Christmas Eve

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o 49 o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas Eve

Mispy scurried around the room, busily packing up Severus' things into a wizard traveling case while Hermione stared at her clothes to decide what she should take with her. She only needed to pack enough for two nights, and possibly three days, but those two nights included Christmas parties: Harry's and the Malfoys', and dinner with Mr. Prince. Hermione stood silently and stared at the clothes laid out on the bed. Christmas morning at Harry's would be casual – she could wear the jeans and her Weasley jumper she'd already pulled out, or her red blouse... The royal purple taffeta dress robes Narcissa wanted her to wear to the Malfoy's Christmas Ball lay on the bed along with her lovely creamy topaz robes for dinner with Mr. Prince. She picked up her beaded purse in her hand and fingered the worn-out, once beautiful bag with a heavy sigh, regretting that she'd never taken the time to repair it. Not that any amount of repairing would actually restore it properly, too many of the beads were gone and threads stuck up everywhere. She dropped the purse on the bed.

She turned to look at her clothes hanging in the open wardrobe and pulled out her simple, black button-front robe and soft leather boots just in case. She was trying to decide what to wear to Mr. Prince's house, unsure how dressy she wanted to be. It was his first Christmas in years – he'd told her so – and she wanted to look nice for his sake. She was contemplating the golden copper robes or her Mediterranean green ones. Her dressy robes, the one whose color changed from blue to green as she moved, was a bit indecent; the neckline was a bit too low for the occasion, and he'd already seen her in her topaz robes, and neither the rust nor the garnet-colored ones were dressy enough.

She sighed as she fingered the sleeve of the black velvet robes Severus had bought for her. She loved the open cutwork across the neckline and on the sleeves, and the robes had made her feel so sexy in the store, but Mrs. Malfoy had been specific in her letter that she had to wear certain robes to each function. It's not that she was ignorant to the importance of following certain traditions if she was going to be a debutant, and she'd dreamed about being a debutant for a season as a little girl, but she really wanted to wear the black velvet robes to at least one of the parties.

"Miss is taking this?" Mispy asked, holding the beaded bag in her hands.

"Yes. No... It's seen better days, I'm afraid," Hermione replied, putting the golden copper robes on the bed. "But I haven't an overnight bag, so it will have to do."

The house-elf frowned at the bag. "It needs cleaning," she said and disappeared with the bag.

Hermione laughed. It needed much more than cleaning.

Severus walked out of the bathroom as she pulled out her caramel sweater and taupe pants. "Moving out or packing?" he asked when she'd pulled out her favorite black jeans and set them on the bed. "How much are you going to take?"

Frowning, she turned to face him, taken aback by the fact he wore only a towel loosely wrapped around his hips, and he was still wet. "It's not like we're only going away for the weekend – we've parties to attend – it's Christmas... Why are you still wet?"

He smirked at her and said, "Water is wet," as he pulled his wand out from under the edge of the towel, making the towel fall to the floor. Hermione could only stare at him as he cast a quick drying charm on himself and then opened his side of the wardrobe.

She averted her gaze quickly. "It might be nice if you wore something with color for a change," she said to hide her embarrassment at his nudity, wincing at the nervousness in her voice, and forcefully focused her attention on her clothes – except she could see him quite clearly in the open wardrobe mirrors... Both of them... The mirror on the door of his side of the wardrobe reflected in hers, creating infinite images of...

"How about midnight black?" he asked, facing her. He crossed his arms and watched her with an amused smirk on his face. Now, not only was she faced with a full frontal view of his... everything, she could see both his front and his back clearly reflected infinitely in the mirrors.

"So no then," she said with a frown as she stepped closer to the wardrobe and contemplated her... shoes. It wasn't as if she wasn't getting used to seeing him naked, but she felt awkward with him walking around so casually, his cock bobbing... She watched him slyly in the mirror as he pulled up his pants and donned his shirt, his fingers moving so quickly down his buttons it seemed as if he did them by magic. She shook her head and returned to the problem of what to pack.

