Summary: Christmas time

A/N: I'm kind of excited this chapter upload fell during the Holiday season. Hope it gets you in the mood for whatever Holiday you celebrate.

chapter 17

Christmas was almost upon them, and Hermione was decorating Severus' quarters. He came up to her and put his arms around her.

"May I help with the tree or is this something you must do yourself to get it right?"

She turned and gave him an exasperated look. "Of course, it's not. I would love it if we decorated together."

He smirked at her. "I'll be right back then."

Disappearing into his bedroom, he soon re-emerged with a small box. "These decorations have been in the family for a while. They were some of the few things I decided to keep when my mum passed."

Hermione smiled broadly at him as she reached out for the box. Placing it on the coffee table, she opened it.

"Oh! These are beautiful, Severus!"

The ornaments were all the same design, balls of either silver or green with small reindeer in the opposite color that flit around them. There were twelve in all.

"I am very fond of them. They were a small piece of happiness in my childhood around the holidays."

"Did your father like them? I mean, he didn't like magical things, right?"

"No, he didn't. My mum would freeze the movement in the ornament. We would trim the tree while he was at work, and enjoy them racing around their balls, but then mum cast the spell to immobilize them, and they stayed stationary for the rest of the season. Every now and then when I was little, she'd free them from the spell for a bit while father was away."

"I'm sorry you couldn't enjoy them fully as a child."

He shrugged. "I learned to live with it."

"That doesn't make it right." She pulled one out of the box and placed it on the tree. She looked at Severus with excitement. "Maybe we can get a moving set to represent us being together!"

He arched a brow. "That would be… nice."

She grabbed his hand and tugged. "Come on. Let's head out to Hogsmeade and see what they have."

"Merlin, woman, calm down!"

"We're only a week away from Christmas! They may be sold out of everything."

He pulled her close. "Then come, let's find something to celebrate our union."

He Apparated them straight from there. Hermione looked at him curiously. "I thought…?"

"I never lost the ability to Apparate within the school after being Headmaster."

"Brilliant," she said with a grin.

They were right in front of Dervish and Banges, whose window was lit up with Christmas lights and had several small Christmas trees in the window decorated to the hilt with all that the store was offering for the holiday. Hermione grasped Severus' hand again.

"Come on!"

"Calm yourself, witch!"

"No! This is fun. Can't you get excited about something?"

"Fine."

She glared at him, causing him to smirk at her. He was enjoying having a go at her, and the rise he was getting from her was endearing.

"Come on, then!" he said as he dragged her into the shop, spluttering about his quick change of attitude.

They went to the left side of the shop where all the Christmas items were. All the ornaments they had for sale were displayed in a window box with separations for each style. You only had to tap the one you wanted with your wand and a box of them would appear before you on the counter.

"What color should we get?" Hermione asked.

"Green."

She gave him a side-eye. "All of the decorations you have are green. How about something else?"

"Silver."

"Can we stay away from Slytherin colors?"

"I suppose you want red."

She shrugged. "That would be nice. Both red and green are very Christmassy, but if you don't want red, I am fine with gold–or what about these purple ones?"

Severus looked at the one she was motioning to. The dark purple balls had large snowflakes falling on them.

"They're pretty, but won't they be too much with the green and silver?"

Hermione looked closer at them. "Hmm, maybe. Look, it comes in silver with purple snowflakes." She stopped and looked at an ornament low on the display case. "Oh, look at this one. It's a star."

The star was silver. It almost looked like it was made of lace but it was a hard plastic. A burst of purple(or green) light started in the center of it and radiated out to the points of the star. It was beautiful. Severus looked at Hermione who was giving him an expectant look.

"I like these quite well," he offered.

She grinned and tapped her wand on the ornament. A set of twelve appeared in a box in front of them.

"They're perfect," she mused.

"They are, and they symbolize the light I feel from our relationship."

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she regarded Severus. "That's… that's beautiful."

"I'm serious. Since we've gotten together I have been–well… happy. You bring a light into my life I didn't think was possible to have."

She threw her arms around him and kissed him lovingly. "I feel the same about you." She hesitated for a second before looking at him with an open expression. "I love you, Severus."

He took in a sharp breath. He quickly looked around. They were alone. There were a few patrons in the store, but they were back at the counter with the owner. He cast a silent Notice Me Not spell before his eyes moved back to hers.

"Truly?"

She nodded. "Very much so."

He pulled her closer and kissed her reverently. Pulling back after only a short time, he gazed into her eyes.

"I love you, too."

She smiled at him before pulling him down to continue kissing him over and over. Finally pulling apart, they were both out of breath. Severus looked into her eyes again. "Thank you, love. Shall we buy these and finish our decorating?"

She nodded and they proceeded to pay for the stars, Apparating back to Severus' quarters once they'd stepped out of the shop.

ooo

Christmas morning was bright and cheery. Hermione woke first, turning to look at Severus. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek in her hand. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Happy Christmas," she greeted.

"Happy Christmas," he rumbled, barely awake.

She leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Mmm, you missed," he said groggily.

