A/N: This idea popped into my mind one night, and I simply couldn't sleep until I had written it. It's a combination of the exhileration following the announcement of the release date of Half-blood Prince (only 204 days!), Christmas spirit and too many romantic movies lately. I'm not too sure of how good it is, but I'm posting it anyway. The gypsy reference is a tribute to my friend Lucy (you know who you are!).
Merry Christmas to you all!
Disclaimer: The plot is mine; the characters, places etc. belongs to J.K. Rowling.
The mistletoe
Staring at himself in the mirror, Severus felt utterly miserable. The worst had happened; the worst thing he ever could imagine and there was not one thing he could do about it. Feeling the panic rise in his chest, he let out a sudden stream of profanity, fighting back the overwhelming emotions that threatened to drown him; a mixture between guilt, panic and burning anger.
Forcing himself to remain calm, he turned around and strode from the bathroom into his bedroom, grabbed the hastily thrown frock coat lying on a chair and put it back on, and went into the living room. Taking a deep breath he turned to the man sitting on the couch in front of the fire and said: "Are you absolutely certain, Albus?".
"I'm afraid so, Severus.".
Severus nodded gravely and muttered: "Well, I suppose there really is nothing I can do about it, is there?".
The older man nodded solemnly and broke into a mischievous smile: "But there really is no need to look so depressed, my boy! It is only a Yule Ball we are talking about. I doubt it will kill you to show a little Christmas cheer just once, even if costumes are obligatory.".
Sending the Headmaster a dark look, the Potions Master mumbled: "You would be surprised.".
Hermione Granger was feeling remarkably cheerful. Christmas was no more than a couple of weeks away, and big signs had just appeared on the noticeboards, announcing that there was to be an up-coming Yule Ball with obligatory costumes. It was to be held on the last day of term, just before the students who would spend Christmas with their families left on the Hogwarts Express.
Just a few months ago, the thought of something as odd as a Yule Ball with costumes would have done nothing but depress her. With the ever-looming threat of Voldemort, the fear of losing her friends and family and an excruciatingly difficult year of preparing for her N.E.W.T.s, she would have hated the distraction from more important things. But Voldemort had been defeated by the Boy-Who-Lived at Hallowe'en, the aforementioned boy, her family and her other friends were safe and happy, and she was two months ahead with her study plan, so she allowed herself to look forward to having a wonderful time with her friends.
The entire wizarding world had been had been in somewhat of a frenzy since Harry had faced the Dark Lord in the final battle, and only know were things settling down. The painful years of war had changed many things and taken many lives with them, and it would take a long time for things to return completely to normal.
Not only bad things had followed after the war. Fudge had been kicked out of the Ministry and Arthur Weasley replaced him, Sirius Black had been exonerated postmortem, the Death Eaters either killed or thrown in Azkaban, and those who deserved it had received medals for services to the Light. Especially Severus Snape, the resident bat at Hogwarts, had been awarded richly as a war-hero, and Rita Skeeter had taken a particular interest in writing detailed accounts of his dangerous days as a spy. Not that he ever had much say in those stories; they mostly consisted of what ever Rita's imagination could come up with.
Looking up from the essay she was writing, Hermione stared out of the common room window. Despite the changes in the wizarding world and the revelation of him being a spy, Severus Snape had not changed at all. He was still cruel, sarcastic and sharp-tongued; even his clothes remained the same.
In the days after the death of Voldemort and the following publication of his spying activities, many, especially Hogwarts students, had been convinced that he would change; that his previous behavior had been nothing but a façade he would be eager to shed once it ceased being necessary, but no. Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Head of Slytherin House was still every bit as mean as always.
During the month that had passed since All Hallows Eve, Hermione had found herself being fascinated by the dark man. He had always been an enigma to her, she had always speculated about him and would have thought that he would loosen up just a little after the end of his spying days. To find that he did not seem able to do so had made her wonder about him, about who he could be under all those layers of protective black. Maybe she would get a chance to get to know him at the upcoming dance? Or maybe even catch him under a mistletoe?
The portrait hole suddenly opened and cut off her reverie. Hermione jumped self-consciously to her feet and smiled at Harry and Ron tumbling through the entrance. She had kept her musings about Snape to herself, knowing that the reaction she would from them were she to reveal it was contempt and disbelief. Smiling at the raucous boys, she asked: "So, did you enjoy your Quidditch practice?".
