Hey guys :3
This is a cute little oneshot written by the great and wonderful Neheigh Fluffydoodle aka Neh-chan ;) and me. Well, the idea was mine and I wrote some parts of it, but the 'greater' (double meaning ;p ) part (the fluff and such) is from her.
A big Thank You! Roshelle Diall for proofreading this shorty :D
And another big Thank You! for our sweet Faith for helping me to find a fitting image :D
Disclaimer: Skip Beat! belongs to the one and only Nakamura Yoshiki-sensei and the world of Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling
And now have fun :3
It was a sunny day in the lands of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle was nearly empty at that time. All the students were out in the sun or in the case of the older students Hogsmeade to enjoy their time off from school and bothersome teachers. One of those annoying lecturers was walking down the hallway to his classroom, where he wanted to fetch the notes he made in his Transfiguration lessons. He was a new teacher in the school - started just a few months ago, but still knew the building perfectly from his own times as a zealous student. Well there were also the not so rare times, when he wasn't such a good kid as he caused mischief and used all those hidden tunnels he and his friend had found.
He was only a few steps away from the door when he saw a bright blue light shining through the gap between the old wood and the floor. It moved from one side of the room to the other and he wondered what the cause of it was. Opening the door slowly - so as not to scare whoever or whatever was on the other side of it - he caught a glimpse of the girl he knew better than he probably should. In terms of a student- teacher relationship at least.
Their fathers were business partners and they knew each other for as long as she could remember. They often played together in their parents homes when the adults were on business trips. At least until Kuon got his Hogwarts letter and left not long after to live in the castle, like every other student. But there was still the holidays, the times he remembered coming home to Kyoko. Those first three years before she had joined him at Hogwarts, the two of them went hunting fairies in the forest behind her home. He told her of school and all the things he learnt there - answering all her curious questions about his classes and his adventures. When she too had finally started her Hogwarts education she made new friends and with him studying for his O.W.L.S their own friendship had been changing over time. But here and now watching Kyoko become one of the most promising students this school had ever seen and also seeing the little girl become a young woman, had stirred things inside Kuon he had never felt before.
He went into the classroom and closed the door after him - she, of course had noticed the tall man and looked with her golden eyes wide in surprise in his emerald green ones.
"Good afternoon, Miss Mogami." He greeted her just like he was supposed to. It wasn't what he wanted. If he could he would wrap her in his arms and kiss her til the end of time, But that would be inappropriate and he wasn't so sure, if she would still talk to him after he did what he wanted to do. "What are you doing here all alone? Shouldn't you be outside enjoying your free time?"
He walked to his desk as he talked and so didn't notice the small flinch from her as he called her so impersonally. But she recovered fast, she was used to it by now after all. "Good afternoon, Professor Hizuri. I'm practising a spell and I needed a quiet place for that."
Kuon looked from the papers on the table up to her petite form in the middle of the room and wondered what spell that could be. She was the best student at school right now and he couldn't remember her ever telling him of any difficulties with any subject. Not that she would have to tell him everything - he had his own secrets after all. But normally she spent every minute together with her two friends, so why not revise it with them? "What spell is it? Do you need help with it?" He asked curiously.
She smiled her hard- working student smile at him. "Actually it wasn't as difficult as I heard it would be. So no, I'm fine. But thank you for your kind offer, Professor Hizuri."
"May I ask what spell you tried?" The way she skipped his first question made him even more curious.
Kyoko watched him thoughtfully for a second, as if she needed to consider telling him the truth, but made up her mind rather fast - there shouldn't be a problem after all. "The Patronus charm," she answered smiling.
Kuon raised an eyebrow. "You are practising the Patronus?" It wasn't much, but you could clearly hear a little disbelief in his voice. Why would she think she needs to learn that one now? It's after all an immensely complicated and really difficult spell for defence against Dementors and Lethifolds. In theory he knew how to make one, but he never had tried to cast his own spirit guardian. There simply wasn't the need for it.
"Yes, Professor Hizuri." Her eyes showed just a little pride in her own work as she smiled at his slightly stunned face.
"But why, Miss Mogami?" He asked, needing something to ask, instead of standing there staring at her like he had been doing.
"Well, why not?" It was almost like a childish answer, something she would have done with him as kids when she had gone through the stage of asking 'Why?' about every little thing. To begin with he would give her an appropriate answer, but as the question got more common he would just reply, 'because it is' or 'because it does' and now it seems she was using his own retaliation against him.