"Bring the black getup," he said silkily from behind her.

Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin. "Black get up?" she managed to choke out and blushed.

He engulfed her in his arms and kissed the side of her head. "Yes, I wouldn't mind seeing that again," he purred and kissed her cheek. "Besides, it would work well under the purple robes," he added casually as he let go. "I'll be in my office. We should leave about half past one or so."

Hermione nodded. "Okay," she replied and smiled. That gave her plenty of time to see Professor McGonagall, wrap her presents and still have time to work on her Charms homework.

*

When Hermione returned from the library to change, she saw her beaded bag on the bed. She picked it up, amazed. Mispy not only cleaned her bag but had repaired it with abalone buttons of various sizes that the elf had arranged so that they resembled flowers and leaves, and she'd filled in the random bare spaces with pretty mother of pearl ones. The deep blues, greens, and purples in the abalone and the iridescent white of the mother of pearl really added to the simple design of the bag. Hermione fingered the buttons with a sense of wonder at the elf's kindness. The work was so carefully done it made her eyes well up with tears.

She opened the bag, not at all surprised to find everything she'd need, even her toiletries and cosmetics bag, placed neatly inside.

Hermione quickly dressed in her golden copper robes and pulled out her camel opera coat. She was putting on her best shoes when Severus appeared in the doorway. "Ready?" he asked.

"Almost," she replied as she dug into her trunk and pulled out two small gifts, guest soaps wrapped in handkerchiefs and tied with ribbons she'd bought for Kirch and Mispy, and placed them on the bed, hoping the elves would find them. She turned and retrieved the gifts for Mr. Prince and his two house-elves from her trunk. Severus looked at them, then at her and raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, so she didn't offer any explanations as she slipped them into her bag. "Okay, I'm ready," she said, clutching her purse.

He reached down to pick up her bag sitting next to her trunk.

"I, er, don't think I'll need my school books," she stammered, her brow furrowed.

Severus' brow furrowed, apparently not understanding her, so she added quickly, "With everything we have planned, I won't need them until after Boxing Day."

"Then where are all of your clothes? Your shoes – your toiletries? You aren't taking your trunk are you?" he asked, setting her bag down.

Hermione smiled and held her beaded bag up for him to see. "Nope, just this."

"It all fit in there? Everything you had on the bed?" he asked, his eyebrow cocked in bewilderment.

"Non-detectable extensions charms on the purse and the inside pouch," she said proudly. "I used it last year when Harry, Ron and I went into hiding. It holds a ton."

He nodded. "Impressive. Shall we?" he asked, indicating the door.

She cast protection charms on her shoes once they exited the Entrance Hall, since the stairs were coated with a thick layer of snow. Smirking, Severus offered his arm and led the way to the waiting carriage. Hagrid, who was chopping wood outside of his cottage, stopped to wave to Hermione as the carriage rolled past.

As soon as they stepped out of the carriage outside the school gates, Severus Apparated them to the gate of the old stone house in Yorkshire. Hermione took his proffered arm and walked with him up the path through the overgrown lawn. Even under the blanket of snow, she could tell that the tangle of various magical plants, flowers and herbs had been severely pruned, which only emphasized the neglected state of the now frozen pond. However, the snow that filled the tiers of the water fountain and the ice cycles that lined the rims made it look rather pretty, like a wedding cake. Hermione smiled, trying to imagine what the front garden might have looked like when it had been properly cared for. "Who was the one who loved gardening?" she asked.

"According to my mother, my grandmother Deidre enjoyed gardening, but tending to the front garden was always my great-grandmother's pastime. I remember how fussy she was about her peonies," Severus stated as they approached the door. "That and her cashmere goats."

Hermione was shocked. "Goats?" She'd assumed that the Princes lived a life of leisure like the Malfoys did.

One side of his mouth twitched and an eyebrow quirked as he repeated, "Goats." He rapped on the door.

