This story takes place three years after the end of Growing Pains. It has featured status over at Potions and Snitches for the Christmas Holiday Challenge this year.
It was Christmastime, that most wonderful time of the year, according to all the Christmas carols, and as usual, chaos reigned in the Snape household. With three kids and a panther, the holiday season was one endless round of mishaps, arguments, and anything but peaceful. Severus Snape, Master Healer, sometimes wished he could just pack up and move to a deserted island, where no quarreling children could find him.
Currently, Harry, Lexy, and baby Eileen, who was three, were arguing over trimming the tree . . .for the fiftieth time.
"Harry, it was my turn to put the star on the top of the tree!" Lexy yelled. "You did it last year."
"I asked you five times if you wanted to do it, Lex, but you were too busy inviting darling Draco over to make gingerbread houses," Harry snapped back, giving his twelve-year-old sister a sharp glare reminiscent of his father's.
"I said just a minute, Harry, what are you deaf?" Lexy said crossly, her brown eyes snapping angrily at her brother, who was the same age as she was, and really her stepbrother, but in the Snape house such distinctions were moot.
"It's just a stupid star, Lexy, who cares who puts it up?"
"Me!" his sister answered, then she levitated herself to the top of the seven-foot evergreen and plucked the star off the top.
"Show off!" her brother snorted, for Lexy could levitate herself, it was one of her talents, like his flying a broom and transfiguring stuffed toys into real live animals permanently. Though he'd only ever done that once, with Inky, and never dared to try again. Even so, he was acing his Transfiguration class at Hogwarts, and taking advanced lessons with Professor McGonagall.
Lexy set the star back on the tree and it began to glow softly. It was enchanted to shimmer and sparkle when night fell and to glow softly during daylight. It was a family heirloom, Severus had inherited it from Eileen, his mother. "There! Fair's fair." Lexy slowly glided back down to the ground.
Harry rolled his eyes. Sometimes Lexy was an okay sister, but other times, she got on his nerves. And now, with her apparent crush on their Housemate, Draco Malfoy, she had become even easier to tease than usual. Normally, Lexy gave as good as she got, but Draco was a sensitive topic. "You know what's really not fair? That I have to watch you making puppy dog eyes at Draco while I'm trying to concentrate on my gingerbread house, ugh!"
"Shut up, Harry! I do not make eyes at Draco," Lexy cried, blushing. It was true, she did rather like the other boy, who was her uncle Sirius's younger cousin, and that was why she had invited him to make a gingerbread house with her this year. Normally, she invited Hermione, who had been Sorted into Ravenclaw, and who had been her best friend and Harry's since before they'd gone to Hogwarts, but she had decided to ask Draco instead, just to see if he would come over. And, to her shock, he had said yes.
"Do too! I've seen you in Potions, you go all cow-eyed and stupid when you do a lab with him." Harry snickered. "Ooh, Draco, sweetheart, I just lo-o-ve your blue eyes!" He said in a high falsetto. "They're so dreamy, I want to drown myself in them!"
Lexy felt herself turn beet red. "Knock it off, Harry James Severus! I am not sweet on Draco! He's a friend."
"I dunno, Lex. I never looked at any of my friends that way."
Lexy glared at her smug brother, who was standing off to one side of the tree, his hands in his back pockets, smirking infuriatingly. "How about Hermione? I've seen you drool over her when she wasn't looking, Mr. Romantic."
"I do NOT!" Harry shouted, though inwardly he had to admit that Lexy was right, he had lately starting noticing the little brunette as something more than just a pal. But he felt awkward even thinking of her that way, he'd known her since they were six and in primary school. And he was in Slytherin and she was a Ravenclaw, and though the two Houses never shared the bitter rivalry like the Slytherins and Gryffindors did, it was still awkward. At least Lexy had fallen for a boy in the same House. Though Harry had mixed feelings about Draco, who was the son of a notorious Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, who had died by the hands of their grandfather, Tobias Snape. "Hermione's like my sister."
"Yeah, that's what they all say," Lexy said loftily. "I hope you don't kiss me the way you kiss her! Gross!"
"Shut up!" Harry's face went red also. "I've never kissed Hermione." Which was true. He'd dreamed about it, but had never dared more than that. "What would you know about it anyway? Have you ever kissed dreamy Draco, huh?"
"None of your business, Harry."
"If he's touched you, he's dead meat," Harry growled. "I'll hex him to the moon, after I pound his face into the dirt, that is."
"Oh, get over yourself! You're not my father."
"Dad would flip if he ever knew you were kissing boys, Alexis Marie Snape."
"I wasn't, you stupid jerk!" Lexy shouted. "I told you, we've never even held hands, for Merlin's sake!" She bent down to grab an ornament from the wooden box and hang it up, the tree was half-decorated with ornaments and candy canes and strings of lights and popcorn and cranberries.
Harry picked up an ornament from the half-filled box near the tree and lobbed it at Lexy.
The wooden nutcracker hit her on the arm, since she was looking out the window, trying to see if anyone was coming down the walk. "Oww! Idiot!"
