December 9th

Hogwarts´ resident deatheater was determined to finally have his quiet, restful day on Sunday. He ignored Aberneezer´s calls for him from the living room at what must be the crack of dawn and tore his duvet up over his ears.

Half an hour later he sneaked an arm out of bed far enough to grip his wand and hex the unlucky house elf, which had been given the task of waking him.

He even ignored the silvery phoenix, the headmaster sent a little later. Instead of listening he put his index fingers into his ears and sang ´Jingle Bells´ at the top of his lungs (and very false, but who cared as long as it was louder than Dumbledore´s impertinent patronus).

A quarter hour later he left his bed, swearing and cursing. A flock of twenty owls were gliding through his bedroom, occasionally hooting.

"Severus," the headmaster greeted him, when the potions master joined him at the Head Table a little later. He poured him a cup of tea. "How kind of you to join us. We were waiting for you. You see, it is Poppy´s birthday and our birthday serenade for her won´t be the same without your voice."

"You dragged me out of bed after the week I had that I could sing a birthday song with you?" Snape screeched.

"Severus!" Dumbledore sounded scandalised. "The students are listening! And you know very well that Poppy deserves this small kindness given the amount of students she has to patch up due to our ineptitude."

The potions master gasped for breath. "Headmaster!" he hissed under his breath, "Kindly give me the name of one student who got landed in the infirmary due to my ineptitude!"

The old wizard smiled benignly. "Where to start, dear boy, where to start? Neville Longbottom?"

"Longbottom?" The potions master shrieked, then he repeated much lower, but urgently: "Longbottom? Longbottom is a walking desaster! His injuries have nothing to do with anybody´s but his own ineptitude!"

"Let´s not quarrel about this now! Poppy is waiting!" Dumbledore said sternly. He tapped his goblet with his wand and the assembled students and teachers sang the nurse´s birthday song. Snape sat his arms crossed in front of his chest and pressed his lips shut tightly.

"You see, Severus," Dumbledore said kindly when the last student had finished their song (of course everybody sang their own tune, following Hogwarts´ tradition). "Your presence made all the difference."

Poppy Pomfrey beamed at the Hall at large and started cutting her birthday cake.

Snape returned to his quarters after he had had his piece of cake and opened his advent calendar. In it was a book. It was a muggle detective story. Snape only stopped reading when he had to go on his rounds through the castle. When at last every student was safely tucked away in their house, he returned to his book and finished it in front of his fireplace. From time to time he sipped a bit of red wine and smiled down at the blonde he had put together some days earlier.