I hadn't been home since the beginning of the school year and was desperate to return to the Burrow for the Christmas holidays. Students were no longer allowed to stay over the holidays as the War brought on a stronger sentiment of family, and I felt I should be allowed the freedom to do so as well, given that I was a student, though not in the strictest sense of the word.

Professor Snape, however, had other ideas of how I should spend my time.

"I forbid it," he said when I told him of my plans the day before the students left. "You should have cleared this with me months ago. You need to be brewing without interruption. I wouldn't want you to come back as careless as you came to me," he said mockingly. He patted his desk, inviting me to lean in.

I shook my head and pouted, even though I knew it was unbecoming. "I miss my mother, Sir. And my father. I even miss George. It will only be for a week," I said with a sigh. "I'll be back to brew for one completely uninterrupted week before the students return."

"Four days," he said, voice clipped and cold. He rubbed the spot on his desk where my body normally hovered when we did what we did. Just the thought of it made my skin tingle.

"Six days," I said, pleading now.

"Five days," he said as he cleared off the top of his desk.

"Five days," I said, victorious. Five days was all I thought that I could stand away from the castle anyways. I'd aimed for a week so that he wouldn't bargain down to three days.

"You will leave on the twenty-first, and return here no later than ten forty-five on the twenty sixth. And you will eat as you have been here. If you miss a meal, or don't eat enough, I'll know," he said as he motioned again.

I nodded and leaned, ready for him.

He walked with me to the Apparation Point outside the Main Gate the next day.

"You could come have Christmas with us, Sir, if you would like," I said before I could stop myself.

He looked at me like I'd just grown two heads. I looked at the ground between us, embarrassed now at the offer.

Who would want to spend Christmas at the overcrowded Burrow other than a Weasley, when Hogwarts was an option?

He knew of my discomfort, of course. With the tip of his finger, he lifted my chin until my eyes met his.

"I have something for you," he said, removing a small box from his pocket.

"And I for you," I said, flushing as I gave him a similar box from the pocket of my own robe.

"Open mine first," he said softy.

In the box was a silver cuff. Ancient runes, one of the classes that I did not take, were stamped onto the metal. On the clasp was a small, dark emerald. I clicked it shut around my wrist with satisfaction.

"It's beautiful, sir. Thank you," I said as I looked into his eyes. They sparked with life when he produced a small key from his pocket. He locked the bracelet around my wrist with it – there was a small lock in the clasp so discreetly made that I hadn't noticed it.

"Don't ever take it off, unless I direct you to do so specifically," he said. Even though the spell to unlock the bracelet was simple, I knew I would never take it off. Even if he asked.

"Did you study ancient runes?" he asked, watching for my response.

I looked at the bracelet and shook my head. "I hate to say I didn't. What does it say, Sir?"

"It's just your name, Miss Weasley," he said, not meeting my eyes.

"Open mine," I said.

He smiled a little boy's eager smile as he shook the box gently before he opened it. He stared at the contents for a long time before he removed the bracelet I had purchased for him.

"Great minds think alike," I whispered as I watched him run his fingers over the thin gold cuff and the small garnet set in the center.

"Put it on me," he said.

I unbuttoned the sleeve on his left arm and pushed it up until I saw the pale, narrow skin of his wrist. I took the cuff from him and placed it around his wrist, absently rubbing the skin where his thumb met his hand.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," he said. He buttoned his sleeves back to the wrist, but I saw him caress my gift to him through fabric separated his fingers from the cool metal.

"Ten forty-five," I said, looking into his deep, fathomless eyes.

"On the twenty sixth," he finished.

I nodded and winked before I picked my bag up and Disapparated.

The Burrow looked no different than it had in August, though I supposed the only time I had seen it look any different was during Bill's wedding. The Christmas tree twinkled gaily in the front bay window. Dad had decorated the whole outside of the house with magically lit fairy lights this year as well, something Mum only let him get away with when she was in a very good mood indeed.