"You were supposed to catch it, Lexy!" Harry laughed. "Typical girl, can't talk and catch at the same time."
Then a small ball shaped like an apple hit him in the head.
"Boys! Can't duck and talk at the same time!" Lexy responded.
Harry glared at her, and went to take another ornament out of the box. That was when he spotted his baby sister, Eileen Lily, beneath the tree, taking a bite out of all the candy canes on the lower branches. "Eileen! What the hell are you doing?"
"Mmm!" Eileen said, her mouth full of striped candy. She had her mother Alaina's curls but her father's ebony locks and dark eyes. Not to mention the Snape temper. She was holding a sticky candy cane in her fist and gazing up at him questioningly.
"Aww, Merlin, Eileen! Look at the mess you made. You know you're not allowed to eat the tree candy. Give me that!" He knelt and tried to take the candy from the three-year-old's sticky hand, but Eileen refused to give it up.
She clung to the candy cane and started to scream.
"Harry! What are you doing to her?" Lexy demanded.
"Trying to take this candy from her before she chokes," Harry said, wincing at Eileen's wails. "Help me, won't you?" He tugged hard, and nearly dragged the screamingchild out from under the tree.
"No! Mine, Harry! MINE! I eat it!" Eileen sobbed.
"Oh, Harry, for the love of Merlin." Lexy sighed. "Don't you know anything? She's a baby, you can't just rip it out of her hand!"
"Like I could! She's damn strong," Harry grunted. The old saying "as easy as taking candy from a baby" came to mind, but Harry thought whoever invented that saying had never met Eileen, Eileen could give a mule lessons in stubborn. He practically had to pry her fingers away from the candy cane.
Eileen began to blubber loudly. "My candy, Harry! MINE! GIF IT BACK!"
"It's to decorate with, not to eat, Eileen."Harry tried to explain, but Eileen was furious and refused to listen to her older brother.
"Bad Harry! Go 'way!" And with that, the angry toddler suddenly caused the tree to shake a bit and all the ornaments in the box tipped over and spilled all over the carpet.
"Now look what you did, you little brat," Harry said angrily.
"You shouldn't have tried to rip her candy out of her hand," Lexy pointed out.
"Mind your own business!"
Eileen was still howling, the sound reminded Harry of a steam whistle. "Want my candy! Waaahh!"
In the den, Severus groaned and sat up, unable to sleep because of all the racket. He looked over at Alaina, who was sitting next to him. "Remind me why we had kids again?"
"Uh . . .so we could experience the joys of childhood in retrospect?" Alaina quipped.
"Very funny." Severus sighed. "Who wants to deal with this?"
Alaina groaned. "I refereed the last one, over the sugar cookies and the popcorn balls. Your turn, Sev."
The Healer rose to his feet, feeling a massive headache start brewing. On days like this, he wondered why he had ever agreed to have children, if this was how they were going to act. The old days of being a bachelor, relaxing in peace and quiet, were gone for good. He headed into the living room.
"ENOUGH!" he yelled.
All the kids froze, even Eileen, who remained with her mouth still open mid-screech.
"Now, will someone tell me just what the bloody hell is going on in here?" he demanded in his softest deadliest tone. He glared at each one of his children. None of them met his gaze. He gestured to the box of spilled ornaments and the disarray surrounding the tree. "You begged your mother to decorate the tree before the gingerbread houses were made, and this is how you act?"
"Harry started it, Dad!" Lexy defended, sniffling. She hated it when Sev scolded her, he always made her feel so guilty she cried.
"That's a lie! You kept going off about Hermione!" his son objected.
"Harry took my candy, Dad!" Eileen cried, crawling out from the tree to clutch Severus about the ankles. "Bad big brudder!"
"Dad, she was eating the candy canes on the tree!" Harry protested.
Severus fought to keep from swearing. "Eileen, you know you're not supposed to touch the candy canes," he lectured, bending down to pick up his youngest, who was sticky and smelled of peppermint, and had bits of the treat all over her little dress and in her hair. "Look at you, snippet. You're a disaster."
"No!" his stubborn daughter cried, wriggling. "Want candy! Candy is GOOD!"
"You've had enough sugar for one afternoon, little girl," her father said firmly. "You need a bath and a nap."
"No-o-o! No nap! No-o-o!" the child howled. Like her older brother, Eileen was a bundle of mischievous energy and hated staying still.
"You want a time out too, young lady?" Severus demanded, giving her a sharp Look.
Eileen shook her head, still crying. "No, Daddy. Hate time out."
"Then you behave and quit this howling like a spoiled little brat." Severus ordered, patting the sniffling child on the back. "Or else Father Christmas won't bring you any toys under the tree this year, Eileen Lily."
"Not any?" she gave her father a startled look from her big dark eyes.
"No. Not any." Sev told her. "And nothing for either of you two as well."
Eileen looked horrified at that statement, and Lexy ashamed, and Harry, who was going through a rebellious phase, just rolled his eyes.
