Chapter 15! Year 6. Lauren and Snape spend Christmas together, exchange gifts, and share something special.

Holy crap guys, holy crap. This thing is ten pages exactly and three continuous hours of work. Seriously, I plugged into my calm music playlist at midnight, kept writing; it's three in the a.m. now. 3:48 to be exact. Holy crap. XD

This was really fun to write though, I put my whole heart into it and hope you guys can enjoy it as much as I do.

As always, a big thanks to PandaWong, SandyLovesKittens, XenaHades, nightworldangel, FonzFan, The Yoshinator, Isa'ralia Faradien, Lost Astronaut Of Apollo 11, Readergirl99 and DrainaPurpurne2412

You all make writing even more fun and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this chapter.

Same to you random readers~ Read, enjoy, and maybe when you're done tell me what you think!

Chapter 15 – Little Miss Innocence

Lauren was lonely.

It was Christmas Eve and she was on her own for the first time ever. Usually she'd be at the Garden, her grandmother's home, by now. Usually she'd be surrounded by her immense family, smiling and laughing, running about with her cousins and talking with her aunts and uncles. She'd be trying to secure her spot in front of the main Christmas tree and telling stories to the little ones, singing them to sleep with carols.

Only she wasn't. She was stand here at a window, watching snow coat the world outside, lantern in her hand to keep the dark at bay, bag heavy on her shoulder with books she'd planned to read and hadn't. She was standing here wishing that she was there and that her parents weren't away on two different continents. She supposed she couldn't really blame them, her mother had made the promise to go on that South American mission trip in the spring and couldn't just back out because her father had gotten a sudden hint on the location of his birth family.

It wasn't their fault, and she wasn't mad. Plenty of her relatives had offered to come pick her up at Kings Cross. It had been her choice to refuse, not wanting to burden any of them with coming all the way to London. She knew she would be fine here for the holidays, she was just lonely.

Luna had gone home, Harry and Ron and Hermione had gone home, Cho had gone home, Draco too. Most everyone had really, the common was empty and quiet, the number of people still around filled just one table in the Great Hall and, since it was Christmas Eve even some of the teachers were missing.

She hadn't seen Professor Snape at least… It made her sad.

She wondered if he'd be back tomorrow. She hadn't given him his gift yet having hoped to give it to him tonight and she would be even sadder if she had to wait till the New Year to give it to him.

With a sigh she sat down in the window and set her lantern and bag down. She drew her knees up to her chest, shivering slightly when she rested her head against the chilly glass, and sighed again. This was absolutely no fun. She wished she had someone to keep her company, to make her smile. She wished she had someone to spend Christmas with…

Footsteps echoed in the corridor behind her and she sat up properly to look behind her.

She came eyelevel with someone's midsection, all garbed in black, and a deep, familiar voice spoke.

"Good evening Ms. Dari."

She looked up, startled to see the face of Severus Snape looming over her, onyx eyes regarding her with curiosity. "Should you not be joining your peer in the festivity back in your own common?"

"What peers?" she asked with a frown, finally over her shock. "That place is practically deserted… it's depressing."

"Oh?" It was a rhetorical question and she didn't answer, just looked back out at the falling snow for a minute. She felt happy to see him, but she still couldn't shake her sadness, especially since she realized once again how lonely the school had become and would be for the next week… Such a quiet Christmas… Oh!

"I have your gift" she supplied suddenly, remembering it in her bag. "I was hoping I could give it to you tonight but when you didn't show up for dinner…" she trailed off and went to grab her bag but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I have a gift for you as well…" She smiled, watching patiently as he took a moment to think. "Join me for tea, we will exchange them then."

"Alright" she smiled brightly, standing from her spot. She shouldered her bag and picked up her lantern, following him as he began to walk.

She was a touch confused when he began in the direction of the dungeons, rather than towards the DADA room but did not question it, following dutifully.

She looked around with a slight frown as they walked deeper down, into a hallway she had never used before, and nearly ran into him when he stopped walking. They were in front of a painting depicting a slithering snake wrapped about a tree. It peered at them with beady black eyes, staring at her in particular.

If she didn't like snakes so much she probably would have cowered, as it was though, she owned one and was used to their unmoving stares.

"Where are we?" she couldn't help vocalizing. It helped take her mind off the staring, despite the silence between them not seeking to be broken.

He leaned forward and whispered something to the painting and she watched as it slid aside, letting a puff of warm, dry air loose into the damp corridor.

"These are my quarters" he supplied, stepping inside.