Severus had often cursed at Albus Dumbledore, but never as much as he did the afternoon he was told that he had no way out of attending the Yule Ball, and that he was forced to wear a costume. He spent the next week thinking up every excuse possible, attempting to make the Headmaster see that there was no way he could attend a dance, and even less in a costume.
But it was to no avail.
Albus Dumbledore refused to listen, and Severus finally gave up. He grudgingly began the search for a costume, preparing himself for the inevitable to come with the air of a man sentenced to something worse than death. He had tried to persuade Albus to let him attend in his own robes, assuring him that he could always claim he was a vampire, but Albus had again refused.
And so it was that he found himself in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions on a late Saturday afternoon in the middle of December, looking through the colorful costumes the squat little witch had found for him, when he requested to see the costumes she had.
Severus usually hated to go to Madam Malkin's. It was almost always far too crowded for his liking, and he therefore felt immensely blessed when he walked in that afternoon and found the store virtually empty. He had already been to every other place imaginable in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, even a few places in Knockturn Alley, and only two or three had had actual costumes on sale; none of them to his liking.
Feeling incredibly close to panicking, he cast a last glance over the many robes and sighed irritably. Forcing himself not to snap at the proprietor; who was currently eyeing him with a wary expression; he asked, unable to keep a small note of pleading out of his voice: "Surely you have something a little less.. colorful, Madam?".
Frowning slightly, the plump witch said: "I might actually have something for you, Professor Snape.. If you'd just follow me to the back, I'll show you. It may be colorful, but it will suit you immensely.". She turned around and walked toward the back of the store.
Severus cast a last disapproving look on the other costumes and followed after her, hoping she had something reasonable in mind.
Feeling absolutely thrilled, Hermione happily joined Harry and Ron in The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. An extra Hogsmeade weekend had been arranged for the students, so they could find a costume for the upcoming Yule Ball, and she had been hoping to find what she wanted in Gladrags. Luckily enough, she had found the perfect costume.
Having refused to tell her friends what she was planning on wearing, Hermione shrunk her bags and put them in her inner pocket before entering the inn. Spotting the boys at a table toward the back she waved at them and fought her way through the many students.
"Hi, Hermione. Did you find your costume?", Harry asked as she sat down.
"Yes, I did. I got exactly what I wanted.". Taking a sip of the butterbeer the boys had ordered for her, she gave them a small smile, cutting off Ron before he had a chance to speak. "And no, I'm still not telling you what I'm going as.".
Huffing slightly, Ron muttered: "That's not fair. Harry and I told you our costumes ages ago. You know we're going as professional Quidditch players.".
"Yes, but I told you in advance that it wouldn't get me to reveal mine, didn't I?", Hermione replied, shooting Ron a challenging look. He grumbled slightly but said nothing else, and the conversation soon turned to other subjects. Soon the darkness had gathered outside on the snow-filled street, and the students headed back to Hogwarts castle.
With only a week until the Yule Ball, Severus was getting very nervous. He had never, not even as a student, shown himself in public in anything other than his plain, black robes or on the rare occasion in green at Quidditch matches, and the thought of breaking that habit was nerve-wracking to him. He had continued to plead with Dumbledore, trying desperately to find a way out of attending the Ball, but the Headmaster still wouldn't listen.
Pacing his study at three o'clock in the morning, Severus was grumbling to himself under his breath. He had no more excuses, nothing more he could say. His last resort had failed as well as every other thing he had tried. Stopping momentarily in front of the large, extinguished fire, he recalled the conversation he had had earlier with Dumbledore…
Bursting into the Headmaster's office, Severus had a hard time stopping himself smirking. He had finally found the perfect excuse; something that was guaranteed to free him from the insane idea of attending the Yule Ball.
"Albus! I must leave immediately; I have no choice –my aunt is terribly ill. I sent an owl to her last night, promising her that I will see her before Christmas. I probably won't be back until after the holidays, I am-".
"Calm down, Severus.", the Headmasters said, his eyes uncomfortably glinting. "I happen to know that your only living aunt is doing perfectly fine; in fact I received an owl from her this very morning. She was terribly disappointed in hearing that you have decided to stay at Hogwarts, but felt that it would be for the best. After all, you do have a lot of work to do as a Head of House, don't you?".
Not even bothering to answer, Severus turned around and walked miserably out of the door, ignoring Albus' comment as he left: "I've told you before, don't look so depressed. It's about time you show the students a different side of yourself!".
