Haunted

By Be Boring

Chapter 10: Christmas Tidings

Necia grunted as someone poked her roughly in the side. "Get up!" When she didn't move, that someone jumped right on top of her. "Wake up, I want presents!" 'Presents? Christmas!' Necia's eyes opened instantly and she sat up, nearly knocking heads with Ginny, who had already pulled a robe on so they could go downstairs. Necia, still only half awake, fumbled with her robe and followed the other two girls out into the hallway.

"Are the boys up yet?" she asked.

Ginny and Hermione both laughed. "If they aren't, I'll give up reading," Hermione cracked, making the other two girls look at each other and smile.

When they reached the living room, the twins were immediately on top of them. "What took you so long?"

"Mum wouldn't let us open anything until you got here!"

Watching their excitement as they dashed back to their presents, Necia had a difficult time believing that they were nearly twenty years old. She sat back in one of the chairs, not really expecting anything, but Harry called her over. "You've got a pile here, or don't you want to open it?"

She ran over and sat down in front of the stack of presents he directed her to. Who had gotten her anything? She reached in and pulled out the first thing she touched. It was from Hagrid. 'What could he have gotten me?' she wondered, not having expected something from him. She had bought him a present, but only as a thank you for how kind he had been to her during the school year. Ripping away the paper, she smiled when she found herself holding a book on magical creatures. When she flipped through it briefly, she realized that it didn't include everything, just the animals that she had mentioned to him that she liked. Overwhelmed by the kind action, she had a hard time opening her next present, which was from Hermione. Another book, which didn't really surprise her, containing a list of very complicated but useful potions.

To her surprise, Mrs. Weasley had gotten her a gift: a perfect chocolate replica of a cauldron filled with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. At least that was one she didn't feel as guilty about, because she had bought her some beautiful little silver earrings as a thank you for being invited to her house for the holidays. Next she opened Ginny's present, which was a box of chocolate frogs and a silver bracelet which looped a few times around her arm and glittered wildly under the light. Ron had bought her some more chocolate frogs and a moving figurine of a Flequorn, which stomped proudly all over her lap and glared up at her as though trying to hypnotize her like its life-size counterpart. Harry's gift was a charm bracelet that could only be worn by the owner, otherwise it would shrink while the offending thief tried to put it on until it wasn't even suitable to be a ring. One present that she had expected even less than Hagrid's was Lupin's, which was a book filled with useful countercurses. 'Wow, I sure got a lot of books.' It didn't bother her, though. She didn't mind reading as long as it was something interesting.

Once everyone else finished opening their presents, everyone took off outside to celebrate with a few magical firecrackers that Fred and George were too impatient to wait until nightfall to use. They did manage to set aside half to use that evening, but they couldn't resist using the rest right away. They had been designing these fireworks for weeks to make Christmas just a little more fun. While everyone was cheering as each firecracker went off, Necia leaned against the side of the house and allowed her mind to wander. Perfectly content with the entire world, she couldn't imagine anyone else having such a perfectly ordinary yet wonderful Christmas morning as the Weasley family had enjoyed.


Many miles away, restlessly pacing around an ancient, rotting room at the Porter's Inn, Severus Snape was having just about the opposite kind of morning as Necia Malfoy. He couldn't even convince himself to look in the direction of the woman on the bed, who was perfectly oblivious to the world around her. He had long ago learned to detach those common feelings of affection from the act of sex, yet he had made a mistake. He had let the damn whore spend the night. Why had he done it? Usually he sent them off directly after he had finished, but not last night. Last night he had found the warmth of her body too irresistible to just let go, so he had let her sleep next to him. No, not let her. Asked her.

As she rolled over on the bed, finding the empty warm spot that he had so recently vacated, his eyes rested on her hair. Blonde. It was always blonde. He knew perfectly well that he was torturing himself with the thought of Cassandra, always wishing he would wake up one morning to find her next to him instead of the sluts that he always found, but every time he reaffirmed the truth of her absence, another part of him melted away. He was getting older, and the last struggling, desperate hopes for happiness were starting to fade away. His only relief was the holidays, when he could run from Hogwarts and find someone who was only too willing to spend the night with him. They seemed to understand as well as he did what the end result would be; they would reach their climax and allow that night to be just a distant memory.

When she finally did wake up, she seemed to understand that he didn't want her to stick around, and without any parting words, she grabbed her clothes and left. There were no injured feelings, that was just the way things went. He waited for a few minutes, then quickly dressed himself and headed out the door. He needed fresh air, and the fact that the Porter's Inn was situated right on the shoreline was an added bonus.

