Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowling's people, places, or items.
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Chapter 23 – 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...
Harry woke up early, trying to think of what exactly what was important about that day. Frowning, he reached for his glasses and slid them on. He opened the drawer of his bedstand and took out the torch, which gleamed. He lit it up and played with it a few seconds before he remembered. Christmas Eve! He thought, Tomorrow everyone will be coming over! He really wanted to see Ron again; he had been getting progressively more bored since they had come home from visiting Silver on Wednesday.
He set the torch down briefly on his bed, and it practically ignited the room in protest.
"Ouch!" he cried, putting his hands over his eyes, "Stop it!"
Immediately the light vanished. He glared down at it.
"Gosh, do you mind if I get dressed?"
He paused a second and thought about what he had just said.
"God help me, I'm talking to a torch."
After he had dressed, he picked it up, slipped it into his pocket, and headed downstairs. Lupin had given up on cooking completely by now, and there were a few nice burn marks on the counters and stove for Mrs. Weasley to take care of when she came over. Harry poured the last of the Frosted Flakes into a bowl, seeing from the dirty bowl in the sink that Lupin had already eaten.
He sat at the table and grabbed a page of the Daily Prophet that Lupin had left on the table. He glanced through...nothing interesting, no wonder he had left it. Lupin was, no doubt, still going through various items in the study. Harry decided that maybe, today, since he was so bored, it wouldn't be so bad to floo his head over to Ron's fire to talk for a while. He wandered into the living room after breakfast and decided to do it.
He grabbed some Floo Powder, threw it in, and then knelt down and stuck his head in the fire.
"The Burrow!" he commanded.
He felt momentarily sick as his head began to seem to spin on its own, as if it had come detached from his shoulders. Finally, though, it stopped, and he was looking into the Weasley's living room. Ginny was sitting on the couch reading a book. Grinning evilly, he greeted her.
"Ginny!"
Ginny screamed and jumped about three feet off the couch, glaring at him when she landed. He couldn't help but laugh, which resulted in him coughing, because he had inhaled some ash. She smiled at him satisfactorily.
"That's what you get for scaring me!" she told him, "I suppose you want to talk to Ron?"
"Yep."
"Alright, I'll see if I can tear him away from his picture of his precious Hermione."
Harry sniggered as she left, remembering to lift his head up so he wouldn't inhale anything he didn't want to. After a few seconds, he heard what was unmistakably Ron charging down the stairs, and then bursting into the room.
"Hey, Harry – wow, your head looks weird!"
"Gee, thanks," Harry answered dryly.
Ron smiled. "I meant because it's not attached to your shoulders, mate."
"I know," Harry assured him, "So anyway, how are you?"
"Pretty good. You must be bored if you've decided to floo your head over."
"I am," Harry replied, "Even though we have pictures that tell the future, a Christmas tree with a personality, and now a torch with...well, something."
"A torch?" Ron echoed, "What torch?"
Harry told him the story of the secret passageway in Sirius' room, and where it had led to, and, eventually, the meeting with Dumbledore about the torch. When he finished, Ron was stunned.
"Wow, mate, I can't wait to see it!" he exclaimed.
"Well, I can do some pretty neat things with it," Harry admitted.
"Mum says you and Lupin visited Snape's house," Ron said suddenly.
"Yeah..." Harry said, proceeding to tell him of how Narcissa and Bellatrix had walked in on their breakfast.
"How can you be bored?" Ron asked indignantly, "So many things have happened to you already!"
"Yeah, getting petrified is really interesting," Harry replied sarcastically, much to Ron's amusement.
"Well, you managed to stay on Snape's good side, right?" Ron asked.
"Uh, not exactly," Harry answered, blushing, "He kind of walked in on me and Silver..."
"What were you doing?" Ron asked excitedly, "Snogging?"
"No, we only kissed once!" Harry replied defensively, "The stupid picture in the hallway ratted us out."
Ron sniggered. "Wow, Harry, you're lucky to be in one piece," he said, sounding impressed, "So were you going to snog her?"
"I don't know," Harry said exasperatedly, "It wasn't really on my mind."
"Oh, sure, what was then?" Ron asked.
"I don't know – her?" Harry said, a bit confused now.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Come on, Harry, you're the only one she'd ever snog, and all the guys at Hogwarts would give their right arm just to kiss her on the cheek!"
