Jupiter | Harry James Potter

xx ; late night invitations

  "Sorry about the bite," Sirius said to Ron as they walked down the tunnel.

"A bite?" Ron scoffed from in front of them. "A bite? You almost tore my leg off!"

"I was going for the rat. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, more than once, James suggested that I make the change permanent. The tail, I could live with, but the fleas..." Sirius said, as he looked to Harry and Jupiter. "They're murder."

Harry and Jupiter looked at each other, both of them holding back a small laugh as they ducked under a tree root. Who would've thought that Sirius Black had a few jokes?

Seeing Sirius in the papers, and in the ball, and even in the Shrieking Shack had sent a chill down Jupiter's spine, but now as they walked through the tunnel together, she felt almost safe around him.

She could barely see him, but the sound of his voice was comforting and familiar to her. Somewhere, deep inside her brain, she could remember it.

"You know what this means?" Sirius asked as they made slow progress through the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," Harry answered.

"Yes..." Sirius sighed. "Jupiter, I'm not sure if you know..."

"I know," she said, nodding her head reassuringly even though he probably couldn't see it.

"I just wanted to say, I'm truly sorry. Not just for having to leave you, but also for who you were left with. Moony tried to take you after..." Sirius said, his voice trailing off. "But the Ministry didn't think a werewolf should've had you alone. And I heard that my old friend, Mary Macdonald tried to get you and Harry both, but she didn't have enough relation, I suppose."

"It's not your fault," Jupiter sighed, her eyes falling to the dirt below her. "I know that now."

"I beg to differ. I convinced Lily and James to make Peter their secret keeper. Thought Voldemort would never suspect it," Sirius muttered as he watched Pettigrew's constricted body lead them out of the tunnel.

"You were just trying to keep them safe," Harry reasoned.

"You are exactly like your father," Sirius smiled at Harry. "Always seeing the good in things." A small smile broke onto Harry's face as his chin lifted slightly in confidence.

"Pettigrew said I was like my mother," Jupiter said. "Can you tell me about her?"

Sirius' blue eyes suddenly became dreamy and his smile grew softer. "Isla Romano was one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I've heard similar things about you, Jupiter."

Jupiter felt her face get hot, and she couldn't hold back the grin that was pulling on her lips.

"Do I look like her?" she asked, looking down to the dirt again to hide her flattered smile. She'd always assumed she looked like Rodolphus Lestrange, although she'd only ever seen his portrait hanging on the wall. He had tanner skin like her, and brown hair. As she looked back on it now, it seemed like a perfect cover-up to send her with him. She figured it would be nice to have someone else to relate her features to.

"Quite," Sirius smiled at her. "Except, I reckon you've got my cheekbones. Believe me, they're a lot less startling when I've had something other than prison food and rats."