Evangeline let go of Snape's hand and moved away. He felt a sharp moment of panic and lunged for her. "Evangeline, don't leave me here."
She smiled reassuringly at him. "Relax, Severus. Nothing will happen to you. You're perfectly safe, as long as you stay in the painting. Don't wander out of it on your own. You'd become lost."
"How did you do this? How can this be?" He stared at her in wonder, unable to get his bewildered mind to wrap itself around the idea that he was actually inside a painting. This simply couldn't be real! All of his previous experience denied the very possibility of such a thing occurring.
She sighed and laid a delicate hand on his cheek. "It's too complicated to explain now. I will later, I promise. Right now I want to show you around. This is a Muggle painting. The figures aren't animated, so we can't interact with them, like we could in an animated painting. But there's still feeling here that the artist put into the painting and…" She grabbed his hand again. "Do you hear the music? I told you it was Mozart."
He nodded his head dazedly and turned to look around more carefully. One wall was like looking through rippled ice. "Is this the surface of the painting?" he asked curiously.
She nodded encouragingly. "Yes. Try to get through it on your own. I'm not sure whether you could or not."
Snape looked at her uncertainly for a moment then walked over and placed his hands on it. It felt as firm as iron. He pushed hard. Nothing shifted in the slightest. Evangeline walked over to stand next to him. She reached out and touched the wall next to his hands. Her hand sank right into it up to her elbow. She pulled it back. He looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. Never had she seen him look so shocked.
"Try a magic spell," she suggested gently.
The wizard pulled out his wand, an anchor of normalcy in this waking dream world, but when he tried to use it, nothing happened. This lack of magic was probably the most upsetting of all the shocks he'd absorbed in the last few minutes. He felt terribly vulnerable without his magic. With a start, he realized that he was completely dependent on Evangeline here. He couldn't leave or in anyway manipulate the environment without her help. As much as he wanted to trust her, it was a sobering realization.
She nodded with kind understanding. "That's what always happens to me too. Magic doesn't seem to work here."
Seeing how overwhelmed he was with everything, she gave him a moment to try to absorb things, then she said, "Would you like to see more?"
He just nodded, too dumbfounded to be certain of speech.
They headed for one side of the painting, walking side by side. When they got to the wall, they walked through a doorway into misty nothingness. Snape felt as if he was being smothered in fog. He could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing, except the panic rising up inside him. Suddenly, he felt Evangeline's hand slide into his. She came into focus at his side. The fog seemed to recede slightly, and he could see brightly colored patches irregularly placed throughout the space. He looked down at her in relief, so very grateful for her comforting presence.
"I couldn't see you or anything else until you took my hand," he said in wonder.
"What do you see now?" she asked curiously.
He turned and looked around him carefully. "I see patches of color sprinkled here and there in hazy nothingness. Why? What do you see?"
"The back doors of paintings. What you perceive dimly as patches of color, are sharp and clear images of paintings to me. This is the netherworld which animated painted figures use to move from one painting to another."
"I couldn't see anything except dense fog before you touched me. If you let go of my hand here, I'm afraid I'd be completely lost," he reluctantly admitted.
She smiled up at him. "Don't worry, Severus. I won't let go of you. I wouldn't ever want to lose you."
He smiled back a bit hesitantly.
She squeezed his hand. "Come on, let's take a little trip." Together they moved through the fog swiftly. Evangeline obviously knew where she was going. Severus clung to her hand and simply followed.
Abruptly they stepped into one of the patches of color, and found themselves in a grassy meadow in front of a beautiful blue lake. There was a herd of unicorns grazing placidly on the grass. Two of them wandered over and rubbed affectionately against them.
Snape looked surprised. "Unicorns aren't usually friendly to men," he said.
"You forget. These aren't real creatures. We're in another painting. Come on."
She led him over to the surface of the painting. He peered out, but he couldn't really distinguish anything in particular through the irregular surface. "Could anyone in the room see us in here?" he asked curiously.
"I'm not sure. I've never asked anyone. Something to discover, I guess. Ready to go home?" She held out her hand for his. More than ready, he took it quickly, and she pushed through the painting's surface and took him with her.
They came out of a painting on an easel in Evangeline's room. Snape checked himself over as if he was afraid he might've lost a piece of himself inside the painting. Once he was satisfied, he turned to Evangeline with a look of amazement on his features. "Please, explain this, Evangeline! What are you that you can do this?"