Disclaimer: Not mine, never been mine. I'm not making a single knut.
"So, is the git meeting you at the stairs again?" Draco asked as they descended to the Great Hall.
"Yes, Draco, the git is meeting her here again," came Snape's voice from behind them, making Harry jump.
"How do you bloody do that?"
"You learn some tricks when you're a spy for two decades, Mr. Potter," Snape said as he rolled his eyes. He turned and finally looked at Hermione, and she saw his eyes widen slightly. She knew that if she was able to even slightly break through his calm façade, she did her job right. "Hermione, you look…very beautiful."
"Thank you, Severus. You look very good as well," she said. It was the truth, even if he didn't look much different. His dress robes were, of course, black. However, they had dark green accents and the material was obviously very expensive. The black was so deep, it seemed to have been woven out of the deepest shadows.
Noticing some students milling about and watching, Hermione walked over to him and linked her arm with his. His face showed no surprise, except for the curiosity in his eyes. She went up on her toes to whisper in his ear and he had to bend down.
"The students hanging about are horrible at spying and being sneaky. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how bad the rumor is for it to get back to Lucius, so I decided to finally initiate something between us. I really am trying to get better," she whispered, delighted to see the small shudder it produced. Pushing her luck, she leaned in slightly closer until her lips were mere centimeters from his ear. "By the way, you really do look bloody amazing."
She went back down on her feet, smirking slightly at Harry and Draco. Then she felt him next to her ear.
"Don't play with fire, my dear; it's dangerous when out of control and you're unable to stop it," he hissed in her ear, and she couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her and closing her eyes.
Snape straightened up. "Shall we?" he asked, smirking.
Draco and Harry just rolled their eyes and headed to the Hall. When they all walked in, no one spared them a glance. Everyone was too busy dancing.
"Go dance with your friends; I'll get you a drink. I will come find you in a bit, and we'll dance," Snape told her.
"Ok, Severus," she answered, and went on her toes again to plant a kiss on his cheek. He gave her hand a chaste kiss and swept off to find Dumbledore.
"Wow, Hermione, you look great!"
Hermione turned to see Neville walking up to their group.
"Thank you, Neville! You do too!"
"You're turning everyone's head. I figured I'd get in my compliment before Professor Snape starts to hand out detentions to the ones he hears," Neville laughed.
"An excellent idea, Mr. Longbottom. I will have to keep that in mind when I start to get annoyed of the boys here pawing over her," Snape drawled, appearing behind Neville with what looked like a glass of punch. Neville's face paled but he managed to nod to Snape and step out of his way.
"Here you are Hermione; in case you get thirsty. I'm going to make a patrol and see if I can't find the Headmaster as I do so." He leaned down and gave her a swift kiss on her forehead before he walked off again.
"Thank you, Severus!" she called to his retreating back. "That man…," she laughed and shook her head.
"Alright then! Who's up for some dancing?" Harry said, clapping his hands once in a perfect imitation of Draco. Apparently Draco thought so too by the amused look in his eyes.
XXX
An hour later, Hermione had to stop dancing to take a break. Draco and Harry just wouldn't quit. She had no idea that Draco had rhythm at all, but he could dance.
Harry was normally too shy to dance, but being with Draco looked like it was doing him some good. Both of them, actually. They both had a chance to be themselves without caring about what everyone thought.
She conjured up a glass and summoned some water from her wand as she relaxed and watched her friends dance. Neville was adorable when trying to dance, but he didn't look shy at all; he was just happy to be around friends. Luna was doing some odd jig, and Seamus and Dean almost looked like they were battle-dancing. She felt a brief heartache for her missing friend; it had been awhile since she had thought about Ron. Looking out at her friends, she knew that if Ron could have gotten past his problems with Draco, then they would all be having a blast right now. It wasn't fair that he couldn't be happy here with them.
A flash of red hair caught her eye and she almost choked.
"Hey, 'Mione, you ok?" Charlie asked, thumping her on her back as she coughed.