"Mum? Dad?" I said as I opened the door.

"Ginny!" I heard her squeal from the kitchen. She ran out to hug me tightly. Dad grinned up at me from the dining room table as I peeked out from her shoulder.

"Mum, you're smothering me," I said, my voice muffled from being forced into her robes.

"I'm just so glad to see you, dear," she said. "Let me get a good look at you."

It had only been just over a month since I'd seen her at the wedding, but she'd never seen me in my new clothes. She stepped back from me and studied my regular working attire – today my severely cut jacket was deep green, and I wore a heavy traveling cloak that was fashionably tailored. She fingered my rusty hair, which was still up in a chignon that I continued to favor over any other style.

"You look so grown up. Doesn't she, Arthur?" she called to my father.

"That she does," Dad said. "You look even healthier than you did last month, Ginny. Did you gain a little more weight back?"

I nodded.

"Enjoying all that good food at Hogwarts?" he asked with a chuckle.

When I giggled in response, my mother glanced back at me at me in surprise. She'd looked so happy at Harry and Hermione's wedding, but now that her face was completely calm and we were alone at home, I realized that the stamp, as well as the fear, was still there. I realized that she would never lose the look of someone who'd had to bury a child and had killed another human being to protect another. But the fear I knew I could fix.

I led her into the kitchen, to her favorite part of the house, where she always felt safe and happy.

"Mummy," I said holding her hand in mine. "You don't have to be afraid for me anymore. I really think I'm going to be alright. I even got rid of my supplies."

Her eyebrows furrowed, tears sparkling in her bright, brown eyes.

"I think I'm okay now."

"Truly?" she asked, wiping the tears that were now running down her cheeks.

"Truly," I said, smiling at her. I held her while she burst into tears. I was soft enough now to offer comfort to her, even though some of my stiffness remained. Maybe that would be the stamp that would remain with me.

"What is all this fussing about?" asked my Dad, poking his head into the kitchen.

"Gin's going to be alright," Mum cried.

I looked at Dad and saw tears fill his as well, though he blinked them away before they could fall.

"Of course she's going to be alright," he said to me as he held us both. "I knew you could come back, sweetie."

"I'm glad someone knew," I said, my voice muffled between their big bear hugs.

When all the tears had finally dried, my mother decided that she needed to go back to her preparations, and my father returned to his copy of the Daily Prophet at the dining room table. I walked to my little bedroom at the foot of the stairs, bag in tow. Laying down on my bed, I rolled up my sleeve to look at my bracelet. I rubbed the stone in the clasp, as well as every rune that was stamped into the metal until the shapes were as familiar to me as the freckles on my nose.

The knock on my door pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Ginny?" It was my mother. It was the first time she'd knocked on my door that I could ever remember.

"Come in," I said, though I didn't move other than to pull my sleeve back down.

She walked in, hands behind her back.

"I want you to have this, dear," she said, bringing her hands around to show me a small velvet box. "They belonged to your great Aunt Tessie, and I've been saving them for you until you were grown. Which, I guess you are now," she said, sniffling.

I took the box and opened it. It contained a pair of silver earrings.

"Goblin made," she said, motioning me to put them on. I sat up and did so, then stood and looked at myself in the mirror. The earrings were simple, thin silver hoops that swayed gently when I moved. They were simply beautiful.

"Thank you Mum," I said, hugging her again.

She hugged me hard as she whispered, "It feels so good to have my girl back."

When she left my room, I looked at the walls, still lined with Weird Sisters posters and pictures of the Holyhead Harpies. I hadn't even flown since I left school.

Was I back? I wasn't really sure. I wasn't the same girl that had lived in this room for the twenty years before my stay at St. Mungo's. But, maybe that wasn't the point. I closed my eyes and thought of who I was now, and the woman I was becoming.

A Little Snape with a Gryffindor's heart.

