Author's Notes: Ron has started down a very dark path; oblivious to the
events he has set in motion. The students get a little holiday cheer, and
Mira and Snape are unwittingly outed as an "item".
Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions. So far, I am a chapter ahead of myself with the upcoming plot in an outline. So, there shouldn't be any skipped weekly updates, at least one chapter per week, hopefully two.
Disclaimer: None of the characters, themes, places, etc. recognized from the books or movies belongs to me.
Chapter 37: Winter Festival
The week preceding the winter festival in Hogsmeade blew by in a flurry of excitement. Most of the professors gave up on serious lessons mid-week. All but Professor Snape, his class sessions were as demanding as always. The sixth-year students were busy learning to make a universal poison antidote that would lessen or reverse the effects of many common poisons. To the students' dismay, Headmaster Dumbledore actually gave Professor Snape permission to have the students test their potions on themselves, after being administered a weak poison that would cause nausea and lightheadedness. Those who didn't succeed with their potion might not be well enough to attend the festival Saturday. So, all of the sixth-years, especially Neville Longbottom, were sweating the results of their potions experiment.
All passed the lesson, more or less. Neville complained of being a little bit queasy, but nobody could be sure if it was because his antidote was not up to par, or because he was so stressed out over the whole ordeal. Potions over for the week, Friday was pretty much a "blow-off" day at Hogwarts; the students were too excited to concentrate on anything but the festival.
Friday evening, the mayor of Hogsmeade had arranged for decorations to go up along the main streets and in the town square. Twinkling light charms were cast in all the trees, and a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the town square was decorated with sparkling ornaments and shimmering bows. The season had been mild so far, there was no snow on the ground, and the weather would be chilly but pleasant all weekend. The bandstand was decorated with the twinkling light charm and a garland of holly and ivy, in preparation for the carolers and enchanted bell choir.
Mira spent Friday evening stocking the store with smaller gift items: Shawls, pouches, hair combs, wand cases, etc. She hung evergreen garland around the window and placed a wreath on the door. Satisfied that everything was ready for the onslaught of shoppers that would besiege the village in the morning, she went upstairs to bed.
Before putting out the lamp, she re-read the message that had arrived via owl early in the week. The professor's conference had gone well, but there was a problem with some items going missing from his lab. He would be more than happy to join her for a drink Saturday evening, but under no circumstances was he interested in straying near the town square. He would meet her at the shop a quarter past eight. And yes, he has missed their Saturday night together too.
She smiled and rolled the parchment back up and tucked it away in her bedside table. She fluffed her pillow, extinguished the lamp, and tucked the blankets under her chin. Excited, but not about the festival. She could give a damn about the silly festival. She would be counting the hours until eight o' clock. She chuckled to herself before drifting off to sleep. "You've got it bad, girl. You've really got it Bad.."
Morning came quickly, and the village was crowded with locals and day- trippers who had arrived for shopping and the festival. Shortly after noon, the students from Hogwarts started to arrive in town. Business was brisk, many witches and wizards came through the store, purchasing trinkets for their loved ones and ordering special robes for Yule balls. Mira could have used Tricia's help. She reminded herself to ask Albert permission to hire temporary help for such future occasions.
The Gryffindor Trio arrived in Hogsmeade, and went immediately to Honeyduke's sweet shop, where they found such holiday delicacies as candy canes with red ribbons of moving color spiraling up their length, like barber poles. Pockets full of candy, they spent the afternoon and early evening visiting with classmates and listening to the carolers and bell choir in the town square. Ron excused himself, under the guise of picking up a new quill at the general store, and sneaked away to Treadle's to purchase Hermione's Christmas gift.
He opened the door, and a large string of sleigh bells jingled against the inside of the door. Mira was taking the last measurements of an older witch, for a Yule Ball robe. Red velvet trimmed in golden holly leaf ribbon. She called out to Ron that she'd be with him in just a second. The old witch gathered her copy of the order form and went about her way. Mira bundled the sample fabric and trim with the measurement form and set it in a box behind the counter, with the rest of the special orders. She turned to Ron, who was browsing through a basket of shawls.
