Chapter 16: Challenges
That evening Harry and Ron ventured downstairs only when Mr. Weasley shouted "Dinnertime boys!" They came down quietly, hoping that Snape had gone, only to discover that he was in the dining room, seated by Moody, and was, at the moment, in deep discussion about something. He stiffened when Harry and Ron entered the room, then turned back to Moody and refused to look at either of them.
Harry groaned inwardly but said nothing, he and Ron sitting as far away from him as possible. Suddenly the kitchen door opened and Hermione's head popped in, "Hello Harry, Ron! I brought my parents along so we could all spend our Christmas togeth-" her eyes fell on Snape, who merely frowned at her, "What're you looking at Granger?" Her eyes narrowed into slits of anger, and said, "Not much," and disappeared. Ron snorted a laugh, and Snape's eyes flashed rage at him. "S-Sorry," he muttered, staring at the tablecloth.
Mrs. Weasley came in just then and said, "Dinner should be ready in just a moment. Alastor, have you talked to Remus lately? I wanted him to be here tonight too if possible." "Eh, I know he heard about it," said Moody, "but it depends on what's going on...you know." "Right," she said, "well hopefully..." she trailed off, and went back into the kitchen. Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "You think Lupin's off doing something like what Hagrid did last year? Trying to rally the giants on our side or something?"
"Doubt it," said Harry, "although I'll bet he's trying to get the vampires or the werewolves or something for Dumbledore. I mean, that's what he's best at, isn't it? All those sorts of creatures?" "Yeh, definitely," whispered Ron, "I just wonder where he is..."
Just then Hermione entered with her parents, who were clearly looking vexed at feeling so out of place, being the only Muggles in the vicinity. They did, however, see a familiar face. "Professor Snape!" said Mr. Granger, walking over and shaking his hand happily, "Nice to see you again!" Snape looked a little standoffish, as usual, then said, "Yes, hello Mr. Granger. How was your trip here?" "Oh very interesting!" said Mr. Granger, sitting down next to him, "We came here by a Portley!" "No Dad," said Hermione, "Portkey." "Oh right, right, Portkey," he said hastily, "and I must admit this magic business is all extremely clever! I've never heard of such things!"
Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat down next to Harry, "He hasn't stopped since we got here. Been talking to every wizard he can find about how ingenious the whole system is. I'm starting to wonder if he'll even stop to breathe." Mrs. Granger sat next to her husband, and said, "And this is Harry and Ron! I'm afraid we've never been properly introduced, but Hermione speaks very highly of you both!" shaking each of their hands in turn. "Has she now?" said Ron, "That's surprising. She never speaks highly of us when we're around..." Harry stomped on his foot, and Ron bashed his knee on the underside of the table as he pulled away. Hermione glared at him and said, "Yes, well, let's not exaggerate mum..."
Just then Mr. Weasley entered, followed by Mrs. Weasley, each of them carrying platters of food. Then Mr. Weasley spotted Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and said, "Muggles!" "ARTHUR!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, sorry," he smiled earnestly, setting down a large roast turkey in the middle of the table and hurrying back to the kitchen. Mr. Granger looked at Mr. Weasley oddly as he left, then said, "Oh yes I remember now. Muggles are non-magic people, isn't that right?" Hermione nodded, "That's right dad. You and mum are Muggles." "Of course, of course," he said, turning back to his conversation with Moody and Snape, who were both trying to convince him that kappas were real creatures. "They're from Mongolia," said Snape smoothly, "that's why you've never seen one."
"Actually," interjected Hermione, "they're from Japan." Snape's head twanged over to stare at her, "No, they're from Mongolia." "I'm sorry, sir, but you're wrong. They're from Japan," said Hermione. "Hermione! Don't argue with your professor!" said Mr. Granger, "That's no way to behave!" "But I'm right!" said Hermione, "I know I am!" Mr. Granger opened his mouth to chastise Hermione but Snape interrupted, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Granger. After six years of this I've grown quite used to it." Hermione slammed down her fork and stormed out of the room, not to be seen for the next ten minutes.
Harry looked at Ron with raised eyebrows, and they both tried not to laugh. "What on earth has gotten into her?" said Mrs. Granger, "She was fine when we got here..." "Ah, well, unfortunately," said Snape, "she and I had a bit of a spat at the end of June. You see Miss Granger seems to think of me-" Harry purposely interrupted him, not wanting Hermione's parents to find out what had happened, "So Professor, are we going to resume our Occlumency lesson?" Snape looked extremely irritated at Harry's interruption, "Yes, Potter, but not right now obviously. I'm busy discussing things with the Grangers. Do you mind?" Harry shrugged, "Oh sorry, I didn't think, as usual, forgive me..."
