Author's Note:
First let me thank you all for the reviews!
On Boxing Day: In Britain, Boxing Day is celebrated on the first weekday after Christmas, and one usually visits friends and relatives on that day, or else people relax after Christmas Day, taking it easy and playing games. As far as I know, the name comes from the fact that so called "charity boxes" in church used to be opened on that day, and the money given to the poor.
Boxing Day often coincides with St Stephen's Day, which is the day after Christmas Day.
On the use of OK: This word was first recorded in America in 1839, and the original form was OK (short for "oll korrect"), not okay. That is still the form given in dictionaries such as OED and the American Heritage Dictionary. It is, however, also OK to write "okay". Both forms of the word are, of course, colloquial, but since the passage where I used it in Chapter One described Harry's thoughts, I felt that it was still suitable.
On Snape's greasy hair: I have not found any passage in JK Rowling's books where the actual reason for the greasiness is stated. It is my personal opinion that he does not wash his hair often enough. In this fic, however, I have chosen to make the greasy hair hereditary.
Chapter 13
The Chess Set
Christmas Day went by without any excitement. After a busy morning, trying out and showing each other their new Christmas gifts, Ron suggested that they play a game with Harry's new Chess set. Harry, however, answered evasively that he rather wanted to do something together with the others, realising, with a jolt, that he didn't want to break in the set without Snape being there. He found that he wouldn't even have minded if Snape had been there with them now, on Christmas Day, although he had felt uncomfortable only yesterday at the thought of spending Christmas Eve with him. He had no desire to talk to Snape, at least not about anything personal, but he didn't mind being in his company anymore.
On Boxing Day the Order gathered again. For the first time ever, Harry was slightly pleased at seeing his Potions Master, but he quickly suppressed that feeling, almost ashamed of himself. All of the members had arrived now, and were standing scattered in the drawing room, waiting for the meeting to begin. Harry tried to look Snape's way inconspicuously, but Snape seemed not to notice him at all.
'So, Harry,' Kingsley Shacklebolt said brightly, walking over to him, 'Get anything good for Christmas?'
'Yeah, quite a lot – thanks for the book by the way, I read the first chapter, it's great!' Shacklebolt had given Harry a book about dark wizards through the ages, which – among others – mentioned the wizard Grindelwald, who had been defeated by none other than Albus Dumbledore (a fact which was mentioned on the Chocolate frog cards, Harry remembered).
'I'm glad you liked it. What else did you get?'
'I got some great stuff from Fred and George's store, this jumper (he looked down at the new Weasley jumper he was wearing), loads of sweets, and a new Chess set...' He talked a little louder, to make sure Snape would hear him and understand that he'd accepted his gift; he would have no opportunity to thank him straight out. And sure enough, Snape, who was talking to Dumbledore in a low voice, glanced his way quickly at the mention of it. Harry thought he saw Dumbledore smile, but he couldn't be sure since his face was turned away almost completely.
The meeting began, and Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron went to the kitchen to tidy up and start to prepare tea. Mrs Weasley had done all that could be done beforehand, so they only had to put a finishing touch to it.
'I can't believe we'll have to endure another meal with that old git Snape,' Ron exclaimed as he put a large stack of turkey-and-stuffing- sandwiches on the table.
'I know!' said Ginny, who was cautiously approaching the table with an enormous Christmas cake. 'He certainly spends a lot of time here these days. He never used to take meals here before.'
'Yeah, those were the days!' Ron said reminiscently. 'He always ruins the atmosphere at the table just by being there, right Harry?'
Harry frowned, wanting to tell Ron to shut up, but at the same time not wanting to have to explain his changed feelings towards Snape.
'Oh, give it a rest, Ron!' Hermione said, eyeing Harry anxiously. 'Snape's not so bad these days. You don't know anything about it, you don't take Potions anymore.'
Ron's face went pink, and he stalked out of the kitchen angrily.
