Головна |
"I can't pretend anymore. You'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 Mudblood, Severus. Why 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...
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 trees. The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone... 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 air. Harry 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 branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.
"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"
"No-no message-I'm here on my own account!"
Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face. He wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying to find the right words to reassure his master. | Snape did not speak. | Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically, looking at Harry. | Ron led the way to the Great Hall. Harry stopped in the doorway. | 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. | Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone. | A little crease appeared between his eyes. | But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Snape. | Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. She had been crying. | Sirius grinned. |