Snape gave him a frown as he continued, "As I was saying..." Harry elbowed Ron sharply, "Say something!" he hissed. "Mr. Granger you're from London aren't you?" said Ron loudly. Snape now looked infuriated at being interrupted twice, "WEASLEY! Learn some manners! Don't interrupt me when I'm talking!" "Oh right, Professor, my mistake, sorry," he said. "Now," said Snape, "if I'm allowed to speak...what I was saying before was that apparently Miss Granger thinks of me-"
The dining room door burst open and Hermione stomped in, carrying a textbook, and slammed it down in front of Snape, "There!" she shouted, "From JAPAN!" Snape looked down his hooked nose at the textbook and picked it up, reading the passage carefully. After a minute of silence, he glanced at the cover of the book, then said, "Ah," and flipped a few pages ahead. He pointed to another passage, "Mongolia." "It can't possibly be both," snapped Hermione, "prove it!" "Well, Miss Granger, if you had paused to look," he said, turning to her slowly, "you would know that there are two types of kappas. One type is found in Japan," he extended his index finger, "and the other is found in Mongolia," the middle digit extended, "so clearly, we're both right."
"So why don't you apologize to me then?" said Hermione agitatedly, arms crossed. Snape's eyes narrowed, "For what?" "For telling me I'm wrong," she said easily, triumph in her eyes. "I, Miss Granger, never said you were wrong. I told you that they were from Mongolia and you said that I was wrong. If anything, you owe me an apology." Hermione looked shattered, and could only stutter, "I will never apologize to you for anything." "As I will never apologize to you, now if you'll please pester someone else so I can finish my conversation..."
The slap resounded throughout the room, and Harry and Ron gasped.
"Hey, what's going-?" Mr. Weasley was opening the door to the dining room, and Hermione dashed through it without a second glance. "-on?" finished Mr. Weasley, watching as Hermione bounded up the stairs as fast as she could; a minute later, somewhere in the house, a door slammed shut. "Hermione!" shouted Mr. Granger, "Come back here this instant!" Mrs. Granger jumped to her feet, "Professor, I'm so sorry, I don't understand what the matter is..."
All eyes whipped to stare at Snape, who had a sizeable red handprint on the right side of his face. But rather than begin ranting about Hermione, he merely stood up and said, "Excuse me for a minute."
They could hear his footsteps up the stairs, and Harry and Ron waited for the ensuing shouting match, but nothing came. Mr. Granger got up to go after Hermione but Ron said, "Er, sir, I'd just let her alone. She and Professor Snape have been at odds with each other all year. I'd just let them talk it out." Harry was surprised at Ron's level-headedness; if it had been him that had spoken he probably would have called Snape a stupid old codger. Mr. Granger looked torn, then finally Mrs. Granger said, "Just sit down dear. Let her work it out on her own."
Mr. Weasley, in the meantime, had ducked back into the kitchen and returned with several more platters of food using a Levitation Charm. "Almost ready!" he said, "Just need to finish up with the pumpkin juice!"
Just then a knock resounded on the front door, albeit muffled in the kitchen. "I'll expect that's Fred and George," said Ron, going to answer it. "Sit down Ron, I'll get it," said Mr. Weasley cheerily, "I'm already up anyway." He disappeared for a moment, then the twins appeared, "Happy Christmas Harry! Ron! Did you get our present?" asked Fred. "Yeh, thanks a lot," said Ron grinning, "should be good to dispose of..." He eyed the Grangers, "...uh...trash. Yeh, good trash disposal!"
"Oh, you two are the Weasley twins that own that joke shop are you?" asked Mrs. Granger. "Yes ma'am," said George, "I'm George and this here's Fred. Pleased to meet you," and they both shook her hand. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Granger," said Ron, "just arrived from London." "Oh, then Hermione's around is she?" said George, looking around. The table fell uncomfortably silent. "Er," said George, "maybe not?" "She's indisposed," said Mrs. Granger tightly, "busy at the moment." "Oh, well, that's all right then," said Fred, sitting down beside Ron.
Mrs. Weasley entered just then and said, "Oh good! Fred, George, come help me in the kitchen!" Fred let out a groan of irritation, "Haven't been here for one bloody minute and she's already got us slaving away..."
"...Washing dishes..."
"...Cleaning the rooms..."
"...Beating the house elf..."
"Fred! George! That's enough!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Now come help me or you'll have no dinner!" At this they got up somberly, and Fred held the door open for George.
"You first."
"No no, you go ahead."
"No really, I must insist old boy..."
"I say governor, come along then and go ahead..."
"No really, ladies first..."
"FRED! GEORGE! NOW!"