The youngest Snape buried her head in her father's shoulder, saying pitifully, "I'll be good, Daddy. Promise! Then will Father Kissmas come?"
Severus nodded. "Just remember, he can see you, wherever you are and he'll put your name down on the Naughty List if you aren't good, snippet."
Lexy and Harry giggled at the way their little sister pronounced Father Christmas, though Eileen talked remarkably well for her age and was very smart, having inherited her father's precociousness in full measure and her mother's insatiable thirst for knowledge.
"Okay, Daddy. I take a bath now," Eileen declared, hoping that Father Christmas was watching right then.
But Severus wasn't finished with his oldest two yet, and so he set Eileen down, and said, "Go find your mum, Eileen. She'll give you a bath. Then I'll read with you till you fall asleep." Eileen was already reading at age three, and was well on her way to becoming an avowed bookworm, like both her parents. "I need to have a long talk with your brother and sister."
She waved to Sev as she trotted out of the room, then paused on the threshold and looked at her older siblings and announced, "You is in very big trouble, guys!" Then she left the room at top speed, wanting to get as far away from the wrath of parental disapproval as possible.
Harry and Lexy both winced, knowing full well they were in for it.
"Sit," Sev ordered, indicating the two chairs to either side of the tree that they had been using to hang the popcorn strings on before putting them on the tree.
Lexy and Harry sat quickly, careful to step over the spilled ornaments.
Severus put his hands on his hips and gave them both his most disappointed glare. "It never fails to amaze me how you two, who are the top of your classes academically, can fail to follow simple instructions. How many times must we have this same discussion, Lexy and Harry? Both of you volunteered to decorate the tree, and the two of you are old enough to do so without me or your mother hovering over you. At least you're supposed to be, but maybe I was wrong and you need us watching, like you were three."
"No, Dad!" Harry said quickly, for he detested being watched like a hawk. "It was going okay till lexy started whining about me putting the star on the tree."
"Because you were supposed to let me do it this year!" Lexy said. "And then you started teasing me about Draco."
"Oh, gimme a break! You said stuff about me and Hermione too!"
Severus held up a hand. "Stop, the pair of you! Why must you bicker constantly over everything?"
"Uh . . .cause we're brother and sister, and that's what we do?" Harry answered insolently.
Severus pinned him with his stare. "Don't be a smartass, mister! Your attitude is a big part of the problem, Harry James Severus. This is supposed to be the holiday season, the time of giving, but all you've been giving me is a headache and probably an ulcer too, the way you're going. I'm sick and tired of you two quarreling over everything. And no, I don't care who started it either. I'm ending it, as of right now." He crossed his arms over his chest. "The both of you are going to your rooms and staying there for an hour, and I want you to write me a two-foot essay about why you should learn to keep your tempers and not antagonize each other. Then you can come back in here and clean up this mess and finish decorating the tree without arguing, because if I hear one more loud voice, both of you will be grounded till New Year's, am I understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
Lexy started to get to her feet, but Sev put out a hand, halting her in her tracks.
"Sit down, Alexis, I'm not finished yet. I am disappointed that you require me to lecture you like five-year-olds, you both ought to be above such behavior and have more concern for each other's feelings. And for your mother's and my feelings as well. Do you have any idea how much it bothers your mother when you quarrel endlessly, or me?" Both children remained silent, looking down at their sneakers. "That's not a rhetorical question, by the way."
"Sorry, sir," Lexy spoke up, her voice very subdued. "I know I shouldn't let Harry's teasing bother me, that I should ignore it, or not say anything at all, but sometimes I just . . .forget . . .I'm sorry, Dad, I don't mean to make you and Mom upset."
"And yet, that is exactly what you're doing, Alexis Marie." Severus said sternly, making his daughter hang her head. He turned to his son, who wore a sulky frown on his face. "Well? What are your thoughts on this, Harry?"
"I'm sorry too," Harry admitted. "Guess I got carried away. Sorry, Lexy. And I'll try and watch my mouth, Dad. I don't mean to be such a smartass . . .but sometimes things just come out that way."
"You need to work on your self control, son. It's important, because a wizard of your power needs discipline, or else you can be a danger to everyone around you. You know that, I've told you that before. That goes for you as well, Alexis. You need to start practicing self control now, before your magic grows too strong. And you also need to try and set a good example for Eileen. She copies everything you do, and I don't want her thinking all brothers and sisters do is fight," here he directed a look at his son. Then he said, quietly but with a note of wistfulness in his tone neither of the kids had ever heard before, "Lexy, yesterday you asked me what I would like for Christmas, and I told you I needed to think about it, remember?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Well, there's only one thing I want for Christmas, and you children are the only ones who can give it to me. I want you all to try and get along for the rest of the holiday. No more stupid quarrels and teasing, no more arguing over who got what when and where and why not me. I want peace and quiet in my home, as much as possible. That's my Christmas wish. And your mum's too, I think. Well? Is that possible? Or are you going to keep sniping at each other until I'm ready to hex the both of you into next week or turn you over my knee?"
