BPOV

I burst out laughing when I saw Harry stand up, covered from head to toe in mud. We were playing Quidditch near his house and I had knocked him off of his broom and into a pile of mud. I landed neatly beside him and he opened his arms up. "Come give me a hug Bella."

"No thank you," I said , backing away. But I wasn't quick enough and Harry pulled me into his embrace, getting mud all over me. He then picked me up and threw me into the large swamp of mud that I had pushed him into.

When I stood up, I looked down and couldn't help but laugh at myself. I looked completely ridiculous.

"You look like an idiot," I told Harry.

"So do you," he replied, barely containing his laughter.

We had been here for a week, and Harry and I had spent all of that time goofing around. Christmas was the next day and I couldn't wait.

"Mom's going to kill us," Harry said as he looked down at his muddy body.

"Let's go and get it over with," I suggested, sighing. Lily was going to chew us out for coming home dirty again, and Harry and I had learned that it was better to get it over with sooner rather than later. We picked up our brooms and traipsed back up to the Potter's beautiful two story house which sat in a lovely meadow. Their house was so peaceful, and I loved sitting in the front yard, reading a book or just hanging out with Harry.

"What have you two been doing?" Lily yelled when we approached the house.

"Just having some fun," I said.

Lily was mad, but even she couldn't stop herself from laughing at the sight of us.

"I better wash you off," she said. "Because you're not entering my house like that."

She pulled her wand out from her pocket and sprayed us with ice cold water. I guess that was our punishment.

I pushed Harry in front of me, but Lily still managed to blast me with the freezing water.

When she finished cleaning us, she threw towels at us and instructed us not to come in until we were completely dry.

An hour later, once we were finally dry, we were able to enter the house so that we could change out of our dirty clothes. We spent dinner laughing and sharing all of our favorite memories from our past Christmas's.

"A holly jolly Christmas to all!" A voice said from the doorway after we had finished eating dinner. We all rushed into the living room and saw Sirius dressed up as Santa Claus with a huge sack over his shoulder.

I laughed at what he was wearing and gave him a hug. "It's good to see you again Uncle Sirius."

"You too Bella."

Sirius gave everyone a hug and then sat down at the table. We spent the next hour talking and laughing with each other, and just enjoying each other's company. Sirius told us what he had been up to in the past couple of months, and I was forced to recount what had happened to me when I had been taken by the death eaters.

"Off to bed," Lily scolded us once I finished my story. She looked worried and I guessed that she must have sensed that I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Harry and I obediently walked up the stairs and went to our rooms, wishing one another a good night. I crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, anticipating all of the fun that tomorrow would bring.

NEXT DAY

I woke up early the next morning because Harry was jumping on my bed, trying to wake me up.

"Bella, get up! It's Christmas!"

I grabbed onto his leg to prevent him from jumping anymore and he fell down on my bed. "Please shut up Harry!"

"Sorry Bella, but you need to open your presents!"

I unwillingly sat up and saw a huge pile of presents at the foot of my bed. I tore them open while Harry watched, looking to see what I got.

Harry got me a Defense Against the Dark Arts book, Ron got me a big box of chocolate, I got a pile of clothes from Hermione, a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a prank book from Fred and George, and a beautiful pair of earrings from Ginny. I also got more defense books from Sirius, Remus Lupin, and James, a handy spell book of useful household spells from Lily, a necklace from Snape, and lastly a lovely bracelet with a small diamond heart from Draco.

I immediately put the bracelet on and Harry rolled his eyes at me. The bracelet matched the necklace that he had given me a few weeks ago at the dance.

"Do you like my present?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry, I love it. Do you like mine?"

I had gotten Harry a book about Quidditch along with a box of candy.

"Yes Bella. Thank you, it's amazing."

I grinned. "Now get out Harry, I need to get dressed."

Harry walked over to his room and I settled on a green dress that Hermione had given me. I straightened my hair and put on a matching green headband.

When I finished, I walked down the stairs and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. While we were eating breakfast Snape walked in, looking nervous.

"Merry Christmas Daddy!" I said, standing up and giving him hug.

"Merry Christmas to you too sweetheart," he said, kissing the top of my head.

He gave Lily a hug and shook hands with James.

"Do you mind if I steal Isabella away for the day?" Snape asked.

I looked up at him, stunned. He had never done this before. Usually he would just pop in for a visit and then leave again.

"Sure," Lily said, looking just as surprised as I felt.

"Are you ready Isabella?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he said, smiling. He led me outside and then we apparated.

We arrived in a small village that I didn't recognize. "Where are we?" I asked.

"This is where we used to live before Voldemort murdered your mother."

I gasped. I had never heard Snape mention that night. It was one of those forbidden topics, and he usually shied away from conversations about my mom.

"This way," he said, and started walking though the small town. We walked for a couple of minutes and then stopped in a small house with the roof blown off. "This was our house," he murmured.

I stared at in shock. I was pretty sure the roof was blown off when Voldemort's killing curse backfired. This house betrayed all of the horror of that night and I could tell that Snape was having a difficult time showing me this.

Snape walked into the house and I followed him inside hesitantly. The house was completely empty except for a cardboard box that was in the corner of one of the rooms.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Just open it," Snape said quietly.

I was so confused right then. I had no idea why Snape had come and taken me to our old house just so that he could show me a box.

I opened the box up and saw that it contained pictures of my mom. The picture on the very top was framed and it showed me, my mom, and my dad.

I gazed at my mother's face, and noticed that she looked just like me. We had the same long wavy black hair and bright green eyes.

"I look just like her," I murmured absently. I had never really seen pictures of my mother. There were very few of them and whenever I asked Snape he had told me that he didn't have any.

Snape nodded. "You act just like her too."

I looked up at him. "Why did you bring me here?"

He sighed. "I wanted to explain to you why I am always such a bad dad."

"But you're not-"

Snape cut me off. "Yes, I am," he said forcefully. "I'm never there for you and I'm always too busy to spend time with you. I always cancel our plans, and I don't even take the time to learn things about you. I'm not involved in your life, and I hate that."

"Then why don't you just get more involved and start spending a little more time with me?" I asked.

"Because you look just like your mother," he said, his voice cracking. "I miss her terribly and every time I look at you, you remind me of her, and it pains me to think about her and how she's not here anymore. I know it's a stupid excuse, but it's the truth. I'm so sorry that I haven't been there for you, but I promise you that that will change. I'll make it up to you if you'll give me the chance. Will you please forgive me?"

I stared at him, bewildered. Over the years I had thought about reasons of why Snape always ignored me. I had pondered what was wrong with me or what I had done to upset him, but this had never been once came to mind. It felt nice to finally understand, and I truly did understand his reasons now, but they still hurt.

"Of course I'll forgive you daddy," I said, curling up into his arms
"Thank you," he whispered, stroking my hair. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

After that Snape showed me all of the pictures in the box and told me a story that related to my mom about each and every one. We laughed and cried at many of them, and it was a relief to finally be able to learn and ask questions about her.

Once we finished looking through the box Snape handed me the framed picture of all three of us. "I want you to keep this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It's yours now."

"Thank you daddy, I'll treasure it always," I murmured.

"You're welcome, and I have one more place that I want to show you."

I got up, wondering what else he could possibly show me. I held onto his arm and we apparated to a beautiful lake. The water was a clear, breathtaking blue. The grass was a bright green and was filled with beautifully colored flowers.

"It's amazing!" I exclaimed.

"This was me and your mother's favorite place. It was a place where we could escape from the world and just spend time with one another."

I smiled as I looked around. I could totally imagine my parents here, just enjoying each other's company.

"Why are you showing me your secret place?" I asked. I was glad that he was showing me this, but if this was their private hang out I didn't think that I should be here.

"Because it's yours too. Your mother and I always brought you here after you were born. This place is as much yours as it is mine."

"Thank you," I said, tears coming out of my eyes.

Snape gently wiped them away with his finger. "You're welcome."

We spent the rest of the day talking. I told Snape about all my friends, Draco, and everything that I liked to do. I told him about my time with Harry and his family, and also about all of my time with Draco.

When it started getting dark, Snape said we had better leave. I glanced back at the lake one more time and then we apparated back to the Potter's house.

"Bye daddy," I said.