"Well have you snogged Hermione?" Harry countered.
"Well...no...but that's different!"
"Yeah, you've only known each other what, six years?"
"Yeah, well at least we're an official couple."
"You're what?" Harry exclaimed.
"I owled her asking her on Tuesday and she said yes," Ron answered smugly.
Harry glared at him.
"Come on, Harry, why haven't you asked her already? She's bound to say yes," Ron encouraged once the smugness had left his face.
Harry didn't answer. Why hadn't he asked her? She would say yes...wouldn't she? He inwardly groaned. He hadn't asked her because he was afraid she would say no.
"Uh, Harry?" Ron probed, "Did you hear me?"
"I guess I just thought she'd say no," Harry admitted sheepishly.
Ron snorted. "Yeah, right. You should see the way she looks at you sometimes. You're, like, her hero or something."
Ron put a hand on his forehead and pretended to swoon down in a faint to the floor, batting his eyelashes and saying in a high, girly voice, "Harry, my hero! I need you! I loooovve you, Harry..."
"Alright, alright," Harry said, grinning despite himself, "I get it."
Ron looked up with a grin from the floor and got into a sitting position. Harry's knees were becoming uncomfortable.
"Ah, my knees hurt," he complained.
"Stop complaining," Ron answered.
"You try kneeling with your head in the fire," Harry shot back, "It's very uncomfortable."
"Yeah, yeah," Ron said, grinning, "So, when I get over there are we going to go down that staircase or what?"
Harry grinned mischievously. "We sure are," he confirmed.
Ron's smile had the slightly evil look that Fred and George's got when they were planning a prank.
"Excellent," he replied, "I wonder where all the other ones lead to."
"I bet you they lead to other people's houses," Harry replied, "It would make sense – apparently Lestrange and Narcissa are spending a lot of time together, so they probably came down from Narcissa's house. I bet all the houses of the dark families are linked."
Ron suddenly frowned. "But wouldn't Lestrange know, then? She could just walk in on headquarters any time."
"Well, maybe she wouldn't because it's Sirius' room," Harry said.
"What did Dumbledore say?" Ron asked.
"Well, I never exactly told him about all the staircases, but he had to figure it out, because I told him that Lestrange and Narcissa came in, and he didn't say anything."
Ron and Harry exchanged glances. They knew that revealing the information about the other staircases would lead to the passageway being sealed off from Sirius' room; therefore making it impossible to go down and explore. On the other hand, nothing had happened yet, so who were they to disrupt the natural order of things?
"Well, I guess...maybe...after we go down, we'll tell them," Ron said.
"Uh, yeah," Harry agreed halfheartedly. Suddenly he felt a pecking on his back, making him jump and cough up the ashes he accidentally took in when he did so.
"Um, I gotta go. My knees really hurt and I think I got a letter," he explained.
"From lovergirl, no doubt," Ron teased, "See you later."
"Bye," Harry replied, pulling his head out of the fire.
Instead of Hedwig, it was a brown barn owl, holding a letter with Lupin's name on it.
"Uh, sorry, I'm not Remus," Harry told the owl, "Follow me."
He led the owl to the study, and then opened the door to let it deliver the letter. Lupin paid the owl and then opened it. As he read, he frowned. Finally he set the letter down, looking unhappy.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort summoned Snape. He had to leave immediately, and he wants us to go get Silver right away, seeing as she's there by herself and he feels that Lestrange or Narcissa may want to drop by while he's not home. Come on, we'll use Floo Powder."
Harry followed Lupin back to the living room.
"Silver's not going to be happy," he commented.
"Probably not," Lupin agreed, "But the important thing is that she's safe."
He handed some Floo Powder to Harry. Harry threw it in, stepped forward, and said, "The Snape Manor!"
He was very proud of himself for landing on his feet, but not so proud of himself for having no clue where he was. Lupin seemed to be thinking along the same lines when he arrived behind Harry.
"Have any clue where we are?" he asked hopefully.
"Nope," Harry replied.
They walked out of the room and almost immediately saw a staircase. As they walked up, Lupin called for Silver.
"Silver? It's us!"
"I'm in my room!" she called back.
They exchanged glances.
