"Thanks again for feeding us and entertaining us," Dinah shot Lucy a grin later that afternoon as they cleared the table after their late lunch. Her snake necklace shimmered around her neck.

"You're welcome. I've enjoyed having you," Lucy leaned over to wipe the table down. "He matches."

"I'm sorry... what?" Dinah was confused.

"Your snake," she gestured at Dinah's neck, "He matches the mistletoe."

"Oh!" she laughed and looked down, fingering the necklace. "He does. I wonder if maybe that's why Severus was so willing to kiss me - and in front of others no less - after seeing the mistletoe."

"Or maybe he just wanted to kiss you and didn't care who was around," Lucy shrugged. "Although, and I hope I don't offend you saying this, Sirius thinks that was not how one should properly use mistletoe. He was demonstrating proper procedure when the two of you came back down. Really, I think he was just using that as an excuse to make out."

"Oh, don't worry, I heard all that. I'll take note of it for next time." Lucy laughed and Dinah continued, "Incidentally... this is probably completely rude but I keep wanting to ask you to transform into a fox so I can see it. Don't worry, you don't have to oblige," she laughed, "I just had to confess."

"It's fine," Lucy smiled, "Actually it's kind of nice during the winter. I stay warmer with all that fur." She stepped back so that there was some room between her and the furniture. A flash of light surrounded her and when the light dissipated, a small bright red fox stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"Ah!" Dinah exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, that is amazing! I've never seen anything like it before. It's so... cute!" She leaned down and stuck her hand out. The Lucy-fox came forward and sniffed at her, then cocked its head to the side. "I guess communication is hard, though."

The little fox nodded and yawned, leaping up into a chair and curling up.

"Oh, my. I don't think I can handle the cuteness!"

"What on Earth are you talking about now?" Severus asked, coming into the room.

"Oh! Severus, look!" She grabbed his arm and pointed at the fox on the chair; "Lucy transformed for me! Isn't she adorable? I wish I could do that!"

He smirked, "Simple animagus transformation. I really can't see why you're so fascinated."

Lucy lifted her head and yipped at Severus. Dinah thought if she'd been in human form she'd be glaring at him too.

Dinah grinned, "See? You really need to develop a better appreciation for the wonder of life."

He just shrugged, "If you insist. Now, is there anything else you would like me to do besides pack all of your clothes? I'm sure Lucy and the – and Sirius have plenty to do before their own guests arrive. And your Muggle family is waiting to see you."

She groaned, "You act like I forced you to pack all of my clothes. No, I think we're ready to leave soon. But I would like to give the place a once-over and make sure I haven't forgotten anything." She glanced at Lucy but the fox just gave a short nod. It seemed she wanted to stay in that form for the moment. Well, probably it was a bit of a hassle to shift back and forth all the time. "Okay, let's go."

Dinah headed upstairs and Severus followed her. After she had determined that no stragglers remained of the items she had brought she turned to him, "You have everything then?"

He nodded, "I didn't bring nearly as much as you did."

"It's a male-female thing, I guess. Um, Severus?"

"Yes?"

"I was just thinking," she stared down at her hands, twiddling her fingers distractedly, "I know I have to do my traditional spend the holidays with my family thing, and we decided it's much too early to introduce you... or anything like that. Well, I was thinking I would be able to get away at around lunch time on Christmas. If you'd like to meet somewhere or something. Somewhere for wizards, not Muggles, of course."

"Hm, I think that would be fine," he agreed.

She finally looked up to meet his gaze, "Really? Great! I just thought we should at least be together at Christmas for a bit. I'd hate for you to spend it alone."

"As I have for the past eighteen years by my own choice?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Even if it was your own choice. It just doesn't seem right."

He smiled slightly and came forward, kissing her quickly on the lips for a total of six kisses now. Somehow it had gone from two to six in one day. She wasn't going to try to examine that, just accepted it for the miracle that it was. "I appreciate the thought."

She smiled. Well, she hadn't expected him to admit that he was lonely at Christmas all these past years. She knew he had been, and he knew she knew he had been, but it wasn't something to speak of. And still, he was grateful.

Now she knew Lucy was right yesterday. She couldn't leave him. Even if their relationship was doomed to never fully blossom, which she was even beginning to doubt now. Because if she gave up on him he would go back. And she wanted to help him move forward.

"Well," she stepped back, turning around and looking at the room again, making sure everything was straight and tidy. It was. "I guess that's everything. We'll have to decide which place to meet on Christmas and all that, but now we should go down and say good-bye to Lucy and Sirius." She smiled, "At least we know that they're going to have an amazing Christmas."

"Why is that?"

She spun around to face him again and grinned, "Sirius is going to propose to Lucy."

Severus blinked, and then his characteristic smirk formed on his face; "Oh, really? And you know this how?"

"He told me." She shrugged, "You know, I... I really don't always feel comfortable around him because of your past. But he really cares for Lucy. I think that's a redeeming quality in some ways."