The thought made me warm inside, as did the image of Professor Snape's sparkling eyes and remembering the sound of his voice when he held me earlier this morning.

I Vanished all the posters and pictures. When I could see the bright pink wall underneath, I cast a charm that changed the color of my room and bedspread to a soft green. I laid back on the bed and smiled.

We didn't expect him to show up at all.

I mentioned to Mum that it was a possibility, and since she always cooked to feed a group of growing boys (though the boys were all grown now and complaining of getting soft) she said it would be no trouble to put out one more plate.

Professor Snape appeared on Christmas Day at no later than ten forty-five, as though he had planned on being there the whole time.

I was sitting in between George and Ron, staving off an incoming fight over who was going to have the first piece of roast when the meal was served, when we heard the knock on the door. We almost comically looked around the room to see if everyone was accounted for. Every Weasley, as well as Harry and Hermione, were present.

"Maybe its Fred," George said. I smacked the back of his head as hard as I dared.

"Prat," I hissed at him. "Don't let Mum hear you say that, or do you want to see her cry today?"

"Glad to see you've maintained your sense of humor, Ginny," he said, rubbing his head. When Ron starting laughing at him, I gave him the same slap.

"Ow, Gin. He was only kidding," Ron said.

I stood up and walked to the door. I was wearing my Christmas jumper, this year bright blue with a "G" in the center like always, along with my pair of denims that now fit a little too snug with the weight I gained back. I'd skipped breakfast since I got home, hoping that maybe a few days with one less meal would let them fit a little looser again.

When I opened the door, Professor Snape was standing there, his black traveling cloak flecked white with the falling snow.

"Sir," I said, smiling up at him. He looked at me as though he was hungry for my face.

"Miss Weasley," he said.

We stood there, staring at each other until my father came to the door.

"Ginny, it's too cold out there to stand there with the door open," he said, scolding me before he saw our guest.

"Severus, glad you could make it," he said. He took the Professor's hand and shook it hard, smiling as he welcomed him in the door. I shut it quickly, then walked over to the fire to warm my bare feet.

"Molly? He came!"

"Who came, Arthur?" said mother, walking out of the kitchen. She was dressed in a bright orange sweater that matched my fathers, the "M" and "A" standing out merrily in white. "Good gracious, Severus, welcome! We thought you were staying at Hogwarts," she said, pulling out a chair for him to sit. He looked back to me as he sat down, taking an offered cup of tea from my mother.

"I had a slight change of plans," he said, his eyes roaming over me. "It seems Hogwarts is not the same without the students there for the holidays." He smirked.

"Mr. Snape," George said from across the table, rubbing the spot where his ear had once been. I groaned, knowing that the Professor would be in for another round of my brother's ribbing. "We haven't heard much from you lately since Harry and Hermy's wedding. We thought maybe we were missing something, or that maybe little sister was giving you fits. You know how holey she can be. Does she give you an ear full every time she shows up to the lab?" he finished, trying hard not to laugh.

Professor Snape pulled at the fabric of his sleeves and glowered slightly.

I walked up to George and smacked him again. "Git!" I hissed into his good ear.

"Sorry, Gin, I couldn't hear you over the ringing in my head from all the abuse you've been heaping on to me. And you call yourself my little sister? Honestly, woman?" he huffed in mock horror before smiling at me and giving me a sly wink.

"Careful George," said Bill, who was sitting with Fleur by the fire. "You don't want to wake the Harpy."

I looked at Professor Snape, watching him stealthily examine the curves of my body. I froze when he frowned, then closed my eyes when I realized my mistake.

He knew.

"Miss Weasley, may I speak with you alone?" he asked.

I nodded. "Is it about my new potion?"

"Yes," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "It got a little temperamental with your absence."

"Is it the potion or Ginny you are talking abo- ouch!" Charlie said, rubbing his head where my father boxed his ear.

