Disclaimer: The same as the previous chapters.
Chapter 66
What both Harry and Draco had missed, Severus's hawk eyes noticed it immediately. Well, he saw it largely, because, he was kneeling on the floor, in the middle of dark and sparely furnished master bedroom of the Grangers' Residence. Right on the other side of the wingback armchair, a small muggle recorder sat on a plain box. Approaching the chair, he looked at it intently, assured that the boys too were hovering behind him. Harry had managed to locate a muggle stitch and the room was soon bathed with light coming from an overhead pendant light. Draco had tried to pull back the curtains, but Snape dissuaded him," They won't respond."
When the blonde man had looked at him questioningly, he replied," She has been to my classroom and office. She has never been into my private quarters at Hogwarts. And, maybe, just maybe, she knows a little about my home. I am guessing it, because this armchair has the same weaved-in pattern, quite like my couch at Spinner's end. She was trying to recreate my life and making an attempt to fit into it in her own way. She has nearly got everything correct, but this muggle recorder...Potter could you?"
Harry immediately picked up the recorder and the box below it, as soon as Snape declared them safe to touch. They had placed the two items on the desk next to the mannequins, which Snape tried hard not to look at. Looking up at the other wizard, Harry nodded just once and threw the flaps open. Perhaps, the man was expecting more twisted mysteries, because his voice sounded quite crestfallen," These are old muggle tapes. You know the ones they called cassettes." Surprising the young men, Snape had snatched up the recorder and turned it this way and that way, then placing it back on the desk. He pushed down the play button. The music filled the room and soon the familiar song started resonating through the empty house. "The Phantom of the Opera" played without a single crease, and they were once again aware of the second girlie voice, floating from the corridor.
Motioning Harry to pick up both the box and the recorder, the three filed out of the dark and dismal room. Draco felt sorry for Potter when he stared back at his mother's dress, sweaters and robe and disguised it by rubbing his nose at his arm sleeves. At the threshold of the master bedroom, they were forced to stand still, because Snape was holding on to the other door frame tightly and Potter dropped his voice and whispered in awe," Merlin, Hermione found a way to turn the door into a portrait of her younger self, much like our dorm entrance."
Draco had bit his bottom lip because the girl in the elaborate natural scene was indeed Hermione Granger, just a lot smaller and with a head full of wild crackling chestnut hair. The girl was sitting on an open meadow, and one could see distant blue and violet mountains. She was blissfully singing to herself, twirling a bunch of baby's breath in her tiny fingers, at times sniffing them and at times giggling to herself. A doe was quietly sitting at the croak of her elbow and a fawn was chasing butterflies at a distance. She was wearing a crown made of sage and lilac.
Potter pointed up at a knocker shaped like the head of a Gryffindor placed over the portrait. Severus stood straight and rubbed his eyes and smiled," She was an angel." As soon as his words had caressed the portrait the girl abruptly turned and crawled up to the surface, her eyes shining brightly. She glanced over his shoulders and took note of both Harry and Draco and beamed at them with childish glee. The very next moment, she was jumping about the portrait with the doe and the fawn chasing her about, as several baby's breaths started showering all by themselves inside the magical portrait.
Then once again, she flopped down right in front of the portrait, sitting on her knees and hands, grinning like a March hare. "You came to you, you came, you came for me! Oh, my goss! You came!" The melodious voice rang through the house bounced from wall to wall, bathing the air with a known homely warmth. The three-man could only smile back at the portraits childish antics.
"Look at you, aren't you all looking so handsome. And you sir, potion master, Hello and welcome to the Granger's Residence. But I am not home, I mean, well, you know what I mean don't you? You must be wanting to take a look inside. But I cannot just let you all in. I am not supposed to uh, uh. I am supposed to ask you a tough question. A very tough question. But before that tell, how am I looking today? Well, I managed to get the hair to agree with me and made this crown as well from scratch. I wonder, why that doesn't last a day." She pouted so sweetly, that even Malfoy couldn't help himself and whispered," you look pretty, as pretty as an angel." Severus made a sound at the back of his throat and Harry shifted on his feet, as they watched the little girl blush profusely and hide her face away with her voluminous hair. She whispered loudly as Harry chortled," It's not so difficult, I learned to hide from the very best of Hogwarts teacher." she eyes rested on Snape's saddened ones, and she smiled mischievously. Bringing out her tiny finger she looked pointedly upwards and gestured. "Please, Knock!"
Studying the knocker and being aware of the sharp break and claws of the Griffin, he looked back at the portrait for assurance. The girl bobbed her head vigorously, "Grif won't bite. Go on, Knock, pwease."When Snape had given it a knock nothing happened, but Little Hermione gave him her signature look that made both the younger men rock on their feet. She next, showed them three fingers. Harry jumped into action. Being around the real Hermione had made him aware, when the witch asked for something, you do it first and then ask for explanations, politely.
She discreetly watched Malfoy tap the knocker, then squared her shoulder. Previously the sound of the knocker was a dull thud. But when Malfoy raised it and brought it back on the small pad held within the claws of the Griffin, the sound rolled. It felt like the knocker was placed over a very long hollow tube and the vibrations doubled and deepened as it traveled through it.
The girl in the portrait heaved a sigh and gestured Snape to come forward. Righting the crown and drawing it snug on her head, she tried to look serious and drawled, "So, here is your question, potion master." Her baby voice made Snape's accent sound hilarious. The man quirked his eyebrows and curled his lips at that. But her question had knocked the air off his lungs, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"