"Where's her room?" Lupin asked.
"How am I supposed to know?" Harry replied.
"Well, you were kissing her in it," Lupin insisted.
"Oh, so now I have a radar in my head that tells me where it is," Harry answered sarcastically.
Lupin laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it."
They walked in the direction of Silver's voice, and saw an open door. Upon looking in it, they could see that it was indeed Silver – a very upset Silver. She slammed her trunk shut angrily and then turned to them. For a moment, she looked like she was going to yell at them, but then she stepped into Harry's arms, her eyes tearing up.
"I...hate...Voldemort," she whispered into the front of his shirt.
"I know," Harry assured her, "So do I."
"He...he just...took him away...on Christmas Eve," she whimpered.
"It's early yet," Lupin said reassuringly, "He might be back in time."
She nodded and pulled away from Harry. "I hope so," she said quietly.
She looked over at the window, and seemed to be concentrating very hard. Suddenly Esperanza swooped through, a dead mouse in his beak.
"Sick, spit it out," Silver ordered.
Giving her a reproachful look, Esperanza dropped the mouse out the window.
"I don't care if it's what you usually eat, it's disgusting," Silver said, "Now get in your cage."
Esperanza hooted and didn't budge.
"We have to go, Esp, come on," she said, "Please?"
The owl hooted as it flew into its cage, which Lupin carried, while Harry carried her trunk.
"Uh, which way was the fireplace?" Lupin asked sheepishly once they had come out of her room.
"This way," she answered, walking ahead of them.
She led them to the room they had just come from with ease. Harry could see that she knew her way around the house quite well. There were three jars sitting on the mantle. She picked up one and peered into it.
"Ugh, not this one," she said, replacing it, "It smells horrid."
She picked up a second one. "I think this is it," she said hesitantly, looking at the fire, "You might want to step back, just in case, though."
Lupin and Harry stepped forward protectively as she threw a pinch into the fire. To Harry's relief, the flames turned green.
"In you go, then," Lupin directed her.
She stepped in and said clearly, "Twelve, Grimmauld Place."
The next second, she was gone. Harry threw some powder in, dragged the trunk in after him, and followed suit.
Once he stumbled out of the fireplace, only not falling because of his grip on the trunk, he heard a giggle. He dragged the trunk out of the fire and looked up at her. Their Christmas tree was bowing imperially to her. Lupin arrived in time to see the scene. He grinned.
"May we introduce you to our Christmas tree," he said.
"It's so cute!" Silver exclaimed, as it straightened and extended one of it's long branches to her.
Harry wasn't sure if cute would be exactly the word he would have used to describe it, but it did have a certain charm. Silver extended her hand, and the tree bent over again in what was unmistakably a kiss.
"I think it likes you," Harry said, grinning.
She giggled again, and Harry was pleased that she didn't seem nearly so upset.
"Let's get your things up to your room," Lupin said.
Harry let the other two go first, and then looked at the tree skeptically.
"Thanks for cheering her up," he told it finally.
The tree gave a little shake and what appeared to be a nod. Harry shook his head, still not knowing if he was wholly comfortable with talking to the tree as if it were a person, and followed them up the stairs. When Lupin began to head to Sirius' room, Harry thought of the secret passageway. If his theory had been correct, and there were other houses connected to that passageway, he wasn't sure he wanted her staying there.
"Um, aren't you going to stay in the girl's room now that you and Hermione are getting along?" he asked hopefully.
"Oh..." she said, "Um..."
"Well, its better that she stays in here, Harry, because we took the extra bed out of that room," Lupin replied, "She'll have to sleep in here anyway."
"Oh," Harry replied, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach.
After she set down her things, he practically dragged her from the room, eying the closet uneasily the whole time.
"Harry, is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"No, I just want to show you some new pictures we got in the living room," he said.
She gave him an odd look.
"One of them has horses," he tempted.
"Ooh, really?" she asked, allowing him to lead her more freely.
"Yep, and you see some unicorns in the other one, whenever they wander in. And centaurs..." he paused, wondering whether he should mention the fact that she had also appeared in the picture.
He decided not to worry her by telling her. At the mention of unicorns, he had really gotten her attention, and now it was her dragging him down the stairs. When they arrived in the living room, a butterfly was flying around in the waterfall picture, but, to Silver's disappointment, no unicorns.
