❝ he and i are closer than friends, we are enemies linked together, the same sin binds us ❞ | in which lilium snape is bound to harry potter by fate, destined to stand on either side of a war that will soon be waged. she is cursed by prophecy, or so...
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ACT THREE, chapter fifty—three : her soul is black and it's a fact that a sneer will eat you alive
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Harry went to the Burrow.
After Dumbledore's mission of convincing Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts, the Headmaster dropped him off — right in the middle of the swamp. Brilliant. But at least he got to be with Ron and Hermione again, plus the rest of the Weasley's, who always welcomed him with open arms. With his best friends on either side of him, their group was almost complete.
Harry felt her absence like a missing tooth.
Ron nudged his shoulder playfully, "You all right, mate?"
No, he wasn't. "Yea. I'm good."
"Where's Lili?" Hermione eagerly asked, glancing purposefully over his shoulder, like she expected to see her any moment now. "She didn't come with you?"
"Ah no." Harry swallowed hard. "She stayed with Snape."
Hermione instantly understood, he could see it in her face.
"Agh, no," Ron groaned through a laugh, "You should've told her we're more fun that that greasy git."
Harry winced and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, hiking his shoulders in discomfort. "I think she had to stay and... you know, be ready in case..."
Harry couldn't possibly say anything else, and thank God, by the looks on their faces, they understood and they didn't ask anything more.
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Life at Spinner's End was more grim than ever.
Without Harry, life seemed to lack sunshine and warmth and even happiness.
As it was, having only one working eye took serious adjustment.
Responding to her father's request, Madam Pomfrey had been round to inspect her eye and she'd confirmed what they'd all feared but known was true: there was no fixing her sight. She would always see in mono—vision, black and white, her view of the world split into the present and the future.
Pomfrey had Lili run drills to better learn her new depth perception (reaching, throwing, catching), and helped her walk in straight lines to improve her balance. Per the mediwitch's advice, Severus cleared all the paths round the house, putting away the stacks of books and stacked cauldrons. Lili ran her hands along objects and walls to get a better sense of location, and she stumbled less now that her father (a bit begrudgingly) put brightly coloured paint on the edge of the stairs. He also mercifully added a sturdier handrail.
