The rest of the night passed quickly. All the guests continued to drink, tell stories and brag. Severus had still not loosened up but he was less uptight. Possibly because some of Harry's friends were brave enough to talk with Severus, even if it was just a short conversation.

The party finally broke up at three in the morning. Severus thought that they would all be heading back home but they shocked him by picking out a sleeping bag and moving the furniture in the living room.

"Are they all going to sleep down here?" Severus asked Harry who was rubbing his tired eyes.

"Yes," he answered shortly. "Only my closest friends get a bed: Hermione, Ron, Blaise, Neville, you. Don't worry, they'll all leave tomorrow." Harry walked over to Blaise and caught him by his neck. "Come on, Blaise, time for bed," Harry said while letting his body rest against Blaise's. Severus saw that they were about to fall over so he helped both of them up to the second floor.

"Where are you sleeping, Zabini?" Severus asked.

"With Harry, of course." Severus couldn't help the stab of jealousy at the thought. He told himself that he wasn't actually with Harry so the boy could do whatever he wanted. "Why don't you sleep with Harry?" Blaise asked. "I'm sure he would want that more. At least then he wouldn't be going immediately to sleep." Severus was happy to hear that Harry didn't do anything with Blaise, not that he thought Harry would risk his nonexistent relationship with Severus that easily.

Severus said nothing, but helped Harry into bed. He went into his own room and locked the door; he did not want to have any uninvited guests during the night.

-o-

The next morning Severus woke up to a quiet house. At first he thought all the guests had left, but soon he discovered that they were still sleeping.

Not wanting to wake up the teenagers, Severus made his way into the kitchen as quietly as he could. There he found some food he could eat that wouldn't wake the slumbering teenagers.

Severus didn't want the teenagers there, but he didn't want to wake them only to listen to their moaning about what big hangovers they had. So instead he let them sleep.

It wasn't until twelve that anyone else woke up at all. It was, of course, the one person whose company he really had hoped to avoid - Hermione Granger.

"Good morning," he greeted her politely. Even if he didn't like her he wouldn't act like a complete asshole. He wouldn't let people say that he didn't have any manners.

"Morning," she responded with a raspy voice. It wasn't difficult to tell that she was still affected by the alcohol. She drank some water before she sat down at the kitchen table beside Severus. When their eyes met she only gave him a faint smile before going back to taking tiny sips from her glass of water. Severus couldn't help feeling absolutely delighted that the girl wasn't able to talk; it was like an early Christmas gift.

They sat in the kitchen in silence reading different parts of the newspaper while waiting for the rest of the party guests to wake up. After thirty minutes three teenagers from the living room finally woke up. Severus watched as they made their way around the living room, into the kitchen or the bathroom. He soon realized that he just couldn't take that many teenagers around him so he made his way up to check on Harry. After all, he was there to protect the boy.

He knocked on the door a few times and waited. He couldn't hear anything so he tried again. He decided that if he didn't receive any answer he would walk over to his room and wait since Harry was probably still sleeping.

He was about to leave when the door suddenly opened and Blaise stood there, half-naked. Severus once again felt the jealousy grow inside of him.

"Oh, Severus," the boy said.

"I just wanted to make sure you two are still alive."

"You should have come about eight hours ago. It seemed like Harry couldn't stop throwing up. I don't understand why he always throws up." Severus took a step towards Blaise, but stopped when he realized that Harry was probably fine now.

"Did you take care of him?" Blaise didn't seem to be well rested so Severus assumed that he had been up most of the night.

"It's not easy when I was drunk as well," Blaise said honestly. Of course, that didn't settle Severus' worries.

"If he's covered in vomit I'll hold you responsible, Mr Zabini." Severus warned. The boy looked worried but not too much.

"I did try my best, but it wasn't easy to get him to listen while he was drunk."

"What happened?" Severus asked. If Harry was hurt then he would personally make sure that Blaise never got close to Harry again.

"Nothing really, I just couldn't get him to put on any clothes after I cleaned him up." Severus finally relaxed, for a minute he thought that Harry was hurt. At least Blaise managed to clean Harry, which was more than most friends would have done.

"It sounds like he's fine, so I'll leave you alone." Severus turned around and left Harry's friend standing alone.

-o-

Severus didn't go back to check on Harry. He knew that if Blaise caught him he would definitely comment about their relationship. So Severus stayed in his room for another hour before he headed down to the main floor, only to wish he was back in his room. There were still a bunch of guests who were sleeping but most of them were awake and complaining about their headache. Severus just shook his head. It didn't take much brain power to realize that the best way to stop an aching head was to keep quiet.

He wasn't a maid, but because the maid wouldn't be there until the next day Severus decided to clean up the house as much as he could. Either way, it was a good distraction from the thought of Harry sleeping in the nude.

