Effervescence | h.p.

i | xxxiv. a truthful explanation

As November began, the cold weather seemed to pick up. The residents of the castle of Hogwarts School were more frequently found wrapped in scarves, jackets, and their most comfortable jumpers. Every morning, the grounds of the school were covered in frost.

The first game of the Quidditch season would be played on Saturday after weeks of training. The first match being Gryffindor versus Slytherin. In the events that Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

No one had really seen Harry or Lyra play, as Oliver was keeping them as a pair of secret weapons of sorts. But, somehow, the news that Harry was on the team as a Chaser to replace Alicia Spinnet had been leaked, meaning the other teams knew of at least one of the two secret players' identities. But, Lyra was still a complete mystery.

Harry and Ron were lucky that they were now friends with Hermione, as she would correct their homework and essays for them and, essentially, give them the proper answers. Lyra had allowed Harry to use some of her answers and responses, but did offer the prior warning that her answer may not be correct.

Hermione had offered to lend Harry and Lyra her copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, which Harry gladly accepted after Lyra had said she would read it before bed throughout the week. A lot of information was learned from the book, like there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473.

Since Halloween, Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since she would hang out with Harry, Ron, and Lyra all together. Because of this lenience and Ron and Harry's rescue, she was much nicer.

The day before Lyra's and Harry's first Quidditch match, the four Gryffindor students were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Hermione conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard.

Severus was limping, which Harry took notice of along with Lyra, but they noticed for different reasons. Harry was suspicious of the cause of the limp whereas Lyra was concerned about why he would be limping.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lyra moved closer together to block the fire from view, almost positive it wasn't allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye, causing him to limp over to them. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" he asked the raven-haired boy with glasses.

It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor. Miss Lupin-Black, come with me."

Lyra looked at her friends with a quizzical look and shrugged before following Snape.

He took long, fast strides, making it difficult for the first year, who was already shorter than average, to keep up with him. "Sir, where are we going?" she asked from a few feet behind him.

"My office," he said simply.

"Can you please slow down a little bit, Professor Snape? Please?" she practically wheezed out, out of breath from the pace she had to keep.

Severus stopped walking temporarily and looked behind him, just noticing how far behind the small girl had fallen. He decided he should try making some small talk with her as they went to his office.

"How have you felt about your time at Hogwarts thus far, Miss Lupin-Black?" he asked out of the blue after she had caught up to him.

"Well, I've enjoyed it very much — especially when I ignore Halloween and whenever I get stuck in the hospital wing," she answered with light laughter as the two began walking at a comfortable pace for the small girl. "I do miss my dads — sometimes more than other — but I have Harry," she said with a small and sad smile.