𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 - Harry Potter x Fem!Reader¹

17.. THE TIME TURNER

Y/N 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 James, who was talking with Sirius. Y/N, Hermione, and Harry 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. Y/N could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Y/N went right after James, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Y/N had the impression James was making no effort to prevent this.

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

"You're free," said Y/N.

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

"I know," said Y/N.

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

Y/N waited. Did Black mean what she 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 Y/N's stomach.

"Live with you?" she said, accidentally cracking her head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "I could leave the Hudsons?"

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

"Of course I want to go with you!" said Y/N, her voice easily as croaky as Black's. "Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

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

"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"

"Yes, I mean it!"

Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Y/N 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.

They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. 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.

James and Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Y/N, Hermione, and Harry to pass. At last, all of them were out.

Y/N's mind was buzzing. She was going to leave the Hudsons. She was going to live with Sirius Black, her parents' best friend... She felt dazed... What would happen when she told the Hudsons she was going to live with the convict they'd seen on television!

"I've been meaning to ask," began James, "how did you and Harry meet? I asked him a few times, but all he said was 'on the train.' I didn't want to press too much at the time, but now I want some details."

"It really was on the train," said Y/N, feeling like she was floating. "Hermione and I were looking for a toad in each of the compartments, and we eventually stumbled into the one with Harry and Ron."