Spring crept up unnoticed. In March it was decided to hold the first Apparition tests for those who had already turned seventeen or would do so before the end of the school year. Those who were to take them were very nervous, since so far only two people had achieved stable results: Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Flamia had tried to Apparate a couple of times, but the same old story kept repeating itself. But even Harry and Hermione did not stand out from the crowd, since Hermione was still nervous, and Harry was to take the exam in the second group, most likely already in April.
On the Saturday morning when the tests were scheduled, the weather was wonderfully sunny. The tests were to be held in Hogsmeade under the cover of a reinforced squad of Ministry Aurors. Harry wished Ron luck; Ron looked almost worse than before his first appearance on the Quidditch pitch. Incidentally, the analogy was quite appropriate, since in Apparition lessons it was mostly his nerves that got in the way. The moment he lost confidence in himself — and there you go, splinching! And it would be one thing if it were something serious, but nothing more substantial than half an eyebrow left behind had happened! Yet leave even one hair behind — and you would have to retake it…
Harry himself had his own plans for the day. Since the weather was suitable, he decided to take out his Firebolt so as not to lose his skills. And in general, it had to be admitted, he was drawn to the sky… He did not try to sneak onto the Quidditch pitch — no one had yet lifted the ban on free movement around the grounds of Hogwarts — and so he simply decided to fly around the castle, taking off from the courtyard. Flamia at first did not approve of his idea, but then, realizing that Harry missed flying, and that he had given up Quidditch not least because of her, she said that she herself would not mind trying to fly.
Observing the rules of a gentleman, Harry gave his girlfriend the right to fly first. Only the broom did not particularly obey her, and so Miss Nightfolk's first flight did not last long. But the Boy-Who-Lived had only mounted his Firebolt when he was immediately transformed! Such an intoxicating feeling of freedom was available to him only in the air. He could not understand how anyone could feel unsure on a broom. After all, every movement of the body, every thought immediately found a response, and you laid into a new turn… No, Flamia absolutely had to feel this!
"You still have to feel this! An incredible feeling of freedom!"
"But the broom doesn't want to obey me, Harry!"
"Well, then sit in front of me, my angel!"
Harry helped Flamia settle in front of him, and together they rushed toward the heavens. And Harry had been right! Of course, when he was controlling the broom, it was no longer the same as flying by herself, but it was even better… there he was, right beside her, guiding their every movement, as if he felt her every wish… If only this could last forever!
"Now I understand you, Harry! And how can you live without flying?"
"Well, with you I don't need a broom to reach the heavens…"
"Harry! Aren't you ashamed! Always thinking about one thing!"
"What did I say?"
"Oh yes, of course, make excuses, you lustful male!.. Wait, what is that over there?"
"Where?" Flamia pointed toward Hogsmeade. "A familiar fog…"
A chill ran down the young man's spine… Dementors… And thousands of them! Few had ever encountered so many of those monsters in one place, except perhaps in Azkaban in former years…
"The Apparition tests are taking place there right now! And the Aurors won't save them, there are too many Dementors! We have to help them!" and Harry resolutely directed the broom toward the village. Strangely enough, the magical barriers around the school let them out freely. But neither Harry nor Flamia paid any attention to that. Only while Potter was thinking solely about where to land now and which way to go to help, the girl did not know what to do. She had still not managed to conjure a Patronus, but she could not abandon her beloved to the mercy of fate.
The former Seeker of the Gryffindor team deftly landed on one of the roofs on the village's central street. Quickly assessing the situation, Harry concluded that they had to break through to the center of the village, where the residents and students were now gathering, and help hold the defense, and then they would see. Summoning a Patronus to clear the way, the young man climbed down from the roof and helped Flamia. Since the main street was wide and had a great many branches and alleyways, Potter considered it more sensible to go through the side alleys. There it would be easier to hold back the onslaught of the Dementors — after all, they were material beings, and therefore took up some space. The part of the village where they had landed was already deserted, and so Harry asked Flamia to block the passages behind them, so that there would be no danger of being attacked from the rear. The girl was quite capable of handling such a task, using simple spells like Diffindo and the simplest Transfiguration spells.
For some time everything went calmly, but then the alley they were walking down was crossed by a relatively wide little street. Harry, having made sure that there was no danger from the side at that moment, sent his stag forward down the alley. But the moment Flamia blocked the passage into the alley behind them, a Dementor moved toward them from one side of the little street. It was alone, but the stag was already far away, and the former guard of Azkaban was close… For some reason the girl felt that the danger threatened not her, but Harry, but this only spurred her desire to stop the vile creature at any cost:
"Expecto Patronum!" nothing but light at the tip of the wand. "Expecto Patronum!" again nothing. And then, when the Dementor was already very close, when it was ready to apply the Kiss to its victim, help came in the most unexpected way:
"Avada Kedavra!" Draco Malfoy pronounced. Potter was prepared for anything — that he would die, that Flamia would die, that the Avada would rebound and the Ferret himself would die, but… The Dementor that had been trying to suck out his soul died. Thank Merlin, this time there were no consequences of any kind.
"Thank you, Malfoy…"
"Don't mention it! Without you, Potter, I won't get out of here alive! Where is that damned stag of yours?"
"Expecto Patronum!" the stag seemed to shine even brighter than before.
"The Aurors organized a Portkey on the central square; it will be activated in a minute…"
"Then we have to hurry!"
And the three students, two of whom in their lives would never have helped each other, began fighting their way toward salvation. Flamia made several more unsuccessful attempts to conjure a Patronus, but only wasted her strength. However, Harry's stag shone so brightly that it seemed that even if all the Dementors on Earth came here, it would grind them to dust. Malfoy made a feasible contribution by eliminating lone opponents, and Flamia, abandoning attempts to drive away the Dementors, began clearing the road for them. To make it in time, they demolished the walls of buildings several times and unceremoniously destroyed fences, but could anything compare in value with a human life?
And then, when the central square was already within arm's reach, the girl stumbled. Malfoy, who had already overtaken the pair, did not even think of slowing down — he had already acted unusually by saving Potter. But the latter could not abandon his beloved, and therefore saw with his own eyes as the Portkey transported the townspeople, students, and Aurors… If anyone remained in Hogsmeade besides the Best Couple, there was no helping them anymore…
"Harry! You could have saved yourself! You could have grabbed Malfoy's hand and…"
"And what? What would I do without you?"
"But…"
"No 'buts'! We have to get out of here! We won't manage to Apparate; there's an anti-Apparition dome over the village. That's how they ensured safety measures! We'll have to rely only on ourselves… Expecto Patronum!.. Come on, Flamia, you have to be able to do it! Just focus on your happiest memory!"
"Expecto Patronum!" no reaction except for a weak little light at the tip of the wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
Then the girl simply lost consciousness. It looked as if she had spent all her strength… And yet Harry's Patronus had stood all this time; he had only occasionally fed it…
The Dementors were approaching. It could be felt with one's whole being. Harry understood that there would be no second chance. He summoned the Firebolt, which he had left back there on the roof, after which he gathered absolutely all his strength, focused on his happiest memory — Valentine's Day with Flamia — and…
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Harry quickly slung the girl over the broomstick, took off, and raced after the most powerful Patronus Hogsmeade had ever seen. Why Hogsmeade — it was unlikely that anyone had ever summoned a Guardian of such power… Each strike of the silver stag turned Dementors to dust, and each stamp of its hoof on the ground produced a shockwave that swept the soul-eaters aside. And so, cutting through the hordes of the former guards of Azkaban like a silver arrow, Harry, with his fiancée in his arms, rushed toward the gates of Hogwarts, hoping that someone would think to let them in…
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