"We can talk in my room," I said, showing him the way. When we were inside, he locked the door and set wards, including a muffling charm.

He looked over my body again more openly, now that we were in private. I felt his eyes caress me like I wanted his hands to. I'd missed him to the point that I was trembling with the need to have him touch me.

"You've been skipping meals," he said softly.

I nodded, unable to lie to him.

"How many?" he asked.

"Breakfast, since I got back," I said. I rubbed my bracelet though the sweater. I watched him stroke the spot where his own lay under his coat.

"Pull down your jeans and put your elbows on the bed, nose as far to the coverlet as you can," he said, so soft I could barely hear him.

My hands trembled as I unzipped my jeans and pulled them down. He'd never asked this of me, though I understood why as I touched the thick material of the denim. He wanted it to hurt, and the denim cloth would only soften the blows. I remembered that I'd worn a pretty, lace pair of white knickers this morning and thanked Merlin that it hadn't been the gray, spotted pair I saved for laundry days.

I leaned over the bed and waited for him.

Slowly, he took off his coat, then unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt and slowly rolled them up to his elbows.

"Miss Weasley, what exactly did you do wrong again?" he asked, not touching me yet.

I quivered at the sound of his voice. "I didn't follow your instructions, Sir."

When his hand descended on my almost bare skin for the first time, I jumped away from him. The sting was exquisitely sharp, much more so than our previous encounters.

"Not so fast," he said. He pushed me down with a free hand, holding me in place on the bed when he delivered the next spank, but this time I did not jump too far from him. By the third one I stayed still and waited for him to continue.

"Good girl," he said softly. He took his hand away from the small of my back and continued with my spanking. The sound of skin on skin, as he slapped the bare skin of the back of my thighs as well as my arse, was erotic in the eerie quiet of my muffled room.

Unwillingly, my thoughts went to my parents, not twenty feet away from us, unaware that I was being punished for taking liberties with my instructions.

What would they think of their little girl?

"Stop it," he said, continuing to spank my lace covered skin. "Let go, Ginny."

I focused on the sensation of his hands as they struck me and let myself go, feeling free and open and alive. My insides quaked as he continued, switching hands now so that he could spank me even harder. I let myself soar into the quiet of my mind as I listened to the sound of his hand meet my skin. He pulled my knickers down at some point; I was too unfocused to pinpoint when it had happened, nor when he had started to alternate between spanking me and caressing my bare skin.

When he was done, and he sat on the bed and pulled me to him, cradling me into the warmth of his body. He rocked me, scolding me for skipping meals.

"I like you rounder and soft," Professor Snape said as he laced my fingers with his as he told me how beautiful my skin was when he marked it pink with his hand. I realized it was the first time he had seen the fruits of his labors.

Very carefully, I laid myself across his lap, bottom up, so that he could examine me. He sighed as he barely touched the skin that I knew was bright pink and red not only from the force of his hand, but also from my growing arousal. I could feel him, hard and impossibly large, on my belly, when he touched me, just barely tracing the seam of my arse from the small of my back down.

I moaned softly when his hand dipped lower, almost reaching my tingling core.

He cleared his throat, his hand gone as though it had never been there. "They'll be missing us, soon."

I nodded and stood on shaking legs, pulling my knickers and denims back into place.

"Put on some proper clothes," he said. "A black dress, if you have one, but any dress will do. Long sleeves and nothing below the knee. And tonight, you will eat two servings of dessert to make up for missing breakfast. In fact, you will do so until I say otherwise."

"Yes, Sir," I said.

He remained sitting on my bed as I turned to look for the clothes he requested me to wear. I found a dress exactly like the one he described in the back of my wardrobe, and a pair of stocking in my chest of drawers. Looking over my shoulder at Professor Snape, I began to blush as I caught his eyes. They were so bright, so wild and almost feral.

"Don't let me stop you from changing clothes, Miss Weasley."

