Secret Santa

Dec 20

"You do realize that you drool in your sleep?" Snape remarked lazily as he lathered his face with shaving foam.

"Well you snore like a Norwegian Ridgeback with a head cold." Tonks countered as she brushed out an unruly tangle from her dark mane.

"Likewise." Muttering he examined his stubble roughened visage carefully in the mirror before scraping the straight razor across his cheek. "Furthermore you possess this exceedingly annoying habit of encircling your icy legs around..." The wizard ducked as a hairbrush was thrown his way and continued his shave as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"That's a lie!" A streak of magenta faded into her hair to match her furious complexion. She flounced away in mortification as she recalled waking up with her limbs entangled around his. The memory of being sheltered, the heat crackling off of him like a bonfire on a November night tormented her. Please tell me that the ruddy bastard was sleeping. If not I am going to dissect his shriveled heart and feed it to him in a pumpkin pasty.

"If you say so." His sardonic smirk caused the flustered auror to choke on her peppermint mouthwash.

"At least I don't mumble about potions in my sleep. As I recall those particular ingredients are used in a draught of enlargement. Do you care to explain why you would need to brew such a thing?"

"Intriguing how you would memorize that particular draught… Was your werewolf lacking…" Before he could finish his sentence he was hit in the head by a tube of toothpaste. Nicking himself, he cursed softly. Her aim was improving.

"Be thankful that I'm not the one with the razor" Her steely eyes glittered with malice as she pressed a cold handkerchief to his cut. Stormily she hobbled towards the door intent on finding a means of escape. Or to prevent a disembowelment… his.

Knowing that he had stampeded across that invisible line of tact by miles, he withheld his apology.

"We need to find a way out of here without the whole castle finding out." He adjusted his toga with a sense of purpose before joining her.

"No lockpicking tools, no magic, no calling for help and no battering ram. What are we going to do… simply walk through this door?" Scowling, Tonks smacked her head against the door in frustration and nearly fell over when it swung open abruptly. Fantastic, always knew that my incredibly thick skull would come in handy one day.

"After you." Snape gestured with an exaggerated flourish.

"No I insist." She glared at him with a haughtiness rivaling a raja.

"Invalids first." His infamous sneer made a first appearance for the morning just in time for breakfast.

"But I have respect for my elders especially when they are so elderly." She shoved him out the door not realizing that her foot was caught on the hem of his makeshift toga.

The sound of ripping material barely registered when she glanced at his fallen frame. Admit it, it was more than a glance Tonks! The man in no way shape or form required a draught of enlargement. She gasped and looked away but not before getting an eyeful. Or two or three wait make that four eyefuls.

"You klutz!" The enraged potions' master hissed as the clock chimed six times.

"Black is so last season. You pull the au naturel look off so well." Tonks struggled to maintain a poker face as she made a shhhing gesture to a snickering suit of armor.

"Find me something to cover myself with!" Snape demanded as he concealed himself ackwardly with the remnants of his toga.

"You didn't say please." Her face hurt from holding in her laughter.

"Tonks!" He pleaded desperately.

"Alright keep your pants on." Mirth overcame her in a legion of giggles. "Ooops, oh yeah right!"

Turning towards the door, she clasped her fingers around the latch. Unbelievable. Locked of course. This was the start of one of those mornings.

"Don't tell me that the door is locked." His jaw clenched, the vein in his forehead throbbed as his voice dropped several glacial octaves.

"Ok I won't." She looked down at her own toga and tore it in half carefully while holding it around herself. "Here take this half for I wouldn't want you to catch your death of cold." Or petrify the resident ghosts with the shock of your bare arse parading around the hallways. Humming Jingle Bells, she focused on the ceiling while he tied the material around his waist exposing a rippled expanse of smooth chest and a back ridged with scars.

Her toga tantalizingly skimmed the tops of her thighs. She would have to walk carefully as to not flash anything when climbing the stairs. Then again if he walked ahead of her… I really need to get my head examined.

Oh goody, in addition to a Christmas Ball, Dumbledore would have to start a ridiculous Secret Santa gift exchange. Severus rolled his eyes as he silently wished his goblet contained something stronger than eggnog. Firewhisky nay arsenic would be better. When the hat of names was passed to him, he reluctantly reached in and pulled out a slip of paper. Tonks! The gods must be conspiring against him. Shoving the damnable paper in his pocket, he alternatively glared at and looked away from the object of his ire when she happened to glance in his direction.

Not only did he have to spend on uncomfortable night in the professor's bathroom with the aggravating witch he had to endure the headache of an adventure which ensued when sneaking back to their own rooms. His humiliation was witnessed by no less than three suits of armor and Merlins know how they like to spread rumors and a house elf he hoped to bribe with butterbeer. The crowning insult was that he would have to buy her a yuletide present during the Hogsmeade visit they were both supervising tomorrow afternoon. Sixteen insufferable brats, well seventeen if you include Tonks and a partridge in a pear tree. Happy Christmas to me.

Again he glared at her. He was unable to stop watching her, the way she sipped from her goblet, the way she wiped her mouth daintily and the way she wolfed down her muffin. Not so daintily. Nymphadora Tonks was a fascinating subject to observe. Her laughter which pealed from across the table at Professor Flitwick's jokes made him pause every time. But his keen eyes which never failed to catch a lazing student in class, neglected to notice the woman as she crumpled her own slip of paper in frustration.

"Professor Dumbledore is it possible I can switch my Secret Santa with yours?" Tonks asked sweetly.

"Nonsense my dear, it would go against tradition." His azure eyes twinkled at her knowingly.

"But Sev… I mean my secret Santa does not like me very much and I doubt he would appreciate anything that I would get for him." She gazed upon the moody professor who stabbed his eggs Florentine viciously.

"I doubt that very much Ms. Tonks, even if he would never admit it, he would enjoy a Yule gift." The obstinate man needs a nice gesture, even though sometimes what he really needs is a swift boot to the rear. Minerva McGonagall snorted privately.

"Why would you think that he dislikes you? He rushed to your side at Knockturn Alley and has cared for you tirelessly while you were unconscious." Professor Dumbledore assured her quietly recognizing her resounding silence as shock.

"Sometimes it is best to judge a man by his actions instead of his words." Professor McGonagall's fortune cookie advice was not lost on Tonks as she met the intensely brooding gaze of a certain potions master. This time he did not look away.

A/N: Sometimes the person you have been looking for has been staring at you all this time. The question is are you ready to recognize it or do you keep your head buried safely in the same, in hopes that hiding will keep your heart from being broken all over again?

Every Breath You Take by The Police - Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper

Blue Monday by New Order – Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer

I Feel You by Depeche Mode – Friday I'm In Love by The Cure

All She Wants Is by Duran Duran – Not Enough Time by INXS

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me by Culture Club – Take On Me by A-HA