She blinked. His… wait this was his room? She followed quickly behind lest she be locked out and then just stood, looking around with a surprised expression. She was in his room. Really? She was really in his room?

She was afraid to move, to touch anything, and so just looked, standing frozen in place. It certainly did look like a place he would live in. Nice and neat, the walls lined with bookcases and shelves crammed to the brim with book after book and tome after tome.

There was a fireplace against one wall, which she thought was amazing since they were under a lake, and around it was situated a loveseat and two comfortable looking armchairs. There was also a little wooden coffee table sitting on a green square rug, the only pop of color against the black stone floor.

There was a door at the far side of the room. She assumed that's where he'd gone and that his bedroom was located within. She made a quick mental note to go nowhere near there but to try and see inside, just for curiosity's sake.

That door opened and all she saw was him. She would've tried to peer past if she wasn't so completely fixated on this new sight, him sans robes and that black top he always wore over the white. He was still wearing his usual black pants and his shoes but those two missing articles were enough to throw her mind completely.

She looked down at her boots to keep from staring and so only heard him set down the tea tray in his hands.

"You may come sit" his voice called and she shuffled over to the opposing armchair quickly, dropping down as she blew out the candle in her lantern and dropped her bag like a sack of potatoes.

He fixed her tea while she got comfortable, pushing the cup towards her before fixing his own.

They settled into silence after that, both leaning back in their seats, comfortable.

She smiled at him over her cup once the shock of being in his sitting room and seeing him in slightly different attire wore off and he reciprocated slightly, setting his cup down.

"Might I ask why you are here for the holidays?"

She nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "Mum is in Chile, Dad is in… some remote part of Africa, I duno. Anyway, I didn't want any of my relatives to have to bother with picking me up in London so I just stayed."

"Regretting it?" he asked.

She thought for a moment then smiled softly and shook her head. "No. I'm here with you so I don't regret it."

Her answer seemed to surprise him and she looked down into her tea with a blush. Was that a little forward? It was the truth, even if it was an awkward truth… She sort of wished she hadn't said it and looked for something else to say, anything else.

Silent moments ticked by and she drained her cup. When she looked back at him the surprise was off his face but he was watching her with that pensive look she could never read. She never knew if he was happy or sad or mad when that look came around, it was nothing but neutral thoughtfulness. What was he thinking?

"You are an odd girl" he vocalized, as if answering her unspoken question. "A very odd girl."

She smiled a little. "Why thank you." Odd was good in her book. "What makes you say so?"

"Do you really enjoy my company so much?"

"Don't you enjoy mine?"

He blinked then let a ghost of a smile tug at his lips. "Indeed I do. "

"There's your answer." She rolled her eyes but smiled at him nice and bright. If she didn't enjoy his company, if she didn't like him, she certainly wouldn't be sitting here drinking tea, wouldn't be here chatting and saying silly things. If she didn't like him she wouldn't be so happy right now, even without her family on Christmas Eve… Christmas…

"You don't have a tree" she said suddenly, looking around.

"No I do not" he replied. "I am not a particularly festive person."

"Don't you like Christmas?"

"I like it fine but see no reason to bring an entire tree into my lodgings."

She pouted at him, when was she going to stop that, crossed her arms over her chest, crossed her legs, and gave him, after the pout, a fully disapproving look.

"Where do you expect Santa to leave your presents? There are five trees at Grams house."

He deadpanned. Did she really… Really? He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I do not often make the nice list" he supplied, not about to try and correct her lest he set off something he really did not want to bother with.

It appeased her but she looked sad then. He did not approve of that look. He needed a distraction.

"Would you like your gift now?" he asked, at a loss for anything else to say but glad that was still there. It had been the whole purpose of her coming down here after all.

Hesitantly she nodded, moving her mind away from that fact. What was he doing to stay on the naughty list she wondered, then stopped. She reached down into her bag, pulled out a green wrapped square decorated with black ribbon, and held it out to him at the same time that he held out a small, purple box.

She smiled as the objects changed hands and looked curiously at the box, wondering what it could be. It was topped with one of those blue sticky bows and she pulled it off the top, sticking it on her head. It fell off a few seconds after and she laughed flipping the box open. A soft gasp escaped her.

Sitting in the box was a circlet, not meant for her head but her wrist, a bracelet. It was silver and shiny and she picked it up carefully in her small hands with another gasp. It wasn't the silver that amazed her so, but the two small glass balls on either side of a silver plate. Inside both a clear smoke swirled, turned red, then clear again as her name appeared on the plate.