Harry and Ron laughed as they scurried into the kitchen, looks of mock alarm on their faces, "She'll have us hung up by our thumbs this time!" "Ha," said Ron, "what're they playing at? That's Filch's job!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked taken aback, "At Hogwarts...it's someone's job to hang up students by their thumbs?!" said Mrs. Granger. "Oh no ma'am, he's just joking," said Harry, "I mean, don't get us wrong, Filch tries to, but Dumbledore won't let him. He's always threatening us; doesn't mean it though." "Well he means it," said Ron, "but he just can't get away with it!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger exchanged glances but said nothing, although they looked alarmed.
Harry changed the subject, "So you're both dentists right? Is that very interesting?" This subject of familiarity made both of them feel better as they delved into their profession, and some time passed before Mrs. Weasley came in and said "Dinner's ready! I hope everyone's ready to eat!" "Bloody well starving!" said Ron, lifting up his fork and knife. "No foul language Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, right, sorry," said Ron, smiling apologetically.
Soon Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Moody, Tonks, Mundungus, Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Mr. Granger, and Mrs. Granger were all situated in their seats, and were piling food onto their own plates when Mrs. Weasley said, "Hang on..." She counted silently, mouthing the numbers, "We're missing...where's Hermione and Professor Snape?" George spat out his chicken, "WHO?!" "Mum you didn't invite Snape did you?!" cried Fred. "Yes I did!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Because I wanted us to have a nice big get together for the Order. All we ever do is talk gloom and doom and I wanted us to have a nice celebration for once. Is that all right with you?!"
"Pay them no never mind," said Moody, "we think it's lovely Molly." She sat down promptly, "Thank you." She turned to Harry, "Harry dear...would you mind...fetching the two of them, wherever they are?" "Ah no, of course not," said Harry, eyeing his turkey with longing, "I'll be back in a bit." Ron gave him a wary look, but Harry only said, "Oh I'll be fine now shut up."
Harry shut the dining room door behind him quietly, a little nervous about trekking upstairs. He wasn't sure if he'd find a hexed-to-death Hermione or a hexed-to-death Snape or both, and he could only hope it was none of the above.
As he ascended the staircase he heard voices talking, and he looked up to see Phineas Nigellus conversing with someone in one of the portraits. "Oh," said Nigellus, glancing at Harry, "the Potter boy returns eh?" Harry glared at him, "What of it?" "Nothing," said Nigellus smoothly, "I just didn't expect you to come back after my grandson died in such a stupid way. You were there, weren't you?" Harry narrowed his eyes at him, "Leave me alone Nigellus," and he continued up the stairway. "Young people," said Nigellus, turning back to the other character in the painting beside him, "have no manners. Everything's doom and gloom with them. And don't bother trying to help them, oh no, they'll have none of it."
Harry blocked out Nigellus's voice as he continued upstairs until he arrived at Hermione's room. Surprisingly, neither she nor Snape were dead; instead Snape was saying something beneath his breath to her, and she was merely looking down at her feet as if she were ashamed. "Er," said Harry, "Mrs. Weasley wants you both to come down...if you're ready, that is." Snape said nothing and merely swept back downstairs, leaving Hermione standing there staring at her feet.
"What happened?" said Harry. Hermione looked up, "Nothing. He just told me to be more grateful after he saved my parents and that I should be groveling to him." Harry let out a sound of disrespect, "Oh forget him Hermione. Let's just go eat." She shook her head, "I don't want to." Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Hermione! It's Christmas!" She stared at him for one long moment, then finally said, "You're right. Shouldn't let this ruin it. Let's go." The two of them went back downstairs and a moment later all of them were situated at the table, enjoying some of the best food Harry had ever eaten in his life. Mrs. Weasley enjoyed several complements on her food as the evening progressed, and Harry felt she deserved every last one of them.
About twenty minutes into the dinner, however, somebody familiar poked their head around the dining room door; Professor Lupin. "Remus!" said Mrs. Weasley, standing up, "Glad you made it! I was worried!" Lupin entered the room and sat down at the one empty spot, "As was I. Didn't want to miss a feast, did I?" They continued to eat for quite sometime until there was a loud popping sound, and Harry almost jumped out of his skin when he turned behind him to see a head in a fireplace. "Er," he said, and a few other people noticed the head too; none of them recognized who it was. "Hi," said the head; it was a she, a woman with long black flowing hair and an eyepatch over the left eye, "is Remus in?" Lupin heard his name and bent over around the table to see the woman, "Oh hello Celestia. Is there a problem?" She nodded, chin touching the ashes of the fire slightly, "Yeah, a bit. Erm..." she noticed the other people staring at her, "...could I have a private word?"
