23
When Snape woke the next morning – on a deck chair, covered with a pink blanket – he was alone. The apprentice and Gloria were nowhere to be seen and his quarters were eerily quiet after three weeks of almost constant singing.
With a shrug, Snape stepped into the shower and started to get ready for the day.
About a half hour later, he took his seat at the Head Table.
"Good morning, sleepy head!" Albus Dumbledore and the apprentice chorused.
Snape harrumphed. He may have arrived later than those two but he still was among the first people to arrive for breakfast! There were barely any students there yet. Seemingly Gloria had decided to form another choir and she had to gather students from all four houses at the Ravenclaw table to have enough singers!
The potions master decided to not grace the accusation with a comment and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"What are our plans for today?" he asked instead.
"That depends on what we find in the advent calendar," said Albus, "but I thought something relaxing. The students need time to send Christmas cards and parcels to their families if they haven't done so yet."
"I really wonder why so many chose to stay here," Snape wondered.
The headmaster laughed. "You have to ask? The number of students who stay for the Christmas holidays has increased ever since you threw that first Christmas party!"
"I didn't do such a thing. I never throw parties. Ask the people who know me." Snape informed his superior and reached for the porridge and honey. A sweet breakfast was in order. The apprentice added a handful of raspberries to his bowl. "You really need your vitamins," she admonished.
Snape rolled his eyes but when the witch didn't look, he added some more raspberries. They were his favourite breakfast treat, after all.
After a delightful breakfast, Snape got up and reached for the advent calendar goblet. There were only two envelopes left.
"The next-to-last window is for me," he read out. "I am to open it and share it with everybody. Aha." What kind of personal gift could this be if he had to share it with the whole school?
Snape opened the envelope and waited for the pink sparks to rush out but they didn't come.
He shook the envelope a little but to no result.
He looked at the apprentice questioningly but she had the audacity to just shrug at him.
Snape shook the envelope again, with a little more force. Again, nothing. Something must be wrong. He pried the little container open and glared inside.
WHOOSH!
A whirlwind of pink sparks rushed at the potions master's face, his hair fluttered with the force of it. Snape glared at the apprentice who giggled at his destroyed hairstyle.
The sparks ignored the potions master – they were sparks after all and tended to ignore everybody – and did some quick laps around the hall before they settled on the Head Table.
A large heap of transparent glass baubles appeared out of thin air and the students were pointing at something behind Snape. The potions master turned around and found an undecorated Christmas tree.
"Wonderful!" cried Dumbledore. "I take it we are to decorate the baubles and then use them to decorate the tree. Children, I'm sure your teachers will help you if asked. Come, get your bauble!"
There was a rush but the apprentice was the fastest. She grabbed two of the blanc glass ornaments and handed one to Snape. "Let's get out of here before they realise they have no idea what to do," she whispered and pointed her wand at her bauble.
The glass sphere turned pink and tiny, elaborate silver snowflakes whirled over its surface. Another spell sent it onto the new tree.
Snape didn't need to be told twice. A quick spell decorated his bauble with painted twigs of holly. The red berries had twinkling golden accents. It was sent onto the tree, too.
"Excellent!" whispered the apprentice. She took the potions master by the hand and pulled him out of the Great Hall. Once they reached the Entrance Hall, the witch turned to the main doors instead of the corridor to the dungeons.
Snape stood and pulled the blonde back. "Where are we going?"
"I told Albus I needed your assistance for some last minute shopping and he approved." The witch pulled towards the doors again.
"I don't want to go shopping," pouted the potions master.
The girl rolled her eyes. "You want to go shopping, you grouch!" she admonished. "Do you really want to be called back to the Great Hall to show first years how to make their bauble golden?"
"On second thought," Snape mused, "I have been dying to share a shopping experience with you."
"I'm sure of it," giggled the apprentice.
An hour later – they did, indeed, shop first; some of their pool equipment needed to be replaced – Snape and his apprentice arrived at a muggle spa in Bath.
"I read that the Romans used the hot springs here already," the girl informed the wizard. "The water is said to be so relaxing that they thought it had magical properties."
"I didn't bring my bathing clothes," Snape pointed out.
"We are wizards, silly," the apprentice laughed. She handed him a small leather pouch. "Trunks, towels, flip flops, shampoo, shower gel, after shave. I wasn't sure what you'd want so I put in everything."
After getting changed, they met in a blissfully child-free pool of warm water. It was really relaxing. They stayed in the warm water until it was time for the massage they had booked. For a moment Snape wondered why he needed a massage when he already felt relaxed like goo but then he heard the delighted noises his apprentice made when a good-looking – how dare he be good-looking! – muggle kneaded her back muscles.
Determined to not leave the impressionable girl alone with the muggle, Snape lay down on his bed and allowed the masseuse to do her job. Soon he was making delighted noises, too.
After the massage, the apprentice had booked a manicure and pedicure for them both. Normally Snape would have protested but so far the day had been blissfully relaxing and he decided to give the treatments a try.
It was strange to have people work on your fingers and toes but Snape found he could get used to it. It was definitely better than cleaning your nails with a spell after brewing.
Their last stop of the day was a nice little restaurant next to the spa.
"I thought you might like a meal where you don't have to divide your attention between the food and several hundred students," smiled the witch.
"I would like all my meals like that," sighed Snape as he read the menu. "But as long as I have to juggle the needs of two masters and an entire school, it is unthinkable. Therefore, thank you for organising this one evening. I appreciate it greatly."
The food was delicious, not as good as what the Hogwarts house elves usually whipped up, but still delicious and it called for a long walk through the town of Bath before they returned to the school.
It was almost midnight when they finally returned to Scotland. Before they headed down to the dungeons, they went to the Great Hall to have a look at the new Christmas trees. It looked majestic covered in hundreds of glass ornaments.
Snape walked around it to get a good look. He had to admit he liked how you could tell which baubles had been decorated by little first years who had started their magical training only a couple of months ago and didn't manage much more than give their glass sphere a little colour. It was interesting how the baubles became more refined depending on the years of schooling the maker had already had.
The second years managed patterns and the third years knew how to make them sparkle. The fourth years were able to put moving patterns onto their baubles and the fifth and sixth years could combine movement with sparkling or colour changing charms. The baubles decorated by the seventh years were barely different from those the teachers had made.
"It's beautiful," whispered the apprentice. With a swish of her wand she added a little tinsel to the tree and Snape conjured dozens of candles. "Perfect!" the witch praised.
"Sshh!" Snape whispered. "You are going to wake everybody and they need their sleep. Tomorrow will be the annual Christmas party!"
"Then we'd better go to bed, too," the blonde pointed out.
They made their way to the dungeons where they found an irate Gloria in front of the door. "How dare you come back so late! I had to wait in the corridor!" she cried.
"Sssshhh!" Snape glared at the small fairy. "You are going to wake my Slytherins!"
"Do I look like I care?" nagged the small creature. "Nobody cared that I was left here without a bed or even a chair to sit down!"
"Calm down," said the apprentice. "I have something for you."
"A present?" the fairy asked eagerly.
The witch nodded and produced a fairy-sized robe from her pocket. Snape had no idea where or when she had got it. The fairy squealed with delight.
Once in Snape's quarters, they had to watch Gloria show off her new garment proudly but then all three of them hurried to bed.
It would not do to be too tired for the Christmas party.