"Oh, you got my hopes up and everything," she said disappointedly.
"I didn't say they were there all the time," he defended himself.
She smiled. "No, I don't suppose you did. These horses are beautiful, though."
She was gazing at the farmhouse picture, a smile playing across her lips. Two of the horses in the picture were chasing each other around, and another one was rearing up in hopes of a playmate. The rest were grazing peacefully.
"You don't like the cows?" he teased.
She giggled. "No, you can have them all to yourself," she answered.
He grinned. "No way. You'll have to fight me for the horses," he proposed.
She looked over at him. "Trust me, Harry Potter, you don't want to take me on," she replied seriously.
Harry wiped his face equally straight. "Oh, yes I do," he replied solemnly.
"And what, exactly, are you planning on doing?" she inquired.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I was thinking something like...this!"
He jumped towards her and began to tickle her. She squealed in protest.
"No fair!" she cried, "You didn't give me any warning!"
"All's fair in love and war," he reminded her cheerfully.
She tried to evade him, but he followed her over to the couch. Finally, with a well-placed shove, she managed to trip him, making him fall backwards onto the couch. He could only laugh, half because it was evident that she had not done it on purpose, and half because her laugh was contagious. She plopped down on the other side of the couch near his feet.
"Oh...Harry...oh...my goodness," she laughed, unable to stop.
He grinned, very pleased with himself for making her so happy. He had never seen her laugh so much, and he knew that he was the only one who could make her do so. Finally, stopped and wiped the tears that had come to her eyes from laughing so hard. She looked at him, beaming, and he smiled back, sitting up and scooting over to her. She warily began to move away, causing him to chuckle.
"I won't tickle you, I promise," he vowed.
She allowed him to scoot over to her and put his arm around her.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked, trying to suck up courage.
"Mm-hmm," she replied, contentedly leaning against him.
"Well, I was wondering...if you maybe wanted...to be my girlfriend?" he winced as he said the last part, as if he were expecting a slap.
"Of course," she replied.
His eyes widened. "Seriously?" he asked.
She looked up at him bemusedly. "Did you expect me to say no?" she asked.
"Yes...no...well, kind of," he admitted.
She smiled. "You're so silly sometimes," she chided halfheartedly as she lay her head back down against him.
Although she was in his arms, he could feel her thoughts drift elsewhere.
"Snape'll be back for Christmas," he told her, squeezing her.
"I wonder how sore he's going to be," she replied, "I hear Voldemort's not in a very good mood."
"Well, he chose to do it," he reminded her, "And he has no way to get out of it."
"I know," she said, "I just wish that there was."
Harry didn't quite understand her devotion to Snape, but he knew that if it was important to her, it was important to him.
"Me too," he agreed.
She put her arms around him.
"Harry," she said quietly, "It's not the fact that you said that that makes me feel better – it's the fact that I can tell you're telling the truth."
Harry wasn't sure how to respond, so he just tightened his arms around her for a moment.
"So, kids!" Lupin suddenly exclaimed.
They jumped apart, surprised at his sudden entrance. He walked in with a smile, unaware that he had interrupted anything.
"You two going to help me decorate or what?" he asked.
They exchanged grins and got up to help. In the end, Lupin and Harry ended up with bows stuck all over them (Silver's work), and they finally managed to place a gold wreath above her head, which Lupin stuck on with a sticking charm as he and Harry took all their bows off.
"No fair, you're using magic," she complained, refusing to face them with the wreath on.
"Come on, just let us see and I'll take it off," Lupin promised, while Harry sniggered.
She turned around, and they exchanged glances. It hadn't had quite the effect they wanted. Rather than looking completely ridiculous, although she did to some extent, the shiny gold of the wreath illuminated her face, making her look like a pouting angel.
"Aw, are you sure you want it off?" Lupin teased, "It looks kind of good on you."
"It most certainly does not!" she exclaimed defiantly, although she hadn't seen herself with it.
"Alright, alright," Lupin replied, and with a flick of his wand and a toss of her head, it fell to the floor.
Lupin enlisted Harry's help in hanging it on the door, and when they turned around they found that Silver was still scowling.
"Oh, come on," Harry prompted, "It really didn't look bad anyway!"