"Well surely Miss Mogami you know that there have not been any cases of rogue Dementors since the second great war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? And surely you do not expect to meet a Lethifold in your lifetime?" Kyoko just smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.
"I am told that a truly great witch or wizard of the case may be should always strive to better themselves. I have read that the Patronus charm is one of the most powerful pieces of magic and to be able to produce a corporeal Patronus is even more rare still. I just wondered if I could. And to be honest, Sir, I was curious." Kuon just looked at the young woman, his head swirling with her words not really able to truly understand what she was getting at. He sighed internally as he had to ask.
"What was it about the spell that made you curious Miss Mogami? Whether you could make it corporeal or not?" He watched as the smiling woman shook her head and raised a large tome that had been lying open on the desk beside her.
"Patronus Charm: This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may suspect, but you will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it." She read aloud from the old and worn pages.
"So it was the shape your Patronus may have taken? If indeed you could conjure a corporeal image." She smiled and nodded as Kuon took a seat behind his desk, needing the support of his chair at that moment.
"Well there was that and well there was another reason." Kuon watched her as she blushed slightly turning away from him and looking back down at the book beside her.
"Another reason, Miss Mogami?" He waited watching her carefully as the blush increased on her cheeks and spread down her neck a little, she didn't answer immediately and when she did it was not to answer his question.
"Have you ever tried to cast your own Patronus, Sir?" Kyoko asked when she knew she had control of her blush, she needed to steer the conversation away from dangerous subjects.
"I know the theory, but actually no. I never attempted the charm myself." He answered - slightly curious himself now, wondering what type of animal would represent him. What would he see, if he could create a corporeal Patronus? Kyoko could see it in his eyes, his own desire to know. She had always loved this about him. The way his eyes would light up, how he would get that smile at the challenge of learning something he didn't know and the way he would tell her with such enthusiasm what he had learnt. It had been Kuon that fueled her own thirst for knowledge. It had been him that had made her strive for excellence in everything she did, always aiming to be better, to be on a level with him - intellectual equals. But who was she kidding? He of course was always ahead, never looking back at the young girl he had left behind. Always driving forwards into a future in which she could not join him - no matter how much she wished she could.
Looking up to him again with a challenge in her eyes, she asked. "Do you want to try it?"
Kuon couldn't help the smile that crept on his face. "You know what, you have got me curious too now Kyoko."
Her breath caught as he stood and walked around from his desk towards her, scanning over the page Kyoko had marked in the book. He read the words quietly to himself and focused on the small wand movements, while Kyoko took a few steps back to watch the man she had been in love with for so many years, work. After a few minutes he smiled at her again. Standing to his full height Kuon lifted his wand and with deft confident movements chanted the incantation she too had used, though not for the first time, a little while ago... Nothing happened and Kuon's smile dipped slightly at the edges to a frown.
"You forgot the most important thing." Kyoko chided slightly and Kuon looked up at her expectantly to continue.
"It will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory. It's happiness you see. Happiness...Love they are what create the Patronus, its your own emotion you use to fight back the fear." Kuon listened and nodded as he stood again looking straight ahead and closed his eyes.
It was a picture from this past summer. It was the day after he had received his letter- asking if he would be interested in the position of Transfiguration Professor for the coming year. Of course he had instantly accepted the position and told his father, who he had been working with up until this point, that it was something he had always wished to try.
And of course his family had been nothing but supportive. His father had jokingly said that if he would come with him the next day to the company's annual picnic, he would be happy to let him go with his blessing. Kuon had laughed at his father's conniving ways. The Hizuri junior always avoided the company events like the plague. All those matchmaking mothers seeking out the firm president's eligible son for their daughters, but Koun had laughed and agreed. He could surely cope with it for one day.
It had been then where he had seen her again. He was sorry to say it had been almost 2 years since the last time he had done so. After graduating from Hogwarts with honours, while Kyoko was still in her 4th year he had not really thought about her much. He had seen her last two Christmases prior and even then only for a brief moment as he passed through his parents Christmas party.
But there she was. Dressed in a beautiful pure white cotton summer dress. Her hair which she seemed to have cut short and dyed almost orange showed beneath a floppy brimmed summer hat as she smiled and laughed with the smaller children. They were singing nursery rhymes. She was spinning around with them as they danced barefoot in the soft grass. She had been so beautiful in that moment - the sun glancing off her golden eyes and silken skin. Butterflies erupted from the wild flowers and the smaller children screamed 'Fairies!' The simple smile of pure joy on her beautiful face. This was the memory he chose. Without opening his eyes and in a light breathy voice, so unlike his own, he whispered the incantation.
