A/N: I'm sorry for my bitching in the last note. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm going to continue this story until I feel like it's finished. I'm also going to try and stop whining about reviews even though I would appreciate them. Special thanks to anyone who had troubles reviewing and kept trying and to those that have been reviewing since this story began. I'm going to start listing the names of people who review just to let them know how much I appreciate it. So here they are, in no particular order:
Honor-Harrington1982, Kari Morgana Black, Jujube 15, Liz, shirleybobo, sinsoftheflesh98, PadfootObsessed329, Lunamaru, twistedlife3000, Damascenka, nickainai, apple2, a fan, selenesd, and butabara.
And so, regardless of the comings and goings of Harry Potter, Christmas came to Hogwarts. It was a few days before the students would leave the castle. Though they didn't want to, all four of his friends were leaving. Harry's Christmas would be spent in the castle with Emily. He suspected that Severus would join them for a small celebration in the morning, but other than that and the usual meal in the Great Hall, Harry had no plans. He would spend the time studying, taking care of Emily and learning from Poppy. She had promised to teach him some of the more advanced medicinal magic during the break while she wouldn't be distracted by caring for the entire population of Hogwarts.
Draco was also staying at school for Christmas. His mother had invited him to join her for a visit with their French relatives, but he had refused. As much as his mother had done for him during the summer, it was still hard to feel a natural attachment for her. He had spent so many years believing that she didn't care for him, that it was too late for a close family relationship to develop. He could tell that she cared about him and he could thank her for all her help during the summer, but he couldn't love her like a child. Luckily, his mother felt the same way. She loved him, but it was a detached love and she was not upset that he would not be joining her. She only regretted that she could not have shown him her love when he was a child.
Harry was walking back from seeing Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Blaise off at the station. He was lost in thought as he made his way through the halls. It took several moments for him to realize that someone was calling his name.
"Harry!"
Harry turned to see Draco walking briskly toward him, his heart leapt for a moment. It was clear, however, once Draco and he were standing face to face that nothing had changed. Draco thrust a shiny gift at Harry, rather awkwardly.
"I just found this and I thought that you would probably still want to have it."
Harry took the package from Draco.
"Thanks."
The boys stood, staring at each other for a moment.
"Well, I'm going to go back to Slytherin. Happy Christmas, Harry."
Draco began to walk away.
"Wait, Draco, I have something for you as well. It's in my dorm, let me run and get it. Wait here."
Harry hurried off to the Gryffindor Tower. Ten minutes later, he was back and carrying two packages.
"Sorry it took me so long, I was afraid to run on the way back. I didn't want to break anything."
"Why are you giving me these?"
"Draco, I didn't know what was going to happen so I had to be prepared. Honestly, I didn't plan on giving you these unless you had remembered me, but it is Christmas and I think you will still enjoy them. I want you to have them whether you're with me or not."
"Do you want me to open them now?"
"If you want, you can."
"I'll open mine if you open your gift, I'm rather curious about what it is."
"Ok, let's go sit somewhere. I don't fancy standing in this hallway much longer. Besides, your gifts are fragile; you don't want to drop them."
Draco felt a little uneasy about all of this, but he followed Harry into an empty classroom. Harry left the door open, not wanting to make Draco feel trapped. He conjured some candles and one of the blue flames that Hermione was so fond of.
"You first."
Draco perched himself on top of a desk and began to unwrap the smaller packet. Once all the paper was removed, he gently pulled back the lid and then the tissue paper to uncover his gift. Nestled inside several layers of tissue wrap was a green teapot. Draco lifted it out. It was glazed green pottery. The green was swirled in many different shades around the pot. The colors were so fluid that they appeared to be moving. Draco lifted the lid and found a container of his favorite orange spice tea inside.
"It's beautiful, thank you, Harry. I know this must have cost a fortune."
"Don't mention it. I saw it and knew that they would love it."
Draco could see that he was making Harry uncomfortable so he didn't say any more about the cost. He began to unwrap the second present. Like the first, this one was also well wrapped and surrounded by tissue paper. When Draco finally uncovered the object inside, he gasped.
"Harry!"
Draco gently lifted a pensieve out of his box. It was almost identical to the design of the teapot, only it was a mixture of greens, aquas and blues that seemed to flow around the outside of the pensieve.
"You are always thinking. I thought this might help you. I bought myself one at the same time and I can promise it is very useful."
"This is too much, Harry."
"Please don't say anything more. If you like it then it was worth it."
"I do."
