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Harry was working with Lupin on his patronus. The pair had gone over the theory of the patronus many times, and were finally onto the attempted casting. Harry focused his mind, clearing it, before conjuring up a happy memory. He grabbed a recent one, Luna sitting in his lap just after their date, the pair of them idly reading a book together. It was a good memory for Harry, very happy, full of positive emotion. Harry also hoped its freshness would be a boon as well.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry incanted, raising his wand. Small wisps of white mist emerged from his wand for a moment, before fading away. Harry panted and looked disappointedly at the remaining few silvery wisps.
"A good start Harry. Conjuring any mist on your first try is difficult. Try again, we'll see what we can work on." Lupin said encouragingly.
Harry cleared his mind, before focusing again. A different memory this time maybe? He focused his thoughts on his and Daphne's dance at her debut. Not as fresh of a happy memory, but one that was arguably much more powerful. "Expecto Patronum!" Harry called out again, wisps formed from his wand, merging into a small fog bank that rolled around Harry's feet.
"Good. Good. I imagine you changed your memory that time? Seems you went for a happier one. There's a balance to this, on top of the happy memory, you need to also have the drive to protect it. I'm not saying you don't feel like protecting your memories now, but it needs to be something deeper, often inherent to the memory." Lupin said, obviously rolling a thought around in his head.
"What memories do you use Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, looking towards the older man.
Lupin paused and thought for a moment. "It's been a bit since I truly conjured the memory I suppose. As you get used to casting the spell, actually visualizing the memory becomes less and less necessary, you just simply feel what you need, without thinking of the memory itself. I suppose I use the memories of my closest friends. When the four of us roamed Hogwarts, causing mischief and simply being there for each other. I remember how they sacrificed so much for me, because they cared for me. I guess that's the memory I latch on to."
"That sounds nice Professor Lupin, where are your friends now? You don't mention them that much." Harry asked, he knew Professor Lupin had been good friends with his father, but he might not have been in that group.
"Well, that's the unfortunate thing really. They're all gone. You obviously know what happened to your father, and one of the others was Sirius Black. Sirius was the glue that held us together really, we were good friends all, but Sirius was the center we all gravitated toward. The fourth one of us was a name you might not have heard before, Peter Petigrew. Together, people called us the Marauders. We were pranksters and mischief makers, not unlike the Weasley twins of now. We spent a lot of time in Professor Mcgonagall's office." Lupin said, laughing a bit.
"We were convinced we were going to change the world. James was going to take over the family legacy, push for muggleborn equality. Sirius was going to be his number one supporter and try and turn the Black family name around. Peter was… well Peter was never sure what he was going to do. I had hoped to be a charm designer, thinking that maybe someday I'd make something that everyone would benefit from. But, then the war happened. James, Sirius, Lily and I had been on the frontlines trying to deal with the Death Eaters and other supporters. After you were born James and Lily went into hiding, so it was just Sirius and I, Peter was never one for fighting. Then came Halloween, you and your parents were attacked, then Sirius killed Peter and those muggles on that street. Then I was alone. Dumbledore didn't tell anyone where you went, just that you were safe. That had been enough for me, if Dumbledore said it it had to be true. From there I guess I just sulked for a few years, drifting from job to job. Hard to find something long-term, then Dumbledore offered me the position here. Honestly, I just couldn't pass it up."
"I'm sorry to hear that Professor Lupin. You and my dad were that close?" Harry asked.
"Yep, only one closer was Sirius. Those two did everything together, couldn't separate them. But I was there too, every step of the way. I was the fifth person to hold you after you were born, you know. The mediwitch who delivered you, then James, then Lily, then Sirius, and then I did. While you were James and Lily's kid, we had always said you were going to be all of ours. Sirius and I would be your uncles, being the good… and bad influences on your life. Lily always screamed her head off at us whenever we brought up teaching you to fly a broom before you could walk, or having your first birthday present be a magical whoopie cushion. She always knew it was in good fun though." Lupin said, looking wistfully into the middle-distance.
"Hard to believe that this Sirius was the same man who betrayed my parents." Harry said, thinking about everything. Everything Lupin and Mum had told Harry about Sirius seemed to scream that he would never do something like that. He had to wonder what changed him.
"It is. Moving on from that, give me one more attempt on the spell, don't worry about pacing yourself, just put as much power into it as you can." Lupin said, wiping his eyes.