"Nonsense. Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid inquired, the Potions Master wasn't always the kindest to him, but that didn't mean Severus was a traitor.
"Who knows. Why was he trying to get past that three headed dog on Halloween?" Harry replied, looking at Eileen out of the corner of his eye.
"Who told you 'bout Fluffy?"
"Fluffy?"
"That thing has a name?"
"Well, of course he's got a name. He's mine. I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"
"Yes?"
"Shouldn'ta said that. Don't ask any more questions. That's top secret, that is."
"But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it!"
"Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."
"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a curse when I see one. I've read all about them. You have to keep eye contact. And Snape wasn't blinking."
"Actually," Eileen tried to speak up, to defend her father, but why would they believe her, a daddy's girl, no less to the one they think is the worst person on the planet.
Hagrid sighed, "Now, you listen to me, all three of you. You're meddlin' in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."
"Nicholas Flamel?"
"shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that. I should not have said that."
"Nicholas Flamel...Who's Nicholas Flamel?"
"A philosopher, other than that, I've got no idea." Eileen replied, finally she had a new subject to ponder on.
Hermione approached the empty tables, wheeling a cart. She goes to Ron and Harry, who are playing chess. Eileen was sitting off to the side, showing Harry the best moves to make.
"Knight to E-5." A piece moves across the board.
Ron thinks for a moment, "queen to E-5." His queen walks over to E-5 and clinks the knight away.
"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione exclaims.
"That's wizard's chess." Eileen smiled.
"I see you've packed." Ron snarked.
"See you haven't."
"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother, Charlie. He's studying dragons there!"
"Good. You can help Harry and Eileen, then. They're going to go to the library for information on Nicholas Flamel."
"We've looked a hundred times!"
"Not in the restricted section. Happy Christmas."
"I think we've had a bad influence on her." Ron said to Harry. "You as well," he looked to Eileen.
"Ron, I've dealt with your older twin brother's, you're nowhere near as bad as them." She giggled
"Dad! Dad! It's Christmas!" Eileen squealed, running into her father's room and jumping on top of him.
Severus let out a muffled grunt as the surprisingly strong weight of his petite daughter crashed onto him. "Trying to kill me, are you?" He joked.
"Never," Eileen climbed off her father's body and was sitting crossed legged on the bed. Severus sat himself up, before quickly darting to grab the wiggling girl and hugged her tightly all the while tickling her sides.
She let out a shriek of laughter and tried her hardest to escape his grip. "Dad! No!" She breathed out between laughs, Severus had the biggest smile on his face as laughter filled his chest, he stopped tickling his daughter, but wasn't quite ready to let her go from the hug.
"Happy Christmas, dad." She bubbled, hugging him back.
"Happy Christmas, my dearest. Now let us get up, dressed, you can open your present and I will begin cooking our dinner." He chuckled as the small girl zipped to her room to get dressed. Severus got up himself and changed into black slacks and a grey long sleeve shirt, there was no need to dress formally when it was only him and Eileen.
He made his way to the small kitchen, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows as he began pulling out pots, pans, meat, vegetables and everything he'd need for the Snape's Christmas Dinner. Eileen had now zipped out of her room and to the tree.
Her gifts consisted of a small Potions Set, a grey sweater with the Slytherin crest over her heart and a moving picture of her and Severus hugging before she boarded the train. Eileen got up and went to hug her father tightly.
"Thank you, dad." Severus placed a hand on her head, not for long as she suddenly jolted. "Wait, you didn't see your gift!" Eileen zipped back to the tree, pulling out a rather badly wrapped box.
"My gift? Eileen what on Earth do you mean?" Severus inquired, leaving the kitchen to join his daughter at their tree. He took the box from her hands and sat on the armchair, slowly, carefully unwrapping it.
It was a scrapbook, 'Memories with Dad: By Eileen Lila Snape'. Severus flipped the pages, all sorts of pictures, drawings, notes and even song lyrics he had played for her covered the pages, and on the last page, was the very first picture he ever took with Eileen. It was an awkward picture. Severus was holding her and you could see the worry and love for his daughter etched into his face. It was only a week after he adopted her, Minerva insisted on taking the picture.
"Oh, Eileen," he gently placed the book on the coffee table and pulled her into a big hug, tears of happiness threatening to spill. He pulled Eileen into his lap as he relaxed into the chair and continued to hug her. "It's perfect, thank you."
Eileen hugged her father back, resting her head on his shoulder, she loved her father's hugs, they were always full of love and safety.
"I love you, Eileen."
"I love you too, dad."