Living in Shadows [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Prologue | London, November 1966

Living in Shadows

Severus Snape

Spinning round and round-

Twirling, whirling, turning, twisting

Manipulating: leaping, rolling

Where to go?

Left to right; controlled like a marionette doll

Prologue

London, November 1966

            The building had one tree and it as on the brink of being dead. The building was grey, the towering fence black; it was meant to keep intruders out, but really it kept the children in.

Though everything was grey, the man stood out. He wore grey, too, but the suit he wore was too sharp, too clean for this part of London. He gave the patron his name, which she immediately forgot and was too embarrassed to ask him to repeat it.

He asks to see four children, no more, no less.

The patron, her old face pinched and confused, brings him two girls and two boys. He asks to interview them separately, in private. He first two are only in there for a few minuets each, unable to supply much information when they leave, merely shrugging at those left. The last boy goes in and stays longer. When the last child, a little girl, walks in, the man knows she is who he wants. She does not fidget, does not speak, but waits for him to ask her to sit. She sits very straight, ankles cross and hands in her lap.

Neither speaks, and both look each other over. The man realizes although her hair is the colour of spun gold, her eyes are like the darkest night, large and deep. Her hair, obviously curly, was pulled back in a long braid, only a few stray curls escaping. The only colour on her except grey was a soft sky blue ribbon used to tie the braid at the bottom.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Six." She said softly, still watching him with her extraordinarily dark eyes.

"How long have you been here?"

"Always."

The man looked at her carefully, leaning back in his chair "What do you like to do?"

"Read." Her face stayed blank, but something shone in her eyes for a moment "I've read all the books here."

She as small, a little sickly looking, but the man could tell; she was the one. He thought it might have been the second boy-but no, it was her.

"Can you do special things, little one?"

She narrowed her mysterious eyes at him slightly, but then nodded. "Once...once I made flowers grow in the winter."

The man nodded "Anything else?"

The girl bit her lip hesitantly "I..."

"Go on child, its okay."

"Once I made all the windows open; I make things break when I get mad...I can make the mean kids leave me alone. They...they call me the devil child."

An interesting development, but he was intrigued. Leaning forward, the man hoped she would answer the next question correctly. "Do you ever hurt people, or animals?"

Eyes wide with surprise, the girl shook her head "No, never."

Standing, the man nodded at her. "Would you like to come with me? I would teach you how to control your...special powers."

"Why?" she asked, standing also.

"Would you rather stay here?"

"No."

For the first time, the man smiled slowly "Good, and I can assure you, I have a great many books."

The patron as surprised when he said which child he would take, but hurried to gather the forms. Once the child had gathered her few belongings, they left the orphanage.

"Wouldn't you like to know my name?" she asked suddenly as they hurried down the drab London street, a light snow falling and catching in her curls.

"Names are not nearly as important as you may think, my dear." Said the man. "You may call me Mo, and if you wish you may choose one for yourself."

"Hazel." Said the girl slowly "That was my mother's name."

"Hazel Bowen then," said Mo "Well Hazel, how about I take you home?"

"Okay." Said Hazel, and the man reached down to take her hand.

Within the next few weeks, the man would begin her training; the patron lost all of her forms, the tree finally died and the girl as forgotten, leaving Hazel Bowen in her place.

A/N: This is a story I've been writing in pieces during classes at school...I'll be continuing it when I'm finished one of the stories I am writing now. It's going to be a little different; the times will jump around a bit, from when they are children to adults to teens back to adults back to children-you get the idea.

Anyway, its a Severus Snape story. Not that he's mentioned yet, but he will be!

Question: What do you think?

Rose<3

Rose from the future:

After receiving many, many comments asking if I have read The Night Circus, I went back to read a bit and see what everyone was talking about. I have an uncanny knack for remembering books, and I can often remember passages almost in completion. I read The Night Circus several times, years before I wrote this, and I seem to have fashioned this prologue after a chapter in the book. 

This was far from intentional. I did not mean to write so similarly to The Night Circus, and if I could I would change it, but its been a long time and I don't want to change the start to this story. 

My apologies, and please don't let this stop you from continuing. I spent almost four years on this three book series, and I worked very hard, and I do hope you will enjoy it. There are no other similarities to any other books, besides Harry Potter, obviously.

Enjoy!

Rose