Just as he passed the front desk, the old man behind it called out, "Hey, you!" Decorum and manners were not his specialty. When Severus paused and turned around, he brandished a letter at him. "You've got mail. The damn owl that brought it nearly broke my window trying to deliver it."

Without a word of apology for the damage, which, after all, wasn't his fault, he took the letter and continued out the door. He rolled his eyes when he saw Molly Weasley's curly writing. Ever since the Order had been forced to rejoin, she insisted on trying to invite them over for dinner on special occasions, even though they were hardly as active now as they had been last year. The thought of eating dinner with the Weasleys, that infuriating Granger girl, Potter, and now Necia was the most unappealing proposition he had heard in the long time. He could hardly think of a more effective torture.

"Hey, watch it!" snapped a very angry voice as he just barely avoided running into its owner. He had been staring at the letter as he walked and hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going. Dropping the letter in surprise, he found himself whirling angrily on Nymphadora Tonks. Startled at the sight of her, he couldn't even spit out the cold insult that had been so ready on his lips just a moment before. When she realized just who had nearly collided with her, a bright smile popped out on her face. As much of a drag as Snape always was, she thoroughly enjoyed irritating him. After all, it was so easy, and he didn't dare retaliate while he was working for Dumbledore. "Hey, what's up?"

Severus glanced around, wishing she would change her hair color. People were staring at them, obviously wondering what such an extremely colorful woman like Tonks was doing with someone as dark and drab as him. As though she had read his mind, she scrunched up her face and wiggled her nose, lengthening her short, spiky pink hair until it was shoulder length and turning it to a light, sandy brown. "Actually, I have somewhere important to be, if you'll excuse me," he grunted uncomfortably, trying to step around her.

"Not so fast," she said quickly, blocking his path around her. Her eyes darted towards the now damp letter lying in the snow at their feet. "I take it you were invited to Molly's for Christmas dinner? Are you going?"

His lip curled up instinctively. "No, I'd rather dine with the Death Eaters."

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, hating how he always seemed to sabotage his own happiness. She didn't like him very much, but she did feel slightly sorry for him. Who wouldn't pity someone who probably hadn't felt the glow of joy in so many years? Had he ever been really happy? While she realized that he didn't like the Weasleys, she couldn't imagine how being around such cheerful people could make anything worse. "I really think you should go, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. In fact, I'm going to follow you around until you agree."

Now there was a horrible thought. Studying her cautiously, a small voice in the far recesses of his mind whispered, 'Hmm, I wonder if she would turn her hair blonde for me. She's very attractive.' It didn't take long for him to throw those thoughts out in revulsion. That was an even worse thought than her following him around. For a long time he weighed the consequences of both answers he could give, one of which was the nastiest curse he could think of that wasn't illegal. Tonks could easily be the most annoying woman in the world if she chose to be, and unquestionably her worst trait was that she wasn't intimidated by him at all, but if he lost his temper and cursed her into the thirtieth century, Dumbledore would never forgive him.

Instead of answering her, he turned on his heel and began sweeping determinedly toward the Porter's Inn. The only way to avoid both consequences of this ultimatum was to get away from her as fast as possible, and the Porter's Inn had protective charms on the room doors to keep unwanted visitors out. If she broke through them, he could enjoy watching her get arrested. At least that would make for a merry Christmas.

Just before he reached the door with a persistent Tonks on his heels, a burst of fire erupted mere inches from his nose and a roll of parchment dropped onto the welcome mat before the door. As he bent down to pick it up, Tonks chuckled, "I told you I wasn't the only one who thought you should go to the Weasley's." Ignoring her, he unrolled the parchment and read with a grimace:

I encouraged Molly to invite you, just as I am now encouraging you to go.
Not all of your holiday has to be spent in the shadows.

Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore

So Tonks hadn't confronted him just out of her usual annoying impulses. Taking a moment to study the handwriting just to make sure it was authentic, he muttered, "Fine, I'll go, but you can be the one to tell Molly I'm coming. It was only a polite invitation at Dumbledore's suggestion, I'm sure she didn't really wish for me to come." The only positive aspect he could come up with for this situation was that the younger group would be horrified at the sight of him. After all, they would never be expecting this.

"Molly may be polite, but only to an extent. She wouldn't have invited you if she weren't sincere," Tonks stated pointedly as she turned away, hurrying off to send a quick owl to Mrs. Weasley. Severus watched her go with a resigned sigh. He was on a roll so far this morning. How many other torture methods could he conjure up before dinner?


