Effervescence | h.p.

i | xiii. lions, eagles, snakes, and badgers

As soon as the hat touched the youngest Lupin-Black's head in front of the whole school, it began speaking to her. It seemed to be inside her head, she concluded, because she didn't remember hearing it say anything while the other children had sat beneath it.

As the students and staff looked on Lyra, she stared into Harry's eyes while playing with the hem of her school robes. The left sleeve had been pulled to cover her hand and her right index finger and thumb mindlessly swiped over the fabric. Harry's emerald green eyes brought her comfort, if not because they were an important part of him, because they reminded her of the comfort Lily offered. His eyes were her eyes and they were both just as vibrant as the other's set.

"Ah, Miss Lyra Lupin-Black," the hat began, "how lovely to make your acquaintance. Hmm, you will be quite difficult to place in just one House. It's all here, inside of your head. You are courageous, but are holding yourself back and shying away. You can lead well and use your resources well, yes. You're mind isn't too bad either, reading has increased your natural knowledge and wit, and you are quite the open-minded soul. But, you are fiercely loyal and hard working.

"This is difficult, very difficult. So, where shall I place you, hmm . . ?" the hat said inside her mind.

"Let's make it. . . . GRYFFINDOR!" it finished loudly to the hall.

It had been nearly six whole minutes for the hat to state its claim to the school. It had taken an extensive amount of time for it to deliberate its decision with itself in order to come to a single, fitting conclusion.

All at once, the whole of Gryffindor table began cheering loudly and a set of nearly identical red-headed twins chanted, loudly, "We got Lyra! We got Lyra!" But as she walked, slightly shaking still, towards a seat at the Gryffindor table, she only could focus on one person, who was cheering the loudest for her.

Harry Potter.

He was cheering as loud as he could, trying to drown-out his fear of being placed in a different House than his only friend here. Well, maybe Ron wanted to be friends, but they never really said they were. He didn't want to sit on the stool for as long as his friend had, not wanting all that attention on him.

After many more kids were sorted, in much less time than Lyra, Harry realized his name would be coming up quite soon and began taking deep breaths, trying to sort out his quickened heart rate. He knew from the minute Lyra was sorted, he wanted to be in Gryffindor. There were no other alternative Houses for him. He NEEDED to be in Gryffindor to properly watch over Lyra and to protect her, just like he always promised he would do.

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall called, quite loudly. Said boy couldn't help but feel that he had heard a different tone when she yelled his last name. It almost felt like she was . . . happy to be yelling the name again? Maybe it was his father's doing and she had felt nostalgic when shouting out the last name sharply.

With baited breath, Harry managed to stumble his way up to the Sorting Hat and the stool. He slightly tripped over his robes, which had elicited a small amount of quiet giggles at the little boy's nervous demeanor.

Turning to look over his shoulder with a small, embarrassed smile, Harry and Lyra locked eyes at once. She gave him a reassuring smile in return, before over-exaggerating a 'It'll be okay' with her lips. Then she raised her eyebrows slightly while angling her head downward and making a shooing motion with her hands, as if telling him to go up the rest of the way.

At this, Harry couldn't help but let out a small, amused huff of air as he turned around towards the stool again, shaking his head at her antics. He had to admit, she was a good rock for him. She kept him level-headed and made it her priority to make sure he knew he had her support. In this way, she very much reminded him of one of his godfathers, Remus Lupin.

Perching himself on the stool, he applied the hat to his raven-hair and held to brim tightly for a minute, to ensure its security on his skull. Patiently waiting silently, Harry sat until the hat began talking to him, causing him to jump slightly.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting. . . . So where shall I put you?"

Harry couldn't help but clench his fist around the edge of his seat, thinking, 'Not Slytherin. Please, just keep me with Lyra.'

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you're sure you want to be with the lovely Lupin-Black — better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Hearing the hat shout out the last words to the whole hall, Harry took off the hat and walked shakily to the table of Gryffindor students, right up to Lyra.

Lyra was cheering just as loudly as Harry had been cheering for her, if not louder. She knew he was nervous about being separated from her due to the decision of a ratty and old hat, so she was attempting to calm his nerves with her volume until he got closer.

As soon as he reached her, or more likely when she could reach him, she wrapped her arms tightly around him, constricting his movements. All he could do was let out a shaky breath and snake his arms around her in return.

"Congratulations, Harold! You have successfully managed to snake yourself right back into my grasp! If you ever had any intention of leaving, you just lost your ticket out of my life!" she said, jokingly.

She knew he wanted to be in her House to stay with her so she found this as a great opportunity to mess with him. Unfortunately for him, and a bit fortunately for her, he was so nervous about the recent happenings, he didn't pick up on her joking tone.

"What? You can't possibly think I wanted to get away from you. Do you honestly think that I want that?" he asked anxiously, releasing her from their hug. He never wanted to make her feel unwanted, especially by him.

"Harold, Harold, I kid with you. It was so easy!" she laughed.

After saying this, Harry could only look at her bright, smiling face that was filled with joy and humor. "Ha ha," he exaggerated, emphasizing each sound. "You thought you were funny, did you? Maybe you won't find that as funny when I'm tickling you," he threatened, preparing himself for what he would do next.

She gasped, suddenly, as she raised her hand to her heart. Her eyes widened as she said, "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, really?" he questioned before his tickling commenced.

"STOP! HARRY, STOP IT!" she yelled, but not loud enough to disrupt the ceremony. As she yelled, luckily, cheering was happening for someone else who had just been sorted.

All the teachers could do was watch with fondness as the young Potter and the Lupin-Black children messed with each other. They had been almost as close as their parents had all been and the teachers just smiled down at them.

Well, except a professor dressed in all black.