Ginny hummed to herself as she hung the last ornament on the tree. As much as she loved spending most of the year at Hogwarts, there was something special about getting to come home for Christmas. These days with Harry finally coming around and noticing she was a girl, it was even better. A spot around her heart squeezed with affection as she thought about him outside in the field playing Quidditch with her brothers. He had really needed a good break after everything going on with... well, everything. The war was coming to a head slowly but surely, and if anyone deserved a couple days to just be a person instead of a Savior it was him.
He was just as good as one of the family now, as it had been since the beginning. Just this morning him and Ron had helped Arthur hang his muggle colored lights around the outside of the house, leaving the inside for Molly and the girls. Her mother did most of the work herself before they arrived, but things like decorating the tree and finishing cleaning the kitchen when everything was said and done fell to her and Hermione. Speaking of which, the older girl probably knew where they'd tucked away the star for the top - it was the last perfect piece of image she was trying to make.
Before she could round the corner she almost smacked into a wall of black cloth, jumping back just in time without making so much as a squeak. There was the little twist in all their plans - Severus Snape. He'd shown up this morning out of the blue demanding to speak to her father, though why that couldn't wait until at least the day after Christmas she didn't understand. Her mother had said something about even inviting him to stay for dinner - which was going to completely ruin Harry's mood, poor thing. She couldn't say she was exactly thrilled either.
For all of his usual paranoia, the man didn't seem to notice her. With a slight huff he started stalking determinedly across the room, right towards Hermione who was finishing drying up the last of the pans. Instinct said to call out and warn her, exactly of what she wasn't sure just yet, but as Snape's hands smacked down on either side of the sink Ginny's jaw dropped open and she stepped back to peer around the corner and see what the hell was going on. Warning sirens were blaring in the back of her mind but the whole scene was so unexpected she couldn't bring herself to move.
To her credit Hermione didn't draw her wand, though she visibly jumped and started to turn. Snape took one more step forward, caging her in with his body as well as his arms as a low growl tickled across her neck. "You... owe... me." Ginny was tempted to reach for her own wand and stun the wizard until they could find out what in Merlin's name he was on about, but as the corner of her friend's mouth twitched up her hand stilled. There was another warning going off now, like she was intruding on something she shouldn't be. But that was stupid!
"What do you mean?" Hermione dropped her expression back to confusion as she twisted her head to look over her shoulder. Snape narrowed his eyes at the amusement in hers and leaned in impossibly closer. Their noses were almost touching now, how was she not crawling over the counter to get away? "Do you know it is possible for the man to spend... two...hours... lecturing on the finer details of... paper clips?" The irritated words dropped down to almost a snarl at the end, as if the girl he had trapped was the one to blame for it all.
Instead of showing any fear Hermione brought both of her hands up to clasp over her mouth - unable to restrain the snort of laughter entirely. "Oh no... oh you poor thing." Her shoulders shook with the effort of trying to hold it in, leaving Snape even more furious and Ginny completely bewildered. She caught on that they were talking about her dad, but that was the only thing that made a flicker of sense in this entire conversation. The professor looked ready to nearly throttle her or throttle someone but every time Hermione looked at him she just started another round of giggles.
Fed up he grabbed a handful of her curls, yanking her head back to face her fully. He had shifted back enough to let her turn, but not nearly enough for her to escape. "And what do you plan to do about it, witch?" Something flashed in the honey brown eyes and her own hands shot up, fisting in the collar of his robes and yanking down to crash their lips together. Ginny yanked herself back to take a much needed breath in, clamping her hand over her mouth to keep quiet. Her best friend had a bloody death wish!
Gathering her nerve she peeked back around the corner again, certain that there would be a tiny pile of ash and some scorch marks where the girl had been standing. She certainly didn't expect the two of them full out snogging like a pair of fourth years, hands roaming and clutching everywhere they could reach as their tongues visibly fought for claim of the millimeter of space between them. It was Hermione who finally pulled back to gasp for air, a smile breaking across her face as she panted in sync with the man hovering over her. "Consider that a down payment..."
Snape started to lean in again when Arthur called out for him from the other room, leaving him to growl and push off the counter to put a bit of distance between them. "Have fuuuun." His gaze snapped back at the cheeky words, piercing her with his darkest glare. "Careful, Miss Granger... Payment or no you are accruing interest, and I've half a mind to bring out my cane..." Hermione lit up as if he had given her the source of all magic itself for Christmas, leaning forward a bit with eyes blown wide and lips slightly parted to make way for a slow sweep of her tongue. "Promise?"
Letting out a stilted breath of his own he moved forward again, stroking long fingers down the side of her face and the front of her throat. "...Anything you need, sweetness. You know that." Brushing his lips over hers once more he pressed their foreheads together, gazing as deep into her eyes as she was into his. There was a connection there that Ginny could almost see swirling around them like magic, just beyond her eyesight. "Be a good girl for me, hm?" Hermione nodded, letting her eyes fall closed as her body trembled with the emotions running straight down to her core.
The spell on Ginny's feet finally broke as the wizard turned and started back the way he same, allowing her to flee and throw herself into the nearest room to be out of sight. One look at her face and she was just sure he would know she had been watching. Leaning back against the door she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and cursed under her breath, deciding star or no star she was done decorating. The wind whipping around her face would be a good way to purge her mind, at least until she had enough time to process what the fuck had just happened. A shiver ran down her spine before she shook her head, grabbing her broom off the porch and running out to the field with a shout for the boys to count her in.