Pepper opened the door and clasped her hands together. "Pepper is so glads that you comes!" she said and opened the door wider to let them in. Hermione had to stifle a laugh at the petite house-elf. She had a wide, bright green ribbon wrapped around her chest over her Christmas tea towel, and she wore a bell suspended on some silver garland around her neck. On her head was a Santa hat decorated with several tree ornaments in the point, and she'd placed sprigs of holly with bright red berries on the side by her ear. "Master is waiting in Mistress Delphinia's parlor."

Hermione looked around. Mr. Prince had written that Pepper would decorate, and the elf had certainly outdone herself; the banister of the stairs was decorated with so many garlands, evergreens and holly that she could barely see the railings. Every doorway had heavy bunches of the same greenery and garlands, and every candle had a wreath of holly berries entwined with ribbons tied in bows.

Severus handed Pepper his cloak. When the elf turned, Hermione smiled at the huge bow neatly tied on Pepper's back. Hermione pulled her small clutch out of her pocket before Severus helped her with her coat, and he smirked at her as he gave Pepper the coat.

Pepper snapped her fingers and disappeared, returning in the blink of an eye. "My master is this ways," the elf said and ran into the room on their left.

"Thank you," she said when Severus casually ended the spells on Hermione's shoes. He only nodded in reply.

They followed Pepper into the parlor, and Hermione couldn't help the sharp inhalation of surprise at the sight of the parlor. It was gorgeous: a huge tree stood to the side of the room, covered in vintage glass ornaments and fancy baubles, shiny glass bead garlands, and hundreds of tiny magical candles. The crystals on the Bobeches on the silver candelabras in the room sparkled like diamonds, and festively embroidered decorative pillows were placed on every chair. The smell of pine, cinnamon, orange oil, and spices filled the air.

Mr. Prince sat on a chair facing the doorway with a green throw covering his legs. "Well, stop gawking and come in," he said, sitting his teacup on the small table at his side with a clink.

Severus and Hermione both crossed the room. "Hello, Mr. Prince, it's so nice to see you again," Hermione said politely.

"Yeah, yeah, sit," he said, indicating the sofa facing him. "Don't make me crane my neck to look at you." Severus followed Hermione and waited until she sat before sitting next to her.

"Well, at least Eileen taught you manners," Mr. Prince said.

"She tried," Severus intoned. "Being in Slytherin helped."

"Yes, they always were a stuffy lot," Mr. Prince said.

Pepper walked in carrying a tray with a lovely antique tea service and looked up expectantly. "Milk and a small amount of sugar for me; Severus prefers milk only," Hermione stated, then accepted the cup Pepper handed her. Hermione looked up at Mr. Prince. "You're looking much better."

"Yes, well, now that no one is trying to kill me, and I have decent potions, of course I'm improving," Mr. Prince said, then turned to Severus. "I understand that I have you to thank for my recovery."

"It was the least I could do," Severus stated, setting his cup on his saucer.

"So, are you still sending me potions?" the old man asked, and Severus nodded.

"Yes."

Pepper came in carrying a tray of tiny, bite sized sandwiches and sliced fruits that she set down on the coffee table between them. "Crazy elf is trying to stuff me," Mr. Prince grumbled as Pepper handed him a plate with a selection of the sandwiches.

"I'm sure she means well," Hermione said as she examined the tray. She was surprised by the selection: there were cucumber, egg, cheese and watercress, chutney and cheese, fish paste, ham, and smoked salmon and even thinly sliced beef on wafer-thin bread. She could get her fill on the sandwiches alone.

"Has your appetite improved?" Severus inquired.

Pepper shook her head as Mr. Prince replied, "Yes, it's improved. But I don't need to eat five to six times a day."

A long silence ensued.

"Your house looks nice," Hermione stated, turning to look at the new windows. "The new windows are lovely."

"They should be; they cost a fortune," Mr. Prince said. "So, are either of you going to tell me what in the blazing horntails happened here?"

Hermione nearly choked on her tea. "You mean no one told you?"

