A/N: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and to RenitaLeandra for all her work!

Chapter 13- Christmas Thoughts and Wishes

Severus had a troubled sleep that night, tossing and turning in his bed. Finally he decided to give up; rising to sit by the fireplace and read instead For a long time his thoughts centered on Lily and the discussion he had had with Harry the night before. It had been a long time since he had thought back to that day in fifth year. And even longer since he had thought back to the day when he discovered Voldemort's plan. He had been beside himself with fear that day. He had finally approached Voldemort with the idea of sparing her life, saying that her ability in potions could be of great use to the Death Eaters. He had admitted to his previous friendship with Lily and had said that perhaps he could persuade her to switch sides. Of course he had known she would never betray the Order, but he was willing to say anything in order to spare her life.

As he sat thinking, however, his thoughts began to switch to another woman. Over the last several weeks he had found himself enjoying Hermione Granger's company. He had told himself that it was only because it was so rare to find an intelligent person to talk to. However, last night had changed things. First she had sought him out, both during the wedding and after. Then she had stopped him and Harry from hexing each other, which probably would have been embarrassing for both. And then, at the end, after he had admitted to everything, she had still stayed behind to make sure he was okay. Him. Severus Snape.

'Why on earth would she want anything to do with me?' he thought to himself.

'Perhaps she sees in you the same things that some other people have.' The voice was back and as annoying as ever. It had no opportunity to continue, however, as there was a knock on his door. He didn't need to answer it to know who it was.

'Damn woman can't manage to stay away for even a few hours.' He walked over to the door and opened it. Hermione stood staring back at him. She looked tired as if she hadn't slept any more than he had. He noticed that she had a small package in her hand.

"Good morning," she said trying to sound cheerful. She looked at him for a moment and then dropped the act. "You haven't slept much either have you?"

"No," Severus said letting her into the room.

"I won't stay long. I know you probably don't want to be bothered. But I wanted to bring you this." She held out the package which, he noticed, was wrapped in red paper and a gold ribbon. She clearly couldn't help herself.

He slowly unwrapped the gift and sat staring at it. It was a book, entitled Serpents and Purebloods, The Life of Salazar Slytherin.

"I know you don't have it," said Hermione nervously. "And I hope you haven't read it."

"No, I haven't," Severus said looking at her. "But how do you know I don't have it?"

Hermione blushed. "I asked one of the house-elves to look for me. They said it wasn't on any of your bookshelves."

"Thank you," Severus said. "It is very thoughtful."

"Well, I read it in seventh year. I was trying to understand more about Slytherins with the War and everything. I was hoping to improve inter-house unity. I was really surprised how Salazar really wasn't the villain everyone made him out to be. I mean, yes, at the end it all turned rather ugly, but until then he really wasn't at all how I imagined."

Severus had to smile to himself. Only Hermione Granger would attempt inter-house unity during the height of the War. He could only imagine her trying to convince Potter and Weasley that Slytherins were really just misunderstood. He stood up and picked up a small package he had setting on his desk and handed it to her. She looked up at him delighted and surprised.

"I didn't expect anything in return!" she said and quickly began unwrapping it. She opened the box and inside was a small crystal vial that would have appeared ordinary except that it was faintly glowing. She looked up at him confused. "What is it?"

"Do you mean to tell me that I have found something the Know-it-all doesn't know?" he said, teasing her. Then he bent down and lifted it out of the box for her. In the light it glowed even brighter. "It is a Memory Crystal. Similar to a Pensieve in that it stores memories, but you cannot view them as you can in a Pensieve. Ordinary glass can only hold memories for very short periods of time or they begin to go bad. This will hold them indefinitely. I thought this might be helpful for you at night. You can empty all the bad memories before you go to sleep and it should help prevent nightmares."

Hermione looked at him, her eyes bright with tears. "That is very thoughtful of you, Severus. I don't know what to say." She took the Crystal back and placed it carefully in the box. Then suddenly she jumped up and threw her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispered and he felt her lips brush his cheek.

As she turned from him he saw her face was red and she hurried out of the room without another word. He stood staring, in shock, for several minutes, wondering what had just happened and if he had imagined it. Then he bent down and picked up the book. A slip of parchment fell out from inside the front cover. He picked it up and unfolded it. Written on it was a note from Hermione.