When Harry finally woke up it was past two, he being one of the four who were still sleeping. When Severus saw the boy walking down the stairs he wanted to comment, but managed to restrain himself since they were not alone.

"Potter," he greeted when Harry was standing in front of him. "I hope you had a pleasant night." Severus could see that Harry was still drunk and sleepy, but the boy forced a smile anyway.

"It would have been better if I received better help," he stated shortly.

"I had no idea anything was wrong. You should have told your friend to wake me up if you started throwing up." Even before any emotions were involved Severus would have helped Harry. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving someone helpless.

"I'll be sure to remember it next time."

"Next time?" Severus asked, hoping that it was all a joke.

"Yes, but I'm sure next time will be after this assignment is over." Releasing a nervous breath Severus smiled faintly at the boy before returning to cleaning up after the guests. Suddenly a hand stopped him and when he turned around he faced Harry again.

"Please remove your hand, Potter."

"Only if you stop cleaning up."

"If I don't do it, Potter, this house will be a mess."

"I hired a cleaning company to clean up the whole house, so you don't need to think about it."

"Fine," Severus answered. "If you wouldn't mind, could you release my arm?" Harry smiled before releasing him.

"Did you sleep well, Snape?" Severus wanted to give him a long answer but because several guests were walking past them he didn't have the chance.

"Yes," he said before moving away from Harry.

By the end of that day all the guests except Blaise had left. Severus hoped that the boy wasn't going to stay a additional few days but he stopped hoping at midnight and the boy was still there.

So when Blaise finally did leave Severus was surprised.

"Why did he leave?" Severus watched Harry intensely when they were finally alone. Most likely Harry wanted some alone time with Severus, and knew Blaise wouldn't mind that at all.

"Because he's leaving for the holiday tomorrow, so he has to go home and pack." Severus questioned that answer but knew it was probably true. Based on what he knew about the boy, his mother currently lived in Scotland.

"Are you ready for bed?" Severus asked instead, hoping he was because Severus felt extremely tired.

"I'm not tired but I know I need to sleep now anyway," Harry responded while standing up and walking past Severus, giving Severus a flirtatious wink. Severus could only roll his eyes at Harry's flirting.

The days that followed were pretty dull compared to the Christmas party, but they were perfect in Severus' opinion.

The days passed slowly as they would sit and read or talk while they prepared meals. Harry didn't hide the fact that he enjoyed the conversations, and Severus couldn't deny he would miss the boy once the assignment was over.

During their time alone Severus decided that while he did had feelings towards the boy he couldn't be with him. They were far too different and the whole thing would end badly, leaving both of them miserable. He would of course attend the date, but as soon as it was over he would have to lie to Harry and tell him that it was just a fling.

But until then he would try to enjoy himself as much as possible, because he didn't know if he would ever have such a relationship with anyone else.

One morning when Severus woke up, he was surprised to see a Christmas tree in the middle of the living room. For a second he feared someone might have entered the house while they slept and then he wanted to go and check on the boy. But then he remembered that no kidnapper would break into a house and leave a Christmas tree in the living room like that.

"Potter," he said when he saw the boy walking down the stairs. "Could you please explain to me what this tree is doing here?"

"It's Christmas, dummy," Harry said jokingly.

"I know that." The problem was that he couldn't forget it. "I just wonder how someone managed to bring it in without me knowing it?" At that, Harry looked a little nervous.

"I snuck out during the night when you were sleeping."

"You went out in the middle of the night with no protection! Potter, what on earth were you thinking? What if the kidnappers decided to strike yesterday? What if they had taken you?"

"Calm down, I wasn't alone, Blaise helped me."

"I thought he was at his mother's."

"He came back because he forgot something. I convinced him to stay until today. If he wasn't here I would have asked Ron and Hermione. And anyway, there are other agents across the street."

"Just because there are agents across the street doesn't mean you're safe. What if those agents were sleeping?"

"I'm sorry; I wanted to do something nice for you. I should have told you about this but I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Potter," Severus quickly said when he saw the guilt that washed over Harry, "I'm not angry about the surprise, it's a nice surprise. The only thing that bothers me is that you went out there alone in the middle of the night, putting yourself in danger." Severus grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him into the hallway where he knew nobody would be able to see them. Once they were facing each other again Severus embraced Harry.

He felt the body beneath him stiffen, and his own body began to heat up. After the shock wore off, Harry grabbed Severus and held on tightly.

Severus knew that he shouldn't have hugged the boy. It was sending mixed messages. But he also knew the boy needed the comfort.

While the file about Harry was filled with a great deal of information it didn't contain the whole history. The previous night Severus talked with Lily. She wanted to be sure that Harry was having a good time. During that conversation Severus discovered that the Potters hadn't spent Christmas together as a family for over six years. While Harry's parents cared for him, they failed Harry. Not only hadn't they spent six Christmases together, but Harry had mostly been raised by nannies since he was one. Severus knew Harry had been affected by the lack of attention from his parents.

