Harry felt his lips twitch but nodded in agreement. "I guess our vote goes to Dan then? He was the nicest of that neutral bunch."
Sirius nodded. "I thought that you had more of a connection with him than the others."
"He seemed genuinely interested in me rather than giving lip service." Harry said, remembering the dinner they'd had with Dan and the other neutral Heads of Houses. "He also asked me about my agenda rather than asking you."
"He did," Sirius said, waving the quill about, "which got brownie points with me too."
"So, Baron and Greengrass it is then." Remus said.
"Are we communicating our choice to anyone?" Harry checked. Neville would probably owl him about the nominations.
Sirius smiled. "Augusta has already requested a brief meeting of the Potter alliance tomorrow morning to discuss options. I have a feeling most of them will also choose Gideon but there will be variation on the second choice." He paused and set the quill down. "I'm going to owl Malfoy and tell him I would hope one of his choices is Baron. I'll leave the other to his discretion. I suspect Malfoy will pick up quite a few votes himself – most of the purebloods are likely to ignore the fact that Narcissa was in the tent."
Harry grimaced but said nothing. He and Draco had managed to maintain their trust for the week and he hoped it would continue at Hogwarts but he would never like Draco or his father. Narcissa was alright but she was better when she was with Andy as though her sister enabled her to be freer and show more of her personality.
"Are you all prepared for school?" asked Remus.
Harry gave him a grateful smile. "Yeah, just have to get packed." Sirius had gone to Diagon Alley to do his school shopping after they had said goodbye to Simeon, Anna and Jason. Sirius had suggested that the following Summer they'd go to Australia and visit them which Harry thought sounded fantastic.
Sirius peered at him with concern. "You don't sound all that enthusiastic."
"Just…" he shrugged and set his mug aside, "it feels like a long time since I was at Hogwarts since we had the time in the States too, and…" he felt the heat of a blush across his cheeks, "well, I've never really had something…family that I minded leaving behind before." He figured he was about the shade of a ripe tomato.
Sirius grinned at him though, and his look of delight made Harry's minor embarrassment more than worth it. "We'll miss you too."
"We'll be seeing Harry every Wednesday evening." Remus said amused.
"It's not the same." Sirius and Harry said in concert.
They both looked at each other and laughed.
Sirius gestured at him. "It is going to be weird seeing you only once a week but once you're back at Hogwarts you'll remember why you wanted to go back and you'll be fine." He smirked suddenly. "You know we should get your new Marauder name sorted before you go back."
Harry cringed and shrank back into the armchair. "Please!" He said dramatically. "Not this again!" Sirius had spent all of Sunday tossing names at him. All of which he'd turned down.
"I don't know what's wrong with Bran…" Remus teased, stretching and looking far too pleased with himself.
"Or Edgar!" Sirius jumped in. "I really liked Edgar! Or Poe!"
"Canute was also a good one…" Remus continued, ignoring Harry's pointed look to discontinue or suffer the consequences.
"Huginn and Muninn…"
"Yaahal…" Remus added. "But leaving mythology behind, you could choose something to do with the attributes of your form."
"Feathers!" Sirius cried triumphantly.
Harry glowered at him.
"Beaky!" Remus suggested brightly.
"Claws?" Sirius mused out loud and shook his head. "Wings is too generic…"
"Snitch," said Harry firmly. "I'm calling my raven form 'Snitch.'"
He had already decided but had held off telling them just to torture them for a while. He had named all his forms; the stallion he had called 'Lord PB' because it represented his future, the Head of House and leader he would become. The lion and the snake were called Gryff and Sly respectively for obvious reasons. He'd tried very hard to find another name for the wolf cub but the one that stuck in his mind was 'Freak' because of the cub's representation of his orphaned self who was so desperate for a family because he'd been denied a home with love by the Dursleys. The bouncy puppy, on the other hand, was and always would be 'Pronglet' as it represented his baby self who would always be the son of Prongs, and of Padfoot since it was Padfoot's form it imitated. But 'Snitch' fitted his raven form – at least he thought so.
Sirius was outraged. "It's a piece of Quidditch equipment!"
"No, Padfoot," Remus said, staring at Harry with renewed pride, "it's perfect. What is the Snitch but a very fast flying entity whose sole purpose is to remain free, tricking its pursuers and defending itself with speed and skill. It's just like a raven which is a free spirited bird that refuses to be caught and uses every trick to fight and live."
Harry started smiling. Remus got it, he thought proudly.
"When the Snitch is caught, the game is over," Remus continued thoughtfully, "and in mythology if ravens were to leave the British Isles, the kingdom would fall. It's a lovely analogy, Harry."
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