"Charlie Weasley, you have to stop doing that to me!" she laughed when she could breathe. She explained how she had been thinking of Ron, and how he had suddenly popped into view again. He had a habit of doing that.
Charlie nodded and looked out to where she had started gazing again.
"He would've enjoyed this," he said quietly, taking a drink from his flask.
"Yeah, he would have," she answered, eyes watering slightly.
"Not just because of the fun; he would've loved it because this party is supposed to mean that it's all over. I can almost imagine him cracking jokes about it," he continued. Hermione felt a tear start to run down her face. Charlie took another huge drink. "Sometimes…even though I feel horrible about it…I think that if I could have just one of them back, I would choose to give life to Ron again. He was too young. It sounds terrible; I should want my father or Percy back just as much. In fact, I shouldn't be able to choose between which family member should live or die. But I can; I would want Ron back."
"Me too, Charlie," she said, sniffing and trying to control herself.
"Hey hey, it's ok. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have upset you," Charlie said, and grabbed her into a hug. He smelled like firewhiskey and stumbled slightly.
Hermione pushed him slightly on the chest before he could wrap his arms around her, stopping him from completing the hug.
"It's ok, Charlie. I just have to learn to control my emotions," she laughed, trying to cover up the awkwardness.
"Hey, I was just trying to hug you. I don't think Snape would get mad at that."
"It's not whether he would get mad or not; it's how it would look," she said, keeping her eyes on the dance floor. Harry had noticed Charlie and was dancing slower and gazing at him with narrowed eyes.
"You never cared before."
"That's because I wasn't thinking before," she hissed, attempting to communicate to him to keep his voice down. "Severus already has to endure enough shit because of me; I won't encourage rumors to add to it."
"Just give me a damn hug, Hermione."
She raised one eyebrow and finally looked at him. "No. Stopping pushing this Charlie. Besides, you're drunk."
"You hug Harry and Draco in public."
"They also happen to be gay, so there's not much people can do with that."
"So I get to be the friend that stands here and comforts you when you cry but don't get any of the benefits?"
"And exactly what benefits are you talking about?"
"Don't act like that, 'Mione. You know what I mean."
"No no, do explain."
"Oh my god, you're being ridiculous. You can't even hug a friend because of him!"
"No, I could if I chose to. He doesn't dictate how I live. But because of what people were already saying and after that little spat in the entrance hall that time, I decided that it's not safe to hug you in public without causing more damage to Severus."
"Fuck Severus. Oh but I guess you already do, don't you? God, don't be such a bitch! Do you know how long it took me to figure out what to say to you right now to get you to hug me-"
"You PURPOSELY tried to make me cry? You used your DEAD BROTHER to try and make a MOVE on me?" Hermione's voice was still somewhat low, but she was working hard to keep it that way.
"Listen, I just meant-"
"You just meant that you should walk away now, Mr. Weasley," came the voice from behind him. "I believe the lady's answer was no."
Charlie spun around to see Snape standing with his arms crossed across his chest, looking down at him like someone would look at something disgusting.
"Shove off, Snape," Charlie said, and then lowered his voice to where no one but those two could hear him. "It's not as if you actually care about her. Leave her to someone that does."
Impossibly, Snape's eyes seemed to darken. His voice was dangerously low when he responded.
"If you're even half as intelligent as some of the animals you care for, you would leave my sight; now. You will not accost Hermione in such a manner again. I can assure you that I care more for her than you ever could, and I am not just thinking with my dick."
Hermione's eyes widened and she heard amused snorts coming from behind her. Harry and Draco had apparently decided to come see what was happening and had heard Snape's reply to Charlie.
"Fuck you, Snape. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Charlie challenged.
Snape stepped closer and loomed over him, bending slightly to get closer to Charlie's height; the whole move was executed perfectly to intimidate.
"Need I remind you what I was?"
Charlie paled slightly, but stood his ground. "You were a spy. You worked for Dumbledore, so don't think you can intimidate me with your big bad Dark Mark. I'm old enough to know that you were 'good' and 'on our side'."