"Bye Bella," he said, and I grinned when he called me Bella and not Isabella. It was the first time that he had ever done that, and it was just the final part to one of the best days of my life. "Merry Christmas," he continued. "I hope I didn't ruin your day."

"Of course you didn't," I said. "This was the best Christmas that I have ever had."

He smiled. "I'm glad, now go and get to bed."

I obeyed and walked into the house.

"Hey Bella," Harry greeted, running down the stairs. "How was your day?"

"It was great, what about you?"

"Fine. Where did Snape take you?" Harry asked curiously.

I sighed. I probably should have expected this. I grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him up the stairs and into my room. I told Harry all about my day and everything that Snape had told me.

"So, everything's alright between you two now?" Harry asked once I finished telling my story.

"Yeah, I guess so."

'That's great Bella," Harry said, giving me a hug, and smiling at me.

"I'm going to go to bed," Harry announced.

"Okay, night big bro!"

"Night little sis," Harry replied.

I got into bed and thought about all that happened that day. School was sure going to be interesting now with Snape acting like a real father.

The next two weeks Harry and I spent having fun and pulling pranks on each other. Harry and James played Quidditch against Lily and I. We won and the boys had to make dinner every night for a whole week. We also went and explored the forest right by Harry's home. We stayed up late and told each other ghost stories. It was one of the best Christmas breaks that I had ever had, but I was ready to go back to Hogwarts and see Draco. I really missed him and I couldn't wait to see him again. I wrote to him almost every day, but it just wasn't the same as being with him in real life.

The night before we were scheduled to leave, Lily, James, and Sirius threw a small party for us. We had a lot of food and Lily bought us a couple new school supplies like new paper and quills. They sent us off to bed early, but I snuck into Harry's room and we ended up talking about Hogwarts for half of the night, which was probably a bad idea.

On the car ride to the train station Harry and I kept falling asleep, which caused Lily to scold us for not listening to her. When we finally arrived at the station, James took my trunk for me until we reached the platform.

Harry and I carried our trunks into the train and then went back outside to say our goodbyes.

"It was good to see you again Bella," Lily said while hugging me.

"You too Lily," I murmured.

I moved on to James and he also gave me a big hug. "Look after yourself Bells," he instructed.

"I will," I promised.

I stepped back and watched as Harry said goodbye to his parents. Once he finished he went off to find Ginny.

I saw Hermione and I ran over and gave her a big hug. "I missed you Hermione!"

"I missed you too Bella," she said, returning my hug.

"I loved your Christmas present, thank you so much," I said, and she smiled at me.

"You're welcome," she said, and then she went off to put her stuff away and probably look for Ron.

I saw Draco with his parents. Mrs. Malfoy waved at me and I waved back. Lucius Malfoy pointed to me and said something to Draco. He turned around and gave me a beautiful smile. I had missed him so much. He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and hugged her and then he hugged his father.

He ran over to me, scooped me up in his arms, and spun me around.

"I missed you so much," he whispered in my ear, once he put me down.

"I missed you too," I murmured.

He put his face down on the same level as mine and brought his lips on mine for a soft, slow kiss. I tried to remember that we were in a crowded area with his parents watching, but that was pretty hard to remember when he kissed me like that.

I pulled away and smiled at him. "It's good to be back."

He grinned and grabbed my hand. "Let's go sit down."

He led me into our compartment where Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were waiting for us.

"Hello everyone," Draco greeted when we emerged.

"Hi Draco," four voices echoed at him.

"How was your holiday?" I asked Draco once we sat down and everyone had resumed their previous conversations.

"It was alright," he said. "Nothing exciting really happened. How was yours?"

"Mine was excellent," I replied. "Snape came over on Christmas Day and we sorted everything out. He explained why he's always so distant with me, and we talked everything out."

Draco smiled at me. "That's great Bella. I'm glad that you two are growing a stronger relationship."

Draco and I talked and shared details about our vacations until I fell asleep, exhausted from the lack of sleep from the previous night. I drifted off to sleep in Draco's arms, smiling as I thought how good it was to be back.

Author's Note:

I really hope that you liked this chapter, it is one of my favorites and I think it turned out really well. Thank you so much for all of the reviews on the last chapter, I really appreciated them!

I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! Thank you so much for all of your support, and please don't forget to REVIEW and tell me what you think so far!