Chapter 17: A Christmas Promise

Although most of the students were gone, the school was still buzzing with activities. The house elves, of the school, moved around more freely in the daylight hours, cleaning and polishing and getting the school ready again for the arrival of the well rested and newly renewed students. The castle was always kept as clean as magically possible when the students were around but when they were not the house elves did a little extra to make everything really shine. The armor was polished and the tarnish was removed, candles were renewed, floors were scrubbed and waxed, the paintings were dusted and cleaned, much to the enjoyment of the inhabitants, and nearly every inch of the castle sighed with relief to be rid of the dirt and grim that it had collected over the first half of the school year. Winky, the house elf, spent most of her time helping Belinda in her classroom. She had given up her butter beer and worked even harder for Dumbledore, as Belinda had told her to, make her old and her new masters very happy. She was thrilled when Belinda aloud her to spend the holiday time with the Cross family as she had spent, in the past, with the Bellatour's. Belinda and her children had become quite fond of the charming and obedient little house elf and Belinda remembered all the wonderful times she had spent as a child with the little elf, who was finally happy again.

Harry, Ron, Amelia and Dominic had visited the kitchen on their way into the castle and decided that a real holiday dinner was in order. Amelia had located Winky in the crowd of house elves and asked she to help with some dinner preparations. Winky was more than happy to help Amelia and recruited Dobby to help as well. Harry, Ron and Dominic rushed up to Belinda's class room surprising her with the noise as they started to move around desks to prepare a table for the holiday banquet. Dobby gathered linens, china and cutlery and brought it up to the room and before anyone even noticed that he was there he ran back to the kitchen to help with the dinner. The table was set, candles were lit and Harry, Ron and Dominic had changed out of the cloths they had worn outside, into nicer more formal wears for the dinner they had planned for Belinda. The lights and decorations in the room sparkled with the colours of the season as Belinda came down from her sleeping quarters dressed in a lovely pail green robe she was saving for a special formal occasion. She couldn't think of anything better to wear for this special dinner. Dominic ran to his mother and hugged her as she came down, "you look awesome mum," he smiled as he led her to the head of the table.

"You kids have done too much," she smiled as she hugged Harry and Ron on her way.

Winky and Dobby followed by a few of the other house elves bustled into the room with platters of food and drink and set them on the newly set table. Dobby and Winky stayed behind as the other elves left the room and Harry invited Dobby to stay as Winky walked up to Belinda's side and smiled ear to ear. Winky had been wearing a small blue dress that was made for her when she was released from her most resent ex-master but was happy and proud to wear it for the dinner that was planned for Belinda. Dobby wore a mish mash of different clothing pieces that he was very proud of, including the sock that Harry gave him as his first piece of clothing, which he now saved for special occasions. Belinda laughed at the house elves, seeing how excited they were.

After preparing the meal with Winky, Amelia ran up to the Gryffindor dormitory to change. She put on a pail pink dress she had stashed in her trunk, in the hopes that she might get to wear it but knowing it was not up to school dress code even for casual dress. It wasn't a very casual dress by any means but it would suit a fancy formal dinner that had been hastily planned. She rushed out of the common room entrance and ran right into Professor Snape.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Amelia said frightened and almost to the point of tears, "I didn't see you!"

"Where do you think you are going dressed like that?" Snape asked angrily.

"To a small formal dinner we planned for my mother," Amelia said looking at the floor.

"It is not dress code for even casual dress and it is not a dress robe, you should not be wearing it, or even posses it in this school," Snape stated as cold as the wind that blew outside the castle walls.

"But it is the holidays," Amelia said quietly, "no one will see me but my family because I am going straight to my mother's class room."

"It doesn't make any difference," Snape snapped, "it is not permitted in this school!"

"But Professor," Amelia persisted, "I am sure that no one that is left in the school would mind, not even Professor Dumbledore and I'm sure if you came to the dinner you would feel the same way about my formal attire. Please join me and my family for dinner," she said trying to smile.

"No thank you," Snape said his face like stone, "and you will change into proper attire before going yourself!"

"Yes sir," Amelia sighed and walked back into the Gryffindor common room, "I'll show you!" she growled to herself as she ran up the stairs to her dormitory, "I know you'll be waiting," she said to herself as she threw her school uniform onto her bed. She put on her white shirt, over the pink spaghetti strap dress. Buttoned it to the top, tied on her Gryffindor tie, pulled over her grey sweater and looked at herself in the mirror, "can't even tell," she smiled. She then slipped off her white sandal shoes and pulled on her knee-high white socks. Followed those with her black pleated skirt that reached to her knees and was only an inch longer than her dress, "I knew it!" She said happily and pulled on her black shoes, "just in case," she pulled on her black Hogwarts robe and placed the small white sandals in the inner pockets of her cape, "what you don't know, can't hurt you!" Amelia smiled as she looked over herself in the mirror and left her hair as she had fixed it. She then raced down the stairs and back out the common room door and came face to face with Professor Snape, "is this better?" she asked sadly.

Snape stared at her for a few moments, gave out and angry sigh and waved her on.