Smiling, she captured his lips and kissed him lovingly. When she'd pulled back, he smirked at her. "That's better," he said with more clarity. "The best way to wake up."

"Definitely." Hermione looked at him with excitement. "Let's open presents!"

"Can we wait a minute? I'm just waking up."

"That's part of the fun! Come on, let's go!"

She jumped out of bed and looked at him expectantly. He kept his sour expression, but secretly, he found her enthusiasm endearing.

"Oh, come on, Severus, it's Christmas!"

"You are a harridan," he said as he swung his legs to the floor and stood. "Let me fetch my robe."

Hermione grabbed hers as well and wrapped herself in the red silk. Severus pulled on his black satin one, and they headed out to the sitting room and the tree. Hermione stopped at the beauty of it.

"Oh, Severus, it's so beautiful!"

His arm wrapped around her. "It is quite lovely."

Hermione hooked her arm around his waist. "Happy Christmas, love."

He bent low to kiss her. "Happy Christmas." He enjoyed her for a bit before pulling away and smirking. "Now, shall we open presents?"

She blushed before nodding. She rushed to the tree and quickly noticed the presents from her friends. She picked one up.

"Oh, Ron sent me something."

Severus pulled out his wand and cast a few spells on it. Hermione gave him a curious look.

"You can never be too careful. He's been a cow."

Hermione sighed. "True." She looked at the present. "It looks like a book."

"Well, open it already."

She gave him an exasperated look before ripping the paper off the gift. It definitely was a book. She looked at the title. Choosing the Right Mate.

She shook her head and tossed the book on the table.

"Whoa, careful. I've never seen you beat up a book before," Severus said.

"He's foul, and just trying to annoy me." She turned away from the book and looked back at the presents. "Enough of friends' presents, I want you to open yours."

She pulled out a package with silver pinecones on green paper. She looked like the cat that ate the canary as she handed the package to Severus. He arched a brow at her as he took it.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me until you see what it is!" she cried.

She was obviously excited about whatever the box held. He quickly moved to the sofa and sat, ripping off the paper. Lifting the lid of the box, he was surprised to see a black scarf and a satin cravat.

"Did you make this scarf?" he asked her.

She nodded, then bit her lip. He lifted it out of the box and rubbed it with his fingers.

"Merlin, it's so soft."

"It's cashmere. I had it special ordered. It almost came in too late for me to be able to make this."

He wrapped it around his neck and caressed it. "How long did this take to make?" he asked in wonder.

"Three weeks. Well, I only worked on it when I had free time, and wasn't with you… so very infrequently."

He smirked at her. Rising from the sofa, he closed the distance between them and kissed her passionately.

"Thank you so much. And the cravat is brilliant but it's almost too nice to wear except for special occasions."

"You should wear it whenever you like."

He looked at her lovingly. "I will. And I'll think of you whenever I do."

"That was the point!"

"You're very proud of yourself, aren't you?"

"Of course! That scarf took work, and I just love that cravat."

"And I just love you. Thank you."

Pulling her close again, he kissed her, enjoying the feel of her near him and her lips worshiping him. They were engrossed with one another for quite a while. Finally, Severus pulled back, out of breath.

"You are magnificent," he murmured.

"You are everything to me, Severus."

Smiling at her, he reached up and took off the scarf. Lying it on the coffee table with the box with the cravat. He straightened and turned back to her.

"Now for my present to you."

She looked at him expectantly. He smirked at her as he stood before her and straightened his robes. He extended his arms and… poof… turned into a phoenix. Hermione gasped as the bird flew toward her and landed on her shoulder.

"You became an Animagus?"

The bird nodded.

"For me?"

Another quick nod.

"You're… so beautiful. Look at these golden feathers mixed in with your red. So regal."

She looked at the bird who was staring at her with its golden eyes. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes, and Severus quickly returned to his normal form.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head vehemently. "No! I'm not upset. I'm… touched that you did this for me. So we can have something else in common."

He reached out and cupped her face. "Shall we go for a fly?"

She beamed at him. "Yes, let's!"

"Come," he directed as he took her hand and pulled her out of the room and up the stairs to the entrance Hall.

They burst through the door, immediately transforming into their bird forms, and flew into the sky. They soared over several students who were walking in the courtyard. Severus, with his greater wingspan, pulled ahead. Hermione raced to keep up, eventually passing him. She turned her head and chirped at him. He screeched at her and they winged together, side by side for quite a while. They danced around each other, one of them getting ahead, then the other, switching sides, and flying around one another. After a while Severus screeched and started heading to the ground. Hermione followed his red and gold plumage until they landed on the road just outside of Hogsmeade. They turned back to their human forms.

"That was exhilarating," Severus said as he pulled Hermione to him, surrounding her in his arms.

"It was! And flying with you made it all the better."

Severus pulled away from her. "Race you back."

"Oy, you're faster than I am!"

"Whinger," he said, and in an instant, he'd transformed and taken off. Hermione harrumphed but smirked before turning into her falcon form and chasing after him.