On The First Day of Christmas...

Chapter 7 - On the First Day of Christmas...

Hermione woke early and went to the bathroom, taking a long, invigorating bath before dressing for the day ahead. She decided on a nicer pair of casual copper robes for the more special occasion that she was faced with. After dressing, she went to the dining room that had been decorated with holly and leaves, with mistletoe hanging at the entry and breakfast set out on the table.

'Happy Christmas, Professor!' she exclaimed cheerfully, sitting in her now usual seat with a breathtaking smile gracing her elegant features.

Snape nodded in her general direction indifferently, continuing his daily perusal of the Daily Prophet without so much as a "hello" or even a "don't interrupt me." She sighed sadly, but spooned her porridge and honey into her mouth neatly, consuming her breakfast quickly.

After twelve minutes of comfortable silence, he finally spoke as if he had not realized that she had even entered the room earlier. 'Ah, yes, Happy Christmas, Miss Granger,' he said boredly. 'I believe your gifts are beneath the tree in the study.'

Hermione beamed in delight, getting up from the table as the plates and trays cleared from view as she excused herself. Snape followed her, assuming that she would go directly to the study. He entered and found it void of all Hermione's presence and was most surprised when she appeared at his side, clasping something behind her back.

She handed it to him and settled in a comfortable armchair, drawing her wand and summoning the presents to rest at her feet in a neat little pile.

Each of them then spent a good portion of the morning opening the gifts they had received from their friends until they both only had one last gift, coincidentally the ones from each other.

Hermione looked up at him and he nodded at her, letting her know it was okay to open it then and there, before she began to peel back the wrapping paper, making sure not to rip it. She held a black box with silver patterns on it and lifted the top of it to reveal four books, hard-cover and neatly lined in something of a colour order.

The Literary Works of Jane Austen... she mused silently, eyes wide and gleaming, jaw slack and feeling utterly and totally bewildered. 'I... ummm... Professor, are these -' she began, stammering.

'Yes Miss Granger, it is exactly what it looks like,' he said, cutting her off with a smirk. 'I thought you might enjoy them. Have you read any of them?'

Hermione shook her head, closing her gaping mouth. 'No, Professor. And thank you, very much,' she replied with a dazzling smile. 'You should open your gift now,' she egged, reminding him that he had still not opened it.

Snape meticulously went through the same torturously slow process of preserving the wrapping paper, and carefully opened the box to reveal a beautiful pocket watch. It was silver, carved with runic expressions and the customary Slytherin serpents, suitable for the head of that house.

He opened the watch, and on the inside, on the watch face, it was just as exquisite as the outside, with old runic numbers and serpentine hands. 'Miss Granger, this is... well to say the very least, exquisite.'

Hermione stood up from her seat, beaming, and made her way over to him, plucking the watch out of his open palm, raising an eyebrow. 'May I?' she asked softly. He nodded, and she clasped the serpent pin and chain to the top of his pocket, slipping the watch piece inside of it.

'There,' she pronounced, almost to herself, patting the pocket gently and moving to withdraw her hand before, she was sure, he would swat it away. Instead, his hand came up and covered hers over his black clothed chest. 'Thank you, Miss Granger.'

Hermione felt the slight pressure his hand made on hers as it held her small hand to his chest. It was the first time she had realized that there was a lot of sexual tension buzzing in the air around them, sharp, like a strong and intoxicating spice. She quickly regained her senses and, pulling her hand away, fumbled her way back to her belongings, remembering that she should be miserable that she could not be with Harry and Ron.

Gathering everything into her arms, she turned back to Snape. 'Thank you again, Professor, but I should go to my room. I am sure that you have better things to be doing other than entertaining teenage girls on Christmas Day,' she mumbled.

She rushed from the room before Snape could reply. He stayed in his chair, wondering for a while exactly what it was that he had been feeling, and thinking, for that matter, that he had held her hand over the spot where his heart was supposed to be. When she had left, he felt just as he had every other year for the past twenty years for Christmas. Alone. And he remained like that for the remainder of the day.

Hermione, as he had freely taken to thinking of her recently, did not make a peep for the rest of the day. He finally decided that, after much careful deliberation, he would seek her out in order to find out exactly what the source of the tension was. Leaving his study he ventured up to her room and opened the door on a crying Hermione.

'Miss Granger, are you quite alright?' he asked in whispered tones.

She looked up with puffy eyes, a tear-stained face, flushed cheeks, and lips parted in a gaping expression. She then set to brushing the tears away with her palms and tried to quell more of them threatening to spill down her cheeks in a fresh wave of grief.

He walked forward and pressed a handkerchief into her hand and indicated that she should use it. She obeyed, sniffling. 'I'm so sorry, Professor. I must be making your Christmas terrible,' she cried hysterically.

Snape waved her off with a dismissive hand gesture and crouched on the ground next to her, facing her chair. 'I have had far worse and far lonelier Christmases. As far as they go, this may be the best I've had in a long time.'

It was true. As much as he had become used to his life of solitude, he had never really taken the time to realize just how lonely a life it was. Hermione had very much become a part of his life, or what miserable shreds of it that was left. He realized in that moment that it was not tension rooted in anger, but really, sexual tension.

'Thank you... for everything,' Hermione managed to sob out.

He took her shaking hands into his own steady ones. It surprised them both, especially when he gave them a brief squeeze of reassurance. 'Feel obliged to tell me anything that is on your mind while you are in this house,' he said softly, with no trace of his customary sarcasm.

'Thank you,' she repeated.

'You are most welcome, Hermione,' There, he had finally said it. Her given name slipped so naturally from his lips, so perfectly. It made him shudder momentarily.

As soon as he had said this, something in Hermione snapped, and she launched herself out of her seat at him, throwing her arms around his sturdy shoulders and hugging him fiercely, crying into his shoulder.

He stood to receive her better and held her around the waist, stroking up and down her back involuntarily with one hand. She didn't reject his touch and continued to sob like that for a solid hour. He started to feel her tears seep through his robes after a few minutes and began to wonder just how much pent-up emotion she had inside of her.

'Shhh...,' he found himself soothing.

'I'm s-sorry,' she murmured. 'I'm s-so sorry.'

Snape stopped her mumbling as he lifted her face to look him straight in the eye. 'Do not apologise, Hermione,' he whispered softly and paused, calculating his next move. 'Tell me what is wrong?'

Hermione shook her head. 'It's silly, really,' she said, looking down and blushing even redder than she was already.

'I won't laugh,' he reassured her.

'I miss Harry and Ron, and it's been so long since we've even been away from each other, and I just get so worried about them...'

He chuckled then and tipped her face back to look him in the eye. 'It's not silly to care about one's friends, no matter how undeserving of your care they are,' he said gently.

Hermione ignored the part about Harry and Ron being "undeserving" and smiled a little before burying her head in his robes again, murmuring a 'thank you.'

They stood like this for a while longer, both enjoying it so much more than they should.