"Dad, we're twelve!" Harry said. "Isn't that too old for a spanking?"
"Harry, if you act like a brat of a five-year-old, I'll treat you like one, and that includes walloping your backside. Adjust your attitude and your behavior and you won't need to worry about being too old for a spanking. Clear?"
"Yes, sir." Harry said, vowing to behave, for getting spanked at twelve would be utterly humiliating. He had to remember to ask Ron if his parents believed like Severus did, that actions dictated punishment. "I'll behave."
"Me too," Lexy agreed. She felt ashamed making her father lecture her like this, for she loved and respected Severus, and hated it when he was disappointed in her. For some reason Severus's disappointment hurt more than if he had spanked her, and she could count on one hand the number of times he had actually spanked her over an infraction, unlike her real father, who had beat her for everything. "I'll try and do better, Dad. We both will," she told Sev earnestly, looking at Harry for confirmation.
Harry nodded.
"Glad to hear it. Now, go to your rooms and start on that essay."
The two rose and left Severus standing in the living room, frowning at the scattered ornaments, hoping that perhaps this time the lesson had sunk in. They're lucky they have me for a father and not Tobias. He'd have taken them over his knee in two seconds, no questions asked. Kids quarreling nonstop always made him insane. Speaking of my father, I've got to call him and ask him if he wants chocolate cake or banana cream pie for dessert Christmas Eve. Tobias had a notorious sweet tooth, and Severus usually tried to make at least one of his favorite desserts for the holiday season.
After telephoning his father and learning that Tobias wanted pie this year, Sev headed into Eileen's room for the promised story before her nap. He found Alaina dressing the little imp in a black and white pant set with little cats on it and combing the little girl's dark hair.
Eileen was actually more patient than most children with getting her hair combed, a fact Severus was very grateful for, having had to endure Harry throwing tantrums over his hair until he was seven.
"Well? How did it go?" Alaina asked, giving her husband a wry look. "Are they still breathing?"
"For now," Severus replied dryly. "I honestly don't know what gets into them, Alaina."
"It's the age, Sev. Twelve going on thirteen. They squabble over everything and act like brats till you want to just clock them one. I remember how it was with me and my sister. We fought worse than cats and dogs. Mom used to threaten to run away every day, or ship us off to Marine boot camp."
"Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe if we sent them off to some military academy, they'd realize how good they had it here and appreciate their family."
Alaina shrugged, tying Eileen's hair up in a bow. "Did you tell them your Christmas wish, love?"
"Yes. But I think it'll take a miracle for me to get it."
"You never know, Sev. 'Tis the season." She leaned over and kissed him. "You've been so patient with them, Sev. You ought to be proud of yourself, hon."
"For what? Not strangling them? Or paddling them so they couldn't sit for a week?"
"Yes. I know how stressful your practice is around the holidays, and how much you need peace during this time, and the last thing you need is to come home to your children bickering over every little thing. I'm sorry I can't do more to give it to you."
"Don't say that," he said, cupping her chin in his hand. "You give me all you can, Alaina. More than I deserve." He indicated their daughter, who stretched out her arms to him. "Hello, minx! Ready for your story?"
"Hi, Daddy! Can we read Ice Dragon's New Home?"
"Certainly." He swung his child up into his arms. "And after your nap, you can make a gingerbread house with Hermione."
"Yay! I like making houses!" Eileen grinned. The gingerbread house tradition was something Alaina had started, as a fun project for her kindergarteners and carried it over to her own children. Each Snape child got to make their own gingerbread house and invite a friend over to make one also. This year, Harry had picked Ron, Lexy had chosen Draco, and Eileen wanted Hermione, who was extremely patient with the little girl. "'Mione does too."
"I know. All right, let's get reading, so you can take your nap and be nice and rested for the gingerbread house." Severus told her. Then he summoned her book and took the small girl into the den, where she read the story sitting on his lap, and eventually dozed off in his arms.
He smiled down at the little scamp, and prayed that this holiday season would be semi-peaceful, the way it used to be when Harry and Lexy were younger.
* * * * * *
Alaina knocked on the door of her childrens' room soon after her husband had taken Eileen away to read to her. She knew perfectly well that Sev had lectured them on their abominable behavior before sending them to their rooms, but she wished to discuss their attitude as well.
Harry looked up at the knock, he was just finishing his essay, and called, "Come in."
Alaina entered, looking a little tired. "Harry, you and I and Lexy need to have a talk. Come with me, please."
"Okay, Mum." Merlin, not another lecture! But he followed Alaina obediently into her study, where she kept her lesson plans and computer and classroom teaching texts.