As Mrs. Weasley finished setting the table, which she had done much earlier than was needed, as Lupin and Tonks wouldn't show up for at least another half hour, Necia was contemplating that evening's coming events. She hadn't forgotten her conversation with Harry about Lupin, and she was determined to go through with it. She already had a plan. After talking to Fred and George and finding out about their different inventions, she decided on one that they hadn't quite placed on the market yet and could be perfectly hidden in a meal, their Smile-On Croutons. They had given one to Ron on their third night of the holidays, and quite suddenly he was the happiest person in the world. In fact, Fred and George had taken to placing Cheering Charms on many little toppings for meals. It was originally intended to be for meetings which took place over dinner. Rather than having to spend your meal talking to your dreadfully boring boss, you could simply add one of the toppings to your food and enjoy the rest of your time blissfully unaware of the dullness pressing in around you. Of course, it didn't take much to make anyone perfectly cheery, so overdosing was all too easy to do. She only wanted to make them happy enough to give one another a chance, not become positively giddy.

After stuffing two of the croutons into her pocket, Necia headed into the kitchen to see if Mrs. Weasley needed help. "No, dear, I'm just fine," was the quick reply as the older woman struggled to keep everything cooking without interfering with everything else around it.

"Are Professor Lupin and Tonks still coming?"

"Yes, dear, but we'll also have some more company. I sent out invitations to all of the Or… well, some very close friends of ours, and we'll have two more people coming. Alastor Moody and Severus Snape will be joining us."

Necia's jaw dropped, along with her classmates' and Ginny's, who had just entered the room as Mrs. Weasley spoke. They all looked at each other in horror. How could this be happening? Necia only vaguely knew who Moody was from stories she had heard from the others, but why was Snape coming? Didn't he need to suck the happiness out of some innocent children before the sun set? Of course, he would very easily be able to do that at the Burrow.

Everyone slowly left the room, trying not to catch Mrs. Weasley's eye as they slipped away. "This is a nightmare," Ron groaned miserably once they were out of earshot. "How could Mum do this to us on Christmas?"

Ginny's eyes twinkled suddenly, and a sly grin flashed over her face. "You know, this may not be such a bad thing."

Everybody looked at her in disbelief. "How?" they cried simultaneously.

"Fred and George have a complete horde of tricks upstairs, and if anything should happen to Snape, we can blame it on them. They'd gladly accept the blame, seeing as how they don't have to deal with him anymore. I think I have a perfect idea, too."

At the devious glint in his sister's eye, Ron asked warily, "Why do I think this is going to be unpleasant?"

"Oh, it won't be that bad, but we all know how proud Snape is. I'm just going to take him down a few pegs."

Necia decided this task was better left to Ginny and her brothers. After all, she had Lupin and Tonks to concentrate on. She glanced back into the kitchen where the food was now flying to the table. It was going to be an interesting night.

Tonks was the first to arrive, greeting everyone with a bright, cheerful smile on her face. "It's so great to see you guys!" she declared excitedly, pulling everyone she could grab into a tight hug. She even squeezed Necia, completely unaware that the younger girl had plans for her later tonight, even if they weren't very serious.

"Hey, what happened to your hair?" Harry asked curiously. "I've never seen it look so, well, normal."

She laughed and scrunched up her face, changing it to the short, spiky pink it had been earlier that day. "I changed it this morning when I ran into Sev. I think he was embarrassed about being seen with me looking like your typical rebellious teenager."

"Sev?" all the actual teenagers in the room asked curiously.

"Severus," she explained. "I just hate saying his full name, he just doesn't sound like a nice guy when you draw it out. At least Sev makes him sound like a human being. Not to mention it annoys the hell out of him."

A nickname for Snape that wasn't foul or derogatory? Nobody could imagine such a crime against nature. As Tonks started filling them in on what she'd been up to the past few months, Lupin Apparated before the front door. Harry rushed to greet him, closely followed by the rest of the group. Lupin hugged him quickly, giving everyone else a firm and happy handshake. Judging by his many exaggerated compliments to Mrs. Weasley on the decorations in the house, Necia guessed that he was just grateful to have somewhere to go on Christmas. Not that she blamed him, she was every bit as grateful as he was that she had been able to spend Christmas with the Weasleys.

Tonks glanced down at her watch after everyone had said their hellos. "Sev should be getting here any time now. He knows I'll track him down if he doesn't."

Lupin looked at her in surprise. "Are you talking about Severus? I knew Molly might invite him, but I never would have thought he'd accept."

"It wasn't quite an independent decision, he was under some pressure. I know you've never quite seen eye to eye with him, but I think he deserves to enjoy himself at least a little on the holidays, and I know I always find it hard to be in a bad mood whenever I'm here."