They were Remembralls… were they there to help her remember her name? Still regarding them curiously she slipped the band onto her wrist and watched as it tightened to fit her, loose enough to be comfortable but tight enough not to fall off. Perfect.

She looked up at Snape, saw him watching her curiously, and gave a sweet smile. "It's so lovely" she told him with sincerity. "Though… Is it supposed to keep me from forgetting my name?"

He shook his head with a slight smile but serious eyes. He was treading upon dangerous waters he knew but he wanted her to understand the meaning behind this gift, the reason for it. Setting his own, unopened gift to the side he folded his hands and asked "do you recall any of your… illness before the summer?"

"Illness?" she asked with a curious tilt of the head.

"Several times your memory failed you" that was a drastic understatement of what had happened obviously, but he did not want to reopen old wounds. "You seemed most distraught when you forgot the name of someone near you and this will insure that never happens again."

She blinked down at the bracelet on her wrist, her smile falling then stretching wide. She did recall, vaguely, all of the memory potions he had her take near the end of school, had a momentary flash of memory, she feeling frantic because she did not know who she was talking to, and then it was gone and a jolt of pain struck her head when she tried to chase it.

Instead she focused back on the bracelet, the Remembralls were red again, then clear as 'Professor Snape' crossed the plaque. She smiled. He was looking out for her, not just physically but mentally as well. It was touching, so touching and her whole body felt warm.

"Thank you so much. I…" she teared up a bit and looked at him "I really can't say properly how wonderful this is. How thoughtful…" A few tears slipped down her cheeks and she pulled out last years present, dabbing the wet away with it. "Your turn" she sniffed. "Open your gift."

He obliged, slipping the ribbon off slowly before removing the paper. She giggled when she noticed that he was one who did not rip the paper but undid the tape and unwrapped it. How like him.

She scooted a little farther forward in her seat as he removed the lid of the box and bit her lip nervously as he drew the pocket watch out.

He just stared at it for a while, surveyed it. He had certainly seen watches like it, though never up close. They were always hidden inside a display case at the apothecaries, marked with their ridiculously high prices. It wasn't just some Muggle time piece, it was a Potions Watch.

While most potion makers used an hour glass to time the brewing of their potions there had been, about twenty years ago, a new development in wizard technology. These watches could be told what potion was being brewed and would set themselves to alarm accordingly. They were extremely useful and long-lived, he had never heard of one breaking on its own anyway, but expensive. The charm used to enchant them was extremely difficult and so none were manufactured or sold in bulk. Most were made by order and the cheapest in shop one he'd ever found was fifty galleons.

This one looked to be a far cry from fifty galleons. It was pure silver, just as her bracelet was coincidentally, the front embellished with the engraving of a coiled snake. When he flipped it open he was amazed to see Snape engraved within and then the neat face of the clock. He snapped it shut after a moment, regarded the equally silver chain, and then looked to her hopeful face.

"You certainly give extravagant gifts" he smiled.

"You like it?"

"Yes."

"Wondering where I got it?" she tilted her head.

"You know me so well."

She laughed. "My aunt and uncle run an apothecary. I work for them in the summer some times and asked if I could order a watch in place of my usual pay… I won't be able to cover it in one summer, but I think a few sans pay are worth getting a nice gift for a wonderful friend."

She blushed as she said this, looking down at her bracelet. She hoped he didn't mind her calling him friend, she hoped that's what they were… She wished they could be more.

"Thank you" his slow drawl brought her gaze back up and she met his onyx eyes, for once open, for once affectionate.

She swallowed hard and smiled shyly at him. "You're welcome. Thanks again for my gift… I really do love it."

"I am glad. Merry Christmas Ms. Dari."

"Merry Christmas Professor."

Silence settled over them again, the soft crackle of the fire taking over, creating a warm, calm atmosphere.

Lauren leaned back in the chair and stared dreamily at her gift and Severus sat back watching her and the fire.

He never thought he would be here, sitting in his room on Christmas Eve with a student, turning a two hundred galleon gift over in his hands again and again. It was probably the most expensive thing anyone had ever bought him, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered most, what shocked him most, was the thought put into the gift, the care. She hadn't just gone out and gotten him something last minute. It was something that must have taken careful consideration, like her last gift, and negotiation.

She wanted to give him something both functional and attractive. Much like he did for her.

It was touching, even if he didn't say so, even if he said nothing more than thank you. He couldn't think of anyone who had given him something so kind… he could only think of one other person who ever made him as happy as she did.