Snape smirked and drew slightly nearer. "How do you think I came to be a spy? If you haven't reached the conclusion yet, I'll tell you," Snape paused, and then pretended to look around. His voice took on a faux whisper. "I was a real Death Eater. I was in the Dark Lord's service for years before turning to Dumbledore. Do you really want to know the details of what a willing Death Eater can get up to in a few years time? I have plenty of stories."
With that being said, Snape straightened up again, giving his most evil smirk he could muster. It all seemed to be too much, combined with the alcohol, and Charlie immediately vomited.
Stepping around the embarrassed professor, Snape extended his hand to Hermione. "Care to dance?"
"Gladly."
They swept off without a backwards glance.
A slow song had just started playing, so Snape pulled Hermione close to him and started the dance. Hermione splayed one hand on Severus' shoulder and clasped his hand in her other while she laid her head on his chest. His arm came around her waist and glided them along the floor effortlessly.
"What happened? I heard you say something about him using the youngest Weasley to make a move on you," he asked.
She told him what happened, word for word, and felt his arm tense slightly on her waist.
"Thank you, Hermione. I feel sorry that you had to distance yourself from your…friend…because of me, but I also know that you understand why."
"Oh stop; I'm fine. Honestly. When I realized what he was doing…well…that's not much of a friend. You're more important to me than keeping him around anyway," she shrugged.
He leaned in by her ear and said, "You're very passionate when you're angry. It made you look even more beautiful. I may have to take Longbottom's advice after all." He chuckled when he felt her shiver.
She lifted her head before he could pull his back up and whispered to him, "Truth be told, I only wore this for you. Therefore, I have no interest in any other boy here staring at me. I only desire you to stare."
At the word 'desire', Snape exhaled louder than normal and turned to capture her mouth in a kiss. This was unlike the kiss they shared at the masque; no, this was the unrestrained, impulsive kiss like they shared in his quarters.
Hermione gave a slight moan into his mouth, and Snape squeezed her to him more firmly. When they finally broke apart, they were both panting slightly, yet still dancing.
Hermione felt something poking her thigh and looked up at him mischievously. He quirked an eyebrow in curiosity at her.
Pressing closer, Hermione practically purred, "Is that your wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
His eyes were almost dilated in desire as he slowly snaked a hand down her side. She felt her eyes wanting to roll in the back of her skull at the touch. He kept sliding over her body until he got near where his waist met her body. In a flash, his hand was up by her face, twirling-
"It was my wand," he said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
She couldn't help it. She threw her head back and laughed, noticing a second later that he had joined her.
XXX
"Have you decided what you will be doing for the Christmas holidays?" Hermione asked Severus later. They had just entered his rooms, walking there together for any stray students to see.
"Probably what I normally do: sit around here and enjoy the silence. Drink?"
"Please. But that doesn't sound like much fun! You should come to Grimmauld Place with Harry, Draco, and I. I won't lie; a lot comes from selfish reasons. I don't fancy playing the third wheel," she laughed.
Sitting down opposite of Hermione, Snape smirked. "In what universe did that invitation actually work, Hermione?"
She sighed wistfully. "A girl can dream, you know."
"So obviously the Headmaster decided to give you permission to leave for the holidays. Will he accompany you there?"
"No. Since Harry's place is the former site for the Order, Dumbledore knows it's safe. He is, however, making me floo in from his office."
"Who will be there?"
"Well, obviously us three and Kreacher and Dobby. Then I believe Harry is thinking of extending the branch so to speak towards the Weasleys."
"Brave. Is this more for his sake or for Draco's?" Snape smirked, sipping from his firewhiskey.
"Both I think," she laughed and took another drink. "Harry's scared of what Mrs. Weasley might think, now that it's public knowledge that he's gay. And he really really wants them to get to know Draco."
"Does he believe that Molly will take the news badly?"
"Yeah; the Malfoy's and Weasleys have always been enemies, especially Lucius and Mr. Weasley. He's afraid Mrs. Weasley might see it as an insult to her husband if he decides to be with Draco, even if he's NOT his father. Plus, Mrs. Weasley really wanted us both to be part of the family for real instead of just honorary members, so we're both expecting some frostiness."
