Prisoner, Who?

Chapter 19 THE DEMENTOR'S KISS

HARRY POV

I 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. Me, Laia 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. I could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. I went right after Sirius, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of us; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. I had the impression Sirius was making no effort to prevent this. "You know what this means?" Sirius said abruptly to me as we made slow progress along the tunnel.

"Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," I said. 

"Yes . . . ," said Sirius.

"But I'm also — I don't know if anyone ever told you — I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that,"

"Well . . . your parents appointed me your guardian," said Sirius stiffly. "If anything happened to them . . ." I waited. Did Sirius mean what I thought he meant? "I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Sirius. "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 my stomach. "What — live with you? Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Sirius quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd —"

"Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?" Sirius turned right around to look at me; Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Sirius didn't seem to care. "You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!"

Sirius's gaunt face broke into the first true smile I had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask.

"Looks like we are strangers, Hermione", Laia teased behind us.

"Oh, someone jealous? Ahh", Sirius commented back, they make good duo.

"Me, Duh, Uncle, ..... It's weird, calling you uncle, you know"

"You can call me anything, you want, star"

"Ahhh, you too, what do you mean by Lily wins then?"

"When you born, we were visiting you and Sally, then Lily said you will be smart, then Me and Lily had bet whether you are book smart not, I guess, she won, when you guessed right"

"I think, you won, I got expelled from every muggle I had ever attended, the only school, I haven't blown up is Hogwarts, Yet"

Sirius turned around look at her, grinned at her like maniac, "I'm proud of you, little star, I can accept your partnership"

"I'm grateful for that, Uncle"

"Hey, that makes me old"

"you are old man"

They argued with no heat until we had reached the end of the tunnel. Laia knows how to light up the mood.

Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches. Sirius saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for us to pass.