Looking up from the watch he realized that, in the time he'd taken to think she had fallen asleep. Her head was lolling to the side, resting on her shoulder, her arms folded over her middle, one hand absently rubbing at her bracelet. There was a slight smile on her face, obscured only by the loose strands of hair falling in her face, and he wondered what she was dreaming to smile in her sleep.

It was a comforting though, comforting to see since her nightmare filled nights were still a clear memory in his mind.

What would it be like to hold her now he wondered, peaceful and happy? What would it be like to be comforted by her?

He knew that she had gone to Draco, several times, about his mission, what he had to do. He knew because the boy had told him, in not so many words, told him to watch out for her, that she was playing with fire. Severus couldn't agree more, and he was sure she knew too, agreed too, but wouldn't stop. She was stubborn, so stubborn when she wanted to be. And she was so worried for Draco…

Could she worry for him too?

The grandfather clock against the wall chimed. It had since gone from ten to twelve. It was Christmas and she was out after curfew, had started that way he realized but couldn't bother to care.

Slowly he stood, crossing the small gap between them, and for a long while just stood above her, watching her. All that innocence, all that sweetness laid bare before him, vulnerable, trusting.

He reached down, swiping away the hair on her face, and then touched her shoulder, shaking her gently.

Her green eyes blinked open, gazing up at him sleepily. "Wha?" she smiled.

"It is midnight Ms. Dari… Merry Christmas."

She giggled. "Merry Christmas… Should I go back to my room now?"

"I will walk you there."

With the pace expected of a young woman who was just awaked, slow, she packed her things and they left the room.

She shivered at the chill, missing the warmth she had for the last two hours been bathed in and stood a little closer to him as they walked. He didn't seem to mind, which made her happy, and she was a little less worried about the dark around them.

He took them the long way around, for whatever reason, the way that passed more windows, gave a better view of the dark, snow covered world outside. It delighted her and they stopped often to appreciate the view, seeing the school grounds from different angels and in slightly different lighting depending on the position of the mostly cloud covered moon.

They were just a turn from Ravenclaw tower now. Once through the ahead archway she would disappear up the stairs and he would turn back to the dungeons.

She was a little sad that this was going to end, he feeling the same to an extent. It had been a lovely night, they had both received lovely gifts, and they felt… warm.

Under the archway both stopped, a shimmering green barrier suddenly before them. Behind was the same, they were effectively boxed in.

Confused they looked around, Lauren giggling when her eyes landed upon the source of their entrapment. "Look" she muttered past her hand, brought up to stifle her giggles.

His eyes widened a fraction. Enchanted mistletoe. The damn stuff went up everywhere on the first of December and was usually all taken down by the second. It wreaked havoc on the flow of hallway traffic and was not made to prevent moments like these, the entrapment of both teacher and student.

Thankfully the barrier was easy to break, it was annoying though.

Raising his wand he made to destroy the little sprig but stopped when he felt warm hands on his arm.

She was looking up at him with that terribly odd, terribly endearing pout and he raised a brow in question. She was biting her bottom lip, looking nervous, what…

"It's tradition."

"Excuse me?" had he just heard right. He gaped down at her.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "It's like getting caught under the mistletoe with a relative! You don't have to kiss on the mouth, just on the cheek" she blushed, though it went unseen in the dark. "I like to keep to Christmas traditions." She gave a nervous little laugh, looking down at her boots again. Now that she'd said it she felt like a fool, even if it was true. She'd never kissed anyone on the mouth but she always honored the mistletoe tradition. It was fun…

He really just… He couldn't believe this girl sometimes. Most students' would be gagging at this point, or would have fainted. Granted she was different, granted he wanted her to be different but… Was she was actually trying to…

"That is hardly appropria -" he reprimanded but lost the rest of his sentence as she leaned up and pecked him gently on the cheek. Stunned he turned his head to regard her but turned too quickly. His lips brushed hers and then lingered for a moment before she dropped back down to her usual height, eyes wide, hands over her mouth.

He blinked down at her, unbelieving, she blinked up at him, cheeks burning.

The barrier stayed up, obviously not satisfied, and she looked down, feeling ashamed of herself.

"I… I… Sorry" she stuttered, hands falling away as she muttered "some first kiss."

"First…?" he questioned past his own shock and embarrassment and anger. Had he just stolen her first kiss?

She looked up at him nervously; all those emotions in his eyes scared her. "Yeah…"

She looked back down because he continued to watch her with that hard, emotional gaze. She was just waiting for him to explode, to give her detention, deduct house points and banish her away from his side forever. Would he take back the gift he'd just given her? She wouldn't put it past him but she didn't want to give it up. Why did she have to go and do that, why did she have to pick now to listen to one of her stupid impulses?

