Disclaimer: The same as the other chapters.

Chapter 70

Draco malfoy stood gaping at the inside of a closet, and rebuked himself," Merlin's beard, what was I thinking, when nothing in this house is normal, how could I expect a simple looking closet to just contain clothes and ladies garments…'blood rushed up his cheek, as Potter pushed passed him. Severus noticed the subtle alteration in the temperature of the room. Did the witch introduce the muggle thermal reading process and invented a new charm. When Draco touched the door, Snape could feel hot air blowing over his back and when Potter pushed past the man, he could sense the salty breeze blowing over the ocean and finally leaving a salty taste in his mouth.

Just to taste his assumptions, the Headmaster had taken out a quill and transfigured it in a rat. Draco had turned back at him when he heard the spell, Fera Verto. Neither moved or altered Harry. The rat squeaked and scrambled over the floorboards. But as soon as it reached the threshold of the open closet the entryway sizzled with a zapping sound and the creature literally got electrocuted. All that remained was a charred feather, disintegrating in black soot that moment it touched the ground. Harry had yelped and turned abruptly, tripping over his feet, he felt backward, crashing against the far end of the extended room.

He blurted," You could have warned me. Why test it? That is how 'mione works, geez! I felt the ocean, desert, spring and summer breezes too." Draco narrowed his eyebrows, and questioned," what are you blabbering Potter!" But Snape cut him short.

"Harry is right, Hermione has placed a temperature reading spell and has morphed it within a weather detection spell. Think hard Draco, when you touched the closet door, what did you feel?" the headmaster asked thoughtfully.

Malfoy thought back and exclaimed," I smell fresh flowers…" Snape simply walked past him and slowly entered the closet. Standing on the other side, he confirmed," I felt the chilly winter breeze."

The room was as stark as the bedroom but the moment Malfoy joined the other two the walls started changing on their own. The three turned around, alarmed and alert, but nothing ominous happened. Being a pureblood, Draco Malfoy could barely make any head or tail of what he was looking at. But both Snape and Potter were halfbloods. They had spent time in the muggle world long enough to watch spy movies or read thriller novels.

Harry whistled triumphantly and then grinned back at the two Slytherins, " Well, we are finally in the base, the secret liar, the brainstorming room of Hermione Granger. She is ever-the meticulous." Snape slightly curled his lips but steeped closer to a whole wall covered with the glimmering world map. Thin red ribbons where criss crossed several board pins. Notes appeared if he stepped too close to one of the pointed areas.

Draco noticed a checklist appear over a long table. And Potter added excitedly," And well course, she couldn't work without a computer. I would have to make some muggle to open that. Knowing 'mione it will be password protected."

A bunch of books appeared next to the keyboard and Draco proceeded to pick them up. Snape snatched them out of his reach. The gosson would have complained but he couldn't. The godfather was struggling to breath once again. Long slips of toughened papers worked as bookmarks, he collected them, looked them over and handed them to Potter. Malfoy looked over the other man's shoulder and read aloud, growing curious by the minute," Cairo, Sydney, Lima-Cusco, Beijing, Seoul, Taipei...what on earth was she doing? Globe trotting, hunting for horcruxes took her all over the place!" Harry mused," clever of her to opt the muggle airways, Malfoy, I say, clever of her."

Snape in the meanwhile had copied the contentments of the marked pages on parchements and rolled them and put them back inside his robes, conveying the others, "they are for you, you will get them later." Giving the room a thorough check, he stood straighter and said urgently," We now know where her workplace is, since it has been established we are the only people eligible to be here, we can come back. I have a feeling we will need to do that a couple of times.

Draco could give it up, he asked," those were old poetry collections. She left it here on purpose don't you think?" Snape stared hard at him and replied tersely," She wanted us to see them put together. They belonged to Lily's grandmother. She used to manage the local library and lily had inherited several of her priced copies. Don't ask anymore…" he face went white as his eyes locked over the surface of the only bare wall. Potter and Malfoy had aimed their wands at it, but Snape blocked their sight and kneeled in front of it.

