AN: I'm baaaaack.


~ Chapter Five ~

Small Gifts


Monday December 24th, 1990

It had been 13 years since Penelope last spent her Christmas at Hogwarts and yet it felt like hardly any time had passed. She had dined with the other professors and the few remaining students and had had a lovely evening. However there was one thing that she had yet to do and currently she was on her way to see it through; she was heading to the dungeons to give Severus his Christmas present. She had wrapped it neatly in shiny emerald green paper with a black silk bow. She wasn't sure how he would react as they hadn't actually agreed to exchange presents, however Penelope just wanted to give Severus something that she knew he would enjoy. And seeing as they were friends again surely it wouldn't seem odd to him that she wanted to give him a gift for Christmas.

She stopped in front of the door to his quarters, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door opened not long after, "Penelope? Please, come in." he said and opened the door enough for her to enter.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you." she said as she passed him.

"Not at all." he assured her, "though I am surprised to see you." He closed the door and walked over to the sofa, gesturing for her to sit down as he did the same.

She looked up at him, "yeah, well, I just wanted to give you this." she said as she held the present out to him. "I didn't want to do it over dinner … you know how the students like to gossip."

"Indeed they do." He stated and took the gift, unwrapping it slowly as Penelope looked on. "You didn't have to get me a present, you know."

"I know, but I wanted to." she said, smiling up at him.

Severus lifted the last bit of wrapping paper to reveal a book. He turned it over to look at the title, his eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise. Then he opened the book to peek at the first page, "Penelope, this is a…"

"A first edition," she finished for him, "yes, I know."

"But it's…. it's too much." He said somewhat awestruck.

"Not at all." She said. "And to be fair, I didn't go out and spend my entire salary on it - I found it in my parents' old library at the manor and knew you would get much more use out of it than I ever would."

Severus was still looking at the book in awe. Then he looked up at her, "thank you. I will treasure it."

"Yes, I know. That's why I wanted you to have it." she said, smiling at him.

Severus put the book on the table before getting up off the sofa and leaving the room. Penelope frowned, wondering where he was going. A few moments later he reentered the room, one hand behind his back, "I know I'm hardly perceived as the sentimental sort, however …" he hesitated before bringing the hand out from behind his back, revealing a gift of his own, "I did actually buy you a Christmas present as well." He handed it to her and sat back down on the sofa.

"Oh, Severus." Penelope was touched. She looked over the neatly wrapped gift before she started pulling on the bow.

"Now, don't get too excited, it is in no way a match to the present you just gave me." Severus warned her.

Penelope finished unwrapping the present to find a beautifully knitted scarf. But it wasn't just any scarf; it was identical to one she had owned back when they were still at school. A Ravenclaw blue scarf with an intricate knitting pattern. A scarf just like the one her parents had given her during her first year at Hogwarts. A scarf she had been devastated to lose. She looked up at him, "where on earth did you get this?" she asked.

"Back in November I took a portkey to Budapest to get some rather rare ingredients … and I came across this little shop and saw this in the window." He answered. "I know it's not much…"

Penelope threw her arms around his neck, hugging him, "it's perfect." She said into his shoulder. She kissed his cheek as she pulled away from him, "thank you, Severus. I love it."

Severus could see a tear had rolled down her cheek. He resisted the urge to trace its path with his thumb and instead gave her a slight smile. "Well, in that case, you're very welcome."

They sat in silence for a minute or so. Then Penelope picked the scarf back up and wrapped it around her neck, beaming up at him, "how do I look?" she asked.

"Aside from the fact that wearing a scarf whilst indoors will always look slightly ridiculous … I'd say you don't look half bad." He told her.

"Not half bad, huh?" She repeated, "why, Professor Snape, I do believe that was almost a compliment." she teased.

"Perhaps … but you'll never get me to admit to it." He teased right back.


AN: Is this long? Nope. Is it a chapter? Yes ... if anyone is still following this, I apologise for the wait. However I am back and intending to see this through to the end. I hope you enjoyed it in spite of the shortness. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon.