22
The day of the long awaited figure skating contest, Snape woke bright and early. He had forgotten how relaxing evenings at the pool were.
"Wake up, sleepyhead!" he cried into the cupboard. "We have much to prepare!"
A little later, Snape, his apprentice and Gloria made their way down to the Black Lake. The witch and wizard were holding coffee-to-go cups, Gloria had opted for a piece of Christmas cookie instead.
They were not the first to arrive by the lakeside.
Albus Dumbledore was conjuring stands for the spectators. By his side was the Dark Lord who had taken on the task of clearing enough space on the ice for the performers.
"Good morning," Snape greeted his two masters.
"Ah, Severus! Just the man we need. Can you conjure boards?" asked the Dark Lord.
"It will be my pleasure, my Lord," Snape hinted a bow and did as he had been asked. The apprentice joined the effort by adding cushion to soften the edge of the newly created boards. The Dark Lord nodded approvingly.
"See, Bella," he said and Snape wondered where Bella – undoubtedly Bellatrix Lestrange – was, "this is how you support a master. Blood thirst is not everything."
Snape's unspoken question was answered when a small black terrier came running through the snow. The little dog first wagged its tail at the Dark Lord and then proceeded to bark and growl at the potions master and the witch by his side.
"She was getting on my nerves with her suggestions of all kind of nonsense," the Dark Lord offered as an explanation. He picked the little dog up and scratched its ears. "In December we meet at Hogwarts peacefully. We do not kill or mime at Christmas. It's not hard to understand." He sat the dog down onto the ice again. "It's time for breakfast." With a non-verbal spell Bellatrix Lestrange was turned back into her human form. Her hair was even wilder than usual after the Dark Lord had messed it up with his ear-scratching.
"Yes, my Lord," the dark witch muttered and went after her master who had started up to the castle side by side with the headmaster.
Snape and his apprentice followed. Gloria fluttered around the five humans and chanted "Good King Wenceslas". Halfway up the hill, the Dark Lord joined the song in a rich baritone. Of course Bellatrix followed her Lord's lead and as a result, Snape had to sing along, too. The apprentice didn't have to be asked and Dumbledore would never say no to an opportunity to join a choir.
The group was in a great mood when they reached the Great Hall where Minerva McGonagall was watching over the first students who had come to breakfast. After a short greeting – the Head of Gryffindor huffed when the Dark Lord kissed her cheeks – they all settled down for a full English breakfast.
"Everything is prepared, Minerva," Dumbledore informed his deputy and figure skating partner. "I'm so looking forward to showing off what we can do."
"I'm sure you will do splendidly," the Dark Lord admitted, "but Bellatrix and I have some tricks up our sleeves that will leave you speechless."
The potions master and his apprentice let the older men discuss the upcoming contest and enjoyed their breakfast. When Hermione Granger and her friends arrived for breakfast, Snape raised her cup to her and the girl returned the gesture with a beaming smile.
"Are you sure you don't mind my contesting with Hermione?" Snape asked. That was all that he needed, the blonde saying nothing at first and then nagging at him for the rest of her stay. He knew that she loved figure skating and had she arrived at Hogwarts earlier, she certainly would have been his partner of choice.
"You practiced with her," the blonde repeated what she had told him every single time he asked. "And I didn't bring my skates anyway. We can skate a little after the contest."
"But after the contest I will be busy celebrating my victory," Snape pointed out.
The apprentice laughed. "I can help you with that," she promised. "And tomorrow will be another day for skating."
Breakfast was almost over when Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson arrived at the Slytherin table. Pansy was limping and Draco had to support her.
Snape hurried down to his students.
"What happened?" he asked, worried.
"We were going to put in a little more practice," Malfoy said unhappily, "but the front stairs are all icy and Pansy fell. Now all the practice was for nothing."
Snape looked back up at the Head Table. "You could ask my apprentice," he offered. "She's a good skater. If Pansy helps, you might be still able to participate."
Malfoy rushed up to the Head Table and a little later, the apprentice was sitting down at the Slytherin table.
"Have you lost your partner to young Malfoy?" asked the Dark Lord.
"Draco is a charming young man," Bellatrix pointed out.
"Miss Parkinson hurt her ankle this morning," Snape replied, "and my apprentice is considering taking over for her to give Draco a chance to participate. MY partner is sitting over there." He raised his cup to Hermione again and the Gryffindor witch returned the gesture.
A little later, Snape announced that the advent calendar window was for the contestants and the apprentice was to open it.
The pink sparks that came out of the envelope wrapped around the witch as if they were greeting their master before they moved a little in front of her and there manifested into a rack of colourful costumes. A single pair of skates lay under the rack.
The apprentice claimed the skates immediately and then invited everybody who was going to participate to choose their clothing.
The couples who were already there conferred before getting their things.
Snape and Hermione were the first to take theirs. Severus chose an elegant black ensemble of trousers and a long-sleeved shirt embroidered with silver snowflakes while Hermione chose a dark blue dress that had the same snowflakes on it.
When they took their hangers off the rack, sparkles appeared along with a set of new clothes.