Lexy joined them a moment later. Alaina had them sit down on her comfy sofa then told them quietly, "I know your father already scolded you for your constant quarreling and punished you, but I wanted to add my two cents. You may not realize it, but your dad is under a lot of stress at his practice this year. There have been big changes in the Ministry this year, Minister Scrimgeour has resigned and Cornelius Fudge managed to get himself elected. He has appointed many new officials, one of them to the Beureau of Medical Science, which oversees all the certifications for Healers and Master Healers, and makes sure they are compliant with Ministry regulations. Now, normally, your father would have nothing to worry about , he has been practicing for nearly fourteen years and knows regulations like the back of his hand. But this new official, Delores Umbridge is her name, is determined to pry into every aspect of the medical field. She has been reviewing your dad's practice, and apparently is trying to find fault with them for some god-knows why reason. So he's been trying to make everything run perfectly at the office, so Umbridge has no reason to put him under citation."
"What's that mean, Mom?" asked Lexy. Though she had lived in Britain for four years, she still retained her American accent and mannerisms, as well as dual citizenship.
"It means, Lex, that if Umbridge finds something non-regulation about your father's work, she can slap him with a hefty fine and send in her toadies to watch him while he works and write up reports on him, and basically ruin his reputation as a good doctor." Alaina said tightly.
"But that's horrible! Why would she want to do that?" Lexy cried. "Dad's a brilliant doctor, and a hero, everyone knows that."
"Perhaps that's why. In any case, he's been under a lot of pressure to meet these new Ministry standards, and the last thing he needs to come home to is you two fighting over silly stuff, like Lexy making gingerbread houses with Draco." Here she frowned at her son, who looked away guiltily. "Or liking Hermione," she turned her gaze on her daughter next, and she too looked away.
"That's why he's been so tired, right?" Lexy asked.
"And short tempered," Harry added.
"Yes. That Umbridge woman's rules are ridiculously nitpicky and he's driving himself insane trying to meet them and still run a decent practice. Which is why I need both of you to set aside your differences and work together to make peace in this family. There's no reason you two can't get along, you're both smart and goodhearted individuals, though lately you've been behaving selfishly. I want your father to have that peace he asked you for, but I can't do it on my own. He's sacrificed a lot for you kids, more than you'll ever know, and he'll never admit it, but he needs our love and support more now than ever, and you two ought to think long and hard about giving him it. By fulfilling that promise you made him. I know you can do it if you set your minds to it."
"We'll do it, Mum," Harry said. "I didn't know all that stuff was going on with Dad's job."
"I know, and he would never tell you, he's too proud, so I did it for him. Now that you have all the facts, you can make-"
"-an informed decision," her daughter finished. "We'll do our best, Mom. What about Eileen? She's too little to understand what you just told us."
"I know, but she'll understand no presents from Father Kissmas and making her dad happy by behaving," Alaina said. "You can help me there too, by not antagonizing her and minding her without complaining when we need you to." Alaina told them. "After all, this family has seen enough discord to last a lifetime, the last thing we need is more, don't you agree?"
Both children nodded solemnly and promised to try their best to make Severus's wish come true.
"Thank you. And now, I believe there's a mess in the living room waiting for you two to clean up?"
Groans followed that statement, but both kids got up and went off to clean the ornaments up and finish decorating the tree, determined to hold to their promise.
* * * * * *
Harry had just finished hanging the last Snitch ornament on the tree when there came a sharp knock on the door. "Bet you ten Knuts that's Hermione."
Lexy rose from where she had been kneeling, arranging the emerald satin tree skirt and shook her head. "You'd lose, because Hermione was going to Floo here with Ron, remember? That's Draco."
"But he knows how to Floo," Harry pointed out, confused. "So why's he using the front door?"
"Because his mom, Narcissa, Apparated him here, and it's considered rude to just Apparate yourself into somebody's home, so he's knocking on the front door," Lexy explained, doing her best to keep the slight tone of superiority from her voice. Since becoming friends with pureblooded Draco, she had learned more about wizard customs than Harry, though he had been raised half wizard and Muggle. Narcissa Malfoy followed the old ways, more so than James Potter had or Severus did.
"Oh," Harry said, trying to keep the annoyance from his tone, and wishing he knew more about wizard customs than his smart aleck sister. "You know what I don't get, Lexy? How can Draco be friends with you when Grandpa killed his father?"
They could hear the sound of Alaina answering the door and a quiet boy greeting her.
"I asked him that once. Know what he said? He said he hardly knew his father, and what he did know of him made him ashamed to be related to him. His mom divorced Lucius when Draco was a baby and she barely let him see Draco at all. She raised him free of the Malfoy influence and prejudices and taught him never to play with dark magic like his father did. Draco says his dad was really mean to his mom, like Dan was to mine, and Grandpa probably did us all a favor shooting him. He was trying to kill Dad, after all."
"I know. I was there," reminded her brother, suppressing a shiver. He could never recall that long ago Halloween night without quivering. 'I'm glad he doesn't have a problem with us being Severus Snape's kids."
"No more than you have a problem with me being related to Lucius Malfoy," said Draco from behind them, having been directed to the living room by Alaina. He was wearing what was, for him, a conservative outfit, gray trousers and a green pullover and brand-new sneakers. "Hi, Lexy. Harry." He gave them a friendly half-smile, looking the tree up and down. "Nice tree. You do the decorating?"
"Mostly, yeah," Harry answered. "You do yours?"