"Hi there, what can I do for you this afternoon?"
Ron turned and blushed scarlet, remembering when he had seen Mira last. It didn't help that she was wearing a figure-hugging robe that had a low neckline edged in fur trim. He looked down at his shoes, completely flustered, and stammered to her: "Ummm. Er. I'm looking for a Christmas present for my girlfriend. Something really special."
"Oh I remember you. You bought her a pretty little pouch at the start of term, didn't you?"
Ron blushed even redder and nodded his head.
"Well, I've got some shawls in the same color scheme. And I think there is even a matching wand-case somewhere over by the window, in the box of pouches."
Ron looked around, and then back at Mira, making a concentrated effort to look at her face, not a foot lower.
"Well, I remember seeing some hair combs last time that were lovely. Do you have any more?"
"Sure, we've got lots of hair combs left. How much were you wanting to spend?"
"No more than fifty galleons."
"Well now, fifty galleons will buy a very special set of combs. She's a very lucky girl to have a boyfriend as generous as you."
"I earned the money running errands."
"And you're spending it on your sweetheart, instead of down at the candy shop and quidditch shop? Aren't you quite the little romantic?"
Ron blushed again and thought at how much Hermione would love the combs, and how everybody would "oooh and aaah" over them. Mira brought a velvet lined display box out from behind the counter. She pulled four pairs of hair combs out and placed them on the counter. Two were silver, two bronze.
"What color hair and eyes does she have?"
"Brownish hair, and eyes the same, brownish."
Mira moved two pairs to the front of the selection. A bronze pair with lovely champagne colored pearls, and a silver pair with honey colored amber stones.
"These two are both forty galleons a pair. The next least expensive are sixty. The pearls are genuine, as are the amber stones. Personally, I favor the bronze ones for a woman with warm coloring. The bronze will pick up the golden highlights in her hair."
Ron fingered the pearls, imagining how lovely the combs would look in Hermione's hair. And how envious all the other Gryffindor girls would be once they saw them.
"I'll take them. Can you wrap them up extra special?"
Mira placed the combs in a small silk pouch, and the pouch in a small gift box. She wrapped the box in shimmery gold paper, and tied it with a lush red velvet ribbon, catching a sprig of real holly in the bow. Ron counted out the coins and placed them on the counter in small stacks. With twenty galleons left, after the combs and his candy at Honeyduke's, he had more than enough to pick out a pretty pouch for his mother. Mira wrapped the pouch just as extravagantly as the combs and stepped out from behind the counter to walk Ron to the door.
Ron pocketed the gifts and was overly conscious of her perfume, and the feel of the soft fur that edged the sleeves of her robe brushing his cheek as she reached around his shoulder to open the door for him. He turned to thank her and found himself very close. Too close for comfort. Blushing beetroot red, he stammered a thank you and darted out the door and into the lane, where he met Hermione and Harry walking towards the café. Hermione looked at him with a quizzical look.
"Ron, what were you doing in Treadle's? I thought you were going to pick up a quill?"
"Oh, I wanted to get mum a Christmas present, I bought her a pouch like yours. She can carry her hankie and other things in it."
"Aren't you sweet Ron!"
Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione took Ron's hand and kissed him on the cheek. The trio crossed the street to the café, which had little heating cauldrons under every table, and a levitating mass of twinkling lights forming a sparkling canopy overhead. They were meeting some other sixth- year students for cocoa before heading to the town square to watch the grand finale of the performances at nine.
At eight o' clock, Mira locked the door to the store and flipped the sign to closed. She went to the back room, brushed her hair, powdered her nose, and dabbed on some fresh perfume. Ten minutes to spare, she killed time straightening up the sales floor, refolding the shawls and organizing the pouches in their box. The special orders could wait until morning. No need to send the owl out tonight.
Ron kneed Harry under the table and motioned across the street. A dark cloaked figure was walking towards the tailor shop.
"I'll give you three guesses who that might be."
