Britta sipped from a green mug. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon and fresh bread and was full of pleasantly chaotic sounds. Knitting needles clicked together, forming a multicolored scarf on their own, alongside a quiet scratching of a coarse animated brush, scraping away at a pan full of soap and unidentifiable burn marks. Mrs. Weasley flipped through an old edition of Witch Weekly, the cover art depicting a winking Gilderoy Lockhart, announcing his final win of the Most Charming Smile award. She hummed quietly, tapping her fingers against a stray copy of The Standard Book of Spells [Grade 2] that was laying on the table.
Ginny was on the floor in the next room playing chess with Ron, who sounded determined to beat his little sister. Based upon the results of the last three games, his chances were grim. Hermione wore an expression of befuddlement, chewing the inside of her cheek tentatively and frowning slightly into her green-bound book, A Brief History of Wizard/Muggle Conflict. She seemed never able to sooth her voracious appetite for words exceeding 10 letters. Harry was near the fire, absently stroking Crookshanks and focused on Ginny's now apparent strategy for winning. The usual crashes and explosions rained down on them from the rooms above, from either Fred and George's experimental devices or the ghoul.
Mrs. Weasley smiled into the pages of the magazine, looking up for a moment. "The members of the Order should be arriving soon. When they're here, I want you all upstairs." Her emphasis on "all" was heightened by a glance at Harry, between worried and a you'd-best-not-try-to-stay variety of stern. Murmurs and "mhmm"s rose from each person, Britta only nodding, to acknowledge what she'd just said.
Molly glanced downward to an image of Cailean Griogair, a singer she was quite fond of, reading a few sentences before letting out a slight squeal and jumping, seeing Remus and Tonks' silent entrances out of the corner of her eye.
"You could knock!" But Mrs. Weasley's scowl morphed quickly into a smile, pulling both visitors into a stranglehold of a hug.
"How's everything, Molly?" Tonks said.
"Arthur's been swamped at work, but otherwise, well," Molly replied.
"More and more people are cursing muggle objects for more sinister purposes," Remus nodded knowingly.
"Well, sit down," Molly said, gesturing for the coffeepot to pour cups for both of them. Remus murmured thanks and sat in the chair generally used by Ginny. Tonks did the same, wrapping her hands around the mug to warm them, the warmth of the house greatly contrasting to the wind outside.
"What is the-" Tonks began, interrupted by a loud crack, Mrs. Weasley jumping again. Kingsley appears, covered in snow and shivering.
"Evening," he nodded. "Sorry for the fright, Molly."
Kingsley followed Molly's gesture, sitting down to the left of Britta, accepting the coffee with a smile. The rooms stayed quiet, but for Tonks and Lupin making occasional comments to one another and abrupt and awkward moments of small talk between Kingsley and Britta. Arthur knocked on the locked door, Molly unlocking it quietly, sitting down. He gives a weak smile and calls out "Good evening, Weasleys and assorted others."
Britta had been examining the contents of her mug, looking up and smiling. "Good evening, Mr. Weasley."
"Evening, Arthur."
"Evening."
"Hello, Mr. Wealsey," Hermione said from her position on the floor. Ginny and Ron didn't even look up from the game they'd just started until Mrs. Weasley screamed in horror.
They twins had just apparated into the room, each grabbing on of her shoulders, causing her to smack both in the back of the head. "YOU REALLY DON'T NEED TO APPARATE EVERYWHERE!"
"Right, mum," they chorused, not quite sincerely.
After yet another pop, Severus Snape appeared, apathetically and without greeting. He simply sat to the left of Britta. "Coffee, Severus?" Molly asked, more from politeness than expectance he would take it. "Please, Molly," he said without any indication of him having any desire for the coffee.
Britta stood, wandered to the window, opening it for her owl, Clancy. Arthur began speaking.
"Muggle eggbeaters have been used in a number of ghastly crimes of the late. FOURTEEN raids, Molly, FOURTEEN. The Arwn family seems to have disappeared; more instances of Imperiused wizards committing crimes than we've had in the past 16 years… It's a disaster…" he shook his head vigorously, refilling his mug.
The silence was only brief, interrupted by the appearance of Mad-Eye Moody
"Everyone here?" Moody asked gruffly as soon as he straightened himself.
"Mmh-," Molly grunted, "Kids, upstairs," she pointed. Hermione and Britta both moved grudgingly, comfortable where they were. Ron and Ginny lifted the chess set together, followed by Harry and Fred and George. Once she was certain that everyone had vacated that specific floor, she used the muffliato charm on the kitchen, keeping the twins from using their extendable ears to listen in on the meeting.
Upstairs, Ron and Hermione bicker about the usage of extendable ears for eavesdropping. Fred and George take one out, dropping it down the stairs, trying to listen to the meeting. Harry stands, waiting eagerly for their report on the meeting.
