“Something is visiting, but it may not be the muse...”

“Can the leopard change his spots?” Emrys mused. “Leopards have, but the other leopards don’t like it.”

“And the rest of the story?" he asked, trying to force a smile. "Is that like everything else in POT, on a need-to-know basis?"She nodded.The waiter came to their table, but must have sensed his timing was off and went away again.She opened her mouth to say something. Harry could see that she was on the verge of tears. She bit her lower lip. Then she put the napkin down on the tablecloth, shoved her chair back, stood up without a word and left. Harry remained, sitting and staring at the napkin. She must have been squeezing it in her hand for some time, he mused, because it was crumpled up into a ball. He watched it slowly unfold like a white paper flower.”

“Aidan was nowhere to be seen. She pictured him glowering in the shadows somewhere, breaking sticks or punching walls, or something equally useless.”

“I think it's possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you've realized something, it's too late.”

“We threw ourselves at that wild river every day and most days it tossed us all harmlessly skyward like well-loved children. After a while that does something to you.”

“Have you ever done something so horrible and so irreparable that you knew there was nothing you could ever do to fix it?”“No,” I said gently. “Mostly because I’m eight.”