Effervescence | h.p.

i | ix. where we sleep at night

Throughout the following month, the Lupin-Black's had more family outings than ever. Every Saturday night, the three family members would make different blanket forts, every one being set up in a different room of the house. They were starting to make it a slight tradition in order to have family time before Lyra would be gone for the extended period of time while she was at school.

The first fort had been constructed of four dining room chairs, the couch in the front room, a tall stick, and most importantly, blankets. The chair backs faced each other and formed what resembled a lopsided trapezoid, the open side of the blanket being draped over the back of the couch. The stick was in the center of the shape, used to hold up the blanket to raise the 'roof' of their fort.

Their second fort was made up of couch cushions and the dining room table. The blanket was simply placed on top of the table, like a tablecloth that was way too large for the medium table. The cushions were in an arch-like shape to form an entry way for the family's temporary sleeping quarters.

The third Saturday's fort had been more of a room covered in blankets rather than blanket-covered furniture. They used ceiling fixtures, curtain rods, and bookshelves as support systems, hanging the blankets from the fixtures and draping them over the curtain rods. The room's ceiling could not be seen but if one were to assume the blanket was the room's ceiling, it was quite convex and droopy. The tops of the bookshelves held the blanket corners, which were sandwiched between the heaviest books in the house and the top shelf.

Today, the fort was made with Lyra's bed. Three rods were protruding out from the wall, specifically added for this night and would likely remain where they were due to their countless uses. A single, over-sized blanket was placed loosely over the rods, creating three strong, solid reference points. These rods formed a triangle over the girl's bed, the angles being said reference points.

As a start to their night, after creating their family-fort, the three brought their snacks they either purchased specifically for tonight or whatever they made. Lyra brought cupcakes she had baked into their fort and some homemade chocolate chunk biscuits. Lyra was very good with her baked goods, especially when side-by-side with her fathers. Sirius brought in some American potato chips and gummy sweets. Remus, in true Lupin fashion, brought chocolate and different chocolate-related goods.

After all the treats had been brought into the tent, the usual festivities began. It would start with a conversation about the weeks happenings:

"So, Pup, what seems to be happening in your life?" Sirius asks, interested to hear about what his daughter has done in the Summer week.

"Well, I went to the park down the road — you know, the one Harry and I used to go to when we were younger with Aunt Lily? We met up there and there was this boy on the swings that I recognized from school. He was actually my first crush, now that I think about it . . . " she broke off, in her own thoughts.

She had dramatically exaggerated her motions in order to represent a thoughtful expression. She had one hand placed lazily on her hip, her index finger and her thumb on her other hand resting under her chin.

"You are, hereby, forbidden to attend that park ever again," both Remus and Sirius stated at the same time.

One may presume that they were simply joking with the girl, but they were quite serious about their decision. Deathly sirius.

"Oh, come on! I was with Harry! Plus, my crush on him has been long gone for years now," she waved her hand in a motion to say it was brushed away. "Like I already said, he was my first crush, not my current crush," she smirked.

She knew her dads would flip out on whoever had caught their daughter's eyes. They knew she could protect herself and make her own decisions, but they couldn't always help themselves.

"No. No, no, no, no boys. You're too young and will always and forever be too young for boys. Don't you know that boys have cooties? You don't want cooties at eleven," Remus brought up.

He didn't want his sweet daughter corrupted and hurt by any boys. She was tough, but how many hits can a shield take before cracking and breaking down, rendering it ineffective and the user defenseless?

"So, I can have girls?" she remarked, teasingly.

Her dad had said no boys. He didn't say she couldn't aim for other genders and other people with different pronouns.

"No-anyone — other than me and your dad — can have your heart. You're all ours and we don't like sharing what's ours," Sirius stated defensively.

He was very protective of his pup and he was worried about how horrible other people can be, especially to someone with lycanthropy. He had felt some of the effects of turning once a month from Remus and the thought of someone being hurtful, mentally and physically, to Lyra for her conditions would break his heart.

He wasn't willing to chance her pain and suffering just for someone who will feel nothing after they break her down.

"All right, all right, nobody other than you two can have me. I got it. But, can Harry have a little bit? And Uncle James and Aunt Lily? They need at least a little bit of me. I can't just be taken from under their noses without a trace," she replied.

Now, she was turning their slightly serious conversation into a more light-hearted one.

"Well, okay, we'll share with them but THAT'S IT. No one else, and definitely not boys from school that we don't know," Remus finalized.

"Deal. Now, I think we should play Uno together," said Lyra.

After winning seven out of the twelve rounds of Uno that the trio played, Lyra was tired but was trying to hide it. The full moon would be happening the next night and even though Remus and Lyra were feeling quite sore and lethargic, they couldn't let their lycanthropy interrupt their new tradition.

Noticing his little girl's weariness and exhaustion, Sirius started cuddling up to her. She was too tired to focus on his movements and what he was doing to notice he had been getting her more comfortable in the hopes that she would go to sleep.

Remus, taking note of his husbands actions, followed closely behind, leaning his daughter into his own side. Propping her up on Remus' side and leaning into the two, Sirius wrapped a blanket around all of them.

The family had previously come to the collective decision that they would all snuggle up together in their tent every time they set one up. This was the reason Sirius and Remus started moving everyone together so closely; so they could all sleep in one big bunch, cuddled up as a big family. As a pack.

"Goodnight, Puppy," both fathers whispered lovingly before giving the sleeping girl a small kiss on her forehead. They then turned to each other, giving a sweet peck on the others lips before comfortably laying down and falling into separate, sweet dreams.