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"I didn't m ean - I just don't want to see you made a fool of - He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will"And he's not\a133everyone thinks\a133big Quidditch hero - " Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead
"I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape"I don't need you to tell me thatBut Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evilI don't understand how you can be friends with them
Harry doubted that Snape had even heard her strictures on Mulciber and AveryThe moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new spring in Snape's step\a133
And the scene dissolved\a133
Harry watched again as Snape left the Great Hall after sitting his Oin Defense Against the Dark Arts, watched as he wandered away from the castle and strayed inadvertently close to the place beneath the beech tree where James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew sat togetherBut Harry kept his distance this time, because he knew what happened after James had hoisted Severus into the gucci handbag new collection air and taunted him; he knew what had been done and said, and it gave him no pleasure to hear it again\a133 He watched as Lily joined the group and went to Snape's defenseDistantly he heard Snape shout at her in his humiliation and his fury, the unforgivable word: "\iMudbloodi"
The scene changed\a133
"I'm sorry
"I'm not interested
"I'm sorry!"
"Save your breath"
It was nighttimeLily, who was wearing a dressing gown, stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower
"I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep hereI never meant to call you Mudblood, it just - "
"Slipped out?" There was no pity in Lily's voiceI've made excuses for you for yearsNone of my friends can understand why I even talk to youYou and your precious little Death Eater friends - you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"
He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking
"I can't pretend anymoreYou've chosen your way, I've chosen mine
"No - listen, I didn't mean - "
" - to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth tiffany co jewellery Mudblood, SeverusWhy should I be any different?"
He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole\a133
The corridor dissolved, and the scene took a little longer to reform: Harry seemed to fly through shifting shapes and colors until his surroundings solidified again and he stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless treesThe adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone\a133 His fear infected Harry too, even though he knew that he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for -
Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the airHarry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand
"Don't kill me!"
"That was not my intention
Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branchesHe stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his cartier ladies santos series replica watches wand
"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"
"No - no message - I'm here on my own account!"
Snape was wringing his handsHe looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him
"I - I come with a warning - no, a request - please - "
Dumbledore flicked his wandThough leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other
"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"
"The - the prophecy\a133the prediction\a133Trelawney\a133"
"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore"How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"
"Everything - everything I heard!" said Snape"That is why - it is for that reason - he thinks it means Lily Evans!"
"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore"It spoke of a boy born at the end of July - "
"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down - kill them all - "
"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"
"I have - I have asked him - "
"You disgust me," said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much louis vuitton new bags contempt in his voiceSnape seemed to shrink a little, "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore
"Hide them all, then," he croaked"Keep her - them - safe
"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"
"In - in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, "Anything
The hilltop faded, and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office, and something was making a terrible sound, like a wounded animalSnape was slumped forward in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, looking grimAfter a moment or two, Snape raised his face, and he looked like a man who had lived a hundred years of misery since leaving the wild hilltop
"I thought\a133you were going\a133to keep her\a133safe\a133"
"She and James put their faith in the wrong person," said Dumbledore"Rather like you, SeverusWeren't you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?"
Snape's breathing was shallow
"Her boy survives," said Dumbledore
With a tiny jerk of the head, Snape seemed to flick off an irksome flyHe has her eyes, precisely her louis vuitton replica china |
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