Christmas Magic
This is the story of when Grandpa Snape saved Christmas. It all began with a reindeer named Vixen…
/
Vixen was lost. This was unheard of; reindeers never lost their sense of direction. It was a requirement of their job- without it the entire world would be disappointed. This could not be. Vixen aimlessly wandered down yet another dark alley. Panic started to rise and a few depressing thoughts ran through her head, which, in itself, was a disaster. Reindeers never had depressing thoughts. It was happiness and cheerfulness that helped them fly. Vixen had visions of never being one of Santa's elite reindeer ever again. Vixen sniffed and then whinnied. She looked up to see what she had just collided with and locked eyes with Severus Snape.
Severus Tobias Snape. 53. Son of Tobias and Eileen Snape, only child. Difficult child, difficult man. Naughty but a crusader for good. Conclusion: Nice. Vixen shook her head- this was no time for analysis.
"What the devil?" Severus exclaimed, utterly confused as to why there was a reindeer of all things staring up at him. "What kind of ridiculous Christmas prank is this?" He looked around for the culprit, for some giggling school child hiding behind a pillar. Seeing no one, but still suspicious, Severus cast a revealing spell but was only met with the information that this was, indeed, a reindeer standing in the middle of a Diagon Alley street.
"Achoo!" Vixen shook her head again, frustrated and exhausted. She tried to move off away from Snape when he offhandedly commented, "That's a nasty cold you have there."
Vixen looked up at him through slightly glassy eyes. She whinnied in agreement.
"Where did you come from? A farm somewhere or a petting zoo?"
Vixen shook her head.
Severus sighed. "Well, I know someone that would be excited to meet you and I might just have something for your cold. Would you care to walk home with me?"
Vixen was only partially surprised at his offer. She did know everything about this man, afterall. He was a Potions professor- perhaps he could help her. And maybe she could find her way back to Santa! Vixen jumped in excitement, sneezed as a result of her energetic outburst, and then obediently followed Snape past the backs of some stores and inns and trotted home with him.
/
Hermione magicked the rest of the dishes clean and glanced out the kitchen window. She blinked wondering briefly if she had drunk too much eggnog. No, that was definitely her husband bringing home a stray animal. Hermione opened the backdoor with a smile. "Well, well, who's this?"
Severus glared, trying to mask his discomfort. "I'm only making a potion and then the beast is going."
"Achoo!"
"Oh, you poor thing! Come here by the fire." Hermione directed Vixen towards the kitchen fire and Accio'd a blanket from the lounge room. She placed it over Vixen's back. "Would you like some milk?"
Vixen nodded. Hermione Jane Snape. 35. Only child of Jane and Robert Granger. Well behaved child, charitable woman. Definitely nice.
Vixen blinked. Apparently analysis was a gift that didn't disappear even when she was sick and dazed.
Hermione had some tea and chatted with her new friend until she noticed the reindeer had fallen asleep. She quietly got up from her chair and went to find Severus who was, presumably, making a potion in his lab.
/
"Severus, I thought I was the one who was supposed to champion the masses." Hermione chuckled as Severus scowled at his cauldron. "You went out for Christmas presents and came back with a reindeer!"
"Yes, well, you're not keeping it as a pet." Severus added a dash of pixie wings to the bubbling concoction.
"How long will the potion take?" Hermione walked over to his bench and peered in.
"I had to adjust my original timetable. It won't be finished until tomorrow."
"Oh dear. What if someone's looking for Rachel?"
Severus looked up at his wife incredulously. "Rachel?" He asked.
"Yes," Hermione replied defensively. "Rachel the reindeer." She left the room with Severus' admonishment for her lack of creativity following her out the door.
/
Leaving the cauldron until the next phase, Severus entered the lounge room to find his two children sitting on the floor petting the reindeer.
"Isn't she sweet, Severus?" Hermione asked from her chair.
"None of you are keeping her." He warned his children, fully expecting al three members of his family to protest and wheedle him to change his mind.
"Of course we can't keep her, daddy," Suzie stated matter-of-factly. "She belongs to Santa. We have to get her better before Christmas." Suzie looked genuinely worried.
"Santa?"
Hermione smiled. Severus sat next to her and whispered, "Don't encourage them, Hermione."
She widened her eyes. "I had no hand in this, I'll have you know."
"Did Christopher spin her some tale?"
"Of course not. Suzie's just very perceptive."
"Don't tell me you believe this story?"
"Oh come on, Severus, it's Christmas. All kinds of magical things happen at Christmas, right children?"
"Yea!" Christopher grinned and buried his face in Vixen's fur. Vixen was quite happy nestled by the fire with two lovely children- both on the Nice list, just in case you were wondering.
Suzie stood up and walked over to Severus and climbed onto his lap. She grabbed his shirt and looked into his face with a very serious look on her own. "You will fix her, won't you, daddy?"
"I will certainly try."
"If you don't, Santa won't give you any presents and I'll never forgive you!"
"Heavy repercussions, indeed. I will try my best, Suzie. I can't have my girl mad at me." Then he proceeded to tickle her and listened to her giggles and protestations of 'stop, daddy'.
