A/N: Warning, bellow is another descriptive shopping trip. (Ayame has a problem lolz) If you would like to skip the shopping excursion scroll down to the second scene break. Correction for an error in chapter 4. Ayame was supposed to say Lumos instead of nox. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I always appreciate your reviews.

Chapter 8

The Christmas holiday at the estate was surprisingly lonely for Ayame. She didn't realize how much she had gotten used to Lunas and Hermiones presence. This was also her first Christmas without Ojiisan which caused her some depression for the first few days back. She still had his portrait to ease some of the loneliness, but it was not the same. It never would be.

On the 23rd of December Sun and Moon finally lured her out of bed by promising to have a cup of tea with her at the dining table. Sun asked her about her new acquaintances at Hogwarts and how the school year was going so far. During the conversation, Azurite tiredly fluttered into the dining room. He dropped off a shrunk package wrapped in brown paper and twine.

Offering the tired bird some of her toast, Ayame unshrunk the package and opened it. Inside was a beautiful emerald green and gold Hanfu ensemble with a note from Mrs. Hayami wishing her a Merry Christmas and good fortune in the new year.

Feeling the need to reciprocate Ayame decide to go shopping. It may very well lift her spirits as a consequence.

It was three times now that Mrs. Hayami had bestowed her with a gift so Ayame decided to stop at her vault in Gringotts and select some jewelry for her to make up for it. She went searching in the chests for some time for the perfect piece. She eventually found a large perfectly formed black Akoya pearl imbued with protective enchantments. There was a matching set of tear-drop earrings with smaller black Akoya pearls. The fine crafter chain and settings were made from white tungsten. Ayame was pleased and she hoped Mrs. Hayami liked it.

She wasn't ready to return home just yet so she decided to refill her coin purse as she had before and buy some gifts for Hermione and Luna as well. Ayame looked around the vault one more time before setting off just in case there was anything else, she may wish to take. On the left-hand side at shoulder height, Ayame spotted a small ornate box. She thought it might be a music box and opened it out of curiosity. Rather the music Ayame found a large selection of loose crystals and precious stones some of them raw and uncut. It gave her some inspiration for what to get for Luna. There were a few loose velvet bags at the bottom and Ayame used one to store a handful of the crystals as well as a few sapphires.

Finally, she was ready to return to the surface much to Griphook's waning patients.


After much searching, Ayame found an elaborated and enchanted Jewellery making kit for Luna which she added the crystals too. Shopping for Hermione thought was a little harder. She knew all of Hermione's friends would be buying her books which were always a safe bet. Ayame hunted around in Flourish & Blotts but she only ended up adding to her own library. She had no idea what Hermione may already own. Paying for her purchases Ayame left and decided to look elsewhere.

When she had gone into Madam Milkin's she had decided to order something for her head of house professor Flitwick. Luckily Mrs. Milkin has his measurements on record. Ayame ordered a winter cloak to be made for him like her own with acromantula silk. The difference would be the exterior would be angora wool and the whole cloak would be a midnight blue color. To finish it off the clasp would once again be goblin silver in the shape of the Ravenclaw's Eagle and Ayame handed over the sapphires to have them mounted onto the clasp. Ayame penned an anonymous note simply signing it "student" wishing Professor Flickwick a happy holiday and suggested he charm the claps as he saw fit as a possible holiday project.

She instructed madam Malkin to have it delivered Christmas day and to never reveal the sender to the happy little professor if she wanted to keep Ayame's lucrative patronage. Ayame was no brown nosier after all. She would have fun watching him try and guess who sent him the gift when term starts up again.

Later that afternoon Ayame was beginning to lose hope she would find anything right for Hermione. The girl had helped her find the paternity position after all and she was extremely grateful. She wanted her gift to reflect that. In the end, Ayame ordered a monogrammed stationery set for Hermione. She added to this a pile of precious phoenix feather quills to give her luck during her tests and 5 ornate stain glass self-inking quills in a variety of colors for her extensive note-taking habit.

The last stop of the day was to the apothecary for the missing potions ingredients. Luckily, they had everything she would need and bought it all in triplicate just in case they made any errors while brewing and had to start again.