The Dark Lord and Bellatrix surprised everybody by chosing to wear Gryffindor red. Dumbledore and McGonagall went for yellow and green – the deputy headmistress looked rather unhappy but what was she to do when her superior had set his eyes on an ensemble.
The apprentice and Draco went for pink – a very dark pink for Draco, it was almost purple, and a lighter one for the blonde witch.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy who had arrived by then chose a combination of dark green and grey. And the final couple – Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown – went for brown with lavender trims.
When everybody had finished breakfast, Dumbledore sent the students to get their winter clothes. Draco and the apprentice were sent down to the lake ahead of everybody else to give them a little time to get accustomed to each other on the ice.
Soon enough, all of Hogwarts' inhabitants plus a group of the Dark Lord's followers had assembled in the stands. The contestants were waiting in a small area reserved to them.
"Well, let's get started," Dumbledore rubbed his hands in anticipation.
"Just a little thing first," the apprentice stopped the old wizard. She held out her wand. "I will not cheat and if I do so, just punishment may befall me."
The students followed her lead immediately and repeated the vow after her, wands held out.
"What are you doing!" hissed Snape at the witch.
"Give everybody a fair chance to win," the blonde pointed out. She looked at the Dark Lord and Dumbledore expectantly. "Well?"
The Dark Lord was the first to comply. He was younger and he had practiced. Certainly he could beat the old coot without magic. Once the dark wizard had taken his oath, the rest of the participants followed.
They drew numbers to determine in which order the pairs had to perform. Lucius and Narcissa had to start.
The elder Malfoys had chosen a waltz for their performance. Lucius started the music with a wave of his wand and off they were. They did not jump a lot but there were many pirouettes in their dance which were performed elegantly and absolutely in sync with each other. They did several lifts and finished the performance with a death spiral which looked especially elegant with Narcissa's hair fluttering like a banner.
The audience was ecstatic. The applause was loud and there were some cat-calls.
The next couple were Ron and Lavander. They had no lifts and their pirouettes were not as flawless as the Malfoys' but they had a couple of jumps in their dance which made up for their little mistakes.
After the young Gryffindors came the older ones. Dumbledore and McGonagall started their tango with a death spiral. McGonagall moved with the smooth elegance of a cat but her partner had clearly relied on his wandless magic. Now that he had vowed to not use it, the old wizard had trouble with lifting his partner. Nevertheless, years of experience gave the couple an advantage. They knew how to cover up their mistakes and the students were enthusiastic. Especially Gryffindor house went wild when their Head of House bowed after the dance.
The Dark Lord and Bellatrix had gone for a pasodoble. They oozed passion as they slid over the ice. The Dark Lord obviously liked thrown jumps because Bellatrix got thrown a lot. More than once did she fall into a pirouette right after landing. It was spectacular. Of course, as a pureblood witch she had enjoyed skating lessons from a young age. The Dark Lord had not been so lucky and it seemed he lacked in balance. There were no lifts and the pirouettes the wizard performed could not hold a candle to his partner's. Nevertheless, they got a lot of applause when they finished their performance.
The apprentice and Draco did well, especially considering they had been partners for less than two hours. They even managed a decent lift, a thrown jump and a death spiral. Most of the time they limited their performance to pirouettes though. What they lacked in synchronisation, they compensated with enthusiasm and the audience caught on to it. The students cheered for the Slytherin prince and his partner.
The last to perform were Severus Snape and Hermione Granger. They had chosen a tango, too, and they nailed it. Their performance had everything. Drama, skill and elegance. They were the only ones who pirouetted as one and when everybody thought they were going to stop, Hermione slid out of Snape's arms and the pirouette turned into a death spiral.
Once everybody had performed the students got six white stones each and were told how to put them into the small hour glasses which had appeared beside each of the contesting couples.
"You can give all your stones to one couple or give each couple one, as you choose. Once you have given a stone, you can't take it back," explained Dumbledore.
The voting took some time but in the end the result was clear.
Severus Snape and Hermione Granger won. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy came in second and the third place went to Draco and the apprentice.
Dumbledore and the Dark Lord congratulated the winners and then announced that there was a small celebratory lunch prepared in the Great Hall.
"That was a clever move with the vow," Snape admitted as he walked back up to the castle with his partner on one side and his apprentice on the other.
"I wanted to give you a chance to win. I know how much you have practiced," the apprentice replied. "And the two old coots will have to learn that they can't win every time at some point."
"Have you just called the darkest wizard of all time a coot?" Snape asked sternly. The apprentice shrugged. "If Dumbledore is one, so is he."
The victory party in the Great Hall was in full swing when Snape and his ladies arrived. Later, there was a small ceremony to present the top three pairs with trophies. Dumbledore and the Dark Lord got their moment in the spotlight by making a show of presenting the prizes to the winners.
After that, somebody brought out some music and the students started to dance.
Snape decided that he had had enough and retreated to his quarters. When he arrived, he heard merry singing. Gloria and the apprentice were singing a duet. The potions master listened closer. No, that was not a Christmas carol. They were making up a victory song for him!
With a smile, Snape stepped into the cupboard.