"Sure," said Lupin, kneeling down and yanking her out of the fireplace by the hand. A minute later a very tall witch wearing all black stood before them, and she nodded to everyone, then shuffled into the kitchen to speak with Lupin. "Who's that?" asked Ron, pausing from eating his roll. "That's Celestia Jay," said Mrs. Weasley, clicking her tongue disapprovingly, "she's a bit different." "And a damn fine witch," added Moody, drinking from his hip flask, "she's an Auror right now. One of the best of her age, although I disapprove of some things that never go away..." Harry and Ron exchanged glances; what did that mean? "How so sir?" asked Fred inquisitively. "Never you mind young Weasley," said Moody, "it's not for your ears."
Five minutes later Lupin and Jay reappeared, and she nodded at everyone, "Merry Christmas," and disappeared back into the fire; but before she did so, Harry noticed that her eyes lingered on Snape for a minute, and it was not at all a friendly glance. He returned the glare, and finally she climbed into the fireplace and disappeared. Lupin sat down, acting as if nothing had happened, then noticed that Harry was looking at him a little more than usual. "She's a friend of mine Harry," said Lupin easily, "very nice woman. Knows lots of people. Kind of like Mundungus." If he meant the sort of 'people' Dung knew, then Harry understood why she looked so shifty and different. Mundungus usually associated only with people in the underworld, and Jay looked the same. "When you say friend," asked Ron, "do you mean friend or 'friend'?" Everyone giggled with the exception of Snape, who looked extremely put-out as Lupin frowned, "I mean friend."
After everyone had settled down, Lupin leaned forward, "Harry...I need a favor," he lowered his voice even more so, and Ron and Hermione turned about and gave them a minute of privacy. "Can I borrow the Marauder's Map again?" he whispered. Harry nodded, "I'll bring it to the next lesson. What's it for?" Lupin's eyes shifted back and forth, as if checking to make sure that no one else was listening, then said, "That's private Harry. But I'll need it for this year." "Yes sir," said Harry, "I'll bring it next time."
Dinner progressed without much incident except for once when Lupin asked Fred and George how business was coming along. "Oh fine," said Fred, "except the other day...well, you wouldn't believe who came into the store..." George grinned, "Oh yeah. Dumbledore bought about ten canary creams." "Really?" said Ron happily, "That's cool!" "Yeh," commented George, "said he was going to put them in the....what was it...lemon drop jar?" Lupin and Snape both spat out their food, "That's why he's been trying to get me to eat them!" they both said in unison.
Everyone laughed; somehow it wasn't all that surprising that Dumbledore would partake in something so silly. Lupin smiled apologetically, but Snape merely frowned; that, in turn, only made Harry grin a lot wider. Finally, after what seemed like a ton of food, dinner was over; Ron was currently trying to convince Hermione to join him in a game of two on one Wizard Chess against Moody, who only let out a bark of laughter and said "No thanks laddie. I won't have anymore of your tomfoolery for tonight. Besides, my leg's bothering me; I need to take some potion." He stretched his leg, and Harry could have almost sworn he heard it creak with age. "I'll play," interrupted Snape, and nearly the entire table jumped with surprise. "But I'll only play one on one," he added easily.
Harry could tell what was going on; he was challenging Hermione. "I'll play," she said firmly, ignoring Ron's stutters, "let's play right now. Ron, get out your chess set. Hurry it up." Ron stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then slowly pulled out his chess set and handed it to her. Once the pieces had been dumped onto the board they shuffled themselves into place automatically, the black toward Snape and the white toward Hermione. The table lapsed into silence ever so slowly, and soon everyone was staring at the game. Pieces moved back and forth, and occasionally one would shout at Snape or Hermione, but otherwise they remained quiet.
A few people got up to leave once the game approached an hour; Fred and George had to go back to their shops to take care of last minute business, and Lupin said he had to leave for Order business. But he did not leave without telling Harry to owl him the outcome of the game. Eventually, only Harry, Ron, Mundungus, Mr. Weasley, and Moody were left, eyes on the chessboard in complete rapture. The game slowly progressed into two hours; it was now midnight, and Harry could tell Hermione was getting tired. Snape, on the other hand, was wide awake as ever, and Harry noticed that he made no mistakes; he was completely in control of the game. Hermione, however, was not.
Finally, at one o'clock, the game ended; Hermione lost, but not without putting up a fight. And when the game ended, Harry noticed that Hermione acknowledged Snape's win with grace, not with the hatred she had embraced so easily earlier in the evening. It seemed more like a look of understanding between the two of them, and a few minutes later, it was as if none of the fighting of months before had ever occurred. Harry didn't know what had happened, but he was glad it was finally, at long last, over with.
"The night before break ends, Potter, I'll be back here for your next Occlumency and Animagus lesson," said Snape, putting on his cloak and getting ready to leave. Harry nodded, "Yes sir." And with that, he left, never looking back at any of them once, and Harry was glad he had gone. Hermione, however, was gazing at the door long after he had left, clearly deep in thought, but Harry did not press the matter as he knew exactly what it was like to wish to be left alone.