While the clerk prepared her order Ayame wandered around the store to wait. As she did, she couldn't help but think about Professor Snape. Was he having a good Christmas holiday? People really hated him though. Would he receive any gifts at all? Did he have any family? Feeling some kinship to the man and their possible similar circumstances Ayame decided to send him an anonymous Christmas present as well.

Approaching the clerk again she ordered another triplicate of her already selected potions ingredients. On top of this, she asked him to add some of the more expensive and rarer ingredients in equal abundance. These ended up being Jewelweed, Lobalug venom, Moonseed, Moondew, Unmelting Snow and Nux Myristica. She instructed the clerk to have this second order delivered to professor Snape of Hogwarts on Christmas morning. Once again, she penned a note signing "Student" to go with the package. She also requested anonymity for when the professor was sure to inquire on her identity. She added a generous tip to ensure their silence. She had to give them a check linked to her vault as she didn't have enough coin on her person to cover such an enormous fee.

In high spirits, Ayame nearly skipped home. She was really looking forward to returning to Hogwarts in the next couple of weeks.


Dec 25th, Great Hall, Hogwarts

Snape slowly dragged himself to the great hall for breakfast after drinking down a hangover relief potion. Last night was the staff Christmas party he had been forced to attend. Umbridge followed him around the whole night flirting with him to his great horror so he drank whatever he could get his hands on in hopes of ending it all. No such luck. Snape had made a deal with Dumbledore that if attended the Christmas party then he would be free to forgo the new year celebration and hide away in the dungeons as he preferred. He prayed to Merlin the jinx on the DADA position worked faster then it had in the past.

The great hall had been devised of the house tables and replace with one large table in the middle of the room to accommodate the few remaining students who had stayed behind.

As he sat down between Minerva and Albus, he pretended he hadn't seen any of the hopeful and slightly desperate looks the rest of the staff was shooting him.

As he poured himself a cup of strong black coffee with the consistency of tar, Dumbledore addressed him in a slightly chastising tone. "Severus…".

Snape smirked evilly to himself and feigning innocence he replied: "Yes Albus?"

Rather than say anything Dumbledore just looked at him with an expectantly. Relenting Snape let out a rather put-upon sigh and produced hangover relief positions for the rest of the staff. Everyone quickly quaffed the brews and began to tuck into the Christmas brunch sitting before them.

Halfway through there meal two large barn Owls swooped into the room. One delivered a package and letter to Filius and much to everyone's surprise the second stopped in front of Snape.

Filius automatically opened the missive and exclaimed to everyone "Oh! It seems I got a gift from one of my ravens. How mysterious! They only signed it with 'student'."

Quickly he opened the brown wrappings and held up the magnificent winter cloak. Everyone began to gossip among themselves and tried to guess who might have sent such an elaborate gift.

Eyes twinkling, Albus turned to Snape, "well Severus, is your mysterious parcel from our anonymous student as well?"

Severus had spent the last several minutes using his wand to detect any possible curses or hexes. Considering the way he lived there was a high probability. Much to his suspicion, everything seemed to be clear.

Unrolling the letter first he read,

Dear Professor Snape,

I hope you don't mind but I have taken the liberty to send you this gift as a way of showing my thanks. For obvious reasons, I haven't told anyone else but in truth, potions is my favorite class out of them all. Regardless of your abrasive tongue I am well aware of your skill in your craft and hold you in high regard. Others might not acknowledge it, but I am conscious of how lucky Hogwarts students are to have you, a skilled Master as their potion's professor. Please accept this gift as my thanks for all you suffer on our behalf and may you have a joyous holiday season.

Gratefully yours,

-Student

Severus wasn't sure what to make of it. It must have been some kind of trick. In all the years he had been a teacher, he wasn't once given thanks by a student. He usually received howlers from angered parents instead. Putting the letter aside he went about exposing the so-called gift to the light of day. What he found left him speechless. He canceled the shrinking and weightless charms to get a better look. Picking up one of the many multi-colored cut crystal alchemist vials to examine it, he could hardly believe his eyes. Each one was generous in size and filled to the top with exotic and priceless potions ingredients he could never have dreamed of being able to afford by himself.