Groaning, Severus sank onto the couch. "Can my life get any more horrible?", he muttered to himself. For a long time he simply stared into space, then, suddenly, he jumped to his feet. "Why must I be such a fool?! Asking myself such a question is guaranteed to bring unpleasant thoughts to my mind!".
Stalking into his bedroom he slammed the door shut after him, angrily berating himself. If there was anything he hated more than dances, it was when his mind wandered and brought him to think of a certain student. "I have gone crazy, there is no other explanation!".
It was the day before the Ball, and Hermione was staring at herself in the mirror over the sink in the girls bathroom. She had awoken early as usual and gone to the bathroom before the other girls, not wanting to listen to their annoying gossiping and chattering, but she found it quite difficult to get ready.
She had never been much bothered by her looks. After living with her hair for the last seventeen years, she had long given up on taming it. Only once had she managed to make it look nice; at the Yule ball in their fourth year. But as she stared at herself she had suddenly felt horrible; how could she ever go to a dance with hair like that? Sure, she could always use Sleekeasy's Hair Potion again, but it would take her far too long; the costume would take up most of her preparation time. If only she knew someone who could help her..
The door behind her suddenly opened and in wandered the two girls Hermione usually tried to avoid in the mornings. A small smile spreading on her lips, she turned around and said: "Lavender! Parvati! I have a favor to ask of you..".
Severus walked out of his chambers on the night of the Yule Ball, muttering to himself. It was a habit he had developed over the past days, as a way to fight of the nervousness that had overpowered him since he discovered that there was no way he could possibly avoid the dance.
Striding down the long dungeon corridor leading to the Great Hall, he sent a withering look to the few students in the hallway who dared to stare after him in disbelief. He honestly couldn't say that he could blame them; he had done the exact same thing when he saw himself in the mirror just minutes earlier. It wasn't an everyday occurrence to see the Potions Master in something other than his usual black robes, not even for himself.
Pausing at the top of the stairs, Severus shot a last panicked look around him. If only he could have found a way out of this, if only he could have done something to avoid it.. A sudden thought struck him. "Maybe if I threw myself down the stairs, I could be lucky and break a leg –", he muttered to himself, stopping as an image of Albus Dumbledore standing in the Hospital Wing floated into his mind. "No.. Dumbledore will know that it was deliberate..".
Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to remain calm, Severus walked the the last few steps to the doors of the great Hall, pushed them open and walked into the Hall.
Hermione had almost regretted asking Lavender and Parvati for advice on her hair; they had been in her rooms for several hours, chattering in a degree that almost gave her a head-ache, and refused to leave until they had helped her with the rest of her costume. Realizing that she had no way out, Hermione had resigned herself to that fate and allowed them to do as they pleased.
As she was standing in front of her mirror she was really impressed; the two girls had, despite their usually ostentatious taste, managed to make Hermione look exceedingly beautiful in her gypsy costume. Ignoring their smirks she thanked them and took a deep breath; it was now or never.
Walking down to the Great Hall, she tried to fight off the nervousness, increasing with each step she took. Finally reaching the double doors leading into the room filled with festive students and teachers, she took a last deep breath and pushed them open. Walking a few steps into the room, she solidly collided with someone.
Stumbling backward, she only barely managed to stay on her feet. Staring at the tall man in front of her, it took her several seconds to realize who he was; Professor Snape, and he was standing right under a mistletoe in a costume matching hers, as a gypsy. Still staring at him, she noticed the stunned look on his face, and it took them both several minutes to regain their posture. Finally Hermione broke the silence, almost grinning at the thought of Snape under a mistletoe.
"Erhm, Professor? Do you plan on staying in the door way?", Hermione asked, only just suppressing the grin. The scathing look he sent her was enough to quell the desire to laugh, but she still couldn't keep a smile away.
He stared at her for a couple of seconds, then crossed his arms and said: "I would like to remind you, Ms. Granger, that I am still your teacher for another six months, and as such you have no right to be impertinent with me. If I do not wish to move, I will stay here as long as I want to, is that clear?".
Forcing herself to keep her face impassive, Hermione nodded and said: "Quite clear, sir, but if you insist on staying, I'm afraid I'll have to do this..". Standing on tip-toe Hermione slipped her hand behind his head and pulled him down to her, their lips meeting in a chaste kiss.
Pulling back, Hermione whispered: "Merry Christmas, Severus.". Staring at her, only know realizing the truth in his heart Severus whispered: "Merry Christmas, Hermione.", pulling her closer for another kiss.