That evening Harry and Ron ventured downstairs only when Mr. Weasley shouted "Dinnertime boys!" They came down quietly, hoping that Snape had gone, only to discover that he was in the dining room, seated by Moody, and was, at the moment, in deep discussion about something. He stiffened when Harry and Ron entered the room, then turned back to Moody and refused to look at either of them.
Harry groaned inwardly but said nothing, he and Ron sitting as far away from him as possible. Suddenly the kitchen door opened and Hermione's head popped in, "Hello Harry, Ron! I brought my parents along so we could all spend our Christmas togeth-" her eyes fell on Snape, who merely frowned at her, "What're you looking at Granger?" Her eyes narrowed into slits of anger, and said, "Not much," and disappeared. Ron snorted a laugh, and Snape's eyes flashed rage at him. "S-Sorry," he muttered, staring at the tablecloth.
Mrs. Weasley came in just then and said, "Dinner should be ready in just a moment. Alastor, have you talked to Remus lately? I wanted him to be here tonight too if possible." "Eh, I know he heard about it," said Moody, "but it depends on what's going on...you know." "Right," she said, "well hopefully..." she trailed off, and went back into the kitchen. Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "You think Lupin's off doing something like what Hagrid did last year? Trying to rally the giants on our side or something?"
"Doubt it," said Harry, "although I'll bet he's trying to get the vampires or the werewolves or something for Dumbledore. I mean, that's what he's best at, isn't it? All those sorts of creatures?" "Yeh, definitely," whispered Ron, "I just wonder where he is..."
Just then Hermione entered with her parents, who were clearly looking vexed at feeling so out of place, being the only Muggles in the vicinity. They did, however, see a familiar face. "Professor Snape!" said Mr. Granger, walking over and shaking his hand happily, "Nice to see you again!" Snape looked a little standoffish, as usual, then said, "Yes, hello Mr. Granger. How was your trip here?" "Oh very interesting!" said Mr. Granger, sitting down next to him, "We came here by a Portley!" "No Dad," said Hermione, "Portkey." "Oh right, right, Portkey," he said hastily, "and I must admit this magic business is all extremely clever! I've never heard of such things!"
Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat down next to Harry, "He hasn't stopped since we got here. Been talking to every wizard he can find about how ingenious the whole system is. I'm starting to wonder if he'll even stop to breathe." Mrs. Granger sat next to her husband, and said, "And this is Harry and Ron! I'm afraid we've never been properly introduced, but Hermione speaks very highly of you both!" shaking each of their hands in turn. "Has she now?" said Ron, "That's surprising. She never speaks highly of us when we're around..." Harry stomped on his foot, and Ron bashed his knee on the underside of the table as he pulled away. Hermione glared at him and said, "Yes, well, let's not exaggerate mum..."
Just then Mr. Weasley entered, followed by Mrs. Weasley, each of them carrying platters of food. Then Mr. Weasley spotted Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and said, "Muggles!" "ARTHUR!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, sorry," he smiled earnestly, setting down a large roast turkey in the middle of the table and hurrying back to the kitchen. Mr. Granger looked at Mr. Weasley oddly as he left, then said, "Oh yes I remember now. Muggles are non-magic people, isn't that right?" Hermione nodded, "That's right dad. You and mum are Muggles." "Of course, of course," he said, turning back to his conversation with Moody and Snape, who were both trying to convince him that kappas were real creatures. "They're from Mongolia," said Snape smoothly, "that's why you've never seen one."
"Actually," interjected Hermione, "they're from Japan." Snape's head twanged over to stare at her, "No, they're from Mongolia." "I'm sorry, sir, but you're wrong. They're from Japan," said Hermione. "Hermione! Don't argue with your professor!" said Mr. Granger, "That's no way to behave!" "But I'm right!" said Hermione, "I know I am!" Mr. Granger opened his mouth to chastise Hermione but Snape interrupted, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Granger. After six years of this I've grown quite used to it." Hermione slammed down her fork and stormed out of the room, not to be seen for the next ten minutes.
Harry looked at Ron with raised eyebrows, and they both tried not to laugh. "What on earth has gotten into her?" said Mrs. Granger, "She was fine when we got here..." "Ah, well, unfortunately," said Snape, "she and I had a bit of a spat at the end of June. You see Miss Granger seems to think of me-" Harry purposely interrupted him, not wanting Hermione's parents to find out what had happened, "So Professor, are we going to resume our Occlumency lesson?" Snape looked extremely irritated at Harry's interruption, "Yes, Potter, but not right now obviously. I'm busy discussing things with the Grangers. Do you mind?" Harry shrugged, "Oh sorry, I didn't think, as usual, forgive me..."
