24
"Aaaaaargh!"
Upon waking, Snape shrieked and scrambled up to the head board of this bed, pulling his duvet with him.
"How often do I have to tell you not to come to my bed?" he huffed. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I'm just lounging on the edge," the blonde witch, who was lying on her belly on top of the blankets and already dressed and ready for the day, pointed out. "It's not my fault that you are skittish."
"I am not skittish," growled Snape. He pulled at the blanket and the witch rolled from the bed. She landed in a heap with a loud thud. With all the dignity he could muster, Snape wrapped the blanket around his frame and padded to the bathroom.
When he returned – it was a good thing that he kept a spare pair of teaching robes in the there – the apprentice and Gloria were singing Christmas songs in the living room.
"That hurt!" the witch interrupted the song as soon as she saw the potions master. "I even think I have a limp now. Everybody will think you are mistreating me."
"Everybody knows you are a nuisance. What were you doing in my bed?"
The witch rolled her eyes. "Watching you sleep, of course. You look angelic when you sleep."
Snape snorted. "Let's go to breakfast," he ended the fruitless conversation. He was never going to understand the girl's fascination with him and she was not going to drop it. Everything that could be said on the matter had been said years before.
"That's a good idea," the apprentice said brightly.
"What happened to you?" Draco Malfoy asked the blonde when he caught up to his head of house and his guest a little later.
"Severus pushed me out of his bed," the witch informed the boy.
The blond looked scandalized on the witch's behalf. "Sir, why would you do that!" he asked his potions master, clearly thinking you had to be insane to even consider it.
"I will not discuss my home life with you, Mr Malfoy," Snape snarled through gritted teeth. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Actually yes," said the boy. "We need a dress rehearsal for the nativity play or we will disgrace ourselves tonight."
"And that concerns me because…?" Snape asked.
"You are the assistant director, and the director is an imbecile who has no idea how to organise a play. Please, Sir, there are many of our housemates in the play and their parents will come to the party with the Dark Lord. We do not want to embarrass our families!"
"Fine," harrumphed the Head of Slytherin. "I will call a rehearsal." Typical! Potter was going to take the credit, but he, Snape, was saddled with the work.
"What happened to you?" Albus Dumbledore asked when the potions master and his apprentice reached their seats at the Head Table.
"Severus pushed me out of his bed," said the witch. Her limp was quite noticeable. "I hit my hip on the floor."
"Severus!" Dumbledore was scandalized on the witch's behalf. "Why would you push your apprentice out of your bed!"
"Because she came there uninvited," growled Snape. "I was startled."
"Next you are going to say I molested you," huffed the blonde. "I was just hovering on the edge!"
"You had no invitation for the edge either!"
"If you are like that," the blonde growled and grabbed the plate of waffles right from under Snape's hand, "see if I care when you invite me!" She dropped two waffles onto her plate with more force than necessary and then passed the plate to Minerva who had not asked for it. The older witch smirked at Snape and put a waffle on top of her black pudding before she handed the plate down the table, away from the potions master.
"Stop being childish and give me a waffle," Snape growled at his apprentice.
"Certainly not," the blonde informed him and added blueberries to her plate.
"The waffles are great," Dumbledore informed the wizard. "You should try them."
"Look!" squealed the apprentice. "We have maple syrup!" She added a sinful amount to her plate.
Snape grabbed the bowl of whipped cream before the witch could get it. "Give me a waffle," he growled. "I have a hostage."
"You can keep your hostage," said the girl. She pointed her wand at the Slytherin table and summoned a bowl of cream. After taking a big spoonful, she sent the bowl back with a thank-you.
"You are not going to take waffles from the children," Dumbledore stopped Snape before he could summon any. "You know that they are everybody's favourite breakfast dish."
"I want waffles, too!" protested Snape.
"You should have thought about that before you were so cruel to me," the apprentice tried her waffles and smiled beatifically. "Mmmmmh!"
Snape growled and pounced on her plate with surprising speed. "Mmmh!" he echoed after one bite.
"Theft of food!" cried the blonde. "Give it back!"