"The Aurors told me that I was being poisoned by my Healer, and my Grandson and that no good Osgood spawn tried to kill me," Mr. Prince stated. "Apparently, my great-grandson, who I haven't seen since he was seventeen, decided to intervene on my behalf and corrupted my house-elf into helping him."

Hermione nodded. Apparently he knew quite a bit. She hid her smirk behind her teacup when he added, "I had to threaten clothes to get her to talk," indicating Pepper, who looked guiltily at her master. "And even then she was beating herself silly with a slipper instead of the frying pan they used to use. So out with it, girl, tell me everything."

She told him about her research into the Osgoods and her discovery of Miss Priswell's true identity. Severus casually explained what he knew of Charles Prince's and John Osgood's plot. Mr. Prince merely grunted. "When Pepper came that morning to warn Severus, he was not in his office. Dumbledore's portrait said he'd gone to the Ministry, so, my friend Ginny went to get Severus and the Aurors, and I came here to try and stave them off until help arrived," Hermione said. "I'm really sorry about the house."

Mr. Prince was thoughtful for a while, and Hermione sipped her tea, watching him. "I suppose I should thank you," he finally said and turned to Severus. "So, why the interest after all these years?" He popped a sandwich into his mouth and waited, staring at Severus expectantly.

"Nostalgia," Severus stated nonchalantly as he set his cup and saucer down, and Mr. Prince huffed. Hermione looked at Severus expectantly, and he sighed. She reached out and touched his arm, and he clasped her hand in his. "I find myself Bonded to a witch who is constantly asking me about my past and my family, so I decided to visit." His fingers tightened around hers before he let go. "When I first met Miss Priswell, I was unimpressed, to say the least, and became concerned when I checked your potions. So yes, I made an arrangement with your house-elf to exchange your potions, and I've been brewing them for you ever since."

"Humph, and now I don't have a Healer," Mr. Prince stated with a scowl.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Severus asked, and Mr. Prince looked up at him. "Panderosa Alden, she was my student twelve years ago and resigned from her position at St. Mungo's about a year and a half ago to care for a terminally ill parent. She is competent and, from what I gather, I believe she is available."

"Have her come here so I can meet her. I don't want some young whippersnapper thinking she can run my house," Mr. Prince stated, then looked pointedly at Hermione. "So what's your interest in me, young lady? Where is your family?"

She covered her mouth as she swallowed. My family. "I'm an only child; my parents are in Australia. They moved there before the war," she said, not wanting to go into details. She wasn't ready to introduce Severus to her Grandmother Merle or her Aunt Julianne, even if Hermione could revive her Aunt Julianne's memories.

One her father's side, Hermione had her Uncle Christian, Aunt Maureen and two cousins who had moved to Italy the same time she had her parents go to Australia, and her Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Marciel and cousin, Jean-Alexandre, lived in France. Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Marciel were affable enough, however they were wary of her due to her previous adolescent magical outbursts. But then her cousin, Jean-Alexandre, and his friend, Jacques Turgot, were snobby prats and bullies. Hermione had accidently made her Cousin Jean-Alexandre and Jacques blue one summer. Of course that was over seven years ago, and someone from the Ministry had finally put Jean-Alexandre and Jacques right again, but Aunt Louise hadn't forgiven her yet. "My best friend is Harry Potter, he's like a brother to me, and the Weasley's, of course, they're like my adopted family..."

"So you chose to spend Christmas Eve here, with me, instead of these Weasley's?" Mr. Prince asked.

"Hermione thought we should divide the day between you and her friends," Severus stated and sipped his tea.

"Humph," Mr. Prince merely grunted, picking up his tea by the saucer and popping one of the sandwiches Pepper had placed on his saucer in his mouth.

"I got this from us," Hermione announced, opening her beaded bag. She handed Mr. Prince his present.

He stared at it. Pepper took his cup and saucer, and Hermione placed the gift in his hands. Mr. Prince slowly untied the plaid ribbon before he ripped off the paper and opened the box. "A quaiche," he said, holding up the cup.