Snape gave him a frown as he continued, "As I was saying..." Harry elbowed Ron sharply, "Say something!" he hissed. "Mr. Granger you're from London aren't you?" said Ron loudly. Snape now looked infuriated at being interrupted twice, "WEASLEY! Learn some manners! Don't interrupt me when I'm talking!" "Oh right, Professor, my mistake, sorry," he said. "Now," said Snape, "if I'm allowed to speak...what I was saying before was that apparently Miss Granger thinks of me-"
The dining room door burst open and Hermione stomped in, carrying a textbook, and slammed it down in front of Snape, "There!" she shouted, "From JAPAN!" Snape looked down his hooked nose at the textbook and picked it up, reading the passage carefully. After a minute of silence, he glanced at the cover of the book, then said, "Ah," and flipped a few pages ahead. He pointed to another passage, "Mongolia." "It can't possibly be both," snapped Hermione, "prove it!" "Well, Miss Granger, if you had paused to look," he said, turning to her slowly, "you would know that there are two types of kappas. One type is found in Japan," he extended his index finger, "and the other is found in Mongolia," the middle digit extended, "so clearly, we're both right."
"So why don't you apologize to me then?" said Hermione agitatedly, arms crossed. Snape's eyes narrowed, "For what?" "For telling me I'm wrong," she said easily, triumph in her eyes. "I, Miss Granger, never said you were wrong. I told you that they were from Mongolia and you said that I was wrong. If anything, you owe me an apology." Hermione looked shattered, and could only stutter, "I will never apologize to you for anything." "As I will never apologize to you, now if you'll please pester someone else so I can finish my conversation..."
The slap resounded throughout the room, and Harry and Ron gasped.
"Hey, what's going-?" Mr. Weasley was opening the door to the dining room, and Hermione dashed through it without a second glance. "-on?" finished Mr. Weasley, watching as Hermione bounded up the stairs as fast as she could; a minute later, somewhere in the house, a door slammed shut. "Hermione!" shouted Mr. Granger, "Come back here this instant!" Mrs. Granger jumped to her feet, "Professor, I'm so sorry, I don't understand what the matter is..."
All eyes whipped to stare at Snape, who had a sizeable red handprint on the right side of his face. But rather than begin ranting about Hermione, he merely stood up and said, "Excuse me for a minute."
They could hear his footsteps up the stairs, and Harry and Ron waited for the ensuing shouting match, but nothing came. Mr. Granger got up to go after Hermione but Ron said, "Er, sir, I'd just let her alone. She and Professor Snape have been at odds with each other all year. I'd just let them talk it out." Harry was surprised at Ron's level-headedness; if it had been him that had spoken he probably would have called Snape a stupid old codger. Mr. Granger looked torn, then finally Mrs. Granger said, "Just sit down dear. Let her work it out on her own."
Mr. Weasley, in the meantime, had ducked back into the kitchen and returned with several more platters of food using a Levitation Charm. "Almost ready!" he said, "Just need to finish up with the pumpkin juice!"
Just then a knock resounded on the front door, albeit muffled in the kitchen. "I'll expect that's Fred and George," said Ron, going to answer it. "Sit down Ron, I'll get it," said Mr. Weasley cheerily, "I'm already up anyway." He disappeared for a moment, then the twins appeared, "Happy Christmas Harry! Ron! Did you get our present?" asked Fred. "Yeh, thanks a lot," said Ron grinning, "should be good to dispose of..." He eyed the Grangers, "...uh...trash. Yeh, good trash disposal!"
"Oh, you two are the Weasley twins that own that joke shop are you?" asked Mrs. Granger. "Yes ma'am," said George, "I'm George and this here's Fred. Pleased to meet you," and they both shook her hand. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Granger," said Ron, "just arrived from London." "Oh, then Hermione's around is she?" said George, looking around. The table fell uncomfortably silent. "Er," said George, "maybe not?" "She's indisposed," said Mrs. Granger tightly, "busy at the moment." "Oh, well, that's all right then," said Fred, sitting down beside Ron.
Mrs. Weasley entered just then and said, "Oh good! Fred, George, come help me in the kitchen!" Fred let out a groan of irritation, "Haven't been here for one bloody minute and she's already got us slaving away..."
"...Washing dishes..."
"...Cleaning the rooms..."
"...Beating the house elf..."
"Fred! George! That's enough!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Now come help me or you'll have no dinner!" At this they got up somberly, and Fred held the door open for George.
"You first."
"No no, you go ahead."
"No really, I must insist old boy..."
"I say governor, come along then and go ahead..."
"No really, ladies first..."
"FRED! GEORGE! NOW!"
