Redemption II

Chapter 81

"My, it has been a long time."

"Woah..." Hermione couldn't hold in her surprise. She'd opened her eyes to the voice of a woman, no older than thirty, dressed in royal robes. Excessively elaborate, the black fabric was adorned with diamonds at every seam, they reminded her of the many layers she'd often seen Dumbledore wear but more en-detailed. A crown made of gold rested upon her long waist length black hair, her face very similar to Galia's. The narrow cheeks, long nose but her eyes were a brilliant golden yellow; she'd never seen anything like it.

The room they had been standing in was gone, instead, they stood in a large open field without a sun. There was light but without source. Hermione could only feel peace and serenity in her heart. The pain of her injuries gone.

Severus similarly was shocked at where they stood. He had read about magic like this but it was more than he could have ever imagined. The stone still rested beneath his palm, the magic flowing out of him into it, creating the world around him. His brow furrowed when he took in the woman's appearance making the same comparisons as Hermione had but to his own mother. She could have been her sister, or possibly her mother.

"What question do you seek to answer?" The woman gave each of them a soft smile, neatly folding her hands in front of her.

"Who...who are you?" Hermione could barely close her mouth enough to speak through her astonishment. She was speaking to the dead, to the soul trapped inside the orb. It was an impossible impossibility, yet there she was.

"I am, the first daughter of the seventh matriarch. My name is Natalisha and I am not trapped, little Lionheart. I chose to be here, to guide further generations of our royal line."

Hermione's brow ticked, why was everyone calling her that? Her brain cycled back to what the house elf and Parvapro had discussed in their thoughts then to the book titles she'd seen, The Forsaken Son.

"We need to get out of the catacombs...we need to get home." Severus pursed his lips. As much as he wanted to learn more about who, what and why; his magical core was presently too weak to keep the connection for long.

"You already are home, son." Natalisha smiled softly and turned to look over her shoulder. The beautiful grassy hills faded away leaving them all back standing right where they had been with Natalisha coming to be just in front of them.

Hermione could actually smell her light jasmine perfume under the cold stale air. She wasn't like any ghost she had ever come across in the magical world, she was almost real. She wanted to touch her so badly, her fingers twitched against Severus' waist but she restrained herself. Instead, she turned her eyes when the woman pointed down the corridor.

"Take this until you reach a fork, follow the path to the right and you shall find where you need to go. At the door, you need merely to touch the right eye and it will open to you." Natalisha inclined her head just a little, her eyes looking directly into Hermione's soul.

The young woman felt a wealth of information hidden just behind those unique golden eyes; she had so many questions. So many curiosities. She didn't want to leave this place, ever. Why did everyone they'd come across thus far seem to be holding some big secret? Just what was inside the books that filled the library? Why did they call her Lionheart?

"Thank you," Severus pulled his hand from the orb his palm tingling from the residual magic. So many questions rampaged through his mind as well and he knew they would be down there again.