Effervescence | h.p.

i | iv. here's to eleven

As of the twenty-eighth of July in the year 1991, Lyra was eleven years old and would be receiving a letter telling her she had been accepted to Hogwarts, a school of magic, witchcraft, and wizardry.

On the fine, Sunday morning, Lyra had been woken up by her fathers gently nudging her to wake up. Well . . . one father and a big, black dog. With Remus, her father she referred to as her 'Dad,' on her left side and her dog, or her father Sirius as Padfoot, on her right side. As Remus gently shook Lyra while whispering in her ear, reminding her that it was her birthday, Padfoot nudged her arm with his snout, indicating he wanted her to lift it up so he could snuggle into her sleepy form.

Lifting her arm for her Papa, who she sometimes referred to as her Padre, he gave a boyish grin to Remus before curling up into her. Remus just let his chest rise and fall with light, breathy laughter at his husband's childish nature. Remus decided that instead of forcing the two children out of the bed, he would just let them come out of the room at their own pace, whenever they wanted to start the day. But before he left, he lay down next to his beautiful, sweet, and small pup. His joy and his world.

Remus had no intention of falling asleep and had planned on getting out of bed after about five minutes of laying down next to his favorite people in the world, but some plans are meant to be disregarded and cancelled. He didn't realize that with every soft breath his daughter took, his small smile that had graced his lips rose, full of love. He didn't notice how heavy his eyelids had grown as he observed her unconscious form and made notes about how her eyes fluttered gently, as if blinking but never letting her eyes open.

Neither Remus nor Sirius wanted to make any movements, in fear of waking their daughter. Yes, they had previously been trying to wake her for about two minutes until they came to the silent, mutual agreement to let her rest. After all, her acceptance letter had come earlier that morning. Reality began setting in more and more throughout the hours following the owl's dropping-off of the letter and even more when the parents had attempted waking their sleeping beauty.

Their princess was going to Hogwarts and they wouldn't get to have moments like this as often.

After at least an hour in the eleven year-old's full size bed, there was a slight stir. A little girl let her eyes open slightly before immediately allowing her hands to raise to them in order to rub the sleep out of them. Upon looking around with the movement of her neck, the girl noticed she was not alone when she had woken up. On her left, her mousy-haired father resided with his head on her light sage-green satin pillowcase. On her right, the outline of a big dog, coiled in on himself, could be observed.

After a minute of realization, it dawned on her. She was now eleven years old, and now was a 'year' older than Harry, who was born three days after her.

Sleepily, but slightly more enthusiastically than her fathers had been when trying to wake her, she started shaking they both to alert them of her consciousness. "Oh daaaaads, I'm uuuup!" She sang out quietly. Her dog woke up with a dopey grin on his face while the her other father woke up grumbling a bit.

She quickly hopped out of bed, not waiting for either dad to process where they were and what time it was. While in her pajamas, she stole a fuzzy blanket off of her bed before dashing for the stairs, followed by a playful Pads and the sound of laughter mixing with loud barks from the ground level. Remus just sat on the bed momentarily while fondly and teasingly shaking his head, muttering something under his breath about "I have two children. Not one, but two of them."

When all three homebodies had arrived in the kitchen of the cottage, Remus watched Lyra offer to make Sirius a piece of toast with whatever he wanted on it. Sirius, now back to his human form, started to go on and on, telling the girl about how he should be the one making offers on her special day when a knock sounded from the door. Looking in the direction of the noise, all three pairs of eyes landed on three figures through the door's window. One shorter shape with raven hair, one taller replica of the previously mentioned being, and the outline of someone with bright red hair could be seen.

The Lupin, Black, and Lupin-Black raced to the door, playfully pushing and teasingly shoving each other, each wanting to let their guests in so the celebration could start. Remus started to back off and stay slightly behind the other two, allowing his daughter to win by forfeiting his race position. While Remus backed off, Sirius continued to race his pup, letting his competitive side overwhelm his compassionate side temporarily. Right at the end of the hall, Lyra exerted all her energy into the race to the door, earning her the privilege of welcoming her other family members into the home.

Playfully sticking her tongue out at the losers behind her, she turned back to the door and allowed for her other companions to come into the entryway. Quickly, she gave her Aunt Lily and Uncle James a hug before allowing Harry to pick her up and off of her feet. She squealed and giggled while being spun around by a ten year-old Harry Potter before requesting to be let down.

Harry, however, denied her request, dramatically claiming, "A princess should need not exert thy feet by simply walking around. Thou shall be carried throughout the land by those who are loyal to them."

After Harry's announcement, all anyone could do was laugh, including him.

Throughout the day, Lyra opened gifts from everyone around her. She also opened some cards she had gotten from school from some admirers to wish her a happy birthday, but one card in particular caught her eye.

For it was not a card.

It was a letter.

A letter, of acceptance.