They watched in wrapped attention as the formidable wizard brought up his arms and circled them around something. In seconds, he was hugging a glowing light which gradually turned into a tall and lean spirit of a woman. Snape whispered, burying his face into the white mist, " Mother!"

Draco noticed, his godfather had truly inherited much of his features from Eileen Prince. Harry Potter on the other hand felt strange recalling, Snape was a half blood, he had called himself the half blood prince and Eileen Prince was one of the last of the Prince line. After inheriting the Grimmauld Place, he had developed this uncanny habit of studying genealogy of magical families, thanks once again to Hermione's relentless coaxing.

Unknown to the boys, Snape had been hearing a lullaby ever since he had walked into the secret space. A strain of a lullaby, a song, his mother, Eileen Snape would hum when Tobias was not around. After Lily's death, Dark Lord's disappearance and struck in his tedious job at educating a bunch of hooligans the subtleties of potion making, Snape had realised how little he had in terms of loving happy memories. His patronus had to have Lily's thoughts attached to it. He had reasoned, memories of his mother might have started as happy one but they all ended in tears, torture or neglected. Except for that lullaby.

When he was two or three, that little tune chased away the monsters lurking in the attic, under the bed and in the closet, even father's outbursts sounded less threatening once he thought of that happy tune. As he grew, the tune began to save him from nightmares of the bullies at the play school run by the local church. He knew he was looking like a foolish snivelling boy to the others, but he could not help. The last time he had seen Eileen Snape, the mother had hardly said a word, her eyes distant, lifeless and hopeless. By Christmas, she had died mysteriously and Snape was only sixteen. Since then all he wanted to hug her for one last time and tell her, he was living up to his vow, he was working harder to become the star student of Hogwarts.

The spirits voice soft as silk and as fresh as a young maiden echoed through the rooms," Sev, boy. I..I am so proud of you. You achieved so much in life. A mother can only wish the best for her child, though I have failed you in so many ways." stroking his head, she smiled briefly," you barely look after yourself! Sev, look at me, enough of those tears now, Seversu dear boy," when he looked up, sniffing and embarrassed, she looked over at both Harry and Draco and indicated," now, now, you are no longer alone. You got a family of your own, a godson to be proud of and a foster son, why not, definitely a foster son to be proud of. And you got a daughter. Oh! She loves you so much…" He grimaced and spat," and I pushed her away…"

The ghost tsked and corrected him," She is as stubborn as you are, never abandoned you. I am here because I was summoned, I will stay here, because my presence is desired. Mothers will protect this place. Get up and right yourself. I love you son. I will always love you, no matter what…"

With that she shimmered away. And in her place, adjacent to the wall, stood a muggle glass showcase with collectibles displayed in five neat shelves. Snape browsed through the collection briefly and was ushering the boys out, muttering urgently," we don't have much time." Draco noticed him stealing glances out of the window once again but thought better not to ask. The man was agitated beyond measure. They no longer saw the Knight of the Undead and soon enough were huddled together outside the fence.

Snape gripped Potter's shoulder and muttered softly," We can always come back and you can then see for yourself the rest of the secrets the homes withholds. But now we do need to go back to Hogwarts. Draco and I will meet you there in a couple of minutes." Potter looked concerned but, apparated away without wasting any time. Malfoy insisted,'' What did you see out of the uplevel window, Severus?"

Snape was gripping on the fence boards shuddering slightly. He spoke in between rapid breaths," Lily, I saw Lily, my Lilac, walking through a field of Baby's breath. Hermione has been sending me a small bunch now and then, something everydays, something every first of the month. They all came without a signature. I always thought it came from an ex deatheater, or a fan or someone eager to prank me...but then those looked so innocent, I just thought it came from someone who knew how much I loved Lily. It haunted me but I couldn't throw them away. She grew an entire field just to convey, she was my baby's breath. "

Draco placed his arm around the man who took a couple of minutes to readjust and then he had gripped his godson's hand tightly. Seconds later, the back alley stood attractive and empty.