the_debt_of_time

"Bagman, Otto!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Belby, Damocles!"
Mia's attention quickly fell to the boy that approached the hat. She knew his name
well as she had been researching him since the summer after Dumbledore's death. With
Snape on the run, Remus no longer had a Potions Master to brew his Wolfsbane Potion—
Slughorn was an excellent teacher but also a bit unreliable and had no reason to be
charitable to an old student, especially without Dumbledore there to lean on him. She had
taken up the task of attempting to brew the potion but had been unsuccessful at it. In her
endeavour to get the potion correct, she had read about its history, and the wizard who
created it: Damocles Belby. Staring at him in the Great Hall, she found herself eager to
pick his brain over the coming years in an effort to secure the helpful elixir for her friend.
Eventually, the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"
Mia smiled as she noticed who was next. "Good luck, Sirius."
"Luck?" Sirius grinned at her. "I don't need luck. I've got determination on my side."
"Plan on tricking the Sorting Hat in order to get into Gryffindor?" James snickered.
"That sounds very... Slytherin of you," Mia teased.
Sirius turned, stepping a little too close to her as though he were trying to be
intimidating. Unfortunately, all it did was remind Mia of an older Sirius who was waiting
for her somewhere in the future. "Just for that, kitten, I'm getting into Gryffindor just to
spite you."
"Black, Sirius!" Professor McGonagall called, and they all watched as Sirius strutted
forward, a smirk still on his face when the hat fell over his eyes.
Despite knowing the result, Mia watched nervously, waiting as the Sorting Hat took
its time. Sirius did, indeed, look determined, and she could only imagine the mental
argument he was having with the hat, refusing to be placed in the Hogwarts House of his
ancestors.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat eventually shouted, and the table on the far left
exploded with cheers.
"HA!" Sirius said with the brightest smile Mia had ever seen as he turned and
pointed at her and then silently did what she figured was an "I told you so" dance on his
way to the Gryffindor table.