"A Scottish friendship cup," Hermione said, smiling as he examined the engraving on the cup.

"I know what they are," he said, letting the wrapping roll off his lap as he held the cup with both hands. "Thank you."

Severus pulled out a small wrapped bundle from his pocket. "And this has a more practical use," he said as he held it out to the older wizard.

Mr. Prince set his quaiche next to his tea cup and took the gift, his fingers shaking slightly as he unwrapped it. "It's a... pocket watch for your wrist?" he asked curiously, stretching the watchband.

"It's a foe glass you can wear on your wrist. Yes it tells the time, but if anyone should mean to cause you harm, they will appear in the crystal," Severus explained. "The band should be flexible enough to be comfortable on your wrist, and it will magically adjust without pinching your arm hairs."

Hermione was impressed. As Mr. Prince stared at his new watch, Hermione took out the two smaller presents, extending one out to Pepper. "This is for you."

"What is this?" the small elf asked, afraid to take the gift.

"Just a little something," Hermione replied, then added quickly, "It's not clothing of any kind, I promise." Pepper took the gift, holding it like it might explode. "I have one for Dustin as well."

There was a loud crack, and Hermione saw a very old house-elf, seemingly much older than even Kreacher, hobble closer to them, leaning heavily on a little cane. "Miss calls Dustin?" Unlike Pepper, Dustin's only adornment was his Christmas tea towel, which he'd wrapped around his thin hips like a kilt and held in place with a piece of red rope.

Hermione knelt in front of the old elf and offered him his small gift. "I have a gift..."

"Why?" he croaked, eyeing the present warily.

She smiled and extended her hand with the gift toward him. "For cooking..."

"Dustin does cooking. Dustin does not need presents for cooking," he snarled and Disapparated with a snap of his fingers, however when the elf disappeared, the gift was gone as well.

"You'll spoil my house-elves," Mr. Prince grumbled.

"Hermione has a thing about house-elf enslavement," Severus stated, his pose and tone casual, but Hermione knew he was laughing at her even though his face remained expressionless. "She doesn't understand the symbiotic relationship."

"What's to understand? They like to cook and clean, and I let them," Mr. Prince stated. "So, since I knew that you'd want to do this, even though I specifically told you not to, I have gifts for you. Pepper." Pepper appeared by his chair. "I want the red one." Pepper ran to the tree and came back, holding a present in red paper. Small bits of holly and a bright bauble decorated the bow.

Hermione unwrapped the gift and found herself holding a red velvet jewelry box. She opened it with a feeling of apprehension, wondering why the old wizard would give her jewelry. Inside laid a simple but elegant necklace and a bracelet of deep red garnets, with a matching pair of earrings. The large oval stones that linked together in a chain were all the same size and beautifully matched; the necklace had seven garnets set in a flower-like cluster in the center, and the earrings had two dangling, pear-shaped drops. "I-I can't accept these! They are much too expensive," she said breathlessly. They were gorgeous, obviously old, and she loved them, but knew she couldn't accept.

"Hogwash," Mr. Prince snapped, and Hermione looked up at him in shock. "They were Deidre's. Edgar wouldn't let her give them to Eileen. Since you're now family..." He turned his attention to Severus. "You are going to marry the witch, aren't you?"

Severus shrugged. "Eventually," he said, and Hermione turned to him open-mouthed as he added, "When she finishes school."

"End of June then," Mr. Prince asked with a smile. "'Bout time, too. Doin' it right. It's not necessary, waiting all this time, but then young witches like long adjustment periods, don't they?" He looked at Hermione. "You're my daughter-in-law – well, great-granddaughter-in-law now, and I haven't any other family left, so you'll wear them. Besides, they're just lying around." He called out for Pepper. "Where's the other one?"

Pepper handed Hermione a huge box, decorated like her first one. Hermione opened the box, her eyes going wide at the fur trimmed cloak lying inside. "I hope it fits," Mr. Prince stated as Hermione slid the fur between her fingers and smiled at the black satin lining.

