Disclaimer: The same as the previous chapters.
Chapter 64
Before Freya faded away, Snape had managed to ask the question, glancing up at the ceiling once," Is she in danger?"
Freya nodded negatively and questioned back," What do You think?"
His answer had baffled both Potter and Malfoy," I think it is a recorded voice." With that the man that launched himself into scrutinizing the ground floor minutely.
"The Kitchen has just the minimum requirements to cook for a single person. This means Granger had no visitors or wasn't expecting any visitors. This was brilliant, hiding where you live without drawing any attention to yourself." Snape mused.
Draco narrowed his brows further and Potter dropped his voice," She could smoothly transcend into that mode. She could recede into her jolly-lone world, well that's what the Twins loved to call it even during the boisterously Weasley Christmas party."
Snape replied, absent-minded, studying the walls in the wall way once again," It happens when you are the only child. At times, the crowd overwhelms you and you end up honing the skill to get lost in your little world in a span of a second if you are a genius and find yourself a misfit wherever you go."
Draco countered," I am also the only child." Without turning his head at his godson, the headmaster countered back," But you had house-elves, you had everything, you were popular before you could say mum, and you grew up in the luxury of both comfort and friends. Potter, if I could remember clearly, Hermione was all by herself for most parts of your first year, all alone struggling and fighting hard to fit into the magical world. It was not until that troll incident, that you three became the bane of my existence."
Potter stared at him strangely and smirked," Well, I might have been the one to lead the two of them everywhere, but do you know who burnt your robes during the first Quidditch match?"
Snape stood stiff and turned at the man, arching his eyebrow till it disappeared into his hairline. And Draco started laughing hard," Cool, I got punched in the third year, but she burnt your robes in the very first year!"
The man grimaced and then shook his head, giving both of them a sly smile," She wasn't really afraid of me was she?"
Harry grinned," No, not as much as the rest of the school was, now that I think about it, she always had this intense urge to try to squeeze into your good books, do you have it anyway?"
Draco, who was standing behind Severus, stood on his toes so that he could catch Potter's eyes and mouthed," No."
Snape squared his shoulders and walked away till he reached the stairs that would lead them to the second floor, muttering," I am already hating the friendship of these two." He stood still suddenly realizing some of the things had Hermione had been trying to convey through the set up of her house. She had taken up the name Minerva Estella Evanson, which would mean there would be documents filed under that name. And Lily had taken up the name Lilac Evansage, which also indicated the same. The very next thing he did was to sit down on the foot of the stairs and bury his head in his pale hands.
He heard the two men rush up to him and felt them kneel beside him. Draco asked, concern evident in his measured tone," Is your magic acting up?" Snape shuddered and then looked up, tears threatening to tumble down his eyes," No, I just…", taking a deep breath, he dropped his voice,"Evansage and Evanson. I understand the bit of Lily's hidden intention, but I just understood the meaning of using Evanson.' Looking at Harry's big eyes, he said," Evanson, Lily tried to hide Hermione's existence, if anyone from the death eaters ranks tried looking through the muggle records. Evanson is a common surname, mostly misspelled. They would have failed to locate her. Next, we are aware, Lucius Malfoy had been trailing her like a Hawk," he clenched his jaw, but reined in his temper," Evanson would throw him off, he would hunt for a son if he was ever going to let his hands on any document and not a daughter, never a daughter, because Lily had worked it out that Lucius had low respect for powerful witches and also that been both of ours' daughter, Hermione was going to be quite a powerful witch, which obviously she is. Lastly, Hermione took the name up after the battle of Hogwarts, after I had pushed her away. She was trying to prove that she was no less than a son, I think she did not take much time to agree on Griphook's terms and conditions. And I think, whatever she was involved in was terrifyingly dangerous. And, I am to be blamed for her present state."
A strain of a song floated from upstairs catching the three wizards off guard. They were by this time, used to the mindless humming of who so ever was hovering above. But the song was familiar to both Potter and Snape who shared a significant look and without a word followed Draco Malfoy, who had already started creeping up the stairs with his wand raised in his hand.
The words of the song "The music of the Night" reached their ears. It was definitely being hummed by someone very small, a girl who had just learned to pronounce words. The baby accents were prominent in her voice, making the song sound eerie and haunting. Snape had stood halfway, gulping down his thoughts. Whosoever it was above, had been humming the tune of "Think of my Fondly", previously. Harry tapped on his shoulders to bring his attention back to the task at hand. He allowed the man to go ahead of him, once they saw Malfoy standing at the hallway with his arms tucked under his armpits, tapping his wand lazily at his flank, his brows scrunched up in deep contemplation.
As Harry's feet touched the last stair, Snape let out the breath he had been holding in with a wooss. Hermione Granger was aware of her biological parents' acute fascination for the musical play," The Phantom of the Opera". But Snape had started feeling ill at ease by the lingering bittersweet thought,' And what else did she unearth?'
He could hear Draco's irritated voice," It is like the door is singing, by how?" Potter's head was turning this way and that," I can't see any hidden speaker anywhere either. The walls and the ceiling are bare. Empty. No hole or gap anywhere, have you already looked…"
Draco scowled," I tried to cast Homenum Revelio a moment ago, while you were dallying on the stairs Potter, and got smacked on my face with my own wand. Now if you have any better ideas, please feel free to share, this song is making me...well, don't just stand there, do something, find what's in that door...do your muggle thing, because magic it seems is prohibited up here."
Fiddling with his cravat once another, feeling the comfort of the pendant of sage and lilac, he thought of the muggle photograph of Lily. a small sad smile crept up his lips. She had it taken that day she might have learned of being pregnant with Hermione. Finding it in the secret hole on the wall behind the painting of lilies was indeed a wonderful way of honouring the mother. He blinked his eyes a couple of times understanding that for Hermione this house was previously belonging to her adopted parents. But now, she had been determined to make it a symbol of the love of Sage and Lilac.
Shaking his head, inhaling deeply, schooling his emotions once again, Severus Snape started climbing up the rest of the stairs to join the two men who were standing like utter dunderheads.