Vixen grinned and then sneezed.
"Bless you," Christopher said eager to please her just in case Suzie was right. After all, he had had his eye on that train set for nearly half the year.
/
Severus felt extremely tired. It was always rather hectic at Christmas time and while he loved his children dearly, they did require a lot of his energy. However, this was a more bone-weary, magic-draining type of exhaustion. This potion was wearing him out more than he expected.
Severus sat in front of the fire, enjoying the peace and quiet while Hermione took the children shopping. He placed his empty tea cup on the table and leaned his head back. With a sigh, he closed his eyes wondering if he should have walked away from the reindeer. At least having a reindeer stay the night was a novel experience and a welcome Christmas treat for his family. Feeling something warm and soft under his dangling hand, Severus absentmindedly rubbed the fur beneath his fingers.
Vixen closed her eyes, enjoying the attention from Snape. Soon his fingers ceased their movement and she heard his steady, deep breathing. Vixen folded her legs beneath her and fell asleep.
/
When the children returned, Hermione put a finger to her lips. They looked over at the unlikely duo catching forty winks. Hermione smiled and shuffled the children upstairs to wrap presents.
/
Severus held out the vial of purple liquid. "This should do it," He addressed the reindeer but before he could do anything, Suzie and Christopher ran in.
"Oh, don't go, Rachel!" She sobbed.
"Suzie- she has to go. We won't get any presents if we keep her."
With her head buried in Vixen's fur, just the way Vixen liked, her muffled reply was barely understood. "Maybe Santa doesn't need as many reindeers as he has." She looked up at Severus. "Please let us keep her, daddy."
"What did I say yesterday, Suzie? The reindeer has a home she needs to return to."
Vixen nodded in agreement and obediently walked over to Severus. She tipped her head back and let him pour the potion down her throat. She felt a warm tingle within her and then felt instantly better. She shook her head, feeling the illness draining away from her. Vixen jumped and whinnied in appreciation and butted Severus' hand with her head. Severus patted her and gave a small smile, despite himself.
"Now we just have to figure out where she came from," Hermione piped up from the doorway.
Vixen whinnied and shook her head then trotted outside, the family of four following her with curiosity. Vixen stood out in the middle of the backyard and concentrated very hard. With a shudder and a shimmer a gold light emanated from her, encompassing her whole body and lighting up the yard.
After a few silent moments, the light faded and Vixen looked up at the sky expectantly. The family walked over closer and tried to see what she was looking at. After a minute there was another shimmer in the sky and a sleigh pulled by seven reindeers came into view, grew closer, and made an elegant landing on the grass. Suzie and Christopher were beside themselves with excitement.
"Santa!" Suzie yelled and ran over to the sled. Santa immediately scooped her up and sat her on his knee. He gave a booming laugh at the incredulous look on Severus' face.
"Severus, dear, close your mouth. It's rude to stare," Hermione admonished, taking his hand and leading him over closer.
Christopher was laughing as Dasher licked his hand.
"Hermione and Severus. Hello my dears. Thank you very much for helping Vixen, Severus. She was in a bad way, weren't you Vixen? It's been a long time since one of my reindeers came down with anything. The illness confuses them and they lose their sense of direction. Makes it awfully difficult to take flight too. If it wasn't for your father, Suzie, there may not have been a Christmas this year!" Santa smiled down at Suzie. "Well, I can't stay. Many thanks again. Come on, Vixen."
Vixen walked around and let the children pat her once more, whinnied at Severus in final thanks, and joined the other reindeers. Santa's magic harnessed her in and Santa waved goodbye.
Suzie finally found her voice in the awe-inspiring presence of Santa Claus. "But Santa, what about a present for daddy?"
Santa grinned and winked at Hermione. "I think your daddy already has a present, Suzie." He picked up the reins and gave the command to leave. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" The sleigh took off back into the sky. The Snapes waved goodbye as the booming voice of Santa faded away. "Ho ho ho!"
Suzie turned back to Hermione. "What did Santa mean? What present? Where is it?"
Hermione smiled and held out her hands for her children. "You'll just have to wait until Christmas to see."
"Can I help wrap it?" Suzie asked as they walked back inside.
"No, dear. Wait for Christmas."
/
After cups of hot chocolate and a bedtime story, Severus and Hermione collapsed into bed.
"Thank you, Severus." She kissed him on the cheek.
Severus still felt stunned. Santa was real? He had never received presents as a child and his parents had never told him anything about Santa. Had he possibly dreamed everything that had happened in the last two days? Frowning, Severus asked his wife, "What did Santa mean? What gift?"
"Christmas," was all that Hermione said as she fell asleep.
When Christmas day arrived and Suzie didn't see any presents labeled for her father from Santa, she worried. How could Santa forget about her daddy when he fixed Vixen?
"Mummy, what about daddy's present?" She asked.
Hermione smiled and quietly placed Severus' hand on her stomach. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait five more months to unwrap it."
Severus said nothing but pulled Hermione into his arms and kissed her deeply. Christopher groaned and looked away, disgusted. Suzie bounced in place. "What's the present?" She whined.
Hermione and Severus broke apart and chuckled.