Harry and Ron laughed as they scurried into the kitchen, looks of mock alarm on their faces, "She'll have us hung up by our thumbs this time!" "Ha," said Ron, "what're they playing at? That's Filch's job!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked taken aback, "At Hogwarts...it's someone's job to hang up students by their thumbs?!" said Mrs. Granger. "Oh no ma'am, he's just joking," said Harry, "I mean, don't get us wrong, Filch tries to, but Dumbledore won't let him. He's always threatening us; doesn't mean it though." "Well he means it," said Ron, "but he just can't get away with it!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger exchanged glances but said nothing, although they looked alarmed.
Harry changed the subject, "So you're both dentists right? Is that very interesting?" This subject of familiarity made both of them feel better as they delved into their profession, and some time passed before Mrs. Weasley came in and said "Dinner's ready! I hope everyone's ready to eat!" "Bloody well starving!" said Ron, lifting up his fork and knife. "No foul language Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, right, sorry," said Ron, smiling apologetically.
Soon Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Moody, Tonks, Mundungus, Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Mr. Granger, and Mrs. Granger were all situated in their seats, and were piling food onto their own plates when Mrs. Weasley said, "Hang on..." She counted silently, mouthing the numbers, "We're missing...where's Hermione and Professor Snape?" George spat out his chicken, "WHO?!" "Mum you didn't invite Snape did you?!" cried Fred. "Yes I did!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Because I wanted us to have a nice big get together for the Order. All we ever do is talk gloom and doom and I wanted us to have a nice celebration for once. Is that all right with you?!"
"Pay them no never mind," said Moody, "we think it's lovely Molly." She sat down promptly, "Thank you." She turned to Harry, "Harry dear...would you mind...fetching the two of them, wherever they are?" "Ah no, of course not," said Harry, eyeing his turkey with longing, "I'll be back in a bit." Ron gave him a wary look, but Harry only said, "Oh I'll be fine now shut up."
Harry shut the dining room door behind him quietly, a little nervous about trekking upstairs. He wasn't sure if he'd find a hexed-to-death Hermione or a hexed-to-death Snape or both, and he could only hope it was none of the above.
As he ascended the staircase he heard voices talking, and he looked up to see Phineas Nigellus conversing with someone in one of the portraits. "Oh," said Nigellus, glancing at Harry, "the Potter boy returns eh?" Harry glared at him, "What of it?" "Nothing," said Nigellus smoothly, "I just didn't expect you to come back after my grandson died in such a stupid way. You were there, weren't you?" Harry narrowed his eyes at him, "Leave me alone Nigellus," and he continued up the stairway. "Young people," said Nigellus, turning back to the other character in the painting beside him, "have no manners. Everything's doom and gloom with them. And don't bother trying to help them, oh no, they'll have none of it."
Harry blocked out Nigellus's voice as he continued upstairs until he arrived at Hermione's room. Surprisingly, neither she nor Snape were dead; instead Snape was saying something beneath his breath to her, and she was merely looking down at her feet as if she were ashamed. "Er," said Harry, "Mrs. Weasley wants you both to come down...if you're ready, that is." Snape said nothing and merely swept back downstairs, leaving Hermione standing there staring at her feet.
"What happened?" said Harry. Hermione looked up, "Nothing. He just told me to be more grateful after he saved my parents and that I should be groveling to him." Harry let out a sound of disrespect, "Oh forget him Hermione. Let's just go eat." She shook her head, "I don't want to." Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Hermione! It's Christmas!" She stared at him for one long moment, then finally said, "You're right. Shouldn't let this ruin it. Let's go." The two of them went back downstairs and a moment later all of them were situated at the table, enjoying some of the best food Harry had ever eaten in his life. Mrs. Weasley enjoyed several complements on her food as the evening progressed, and Harry felt she deserved every last one of them.
About twenty minutes into the dinner, however, somebody familiar poked their head around the dining room door; Professor Lupin. "Remus!" said Mrs. Weasley, standing up, "Glad you made it! I was worried!" Lupin entered the room and sat down at the one empty spot, "As was I. Didn't want to miss a feast, did I?" They continued to eat for quite sometime until there was a loud popping sound, and Harry almost jumped out of his skin when he turned behind him to see a head in a fireplace. "Er," he said, and a few other people noticed the head too; none of them recognized who it was. "Hi," said the head; it was a she, a woman with long black flowing hair and an eyepatch over the left eye, "is Remus in?" Lupin heard his name and bent over around the table to see the woman, "Oh hello Celestia. Is there a problem?" She nodded, chin touching the ashes of the fire slightly, "Yeah, a bit. Erm..." she noticed the other people staring at her, "...could I have a private word?"
