| Harry heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape's memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edgeTo escape into someone else's head would be a blessed relief\a133 Nothing that even Snape had left him could be worse than his own thoughtsThe memories swirled, silver white and strange,
and without hesitating, with a feeling of reckless abandonment, as though this would assuage his torturing grief, Harry dived
He fell headlong into sunlight, and his feet found warm groundWhen he straightened up, he saw that he was in a nearly deserted playgroundA single huge chimney dominated the distant skylineTwo girls were swinging backward and forward, and a skinny boy was watching them from behind a clump of bushesHis black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a imitation louis vuitton handbags grown man, an odd smocklike shirt
Harry moved closer to the boySnape looked no more than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringyThere was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister
"Lily, don't do it!" shrieked the elder of the two
But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly
"Mummy told you not to!"
Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips
"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"
"But I'm fine," said Lily, still chanel leather shopping bag giggling
Petunia glanced aroundThe playground was deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls did not know it, SnapeLily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurkedPetunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapprovalLily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palmThe flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster
"Stop it!" shrieked Petunia
"It's not hurting you," said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground
"It's not right," said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower's flight to the ground and lingered upon it"How do you do it?" she added, and there was definite longing in her voice
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Snape could no longer contain himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushesPetunia shrieked and ran chanel knockoff backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she wasSnape seemed to regret his appearanceA dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily
"What's obvious?" asked Lily
Snape had an air of nervous excitementWith a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, "I know what you are
"What do you mean?"
"You're\a133you're a witch," whispered Snape
She looked affronted
"\iThat's\i not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"
She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sisterHe was highly colored now, and Harry wondered why he did not take off the ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did not want to reveal the smock beneath itHe flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously batlike, like his older self
The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding cartier ladies santos series replica watches on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag
"You \iare\i," said Snape to LilyI've been watching you for a whileBut there's nothing wrong with thatMy mum's one, and I'm a wizard
Petunia's laugh was like cold water
"Wizard!" she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance"\iI\i know who \iyou\i areYou're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation"Why have you been spying on us?"
"Haven't been spying," said Snape, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight"Wouldn't spy on \iyou\i, anyway," he added spitefully, "\iyou're\i a Muggle
Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone
"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said louis vuitton bags wholesale shrill |
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