"Perhaps," he shrugged, a slight scowl forming on his face. "Although I realize that this is a good thing for Lucy."

"A very good thing," she agreed. "If the blanket helps her feel better about her separation anxiety issues, then this should help even more. So much more."

"Well, then I suppose that's all you can hope for." He took her hand and led her back downstairs.

Lucy stood at the bottom of the stairs, wrapped up in her new blanket, waiting for Dinah and Severus to come down and tell her they were ready to leave. She stuck her face in the blanket and smelled it. She liked the smell and had finally figured out why.

"It smells like Snuffles," she said, looking up at Sirius.

"Well, I should hope so. I've been using it every chance I got just so it would."

"Mmmm. You're too good to me," she told him. She knew how caring he could be, but sometimes it still surprised her, the things he did for her.

"No," he murmured, "I'm not good enough."

"Now that's just silly," she stopped when she heard two sets of feet coming carefully down the stairs.

"Well, we're ready to go," Dinah said, then smiled slightly when Severus let go of her hand. Apparently he was still a little shy on the whole public displays of affection thing. Which made no sense considering the mistletoe episode earlier. "Thank you again so much for having us," Dinah said.

"You're welcome," said Sirius, surprising Lucy. "And Dinah…thanks," he finished, extending his hand to the other witch.

Dinah smiled and nodded, shaking his hand, while Severus scowled but remained silent and Lucy stared, wondering what he could possibly be thanking her about.

"Good luck," Dinah winked, and then turned to Lucy. "I'll see you after the holidays?"

"Oh, I'm sure. Though maybe not in this form," Lucy said, smiling. "I do like to play in the snow as my other self."

Dinah laughed, "I'll keep an eye out when I walk around the grounds or Hogsmeade."

Lucy joined in the laughter, and then surprised Dinah by hugging her; "I'm glad you came to Hogwarts. You've helped. And I don't just mean me."

Dinah smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks. I'm glad I've been able to help. And also... thanks for helping me realize that I have helped."

"You're welcome." Lucy grinned, "We seem to be saying that a lot today."

Dinah laughed, "Yeah, well I guess it's good everybody's getting along. Or as well as they can, which is something to be grateful for." She shot a grin at Severus, who still had a half-scowl on his face, and slid her hand into his. He seemed to flinch, but then his face relaxed back to its normal state. Dinah truly seemed to have powers over the man that she didn't even realize.

"That's true. We are all still alive," Lucy giggled. "Anyway, I hope you two have a wonderful Christmas and a fun New Year's."

"Thanks, you too," Dinah smiled.

"Yes, thank you," Severus added with a short nod.

"So, I guess this is goodbye then," Lucy said awkwardly.

"Well, thank you again," Dinah repeated, as they all began walking towards the front door, "Next time we see each other it'll be a new year. I think a lot of good things happened and will happen this holiday season. So next year we can be sure to have a fresh outlook."

"Let's hope so," Lucy said, reaching for the handle to open it for the departing couple. "I'll see you two when classes start up again." Sirius was being terribly quiet, but then he didn't work with either Dinah or Snape so there was nothing for him to say really, other than goodbye.

"Great, see you then. Thanks," Dinah flashed another smile, and then she and Severus left, still holding hands, as Lucy shut the door behind them.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Lucy asked, leaning against the door.

"Snivellus and I spent most of the time ignoring each other if that's what you mean."

"Yes, and you're both still alive, nothing too disastrous happened…"

"Except now I have to put the thought of that Death Eater kissing people in my house out of my mind."

"Oh, hush. He's not a Death Eater anymore and you know it. Besides, he wasn't kissing people he was kissing Dinah. Unless you and he locked lips and you didn't tell me?"

"God, no!" he barked.

"Then don't worry about it," she said, kissing him and pulling him farther into the house.

"That went... well! Don't you think?" Dinah asked after she and Severus had come down the steps leading from Grimmauld Place.

"As well as could be expected," he agreed, his face wearing its usual flat expression.

She nodded and turned to face him, not letting go of his hand. "Thank you, Severus. For trying to be social and getting along with Sirius for me."

He shrugged, "Getting along meaning ignoring him."

She grinned, "I think that was the best thing for both parties." They continued down the walkway until they reached the street. "Well, I suppose you should apparate home and me to my parents' house." She began to remove her hand from his, but his grip tightened over hers.

His expression not much changed, but his eyes thoughtful, he said, "I think we could continue like this to the end of the road, at least."

"Yes," Dinah smiled, placing her other hand over their clasped ones, "We could indeed."

THE END

A/N: So that was it! Fairly short and sweet but I hope you all enjoyed it! :)

Please keep reading "The Serpent's Kiss" and "Don't Leave Me" for the rest of the stories of Dinah/Severus and Lucy/Sirius!

Thank you for reading and reviewing! Happy Holidays, everyone! :)