Disclaimer: The same as the last chapters.
Chapter 62
Draco Malfoy nudged Harry Potter, mindful of the three hovering dwarf sized ghosts behind him and the rather elegantly dress warrior princess, well by the intricate designs on her armour one could only think of her as an important member of an influential family, he hissed," What are you on about?"
Harry glanced at him sideways and then realized," Oh! Of course, you don't get it! You have never been inside a Muggle house. Muggles have this tradition to have a lot of things spread around and displayed in the living space, sometimes they continue to decorate even in the hallways and the study if they have one. It is odd, that the shelves are empty here, the furniture gone and the coffee mug rings on the floor. Hermione had shone us muggle photography of her parents I think, way back, around 5th year's New years time. It was taken right here against the fireplace. Well, this was not the picture in it, and there were indoor plants, knick-knacks, photo frames lined up over the mantle…what happened here?"
Draco just kept quiet, his mind racing a mile per second. He could clearly remember the Dark Lord ordering a group of death eaters to raid the Granger Residence. "Just to teach the mudblood princess some lesson and to give Potter a reason to be afraid of me!", the maniac had broken into a burst of quaking laughter right at their Manor's dining table.
He turned his head around trying to look for misfired spell marks as he continued to think harder. He blurted out," They found no one when they came here. There was no one, the whole place was empty. They had tried to do much damage, but I think Hermione has patched up the burnt marks. Those death eaters never found Mr. and Mrs. Granger!"
It wasn't that Harry was hearing all this for the first time. What intrigued him was the way Malfoy was sounding...he thought to himself, 'perhaps he did truly fall in love with Hermione…?'
Severus Snape was preoccupied, standing in front of the painting, the tall Knight of the Undead, hovering close by waiting for him and looking at him with interest. When he stared at her, the ghost broke into a grotesque smile," Do you remember me?"
He studied her carefully. Recognising the pattern on the armour and the carvings on the helmet, a smile creeped on his lips. Both the younger men watched the Headmaster go stiff and then mutter in an unbelievingly soft tone," Freya?"
Freya brought her gloved fingers over her face and made the gesture of wiping off tears and then chuckled," Being dead for eons, the empty corridor and the painting of the 15th-century witches and court jests and Peruvian dragons made life so boring until a gangly boy, with a head full of black hair, stumbled over my statue and hid behind me, praying hard. What became of that fuzzy haired boy and that round spectacled bully, I wish I could swing my club on them. Tormenting people unnecessarily." Turning her head towards Harry, she huffed," This one's his babe. Has his arrogance but…"
Snape spoke up," But is a better man than the father, Freya."
The ghost bowed till her face was at the same level as that of Snape and smiled," And you could be a better father. Oh, can I tell you how exceptional your daughter is! Respectful and bossy. That puny kid has got all of us, wrapped around her tiny finger."
Growing solemn, she added," And she loves you to bits. It was fun going over potion texts and thinking over brewing alternatives, that walrus of a teacher you had, phew! What was Albus thinking! Do you still brew, have a thing for research? Don't give up pursuing what you love the most Severus Snape."
Gesturing at the dreamy painting she tilted her head," What are your thoughts about this one? The wonder boy over there says it has not been here for long. Um Hum, he is right, Miss brought it here some after she came back and decided to here. Shares your hidden interests as well, painting, music, name it, the girl just gorges in everything. She secretly wanted to be a fitting daughter. I don't blame her. But don't you think it is sad, the girl has been trying so hard to fit into the Magical World," turning her eyes at Malfoy, she said," but someone was always trying to demean and humiliate her," turning to Potter, she said,' And a friend just forgot to check on her as soon as he won the War, she fought along with him...But look at this picture, Severus, Look at the bright arrangement of lily lazily swaying with the breezy, too bright against such dull colours. Your lilac never left your side, and nor did your Baby's Breath. Look at the bunch closely Severus and also remember to look out of the window from Miss Hermione Granger's bedroom, upstairs."
Unknownst to the two former students, Snape had recognized the painting the moment he stepped inside the living area. How could he not! It was one of the few things Lily wanted to buy if she ever got the chance to. This was perhaps one of the original paintings of Claude Monet's Garden Series. A million things came to his mind. Those idle evenings when Lily introduced him to muggle art and sculpture. She had even brought leaflets, magazines, and postcards to help him see a world he could never visit. Walking close to the framed oil painting he started scaling its borders minutely. Indeed, this was an original. So Lily had managed to get one.
A rare smile of satisfaction crept over his face when Freya spoke again, "Severus, there are several of us here. And each one of us is going to help you learn a little more about Miss Granger. But each one of you will have to either answer a riddle or solve a puzzle. There are bound to be many keys to turn to unlock the great mind of the most fierce witch of this age. Now, standing directly in front of those bright lilies and do think of Lily. At the same time, think of the most fitting answer to my riddle:
If you say my name I no longer exist. What am I?"
Blinking away his tears, Snape gushed," Silence, profound silence."
A flash of light blinded him, and within seconds three wands were trained at the supposedly innocent painting, which was glowing around the borders. Managing to cover their eyes in their sleeves the three crept closer to the mounted frame. It sizzled and then after a subtle click sound, swayed sideways revealing a small pattern.
Draco spoke aloud," That's a single flower." Snape corrected him in a choked voice," It is a Lilac." The small square traced itself around the pattern and a small paper floated out of it, managing to land right into the Headmaster's open palm.
Harry looked over the man's shoulders and muttered," That's mum's picture." And Draco read aloud too engrossed by the whole mystery of this house, ignoring the fact that he might be reading a personal piece of information," Mum's proud to learn about her Sage's Baby's Breath."
He had closed his eyes the moment he saw Lily's face, tilting his head up he looked at the ceiling trying hard to find some more strength within himself, until his eyes caught hold of the small paper glued to the back of the painting, Narrowing his eyes he read the slip. "This piece of work is owned by Miss Minerva Estella Evanson."