"Are you sure you won't join us Professor," she asked as he turned his back to her.

"No!" he snapped and continued down the hall.

"Good, you wouldn't have been welcome by anyone but my mother anyway," Amelia thought to herself as she ran toward her mothers room. As she arrived at the door she composed herself again and put on a nice smile to walk in by.

Amelia couldn't believe her eyes. The room was more beautiful than she had ever seen it before. The boys had done a wonderful job of setting it up and her mother and Winky had gone to great lengths to make the room as welcoming and cheerful as they could. Ron, Harry and Dominic sat to either side of Belinda who was now at the head of the table. All were dressed quite formally and enjoying each others company when Amelia walked in, in her school uniform.

"Um . . . Amelia, it was your idea to go formal for this dinner," Dominic stated looking at her outfit.

"Yeah and we vowed to each other that we would not even take our school uniforms out of our trunks before classes started again!" Ron stated.

"I know," Amelia sighed as she walked closer to the table.

"What happened dear?" her mother asked, "you look quite upset."

"Snape," Amelia growled as she threw her white sandals on the floor and removed her black robe.

"Amelia, What are you doing?" Dominic gasped as he watched her start to take off her skirt.

"Defying Professor Snape," she said to reveal the bottom of her pink dress.

"What did he do?" Harry asked as she took off her shirt.

"Told me this wasn't formal enough for the school," Amelia smiled as she tapped her school uniform, that lay on a side desk, with her wand and it turned into a brightly wrapped Christmas present, "what he doesn't know . . . won't get me in trouble!"

"Nice!" the boys said together.

"All right Amelia, you look beautiful," her mother smiled, "come let's eat, Dominic looks starved."

"I am!" Dominic laughed.

"You always are!" Ron joked as Amelia walked around the table and sat down beside him.

"Happy Christmas!" a voice boomed from the door.

"Ah Dumbledore," Belinda smiled, "so glad you could make it!"

"Holiday feasting... I wouldn't miss it for all the candy frogs in the world," Dumbledore laughed.

"I hope you all don't mind but I invited Professor Dumbledore to join us," Belinda said to the children.

"Not at all," Amelia smiled, "had we seen you on our way Professor, we would have invited you ourselves."

"Why thank you," he smiled and walked to the other end of the table. He sat directly across from Belinda with Amelia at his right and Harry at his left.

"Then let us eat," Belinda said and Dobby and Winky began got uncover the dishes that were prepared.

The meal was delicious and well prepared, a well thought out traditional, holiday feast, including everything from turkey and ham to some not so traditional magical recipes. The conversation was light and happy. The candles glowed bright and even a hint of Christmas music could be heard.

"Where is that music coming from?" Dominic finally asked.

"My hat," Dumbledore smiled, "it's a lovely little trick I like to perform!"

"You bewitched you hat to play Christmas music," Ron asked confused.

"Yes Ron," Dumbledore laughed.

"Quite into the holiday aren't you Dumbledore," Belinda asked from the other end of the table.

"My favorite part of the year," he smiled back.

"You can tell," Amelia smiled.

"Can you really?" Dumbledore asked as his eyes sparkles through his half moon spectacles.

"Yes," Amelia giggled, "you even look like father Christmas!" she added, "the red robe, trimmed in white rabbit fur, the twinkle in your eyes, the joyfulness in your voice and a hat that is enchanted to play music."

"Yes, I suppose it is a bit obvious!" Dumbledore laughed, "and what is a holiday feast without a little desert?" he asked as he waved his wand and the table was spread with Christmas breads and puddings, candies and cakes, and steaming pitchers of hot chocolate.

"Wow!" Dominic exclaimed, "you really know how to through a party Professor."

"Thank you," he smiled, "I do try and play the part of a good guest."

When desert was finished, Winky and Dobby cleared away the mess and Belinda invited everyone to gather around the Christmas tree to open one gift before Christmas morning. Dumbledore insisted that it be the gift that he had brought and with a wave of his wand a large brown sack appeared beside his chair.

"You really are father Christmas!" Dominic laughed.

"I wish I were!" Dumbledore smiled, "come now, I have a little something for everyone."

Gather by the fire, in the bright lights of the tree, Dumbledore reached down and pulled open the bag. A flash of gold and red flew from it and circled the room, "Fawkes how on earth did you get in there?" Dumbledore laughed as the phoenix landed on Belinda's shoulder.

"Oh my goodness," Amelia exclaimed, "a real phoenix."

"That's Dumbledore's pet," Harry laughed.

"But he once belonged to the Bellatour family Harry," Dumbledore smiled.

"He what?" Dominic asked stunned as he looked at his mother.

"She has not told you of her pet?" Dumbledore laughed, "she left Fawkes with me when she left the wizarding world."

"He has become attached to Dumbledore," Belinda said nervously, "so I would never ask for him back but as long as I am at Hogwarts I am happy to share him."

"And Fawkes is very keen on visiting her," Dumbledore smiled and looked into his sack, "so what other surprises do I have in here? No more animals I hope."

