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Dear Misser Saype,
Mummy's helping me write this letter to ask you to come to the Burrow for Christmas. Will you come, please? Gramma promises daddy will behave.
From Rose Weasley
The note was clearly written using a dicti-quill, as the penmanship was impeccable, but nondescript and failed to correct the grammatical errors of the four year old who wrote it. Its postscript, however, was written in the small, neat hand of Miss Granger.
Molly and Arthur have already approved Rose's request; if you would like to join us, dinner will be at six p.m. on Christmas Eve.
It had been taunting him from the corner of his desk all week, teasing him with the promise of Molly Weasley's cooking and a Christmas not spent alone in the Hogwarts dungeons. He'd kept the letter to himself, therefore the entire staff knew about it, including Longbottom, who had taken over as the Herbology professor two years ago.
"Have you decided about your Christmas invitation, Severus?" Minerva asked politely at lunch. Only a handful of teachers and only a handful more of the student populous were remaining in the castle for the holidays.
"Not as yet, no."
"I would already be there," Longbottom chuckled. "How could you possibly turn down Molly Weasley's cooking?"
"I think you should go," Minerva prodded, "It would do you a world of good and young Miss Weasley would be thrilled, I'm sure."
"We shall see," he replied quietly and mercifully the subject was dropped.
At five o'clock, he was donning his warmest cloak and tucking a slim, wrapped package into one of his many pockets.
He would be the first to admit - only to the appropriate parties, of course - that he enjoyed his slightly less than regular visits with the Weasley girl and her mother. Rose was an eager and affectionate girl, with absolutely no qualms about accosting his person with hugs at his arrival and departure and even snuggling up to him one afternoon and promptly falling asleep. Not one to disturb a sleeping child, he'd simply made himself comfortable while Granger apologized profusely and offered to move her. That had been the afternoon they'd spent discussing her failed marriage and his return to teaching after his miraculous recovery from Nagini's bite.
Snow was thick on the ground when he left the castle, and Ottery-St. Catchpole proved no better when he landed from Apparating. The Burrow looked inviting though, with the warm lighted windows, a Christmas tree twinkling in one of them and various figures passing by the panes, mostly redheads. Severus approached the door slowly, and waited only a moment after knocking before Molly opened the door to greet him.
"Severus!" She smiled warmly, "Happy Christmas! I'm so glad you accepted Rose's invitation, we're more than happy to have you join us, oh she's going to be just thrilled to see you. Come in, come in!"
"Happy Christmas, Molly," was about as far as he got in responding to her greeting while shedding his outer layers in the warm kitchen when a distinct squeal pealed over the soft music of Christmas carols in the other room.
"Misser Saype!" Rose cried, running straight for him and latching onto his legs. "You came!"
He gently patted her head, taking care not to disturb the pristinely arranged curls piled there, "Hello, Miss Weasley. If you'll detach yourself, I have something for you."
She stared in wide eyed wonder as he produced the package from his robes and passed it to her. "Thank you, Misser Snape." She whispered.
Severus felt the corner of his lips tug upwards at her correct pronunciation of his name, "You're welcome, Miss Weasley."
Her nose scrunched, but she was smiling, "It's Christmas, Misser Snape, you can call me Rose."
"As you wish, Rose." He felt his lips tug up again when she beamed at him.
Molly sniffed beside him, a watery smile on her lips, "Come on then, you two, let's join the others."
He was met with many more faces in the living room, all calling out surprised, but pleased greetings. All except the youngest male Weasley anyway. Ronald scowled at him darkly from his seat in the corner. Rose grabbed his hand and dragged him to a squashy chair near the fireplace and crawled into his lap the moment he was seated, which only darkened the scowl on her father's face. "Rose, leave Snape be." He demanded calmly.
"It's quite alright, Mister Weasley, I am quite used to your daughter's behavior," Severus assured, crossing his ankles comfortably while Ginny handed him a glass of red wine. "Thank you, Missus Potter."
"You're welcome,"
Ronald shot to his feet, fists clenched, but before the red faced young man could speak, Arthur touched his shoulder, effectively placing himself between them, "Ron, it's Christmas and you promised your mother..."