'I see no great difference,' Ginny said, 'and I do take Potions ... No, I think he's just as nasty as ever.'
Neither Harry nor Hermione answered her. Hermione tried to catch Harry's eye, but to no avail. Only a few months ago, Harry would have been more than happy to join Ron and Ginny in their Snape-bashing, but now he felt differently. He was still angry with Snape for what he had done seventeen years ago, and for the way he had treated Harry before he found out he was his son, but since yesterday he didn't only have negative feelings towards him. And he certainly didn't like it if other people complained about him.
Tea went by without any bigger incidents, although Ron was still sulking. He sat as far away from Hermione as he could, without sitting too close to Snape. Dumbledore did not make Harry sit next to Snape, but Harry felt he wouldn't have minded as much this time.
After the meal they all went to the drawing room again. Ron sat down at a table in a corner, took out a quill and a piece of rather nice- looking parchment and started writing something. Hermione sighed, rolled her eyes, and went over to him, intending to make peace.
'Who are you writing to, Ron?'
'You have Vicky – I can have a pen pal too if I want, can't I?' Ron retorted sourly. 'You're not the only one who's got things to write, you know!'
Hermione looked slightly taken aback. 'Well, of course you can,' she said. 'I was only asking.'
'If you must know, I'm writing to Lavender about our History of Magic Project,' Ron said smugly.
Hermione tried to hide a smile and went off to join Ginny, Fred and George in a game of Exploding Snap instead.
Just then, Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Mr Weasley entered the room. They had remained in the kitchen after the meal to discuss something. Harry turned to Ron, who had just finished his letter and was reading it through carefully.
'Er ... Do you want to break in my new Chess set now? he asked loudly.
Ron agreed, and Harry went upstairs to get the set. As he was about to go downstairs again, he caught sight of the empty frame that belonged to Phineas Nigellus, wondering vaguely what he was up to right now. He seemed to be spending almost all of his time in his other painting, at Hogwarts.
The game went a lot better than usual. The pieces obeyed Harry without questioning his moves, and Harry found that he wasn't such a bad player after all. Therefore, Harry was all the more surprised when his King suddenly spoke to him.
'I would think that move over twice if I were you, Harry,' he said quietly. Harry stared confusedly at the board. How did the King know his name? Snape must have told him! Now, he wasn't quite sure what to do. He guessed that these pieces would never give him bad advice, but still ...
'I suggest you follow his advice,' he heard a familiar, cold voice next to him. 'Or you'll lose your Queen, Potter ... that is to say,' Snape hesitated, giving Ron a quick glance, 'er ... yes, Potter.' He walked away, hurriedly. A few moves later, Harry won the game, the first time ever he'd won against Ron.
As he was putting the pieces back in their box (Ron had gone off to send Lavender the letter he had written), Harry heard Lupin and McGonagall talking at the other side of the room.
'That's odd, Remus, that looks like Severus's chess set ... I've seen it numerous times; he plays regularly with Albus, you know.'
'Does he indeed, Minerva?'
'But why did Severus give it to Potter? He doesn't even like the boy.' Lupin said nothing, and when Harry looked at them, he could see that McGonagall had a puzzled look on her face.
That night, just as they were about to go to sleep, Ron suddenly said:
'Snape was behaving very oddly today, don't you think?'
'Er ... I suppose,' Harry said cautiously.
'Why would he come over and talk to you while we were playing Chess?' Ron went on. 'He hates you, and now he was even giving you advice. You'd never have won if it wasn't for him, you know.'
'Well, maybe Hermione's right,' Harry said. 'Maybe he has changed.'
'That's not likely, is it?' Ron turned around, and went to sleep almost immediately. Harry didn't sleep, however. He was very happy about his new Chess set, but at the same time he wondered what was going to happen next. More and more people were beginning to suspect something – were they going to find out that he was Snape's son? And if so, would that put himself or Snape in danger?
And what, Harry wondered, did the gift of the Chess set really mean?