"My mother and I do it together. Only ours is a white pine and she likes to use all glass ornaments and crystal beads and satin blue bows," replied Draco. "The house elves bring us hot cider and shortbread while we do it."
"Sounds very pretty," Lexy said, smiling shyly back at him. "Like a designer tree in a department store."
"Where Muggles shop, d'you mean?" Draco looked at Harry, puzzled.
"Right. C'mon, let's get set up for the gingerbread houses. Ron and Hermione ought to be here any minute."
Draco chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Harry wanted to know.
The blond wizard shrugged. "Nothing really. I was just picturing how furious my late father would be if he could see me now, associating with Muggleborns and blood traitors and all. He's probably spinning in his grave." Draco sounded pleased at this observation, proving to Harry that he was indeed sincere about forming a friendship and held no hard feelings about Lucius' death.
"Serves him right!" Lexy piped up.
"Yes," said Draco, then examined the gingerbread houses, which had been assembled by Alaina and Lexy the night before. "How do we decorate these? With a Sticking charm?"
"Uh, my mum's not a witch, so we do it the old-fashioned way, without magic," Harry said. "We use icing instead. You'll see, it's fun. Messy though."
"I see," Draco said, though Lexy wondered if he really did understand what Harry was telling him. They had just chosen their house when Ron and Hermione arrived via the Floo network.
"Hi, mates!" Ron called.
'Hi, Harry, Lexy, and . . .where's Eileen?" Hermione asked, looking about for the missing littlest Snape.
"I is here, Mione!" sang Eileen from the doorway, she had just woken from her nap and was delighted to see Hermione was there. She ran to the older girl and threw her chubby little arms about Hermione's leg.
"Hello, LeeLee," Hermione laughed, scooping the little girl up in her arms. LeeLee was a pet name Eileen called herself when she was first learning to talk and couldn't say her name correctly. But only family and close friends were ever allowed to call her that.
"LeeLee?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"That's the way Eileen said her name when she was a baby," Lexy explained. "Mione's the only person who uses it now, except Harry sometimes." She sat down and then gestured for Draco to take a seat next to her.
He did, examining the gingerbread house curiously.
"First time you ever saw one, Malfoy?" asked Ron, a bit superciliously. Until Harry elbowed him in the ribs and shook his head.
"No, but it's the first time I'm decorating one, Weasley." Draco replied shortly.
"You can eat 'em too," Eileen informed them, climbing up on her special booster seat next to Hermione. "Who're you?" that question was directed at draco, who had never been over the Snape house before.
"Draco. You're Eileen, correct?"
"That's me!" Eileen said and gave him a beautiful smile.
Draco couldn't help himself. He grinned back at the little girl, and Harry snickered, for it looked like Eileen had made another conquest. All of their friends adored the little minx, she was a real charmer.
Alaina walked in carrying the tray of assorted candies and Severus floated a large bowl of icing behind her with several plastic bags with metal tips attached and aprons as well. The adults passed out the aprons and set the bowl of icing in the middle of the table, which was covered in a large cotton sheet. The candies and cookies were set beside that and Alaina said, "Watch me, please, so you can see how to put the icing in the plastic bag, and if you run out, just give a holler, okay? There's more in the kitchen." She demonstrated how to fill the plastic bag with icing, then handed it to Draco. "New guests always get the first bag. Have fun, and if you need anything else, let me know."
'We will, thanks, Mum," said Harry.
The others echoed him, then started to fill their own icing bags up.
Lexy showed Draco how to stick on gumdrops with icing, and other candies, and the scion of Malfoy manor managed to get icing all over himself when he squeezed the wrong end of his icing bag.
"Smooth move, Malfoy!" Ron chuckled.
Draco scowled at him, but then Eileen giggled, looking at him, and said, "Snowman, Draco. Like Frosty." Then she began to sing the old Christmas song at the top of her lungs, and Hermione sang along with her.
Lexy was laughing too, but then she got Draco a wet towel to clean himself off, and he flashed her a grateful look, for he felt a bit ridiculous with icing all over his front and on his nose too. Then he smirked and scooped up a handful of icing. "Hey, Eileen. Know what snowmen do?"
"Nope."
"They throw snowballs." Then he scooped up some icing and tossed it across the table at Ron.
It hit the redhead right in the nose.
"Bullseye!" Draco cheered.
Ron went to grab a handful of gumdrops and throw them back, but Harry hissed in his ear, "Don't. Remember, you promised not to let him bait you."
Ron lowered his arm, then wiped the icing off. "Haha, Malfoy. Clever."
"Draco, stop," Lexy said. "The last thing we need is a food fight in here. Dad will ground all of us for life."
"Sorry. Couldn't resist," apologized the other.
But it was too late. Eileen had decided to join in the fun and grabbed a handful of M&M's, gumdrops, and lemon drops from her plate and yelled, "Harry, catch!"
"Eileen! No!" Hermione cried.
But Eileen had already launched her missiles and assorted candies rained down on poor Harry and Ron.
