-18-

Snape was enjoying breakfast – gouda cheese on toast with a sinfully delicious onion chutney and orange mustard sauce on the side – when Harry Potter approached the Head Table on the morning of the 18th.

"Sir," the Boy Who Lived to Annoy Snape addressed the headmaster, "we, that is the students, have been wondering when we will be making gingerbread men. And some of the younger years would like to try their hand at gingerbread houses. It's been a very enjoyable experience in past years…"

Before the bold Gryffindor could continue, the headmaster clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"I know a thing or two about gingerbread men!" cried the Dark Lord. "Lucius get me my cookie cutter!"

Within moments it was decided: the morning lessons were to be skipped in favour of baking. Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. He had lost count of how many lessons had been cancelled for some Christmassy nonsense. The school was going to the dogs.

"Who has the recipe?" cried Dumbledore.

The apprentice reached into her handbag and produced a small roll of parchment. "Got it!" she cried.

"Since when are you carrying around cookie recipes?" asked Snape.

"Since you got me this wonderful handbag. The recipe is too bulky for a robe pocket but with this," she held up her very pink handbag, "I can carry so many things around without destroying my silhouette. – Who is in charge of the dough?"

"Shouldn't we open the calendar first?" interfered Snape.

Even the most dedicated gingerbread enthusiasts agreed that that was a good idea.

Sverre picked up the present and zoomed around the room and at last landed at the Ravenclaw table. It went to Penelope Clearwater "For your kindness". The girl had encouraged her friends to make dolls for charity the day before and Narcissa had now a box with fifty little dolls in her quarters which she had promised to auction off at the next charity event she organised. The money was to go to the orphanage in Ottery St. Catchpool which held a wing for magical orphans.

The present came in a small box. "We can use this to decorate the gingerbread houses!" cried Penelope when she opened the box. There were every flavour beans of various colours, tiny marshmallows, chocolate lentils, drops and small sugar canes.

"Excellent!" cried the Dark Lord. "I really wish Lucius would hurry. I should have sent Severus."

"My Lord," Snape admitted, "I have no idea where you have put your cookie cutter. I would certainly be even slower than Lucius."

"Ah, you were not there. Lucius knows where it is. It's probably because he is unable to apparate in the castle."

Flitwick meanwhile had volunteered to supervise the production of the dough. The small wizard made the endeavour a lesson and taught the students how to charm the ingredients to knead themselves.

By the time the first lesson of the day should have started, Potter and his friends were handing out dough. Potter took it upon himself to bring the Dark Lord some.

"Aargh!" the evil wizard snarled angrily. "I forgot to bring a rolling pin."

The apprentice conjured one and spelled it to work independently. "I've never understood why Hogwarts doesn't teach household spells," she mused.

"I agree," said McGonagall. "But the headmaster always brushes my arguments aside for some nonsense like Divination or such."

"My Lord," Lucius said almost shyly, "may I recommend to be careful of the amount of quality control today?"

"Ah, Lucius, always watching out for me," the Dark Lord all but purred as he chucked a piece of dough into his mouth.

The baking took the population of Hogwarts almost until lunch. After a quick meal of sandwiches – which gave the baked cookies time to cool – the decorating began.

Snape watched with worry as the Dark Lord ate all gingerbread men he considered not beautiful enough, and boy did the man have standards! By the time dinner was served, he couldn't eat another bite.

Snape wolfed down a portion of stew. "I'm off to bed," he informed the apprentice. "I need to get some sleep before I'm called again."

The apprentice suggested to give the Dark Lord a vial of stomach ache potion now but it was clear that this would not satisfy the man's appetite for drama.

Once they were back in Snape's quarters, the blonde stopped the potions master. "What if they can't find you?" she asked.

"There is no place where I am safe from them." Snape slipped on his nightshirt.

The girl chuckled. She opened her handbag. "Hop in!" she invited.

Snape was taken aback. This could work! He didn't think anybody would think of looking for him in a handbag. He carefully inserted first his hand, then his arm and then his upper body into the handbag.

He gasped. The inconspicuous little handbag was quite spacy inside. On first sight there was a living room in the bag but when he pulled his legs inside and investigated further, he discovered that there was a house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a garden.

The potions master was just exploring the kitchen – which had a fully stocked muggle refrigerator only that it was fuelled by magic instead of electricity – when the blonde joined him.

"They said nothing about a house when I bought the bag," Snape said. "In hindsight it was extremely cheap."

The girl chuckled. "The house was not included. It had only an extension charm on it to be really big inside. I added my own spells and voila, a portable home. The library is not fully stocked yet, but we should be able to survive the night here undisturbed."

And they did.