She ran her hands on the fine mohair in awe of the expensive – second expensive gift. Why he was being so extravagant on her she had no idea, considering he had accepted their visit with reluctance in his letters. She decided to simply say, "Thank you, it's beautiful."

Mr. Prince told Pepper to get the other one, but the small elf made a soft nervous laugh before going to the tree. Pepper returned and handed Severus what looked like several books wrapped individually and tied together with a ribbon, ignoring Mr. Prince's questioning scowl.

Hermione watched Severus as he untied the ribbon binding them together, and unwrapped the first well-worn book. His face was inexpressive as he read the title page. He set the book gently on the table and opened the next one, examining the slightly worn binding and index of the second book. Then she saw it, the teeniest flicker of... longing – remembrance... But then it was gone, hidden behind his controlled blank mask. She waited until he opened the third old book to watch his eyes again, and even though his face remained impassive, there was that flicker of recognition – a teeny twitch of his lips.

"Delphinia used to read them to your mom – I think Eileen read them to you when you were here," Mr. Prince said. "Give him the box." Pepper levitated a huge box over to Severus. "Here," Mr. Prince said with a wave of his hand. "I thought you'd like these."

Severus opened his box and pulled out one of the books, and Hermione smiled at the flicker of surprise that was quickly concealed. "They are old, first editions, I think," Mr. Prince said, watching Severus as he examined the first layer of books. "Been collecting dust – some were Edgar's – some were your mother's, a few are older than me... Might as well take them now as you'd have gotten them eventually anyway."

"Thank you," Severus said softly, but she heard the slight emotional inflection in his voice. He put the children's books on the collection of old books and sat back, resuming his casual pose and inscrutable expression.

Dustin hobbled in and said, "Dinner is ready, master," and hobbled out.

Pepper scooted over to Mr. Prince's chair, handing him his cane as Mr. Prince rose unsteadily to his feet. Hermione wanted to go to him and offer her arm, but Severus held onto her elbow. Mr. Prince led the way, but it was quite obvious that Pepper was utilizing some sort of magic to aid him and to keep her master upright. Hermione and Severus followed them into the next room.

The dining room was lovely. The dark Hepplewhite table had been polished to a high shine, and a centerpiece of holly, fir and ivy wrapped in ribbons and decorated with Christmas wizard crackers stretched out on the table between the three large, gleaming silver candelabras. The crystals dangling on the Bobeches on every candle matched the elegant candelabra hanging from the ceiling. A huge Persian rug, mostly in greens, covered most of the floor, and dark green taffeta drapes contrasted against butter cream walls. Hermione smiled at the three places set with antique fine English bone china, gleaming silver flatware and sparkling crystal glassware at the end of the table. Christmas wizard crackers sat on each plate, and one was tied to each of the napkins.

As soon as Mr. Prince settled into the place of honor, serving dishes of roast turkey with nutty stuffing and bread sauce, little chipolatas, glazed duck and walnuts, prime rib with madeira sauce, venison with port, winter greens and Savoy, roasted potatoes with carrots, onions, and Jerusalem artichokes in rosemary, brussels sprouts with shallots and mustard seeds, green beans with cranberries, almonds, and parsley, cranberry sauce, tiny sausages wrapped in bacon, parsnips and swede filled the table between them.

Mr. Prince picked up both of his crackers with a 'Harrumph.' He turned to Hermione. "Well, give it a tug, girl, so we can dispense with these," he said, holding one end of his cracker firmly. Hermione grinned and tugged, smiling at the bottle of cognac that landed gently on the table next to him and the shiny crown. The second gave him a tartan Tam o' Shanter and what looked like a hefty Nebula Plasma Ball.

Hermione held out one of hers. "Will you share the honors with me?" she asked. He pulled the end, and she gasped at the lovely pearl and diamond tiara and a silver hand mirror that floated over to her.

"Those rascals, I told them to wrap it," he grumbled.