Slowly, I removed my jumper, gooseflesh rising on my skin from the cool air of the room. When I removed my denims, and was clad only in my bra and knickers, I looked at him again, wanting to see what I looked like in his eyes. The look of wonder there, mixed with possession and something very much like pride, made my breath catch in my throat and the blush return fiercely.

"May I dress, Sir?" I whispered, seeking his permission.

Reluctantly, he nodded, sighing a little when I reached for my dress and pulled it on. I put on the stockings with it, and a pair of black, low heeled shoes that I hadn't worn since school. I turned to the mirror to fix my hair, brushing it out, as I had not put it up today, not yet at least. I did so now, sweeping it up in a twist before I put on the earrings Mum gave me before Christmas.

When I looked at my own eyes in the mirror, they were bright as they had been when I was still a NEWT student. My hair looked like fire again in the light of my room, and my skin glowed from good nutrition and the vitamin potions Professor Snape gave me every week. For the first time since before Harry and I ended our relationship, I almost felt …

The scent of the potions and wood smoke drifted to my nose, the warmth of his body very close to mine. He reached around me, touching my wrist, letting his fingers skim over my bracelet.

"You are a beautiful woman, Ginny," Professor Snape said.

I bit my lip and felt my ears turn red, unused to praise from any man. Harry hadn't been one to compliment me much on my appearance, and neither had Dean or any of the other boys I'd briefly dated. Shaking my head, I looked down at the floor and away from the mirror.

"I want to hear you say it," he said.

I shook my head again, still refusing to look up.

"Miss Weasley," he said, his voice a warning.

I didn't mean to cry, but when I met his black eyes in the mirror my own had filled with tears. "I'm beautiful," I whispered, hoping he wouldn't push me to speak any louder.

He didn't – he merely nodded with satisfaction as he continued to stroke to bracelet on my wrist.

"We really do need to get back, Sir. You'll have to step out first, or else they'll know you were watching me," I said as I wiped my eyes.

He quickly left the room, looking back at me once as continued to consider how much had changed since I'd become his Apprentice.

We hadn't even been missed.

I sat at my usual spot at the table, and he sat next to me in what had been Fred's place. I watched my mother finish up the trimmings on the roast with Fleur at her side. She and Fleur bustled around the kitchen as though they had always worked together. The prim little princess we thought had married into the family had proven to be a strong, independent woman who was ready to take on any task. I think in the beginning of her relationship with Bill that we forgot that she had once Beauxbatons's champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Platters upon platters of food and drink floated to the table as everyone gathered in around us. In the midst of the chaos of everyone coming to the table, I met the eyes of my Professor again. His left hand was on the table, fingers drumming rather impatiently as we waited. I placed my right hand next to it and rubbed my pinky finger against his. His hand stilled, his little finger slowly reaching out to mine. We twined them together, briefly, as my family moved about us in full speed.

I felt him look at my neck, eyes travelling to my ears.

"You will wear those every day," he said, very softly so that only I could hear.

I blushed and nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Good," he said, bringing a hand up to quickly touch the hoops with his fingertips. I smiled as they traveled to my ear, sliding down to my chin. The contact made me tremble, until I realized we were being watched.

Hermione had stopped mid-stride while walking down the staircase. She raised her eye brows, those chocolate brown eyes trying to work out what she had just seen. I shook my head, hoping she would see the pleading in my eyes for her not to speak a word of this to anyone. She nodded and continued down the stairs, taking a seat next to Percy on the sofa.

Professor Snape looked at me, his eyes slightly panicked, their dull veneer back to mask his emotions.

I took a breath and said, "She won't say anything, Sir."

He chewed the inside of his lip before nodding, turning back to the table again with a sigh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bill take a seat across from us. His head cocked to the side when his eyes travelled to my wrist – my sleeve had travelled up my arms slightly. He looked from the bracelet to Professor Snape, and I swear he had the expression on his face that Ron had had when I'd started dating Dean Thomas back in school.

