A/N: SPOV
Back in his quarters, Severus looked over the gift he had procured for Nymphadora at Twilfitt and Tattings, hoping that she would appreciate his thought and accept his offer. Closing the box, he shrank it and fit it into his robes.
A pop of appirition alerted him, and he smiled to the House Elf that he had called for.
"Master Snape, sir?" Dobby bowed respectfully without it looking foolishly overdone. He had finally learned to dress himself in something that looked somewhat coordinated, and Severus wondered if the elf hadn't seen pictures of muggle bellhops to achieve this look.
"First of all, please do not call me by that title. 'Professor' is quite acceptable and preferred. Secondly, there is a present that I would like delivered to Auror Tonks' room in the Three Broomsticks once she and I are at Slughorn's party."
Severus pointed over to a plant that was half the size of the House Elf himself. Dobby's eyes widened in fear.
"Does it do anything particularly violent, sir?" He asked, his voice quivering.
"The Tacca chantrieri is a non-moving plant, if that's what you're worried about. It's quite safe, and once you get past the intimidating looks of it, you can admire it for its delicate beauty. In fact, it's common name is the Black Bat Flower."
Dobby approached the flower, his fingers trailing the tips of the dangling whiskers. "Black Bat is a fitting name for it, sir."
Severus looked at his pocket watch. "You'll need to take it out of my room for now so that she will be surprised by it tonight." He handed Dobby five Galleons.
"I cannot accept this much sir!" The elf exclaimed. "Too much gold can make one evil..."
Severus soothed him instantly. "Christmas is coming up and I'm sure you'd like to get your friends some nice presents. Then you won't have to worry about having too many Galleons."
Dobby grinned, picking up the potted plant. "Thank you, Professor!" and popped away.
Now that that's been taken care of, I can resume my preparations for this evening.
Severus finished his scotch on the rocks, reconsidering his apparel for the evening. He knew that he could suffer adding a bit of color to his appearance, but he never could find the right shade or item to use as an accent. He wanted to do something subtle enough to be noticed and appreciated without appearing to have gone out of his way to be overdone.
Even then, he couldn't risk exposing himself to be anything different than the man everyone had expected him to be. In fact, I was too nice to Dobby just now. But nobody listens to house elves, that one in particular.
A knock on his door alerted him that she was here. Taking a few deep breaths to center himself, he turned as the door opened for her.
"Good evening, Nymphadora." He took in her lavender dress and shoes that laced up her legs and tied off behind the knee. It was horribly suggestive of how he could tie her legs up and pushed the thought aside… for now. The design of the dress reminded him of his own schooldays, something that was a cross between Twiggy and Betty Page, two models that he remembered from his childhood.
"You look absolutely stunning, including the matching lavender hair." He leaned in for a gentle kiss and offered her his left arm, which she accepted graciously.
As the pair of them took the stairs up to Slughorn's office, he wondered why she didn't wear heels with the dress. She nearly stumbled on a step, reminding him why.
Slughorn had obviously had his office expanded, and draped the walls and ceiling with crimson and emerald, merging the colors of Slytherin and Gryffindor for a Christmas theme. Even with the expansion, the room was crowded under the red light and fluttering fairies overhead.
Severus took in the room as a habit from his spying; elderly wizards smoking from pipes in one corner, house elves wandering around with large silver platters over their heads, and possibly a group of carolers or a Wizarding Wireless in the furthest corner. Hermione Granger was quickly shuffling to hide in an alcove, but ran into Harry Potter.
Luna Lovegood was looking upwards, oblivious to the fact that she was being stared at by Sanguini, the latest victim of Eldred Worpole's self-aggrandizing documentary. At least he actually did the exploits he cashed in on, unlike Lockhart. Looking above the strange Ravenclaw, he noticed the sprig of mistletoe and decided to take his chance. He cast a notice-me-not charm as well as muffliato on himself and Nymphadora and pulled her under the sprig.
Severus summoned the shrunken rectangular box from his pocket and returned it to its original size. "Nymphadora, I wish to give you a present, but I fear that I will be indisposed at the Solstice and unable to entertain guests over Christmas. Tonight seemed to be as appropriate as any." Dark Revel notwithstanding, I could be spending Boxing Day recovering from hours of torture. Severus knew he wouldn't want to scare her about the darkest night of the year.
"When a Dominant and a submissive begin to get involved… bugger. Allow me to rephrase that. Suffice it to say, I have enjoyed our interactions together, and would like to begin a path for us to formalize our arrangement. This gift is symbolic; the Dominant who offers this collar to the submissive is expressing an interest in pursuing a relationship with said submissive beyond the range of a casual acquaintance or even that of a Top and bottom.
"I must add, that accepting this collar from me means that you are equally serious in the understanding that our relationship has progressed. Should we ever find the time to spend together with the greater BDSM community, this collar would indicate to others that we are forming a potentially serious relationship."
Tonks opened the elegant box embossed with Twilfitt and Tatting's monogram, her smile fading for curiosity. "It's not a collar." The bracelet was a series of silver chains interlocking to form a spiral shape.
"Well spotted, dear. I'd have given you a literal collar of leather, but you'd be unable to wear it at all times. This chain is charmed to me; if it is removed by anyone else but you, I will be alerted and will come to your aid. You can also use it to locate and apparate to me if ever that is needed. I find myself quite fond of you, dear, and hope that you accept this." He leaned in to kiss her, only to feel a jerk pulling him away from her. It wasn't behind his navel, so he was assured that it wasn't a portkey. The only thing he could tell was that his name was being called out... by Horace?
"Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!" hiccuped Slughorn. "I was just talking about Harry's exceptional potionmaking! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught him for five years!"
Last thing I need, my former Potion's Professor asking me to regale him of stories over Harry Bloody Potter. Severus looked down his nose at Harry imperiously, narrowing his eyes in obvious frustration.
"Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all." Severus hoped to be as un-engaging as possible so he could get back to Nymphadora and hear her reply.
"Well, then, it's natural ability!" shouted Slughorn. "You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, Draught of Living Death... never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, I don't think even you, Severus..."
Potter was able to safely make that Draught without Granger's assistance?
"Really?" Snape replied, debating on if he could get away with a bit of Legilimency.
"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Harry?" Slughorn asked.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration , Herbology..." The boy still has that damned hero complex.
"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror," Snape replied, sneering.
"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do," Harry said, defiance in his voice. I don't care if he wants to be the Minister of Magic, he just needs to survive The Dark Lord first.
"And a great one you'll make too!" Slughorn added proudly.
"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry," interrupted Luna, "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're planning to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."
Severus looked over at Nymphadora, who somehow tripped over a house elf carrying a plate of dragon tar tar. As her eyes met his, he mouthed the words, "Gum Disease?" and arched an eyebrow humorously, but wiped it away as soon as he had done it.
Filch barged in, dragging Draco behind him. Severus and Draco had been playing a game of owl with each other's messages, and Severus couldn't tip his hand nor look like his authority was being underminded. But Snape calculated that he could get away with this now.
"I'd like a word with you, Draco," Severus snapeed, hoping that this would not be questioned by anyone here.
"Now, Severus," said Slughorn, hiccuping again, "it's Christmas, don't be too hard..."
"I am his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or other-wise, to be," said Snape curtly. Oh buggering hell, did I really phrase it that way? "Follow me, Draco." Severus gave a knowing nod to Nymphadora, letting her know that he'd be back.