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. . .
Tilly 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, Matilda, 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. Tilly could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. 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. Matilda 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?"
Matilda knew that the question was not meant for her, but she still took the liberty in answering Sirius' question he directed toward Harry.
"Of course, we know," said Tilly, her tone had a hint of annoyance. "It means you'll be exonerated from the crimes you've been accused of."
"You'll be free," said Harry.
"Yes. . . " said Black. "But I'm also – I don't know if anyone ever told you – I'm your godfather."
Lupin, from up ahead, scoffed as Sirius spoke the word 'father'.
"Yeah, we knew that already," said Matilda, interrupting, yet again.
"Well. . . your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them. . . "
"Yes," said Lupin, looking over his shoulder to Sirius. "Guardian."
Tilly's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched Sirius send a glare in Lupin's direction, but he seemed unaffected by the potential threat. It was as if they were having a conversation of their own, a secret conversation.
Sirius cleared his throat and went on talking with Harry.
"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. . . "
Tilly scoffed at the thought of Harry wanting to go back home to his dreaded aunt and uncle.
"What – live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"
The tone that Harry spoke with made it sound as if he believed Sirius to be a mad man for suggesting such an idea. Annoyed, Matilda pushed on Harry's shoulder, and when he turned to her, she gave him a look that told him to watch his tone of voice.