I looked at my bracelet and back to my brother, now wondering what exactly the runes said.

"So, Professor Snape, you and Ginny seem to be getting along well," Bill said, his eyes narrowing slightly. It wasn't a question.

I felt him stiffen next to me. Neither of us had ever spoken of what was happening between us, and I wasn't ready for Bill or Hermione or anyone else in my family to start asking too many questions.

"Yes," Professor Snape said.

"Does he treat you well, Ginny?" Bill asked, looking at me.

"Yes," I said, having trouble keeping the frost out of my voice.

"You seem happy, Gin. Are you happy?" Bill asked me.

I looked at the Professor and back to my oldest brother. I sighed, and decided that the truth would out one day. I looked back to Professor Snape and answered, "Happier than I ever remember being." Under the table, I felt him brush his hand against my thigh before quickly retreating.

Bill nodded, more like he was trying to make a decision than with agreement about what I said. He looked back and forth between the two of us several times. He sighed deeply and muttered, "Fine," as the rest of the family came to join us at the table.

We took a walk together after lunch, through the now vacant field where we grew corn during the summer. The Professor and I must have looked like two black spots in the white snow as we walked about my family's land.

"Have you given any thought about your plans after your time with me is over?" he asked, his voice as soft as it always was when we were alone, even though he was not correcting my behavior just now.

I shook my head. "Surprisingly, I've already had a few offers, but I want to keep my options open."

"Have you given any thought to staying at Hogwarts?" he asked briskly.

"How could I, Sir? There would be no job available for me," I said.

He jerked his head to the side – he must have been trying to hide his face with the curtain of hair that was no longer there. "Perhaps you could open a shop in Hogsmeade," he said.

I looked at him, questioning, but he kept staring straight ahead into the falling snow.

"That takes money, Sir. And I have none."

"I could help you," he said. His gloved hand skimmed over mine before it retreated back into the pocket of his cloak.

"You already have helped me so much. I couldn't possibly –"

"Shhhh," he said. "It's not only in your interest, Miss Weasley. I find I have trouble thinking of you leaving me. The thought is … unsettling."

"For me, too, Sir," I said.

It was in that moment that I realized how much I cared for him. Suddenly, it was more than the two of us filling our needs with each other, as we had unwittingly been doing. It felt so much deeper, stronger, like an ache in my chest. In truth, I had been trying very hard not to think about the future, because the thought of being away from him made me very unsettled as well. I couldn't think about it at all without lapsing into periods of moody gloom.

He nodded slightly, and we continued walking.

"I have an idea for my fourth potion."

"You've already done the required three for your first year," he said, now smirking. "Are you trying to surpass my record?"

"Perhaps," I said, smirking back.

"What's your idea?" he asked.

"It won't be a true potion, per se. It will be a compound, like Fred and George's Bruise Healing Paste, except that it'll have unicorn horn in the base, and bromelian, gotu kola, and dittany."

He considered this. "Do you think it will work?"

I nodded. "I think it should heal everything but scars from unforgiveable curses, but even those could be diminished."

"Will you test it on yourself?"

I nodded.

"You may test it on me, as well. Have a first draft of ingredients and instructions on my desk by February 1st," he said.

I stopped walking and stared at him as he walked back to the Burrow, his shape fluid in the snow as his cloak billowed around him in the wind.

He left after dinner, Disapparating into the night air.

There was another gift from him in my room, waiting to be discovered. The glass cylinder had been transfigured into a rectangle that sat on the center of my dressing table. I unstoppered the lid and smelled the clear liquid inside. The lovely scent of lilacs, peach blossoms, and violets filled my nose.

I dabbed a little behind my ears before I readied for bed. I slipped on my flannel pajamas before I remembered he'd instructed me to stop wearing knickers before he left for the night. After I took them off, I crawled between the sheets and fell asleep, dreaming of his hands caressing my bare skin.