Hey everyone, Haarii-chan here. I've been wanting to write this for a while now, and just now had the time and motivation to do it. The song featured here is So She Dances as sung by Josh Groban. To understand how I wish to sound of the song to be, please listen to the song at some point before, during, or after reading. Thanks!
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It was an innocent looking wooden box, painted a cheery red. It had, undoubtedly, been lovingly and painstakingly painted in delicate golden lines, creating beautiful yet simple geometric patterns that were timeless in their design. Its domed cover would latch into the lock with a nearly silent 'click' and would open again when the tiny gold key, tied with a small red tassel, would turn three times to the left and once to the right. Overall, it was a lovely little box, if a bit unremarkable to the casual observer.
However, when it was opened, it became a truly magic box. Once opened, the image of a little girl, a crown of flowers in her hair and wearing a ballerina's uniform, began to dance to a man's voice.
A waltz when she walks in the room,
she pulls back the hair from her face.
She turns to the window to sway in the moonlight.
Even her shadow has grace.
The tiny dancer would spin in beautiful pirouettes and bound lightly around the inside of the little box that gave her life. She would spin on her point slippers, swaying with the music so gracefully, she could not possibly be a mechanical figurine. The man's song was timed perfectly to her dance.
A waltz for the girl out of reach.
She lifts her hands up to the sky.
She moves with the music, the song is her lover.
The melody's making her cry.
When Petunia had first laid eyes on the little box, it belonged to her sister. It was a gift from that dirty little boy from Spinner's End. No doubt, the scrawny, filthy whelp had saved and scraped for years just to buy the box, let alone the gold paint. By the time he had gotten up the courage to give the girl his gift, they were both seventeen and reaching a crossroads in their relationship.
So she dances in and out of the crowd like a glance.
This romance is from afar, calling me silently.
When Severus finally finished painting the box, he pondered what song to put in it. He spent countless days researching the proper charms that would turn the simple box into a music box and even more nights attempting to perfect the little figurine that would come to life once he found that perfect song. Once he had mastered the charms, he set out on trying to find a song that could ever express how he felt for the beautiful girl that he would eventually present the box to. There were several songs that could have done an adequate job, but none that could truly give the feeling and emotion that he was trying to portray. Looking at the time, he cursed as he ran to get ready. Today was Lily's last ballet performance under her childhood teacher and he swore he would be there.
A waltz for the chance I should take,
But how will I know where to start?
She's spinning between constellations and dreams.
Her rhythm is my beating heart.
Even though Petunia hated being in the ballet studio, especially when it was Perfect Lily's recital, she could do nothing but watch in awe as Lily danced across the stage with such grace that it seemed she would never touch the ground. And though she hated to admit it, Lily was never anywhere close to as beautiful as when she was dancing. Shifting her eyes to a couple rows away, she spied the Snape boy. He was enraptured with the girl on stage, eyes following every movement as if it were the most important on earth. For a brief instance, Petunia felt jealous of her sister; this boy, she could tell, would move heaven and earth for Lily and Petunia knew with certain clarity that the chances that she would ever find the same were so small, they were almost non-existant.
So she dances in and out of the crowd like a glance.
This romance is from afar, calling me silently.
I can't keep on watching forever.
I'd give up this view just to tell her.
Severus Snape wrote a song for Lily that evening after watching her dance. The words flowed out like water and the tune, surprisingly did as well. As he practiced singing, thanking Merlin that his voice had finally stopped cracking, his mother Eileen stood outside of the door, a hand to her mouth and tears flowing down her shallow cheeks. It seemed that her family magic had blessed her son with a beautiful voice, as if to make up for disowning her and the boy that the Prince's had never known. Listening to her son now, Eileen cried for her marriage, her family, but mostly, for her son. She knew that he was doomed to never have that little red-hair witch, that her unfortunately plain-looking boy would never be able to give her all that they would need. Like her and Tobias, their love would fade when the world catch up and the bills stacked up. As she heard Severus finish, she crept away silently, resolving to be there for her boy when his heart broke.
When I close my eyes, I can see
the spotlights are bright on you and me.
We've got the floor, and you're in my arms.
How could I ask for more?
When Lily and James Potter perished that Halloween night, the dancer in the music box transformed into a red-hair pixie of a girl with sparkling emerald eyes. As per her will, Lily's beloved music box went to her sister that had once said how much she loved it, no matter where it came from. When Petunia received the delicate item and she opened it for the first time, she allowed herself to grieve for her beautiful, fiery sister that was gone too soon. When her tears subsided, she put the box away, intending to not look at it for quite a long time indeed.
So she dances in and out of the crowd like a glance.
This romance is from afar, calling me silently.
I can't keep on watching forever,
and I'm giving up this view just to tell her.
As the end of the song arrived, Petunia Dursley would cry, just as she had whenever the song and dance would end. Through her tears, she would hold out her hand for the tiny ballerina to hold onto as she would take her bow. And just like every time Petunia would offer her finger, the little girl would give it a hug and a kiss, beaming up at the much larger woman.
"Thank you Petunia!" the girl would giggle out.
This never failed to make Petunia cry all the more as she would delicately lift the girl into her palm and place a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. After placing the dancer back down, the girl would spin once more before climbing back into her music box.
Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.
Just as the lid began to close on its own, a little voice would whisper out,
"Did I do a good job, Nia? Did I dance right?" And Petunia would choke out a small laugh at the childish nickname and voice.
"Just so, little Lily. You are such a pretty ballerina." The box would finally shut with a light 'click' and Petunia would dry her tears as she replaced the box in her dressing table where her husband would never look for it. She would then wash her face, reapply her make-up, straighten her dress, and go out into her home where her beloved son would be watching a rugby match on the telly, her dearest husband would be reading the paper and listening to the wireless, and her nephew that she could not bring herself to truly hate would be cleaning the house. And just as it had been every year, on her sister's birthday, that Petunia would play the music box, the sight of her nephew's eyes, the exact same as her sister's, cut her deeply and the familiar ache of love tempered with cruel hatred would seize her heart. It had been nearly ten years since her sister died but the pain of loss was always the worst on this day. She doubted that it would ever truly fade away.
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In 1999, Petunia opened her sister's music box once again, on the anniversary of Lily's birth. However, instead of the little girl dancing around the table, the tiny dancer was pulling a similarly small boy out of the box as well. Looking at the boy's black hair, black eyes, and loving look at the redheaded ballerina, Petunia was shocked to recognize the child form of Severus Snape. Tears came to her eyes as she realized, just as her sister appeared in the box when she died, Severus must have also left this world. She cried for the loss of the one person that had loved her sister more than Petunia had, for the man that had given everything for her Lily, but had still fallen short. As she remembered the boy that Severus Snape had been, she watched the pair start to dance. The boy was shy at first but with the girl's help, the two were soon moving in perfect synch with each other and the music.
When the song was over, Petunia lowered her finger to the tiny duo and they both giggled as they bowed and then hugged her fingers.
"Thank you Petunia!" they chorused together before both kissing the finger and climbing back into the box.
"Lily, Severus, wait," Petunia cried out as the lid began to close. Two little heads peered up at her with curiosity before they seemed to remember what they were supposed to say.
"Did we do a good job, Nia? Did we dance right?" And just as before, Petunia could only laughingly cry. She smiled though the tears though and answered back,
"Just so, Little Lily. Just so, Little Sevvy. I have never seen a more beautiful, perfect dance."