"Make me!" Snape cried and stuffed another forkful of the sweet treat into his mouth.
"Severus!" huffed McGonagall. "Think of the example you are setting to the students!"
"They already know that waffles are good!" Snape munched.
The apprentice was not ready to give up her waffles without a fight. She attacked with her fork. Snape's arms were longer than hers and he held the blonde at arm's length with his right hand while he stuffed more of the treat into his mouth with his left.
"You asked for that," cried the apprentice at last. There was a flash of pink light and the potions master let go of her with a yelp. The students looked up at the head table and laughed. Their most feared teacher was now dressed in a frilly, lacy pair of pink robes.
The blonde witch grabbed the plate with the waffles while Snape was still stunned with surprise and fled to the end of the table.
Once the laughter died down, Luna Lovegood came up to the Head Table with a plate of waffles. "You really must like waffles, Sir," she said dreamily, "when you risk that to get them." She put the plate in front of Snape.
After breakfast Harry Potter rose and announced a rehearsal for everybody who was involved with the nativity play.
At last, Severus Snape got up to give away the final advent calendar envelope.
"This window," he read out, "is for Seamus Finnigan."
There were murmurs from all four house tables. Even the boy in question protested. "But I already got a window!" he pointed out.
"It's what the calendar says," Snape showed the envelope to the headmaster and the old wizard nodded that yes, Seamus Finnigan was to get another window.
At last the Gryffindor came up to the Head Table and opened the envelope.
Out of it came a non-descript brown cardboard box – with pink sparks of course. Finnigan opened it and peeked inside.
"Fireworks for the party!" he cheered. "Fred, George, I'll need you help!" The Weasley twins hurried up to him and they immediately started to plan when to set them off. A little later, Zabini of Slytherin and Boot of Ravenclaw joined them. Bones of Hufflepuff completed the pyrotechnic team.
As everbody left the Great Hall to enjoy there morning before it was time to meet for the rehearsal, Snape sought out his apprentice.
"I'm sorry you got hurt when you fell off the bed," he offered. "I have a bruise balm in my quarters."
"I'm sorry I denied you waffles for breakfast," the apprentice took the peace offering. "And I'd love some of your bruise balm."
They smiled at each other and everything was forgiven.
Two hours later, the two potions experts made their way back to the Great Hall. Neither of them had a part in the nativity play but they were assistants to the director – Snape by appointment and the apprentice by extension – and their presence was required.
Everybody came in full costume. Malfoy, who had to play a shepherd, had conjured a small flock of sheep. "If I have to play a peasant, I'll do it properly," he informed Potter when the other boy asked him to remove the animals.
"Okay," Potter conceded, "but you are responsible if they poo on the stage."
"My sheep do not poo," Malfoy huffed only to be proven wrong by one of the fluffy beasts.
"No?" Potter mocked.
Malfoy pushed the Gryffindor and a hustling match ensued.
"Stop it this instant," Snape said in his best teaching voice and the two fighting cocks sprang apart.
"Your halo is askew," Malfoy mocked.
Potter moved to have another go at the blond but Granger interfered. "Stop it and get on with the rehearsal," she demanded. "We want to get ready for the party." All girls present nodded.
"And we need to prepare the hall," the apprentice pointed out.
Once everybody was concentrating on the matter at hand, everything went surprisingly smoothly. They had only little things to change: the way Mary (Cho Chang) held baby Jesus (Colin Creevey and a shrinking solution), Potter needed to flutter his wings less because the wind he caused scared Malfoy's sheep and Finch-Fletchley needed to put more force behind the spell with which he lighted the star of Bethlehem.
Once everybody agreed that they all knew what to do and when to do it, the group went to their respective quarters to get ready for the party. Snape and the apprentice stayed behind to prepare the Great Hall before they got ready.
McGonagall and Flitwick joined them to assist.
Between them, the three teachers and the apprentice had the Great Hall ready in no time at all.
Flitwick and the apprentice replaced the house tables with dozens of smaller ones, the Head Table was replaced with a stage for the nativity play for the time being. As soon as the small tables were in place, the house elves sent up plates and cutlery.