Lupin smiled slightly. "You find it hard to be in a bad mood no matter where you are," he commented lightly, astonishing his watching students. They had never seen him this light-hearted before, he hardly seemed the same man who showed them new dark creatures and curses every week. Of course, they rarely saw him outside of a school setting, and even when the others had seen him commonly in public, it had always been in a serious situation. Necia smiled as she watched him walk into the kitchen. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. He was certainly open to suggestions right now.

Everyone followed, the students trailing back as Tonks drew near Lupin and he turned to her, looking curious as he asked, "Where were you that you ran into Severus?"

"Oh, I always visit my parents every Christmas, although they had other plans for the actual dinner, so I was free to take Molly's invitation. They live next door to a place called the Porter's Inn. It's a dirty place where people only go when they really want to get away from something. I don't think Sev knows it, but I've seen him go there every year since I started school."

Lupin shook his head with something like disgust on his face. "I know that place. It's filled to the brim with thieves and women with very little respect for themselves."

Tonks glanced nervously at Mrs. Weasley, then lowered her voice so that Necia and the others had to strain to hear it. "Well, that's why he likes it. Sev always finds a pretty blonde to go back to the inn with him."

Horror seemed to float in the room. It was difficult enough to imagine Snape anywhere outside of Hogwarts, but to be forced to acknowledge that he was an actual man with physical needs was almost too much to bear. Ron's and Harry's faces had paled considerably, while the girls all looked slightly green. "She couldn't have waited to share that until after we had to see him, could she?" Ron mumbled uneasily.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Snape appeared on the front step, clearly visible through the glass on the front door. Mrs. Weasley rushed to let him in, smiling and asking if he had enjoyed his Christmas so far. The kids all looked at each other in disgust, but Snape kept his demeanor perfectly unreadable, answering that it hadn't been anything special. He barely gave them a glance as he passed through the living room and headed straight for the kitchen, asking Mrs. Weasley tonelessly if he could help her with anything. He was obviously asking it out of politeness rather than an actual desire to be of assistance.

When everyone was seated at the table, Necia was pleased to see that Lupin and Tonks were sitting next to each other. Snape sat on Tonks's other side, while Alastor Moody's empty seat bordered him. Mr. Weasley was the last to come in, announcing to everyone that Moody had been called in to the Ministry at the last second and couldn't come. Nobody bothered to move the extra chair next to Snape.

As a light salad was passed around to begin the meal, Necia saw to her delight that nobody had grabbed the salt and pepper shakers. She jumped up to get them, reaching into her pocket to grab the two items within and dropping them into Tonks's and Lupin's salads as she walked purposefully toward the counter. Tonks had been saying something to Snape, who looked as though he was wishing the plate in front of him a painful fate, while Lupin was deeply engaged in conversation with Mr. Weasley. Just as she grabbed the shakers, Tonks called out, "What is this? It's not some kind of root, is it?" Just as Necia turned around, she saw Tonks pop something dark in her mouth. "Hey, is this licorice?" In the process of walking back to her place at the table, Necia froze in horror behind Snape and plunged her hand into her pocket, her fingers closing around a rough surface of a crouton. What had Tonks just eaten? 'Hey, is this licorice?' As she suddenly realized just what had also been hiding in the pockets of her robes, she noticed something moving across the table, slithering between the towering dishes of food toward Snape. While he was busy unfolding his napkin, a cream-colored candy dropped into his salad directly behind a particularly piece of lettuce. As she sat back down, refusing to look in Tonks's direction, she wondered where she had seen that little caramel candy before.

Nobody noticed when things started going wrong in Snape's corner of the table because he was the last person that everything was passed to, and there was no need for the dishes a second time just yet. If anyone had wanted a little more on their plate, however, it would have been quite a challenge in getting it. The chew, which he didn't appear to have noticed through the liberal amounts of dressing he had added, hadn't quite kicked in as the ham was passed around, but when the bowl of potatoes reached him, Necia watched in a painful mixture of horror and amusement as he set it down on the table, only to have it follow his arm right back up when he reached out to accept the peas from Tonks. He took the peas with his other hand, staring at the new attachment to his left arm with an expression of very confused disbelief. When he tried to set down the peas to remove the potatoes, he discovered that he couldn't let go of the bowl, and now the backs of his fingers were stuck to the table. Necia watched him pull back from the table slightly, only to realize that his feet were stuck to the floor and his backside to the chair. She forced herself to look down at her own plate when his eyes started searching the room, studying faces to find any traces of guilt. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Ginny quickly turn her head away.

While Snape was being uncharacteristically quiet about his predicament, Necia soon discovered her other mistake was going to be much more obvious. Tonks was squirming around anxiously in her seat, turning rather red in the face and drinking a lot of milk. "Is it warm in here?" she asked agitatedly.