"Why didn't mum tell us?" Dominic whispered to Amelia.

"I don't know," Amelia sighed, "she's full of secrets and we are now cluing in that she is occlumentic as well, or we would know these things."

"She is?" Dominic questioned.

"She has to be," Amelia said, "how else would she keep these things from us?"

"Good point!" Dominic whispered, "I bet it had something to do with Snape."

"Please don't mention him anymore tonight," Amelia sighed.

"Did he try and read your mind?" Dominic asked.

"He tried," Amelia nodded.

"Did he see anything?" he asked.

"Yes," Amelia giggled.

"What do you mean?" Dominic gasped.

"I let him break the block, check things out and then once he got to close to the lie I was making up and breaking the 'student teach boundary' I flashed a CENSORED in his face and he got mad and left," Amelia laughed, "at least it looked like I changed for real into my school robed."

"You should tell mum," Dominic huffed.

"I made it all up, he didn't see me," Amelia laughed, "and he knows now that my occlumentic skills are way beyond his!"

Dominic was disturbed by the happenings of the evening. Not by the dinner, it had been very enjoyable and it was very generous of Dumbledore to provide them with such wonderful gifts. He had very much enjoyed watching Ron receive a brand new wizard chess board and challenge Dumbledore to the first game. He was amazed by the lavender dress robe Dumbledore had given to Amelia and asked her to wear it for the graduation ceremony. Harry was thrilled with his very own golden snitch. It came in a small blue velvet box and was trained to only work for Harry. Dumbledore bestowed a brilliant blue diamond necklace on Belinda and Dominic, himself, had receive a leather bound, first addition copy of Defeating the Dangerous Arts one of the most sought after defense books in wizard print. And yet Dominic was not happy, as Dumbledore tried to decide which one of the four students gifts he would be aloud to open before the morning, Dominic slipped out of the class room and wandered through the corridors. He was confused by his mother. Why wouldn't she have told her children that she had once been the owner of a Phoenix. He was angry that he didn't realize it himself, his mother had showed him the Bellatour family crest which encapsulated the Phoenix upon it. But it was the animal that most fascinated his mother and now he was suspecting it meant something more important, something involving dark magic.

The castle was dark and cold as Dominic walked along. The remaining students in the castle had moved on to the common rooms and dormitories as a great storm had moved in and the howling wind chilled the castle. The snow outside had become very heavy and violent. It wasn't long before Dominic found himself wandering around the dungeon near Snape's office. The door to his office was opened as Dominic walked by but he payed little attention to it.

"Mr Cross," Snape called out as Dominic walked by.

"Yes Professor Snape?" Dominic said as he walked back into the door way.

"You shouldn't be wandering the school at this hour. It is normally off limits to students but because it is vacation time Dumbledore is much more lenient and so I can't punish you with detention but I strongly suggest you vacate this floor and return to your dormitory," Snape said coldly.

"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't know the halls were off limits even now," Dominic said as he felt annoyed by Snape. He turned to leave but soon came back to the doorway. He paused for a moment then walked into the class room and right to the front of Snape's desk.

"Yes, Mr. Cross?"Snape asked with an angry impatient tone.

"What do you know about my mothers Phoenix?" Dominic asked.

"What do you think I know?" Snape answered.

"I think you know everything about that bird, including why she hasn't told us about it," Dominic stated.

"Perhaps she hasn't told you about it because it is none of your affair,"Snape said raising one eyebrow.

"Everything involving my mother or my sister for that matter is my affair Professor," Dominic said angrily, "including your involvement with either of them and if I find out that you had anything to do with it, you will pay."

"Threats against a teacher are a very serious offence Mr. Cross," Snape said in a very monotonic tone.

"Not as bad as a breach in the student teacher code of conduct. One word from me about you reading my sisters mind and nearly breaching her right to privacy as she was changing from her formal dress to her school uniform will cause you to have a one way ticket to Azkaban," Dominic whispered as he leaned across Snape's desk, "our occlumentic powers are much more advanced than yours, sir, you are very lucky she stopped you. If I felt ever so inclined to search your mind for the answers, I could, but I am not about to in fringe on your privacy. This is why I was polite enough, even after what you have done to my sister, to ask you for the knowledge I am seeking."

"If you think that black mail is going to scare me Mr. Cross you are sadly mistaken," Snape said, "you will not be getting better marks or special treatment from me because of this black mail if that is what you are looking for."

"Its not," Dominic stated angrily, "I will work for my marks and I will gain good grades in your class because I deserve them, not because you have an obsession with my mother. I will black mail you so long as you are a threat to my mother and my sister's safety and should I figure out that you had any part or have any part in hurting my mother now or in the past I will go straight to the ministry of magic and have you arrested. Once a death eater you cannot go back. My mother may be easily swayed from that notion by whatever charm you may hide from the students but you'll never hurt her again and your lord Voldemort will never get his hands on her!" he said as anger burned in him, "oh and these are neither threats nor blackmail really, they're promises!" and he walked out of Snape's office and back to the light hearted gathering in his mothers classroom.