McGonagall used transfiguration to decorate the tables and Snape added glittering snow to the Christmas trees. At last all four adults worked together to conjure and light hundreds of small ever-burning candles on the Christmas trees.
When everything was prepared, Snape and his blonde went down to the dungeons to throw on their party robes – black for Snape and pink for the blonde. Snape wore his pink Santa hat and he conjured a black one for the witch.
"People are going to think we belong together," the witch pointed out as she put on her new hat.
"Really?" Snape asked innocently. "What could give them the idea?"
They giggled and went up to the Great Hall.
The Dark Lord and his followers turned up just after sunset. Many of said followers rushed to greet their offspring. Some did so with regal dignity – the Malfoys – others hugged their children close without restraint – the Crabbes for example.
Dumbledore led the Dark Lord to one of the small tables which was reserved for part of the Hogwarts staff and the Dark Lord and his most prominent followers.
"You outdid yourselves with the decorations this year," the megalomaniac admitted. "I was thinking of bringing some but then I thought you have the leading experts on transfiguration and charms here, what could I come up with that they couldn't."
McGonagall disagreed. "Good decorations are not a question of power or skills, you need imagination. And I'm sure you would imagine something totally different than I would. So whatever you came up with would complement my work."
"In that case," cried the Dark Lord and waved his wand. Many ducked, scared by the surprise movement, but all he did was add poinsettias to the decorations.
"They are beautiful!" everybody at their table agreed.
"Do you know the spell to make them sing?" asked Gloria.
The Dark Lord bowed to the fairy. "I do, but why would I make the flowers sing when we have you and your angelic voice?"
The fairy giggled and sat on the dark wizard's shoulder.
The Hogwarts elves served appetizers and champagne (sparkly grape juice for the children) before the students started their play.
Lucius Malfoy was outraged when his son played a shepherd, but the apprentice pointed out how well Draco used the opportunity to show off his magical talent. "Can you believe that he not only conjured those sheep, he also controls them all the time! And he makes it look so effortless!"
"Not everybody could do that," the Dark Lord agreed. "You must be proud, Lucius!"
The play went well, the audience applauded in all the right places, and when the participants bowed, Mr and Mrs Bulstrode went wild for their daughter. Mr Bulstrode cried he was going to make sure that his talented girl was getting everything she needed to become a musical sorceress. Millicent bawled with happiness and hugged her parents repeatedly. Her housemates congratulated enthusiastically once the girl had calmed down a little. Even Potter came over to hug the young Slytherin.
After the play came the main part of the meal. There was turkey and fish to choose from and the variety of desserts the house elves had come up with was so big that Snape found himself unable to try everything.
Once everybody had eaten, Dumbledore replaced the stage with a dance floor and started the music.
Soon the dance floor was filled with happy couples. The headmaster led the dance with his deputy. The Dark Lord danced with Bellatrix, and Snape waltzed with his apprentice, of course.
The party went on until after midnight. Finnigan and his assistants set off the fireworks just when Santa Claus arrived at Hogwarts, but of course they did not know about this coincidence since the man in red had decided not to make an appearance at the party. It just took too much time out of his schedule in previous years.
The fireworks were spectacular, the fact that they were set off inside the Great Hall did not take away from their splendour. Everybody applauded the young blasters.
Snape and his witch stayed in the Great Hall until the Dark Lord and his party had left. Once the deatheaters were gone, the staff shared another cup of eggnog before they sent the last students off to bed and retired to their quarters themselves.
When they reached the dungeons, Snape sat on his sofa. The apprentice sat beside him, snuggling up to his side.
"Cocoa?" Snape offered.
"Nah, I'm too tired," yawned the witch.
Snape chuckled. "Then sleep," he ordered and the girl did.
Snape stayed on the sofa with the sleeping witch for a while, enjoying the warmth of her small body against his side.
It was, he decided, indeed a happy Christmas.
A Very Merry Christmas to all my readers. Thank you for enjoying the month of December with me again. If inspiration strikes, we may see each other here next year. Until then, read my other stories!