"Fine." He snapped and sat back down.
"Have I offended you, Mister Weasley?"
Miss Granger breezed in through the kitchen at that moment, "Happy Christmas everyone, sorry I'm a bit late, Arthur, I had a slight mishap at the shop this morning brew- Oh, hello Professor! I'm so glad to see you made it! Rose, I hope you asked before accosting Mister Snape with your affections, we talked about this."
"Happy Christmas to you as well, Miss Granger. I got the distinct impression from Minerva this afternoon that I'd be dragged here if I didn't come on my own, besides I had a gift to deliver to your daughter. And I do not mind Rose's attention, so long as she doesn't squirm." For effect, he surreptitiously poked the girl on his lap in the ribs and she squeaked and squirmed away from his fingers.
Granger looked quite lovely in a sleek emerald green turtleneck and simple slacks, her hair pulled back in a neat bun, save for the one oddly dark curl that had come loose. Noticing it made him strangely self conscious of his own oddly brunette lock of hair. Just the color of the rest of her curls, he noted then, mentally kicking himself for not noticing sooner.
"How has the school year been, Severus?" Arthur inquired politely.
"Rather uneventful, though every year seems as such following the Battle of Hogwarts."
"Yes, I imagine so. How is Neville Longbottom enjoying teaching?"
"I haven't heard any complaints from him, though I doubt he'd tell me either way. I do know that he has started some rather promising research on long-term spell damage, specifically in regards to lost memory." Severus took a sip of his wine. "I suppose he'll eventually work up the nerve to ask my opinion on the potential of brewing such a potion."
"Is it possible?"
"In theory, certainly, but that sort of damage is tricky to repair even when minor. It will take quite a bit of trial and error and a vast amount of arithmancy before he has anything potentially viable."
"And what of your own research? Are you working on anything these days?" Granger asked.
"Not presently."
Dinner was a pleasant and filling affair, despite the looks from Ronald across the table, with Rose and Granger to one side of him and George on his other. The remaining twin was all mischievous grins and subtle sleight of hands throughout the meal, a quality he'd distinctly lacked since Fred Weasley's untimely death - a fact he knew second hand from his dealings with people of mutual acquaintance with George. He even mentioned in passing a few interesting products he'd been developing, including scented fireworks. It was after dinner when things went all pear shaped.
"So Professor," Potter began, none too subtly. Severus suddenly felt uneasy about the gleam in his eye. "What prompted the hair change, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Harry!" Hermione scolded.
"But Uncle Harry," Rose chimed in, a puzzled look scrunching her nose, "You know why Misser Snape's hair is like that. It's because he and mummy glow."
His eyebrows shot toward his hairline, even as Granger attempted to shush her child. "Pardon me?"
The adults, save one, all looked like guilty deer caught in headlights, to coin a muggle phrase his father had used. Severus turned his attention to the four year old seated on her father's lap, "Rose? Would you care to explain?"
She looked positively pleased to oblige him. "Uncle George did a spell on mummy last year that changed her hair. They said it was supposed to match your soul mates hair. I don't remember why Uncle George said it didn't work on him. But when you glow together that's how you know! Right, mummy?"
"Yes, Rose." Granger looked the most guilty, but strangely, Severus didn't feel angry or betrayed, just awkward. The entire Weasley clan had known, which in and of itself explained a few things, such as the abrupt end to Granger's marriage that she'd avoided explaining in the past and the panicked look in her eyes any time they happened to make eye contact. And that damnable glow, which, blast it all, was encompassing them both as their eyes met across the room. Blasted Soul Magic, I should have guessed.
Ginevra did her best to contain her squeak of surprise while at the same time wildly swatting at her husband's forearm.
The entire group seemed rather fascinated by it, until they were all startled out of it by Ronald's abrupt rise from his seat which violently dislodged Rose from his lap and dropped her to the floor. "I've had enough." He snapped, "I'm going home."
Granger knelt beside her daughter and helped the watery eyed girl to her feet, but was rejected when she tried to comfort her.
