'Dinner, Nagini,' said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.
If anything was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never pierce him again.
She gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the room after her husband and son.
He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an ear-splitting, ground-trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond.
'Don't let him inside your head too!'
And suddenly he felt a great wave of remorse for the inconvenience and the pain he was giving her.
And he clicked the Deluminator once more as Hermione left the room.
'They are coming.'
'Yeah, great, thanks,' he said, fighting to keep his voice casual as he stood up to let her in.
Even gave a funny little spasm in Hermione's direction that might have been an attempt at a respectful salute, before Disapparating with the usual crack.
The scars on the back of his right hand seemed to be tingling again.
A long-haired wizard wearing magnificent robes of black and gold and a squat, toad-like witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest.
But before he could draw breath there was a scream and a flash of purple light; Hermione's hand was suddenly vice-like upon his and everything went dark again.
It was on him that Harry's thoughts dwelled, as Ron's snores began to rumble from the lower bunk and as he himself drifted slowly into sleep once more.
Then he climbed on to his own bed and stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the pounding of the rain.
And they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back towards the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate.
Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed, desiring nothing more than to get away from her.
He closed his eyes at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared.
'I still haven't ruled it out,' came Hermione's muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pyjamas out of his rucksack.
'Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?'
Hermione twisted in mid-air and the thundering of the collapsing house rang in Harry's ears as she dragged him once more into darkness.
'You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!'
And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great, glassy orbs sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see.
Pulled the wand from Dumbledore's grasp, and as he took it, a shower of sparks flew from its tip, sparkling over the corpse of its last owner, ready to serve a new master at last.
He seemed set on course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him.
It forced its way through the metal doors, leaving them buckled and hanging from their hinges as it staggered into Diagon Alley and launched itself into the sky.
Harry pulled the Cloak down as far as it would go, and together they turned on the spot into the crushing darkness.
'I knew it, Harry!'
And even as Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her forearm.
He was possessed of that cold, cruel sense of purpose that preceded murder.
And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.
The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.
Harry rose up out of the Pensieve, and moments later he lay on the carpeted floor in exactly the same room: Snape might just have closed the door.
He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.
'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'
'I've had enough trouble for a lifetime.'
All was well.
Quiz Playlist
Details
Clickable: Select answers by clicking on text or image buttons
In order to create a playlist on Sporcle, you need to verify the email address you used during registration. Go to your Sporcle Settings to finish the process.
Comments