And because of that information he decided Harry needed more affection now, even if Severus wouldn't be a part of his life later.

When they finally parted Severus could easily see that Harry's eyes were slightly redder than before and while he hadn't cried he was close.

"We'd better head back into the living room to decorate that tree." Severus stood took a step towards the living room but waited for Harry to join him.

By the end of that day the tree was decorated and so were all the other rooms that would be used in the house. Even Severus's room was infested by the garish red and green tinsel. He tried to fight Harry over it, but in the end he lost that battle.

The two men passed the rest of the time with cooking, baking and talking. Before either of them knew it, Christmas day had arrived.

Christmas had never been a good time for Severus. It used the be the time his father was most at home, which meant more drinking, more cleaning, and more bruises for Severus. It wasn't until he was taken in by the Evanses that he finally felt cared for.

Harry had no idea of that piece of his history, so when he barged into Severus' room with a big smile demanding Severus join him he was shocked by the answer the received from Severus.

"Don't bother, Potter. I know I said I would work today, but I decided that I need the day off." Harry's smile was quickly replaced with anger.

"No! You have to stay here, I demand it. Who is supposed to watch out for me?"

"I called the Agency and they are sending someone."

"Then you'll stay here as my friend."

"Potter, this is not a good day for me and I would appreciate it if you could understand that. I wish to spend it alone." Harry opened his mouth to say something else but instead he ran out of the room. Severus thought that Harry must be furious so he ran instead of facing him. So when Harry ran back into the room, Severus was surprised.

"If you aren't going to be here then at least open your gift now," Harry demanded.

Severus couldn't hide his shock when he saw the beautifully wrapped gift. His instincts told him to politely refuse the gift. By accepting he would be forced to give something back.

"Harry, please understand that I can't accept the gift." Severus wanted to continue and explain to Harry why that would be considered inappropriate, but Harry wouldn't allow him to explain.

"If you don't accept it, Severus, I'll run away when the new agent comes, and don't think I can't do it. I have learned from my past mistakes."

"So if I accept it you'll behave?" Harry slowly nodded. Severus didn't see any way out, especially not since Harry promised to behave. He took the gift from Harry and let it rest in his hands for a moment before unwrapping it. He knew that by the feeling and shape it was a book, but he wasn't sure if Harry would have bought him a book he knew he enjoyed or if it was a book Harry hoped he would read.

The paper was removed before Severus could ponder over the title, and what he saw then was both shocking and hilarious. The title of the book read The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. Severus looked up at Harry and saw that the boy was looking for any indication of Severus's thoughts about the book. Did he mean to say that their relationship was like Katherina and Petruchio? Severus had never really thought about it, but now that he saw the title in front of him he realized they were a close match.

"Is this meant as a joke?" Harry shook his head, looking even more afraid now than before. "As a serious gift I give you credit, it's an excellent choice." Severus patted Harry's back and gave him a faint smile before he turned around to continue his packing. "Even if it was a joke it would still be a good one," he added.

"I'm really glad that you..." Harry began when he was suddenly interrupted by the doorbell. Severus turned around and walked out of the room and down to the first floor. Harry followed him but stopped farther up on the stairs. Then Severus opened the front door where a big muscular man was standing.

"The Agency sent me," the man said in his deep voice.

"I appreciate that you accepted this assignment but I decided to stay." The man started to complain but quickly stopped when he realized that Severus wouldn't be swayed.

Harry stood on the stairs and watched Severus as he took care of the big man. In the end Severus threatened the man, which was pretty impressive, before they said good bye and the man left.

"Isn't he supposed to be here?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"I changed my mind." Severus returned a smile to the boy before they went into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.

Later that day while they were sitting in the living room reading Severus decided he had to give something back to Harry. He knew he couldn't go out to buy anything so he had to make something instead. After an hour in silence, Severus closed his book and told Harry he would be in the kitchen but that he wanted to be in there alone. Harry wanted to object but when Severus gave him a stern look he went back to his book.

An hour later Severus emerged from the kitchen, in his hands he held homemade chocolate mousse. Harry's eyes grew wide when he saw the mousse, but he didn't say a word.

"I felt like I should give you something as well; this is the best I could come up with." Severus explained before he sat down next to Harry and handed him one of the crystal bowls.

"You didn't have to you know," Harry stated while pushing the first spoonful into his mouth.

"On the contrary. Unless it's a special occasion like someone's birthday or similar both parties are required to give each other gifts."

"But since this was a surprise you didn't need to give me anything."

"Potter, why don't you just say thank you and eat the mousse?"

"Thank you," Harry said softly before returning to the mousse.