Rose very quietly crossed the room to him and practically crawled into his robes to snuggle up to him when he silently scooped her up onto his lap. And there she stayed for the remainder of the evening, even while gifts were exchanged.
He was hugged soundly when she opened the watercolors he'd gotten her and she clapped gleefully when he opened one of Molly's knitted jumpers, thankfully black, and without the giant monogrammed S to remind him and anyone who happened to see him wear it what letter his name started with.
"I'm afraid Rose and I aren't nearly as talented as Molly, but we worked very hard, so don't laugh," Granger explained, passing him another squashy package.
Inside was a plain knitted scarf in slate gray, with a sloppy S.S. embroidered in emerald green in one corner.
"I did the stitching! Mummy showed me how. Do you like it?"
He thumbed the uneven stitches, "Yes, I do. Thank you, Rose. And Miss Granger."
"Of course you're welcome to join us again for New Year's, Severus." Molly said as he and the girl asleep on his shoulder were hugged at the door; her mother was gathering up their bags of gifts and the leftovers Molly was sending them off with.
"I will let you know if I have duties at the school that night." He promised.
"Good. Don't be a stranger now,"
"Yes, Molly."
He waited while Granger said her goodbyes before they walked far enough from the house to Apparate. He arrived moments before she did, just a few doors down from the apothecary.
"Tonight was a very good Christmas, I think, certainly better than last year's." She remarked, setting off.
"I can think of a moment or two where it could have been better, but yes, it was overall a pleasant evening." Severus agreed, shifting to tuck Rose's head under his chin so it would stop rolling off his shoulder with each step. She gripped his robes tighter in her sleep.
"I'm so sorry about Ron. I wasn't sure how he'd act. And I'm sorry about Harry too, for that matter," she sighed, dropping the wards to grant them entry. She stopped in the middle of the shop to face him, "I wasn't trying to keep anything from you, it's just… an awkward situation, I didn't know what to say - how to tell you about George's charm. I wanted to, of course you have a right to know, but before that day I hadn't seen you since St. Mungo's and…. I'm rambling again, aren't I? I'll stop."
Severus smirked a little, and answered her honestly, "It's quite alright, Granger, I understand."
She nodded mutely, then gestured to Rose, "I can take her if you want to get back to the school?"
"I don't mind, besides do you know which bags are which?"
She regarded the bags in her hands, "At a glance? No. Come on upstairs then, we'll get this figured out."
Granger led the way up to her flat and Severus quietly helped her get Rose into her pajamas and into bed. He waited until she shut the bedroom door behind them before he spoke, following beside her to the kitchen table where the mismatched bags waited. "Granger, would you be amenable to discussing..." He tugged at his brunette lock of hair, "This? Not tonight, of course, it's late and it's been a long enough day as is, but we shouldn't let it remain an elephant in the room anymore."
She'd been rummaging between the parcels as he spoke and picked out two of them, "These are yours - one food, one gifts - and yes, I'd like to talk as well. When is a good time for you?"
"During the holiday break would be preferable,"
"Well I'm free any time, including tomorrow."
He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Do you not have plans with your own parents tomorrow?"
She winced, "I obliviated them during the war… They're somewhere in Australia, running their dentistry and completely oblivious to the fact that they have a daughter or granddaughter."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Granger waved it off, "Everybody sacrificed something to see Voldemort defeated once and for all; at least I know they're alive and safe. Anyway, we were discussing talking about our hair?"
"Yes," Severus nodded, "Keep Molly's leftovers, I'll return tomorrow afternoon and we can talk then."
"Should I ask Ronald or Molly and Arthur to take Rose?"
"She knows enough of the situation as it is, I don't see an issue with her joining us to talk."
"Okay," she smiled.
They said their goodnights and soon Severus was back out in the cold and snow, a bag of both thoughtful and amusing gifts in one hand and a slate gray scarf wrapped around his neck. His walk back to the castle was pleasant and quiet and full of promise for things to come.
I don't know why I didn't write in Teddy and the other children - laziness, perhaps? They were there though, I promise! Except Hugo, because plot noodling.