First let me thank you all for the reviews!
On Boxing Day: In Britain, Boxing Day is celebrated on the first weekday after Christmas, and one usually visits friends and relatives on that day, or else people relax after Christmas Day, taking it easy and playing games. As far as I know, the name comes from the fact that so called "charity boxes" in church used to be opened on that day, and the money given to the poor.
Boxing Day often coincides with St Stephen's Day, which is the day after Christmas Day.
On the use of OK: This word was first recorded in America in 1839, and the original form was OK (short for "oll korrect"), not okay. That is still the form given in dictionaries such as OED and the American Heritage Dictionary. It is, however, also OK to write "okay". Both forms of the word are, of course, colloquial, but since the passage where I used it in Chapter One described Harry's thoughts, I felt that it was still suitable.
On Snape's greasy hair: I have not found any passage in JK Rowling's books where the actual reason for the greasiness is stated. It is my personal opinion that he does not wash his hair often enough. In this fic, however, I have chosen to make the greasy hair hereditary.
Chapter 13
The Chess Set
Christmas Day went by without any excitement. After a busy morning, trying out and showing each other their new Christmas gifts, Ron suggested that they play a game with Harry's new Chess set. Harry, however, answered evasively that he rather wanted to do something together with the others, realising, with a jolt, that he didn't want to break in the set without Snape being there. He found that he wouldn't even have minded if Snape had been there with them now, on Christmas Day, although he had felt uncomfortable only yesterday at the thought of spending Christmas Eve with him. He had no desire to talk to Snape, at least not about anything personal, but he didn't mind being in his company anymore.
On Boxing Day the Order gathered again. For the first time ever, Harry was slightly pleased at seeing his Potions Master, but he quickly suppressed that feeling, almost ashamed of himself. All of the members had arrived now, and were standing scattered in the drawing room, waiting for the meeting to begin. Harry tried to look Snape's way inconspicuously, but Snape seemed not to notice him at all.
'So, Harry,' Kingsley Shacklebolt said brightly, walking over to him, 'Get anything good for Christmas?'
'Yeah, quite a lot – thanks for the book by the way, I read the first chapter, it's great!' Shacklebolt had given Harry a book about dark wizards through the ages, which – among others – mentioned the wizard Grindelwald, who had been defeated by none other than Albus Dumbledore (a fact which was mentioned on the Chocolate frog cards, Harry remembered).
'I'm glad you liked it. What else did you get?'
'I got some great stuff from Fred and George's store, this jumper (he looked down at the new Weasley jumper he was wearing), loads of sweets, and a new Chess set...' He talked a little louder, to make sure Snape would hear him and understand that he'd accepted his gift; he would have no opportunity to thank him straight out. And sure enough, Snape, who was talking to Dumbledore in a low voice, glanced his way quickly at the mention of it. Harry thought he saw Dumbledore smile, but he couldn't be sure since his face was turned away almost completely.
The meeting began, and Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron went to the kitchen to tidy up and start to prepare tea. Mrs Weasley had done all that could be done beforehand, so they only had to put a finishing touch to it.
'I can't believe we'll have to endure another meal with that old git Snape,' Ron exclaimed as he put a large stack of turkey-and-stuffing- sandwiches on the table.
'I know!' said Ginny, who was cautiously approaching the table with an enormous Christmas cake. 'He certainly spends a lot of time here these days. He never used to take meals here before.'
'Yeah, those were the days!' Ron said reminiscently. 'He always ruins the atmosphere at the table just by being there, right Harry?'
Harry frowned, wanting to tell Ron to shut up, but at the same time not wanting to have to explain his changed feelings towards Snape.
'Oh, give it a rest, Ron!' Hermione said, eyeing Harry anxiously. 'Snape's not so bad these days. You don't know anything about it, you don't take Potions anymore.'
Ron's face went pink, and he stalked out of the kitchen angrily.