"Yes it did!" she replied, giving him an evil glare.
He and Lupin looked at each other and shrugged. Then the three surveyed their work. The house looked very nice, especially the tree, which had refused to let anybody but Silver decorate it.
"The tree looks best," Silver told them smugly.
"Well, when you have a tree that can adjust the ornaments you put on, it tends to look nice," Lupin teased.
She glared at him, but they all knew she didn't mean it. Harry glanced at the mistletoe that was hanging underneath the doorway. He boldly grabbed her hands and dragged her underneath it.
She giggled, not realizing what he was doing. "Harry, what are you –"she began.
Harry looked up and feigned shock. "Oh no!" he exclaimed, pointing upwards.
She looked up and he saw a sparkle in her eyes when she saw the mistletoe.
"Well, guess we only have one choice," he said, as if he would rather do anything else.
She giggled again and let him pull her closer, but a loud crack interrupted.
Snape appeared in the middle of their living room, looking as if he was on the hunt for someone smaller than him so that he could beat them to a pulp.
Silver whisked out of Harry's arms and gingerly hugged Snape, who winced even with her gentleness.
"Severus," Lupin said, sounding surprised, "Back already?"
"Yes," Snape said bitterly, "All I had to do was get my punishment."
Lupin looked as if he wasn't quite sure what to say to this. Then he seemed to get an idea.
"I'll be right back," he informed them, and he disappeared off to the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" Silver asked Snape, worry evident in her eyes.
He looked down at her and patted her head awkwardly.
"I'll be fine," he replied tiredly.
Lupin reappeared holding a vial of something green.
"Muscle Relief Potion," he announced, holding it out to Snape.
"Where'd you get it?" Snape asked as he took it and examined it closely.
"Uh, I have no idea," Lupin answered truthfully, "But I doubt it's poisoned, so drink it."
Snape still looked a bit suspicious as he drank it, but after the first cautious sip he gulped it down. When the vial was empty to the last drop, Snape handed it back.
"Maybe I can sit down now," he commented, taking a seat on the couch.
Silver cautiously climbed on beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. Snape looked down at her amusedly.
"I'm fine, you know," he informed her.
"Of course you're not," she answered, putting her arms around him.
He made an annoyed noise, which caused her to giggle.
"Okay, apparently you are fine," she said, pulling back and looking at him.
"What makes you say that?" he replied.
"Oh, only the fact that you're annoyed with me," she answered innocently.
"Sorry," he apologized, and he sounded sincere.
"Don't be," she replied, smiling, "It's Christmas!"
Lupin and Harry sat down on the couch opposite them.
Snape glanced at the clock, and then at Silver, who was stifling a yawn.
"Bedtime," he informed her.
"But I'm not tired!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, really?" he asked sarcastically, "So you just yawn when you're wide awake?"
"Yes," was her defiant answer.
"Off to bed with you," he said, "It's eleven o' clock."
"But Harry doesn't have to go to bed!" she protested.
"Well, you do," he answered.
"What if I just lay down with my eyes closed?" she begged.
"You'll be out in five minutes flat."
"No I won't!"
Snape regarded her with amusement.
"Fine," he agreed, "But if I break my back carrying you up to bed..."
"I won't fall asleep!" she protested.
"Lay down then, if you must," he said, "But I don't want to see your eyes open!"
She shook her head solemnly and lay down.
Snape rolled his eyes. He and Lupin took up a conversation about Muscle Relief Potions while Harry watched Silver. In less than three minutes, her breathing had deepened and evened out, and it was obvious that she was asleep.
"She's asleep," he announced, interrupting Snape and Lupin.
"Indeed," Snape said, without a trace of surprise in his voice.
"She's a stubborn one," Lupin said amusedly.
"Yes," Snape agreed.
"I think it's time for all of us to be getting to bed, anyhow," Lupin said.
Snape got up and levitated her, carefully directing her out of the room and up the stairs. Lupin and Harry followed.
"Night," Harry yawned as he stumbled into his own room. He hadn't realized how tired he was.
The house was quieter than usual, or so it seemed. After his head hit the pillow, it only took him a few seconds to go to sleep, and the last thing on his mind before he dozed off was that he forgot to say goodnight to the Christmas tree.