Hermione looked up from her cocoa and conversation with Parvati and Padma Patil.
"I told you both, we shouldn't spy on people, it's not nice."
Neville looked at Harry quizzically.
"What's she talking about Harry? Who are you spying on?"
Ron cleared his throat and smirked. He motioned for the others to lean in over the table.
"Okay. See the store across the street? That's Treadle's Tailor Shop. See the man who just walked up to the door?" They surreptitiously looked across the street and then back to Ron, nodding their heads. "Right, well that's Professor Snape. He fancies the woman who works in the tailor shop, and he comes down from Hogwarts to meet her on Saturday evenings."
Parvati and Padma both dropped their jaws. "No way Ron, you're pulling our legs!"
"I am not, just watch."
They all watched the store across the street while pretending not to be watching. A woman came to the door, unlocked it, and let the cloaked man in.
Hermione sighed and shot Ron a dirty look. "Look, it's not our business. I think it's wrong to spy on people's personal lives."
Parvati shushed her, and the group of students watched intently as the woman re-locked the door and turned to face the cloaked man. He reached out and stroked the fur on the neckline of her robe with the back of his hand. Blushing, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She turned and headed into the back room, motioning that she would be right back.
Padma turned back to Ron. "Ron Weasley, you are having a go at us. That could be anybody under that cloak."
Neville piped up. "No, look. I think it really is him."
The cloaked man dropped his hood and shook his hair out. He walked over to the counter, and picked up a small item off of one of the displays and looked at it more closely.
Padma and Parvati looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. "No way! They turned back to Ron. "Ron, you're right! How long have they been seeing each other?"
"For quite a while I suppose. I know that he fancied her back before the battles started."
They watched, huddled over their steaming mugs, as Mira came back out wearing a cloak over her robe. The professor walked her to the door, they exited the shop, and she locked the door behind them. They pulled their hoods up, he slipped his arm around her waist, and they headed off down the street.
Padma turned back to the group, eyes big. "You guys, this is the hottest piece of gossip to have hit the school in months, and you just sat on it?"
Hermione bristled and sat up primly in her seat. "Honestly. I don't see what the big deal is. So, Professor Snape's got a lady-friend. And? I really feel strange gossiping about it and spying on them. It's just not right."
Parvati rolled her eyes. "Oh pull the plug out of it Hermione! I, for one, am shocked. He can be such a bastard in class, what kind of woman would be at all interested in him? I mean, what on Earth could she find remotely appealing? I shudder to think!"
Padma elbowed her sister in the ribs playfully. "Well you know, Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin got in trouble for deliberately trying to score detention with him. I bet they'll really freak out when I tell them he's not even on the market anymore."
Hermoine finished her drink and got up from her chair. "Look, when you lot decide to grow up and stop gossiping about teacher, you can join me at the bandstand."
Padma and Parvati giggled. Ron jumped up and followed Hermione. After finishing their drinks, the other four got up to leave. Neville helped a giggling Padma into her cloak, and the foursome went to find Ron and Hermione.
The Hog's Head Tavern was nearly deserted. Almost all the villagers were in the town square, watching the performances, or lingering at the shops, which were open late for holiday shopping. Mira and the professor sat at a large booth at the back of the tavern, where they would have some peace and quiet. They drank a round of hot mulled wine, the spicy steam warming their faces from the walk across the village. After a while, a small crowd of people started straggling into the tavern, the festivities were coming to an end. Mira nudged the professor on the arm.
"Come on, let's head back before this place really fills up. I've had it with crowds today."
Snape helped her into her cloak, and paid the barmaid for the drinks. Outside the tavern, they had to wait for a large group of people to pass before heading back towards the tailor shop. Mira felt as if she were being watched. She looked around and saw a group of students from the school staring at her and the professor. Mira recognized the redheaded boy as the one who bought the present for his girlfriend. As soon as she made eye contact with them, they looked away with embarrassed looks on their faces. The two dark haired girls pointed and whispered in each other's ears, giggling. The crowd passed, and they continued on their way back to the tailor shop for some time alone, before the professor had to return to the school.
Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions. So far, I am a chapter ahead of myself with the upcoming plot in an outline. So, there shouldn't be any skipped weekly updates, at least one chapter per week, hopefully two.
Disclaimer: None of the characters, themes, places, etc. recognized from the books or movies belongs to me.
Chapter 37: Winter Festival
The week preceding the winter festival in Hogsmeade blew by in a flurry of excitement. Most of the professors gave up on serious lessons mid-week. All but Professor Snape, his class sessions were as demanding as always. The sixth-year students were busy learning to make a universal poison antidote that would lessen or reverse the effects of many common poisons. To the students' dismay, Headmaster Dumbledore actually gave Professor Snape permission to have the students test their potions on themselves, after being administered a weak poison that would cause nausea and lightheadedness. Those who didn't succeed with their potion might not be well enough to attend the festival Saturday. So, all of the sixth-years, especially Neville Longbottom, were sweating the results of their potions experiment.
All passed the lesson, more or less. Neville complained of being a little bit queasy, but nobody could be sure if it was because his antidote was not up to par, or because he was so stressed out over the whole ordeal. Potions over for the week, Friday was pretty much a "blow-off" day at Hogwarts; the students were too excited to concentrate on anything but the festival.
Friday evening, the mayor of Hogsmeade had arranged for decorations to go up along the main streets and in the town square. Twinkling light charms were cast in all the trees, and a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the town square was decorated with sparkling ornaments and shimmering bows. The season had been mild so far, there was no snow on the ground, and the weather would be chilly but pleasant all weekend. The bandstand was decorated with the twinkling light charm and a garland of holly and ivy, in preparation for the carolers and enchanted bell choir.
Mira spent Friday evening stocking the store with smaller gift items: Shawls, pouches, hair combs, wand cases, etc. She hung evergreen garland around the window and placed a wreath on the door. Satisfied that everything was ready for the onslaught of shoppers that would besiege the village in the morning, she went upstairs to bed.
Before putting out the lamp, she re-read the message that had arrived via owl early in the week. The professor's conference had gone well, but there was a problem with some items going missing from his lab. He would be more than happy to join her for a drink Saturday evening, but under no circumstances was he interested in straying near the town square. He would meet her at the shop a quarter past eight. And yes, he has missed their Saturday night together too.
She smiled and rolled the parchment back up and tucked it away in her bedside table. She fluffed her pillow, extinguished the lamp, and tucked the blankets under her chin. Excited, but not about the festival. She could give a damn about the silly festival. She would be counting the hours until eight o' clock. She chuckled to herself before drifting off to sleep. "You've got it bad, girl. You've really got it Bad.."
Morning came quickly, and the village was crowded with locals and day- trippers who had arrived for shopping and the festival. Shortly after noon, the students from Hogwarts started to arrive in town. Business was brisk, many witches and wizards came through the store, purchasing trinkets for their loved ones and ordering special robes for Yule balls. Mira could have used Tricia's help. She reminded herself to ask Albert permission to hire temporary help for such future occasions.
The Gryffindor Trio arrived in Hogsmeade, and went immediately to Honeyduke's sweet shop, where they found such holiday delicacies as candy canes with red ribbons of moving color spiraling up their length, like barber poles. Pockets full of candy, they spent the afternoon and early evening visiting with classmates and listening to the carolers and bell choir in the town square. Ron excused himself, under the guise of picking up a new quill at the general store, and sneaked away to Treadle's to purchase Hermione's Christmas gift.
He opened the door, and a large string of sleigh bells jingled against the inside of the door. Mira was taking the last measurements of an older witch, for a Yule Ball robe. Red velvet trimmed in golden holly leaf ribbon. She called out to Ron that she'd be with him in just a second. The old witch gathered her copy of the order form and went about her way. Mira bundled the sample fabric and trim with the measurement form and set it in a box behind the counter, with the rest of the special orders. She turned to Ron, who was browsing through a basket of shawls.