"Ms. Dari" he said, voice low but calm.

She looked up at him from under her bangs.

"I…" he took a deep breath. "As a professor, it would be wrong of me to kiss you again." She nodded, twisting the hem of her sweater in her hands. "As a man, it would be wrong of me to steal your first kiss and not compensate with a second, better one if you so wish…"

She took a deep breath. Was he offering what she thought he was?

"Well?" Did he really want her to say yes?

And then she nodded, looking up at him with shy, hopeful eyes, trusting eyes. She wanted this… So did he.

He swallowed hard, not believing her or himself or anything, trying not to think while his mind ran to a million different places. Her skin was soft against his fingers as he cupped her face and he noticed how long her eyelashes were as they rested against her cheeks, green eyes closing.

She pushed herself up onto the tips of her toes as he bent down and their lips met. It was a soft, sweet kiss, an obvious first kiss full of tenderness on his part and inexperience on hers.

Her shaking hands came up to rest on his arms, unsure of what to do with themselves, her heart beat heavy against her ribs, an excited bird trying to escape it's cage. Her mind was abuzz with everything and nothing, all the things this kiss might mean for them, a beginning… and end?

She pressed to him a little harder and his thumbs stroked her cheeks as he pressed back then pulled away.

One, two, then three more soft pecks to her lips, and one last, lingering kiss against her forehead before he stood straight and she brought herself down again.

Her eyes stayed closed for a long moment after, his opened to watch her and see the barrier disappear. She was shaking all over, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes opened and gazed at him with adoration and apprehension. She reached out for him and he brought her into his arms.

She pressed her head to his chest, over his heart, and heard it beating, fast and strong, out of sync with her own but still frantic. It was comforting to know she wasn't the only one nervous, even if he wasn't shaking, even if he didn't have tears trickling from the corners of his eyes.

The silence around them was complete but she broke it, like she often did, her soft voice an echo in the quiet.

"Are you mad?"

"No."

"You don't hate me?"

"No."

"Will things change?"

"Yes."

"Can I… Can I still help you?"

"Yes."

"And visit when I'm bored?"

"Yes."

She sighed and hugged him a little tighter. The finality of his answers was so comforting, being wrapped in his warmth and his scent, hearing his breath and his heart. She felt so safe, so happy even though she was afraid.

"One more question?" she muttered against his chest.

"Go on."

"Can I… Will you kiss me again?" she blushed and looked up at him slowly.

"Yes" and in the dark of this Christmas night his lips pressed down on hers again, conveying in action the things he had no words for, the feelings he could not say but that he had for the lovely girl in his arms.

My heart was in this, all of this, what did you guys think?

The watches are completely made up if you were wondering, something that popped into my head earlier today when I was revising my little chapter plan thing and I went with it. I thought it was a kinda nifty idea. XD

I hope I didn't get Snape too terribly out of character. I tried to capture the whole, he's sort of falling, reluctant to do it, but at the same time accepting of his feelings. It's like he knows there's not much he can do about how he feels or how she feels.

After this chapter I'm not sure if I wanna go ahead with my original plan of time skip all the way to people being back after New Year's and having another Draco chapter, or doing another Lauren Snape chapter on New Year's.

Originally the first kiss was supposed to happen during her fifth year in that first Christmas chapter where she gave him the book. It was a lot sillier and didn't divulge into the longer kiss or short, unsure conversation. It would have been more one of those friend to friend kisses and lead into something more a lot later. As is, I'm glad I switched things around but now, since they're in the same place and she's not gone for vacation I think it would be natural for at least a little more between them to be shown.

Guess what I'm asking here is, Snape New Year's chapter or straight to back in school Draco chapter?

Oh um, random facts! Just in case you were wondering her mother's parents, her mom and them are Muggles by the by, are Missionaries. Her mom goes on one Mission trip a year usually but tries not to go for the holidays. It just happens sometimes though.

Her dad is adopted and looking for his birth family. He loves his adopted family of course, they're the ones who do all those favors for Lauren and who were offering to come pick her up, they're good people, but he wants to know. He's half Nigerian half English and was found in Africa, most of his leads are located in Africa so he travels there often. Most of the time it's unplanned so him poofing off before Christmas isn't unusual and she doesn't really mind.

And yeah. This AN's gotten way too long. Sorry. Any questions, comments, or advice? Send it my way! If not thanks for reading! Have a good day/night/other~