Dear Severus,

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did. I fear that this gift does not begin to express all the gratitude I have for everything you have done for me. For the first time in ten years I do not spend every thought on the mistakes of the past. I hope you know how much you mean to me and that I consider you a very dear friend.

Yours,

Hermione

He continued to stare at the parchment with the neat, even handwriting for several minutes. Then he sat back down by the fire and began to read.

Had it not been for his growling stomach, Severus probably would not have left the room that day. Not only was the book every bit as interesting as Hermione had promised it would be, but he had no desire to be seen by anyone else in the castle. He felt slightly embarrassed by his behavior the night before and he could already imagine the stares and whispers. And Merlin knows what Potter would have told everyone when he returned to the reception. However, his stomach would not leave him be, so he finally decided to join the rest of the staff for the Christmas Feast.

Hermione, meanwhile, had spent most of the morning alternating between yelling at herself for kissing Severus (but it was only on the cheek!) and trying to calm the nervous flutters that filled her stomach at the thought of seeing him again (surely he won't be angry at me for it). She had not gone down to the dungeons that morning with the idea she would behave that way, however she had been touched that he had even thought of her enough to give her a gift. She finally decided that her fragile emotional state and lack of rest had just gotten the best of her and she had gotten carried away. Clearly it was just a fluke. She meant nothing by it.

These were the words she continued to tell herself as she headed down to the Christmas Feast. 'Besides, he probably won't be there anyway. He'll be trying to avoid everyone after yesterday's commotion.' So, it was with a mixture of nervousness, disappointment and relief when she saw him standing by his usual chair at the High Table talking quietly to Minerva who was standing next to him.

"Merry Christmas, Severus; Minerva," she said sitting next to Severus in her usual spot.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," Minerva said turning her attention from Severus. "I was just getting filled in on all of last nights events. It caused quite the commotion at the reception. I thought Neville was going to go into shock. But as I was just saying, it appears Harry smoothed everything over and just explained that there had been a misunderstanding."

"Well, that is a relief. I don't think anyone wanted it to reflect poorly on Hogwarts," Hermione said as the food appeared on the table.

"Yes, I think we are all glad for that," Minerva went to take her place at the table. There were a few students at their tables and most of the teachers were there, but for the most part, the Hall was empty and it seemed that everyone's voices were unusually loud.

Hermione and Severus sat in silence for most of the meal. Although this was common, the longer the silence stretched out, the more unnerved Hermione became. She was just about to speak when Severus spoke up instead.

"You are unusually quiet today," he said looking up from his plate. "Normally I can hardly concentrate on my food for all the noise you are making."

Inside Hermione felt relieved. Clearly he meant to continue their relationship as it had been before the previous night.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you were missing it," she said smiling. Severus glanced back over at her and, although he appeared serious, Hermione could tell he was amused.

"Does one miss a fly that is buzzing around their head all day?" he said taking a bite of turkey.

"Some might; perhaps if the fly is the only creature that will tolerate their company."

Severus could not help but let out a small chuckle at this. Hermione looked over at him in shock.

"Was that a laugh I just heard Severus? I would have never guessed you had the capability. I guess Christmas miracles do happen."

"I was clearing my throat. You must have been hearing things." He took several more bites of food before speaking again. "I have been reading the book you gave me. You were right, it is quite good."

"So you like it?" said Hermione, her face lightening with a smile. "I'm so glad. Honestly, I was so worried that you would hate it or have already read it. You will have to tell me what you think when you're done."

They continued to sit companionably in silence, the tension now broken. As the meal came to an end, Hermione stood to rise, but Severus' hand reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand. She looked at their two hands and then at his face. He was looking very serious at her, as if trying to find the right words to say. Finally he stood, standing close enough that she had to tilt her head back and could feel his breath on her face and said, very quietly, "Merry Christmas, Hermione." He stood staring at her for another moment and she thought for a split second that he had leaned toward her, butthen he suddenly turned quickly leaving the table. She did not notice that every face in the room was staring at her.

'Oh bloody hell', Severus thoughtto himself as he walked quickly down to the dungeons. 'What did I just do? What did I just nearly do? Did I actually think about kissing her? There? In front of the entire staff? Have I lost my mind? What was I thinking?'

His mental tirade continued all the way to his rooms, but far in the back of his mind, he thought he heard what sounded like a chuckle and the words 'good for you.'