"Hi there, what can I do for you this afternoon?"
Ron turned and blushed scarlet, remembering when he had seen Mira last. It didn't help that she was wearing a figure-hugging robe that had a low neckline edged in fur trim. He looked down at his shoes, completely flustered, and stammered to her: "Ummm. Er. I'm looking for a Christmas present for my girlfriend. Something really special."
"Oh I remember you. You bought her a pretty little pouch at the start of term, didn't you?"
Ron blushed even redder and nodded his head.
"Well, I've got some shawls in the same color scheme. And I think there is even a matching wand-case somewhere over by the window, in the box of pouches."
Ron looked around, and then back at Mira, making a concentrated effort to look at her face, not a foot lower.
"Well, I remember seeing some hair combs last time that were lovely. Do you have any more?"
"Sure, we've got lots of hair combs left. How much were you wanting to spend?"
"No more than fifty galleons."
"Well now, fifty galleons will buy a very special set of combs. She's a very lucky girl to have a boyfriend as generous as you."
"I earned the money running errands."
"And you're spending it on your sweetheart, instead of down at the candy shop and quidditch shop? Aren't you quite the little romantic?"
Ron blushed again and thought at how much Hermione would love the combs, and how everybody would "oooh and aaah" over them. Mira brought a velvet lined display box out from behind the counter. She pulled four pairs of hair combs out and placed them on the counter. Two were silver, two bronze.
"What color hair and eyes does she have?"
"Brownish hair, and eyes the same, brownish."
Mira moved two pairs to the front of the selection. A bronze pair with lovely champagne colored pearls, and a silver pair with honey colored amber stones.
"These two are both forty galleons a pair. The next least expensive are sixty. The pearls are genuine, as are the amber stones. Personally, I favor the bronze ones for a woman with warm coloring. The bronze will pick up the golden highlights in her hair."
Ron fingered the pearls, imagining how lovely the combs would look in Hermione's hair. And how envious all the other Gryffindor girls would be once they saw them.
"I'll take them. Can you wrap them up extra special?"
Mira placed the combs in a small silk pouch, and the pouch in a small gift box. She wrapped the box in shimmery gold paper, and tied it with a lush red velvet ribbon, catching a sprig of real holly in the bow. Ron counted out the coins and placed them on the counter in small stacks. With twenty galleons left, after the combs and his candy at Honeyduke's, he had more than enough to pick out a pretty pouch for his mother. Mira wrapped the pouch just as extravagantly as the combs and stepped out from behind the counter to walk Ron to the door.
Ron pocketed the gifts and was overly conscious of her perfume, and the feel of the soft fur that edged the sleeves of her robe brushing his cheek as she reached around his shoulder to open the door for him. He turned to thank her and found himself very close. Too close for comfort. Blushing beetroot red, he stammered a thank you and darted out the door and into the lane, where he met Hermione and Harry walking towards the café. Hermione looked at him with a quizzical look.
"Ron, what were you doing in Treadle's? I thought you were going to pick up a quill?"
"Oh, I wanted to get mum a Christmas present, I bought her a pouch like yours. She can carry her hankie and other things in it."
"Aren't you sweet Ron!"
Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione took Ron's hand and kissed him on the cheek. The trio crossed the street to the café, which had little heating cauldrons under every table, and a levitating mass of twinkling lights forming a sparkling canopy overhead. They were meeting some other sixth- year students for cocoa before heading to the town square to watch the grand finale of the performances at nine.
At eight o' clock, Mira locked the door to the store and flipped the sign to closed. She went to the back room, brushed her hair, powdered her nose, and dabbed on some fresh perfume. Ten minutes to spare, she killed time straightening up the sales floor, refolding the shawls and organizing the pouches in their box. The special orders could wait until morning. No need to send the owl out tonight.
Ron kneed Harry under the table and motioned across the street. A dark cloaked figure was walking towards the tailor shop.
"I'll give you three guesses who that might be."
Hermione looked up from her cocoa and conversation with Parvati and Padma Patil.