"Bullseye!" cheered the little girl.
Draco looked half-amused and half-chagrined. "Uh . . .guess I shouldn't have done that. She always copy people that way?"
Lexy sighed. "All the time. That's why you have to be careful what you say or do around her. She's like a parrot."
"Eileen! Knock it off!" Harry ordered, brushing candy off his head. Eileen was laughing, however.
"Funny! Funny Harry!"
"Good going, Malfoy," Ron said sarcastically.
"How'd I know she was going to do that?" Draco said. He turned to Eileen, who was about to launch a second barrage at her brother and his friend. "Hey, kid, that's enough. The game's over."
Eileen looked at him, her lower lip sticking out. "All done?"
Draco nodded quickly. "Yes. Now let's finish the house, all right?"
"Play later?"
"Later." Draco said, not knowing what he was getting into.
The Snape siblings exchanged amused glances, knowing the Slytherin boy was in for a shock.
"Okay!" Eileen turned back to Hermione, who shook her head.
"Oh, LeeLee. Look at the mess you made. That wasn't very nice, was it?"
"No. Was fun," declared the mischievous little girl then went to stick a gumdrop on her roof.
Meanwhile, Lexy and Harry cleaned up the candy, not wanting to get into trouble if Alaina or Severus happened to return to see what they were doing.
They continued making the gingerbread houses without further mishap, until all the candies and icing had been used, and each child had a finished product sitting on a cardboard platform in front of them. All of them were different, some had their roofs covered in candy and icing, while Hermione had only outlined hers with icing and placed very little on her roof, but a lot on her walls.
Lexy had created a pattern of gumdrops on her roof and Harry had made a red Snitch on his roof with the M&M's. Ron's house was a colorful montage of all kinds of candy. Draco's was more traditional, except he had made green S's along his walls and the edge of his roof and overlapped flat peppermints on his roof like tiles. He also had a marshmallow snowman in his yard. Eileen's had several candies all over her house and icing on her roof that looked like an avalanche had hit it. But she called it her "snow house" and was very proud of it.
"Wicked house, Eileen," Ron complimented her.
She smiled at him. "You like it? I like yours, Ron. Sweet!"
They all laughed at the little girl's innocent statement.
"Cool house, Draco," Lexy said shyly.
"You too." The other answered, and Lexy blushed.
"Nice roof, Mione," Harry remarked.
"Thanks, Harry. I like your Snitch." Hermione smiled.
Alaina came in to see how the houses were coming along, and declared all of them works of art. "I've never seen a better group of houses, you all should be proud of yourselves. Right, Severus?"
The Healer ran his eye over the houses and said, "Quite." He also considered it a miracle that his children had managed to get through the activity without arguing.
"Now what?" Draco asked.
"Now we get treats and hot cocoa!" Eileen told him. "Right, Mummy?"
"Yes, but first we need to wash your face and hands," Alaina said, taking the wet cloth her husband handed her and wiping off her child's face and hands, which were full of icing.
Five minutes later, all the kids were sipping hot cocoa and eating oatmeal chocolate bars and Linzer tarts.
Lexy looked at Draco speculatively. He seemed to be enjoying himself, discussing Quidditch with Harry and potions with her and Hermione. "Umm . . .Draco? Would you like to do this again next year?"
Draco considered, and Lexy felt like biting her nails.
Harry waited also, thinking, If he says no, I'll kick his arse, guest or no guest. He knew Lexy would be very upset if Draco refused her invitation.
Finally, Draco turned to his sister and flashed her a smile. "Definitely. Mother never lets me play with my food like this."
They all laughed at his clever response and Lexy looked like she was in heaven.
Ron caught it, gave Harry a bug-eyed look, and pretended to gag.
Harry just shrugged, an oh-well gesture, and went back to drinking his cocoa. He had no control over who Lexy liked, though he had to admit Draco hadn't been as bad as he had thought.
* * * * *
"Dolls?!" Draco repeated, horror written in every line of his face. "You want me to play with dolls?"
Eileen nodded, holding out her purple baby doll for Draco to take. "Uh huh. We is playing house, Draco. I is the mum and you is the dad. And Mary and Susie are the kids."
"No. I can't do this. I don't play with dolls!" Draco was protesting, looking utterly panicked.
Eileen turned her huge dark eyes on him and her lower lip began to tremble. "Draco, no play wif me?"
"I . . .uh . . "
"Please, Draco? Please?"
"Err . . .Merlin! . . .I . . ." stammered the blond-haired boy, at a loss for words.
Eileen sniffled. Then she played her trump card, throwing her arms about him, and saying, "But Draco, you promised!" and giving him a look that would have melted a heart of stone and ice.
"Aww . . .hell!" he muttered, unable to refuse those heartbreaking eyes. "Fine. I'll play with you." Then he whirled and glared at the other kids, who were watching Eileen wrap him neatly about her finger, and smirking. "You ever breathe a word of this to anybody at school and I'll hunt you down and kill every last one of you."
