Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
~~~
Sunday, December 19, 1993
"Oh, I hate to leave you two like this," Hermione sighed. She, Ron, Draco, and Harry stood in the Great Hall before the students left for Christmas vacation.
Hermione and the Weasleys were both leaving to spend Christmas with their families; Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny were going to Romania to visit Charlie. Draco and Harry were two of less than ten students staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.
"Don't worry about it," Harry told her, smiling. "Go have fun with your parents. And Ron, have fun with the dragons."
"I will," Ron laughed. "See you in two weeks!" He waved and left, while Hermione hung back for a moment.
"What are you two going to do, then?" she wondered.
"Spending Christmas with Snape will prove to be a...different experience, I'm sure," Draco told her. "We're staying down in the 'dungeons' with him. I doubt we'll get bored."
"Well, have fun, then!" Hermione told them before giving each of them a hug. "Stay out of trouble, and send me an owl, all right? Bye!" She turned and left the Great Hall, and Harry and Draco headed for Snape's chambers.
"Have all your friends left?" Snape asked when the two came in. He was reading a book on potions ingredients.
"Yeah," Draco replied, yawning. "Sev, Harry and I are going outside. That all right?"
"Dress warmly," Snape instructed them. "You don't want to spend Christmas--" Draco sneezed. "--sick. On second thought, Draco, maybe you should stay inside."
"No, I'm fine," Draco insisted as he and Harry pulled on warmer robes. "See you later!"
"Stay close to the castle, and don't stay out too long!" Snape called after them as they ran out.
"Merlin, it's cold out here!" Harry exclaimed as he and Draco made their way through the snow. "Why did we come out, again? Refresh my memory."
"Because...we didn't want to spend the entire vacation holed up in that castle?" Draco offered. Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Sounds good to me. Let's go see Hagrid. He'll probably have hot chocolate for us."
By the time the two made it to Hagrid's hut, they were nearly frozen. Hagrid laughed when he saw them shivering, their cheeks pink and their teeth chattering. He quickly brought them inside, where it was nice and warm from the fire.
"Hi, Hagrid," Harry said as they sat at the table. Hagrid brought over a pot from the fire and began to pour the dark brown liquid into cups.
"Yer just in time," he said. "I made some hot chocolate, an' I needed someone ter share it with."
"Glad we could be of service," Draco told him, smiling. He took a sip of the cocoa. "This is great."
"Drink up, then, there's plenty more. Yer lookin' a mite pale, Draco."
"He's always pale, Hagrid," Harry laughed. Draco glared at him, though his eyes were smiling.
"Eh, best not ter stay ou' in the cold too long," Hagrid continued, pausing when Draco sneezed. "You'll get sick. Don't have to worry abou' that now, though, do we?"
"I'm not sick," Draco protested. "I never get sick." Harry looked at Hagrid and rolled his eyes.
"Any other students stayin' over Christmas?" Hagrid wondered.
"A couple first-years," Harry replied. "That's about it."
"And...ugh...Pansy," Draco groaned. "She won't get it through her head that I don't like her."
"Even after you told her off, defending me all those times, she's still stuck on you," Harry commented, shaking his head. "It's sad, really. But we don't have to worry about running into her too much. She's staying in the dorm."
"Dumbledore said that since so few students have stayed, there's only going to be one table for meals in the Great Hall. Some teachers and the students will eat together... Do you think we'll be eating with them much, Harry? I mean, I saw the kitchen in Sev's chambers. Do you know if he can cook?" Draco looked hopeful.
"No idea. Hagrid?" Harry and Draco looked at the gamekeeper.
"I distinctly remember a time when Professor Snape was tryin' to make toast. Didn't work out." The boys laughed.
"Even if he can't cook, I can," Harry told Draco. "I used to always cook at the Dursleys'..." His voice trailed off. Draco glanced at Hagrid, then looked back at Harry.
"Come on, Harry, we should be getting back," he said, gently. He took Harry by his arm and led him towards the door. "Thanks, Hagrid, for the hot chocolate. And for telling us about the toast. We'll be sure to tease the professor about that one."
"Yeh take care, now. Bye-bye."
Draco led a now-silent Harry towards the castle. Once inside, the headed downstairs to dry off and warm up.
"That didn't take long," Snape teased the two as they came in.
His smirk disappeared when he saw Harry, and he caught Draco's eye. Draco just shook his head and took Harry to their room. After the boys removed their robes, Draco pointed his wand at himself and said a spell to dry and heat his clothes. Then he did the same thing to Harry. They went back out to the main room, and Harry curled up on the sofa with a book that Hermione had loaned him. Draco followed Snape to his laboratory, where he began to brew a potion.
"What happened?" Snape asked, measuring some wolfsbane.