'I see no great difference,' Ginny said, 'and I do take Potions ... No, I think he's just as nasty as ever.'
Neither Harry nor Hermione answered her. Hermione tried to catch Harry's eye, but to no avail. Only a few months ago, Harry would have been more than happy to join Ron and Ginny in their Snape-bashing, but now he felt differently. He was still angry with Snape for what he had done seventeen years ago, and for the way he had treated Harry before he found out he was his son, but since yesterday he didn't only have negative feelings towards him. And he certainly didn't like it if other people complained about him.
Tea went by without any bigger incidents, although Ron was still sulking. He sat as far away from Hermione as he could, without sitting too close to Snape. Dumbledore did not make Harry sit next to Snape, but Harry felt he wouldn't have minded as much this time.
After the meal they all went to the drawing room again. Ron sat down at a table in a corner, took out a quill and a piece of rather nice- looking parchment and started writing something. Hermione sighed, rolled her eyes, and went over to him, intending to make peace.
'Who are you writing to, Ron?'
'You have Vicky – I can have a pen pal too if I want, can't I?' Ron retorted sourly. 'You're not the only one who's got things to write, you know!'
Hermione looked slightly taken aback. 'Well, of course you can,' she said. 'I was only asking.'
'If you must know, I'm writing to Lavender about our History of Magic Project,' Ron said smugly.
Hermione tried to hide a smile and went off to join Ginny, Fred and George in a game of Exploding Snap instead.
Just then, Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Mr Weasley entered the room. They had remained in the kitchen after the meal to discuss something. Harry turned to Ron, who had just finished his letter and was reading it through carefully.
'Er ... Do you want to break in my new Chess set now? he asked loudly.
Ron agreed, and Harry went upstairs to get the set. As he was about to go downstairs again, he caught sight of the empty frame that belonged to Phineas Nigellus, wondering vaguely what he was up to right now. He seemed to be spending almost all of his time in his other painting, at Hogwarts.
The game went a lot better than usual. The pieces obeyed Harry without questioning his moves, and Harry found that he wasn't such a bad player after all. Therefore, Harry was all the more surprised when his King suddenly spoke to him.
'I would think that move over twice if I were you, Harry,' he said quietly. Harry stared confusedly at the board. How did the King know his name? Snape must have told him! Now, he wasn't quite sure what to do. He guessed that these pieces would never give him bad advice, but still ...
'I suggest you follow his advice,' he heard a familiar, cold voice next to him. 'Or you'll lose your Queen, Potter ... that is to say,' Snape hesitated, giving Ron a quick glance, 'er ... yes, Potter.' He walked away, hurriedly. A few moves later, Harry won the game, the first time ever he'd won against Ron.
As he was putting the pieces back in their box (Ron had gone off to send Lavender the letter he had written), Harry heard Lupin and McGonagall talking at the other side of the room.
'That's odd, Remus, that looks like Severus's chess set ... I've seen it numerous times; he plays regularly with Albus, you know.'
'Does he indeed, Minerva?'
'But why did Severus give it to Potter? He doesn't even like the boy.' Lupin said nothing, and when Harry looked at them, he could see that McGonagall had a puzzled look on her face.
That night, just as they were about to go to sleep, Ron suddenly said:
'Snape was behaving very oddly today, don't you think?'
'Er ... I suppose,' Harry said cautiously.
'Why would he come over and talk to you while we were playing Chess?' Ron went on. 'He hates you, and now he was even giving you advice. You'd never have won if it wasn't for him, you know.'
'Well, maybe Hermione's right,' Harry said. 'Maybe he has changed.'
'That's not likely, is it?' Ron turned around, and went to sleep almost immediately. Harry didn't sleep, however. He was very happy about his new Chess set, but at the same time he wondered what was going to happen next. More and more people were beginning to suspect something – were they going to find out that he was Snape's son? And if so, would that put himself or Snape in danger?
And what, Harry wondered, did the gift of the Chess set really mean?