Mrs. Weasley looked at her curiously. "I don't think so. Are you sure you're not coming down with something?"

Lupin turned to her in concern, although the utter relaxation from the crouton was apparent all over his face. "You do look rather flushed. Can I get you something?"

Her eyes turned to him and slowly trailed down his upper body, then she snapped her head forward as she realized just what she was doing and mumbled, "No, I'm fine."

Necia felt absolutely miserable. This was the last thing she had wanted to happen, and it looked like Snape wouldn't be able to keep quiet much longer either. Now his arms were stuck to the table all the way up to the elbow and the peas were spilling all over him as he struggled. She guessed that the only reason he hadn't complained so far was because he didn't want so many people he didn't like to see him this helpless. As Ginny had said, he was very proud. He appeared to fully blame Fred and George, if the venomous glares he was sending in their direction were anything to go by. Then something happened that he could rightfully blame them for.

Fred had been juggling potatoes when his parents weren't looking, but when Mr. Weasley turned to see what the others were chuckling about, Fred was so startled that he wasn't able to catch them all, and one flew straight out of his hands to stick to Snape's forehead. Now everyone turned to him, finally seeing the dilemma he had been battling ever since dinner had been served. Necia could only watch numbly, unsure of whether to laugh or duck under the table as Mrs. Weasley tentatively came over and tried to pull the potato off, only to stick her hand to his shoulder, which she had tried to use as a brace.

"Ginny, a little assistance would be wonderful," Molly snapped at her only daughter. Ginny didn't seem to know whether to break down in giggles or run away as she approached the pair. Harry clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from completely bursting out laughing as Ginny's elbow accidentally brushed against the back of her professor's head, only to remain there when she tried to help her mother. When she automatically jerked back to free herself, Snape emitted a low yelp of pain as she nearly scalped him, still no nearer to freedom.

Ginny's eyes could have shot daggers. "I don't care who has the antidote, just get it over here now!" She played her part well, and she must have involved the twins in her scheme to avoid getting the blame. George watched his baby sister fume for a moment, then pulled another caramel chew out of his pocket. He tossed it to Mrs. Weasley, who was forced to hand-feed it to Snape, seeing as how he currently couldn't use his arms. When he finally swallowed it, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny broke away gratefully and quickly returned to their seats, leaving a very frustrated Snape finally free and apparently fed up with being there. Without a word, he rose to his feet and swept from the room, not even bothering to close the front door as he left. A resounding pop let them know that he truly had gone.

Nobody said a word for the hopes of preserving some semblance of a light mood, which wasn't currently much of a problem for Lupin, but they also didn't notice what was happening to Nymphadora Tonks. She was trying pitifully to concentrate on her food, but it just wasn't going to happen. Her eyes kept wandering to the men around the table, and finally she threw down her silverware and stood up abruptly, startling everyone at the table except for Necia, who had been watching the progression of her symptoms.

"I'm really sorry, but I'll have to leave," she muttered quickly, grabbing her cloak and heading for the door. Necia cringed as Lupin stood up and followed her out of the room, informing everyone that he wanted to check on her. Necia followed their progress into the living room, heard the front door open and close, and after a few minutes, heard two distinct popping sounds as they both Disapparated. Her face turned completely beet red and she lost all interest in her meal. She barely managed to finish the first serving. The meal ended in complete disorder. The twins dashed from the room before they could be scolded. When her parents had headed off to talk to the twins, Ginny turned to Necia.

"So what went wrong with your plan?"

Harry tilted his head to the side. "What was your plan anyway?"

Necia's face finally began to return to its normal color as she explained, "I was going to give those Smile-On Croutons to Lupin and Tonks, but I didn't realize I was wearing the same robes from when we first arrived, when the twins gave me that licorice…." Harry and Ron both appeared to lose control of their jaws with the realization of what had happened, but she had to explain what the licorice was to Ginny and Hermione. Once they understood and had turned sufficiently pink, she added, "I accidentally gave that to Tonks."

Ginny grinned as she whispered, "At least the Stick-To-You Caramel Chew worked perfectly. I almost wish I had gone farther. If only Fred hadn't let go of that potato, Snape would have been stuck in his seat for a pretty long time before anyone realized anything was wrong, and that ridiculous pride of his probably would have kept him quiet the entire time."

Ron chuckled quietly. "I guess none of our guests had a very Merry Christmas."

"Lupin and Tonks are," Necia blurted out before she could stop herself. "They both Disapparated already." Everyone's look of horror perfectly matched what she was feeling on the inside. It was going to be hard to face either of their professors again when they returned to school.