"We went over to Hagrid's for some hot chocolate," Draco explained. "We got started talking about cooking, since I noticed your kitchen. We asked Hagrid if you could cook, and he told us about a time when you tried to make toast, and it didn't work out." Snape's face turned a little pink. "So Harry said even if you can't cook, he can, because he used to always cook at the Dursleys'. He hasn't said a word since that, but I think he'll be just fine."
"I think you're right," Snape agreed as he began to stir the potion. He set it on a shelf, and they went back out to the main room. "So you know of my inability to cook now. I usually eat in the Great Hall, or ask the house elves to bring me something." Draco curled up at the empty end of the sofa.
"Yeah, well..." he said, yawning. "I saw the kitchen, and I thought, why would you have a kitchen if you can't cook? I guess I just kind of got my hopes up. I've never had a real simple, family-type of meal, you know? Just whatever the house elves brought us."
"What kind of food do you like?" Harry asked, suddenly, without looking up from his book.
"Normal food, I guess," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders. "And I don't mean what I used to normally have. Everything I had at home was always so fancy and perfect, and I always ate alone. I hated it." He laid his head on the armrest of the sofa and closed his eyes, pulling a blanket over himself. Within minutes, he was asleep, and not very soundly either.
"He's sick," Harry said, still engrossed in the book.
"I can tell," Snape said. "I'm going to take him to his bed." He lifted Draco up and carried him into the boys' bedroom, then returned after a few moments.
"What time is it?" Harry wondered.
"Almost four o'clock. Why?" Harry putted his book down and got up from the couch. "What are you planning?"
"I'm going to make Draco dinner," Harry said, simply. "You, too, of course. But I don't want him to think he got his hopes up for nothing." Snape smiled and reached down to mess up Harry's hair.
"You're a good kid, Harry." Harry smiled back and headed for the door.
"I need to see if the house elves will let me have some stuff from the kitchen. I'll be back in a little while."
Around five-thirty, Snape went to wake Draco up. He sat next to the boy on the bed and shook him a little.
"Draco, get up. Harry has something to show you. Come on, I know you don't feel well, but maybe this will make you feel a little better."
Reluctantly, Draco got out of bed and followed Snape to the dining room, his aching head protesting every step of the way. What awaited him, however, amazed him.
Three places were set at the table, and each plate had chicken strips on it, as well as a small portion of mixed vegetables. Behind each plate was a glass of soda, and in the center of the table was a basket of homemade bread.
"What--" Draco started, staring at the food, then at Harry.
"It's a normal, simple meal," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "Muggle-style, of course."
"He didn't use a bit of magic for this," Snape told Draco. The blond just stared wide-eyed at the food, his mouth dropped open.
"You did this for me?" he asked Harry, who nodded, smiling. Draco hugged Harry tightly, tears evident in his voice. "Thank you, Harry. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Hey, what are friends for?" They all sat down at the table. "I figured, you've been taking care of me the past couple of months, defending me and helping me through my flashbacks and stuff. It was time for me to reciprocate." Harry looked around the table, thinking hard. "Oh, I know I forgot something... Oh, right!" He snapped his fingers, and a tiny bowl of honey appeared next to each plate. "The chicken's really good with honey. Try it."
"How'd you do that?! That was bloody brilliant!" Harry grinned, sneakily.
"Wouldn't you like to know," he laughed. "I'm not telling! Now try the chicken."
All in all, everyone was pleased with the meal. Draco had never had chicken strips before, let alone with honey, and he declared it to be his new favorite food. Shortly after finishing dessert, apple pie a la mode, Draco seemed to be getting tired again. Snape touched a hand against the boy's face.
"You have a fever, Draco. Go on to bed. I'll bring you something in a minute."
"Thanks again, Harry..." Draco yawned as he headed for the bedroom. Harry smiled and was about to begin cleaning up, but Snape stopped him.
"Don't worry about it," the professor said. He snapped his fingers, and everything in the room was spotless. Smiling slyly at Harry, he said, "You're not the only one who can do that, you know."
"You just couldn't let me think, for one night, that I could do something that you were unable to, could you?"
"What would be the fun in that?" Snape asked, innocently. He frowned when Harry coughed a little. "Not you, too." He checked Harry for a fever. "That's it. To bed." Harry reluctantly went to lay down in his bed.
"Whatever you're going to try to give me, I don't want it," Harry muttered when Snape came in with two tiny vials. "I can handle being sick without you giving me anything. I've always been able to handle it."
"That doesn't mean you have to," Snape retorted, giving Harry a vial. "Now shut up and drink it. It will bring your fever down." Sighing, Harry drank the potion, while Snape woke Draco to give him the same stuff. "Now both of you, just get some sleep. You'll feel better by morning."