"Sure," said Lupin, kneeling down and yanking her out of the fireplace by the hand. A minute later a very tall witch wearing all black stood before them, and she nodded to everyone, then shuffled into the kitchen to speak with Lupin. "Who's that?" asked Ron, pausing from eating his roll. "That's Celestia Jay," said Mrs. Weasley, clicking her tongue disapprovingly, "she's a bit different." "And a damn fine witch," added Moody, drinking from his hip flask, "she's an Auror right now. One of the best of her age, although I disapprove of some things that never go away..." Harry and Ron exchanged glances; what did that mean? "How so sir?" asked Fred inquisitively. "Never you mind young Weasley," said Moody, "it's not for your ears."
Five minutes later Lupin and Jay reappeared, and she nodded at everyone, "Merry Christmas," and disappeared back into the fire; but before she did so, Harry noticed that her eyes lingered on Snape for a minute, and it was not at all a friendly glance. He returned the glare, and finally she climbed into the fireplace and disappeared. Lupin sat down, acting as if nothing had happened, then noticed that Harry was looking at him a little more than usual. "She's a friend of mine Harry," said Lupin easily, "very nice woman. Knows lots of people. Kind of like Mundungus." If he meant the sort of 'people' Dung knew, then Harry understood why she looked so shifty and different. Mundungus usually associated only with people in the underworld, and Jay looked the same. "When you say friend," asked Ron, "do you mean friend or 'friend'?" Everyone giggled with the exception of Snape, who looked extremely put-out as Lupin frowned, "I mean friend."
After everyone had settled down, Lupin leaned forward, "Harry...I need a favor," he lowered his voice even more so, and Ron and Hermione turned about and gave them a minute of privacy. "Can I borrow the Marauder's Map again?" he whispered. Harry nodded, "I'll bring it to the next lesson. What's it for?" Lupin's eyes shifted back and forth, as if checking to make sure that no one else was listening, then said, "That's private Harry. But I'll need it for this year." "Yes sir," said Harry, "I'll bring it next time."
Dinner progressed without much incident except for once when Lupin asked Fred and George how business was coming along. "Oh fine," said Fred, "except the other day...well, you wouldn't believe who came into the store..." George grinned, "Oh yeah. Dumbledore bought about ten canary creams." "Really?" said Ron happily, "That's cool!" "Yeh," commented George, "said he was going to put them in the....what was it...lemon drop jar?" Lupin and Snape both spat out their food, "That's why he's been trying to get me to eat them!" they both said in unison.
Everyone laughed; somehow it wasn't all that surprising that Dumbledore would partake in something so silly. Lupin smiled apologetically, but Snape merely frowned; that, in turn, only made Harry grin a lot wider. Finally, after what seemed like a ton of food, dinner was over; Ron was currently trying to convince Hermione to join him in a game of two on one Wizard Chess against Moody, who only let out a bark of laughter and said "No thanks laddie. I won't have anymore of your tomfoolery for tonight. Besides, my leg's bothering me; I need to take some potion." He stretched his leg, and Harry could have almost sworn he heard it creak with age. "I'll play," interrupted Snape, and nearly the entire table jumped with surprise. "But I'll only play one on one," he added easily.
Harry could tell what was going on; he was challenging Hermione. "I'll play," she said firmly, ignoring Ron's stutters, "let's play right now. Ron, get out your chess set. Hurry it up." Ron stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then slowly pulled out his chess set and handed it to her. Once the pieces had been dumped onto the board they shuffled themselves into place automatically, the black toward Snape and the white toward Hermione. The table lapsed into silence ever so slowly, and soon everyone was staring at the game. Pieces moved back and forth, and occasionally one would shout at Snape or Hermione, but otherwise they remained quiet.
A few people got up to leave once the game approached an hour; Fred and George had to go back to their shops to take care of last minute business, and Lupin said he had to leave for Order business. But he did not leave without telling Harry to owl him the outcome of the game. Eventually, only Harry, Ron, Mundungus, Mr. Weasley, and Moody were left, eyes on the chessboard in complete rapture. The game slowly progressed into two hours; it was now midnight, and Harry could tell Hermione was getting tired. Snape, on the other hand, was wide awake as ever, and Harry noticed that he made no mistakes; he was completely in control of the game. Hermione, however, was not.
Finally, at one o'clock, the game ended; Hermione lost, but not without putting up a fight. And when the game ended, Harry noticed that Hermione acknowledged Snape's win with grace, not with the hatred she had embraced so easily earlier in the evening. It seemed more like a look of understanding between the two of them, and a few minutes later, it was as if none of the fighting of months before had ever occurred. Harry didn't know what had happened, but he was glad it was finally, at long last, over with.
"The night before break ends, Potter, I'll be back here for your next Occlumency and Animagus lesson," said Snape, putting on his cloak and getting ready to leave. Harry nodded, "Yes sir." And with that, he left, never looking back at any of them once, and Harry was glad he had gone. Hermione, however, was gazing at the door long after he had left, clearly deep in thought, but Harry did not press the matter as he knew exactly what it was like to wish to be left alone.