"Good."
"Open your gift."
Harry picked up the large yet thin package. He picked at the ribbon carefully until the knot came undone. He slowly removed the paper, savoring every crinkle. At last, he pulled out a large black scrapbook. Opening it, he began to read aloud.
"I had Colin take these when we weren't looking. It was a little creepy being followed all of the time, but it was truly worth it. I put it together myself even though I know I should have waited to have more pictures closer to Christmas, but I think you'll love it anyway. Happy Christmas, Harry."
Harry flipped through the album, smiling, laughing, sighing and eventually crying quietly.
"Do you want to see this, Draco?"
"Do you mind?"
Harry handed the book over.
It was strange looking at pictures you couldn't remember. Draco flipped the pages slowly, trying to learn from the images in front of him. There were photos of him and Harry kissing, holding hands, sleeping on the couch together. There were photos of them laughing and photos of them with their friends. There were portraits of each boy, but one thing remained the same no matter what the subject of the picture was. In each photograph, Draco knew that he was seeing happiness.
Draco handed the scrapbook back to Harry.
"Look, um, I need to go. I'll see you around. Bye."
Draco rushed out of the room, Harry's eyes following him sadly, for once not because Draco was leaving, but because he saw how much this was hurting the blonde. He knew that this couldn't go on. It was too painful for everyone. He had to stop moping around, no matter how he felt, so that Draco could be happy.
Christmas morning was exhilarating for Harry. He was more excited than ever before when he saw the gleam in Emily's eyes as she ran down to see what Father Christmas had brought her. Harry threw on a robe and followed her down the stairs. The Gryffindor common room had been transformed into a Christmas town thanks to Dobby who had taken it upon himself to decorate. There were two huge Christmas trees, several toy trains, mini snow covered villages, garland was hung about the room and breakfast was set up for three. There were also several plates filled with Christmas cookies, gingerbread and other delights. The room was filled with a million smells each a cherished part of Christmas. Harry was overwhelmed, having never experienced anything so lovely.
"Ree, can I open my presents now?"
"You can open one, but let's save the rest for when Uncle Sevvie gets here."
The child had taken to calling Severus "Uncle Sevvie" as she had spent more time with him.
"Ok. Can I open this one first?"
Emily held up a small, gold package.
"Go ahead."
The child shrieked in delight and sat down at Harry's feet to open her box. She ripped the wrapping paper and opened the box inside. She pulled out a pair of red fleece gloves and put them on.
"I thought that you might want these for later when we go have a huge snowball fight. It's getting much too cold for bare hands."
Emily nodded.
"Happy Christmas, Harry and Emily. I think I have a few packages with your name on them, my girl."
Harry looked at Emily and gave her a little nod. The girl smiled and went over to Severus and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Happy Christmas, Uncle Sevvie."
"Happy Christmas, Sev."
After all the time the two had spent together, Harry had taken to calling Severus "Sev" with no objections from the potions master.
Severus knelt down to Emily's height. He handed her two boxes.
"Why don't you get started opening these?"
"Would you care for a cup of tea?"
"Thank you."
"Have you eaten yet?"
"No, Dobby sent me a note saying that breakfast would be served up here."
"I'm glad you decided to come."
"I wouldn't miss seeing Emily on Christmas."
"You know you've become family to her."
Harry ducked his head down as he said the next part of his statement.
"You've become my family as well."
Severus turned to watch Emily and Harry knew that even if he didn't reply he appreciated the sentiment.
"I've got a present with your name on it as well."
Severus pulled a small box out of his pocket. As he did so, Harry bent down to pull a box out from under the tree.
"I hope you didn't think I didn't get you something."
Severus smiled.
Harry began to undo the ribbon on his package. Inside, a small silver cloak pen rested on black velvet. It was wrought in the same of a phoenix.
"I noticed that your winter cloak clasp was broken and to be honest, I got the phoenix because I wanted to antagonize Dumbledore. He's still bitching about Fawkes choosing you."
Harry laughed.
"It has its perks."
"What does?"
"Antagonizing Dumbledore, he's stopped offering me those damned sherbet lemons."
"Lucky bastard. Where is Fawkes, by the way?"
"I don't know. He doesn't stay around in the castle, he just shows up when I need him. He's not a pet like Dumbledore seemed to think he was, keeping him on that bloody perch half the time."
Severus snorted.
"Go ahead and open your present."
There was silence for a few moments as Severus undid his package.
"Where did you find this?"
"Honestly, Neville helped me locate it. I asked him what a good book regarding plants in potions was and he immediately recalled that this was the primary book. I knew you'd have it in your library, but I thought you might enjoy a first edition. It turned out that the first edition was printed on some horrible parchment that dissolved over time, as I'm sure you knew."
Severus nodded.
"It was chance that I found this really. I nearly didn't go in the store, but when I asked at the front, the man pulled this out. It is the final manuscript of this text before it went into print. The notes on the pages were made by the author."
"Thank you."
Severus looked at the bound pages in awe.
At that moment, a loud shriek came from Emily.
"Thank you, Ree. Can we go out now?"
Emily stood amidst a pile of wrapping paper. There was a stack of gifts to one side. She had gotten a pair of red gloves, matching hat and scarf, several pieces of clothing, books, a doll, a new game and a miniature broom for children that would only fly a few feet off the ground.
"We can try it later, Emily. Put your toys down, it's time to eat breakfast."
Emily, Severus and Harry gathered around the table. The loaded their plates and chattered merrily. After eating, Severus and Harry managed to convince Emily to wait an hour before going outside. They sat down on the couches to relax with some tea while she played with her new gifts.
That night, after a long afternoon of flying and snowball fights, Harry, Emily and Severus joined the other teachers and few remaining students in the Great Hall for Christmas dinner. Harry was able to eat more than usual as he was kept busy talking to Justin, who was the only member of the Hufflepuff house spending the holidays at school.
Severus watched Harry, glad to see the changes that had swept over him in the last few days. He almost looked like the old Harry, though he was still skinnier than he had been. Severus was amazed to see the way he could carry on a conversation while unconsciously stopping Emily from spilling her milk and cutting her food for her before she could ask. It was incredible to see the transformation that Harry had undergone as he became more used to taking care of Emily.
"Hello, Severus"
Severus looked up to see Draco standing beside him.
"Happy Christmas, Draco."
Draco moved into the seat next to Severus and began to put some food on his plate. Oddly enough, he looked worse than usual and seemed to have no appetite.
"How was your Christmas, Draco?"
"Fine, sir."
"Draco, I've know you ever since you were a child, there is no need to call me sir. And while we're on the subject of how long I've known you, let me remind you that I can see straight through your "fines"."
"What do you expect me to say? At least it was better than the others spent with my father. It would have been nicer if I'd had some company."
Severus looked at Draco.
"You know it's your fault that you didn't. I told you that you could join Harry, Emily and I. I told you that you should have tried to be his friend, but you wouldn't listen. I'm sorry you didn't have a good Christmas, I really am, but you chose to have it that way. You're welcome to come have hot chocolate with us tonight."
"You're my family, Severus. You're my godfather. Why can't you spend Christmas with me? Why do you have to go and fall in love with Potter like everyone else? What's your obsession with this child? When did they become more important than me?"
Severus sighed.
"Draco, they aren't more important, but they've become my family. You don't understand what it is like to have a small child love you and trust you completely. It becomes something you wouldn't trade for anything. Harry is family too. You've never wanted me around before, you only wanted me today, when you didn't have anyone else."
Draco was unable to reply because at that moment he heard loud laugher coming from a few seats down the table. Both he and Severus looked to see what had caused it.
Hovering about Harry and Justin's head was a piece of mistletoe. Harry was blushing bright red, Justin looked uncomfortable, but also excited and everyone sitting around them was grinning.
"Go for it, Justin," someone down the table called out.
Justin blushed.
"It is mistletoe. We probably should get this over with or we'll never be left alone."
"Ok," Harry replied somewhat nervously.
Justin leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Harry's lips. He lingered for a moment and Harry made no protest. In fact, when Justin drew back shyly, he looked as if he had half a mind to go continue the kiss in private.
The table let loose with cheers and the mistletoe floated off to find some other unsuspecting victims.
Severus was just turning around in his seat when Draco stood up abruptly and rushed from the table. Severus watched in confusion, until he realized he should probably follow his godson considering the conversation they had just had.
Severus found Draco sometime later, in a wall niche near the dungeons. The blonde was sniffing and had obviously been crying earlier.
"Draco, what's wrong?"
Severus knelt down to look Draco in the eye, but the boy wouldn't look up at him. They sat like that for sometime until Severus suddenly realized what was going on.
"You like him don't you? You can't even remember him except as your enemy, but you like him don't you?"
Draco looked up, eyes red and puffy, tears still leaking out of them.
"Yes."