"Yes, I seem to remember the young Weasley girl vying for Mr. Potter's affections. Did Molly wish to see you with Ron?"
Hermione laughed slightly. "Yep. But Ron and I could never. Him and I tried to kiss once and it was like kissing my brother. We both laughed and decided it was never going to happen. But you can bet she has the idea of Charlie and me in her head now."
"And Mr. Potter invited the whole Weasley clan?"
"Yep."
"That should be interesting."
"And that's an understatement. But I'm excited to see her again, even if she's disappointed in me. And as much as it surprises me, I really miss the twins," she laughed.
"The Weasley twins are…in a class of their own. They were banes throughout their years here, yet I won't deny their intelligence."
Two hours later saw both people laughing and in good spirits, mainly thanks to the spirits they imbibed.
"I remember in third year when Neville's boggart stepped out and it was you!" Hermione was refilling both glasses of firewhiskey with a shaking hand as she laughed.
"Don't even mention that! You wouldn't believe the taunting I had to endure! Especially when it got out that his boggart-me was suddenly wearing a dress!"
Hermione was clutching her side as she laughed. "Surely no teachers would ever dare to poke fun at the big, bad Professor Snape?"
Snape's glare made her laugh harder, which made him lose the glare and start laughing as well.
"Not as much, no. I'm mainly talking of Albus. He's the only one who's ever been allowed to get away with teasing me. And you now, apparently."
"I'm honored."
"As you should be."
They sat for a few minutes, staring into the fire in a comfortable silence before Hermione broke it.
"How did it feel?"
"Hm?"
"When you knew, once and for all this last time, that you were free."
Snape gave a short derisive laugh. "Free? I'm not free; not yet. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I was."
"What do you mean? Voldemort is gone! How are you not free?"
Snape just turned his head and looked at her, raising one eyebrow. After a few moments, Hermione mouthed a silent "oh."
"I'm sor-," Hermione began but was cut off by him.
"Don't apologize. This is my life. I could've told Albus no in the office those months ago, but he was right; this is the only plan we have a shot at working. When this is all over, and you're safe again and Lucius is out of the picture, then maybe I'll be free. Until then, I will do what Albus asks of me because my debt to him is never-ending."
Hermione sat contemplating that for a few minutes before getting up and walking towards him, where she then got on her knees in front of his chair.
"That's basically how I feel towards you. No," she said, cutting him off as he tried to respond, "don't tell me I shouldn't. You protected me since I was a first year, and now, when you're finally able to be your own person, you're told to protect me again. You have no idea the gratitude I feel towards you, Severus. And I'm just sorry that you have to go through this with me."
Snape sat looking at her for a few minutes, his eyes slightly softer than normal. Then he took a drink and smirked.
"Well, I can't say it's been all bad. It's been awhile since I've danced with a beautiful woman at a ball, or had a woman in my quarters that can actually hold a conversation."
Hermione laughed. "Well, it's been…forever…since I've had a date to a ball, had a partner who can dance without stepping on my feet, who actually thinks I'm beautiful, and can speak about subjects other than quidditch."
"You had Krum."
"Touché; I forgot about him. He still didn't live up to the rest on the list."
"Surely he thought you were beautiful?"
"He told me I looked very attractive and he was happy to have me on his arm, but I saw his wandering eyes. It bothered me then, but looking back, he was young and only asked me because I was the only girl who didn't go crazy when I saw him," she smirked and downed the rest of her drink. She stood up shakily and set her glass down on the table. When Snape reached out to steady her, she fell onto his lap. She started giggling like mad when he made an OOMPH! sound as she landed.
Chuckling softly with her, Snape started playing with the tendrils of her curly hair. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Well, I for one thought you were beautiful. To hell with Krum."
Hermione turned in his lap so she was facing him, cupped his face, stared for a few seconds, and then kissed him.
Minutes later when they came up for air, Hermione rested her forehead against his.
"I can't keep letting this happen," he whispered, and slowly shook his head against hers.
