Chapter 5: The Christmas tree
Lynn was the first one up. She got dressed and crept down stairs, her heels clicking as she took each step. Abi always teased her about wearing shoes in the house. She stepped into the kitchen and decided they were having pancakes for breakfast. She made them each two pan size flap jacks and set the table. As she was digging through the cupboard, looking for the syrup, Severus walked in.
"There you are! Ya basturd..." Lynn said standing up with the syrup in her hand "Oh! Severus!"
"I'm going to assume you were talking to the syrup." he said, smirking.
"Oh, yes, sorry about that." she blushed and set the bottle on the table. Severus took a seat as Abi walked in, still in her night clothes and still half asleep. She plopped down across from Severus.
"Mmm...coffee." she took a long drink from her mug. Severus and Lynn exchanged glances. Breakfast continued in silence.
When they were finished, Abi left for work and Lynn took out her wand and cleared the table. She looked at Severus.
"I'm going shopping today. Do you need anything? She asked. He though for a moment.
"Something to do while your gone?" he said
"Aw..." she laughed. He didn't look amused. "Don't worry, there's plenty to do here." she said.
"Like what?" he asked.
"Well, your welcome to use any of my kitchen utensils to brew potions," he considered this, "or you could watch TV, or read a book." she suggested.
"Since I was being rushed out of the castle, I forgot to pack any." he said
"Oh, well, there's a book shelf in the basement. I don't know if any of it will interest you though. There are some books on Quidditch. Do you like Quidditch?" she asked.
"Some what." he replied.
"Ok then. I'll be back in a few hours." she said and left. Once he was sure she was gone, he decided he would examine the house more closely. Lynn was horrible at tours. He got up and soon found himself at Lynn's room. He pushed open the door. The walls were white and the carpet was a deep red. There was a large, black, four poster bed with a deep red canopy. Across from the bed, there was a dresser with a mirror. There were various things strewn on it: jewelry, make-up, brushes, etc. He found a door and opened it. It was a walk in closet. He looked around. I was full of clothes, obviously. He looked down. There were tons of shoes all over the floor. He looked up. There was an equal amount of purses on the shelf. He also noticed two plastic containers. One labeled "Photos" and a smaller one labeled "Articles". He opened the smaller. Inside, there were newspaper clippings. "Featherstone On A Roll: 3 More Death Eaters Caught" one read. There was a picture of Lynn, He put the article back in the box, and the box back on its shelf. He turned around to leave and saw some drawings taped to the inside of the door. They were drawings of clothes. Good drawings. Each one was initialed, "L.F.". Lynn Featherstone. He stepped out of the closet and closed the door. He left Lynn's room and went down to the basement. He found the book shelf Lynn had mentioned and scanned the spines. Most of them were muggle books. Severus continued to look until he found a suitable read. He sat down on the love seat where Lynn had sat the night before and began to read.
Awhile later, Severus set the book down and got up. Bathroom break. He stepped out of the loo a few minutes later just as Lynn walked in the door.
"Oh hello Severus!" she said.
"Hello." he said, "So what exactly did you shop for?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing special." she took off her coat, and threw it on a nearby couch. "Hey! Do you want to help me put up the Christmas tree?" she asked.
"Isn't it a little early?" he asked.
"No, not really. There's only two weeks left. C'mon...please?" she begged.
"Alright fine." he sighed, inwardly happy that he would get to spend time alone with her.
"Brilliant!" she exclaimed. "Don't worry, it will be fun." she smiled at him. "I'll be right back." and she ran to the basement. He plopped down on a chair and waited for Lynn to return. She came back with a box in her hand. She set it down on the nearby coffee table.
"Come over here." she motioned for him to follow. They walked over to a cleared spot next to the spiral staircase. Lynn pulled a miniature pine tree out of her pocket and set it on the floor. She stepped back next to Severus and smiled at him. With one swift flick of her wand, the three inch tree grew to seven feet.
"Impressive." he said.
"Thank you." she retrieved the box from the table and brought it over to the tree. She opened it and inside there were decorations for the tree. Severus bent down to pick one up, when Lynn stopped.
"Wait a minute." she ran over to one of her bags, dug through it, then came back with a small, gift wrapped box. "Here, its for you." She handed him the box. He opened it and pulled out a sparkling black bulb with the name 'Severus Snape' etched on it in green letter. It had very ornate designs all over it.
"See." she pulled two bulbs out of the other box, one that had Abi's name on it and one that had Lynn's name on it. "Me and Abi each have one, so I thought you might like one too since you'll be spending Christmas here."
"Thank you, it's wonderful." he tried a smile, which she returned.
"Your welcome. Now, shall we start on the tree?" she asked.
"Of course." he answered.