"Damnit…" Fred scowled.
"Muffliato charm…" murmured George, shaking his head.
"What will we do?" Molly asked, the worry permeating each word. Skittish as she was, she screeched when she heard the earth-shattering crash of a clumsy Slytherin friend falling out of the fireplace, knocking over the Christmas tree. After shattering most of the ornaments and snapping several branches, Sarah straightened herself, brushing soot from her overly Christmas-spirited sweater, complete with twinkling lights. Her hair generally had a blue highlight but was pigmented into a red and green coontail for the holiday. She stood, striding over to the table.
"Hello there, chaps. Merry Christmas!" she giggled, glancing down at Lupin in a way that made Tonk's hair grow red with fury. "How's everyone? Mrs. Weasley? Mr. Weasley? Kingsley? Tonks? Moody? Sevvie—rus? Remus?" She cocked an eyebrow at the last name.
"Bad timing," Lupin said dryly. He made a show of his aloofness to please Tonks.
Tonks smirked and stood. She walked over to the tree, waving her wand wordlessly, lifting the tree while also mending branches and arranging the glass shards back into ornaments. She tapped the angel with her wands, still smiling, and it began to glow a similar red to the color her hair had just been.
As Tonks walked to the table, Sarah complimented her pants in a smarmy manner. When Tonks sat down, she angled herself towards Lupin territorially.
Molly stood. "Sarah, we're in a meeting right now. As much as we appreciate your company, could you either go upstairs or leave, please?"
Sarah nodded and glided up the stairwell to find her friends.
Snape spoke as soon as she was out of sight. "What we are going to do is keep Potter here until start of term. And we can decide upon further action at a time where the danger is more… " His eyebrows rose. "…pertinent?"
"But we need to keep a watch on the boy," Moody growled, taking a swig of his flask. It may not have been Polyjuice potion but it certainly wasn't pumpkin juice.
"What, Alastor, do you expect we should do with his family- his aunt, uncle, and cousin?- in the event of an attack? Surely You-Know-Who will think that their loss would be devastating to Harry?" Lupin made a slight face, remembering James and Lily when speaking of family.
"Well, we hide 'em of course," Moody said. "Memory modifiers…"
"I don't really think memory modification will be necessary, Alastor," Tonks interrupted.
"Well, Nymphadora, how else will they stay quiet?"
Harry stood unnoticed at the entrance of the room. "They'd pretend they never knew anything. In their home, 'magic' is practically an obscenity."
"-Harry," Molly began, irritated to the greatest extent she could be with Harry.
"Well, it's true," Harry said. "What would Voldemort want with the Dursleys?"
"They're your family, Harry, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named isn't aware of all circumstances surrounding that situation," Lupin said.
"Upstairs, Harry," Molly said gently. Her expression said she would hear no objections.
After the failure of the extendable ears, everyone had gone back to their initial activities.
"Knight to E4," Ginny smirked.
"Merlin's pants…" grumbled Ron. "Pawn to E2." Harry was working out what Ginny's strategy for the win was.
Hermione tenderly wrapped her fingers around Crookshanks's tail to pull it away from her book, as it was blocking the text. Britta was still staring at her mug tiredly. Sarah entered the room noisily, calling out a greeting to Ginny and Britta, both in her year. Britta looked up. "Hi, Sarah."
"Hmm, Sa," Ginny said, focusing on the game. The darkness outside neither lessened nor grown. The nimbuses were so thick, the sun couldn't be seen anyway. Sarah fell into the monotony. She sat on the floor near the game of chess, fidgeting obnoxiously through the whole of the next few games.
More than two hours later, Fred apparated in. "Dinner's done." He apparates out, presumably downstairs. Each of the group moved quickly down the stairs, starving for activity and Molly's cream pie. Arthur was spooning potatoes onto his plate with a chunk of roast beef. Snape sat, bored and apathetic, still holding the coffee cup.
"Imelda really does," Kingsley laughed heartily at a comment made by Tonks, Remus chuckling along.
Fred, George, and Bill sat on the floor with large portions of food. Fleur daintily giggled at their remarks. Ginny sat with her brothers, soon joined by Ron.
Sarah sat diagonal from Snape with her plate, at Lupin's left. Arthur sat at the head of the table shooting questions about muggles to Britta and Harry. Molly only sat once she was certain everyone had been served. "Stop pestering them, Arthur."
"It's ok, Mrs. Weasley, I don't mind."
"Yeah, it's fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry agreed.
Once everyone had finished, the plates refilled immediately with slices of the much-anticipated cream pie.
"Why, for the love of all that is creamy and irresistible, would you not eat the pie?" Sarah exasperatedly raised her voice.
Snape scowled without response.
Tonks finished her pie and skimmed her finger across the top of Remus's, smearing it across his cheek, giggling, then cleaning it off with a kiss.
"So, what, then, is an iPod?" Arthur asked riveted. "I mean, I hear rumors they are used for defense, practically the size of a cauldron."
Britta and Harry both suppressed smiles. "Actually, sir, they are really only used to play prerecorded music."
"Right, they're about the size of a… well," Harry tried thinking of a way to describe it, giving up and indicating a size with his fingers.
Britta leaned down to pluck her bag off the floor, shuffling through the objects in it. She held up a rectangular device, showing him how to turn it on and letting him listen to "Glittering Cloud" by Imogen Heap. His face lit up with wonder.
In the next room, Hermione giggled at Ron's unawareness of the cream on his face. The many empty plates levitated out of the hands of the user and into the sink, beginning to clean themselves. "It was delicious, Molly, thank you," Kingsley said, touching Molly's shoulder briefly. "I've got to work another shift; sorry to eat and run." He apparated out, soon followed by Moody.
"Right, kids," Molly began, "to bed with you lot. Being Christmas Eve, we know Ginny's going to wake us all at five." The kids scattered, Snape and Lupin remaining in their seats, quietly talking. Molly led Sarah and Britta upstairs to the room that was once Charlie's, charming a second bed to appear to accommodate the two. "'Night, you two," she said closing the door.
Sarah claimed the duplicate bed, draping her cloak across the headboard. She noted the Chudley Cannons and Weird Sisters posters and smiled at the similarity it had to her friend Austin's room.
Britta pulled off black shoes and wished her friend good dreams. She felt immeasurably tired and was sleeping practically as soon as her head touched the pillow. After making a brief note in her journal, she turned off the cracked lamp and rolled on her side, breathing deeply.
The room felt like it was at a good temperature, comfortable, and the bed was of a variety that changes to suit the person sleeping in it. She felt dangerously close to sleeping, but couldn't get all the way there. A line of light was cast across the room from the door opening and suddenly a human form crawled out from under Britta's bed. Round spectacles and a Gryffindor uniform, it could have been Harry but for hazel eyes and a taunting voice. "How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" The figure entering the room froze. "Who want's to see me take off Snivellus's pants?" he chortled.
"RIDIKULOS," Snape said firmly, brandishing his wand. James Potter floated in mid-air, turning upside down. The boggart's dark robes fall up over his head, revealing red striped boxers. Snape's severe expression turned to a quick, rare laugh. His features looked almost ridiculous when smiling, especially with his expression seeming permanently glum with mirroring clothing.
James dropped to the floor, shrinking on the way down as if Sarah had been watching from the top of a tall building. She closed her eyes again, not watching the shadowy beast crawl back under the bed. Snape straightened himself, slipping his wand back into his pocket. He sat on the edge of Sarah's bed.
He reached out slowly, pulling the speckled bed sheets from her face. With one finger, he stroked her cheek. She blew her cover and smiled at the tickling sensation. "Sarah," he said with mock annoyance. "How much of that did you see?" he asked with more concern.
"I knew there had to be a reason you hated Harry," Sarah said. "Other than him being all hoity-toity…" Snape's expression softened, smiling to himself. "Are you mocking my choice of words?"
"No. I just appreciate people who aren't Potter fans."
"No danger of that," Sarah rolled her eyes.
He leaned in slightly. "One thing I like about you…" Sarah drew herself closer, smiling slightly with anticipation.
"Wait," Sarah said with remorse. "No one is supposed to know," she looked down. "What if Britta wakes?"
"She won't."
"How do you---" Sarah glared slightly. "You. Did. Not."
"How else could I ensure her to be no witness? It's not as if a sleeping potion can kill."
Sarah started to speak, but instead of words escaping, a small sigh did. Snape gingerly touched the slight wing-ding curl at the base of Sarah's hair. "I like that."
"I hate it," she muttered, looking down and flushing.
He cautiously took her by the chin, guiding her face in the darkness to finally close the distance between them. Sarah jumped slightly, hearing someone outside in the hallway, running upstairs to the noise of a particularly violent explosion from Fred and George's room, turning to glance at Britta, stirring slightly. Once she was certain no one would enter, she turned her face back to Snape's. His lips moved gently and effortlessly against hers, forcing nothing. When he finally pulled away, Sarah's head bent forward and buried her face into his robes. He smelled of the kitchen and of potions brewed with exactitude. Sarah was never really aware of nettles and bicorn powder smelling so nice. She smiled into his shoulder, feeling at peace, despite Molly's howls following further explosions.
