Autumn's Chill
Heavy footsteps slammed against the stone steps leading up to the Headmaster's Office. Albus Dumbledore merely turned the page of the Daily Prophet and dipped the tip of his scone in his cup of tea as though this was absolutely ordinary.
The door flew open, slamming so hard against the stone that dust flew down in a thick cloud from the ceiling.
"ALBUS! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT ABOMINABLE THING YOU HAVE PLACED IN MY PRIVATE QUARTERS THIS TIME!"
"And a good morning to you too, Severus," Albus replied mildly, "now if you wouldn't mind, please shut the door behind you more quietly than you opened it."
Severus Snape scowled, but did as he was asked. He sat in the offered chair on the other side of the desk but he sat on the edge, his arms crossed as he hunched over with a rather frightening look on his pinched face.
"Would you like a scone? A cup of tea, perhaps?" Albus asked, folding his paper and placing it to the side neatly.
"What I would like," Severus growled, "is that stubby table...blanket...thing...out of my personal quarters."
"It was a most generous gift from Mahoutokoro as part of our cultural exchange program," Albus said with a shrug. "I had hoped that you would enjoy it as the weather grows colder."
"Let me guess," Severus replied sardonically, "your gift to them was a set of very tiny chairs for ironic effect."
"Why would you think that? Oh! Ho ho! Good one, Severus!" Albus replied, his eyes twinkling, "actually the name of that curious device is called a kotatsu, and no chairs are required. It's primarily used in cold weather in Japan."
"And here I was, wondering what reason you would have to give me a combination table and bed other than as a subliminal message that you expect me to grade abysmal student papers in my sleep," Severus drawled.
"Ah, yes, I forgot to include the instructions," Albus rifled through a stack of papers before he seemed to realize that, as a wizard, he could simply pull his wand and summon it. "There!"
The instruction sheet flew through the air and, as Severus turned to look, stuck against the side of his face, the corners flapping back and forth pitifully as Severus scowled even more deeply than before.
"Ah, yes," Severus said sarcastically as he pulled the offending paper off of his cheek, "exactly what I needed this morning: a nice, deep papercut on my face."
The surly Potions master looked the instructions over, rolling his eyes as Albus leaned over the desk with an eager look on his face.
"Enjoy your new toy, Severus!" Albus said with a chuckle. "I shall see you at the Great Hall for supper!"
"Oh, you'll see me all right," Severus muttered, "Maybe I'll shrink down your stupid kotatsu and chuck it at your infuriating head! Along with these bloody impossible instructions—which, in cause you didn't notice, are in Japanese!"
As Severus turned and left, muttering under his breath about translation spells, Albus waved merrily, his demeanor unflappable even as Severus slammed the door behind him.
"I don't understand why you even bother, Headmaster," Phineas Black's portrait said disapprovingly. "He obviously doesn't appreciate your gifts."
Dumbledore chuckled.
"Ah, Phineas, that's where you are very, very wrong," Albus replied, looking down at the little basket of warm fleecy socks that had appeared under his door without a card at the beginning of the term. "Severus simply shows that he cares about others in his own way. Perhaps this little gift will help him to relax as the leaves begin to fall and the days grow shorter."
The portrait snorted.
"If you say so, Headmaster," he said, tucking his head into his chest and pretending to sleep.
"I don't like you, you know," Severus said, looking down at the floor with his most menacing glare. "I didn't ask for you, either, but the damned fool of a Headmaster insisted."
Naturally, the kotatsu was silent.
"And now I'm talking to inanimate objects!" Severus sighed, throwing his hands in the air.
His attempts to translate the user manual had been less than fruitful, as the order of words in sentences was all wrong and everything ended up sounding like "the blanket the table attached to."
Severus set the instructions down and looked at the diminutive set-up. He had to admit it didn't take up that much room, especially in his study, which was still fairly small to begin with. And, while he would not have chosen the pink, yellow and green pattern, the satin edges on the blanket were rather soft. There was a heating element underneath that worked using a standard Heating Charm. Secretly, Severus was rather impressed with this, as the mechanisms inside the element seemed to take the Heating Charm and refresh it over and over after it was cast once. This not only saved energy for the wizard, but it kept the temperature the same for a prolonged period of time. Severus made certain that cancelling the Heating Charm was all it took to cool it down and was pleasantly surprised when his suspicions were correct.
"But, it's still all wrong," he muttered disparagingly, "because I have long legs, so it's obvious that my feet will simply stick out the other end, and if I try to sit on my knees, they'll hit against the top of the table!"
Severus had more than one problem with the drafty castle, but the main issue was that the dungeons were permanently cold and drafty, no matter what he did. Wearing multiple layers made it manageable, but he was never truly comfortable, even with a roaring fire in his fireplace. Fire hazards aside, it wasn't practical to keep a roaring blaze in all of his rooms at all times.
Within moments of testing out the heating function, Severus tentatively sat at the kotatsu, his long legs stretched out underneath the blanket as he sighed with pleasure at the growing warmth. He soon found himself unwilling to get up, and lazily used his wand to summon everything he needed.
Another useful thing about the kotatsu, he discovered, was the nice, hard table top. Not only could he snuggle in the warmth of a heated blanket, but he could mark all of his students' abysmal Potions essays in relative comfort without worrying about ripping through the parchment due to writing on the blanket's fabric.
By the end of the week, the kotatsu had completely taken the place of his desk, which now sat cold and abandoned in the corner. Severus even found himself lying down under the kotatsu, reveling in how utterly toasty he felt as he read through a new book on Vanishing potions. As the autumn rain began to fall and the weather grew blustery and colder than ever, Severus found himself thinking of the kotatsu waiting for him once he finally fulfilled his duties for the day.
A rather familiar-looking grey tabby with distinctive spectacle markings on her face found her way into his study one evening. Severus glanced at her and shrugged—his unofficial invitation to allow her to stay. She burrowed under the blanket until only one paw and a contentedly twitching tail were sticking out.
Then, Professor Sprout began inventing reasons to invite herself to visit Severus in his study. As did Professor Sinistra. Professor Flitwick tried to slip in unnoticed by army-crawling around the bottom of the door, which had earned him a disparaging comment before he was allowed to stay and play a couple rounds of Wizard's Rummy. Even Professor Trelawney attempted to get in, but Severus promptly slammed the door in her face. Argus Filch stopped by at the end of his shift on Fridays with a small cask of brandy and Mrs. Norris, who loved feeling the heat on her old bones.
Suddenly, the sour-faced Potions master found himself with more visitors than he knew what to do with. They would rope him into debates on potions ingredients and challenge him to bouts of Wizard's Chess. They brought him food and funny stories.
Slowly but surely, Severus Snape found himself with actual… friends?
He grumbled and made irritated noises about it, but found that he began to look forward to those little knocks on his door in the evening… well except for Trelawney. He still slammed the door in her face without the tiniest hint of remorse.
"You just like me for my convenient desk… bed… thing," Severus said, one eyebrow raised as Minerva padded in one evening in her tabby form.
"Mrrrwor," Minerva said primly, and Severus could have sworn that she rolled her eyes at him before she slipped under the kotatsu, leaving only the tip of her tail exposed.
"Hmph!" he said, grabbing his new potions periodical and slipping under the kotatsu blanket. He pretended to ignore the feeling of Minerva purring against his foot.
Severus would never tell Albus how such a little thing had changed his life in such a big way, but as he began to drift off to sleep, his eyes growing heavy under the warmth of the kotatsu, he could feel the beginnings of a contented smile spreading across his face.