Hermione sat up ramrod straight and glared. "And why not?"
Snape sighed. "Hermione, we've been through this. I'm much too old, I'm your teacher, you're much too young, you were forced into this, you deserve-"
"Enough, Severus. Let's see: the age difference doesn't bother me seeing how age gaps in the wizarding world are accepted because of how long we live, as well as my father is 15 years older than my mother. You're barely my teacher, and we both know it. Technically, you aren't even my teacher anymore, according to Hogwarts records. We both know I could take my NEWTS tomorrow and pass with flying colors, as the muggles say. Me being too young, again, doesn't bother me unless you're insinuating AGAIN how immature and rash I am about all of this, and in that case I'm going to be pissed off; again. I was NOT forced into this; if you remember, I agreed mere seconds before you did when we were arguing. I could've said no and insisted the Headmaster find another way. And if you were about to start saying I deserve better, then you need to think again. It is you who deserves better than a teenager, but unfortunately for you, I'm stubborn."
Both people sat glaring at one another for a full minute before Snape broke the silence.
"You don't know what you're saying. You're drunk. When you're sober, you won't-"
"Accio!" Hermione had held her hand out towards his storeroom while maintaining eye contact with him as she said the spell wandlessly. A moment later, two small vials of bright blue liquid sailed into her hand. Before he could even object, she promptly uncorked one bottle and downed it. For a few seconds she sat with her eyes closed, then shivered and finally looked at him once more.
"There; the sobriety potion kicked in and now I'm blissfully sober. Shall I start again? The age difference doesn't bother me seeing how age gaps in the wizarding world are accepted-"
"I get it, Hermione."
"No, I don't think you do."
He took the second bottle and drank his potion. A few seconds later, he looked her straight in the eye.
"I get it. But that doesn't make me happy about it. This was never supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a clean cut assignment; we were supposed to fool everyone, capture and stop Lucius, then you would ride off into the sunset or whatever the heroine does and I would live out the rest of my years here. It was my plan, Hermione."
"That's a lousy plan."
"I didn't say it was ideal."
"Good, because it's not ideal. You deserve better than to live out your remaining years in a dungeon alone."
"Perhaps I don't," he murmured.
"Severus Snape, stop it right now. I mean, seriously! I have had to attend Harry bloody Potter's Pity Party more times than I would like to this year, and I'm not about to do the same with you. Listen to me, and listen good: you deserve a lot better than what you've been given in life. No, listen. You made some bad choices, and some worse ones. You then spent the next half of your life until last year paying for those choices. You refuse to allow yourself anything good, seeming to think that you will never be good enough. You act like you're tainted, but you aren't! No. Don't try and gesture to your arm; you know very well that it doesn't matter anymore. You have MORE than paid for whatever sins you felt you needed to pay for. Now shut up and kiss me already!"
They were once again locked in a glaring battle until Snape muttered something about her being the death of him and closed the gap between them.
XXX
"And just where were you last night, young lady?" Draco asked Hermione as she walked into their quarters; Harry sat holding Draco's hand and smirked. "Or do I really not want to know?"
"Honestly, you probably don't want to know," she said and both boys grimaced, "but so you know, Severus and I fell asleep on his couch."
"Oh, well that's not so bad," Harry said as he picked up his Quibbler again.
"Well, it did come after an amazing snogging session that had us moving from his chair TO the couch," she amended. Harry just closed his eyes and let his head thunk against the back of the couch and groaned while Draco and Hermione laughed.
"Ok, well, I'm happy you're back. We need to leave for Harry's tonight, but first I have an early Christmas present for you and I, Hermione," Draco said, jumping up from the couch and rubbing his hands together. He flicked his wand and something huge and covered in a sheet appeared before the couch. "I've been working on this for a few months now, I'll have you know. I started off doing it for me, because I'm essentially a selfish creature by nature, but then I started to think you could get some enjoyment out of it too; after all, you grew up with muggles."
"I'm not following," she said, looking bemused. Harry was smiling broadly now and had put aside his magazine once again to watch.