She breathed his smell and lifts her face. This time, she leaned in and found his jawline with her index finger, dragging it softly down to his chin. Her arms snaked around his neck, drawing him as close to her and she could get him, trying not to snap his neck. She again kissed Snape, feeling a tingle expand across her whole body. The butterflies she felt in her abdomen were transfigured into wild birds. Suddenly, the voices were no longer just Molly's and her twin sons', but those of Ginny, Fleur, Harry, Hermione, and Lupin. Everyone was awake. Snape abruptly pulled awake, quickly devising a way to escape unnoticed.
Sarah stumbles from her bed, opening the door to see what is going on.
The light shines too brightly into the room. Ginny is shaking Hermione obnoxiously. "GET UP! SHEESH! GET OUT OF BED, SLEEPY HEAD! LET'S GO!"
"Ugh, Gins, what it is? Five?"
"No, five-thirty," she rolled her eyes.
Hermione rolled over and pulled herself out of bed. She wore pajama pants with ducks on them and a disastrous hairdo. She pulled a cardigan and jeans from her trunk and changed quickly. When she got out of the room, she saw a streak of red, dressed and all, running from Bill's room, dragging him out half-awake. Ron was wearing a tee-shirt and flannel pants, walking down the stairs like a zombie. Harry was dressed and walking like he'd had little sleep but didn't dare question Ginny.
Britta and Sarah were already downstairs, eating some pancakes with Tonks and Arthur. Molly dropped plates into the hands of the people who were just waking, ignoring the annoyance of Fleur stirring batter.
Once everyone had finished, Molly herded them into the family room. She dropped gifts into the laps of her children and the visitors she looked upon as hers. Each got a knit sweater in a dark shade of yarn with their first initial on it. Britta stood and passed her gifts to each person; pranking supplies for Fred and George, a book of Muggle electronics and inventions and how they work for Arthur, a fancy edition of Charming Your Cheese for Molly, and suitable gifts for each friend. Sarah hugged Mrs. Weasley for the sweater and presented her with a signed copy of "Magical Me." She gave fluorescent light bulbs to Arthur and a broom repair kit to Ginny.
Even Snape was lurking in the doorway. Molly went to try on a new dress from Arthur, bumping into Snape in the doorway.
"Hey, mum," George pointed to the mistletoe.
Molly blushed furiously. She stood on her tippie-toes, holding his shoulder to balance herself, and kisses him on the cheek. Snape murmurs Merry Christmas and steps out from underneath it as Molly runs upstairs to change. Sarah is inexplicably fist-clenching fuming, but Hermione, Ginny, and Britta step forward with a present for her. She looked shocked by the size. She tore quickly at the wrapping paper, revealing the newest model of Firebolt. Her eyes went wide. She pulled all three into an awkward hug and squealed. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou."
Ron and Harry handed her a less-impressive repair kit and book on Quidditch rules and regulations, but still she hugged them in a similar strangling hug. Sarah wandered out of the room to corner Snape in the kitchen. "I have a present for you."
"You didn't have to-"
Sarah pushed an envelope into his hand. He gave her a curious look as she skipped back into the room where the rest were congregating. Snape felt curious. He opened the front door, stepping into the deep snow. He tore the envelope open, revealing a single leaf of paper. He gasped slightly touching the picture, not sure if it could possibly be. The only thing written on the back is "Merry Christmas" in small handwriting.
He reentered the house just in time to see Molly coming down the stairs in her new dress, green with small stripes, worn with her colorful sweater. Britta smiles. "You look so pretty, Mrs. Weasley!"
Arthur wraps his arm around her shoulder, beaming. "You do, Mollywobbles," he said quietly before kissing her hair. "Merry Christmas."
Lupin leaned against the wall, arm around Tonks. In the next room, George conjured a little Santa and sleigh to fly in the living room. Tonks joined him by making the reindeer colorful. Lupin stayed in his place, Sarah walking by him. She opened the Quidditch book, looking for an obnoxious word. She addressed Lupin, who was about two feet away. Without holding the book out, she pointed at a word and asked for the pronunciation. "That says 'stooging', Sarah," he said, now quite close to her to see the word.
Fred "ooh"ed. "Mistletoe. You gotta."
Lupin saw Sarah's flirtatious expression. Before she could move toward him, he put a hand on either side of her head, kissing the top. "Merry Christmas," his eyebrows twitched and he walked back to Tonks, kissing her in the way Sarah has hoped he'd have done to her.
She looked fleetingly disappointed but Snape grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.
"Where did you find this?" he asked holding the photo out.
"After a bit of detective work through Filch's office…"
Snape shook his head. "Amazing."
Sarah went back in, feeling cold enough to put on her S sweater. Snape stood outside, still looking at the photo. A beautiful ginger-haired girl with green eyes, laughing and struggling against the arms of a long-haired boy with a hooked nose and mischievous smile.