NIGHTMARE ₁, Harry Potter °

xvi. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴

THE DEMENTORS KISS

- ( chapter sixteen. ) -

Aurora had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and Hermione brought up the rear.

Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Aurora could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Aurora and Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Aurora had the impression Black was making no effort to prevent this.

"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," said Harry. He felt Aurora pass him and move to walk with Ron the second Black started talking.

"Yes..." said Black. "But I'm also - I don't know if anyone ever told you - I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."

Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant?

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..."

Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach.

"What - live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "What about Aurora?"

"It's funny," said Black quietly, looking ahead at his daughter's form. "I get the impression she doesn't like me much - "

"She doesn't like anyone much." said Harry, his voice easily as quiet as Black's. "I think she's overwhelmed. She gets like that a lot, she needs to be explained things first."

Black turned right around to look at him; Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care.

"You know, I think she'd want to live with you if you asked, I don't think she likes her grandmother much. I'd live with you too."

"Her grandmother?" he said. "But you mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.

Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding.