Disclaimer: The past few years, I have not been allowed to go to the LotR movies in the winter. Nobody ever wanted to burden themselves by bringing their little sister along with them. This year, however, my wonderful, splendid, sweet boyfriend is taking me. I got really excited and started jumping up and down. I get to see it this year! I don't think JK Rowling would ever embarrass herself by becoming as excited as I was that moment. ^_^

AN: Gotta love the holidays! You never know with me, but you might be getting chapters a bit faster than usual... I'm not sure about my schedule tho... Oh, there's a new reviewer who wants to know if I update quickly or slowly.... Hehe... Anyone care to answer for me?? ^_^ Hehe...

~*~*~**~*~*~

Shaylee heard the knock on her office door as she finished zipping her dress up. "Come in. I'll be a second!" she called out, knowing that it was Severus at the door.

She grabbed her black dress robes and slid them on over her black dress. She reached over and grabbed her wand as she left the bathroom, sliding on her shoes.

"Hey," she greeted as she walked into her office, distractedly fixing her hair and finding a spot for her wand. Finally, she found the small pocket in her robes that was meant for the wand, then looked up.

Severus, who was also wearing black dress robes, was standing by the door still, his eyes fixed on her.

"Sevvy?" She tilted her head as she looked at him. She shrugged as he didn't respond. "You look snazzy," she commented as she straightened her robes.

He was still looking at her. "What?" Shaylee asked. "Is there some strange animal sitting on my head?"

He shook his head. "You look wonderful."

Shaylee blushed and smiled. "Thank you, Sevvy." She slipped her arm in his. "Are we ready to go now?"

~*~*~**~*~*~

At first, when they entered the room, nobody noticed them. Shaylee led Severus around the main crowd towards a section of pictures by the wall.

The whole room seemed to be like that. Flowers and pictures were tastefully displayed throughout the room, with a wreath up front, where a coffin would normally be.

He studied the pictures as Shaylee looked around for Flynn. The first picture he saw was the family picture. It had to have been taken before Shaylee was born, because there were only two children in the picture. Shaylee's mother was also sitting there, holding a squirming boy that he assumed was Flynn with a content smile on her face.

Her father looked happy also. He wasn't looking toward the camera, but was instead looking at his wife. There was another boy in the picture, older than the other one. He was sitting perfectly still, smiling at the camera pompously. That had to be Donnelly. He could understand why Shaylee didn't like him. He looked like a jerk at seven years old!

The rest of the pictures seemed to be organized in a timeline. The pictures all leading up to Shaylee's birth were happy ones. Most of them were of Jeffrey Weasley and his wife, but there were a few of him with his children and his own siblings.

Then, he saw a picture of a slightly worried looking Jeffrey holding a newborn baby girl with tiny curls of red hair poking out of her head. He smiled at the picture. Shaylee had been a cute baby.

Shaylee glared at him when she noticed him looking at the picture. "Don't say a word," she warned. He just grinned at her. "It's very cute," he told her, ignoring her advice. Shaylee opened her mouth and paused. Finally, she said, "Well, if I hadn't just heard Severus Snape say the word, 'cute', I would definitely hurt you..."

Severus just shook his head and went back to looking at the pictures. After Shaylee's birth, the pictures of her mother disappeared and in all of the pictures, her father rarely smiled.

He came across a picture of about fifty serious looking wizards and witches gathered together. Shaylee took her eyes off of the rest of the visitors to see which picture he was looking at.

"Oh, that's dad's Auror division. He was great at what he did..."

"So that's where I know his name..." Severus mused under his breath.

"Hmm?" Shaylee asked, her main attention grasped by the other people again.

"I thought I had heard of Jeffrey Weasley before. He worked with Dumbledore during the last war, didn't he?"

Shaylee nodded, her attention back to Severus again. "He worked, alright. He hardly ever stopped working. He felt bad for having us go to a school so far away, I'm sure... He just... Didn't know how to tell us that..." She was looking at his picture tenderly and Severus felt that even though Shaylee sometimes expressed her dislike for her family, her father had been one of her main role models.

"He was a great man. It's just that the loss of mum made him not such a great father..." She sighed. "I think I saw Flynn over on the other side of the room talking to his "friend". Let's go over there."

Shaylee took Severus hand and led him through the crowd. They had made it through most of the room when someone came up and tapped Shaylee on the shoulder. She turned around.

"Snobby weather*!" the man commented. He was a tall redhead with Shaylee's eyes.

Shaylee smiled a strained smile. "Of course not, Donnelly! I was just going to ask Flynn if he knew where you were!"

"Flynn showed up?" Donnelly asked, a confused look on his face. "He said he probably couldn't make it, but he'd talk to me when he got here if he came."

"Oh..." Shaylee searched for words. "Well, he probably couldn't find you either. I saw him looking around for you when we came in."

Donnelly shrugged. "Mind if I come with you?"

Shaylee plastered a smile on her face. "Of course not, Don."

For the first time, Donnelly noticed Severus. "So, Shay, are you going to introduce me to your fella+?" Shaylee sighed. "He's not my fella, Donnelly."

Donnelly shrugged. "Then?"

"This is Severus Snape, my... closest friend at Hogwarts. He's also a teacher."

"Nice to meet you," Severus said, holding his hand out for a handshake.

Donnelly shook his hand with a pompous grin. "Nice to meet you too, Severus." He turned to Shaylee. "Now how about we go see Flynn?" She shrugged and pulled Severus through the crowd again.

They saw Flynn and a man with brown hair standing by a table, talking quietly.

"Flynn?" Shaylee asked. Flynn turned around with a smile that faded as he saw Donnelly. He quickly recovered as Shaylee stepped lightly on his foot.

"Donnelly! Long time no see! I... um... Just got here. We were just looking at some of da's old certificates and stuff before we started looking for you..."

Donnelly looked at him strangely. "Shaylee said she saw you here looking for me earlier..."

Shaylee winced. "Um..." She tried to think of a cover-up. "He's probably just shlossed^. He has no idea what he's talking about."

Both of Shaylee's brothers looked at her, Donnelly with confusion and Flynn with anger. Flynn's "friend" just stood there, watching amusedly.

Donnelly looked back to Flynn. "I thought you were off the drink," he commented disapprovingly.

Flynn shot one more disdainful glance at Shaylee before he responded, trying to slur his words slightly, "And I thought you weren't off your nut**."

Donnelly sighed, then looked around to see if anyone had heard them talk. "Well, I had better go and talk to other people. There are other people that miss da too..." With that, he turned away. Shaylee snickered. "Great job, Flynn. I can't do fake drunk talk."

Flynn glared at her again. "That's because you don't ever have to pretend to be drunk, Shay."

She glared back. "Oh yeah? And since when have you been off the drink?"

"I had to tell the wanker++ something to get him off my arse."

Severus' eyes met with Flynn's friend's. It seemed they were the only ones that remembered that they were at a memorial service, annd not in a place for arguing.

Severus held his hand out. "Severus Snape."

The other man smiled as he shook his hand. "Colby McCarthen. I'm with the gobshite^^ over there," he told him, nodding towards Flynn. There was silence until Colby asked, "So, how do you know Shaylee?"

"I work at Hogwarts also," he answered.

Colby nodded, but Severus could tell that he thought that there was probably something Severus wasn't saying.

Finally, the two siblings stopped fighting. "Hey, I think Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur are here, Shay," Flynn said teasingly.

Shaylee groaned. "Grand..." She muttered sarcastically.

"SHAYLEE!" came a squeal as a red blur came up behind them and engulfed Shaylee in a hug.

"Howya***, Aunt Molly," she managed to get out before Molly totally cut off her air supply.

"Oh, dear. We haven't seen you in such a long time. How are you? Are you dealing with it well?"

Shaylee nodded as she separated from her hug. "I'm fine. I got over the worst of it already. There's still..." She sniffed her nose as she really remembered where she was and why she was there. "There's still the normal stuff, you know..." Molly nodded sympathetically.

"Why don't you come with me, dear? We'll talk about it somewhere else..." Shaylee nodded at her and turned to Severus. "I'll be back later. Just stay with Flynn and nobody will bite you." She winked at him, but there was still a tiny unshed tear in her eye. Molly finally noticed Severus, but didn't say anything as she led Shaylee away.

Flynn waited until Shaylee and Molly were out of hearing distance before he spoke. "Do you guys realize what my family is going to think when they see me with two different guys?"

Severus groaned as Colby chuckled. This was going to be a long day...

~*~*~**~*~*~

Draco was sitting on the stairs in the entrance hall. He knew that Professors Snape and Weasley had been out at Professor Weasley's father's funeral that day. He was waiting for them to come back so that he could approach them about helping Hermione and him with their plan. He wasn't sure whether they would help or not, being Professors. But, he had to try.

Hermione might be overcautious sometimes, but this was one of the times when she was absolutely right in what kind of danger there was. Frankly, he wasn't sure whether or not just two adults would be enough. He was confident in Professor Snape's abilities, but they hadn't reached the in depth defense part of DADA class yet, so he couldn't be sure how good Professor Weasley really was.

The door opened and he heard them before he saw them. Shaylee was sneezing loudly and obnoxiously while Snape was scolding her. "You know you're sensitive to the cold! Why in Merlin's name didn't you wear a bloody coat?"

Shaylee murmered something that Draco couldn't make out.

"That's nonsense, Shaylee! You know better than that."

Shaylee glared at him. "Can I just go to my room? I need sleep."

Severus sighed. "Whatever you wish, but when you get sick and die, don't blame me."

"I'd be dead. How could I blame you? Plus, you're not going anyw-"

"Professors?" Draco finally said, deciding that if he waited for them to stop talking, he'd be waiting until the next century.

They both looked up at him as he walked down the rest of the stairs to them.

"Yes? Did you need something Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Snape asked him.

"Yeah. I actually needed to talk to both of you. I need to ask you for a... favor."

Severus walked slower, Shaylee huddled against him, so that they could hear him.

"Hermione and I... Have decided to go to my house, as intended by my father, for the holidays."

"Jackass," Shaylee murmured slightly as Severus kept listening.

"We're planning on fighting back, actually. But the only back up we have is a group of students."

"Which are?" Severus prompted.

"Scott Ellis, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter," Draco answered.

Severus didn't seem impressed by their efforts at all. "That's it? Good luck." He went on down the hallway.

"Professor! I was actually wanting to see if you and Professor Weasley could help."

"I'm in," Shaylee immediately said, though she was still huddled against Severus.

"Shut it, Weasley," Severus said before turning back to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you realize that I will probably be there anyway, and will be forced to fight against you? My orders come from the Order of the Phoenix, and there aren't any orders saying for me to help angry sons when their dads try to kill them."

Malfoy looked at him in the eye. "Yes, sir, I realize that. However, I also realize that we need to take whatever chance we can get at defeating He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named." He paused and took a shaky breath. "I also realize that it is my duty to protect Hermione from my father. And, with all due respect, I will do that with or without your help, sir."

Severus nodded as they stopped in front of Shaylee's door. "It is also my duty as your Head of House to protect you."

"Let's just get this over with! I'm cold!" Shaylee said. She looked up from Severus long enough to say to Draco, "I'm in."

Severus looked at him also. "We're both in."

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Professors."

Severus nodded. "No problem. Be careful, Draco. You know your father."

Draco seemed to take this warning seriously. He nodded and continued downstairs.

Severus led Shaylee into her office. "I can't believe how stupid you are. First, you refuse to wear a coat in the middle of Winter. Then, you volunteer for a mission you know nothing about before you hear anything about it. How stupid can a person be?"

"Aw, come on, Sevvy! You know you were going to say yes no matter what. You wouldn't send the poor boy out there by himself. You have too much heart."

Severus' gut tightened. For two reasons. Firstly, she was the first person who had ever said that he had heart, not even mentioning too much. Secondly, as she was talking, she was taking off her dress robes and tossing them on her chair, revealing the conservative, yet flattering dress she had on under it.

She grabbed her coat from her coat rack and put it on over her dress, not aware of Severus' eyes following her. "I mean, what kind of jackass would actually send a bunch of 5th Years and a 7th Year out against a bunch of Death Eaters alone? That's just not your style, Sevvy. You want them to be alive for you to embarrass them in class."

Severus sighed. "I was waiting for that." He studied her. "You look ridiculus," he said simply. And she did. She was still wearing her dress, but had added her poofy coat and scarf, and was currently putting on her gloves.

"Thank you," Shaylee answered back.

She opened the door leading to her bathroom and bedroom and went inside, taking her discarded dress robes with her. She opened the door on her left, chucked the robes in blindly, closed the door, then went to the door on her left.

"Your quarters really are small, aren't they?" Severus mused out loud, noticing that she had been telling the truth before.

She poked her head back out angrily. "Yeah! You just noticed?" She popped her head back in, and this time closed the door to what he assumed was the bathroom.

"Why is it so cold in this castle?" she yelled, frustrated, from the bathroom.

"It's only heated magically. No actual heaters. I've noticed that it's a tad colder in your office, actually."

"Great. I'm the one that hates the cold, and I'm the one with the defective heating sp-- Woah! Wait! Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Think of what?"

Shaylee came out of her bathroom, this time in her pajamas and coat. "I never thought about using a heating charm on my classroom!"

She pulled out her wand and opened the door to her DADA classroom.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Severus mused as she performed a heating charm on both her class and her office.

"Thanks. At least I won't freeze now..."

There was silence as Shaylee disappeared for a few seconds to heat up the rest of her quarters. When she came back again, Severus said, "You know, if we're going to do this for Draco, we should probably both be at the same place this Christmas."

Shaylee shrugged. "I'm going to be here. I decided not to go home for the holidays this year."

"Well, I am. My sister invited me over to her place over in Wales."

Shaylee was about to open her mouth to say something, but paused. "So... Are you asking me to come to your sister's house for Christmas?"

"And New Years," Severus added.

Shaylee sat down on her desk chair and propped her feet up on the desk. "Well... I don't want to be a bother."

"To Cecilia? No one is a bother to her."

Shaylee shrugged. "I don't know. I can be really annoying sometimes."

Severus chuckled. "Believe me, I know that. But, Sissy's two boys are the closest I could ever find to the Weasley twins. She's used to annoying people."

Shaylee looked interested. "She's got kids?"

"Two boys and a girl. I told you about Serafena. You remind me of her when her mother's let her have too much sugar."

Shaylee tried to hold back a smile. His family sounded a lot better than sitting around Hogwarts with all the kids that hate their families too much to go home for the holidays. She grinned at him. "You know what, Sevvy? That sounds like a lot of fun."

~*~*~**~*~*~

*Ignoring me?
+boyfriend
^drunk
**crazy
++person you don't like
^^Idiot
***Hi (greeting)