A Christmas Present
25th December 1999
Early that morning, Severus had hobbled his way over to his armchair by the fireplace and shortly afterwards an owl flew though his window and dropped a small package onto his lap. With bleary eyes and a tilt of his head, Severus stared at the bird.
It was only yesterday that he'd woken from a three day coma, for want of a better term, after the dark mark had been removed and he was still shaky and weak and the less said about his left arm the better, it was practically useless to him. He was still undecided if surviving once again was a blessing or a curse. Having the Mark gone was certainly a good thing, wasn't it? It had been there for so long, binding him to the dark lord that being free of it should have filled him with glee. But because it had been there for so long, he was left wondering just who he was without it. While it was true that for over a year, he was no longer Snape the Death Eater, to some anyway, he was still a dark wizard and he wasn't ashamed of the fact either. Now though he was a dark wizard of his own choosing, not because of the Mark.
The trilling of the brown barn owl brought him back to his senses and with his right hand, he took the envelope that it held from its beak.
On receiving a Christmas card from a former student, Severus didn't think that his wary response was unjustified. After all, the majority of his former students would properly relish the thought of sending him a howler...or worse. He cast several spells on the envelope before opening it and he warily eyed the small rectangular, simply wrapped present it had accompanied.
It was a tastefully designed muggle card with the usual seasons greetings splayed across the front in calligraphic gold. On the inside in a familiar handwriting it read,
'Dear Headmaster Snape,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you're recovering well and I wish you all the best.
Hermione Granger.
P.S I hope you like the book. Mr and Mrs Weasley told me that you play beautifully. I realise that until you've fully recovered, you won't really be able use it properly but I believe in being optimistic, especially at Christmas.
P.P.S Everyone has been very worried about you and when we heard that you were awake Mrs Weasley started baking you a cake. It's extensive. With five tiers. She's had to set wards to fend the boys off. Obviously they took no notice and it's left them unable to taste or smell for a few hours. Admittedly it does look and smell delicious as I've been reminding them every hour. She's planning on bringing it to the castle for you later today.'
After reading that he snorted and then curiously picked up the present, it was wrapped in Slytherin green and tied with string for the owl to carry. On opening it he found a thin book of sheet music for the piano. He flicked through it and saw that it had a wide range of songs from classical to fairly modern songs, some of which he'd never even heard of.
He had no idea why she would buy him something so thoughtful especially now that it would do her no good in gaining the approval she'd sought for years as a student, though granted when the war had worsened she'd learned that there were more important things. There weren't a great many people who'd bought him gifts over the years and this had to count as one of the most thoughtful.
"No reply, be off with you," he said to the owl which hooted at him and then flew off out the window.
Severus stared at the book thoughtfully. He'd never gotten around to bringing a piano into his rooms at Hogwarts, mainly due to the lingering fear that he'd be carted off to Azkaban at any given moment or the fact that he was likely to die from the Dark Mark. Now though, neither of those threats seemed imminent. Perhaps he should get a piano, after all he spent most of his time at the castle. The old one he kept at Spinner's end was being he'd together mostly by steel wire and stubbornness and he didn't fancy the thought of journeying to the Burrow everything he wanted to practice to use the one he'd fixed for Molly. She wouldn't mind of course, in fact she'd probably encourage it, but he wanted privacy.
From across the room, Fawkes trilled musically as though agreeing with his master's inner thoughts.
"Quiet," Severus glared back at him, "You don't get an opinion."
"Chirp," the Phoenix tilted his head.
It wasn't as though he had anything else to do really. Minerva had banned him from doing any work, going so far as to banish all of his paperwork and redirect his letters to her office and he didn't have the magical strength to counter those spells yet. Although playing the piano with one hand until his other one could function again wouldn't be quite the same, it would at least give him something to do.
"Chirp," Fawkes trilled again.
"And people call me a mind reader," the headmaster rolled his eyes at the bird.