"Expecto Patronum." It was almost like those special feelings and emotions becoming reality. He felt the gentle fluttering, as if his heart on that day had taken flight from his chest. The small gasp to his right made him believe he had succeeded. So he slowly opened his eyes to reveal the small creature before him.
In that very moment he could have laughed out loud.
"Of course." He mumbled to himself as he raised his wandless hand and extended his forefinger for the tiny form to alight there. It was simply beautiful. Shimmering white-blue light made up the butterfly that rested so peacefully on his finger.
"A butterfly?" Her voice was curious and he thought she sounded even a little shocked. But then the girl approached him to look at the small creature on his finger.
Kuon chuckled. "Have you read any other books about Patronuses?" The tall blond asked softly as he gently launched the butterfly, which then flitted around the young woman.
Kyoko shook her head as she watched its path in mesmerised wonderment. "No Sir."
Kuon smiled and with a quick summoning spell waited as a red bound book flew swiftly from his office. Flipping through the pages he stopped at the page he required and handed it to her as the glowing butterfly landed on her shoulder.
"Patronus forms, however, are subject to change if the caster goes through an emotional upheaval of some sort, including falling in love. For example, acclaimed Nymphadora Tonks's Patronus changed from its previous form to that of a four-legged creature which others guessed was a werewolf because then it would reflect her love of the acclaimed Remus Lupin, himself a werewolf. Another example is the acclaimed Severus Snape, whose Patronus was that of a doe, the same as the acclaimed Lily Evans, though this may have been the case all along rather than a change from its original form, as Snape was in love with Lily for most of his life. Based on the fact that Patronuses are conjured by recalling happy memories, it stands to reason that a Patronus might change its form after one falls in love and the memories used to conjure the Patronus largely revolve around the person the caster is in love with." Kyoko stopped suddenly at the final words and looked towards the small glowing creature sitting on her shoulder, before snapping the book back shut forcefully and reading the name printed below the title.
"Hermione Jean Granger."
Looking once more at the butterfly, Kuon watched as Kyoko shivered slightly before looking him straight in the eyes. He didn't know what she saw, but he knew how he felt and that book had just given the reason for his Patronus taking on the form it had.
"I'm sorry... I've got to go!" Kyoko said, dropping the book swiftly onto the desk beside her.
Scooping her bag up in another movement, before Kuon could come fully to his senses and his Patronus now gone, she was halfway out of the door.
"Miss Mogami!" He called confused and the flustered girl stopped dead in her tracks. But now he had her standing there silent and still, he wondered just what to say to her. How could he explain himself if she had realised exactly what he had meant by giving her that exact book? The one publication that stated true love could change one's inner strength, their inner soul as it were.
"Was yours corporeal?" He finally uttered, needing something to say for a second time that day.
There were a few moments of uneasy silence. "Of course..." She stated in the same mumble he had used, when he had seen his Patronus for the first time "... and now it makes sense." She added in a quiet whisper.
It hadn't been a completely honest answer from her as she said she 'practised' the Patronus charm. She learnt the spell already more than two years ago - just after she read about it for the first time. Thinking of the happy times with her two wonderful friends and all the beautiful memories she had of her prince - of Kuon - it hadn't been difficult at all to conjure a corporeal Patronus. Since that moment every time Kyoko felt a little down she looks for a quiet place, casts the spell and enjoys the company of her own spirit guardian.
But then a few days back something odd happened. She was in low spirits due to the divorce of her parents and needed a little time out. So she went into her favourite classroom after the lessons were done for the day and conjured her glowing friend. The last time she spent a moment like that was quite a while back - sometime before Kuon assumed his position as a teacher at her school. But instead of her small fluttering friend, a much bigger cat- like animal appeared and she couldn't comprehend why. At least until now.
Kuon barely caught her words with her back still to him, but he could tell that she raised her wand and with the smallest "Expecto Patronum" he watched the large shape erupt from the tip of it.
It took him a few moments to realise what the regally seeming creature was, but when he finally did, his heart skipped a beat.
Before him stood a beautiful lightly blue shining Lynx.
His Animagus form.
Thank You for reading :D
Maybe you let me/us (I'll tell Neh-chan!) hear from you ;)
Be nice, but honest :) criticism makes me/us better ;)
See you.
Kia