"I told you both, we shouldn't spy on people, it's not nice."
Neville looked at Harry quizzically.
"What's she talking about Harry? Who are you spying on?"
Ron cleared his throat and smirked. He motioned for the others to lean in over the table.
"Okay. See the store across the street? That's Treadle's Tailor Shop. See the man who just walked up to the door?" They surreptitiously looked across the street and then back to Ron, nodding their heads. "Right, well that's Professor Snape. He fancies the woman who works in the tailor shop, and he comes down from Hogwarts to meet her on Saturday evenings."
Parvati and Padma both dropped their jaws. "No way Ron, you're pulling our legs!"
"I am not, just watch."
They all watched the store across the street while pretending not to be watching. A woman came to the door, unlocked it, and let the cloaked man in.
Hermione sighed and shot Ron a dirty look. "Look, it's not our business. I think it's wrong to spy on people's personal lives."
Parvati shushed her, and the group of students watched intently as the woman re-locked the door and turned to face the cloaked man. He reached out and stroked the fur on the neckline of her robe with the back of his hand. Blushing, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She turned and headed into the back room, motioning that she would be right back.
Padma turned back to Ron. "Ron Weasley, you are having a go at us. That could be anybody under that cloak."
Neville piped up. "No, look. I think it really is him."
The cloaked man dropped his hood and shook his hair out. He walked over to the counter, and picked up a small item off of one of the displays and looked at it more closely.
Padma and Parvati looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. "No way! They turned back to Ron. "Ron, you're right! How long have they been seeing each other?"
"For quite a while I suppose. I know that he fancied her back before the battles started."
They watched, huddled over their steaming mugs, as Mira came back out wearing a cloak over her robe. The professor walked her to the door, they exited the shop, and she locked the door behind them. They pulled their hoods up, he slipped his arm around her waist, and they headed off down the street.
Padma turned back to the group, eyes big. "You guys, this is the hottest piece of gossip to have hit the school in months, and you just sat on it?"
Hermione bristled and sat up primly in her seat. "Honestly. I don't see what the big deal is. So, Professor Snape's got a lady-friend. And? I really feel strange gossiping about it and spying on them. It's just not right."
Parvati rolled her eyes. "Oh pull the plug out of it Hermione! I, for one, am shocked. He can be such a bastard in class, what kind of woman would be at all interested in him? I mean, what on Earth could she find remotely appealing? I shudder to think!"
Padma elbowed her sister in the ribs playfully. "Well you know, Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin got in trouble for deliberately trying to score detention with him. I bet they'll really freak out when I tell them he's not even on the market anymore."
Hermoine finished her drink and got up from her chair. "Look, when you lot decide to grow up and stop gossiping about teacher, you can join me at the bandstand."
Padma and Parvati giggled. Ron jumped up and followed Hermione. After finishing their drinks, the other four got up to leave. Neville helped a giggling Padma into her cloak, and the foursome went to find Ron and Hermione.
The Hog's Head Tavern was nearly deserted. Almost all the villagers were in the town square, watching the performances, or lingering at the shops, which were open late for holiday shopping. Mira and the professor sat at a large booth at the back of the tavern, where they would have some peace and quiet. They drank a round of hot mulled wine, the spicy steam warming their faces from the walk across the village. After a while, a small crowd of people started straggling into the tavern, the festivities were coming to an end. Mira nudged the professor on the arm.
"Come on, let's head back before this place really fills up. I've had it with crowds today."
Snape helped her into her cloak, and paid the barmaid for the drinks. Outside the tavern, they had to wait for a large group of people to pass before heading back towards the tailor shop. Mira felt as if she were being watched. She looked around and saw a group of students from the school staring at her and the professor. Mira recognized the redheaded boy as the one who bought the present for his girlfriend. As soon as she made eye contact with them, they looked away with embarrassed looks on their faces. The two dark haired girls pointed and whispered in each other's ears, giggling. The crowd passed, and they continued on their way back to the tailor shop for some time alone, before the professor had to return to the school.