Christmas Morning

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

The return to Hogwarts was like a dream. Viktor again held her in his lap, and Hermione was more aware than ever of the way he moved as they flew. Yet, there was something almost chaste about it as well. He walked her to her rooms and then wished her goodnight. Then he turned and went down the hallway.

"Wait!" she said.

"Vhat is it?" he asked.

"I thought...we just...well, goodnight to you, too."

"All nights are good vhen you and I are in same castle."

She went into her lounge and sat down, absently petting an outraged Crookshanks. He was never happy when she went anywhere without him. He wasn't entirely happy with her now, either, but she couldn't help it. If he wasn't going to say a word, or kiss her again, what was he doing at her house? Was it just the mistletoe? But his farewell... that was pure romance. Perhaps he just wanted to take things slowly.

* * * * *

She found herself watching his lips. They were strong, a man's lips, full enough for soft kisses, but not pouty. She had the chance to watch him when his mouth was in repose while they graded essays together. He never quite frowned. He looked as though he was eager to be pleased by what the students said. When he lifted his head with a smile to tell her what a particularly bright student had written, she got a glimpse of nice teeth. Teeth were very important to her; she couldn't help it. One doesn't grow up as the child of dentists without absorbing some of the family business.

When they were at meals, she watched him eat. She quickly knew what he enjoyed and what he didn't care for by the way his lips either seemed to embrace his fork or twist. She wondered which he was doing as he kissed her. She tried to recall, but she couldn't quite. It was in talking to him that she became quite smitten. He smiled so readily when she corrected a bit of his speech, and sometimes, he overpronounced a word in order to practice how the shape of his mouth affected it. She almost fainted one afternoon when he was working on the "oh" sound in "Alohomora."

Viktor never said a word about the two kisses they had shared, and Hermione was too shy and embarassed to start that conversation. As a result, she could only stare at his lips and recall that day with a wildly beating heart. Then his eyes would lift to hers and she would have to blush and look away.

Christmas Day came, and they both were visited by owls during breakfast. Viktor received items such as warm hats and gloves from his family in Europe. Hermione received similar gifts from Molly and the Potters. Then she turned to a paper-wrapped box. From what I hear, you may have a use for this, said the card that came with it, in cramped but neat writing.

"It's from my father," she said with just a twinge of misgiving. "I wonder whatever he could mean."

"Doctor Granger?" asked Viktor.

"Oh, no, they don't go by Granger any more," said Hermione sadly. "Before Bill and Fleur got married, I changed their memories. They believed themselves to be Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and they moved to Australia. When I went to restore their memories after the war, they weren't interested in coming to England. They had adopted a brother and sister who were both Muggles. They said it was better to just keep their Australian family and leave it at that."

"Then it is from Doctor Wilkins?"

"No, I discovered when I modified their memories that I was adopted, too."

"So this box..."

"It's from my birth father."

Viktor's eyes became intense and sad, and he shifted his chair closer to hers. "You haff magical parents, then?"

"Yes, both my parents were magical, although my mother was Muggle-born. That's why she put me up for Muggle adoption. She thought it was safer for me that way."

"Are you close?"

"My mum died a couple of years after I was born. My dad... well, he's complicated. I never know what he's going to do or say. I have a half-brother. We're very close, but holidays have been awkward since Ron died."

"Only one way to find out about Christmas gift."

"I suppose." Hermione opened the box. The first thing she noticed was a lovely quill. "Oh, how beautiful!"

"He knows you well to chose such a gift."

"He was one of the professors here for years... whatever could be in this jar?"

Hermione took it out and read the label: Permanent Ink. She stared at it without understanding for a moment. Then she remembered and put it back in the box quickly. "Oh!"

"Vhat does it mean?"

She was lost in the story and didn't notice his lapse. "He made this from the ink of the squid in the lake. When the ink dries, it disappears, but it never goes away. When someone says a spell, it shows up again. It's particularly good on skin."

"He used this ink on someone's skin?"

"Several times, on people who had bullied him as a student, and one other time, on my mother."

"On your mother? He did not love her?"

"It was a prank on the bullies, actually. He was mad for her, but she married one of them. Somehow, she spent the night I was conceived with my father first. During that night, he wrote 'Property of Severus Snape' on the inside of her thigh."

"Severus Snape?" Viktor looked intently at her.

Hermione nodded, her heart sinking. Why did he have to butt in now? "He's my father."

"And he believes that this ink will now be used in similar way?"

Viktor looked angry. She could do nothing but shrug.

"Where is this person?"

"He...he went home with a witch after a wedding and has barely left her cottage since."

"This is how he lives? Seducing vitches?"

"It wasn't like that. He really loved my mother in his teenaged way, and he and his wife can't keep their hands off each other, now."

"It is not love that marks a person in such a vay."

When she had first heard the story, Hermione had thought it was a funny prank. Now, through Viktor's eyes, it seemed shameful and mean. "What must you think of me and my world?" Her sinking feeling intensified.

"Come," he said.

She followed him silently to his office, where he Summoned a large book, Flight Paths of Britain, and pointed to a map near the front of the book. "Show me vhere cottage is."

Hermione pointed, and he spent several minutes flipping back and forth through the pages. He made a note or two on a piece of parchment, and then stood. "Come, we go."

After wrapping her in a warm cloak, he swirled another around himself. Then he took her elbow, gently but firmly, and reached for his broom. As before, once outside, he checked his broom thoroughly. After straddling it, he settled her on his lap and took off.

Hermione realized that he meant to visit Snape. "We can't be going there!"

"I haff things to say."

Hermione was struck with new dread. Her father was not the easiest person to get along with. Even though she was his daughter, she always felt as though she was on trial. It was one thing to sail through his Potions classes, where study and hard work would win his approval. Life, however, was difficult. Somehow she always felt as though he were watching her and silently grading her.

Now this wizard wanted to say something to Snape, and it terrified her. Would there be a wizard's duel? Would Snape sneer and tell her that her life merited no more than Troll? She knew that he never quite liked her marriage to Ron. What would he say to her bringing Viktor to his cottage?

"I'm not sure about this. We don't even know if they're home."

"Yu say that they never leave cottage."

"We won't be welcome."

"What sort of man does not welcome his own daughter?"

Now she felt some sort of need to defend Snape, and it silenced her completely. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that Viktor was about to find out exactly what sort of man Snape was. She would never be able to face Viktor again. She spent the rest of ride wondering whether she should quit her job at Hogwarts and what she would do in that case. She couldn't go home; Luna wouldn't let her into the tent. Andromeda's cottage would be out after whatever fiasco played out this afternoon. Perhaps Harry and Ginny would help her. They were family, after all.

She could feel the tension in his body and the anger that lay beneath the surface. She was frightened, yet somehow she had no fear that this man would somehow hurt her. Whatever happened, Viktor would always look after her person. In less time than she expected, the broom was descending into her step-mother's front garden. Viktor carefully set the broom up by the front door and then knocked.

Severus himself opened the door. "Ah, my eldest daughter graces our family on this lovely Holiday."

Hermione felt her eyes roll. She never knew how to respond to him. Was he teasing her, or sincere? With a pang, she realized that she wished he was sincere. For some reason, this wizard's approval and good feeling...she dare not wish for love...were important to her.

"I haff things to say," said Viktor, staring firmly into the older wizard's face. He pulled out the package Hermione had received that morning.

"I see you received my gift," said Severus. "Very well, let's go to my study."

A/N: Thank you very much to Blue Artemis for beta reading and giving advice.

If you like this pairing and haven't already read Kyria of Delphi's work, do so now and send her a review.