"You have no idea how hard it was to get this to work around all the castle enchantments. When I finally got it, though, Harry asked me to do it to his iPid" -Harry whispered to him softly-"iPOD," Draco finished.
"Ok, I give up," Hermione laughed.
"Let me be the first to present you with the first ever Head Boy & Girl…TELEVISION!" Draco yelled and pulled the sheet off with a flourish. Underneath was a beautiful 52" flat screen resting in a beautiful entertainment center.
"Oh my god, Draco…" she whispered as she walked closer. Connected to the T.V. were wires that almost seemed to spark and she could feel the magical energy from here. The shelves to the left and right of the T.V. were behind glass doors and were full of DVD's and VHS tapes. A dual player rested behind a small glass door under the television. "This…this is AMAZING!" She ran over and hugged him.
"I know, right! It's so cool! I amaze myself sometimes! It took forever, but I got it. Now, we don't get cable but I programmed a way for you to be able to use your wand to type in the name of show you want and it will attempt to find the seasons of it. And, of course, I have a vast array of movies to choose from. I've been collecting them since I started taking the Muggle Studies class," he said proudly.
Hermione walked back over to browse the movies. His collection was huge. He seemed to favor action movies with loud explosions almost as much as he enjoyed the Disney movies.
"This is wonderful, Draco. Thank you," she told him.
"You're welcome. Now, what say we settle down for a nice movie before we all pack? Don't give me that look; we can pack in under ten seconds. Magic, remember?" Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but smiled and sat down on Harry's other side. "There, now…I think we should watch Armageddon. The way muggles destroy things without magic is amazing; and all in the name of entertainment. I definitely wouldn't want to be on that cleanup crew when they were done filming. Imagine, rebuilding a whole city that you destroyed just for a movie. Good thing they got it in one take!"
Hermione and Harry just tried to keep from laughing as Draco started the movie.
XXX
"Hey Dobby, hey Kreacher; I'm back!" Harry yelled as Hermione and Draco stepped out of the floo behind him. Less than a second later, two elves stood in front of Harry welcoming him home, one wearing a green and gold toga-like uniform, and the other wearing a child's sized Chudly Cannons jersey and child size pajama pants with a mismatch of socks.
"Kreacher already has dinner cooking. It will be ready in 45 minutes Master Harry," Kreacher said, and took the coat Harry was automatically holding out to him. Kreacher then walked over to Draco and Hermione and asked for theirs.
"Dobby has finished cleaning the bedrooms like Harry asked him to. Harry Potter's bedroom is immaculate, and all other rooms have been thoroughly washed and the beds freshly laundered and made."
"Thanks you two! You guys are great," Harry told them and started walking towards the front room. "Wow! You guys, this is awesome!"
Hermione and Draco walked into the front room to see a massive Christmas tree stopping just two feet short of the ceiling sat in the corner of the room. Boxes of decorations were on the ground next to it, waiting to be put on.
Hermione clapped her hands together and squealed slightly; Draco just looked confused.
"But…why are the decorations in boxes? Shouldn't the elves have put them up by now? Is this a muggle Christmas tradition?" Questions were coming rapidly from Draco as he tried to process the bare tree.
Harry laughed. "No, I told them not to decorate it. And yes, it's kind of a muggle tradition. In muggle houses, the families decorate the tree together, or in some cases, they let their children do it."
"But…why? Elves could do it faster."
"Muggles don't have elves."
"I keep forgetting; poor muggles. Why don't they get someone to hang them for them?"
"Because the families enjoy hanging them up together."
"But wh-," Draco started.
"For god's sake, Draco, it's for fun," Hermione said, laughing.
"…I'm not following," he answered.
"Listen," Harry said, "muggles like to decorate the tree with their families for a few reasons: one, because it's a way to spend time as a family around the holidays, and two because it's fun. Think about the trees at Hogwarts, the times you stayed there for the holidays; the trees always looked the same. The decorations were always spot on, never crooked, perfect…and always in the same spots. That's so boring. But now…you get a chance to create a tree to your liking; every year it looks different. I knew it had been awhile since Hermione had gotten a chance to decorate a tree, I was never invited to help at the Dursley's, and you had no idea about it at all, so I told Dobby and Kreacher to let us handle it this year. As a surprise," Harry finished almost bashfully.
