raising her wand and jabbing it in the direction of Remus. 

They all continued to try, Sirius actually got it first, to his surprise. It matched his animagus form; a large shaggy dog jumping around above him. Over with Amelie, a rat danced around the pair, and soon enough, a wolf appeared. 

"So it seems that it'll match our animagus forms?" James asked. "Expecto patronum." He repeated, but still, nothing appeared.

Tiger had gone through so many memories that she was sure that she had none left. James and her's first date, them making out in the storage closet after potions. Even seeing Olivia getting kicked out of Hogwarts hadn't worked. Not even the summer garden party gave her anything. 

But then, one night gave her something. The night she told James everything, and he had accepted it and accepted her, believing her and what happened.

"Expecto patronum." She said once more, and to her delight, a tiger bounded out the end of her wand with a roar, laughing with pure excitment as it roared mid-air. 

Beside her, James frowned. He still needed to cast it, but he didn't know what to think. "Garden party? First date? That potion's lesson. First time you rode a broom - when you became Quidditch captain? Come on mate, there must be something." Sirius said. 

James nodded, pausing for a moment, raising his wand. A silvery-blue light appeared, and he stared, expecting a stag to appear. 

But instead, a tiger.

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