Dumbledore went to pick up the discarded letter but before he could grab it Dolores Umbridge reached across the table and snapped it up while tutting Dumbledore imperiously. "You mustn't encroach on your staff's privacy Headmaster. That is an abuse of power."

Then she hypocritically read the letter herself before simpering to Snape who sat across from her. "It's very advantages for you to have such a generous patron Professor Snape. Obviously, Mr. Malfoy's superior breeding is clearly reflected in such a fine gift. It was very clever of him to hide his identity in such a way but of course, I can tell right away. Very much the proper Slytherin don't you agree?"

"As you say, madam." Replied Snape when he took back the note. He collected his prize and swiftly left the hens to cluck amongst themselves.

Back in the dungeons he quickly cast a Revelio to see if he could discover the identity of the sender. Of course, nothing was ever that easy. If Umbitch was right in guessing that it was Malfoy who sent it then he had to be absolutely sure. Slytherin's never gave anything for free and if it really was Malfoy then he had a bad feeling it might have to do with something the dark lord wanted him to brew. Casting a couple more spells revealed nothing. He would talk to Dumbledore later and share with him his concerns.


Early the next day Snape walked into Slug & Jiggers Apothecary to interrogate the store clerk. He was being frustratingly tight-lipped. He did confirm he was the one to service this anonymous student though. That was a mistake on the clerk's part. Making sure there were no other patrons, Snape pulled out his wand and cast "Legilimens!"

Shifting through the young man's mind, he could have died happily without ever knowing the boy's bondage habits. Quickly veering away in disgust snape came across the memory of Ayame Miyazaki coming into the store on the 23rd.

Coming back into his own mind Snape quickly obliviated the fool and left to return to the castle. That explains why Filius received a present as well. What he wanted to know now was what her first order of ingredients was for. Off the top of his head, he couldn't recall any potions consisting of those ingredients. He would have to do some research in the library when he got back.

It wasn't until the late evening of Jan the 5th that he discovered what Ayame was trying to make. Hermione still had the older tomb hidden away in her trunk up in Gryffindor tower, but Snape found a mention of Veritas paternitas sanguis in a newer book titled "Illegal Blood Potions from the Middle Ages."


Later the very next day Snape found himself in a conference with Dumbledore in the Headmasters office.

"I don't know what the girl is trying to accomplish but if she thinks I'll let her brew an illegal potion under my watch with a bribe, she had better think again." He growled.

"What is this potion supposed to do?" Asked Albus. He held out his candy jar full of lemon drops to the stressed professor, but Snape irately waved off the offer.

"It's essentially a paternity test. It was once used to confirm a person's lineage for inheritance and legal purposes. At the turn of the century, the Ministry ignorantly declared all blood potions illegal due to there permanence. For something as simple as this I would usually turn a blind eye. She does well enough in my class not to blow herself up but with Umbitch looking for any excuse to lay off the staff now that fudge has named her 'High Inquisitor" I can't allow it. I don't see how she would have any real need for it. It's clear her family does very well for itself."

"Ahh. I think I understand. You might not be aware, but our transfer student was recently orphaned. She was raised by her grandfather in Japan, but Mr. Miyazaki went beyond the vail this summer past. It was he who arranged for Miss Miyazaki to attend Hogwarts." Informed Dumbledore.

"Strangely enough the Japanese Ministry saw fit to grant her Legal emancipation on her grandfathers request. Immigration here in Britain was forced to honor it. Now, as far as I understand it, the young lady lives alone. She may be hoping to find some long lost relatives. I don't think there are any insidious intentions here. Why don't we leave the girl be and watch to see what happens?"

Grumbling, Snape agreed. "Very well but should Umbitch catch wind of this, it'll be your mess to clean up. I'll have no part in it."

With a twinkle in his eye, the Headmaster watched Severus swoop out of the room. This was going to be a very exciting spring term at Hogwarts. Add this to Harry's secret DADA club they all thought he was unaware of and the Weasley twins harassment of professor Umbridge it was going to a memorable start to a new year.