"You're adorable, you know that?" Draco told him. Harry just beamed at him. "Well, let's start then! I want to know what it's all about! Unless there's a specific time frame…?" He looked at Hermione.
"My family normally waited until after dinner," Hermione said.
"Ok, after dinner it is then!" Draco looked truly excited now. "What decorations do we have?"
"That's the other fun part," Harry said slyly. "There's obviously boxes of tinsel and other odds and ends here, but I had them lay out some stuff for us to make our own!"
"Ah, like a Crafting Arts project that muggle children do at camp," Draco said knowledgably.
"Arts and Crafts, and yes, something like that. Dobby said he would get us some fun stuff to work with," Harry said.
"Oh yes, Master Harry! Dobby has secured glitter and wood and plastic and paper plates and muggle glue and muggle colored markers and-," Dobby started in.
"Awesome Dobby; you did great," Harry said and they started laughing. A knock at the door halted their laughter, however.
"Who would that be? The Weasley's shouldn't be here for about two days," Draco said, wand automatically pointed at the door.
Harry's wand had been trained on the door instinctively from the first knock, and was staring at the door with the same unwavering intensity he used when in "battle mode."
The knock came again, quicker and almost sounding annoyed, if a knock could sound as such. Harry's face went from calculating to confused, and he walked purposefully towards the door, Draco shadowing him and continually pushing Hermione back.
"Obviously Harry's worried about your safety, stupid, so stay back," Draco hissed at her, making her roll her eyes. Nonetheless, she stayed back but kept her wand trained on the door anyway.
Harry made an arc with his wand in front of the door. Whatever the spell did must have surprised Harry, although Draco and Hermione couldn't see anything. He gave a confused "huh?", lost his battle form, and dropped his wand to his side. Before Draco or Hermione could react, he swung open the door to reveal Severus Snape on the door step.
"About bloody time, Potter; it's cold enough to freeze Bellatrix's tits right off, and she was a bloody ice queen!"
"Well, come in then and warm your bollocks up and stop your bitching," Draco said, recovering fastest.
As Snape strode into the house, Harry shut the door behind him and turned to stare at him, the same confused calculating look still on his face.
"Professor, why were you at my door?"
"I thought it would be rude to come straight through the floo," he said, handing his coat to Kreacher who had come hurrying in.
"O….k….but why would you have needed to come through my floo?"
Hermione sighed. "Isn't it obvious, Harry? Protection. I'm here. Unless something bad has happened?"
"No, nothing bad has happened, Hermione. In fact, the Headmaster sent me out to your parent's house first to set some wards on it for the holidays. You were right with your first assumption."
"But Grimmauld Place can't be infiltrated! That's why Professor Dumbledore allowed us to come here!" Harry sputtered.
"Nothing is set in stone, Mr. Potter," Snape said quietly. "Everything can be infiltrated."
Harry started walking towards the room they had flooed in, but Snape's voice stopped him.
"It's no use flooing him, Mr. Potter. Do you think I readily agreed to this? That I jumped at the opportunity? No. But once Albus has made up his mind…," Snape's voice trailed off. Harry stood still for a few moments longer until Draco walked up behind him and put his hand on his back. Some of the tension visibly left Harry and he sighed heavily.
Turning around, he looked at his professor. "Well, sir, even though the Headmaster has already made up my mind for me, allow me to formally invite you to spend the holidays here with us."
Snape stared at Harry for a few seconds before tilting his head forward slightly in acceptance. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. While I won't insult you by lying and saying it would be my pleasure, I do appreciate the invitation. I shouldn't be a burden on your festivities. Christmas is not one of my favorite holidays, so I will probably spend it in the library. However, I will be making appearances when the Weasley clan gets here, especially if Professor Weasley is invited."
"Of course, sir. And, if you want, you can call me Harry. Obviously I can't force you to-,"
"Although it would be amusing to see him try," Draco added in as Harry glared.
