Grow Up and Blow Away (Harry Potter, G)
She couldn't understand it, no matter how hard she tried.
Her world was full of storybooks and things of make-believe. She kept colourful costumes in her trunk, and tried them on at night before going to sleep. If she was feeling especially fun, she would take out bright red lipstick and pink blush that made her look like a silly porcelain doll with fair hair.
They sniggered and stared, and raised their eyebrows at her when she paraded across the room in feathers and sequins and a tiara.
After awhile, they seemed to believe that she took no notice of their beady-eyed looks of disgust.
Just because she didn't react, it didn't mean she couldn't see. She had her eyes open the widest, didn't she?
---
Blue eyeshadow, pink lips and cheeks. Sparkles that shone in the candlelight. Earrings that dangled to her shoulders. Red metallic nail varnish. Heels that didn't quite fit, a plastic crown with plastic jewels. A feather boa and a dress that went past the floor. A string of pearls, looped around her head several times and nearly hidden by the boa.
Her father would have said she was beautiful. And he would have meant it.
---
Everyone in her dormitory had left. Her varnish and her pearls were nowhere to be found. The tiara had been found in plastic pieces on the edge of the Quidditch pitch, scattered on the ground. Her thick scarf of feathers had been seen floating in the lake. A container of sparkles lay overturned at the foot of her bed.
---
As they slept soundly around her, in that enclosing circle of dark blue velvet and cruelty, she sat with bed curtains closed.
Earlier, they had filed in loudly, gossiping and laughing. She peered at them behind blue fabric and heard every word.
Grow up and blow away.
She took the saved pieces of gold-coloured plastic from her bedside table and threw them out the open window.
Grow up and blow away.
She ripped the pages out of every storybook, and watched them float to the cold floor.
Grow up and blow away.
Grow up and blow away.
Her world was full of storybooks and things of make-believe. She kept colourful costumes in her trunk, and tried them on at night before going to sleep. If she was feeling especially fun, she would take out bright red lipstick and pink blush that made her look like a silly porcelain doll with fair hair.
They sniggered and stared, and raised their eyebrows at her when she paraded across the room in feathers and sequins and a tiara.
After awhile, they seemed to believe that she took no notice of their beady-eyed looks of disgust.
Just because she didn't react, it didn't mean she couldn't see. She had her eyes open the widest, didn't she?
---
Blue eyeshadow, pink lips and cheeks. Sparkles that shone in the candlelight. Earrings that dangled to her shoulders. Red metallic nail varnish. Heels that didn't quite fit, a plastic crown with plastic jewels. A feather boa and a dress that went past the floor. A string of pearls, looped around her head several times and nearly hidden by the boa.
Her father would have said she was beautiful. And he would have meant it.
---
Everyone in her dormitory had left. Her varnish and her pearls were nowhere to be found. The tiara had been found in plastic pieces on the edge of the Quidditch pitch, scattered on the ground. Her thick scarf of feathers had been seen floating in the lake. A container of sparkles lay overturned at the foot of her bed.
---
As they slept soundly around her, in that enclosing circle of dark blue velvet and cruelty, she sat with bed curtains closed.
Earlier, they had filed in loudly, gossiping and laughing. She peered at them behind blue fabric and heard every word.
Grow up and blow away.
She took the saved pieces of gold-coloured plastic from her bedside table and threw them out the open window.
Grow up and blow away.
She ripped the pages out of every storybook, and watched them float to the cold floor.
Grow up and blow away.
Grow up and blow away.