"You're sweet, Draco," Lexy said, smiling softly at the object of her affection.
Draco flushed. "Uh, sure, whatever you say, Lexy." He took the doll Eileen handed him and looked at it helplessly. "What do I do with it?"
Eileen just looked at him. "You take care and love her, of course. And you puts her in time out when she is bad or smacks her bum. And then you tells her sorry and never do that 'gain. And then you read her a bedtime story. You know. You is the dad, Draco."
The other wizards put their hands over their mouths to smother their laughter, as Draco received a thorough education on parenting from the precocious three-year-old, which he had not been expecting at all!
Harry, who had also been in Draco's position a few times, could sympathize, but the look of shock on the other boy's face was priceless, and he couldn't help dissolving into laughter and had to leave the room, followed quickly by Ron, who was vowing he was going to bust a gut and die.
* * * * * *
Harry invited Hermione to go ice skating on the Thames, along with Lexy, Eileen and Severus. The Healer was astonished to see all three of his children actually behaving and not arguing about who got to skate on what part of the frozen river or commenting on how much better they skated than their sibling or whose turn it was to hold Eileen's hand and take her around the pillars for the twentieth time in one hour.
He was so pleased with his children's behavior that he bought them all ice cream and cider afterwards, and showed Harry and Hermione, who were very good on skates, his signature special move, where he skated backwards and carved his initials with his skates in the ice.
"Where'd you learn to skate like that, Healer Sev?" asked Hermione.
"I used to go skating all the time with Lily, Harry's mum." Severus answered. "I haven't been skating in years, but it's not something you forget." He glided lazily about on the ice, as graceful as a falcon on the wing.
"Race you, Dad!" Harry challenged.
Severus snorted. "Think you're up for it, scamp?"
"You bet!"
Severus crouched slightly, then said to Lexy, "Give us a count, firefly."
Lexy did, and on three, the two streaked off their marks and across the ice.
Harry was quite good and fast as well, but Severus had the advantage in experience and longer legs. He was also able to turn quicker than his son, and that gave him an advantage.
He won, but Harry gave it a good try, and Severus said he was a good sport.
They skated around for a few more minutes before Eileen started to whine she was cold and Severus decided to take them back home.
* * * * * *
". . . I just can't believe the way they've changed, Alaina," Severus was saying as he got into bed with her that night. "It's amazing. I mean, one day they're at each other's throats nonstop, and now . . .who are they and what happened to my real children?"
Alaina laughed. "Maybe it's a miracle, Sev. Don't question it."
"I'm not. I'm just praying it lasts."
Alaina hoped for that too.
* * * * * *
In the weeks that followed, Harry, Lexy, and even Eileen worked hard at keeping their promise to Alaina and making Severus's home life a little more calm, peaceful, and happy. Now Harry did his chores without grousing, and Lexy helped Alaina cook and do the laundry without being told either, and both siblings watched out for Eileen without arguing about whose turn it was.
Severus was amazed and very pleased that his wish was coming true, and wondered what had happened to make his children take his words to heart and actually try and get along with each other without arguing for longer than ten minutes. Now he could actually take a nap on the couch and not have to get woken up by Lexy screaming at Harry or Harry stomping out of the room accusing Lexy of being lazy. Even Eileen was less inclined to throw tantrums, and didn't give Severus a hard time about taking a nap too much. Nor did she pull poor Inky's tail either.
Cookies were baked, presents were wrapped, potions were brewed, the house cleaned, and Inky groomed, all without a single cross word exchanged, though lips were bitten over and over and the number ten became the most repeated number in the Snape household.
Looking back, years later, Harry didn't quite know how he managed it, but somehow he did and so did Lexy. It wasn't easy, but they persevered, and on the night before Christmas, they slipped from their bed, including Eileen, who had wanted to sleep with Lexy, and spied upon their parents in the living room.
"I don't know what happened, but I have to say, this is a change for the better, and you were right, Alaina. Miracles do happen. And this is the greatest one of all. My family actually getting along and giving me some peace and quiet at the end of the day."
Alaina smiled secretly to herself. "Sev, like I said, 'tis the season. Besides which, you do deserve it."
"So do you." Severus said, and hugged her to him. Together, they looked at the tree, all sparkling with lights and ornaments, and the presents beneath it, and the panther stretched out on the rug, and both of them agreed that this was going to be the best Christmas they had ever had, since their children had finally learned how to get along again.
The three Snape children, who were peeking round the doorframe, gave each other a high five. Not arguing and learning self control had not been easy, but in the end it had been worth it, to see their father smiling, all the weariness erased from his lean features, making him look years younger.
Alaina, who was looking over her husband's shoulder, caught sight of the children.
Harry gulped, wondering if she would be angry with them for being up past their bedtime. But all she did was wink at them and smile.
For, after all it is better to give than to receive, and Harry, Lexy, and Eileen had given Severus the best gift of all-harmony.
The End.
Chapter End Notes:
This one was for all of you who asked when I was going to write some more about Lexy, Harry, & Eileen.
Hope you all enjoyed it!