"But honestly, I left the school for the holidays to get away from school. This is one of the first holidays I get to do what I want, without a puppet master pulling my strings, and I get to be around people who make me happy. Well, most of them," Harry smirked.
"Puppet master?" Draco asked, confused. But Hermione thought she knew what he was talking about, and looking at Snape she saw that he knew too. Of course he did; he spent over 20 years spying and being under two puppet masters, one being the same as Harry.
Snape seemed to be looking at Harry with something akin to grudging approval. "I shall…try…to remember that…Harry. It may be difficult after years of calling you Potter, however. And you…may call me Severus, for the holidays."
"Thank you…Severus."
An awkward pause followed until Draco broke it, like normal. "Well, I think I could use a drink after that moment. Severus?"
"Please. And tell me you have something other than tea here; cold enough out there to warrant something extra."
Harry started laughing. "Yeah, we do. I was going to save the good stuff for after dinner, but I have some brandy, whiskey, vodka…," Harry trailed off, waving his hand.
"Are those muggle alcohols?" Draco asked.
"Yeah. I sometimes forget that the wizarding world only really has mead and firewhiskey, other than the other things the Hog's Head serves."
"I think I would enjoy some brandy. It's been years since I've had a good muggle brandy," Snape said.
"Well, let's all go to the kitchen then," Hermione said. "Dinner should be done soon, so we can get our drinks and start our decoration making!"
Draco's eyes lit up at her words. "I agree. Severus, I know you'll never actually participate, but you should come and at least join us in the kitchen. We're going to be making muggle decorations for the tree, which then we'll decorate ourselves with no elves!"
Snape rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not, actually."
"Oh come on, Severus," Hermione said, smiling at him. "Don't you want to see Draco's attempt at handling a glue stick and glitter?"
At that, Snape gave a bark of laughter. "When you put it that way, how can I resist?"
Two hours later found the foursome seated around the large dining table in the kitchen, laughing their asses off. Or in Snape's case, chuckling and trying to hide it. The beef stew Kreacher made was almost better than the one from Hogwarts, and there was plenty of wine and other spirits to go around. As a direct result of that, the decorations had suffered.
They went from starting off making snowflakes and house-related decorations to anti-house-related decorations and jokes. Currently, the one being held up causing the laughter was a 6 inch brightly (overly brightly) glittered snake choking a lion. Draco seemed to think the more glitter to make the snake stand out, the better.
"Beautiful, Draco; an absolute masterpiece," Hermione laughed.
"I made this one of Hermione," Harry said, red faced with liquor and laughter. His creation was a 3-D book made out of the thin wood pieces they were using. In small handwriting he had written Hogwarts: a History on it. But what got them all laughing was the worm made out of twisted pipe cleaners coming out of a hole that went through the book. He had glued fake eyes to the top and put a ridiculous amount of brown twisted yarn on the head.
"Very funny," Hermione said, and flipped him off.
"That's not very becoming of a lady, you know," Snape said, smiling slightly at her.
"There are a few things I can do that aren't very becoming of a lady, Severus. Perhaps you'll find out soon," she said back. Harry gagged and Draco laughed while Snape's eyes just widened slightly, and his smirk grew.
"What have you been working on over there, Severus?" Draco asked. After a few glasses of brandy, Harry had finally broken out his "good stuff": 100 year old aged special Reserved Label firewhiskey. According to Draco and Severus, the bottles started at around two hundred galleons. Harry had found the full bottle in his godfather's bedroom. When Snape had a couple of glasses of that as well, Draco was finally able to persuade him to decorate at least one.
Snape held up a paper plate he had been drawing on. In it, there was a picture he had enhanced with magic, for it moved like a flipbook. The scene was Snape and Harry standing face to face, then Snape pushes Harry over. Harry then starts to cry, flooding the bottom of the plate while Snape laughs towards the sky with his fists on his hips, robes billowing, looking like a deranged, dark Superman.
"Charming," Harry said while the table roared in laughter; even Snape gave a few real laughs.