"Pardon me?" Hermione asked, examining the exquisite tiara.

"Open the other one," he said, pointing to the ones by her plate.

Hermione opened it to see a pearl necklace and a pair of diamond and pearl earrings come out with a black, asymmetrical boater hat with a large red peony and black feathers on the side. "But these – I can't accept these!" she stammered as she examined the jewelry. She looked up at Severus, but he was simply watching with veiled interest.

"That was – the jewelry – they were Delphinia's, my wife's, when she was still a Pepperell," Mr. Prince stated. "She wore them on her coming out, and so did Eileen."

Hermione was deeply touched. "I'll wear them proudly," she replied, setting them on the table.

Pepper appeared and picked up her gifts, whispering, "I'll places them in your bag, Miss," and disappeared.

Hermione looked at Severus expectantly and smiled. He sighed heavily and broke his crackers open. The first held a black top hat with a huge red bow and sparkling tinsel, which he flat out refused to wear, and a bronze and bone letter opener. Two more crackers floated onto his plate, and he scowled. Severus pointed at them and made a flick of his finger. The crackers popped open with loud bangs: one sending a dark green classic Derby style with a brightly colored, graphic interior lining and a small desktop foe-glass on a brass stand flying up in the air; the other produced a dusty, green-blue color Glengarry hat with a red toorie on top with black and with dicing and a family crest badge on the left-hand side and a pair of matching green leather gloves. They all froze midair and landed gently next to his plate.

Hermione saw Pepper's hat and her ear tips appear beside Severus and then disappear after he handed her his gifts.

"Great, now that's done, let's eat," Mr. Prince said, and their plates magically exchanged with ones heaped with servings of each delicious dish, including a Yorkshire pudding and petite sweet breads.

They ate a leisurely Christmas dinner. Mr. Prince wasn't much of a conversationalist at dinner, mostly asking Hermione questions about her classes and teachers. Apparently he knew Professors McGonagall and Sprout personally.

By the time the glazed pears cooked in wine and vanilla, Amaretto trifle and plum pudding was served, Mr. Prince was speaking slower, slouching slightly in his chair, and his eyes were drooping. She and Severus made their excuses and bid him a Happy Christmas. Pepper met them at the doorway to the parlor with Severus' cloak and new gloves and Hermione's coat and beaded bag. "Pepper puts your cloak and jewelry in your bag, miss, and Pepper will takes books and cracker gifts to the castle, sir, if you likes."

"Thank you, Pepper," Severus said, and Hermione added, "For everything."

Pepper laughed nervously and disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

~S~

Severus held his arm for Hermione to Apparate them to Grimmauld Place, forcing himself to concentrate on the destination instead of the revelation Pepper had reminded him of – the one his grandfather had unknowingly, or deliberately, made. The children's books.

They arrived on the pavement, and uncharacteristically, he had to steady himself. Hermione murmured her apology, which he pointedly ignored, as they walked down the pavement.

His mind now took advantage of his moment of relaxation. Those stories. My mother read them to me when I'd been at that house? When? Severus couldn't remember any other time they'd spent at the house other than the two times his mother had tried to beg her father for money. But the stories were familiar; his mother had read them to him during their picnics on the hillside overlooking the small village of Havenhold. The place where he'd buried her. He had thought she'd written them, since she'd read them from an old journal he'd had.

"Severus, are you all right?"

He shook himself out of his reverie. "Yes, I'm fine," he said as he looked up at the house. The Black house – Grimmauld Place. Harry Potter's house. He inhaled deeply. I agreed to this.

The front of the house had obviously been renovated. Although snow covered the grass out front, the slender patches of earth along the front of the house now had carefully tended rosemary topiaries and jasmine enclosed behind wrought iron fencing. All the old ornate black ironwork looked freshly painted, and the old brick façade had been painted to match the color of the other houses on the street. The most notable change being the now red door with a new knocker: a brass phoenix with a huge ring in its claws that hung in the center of the door; the original snake knocker was stuck firmly to the wall next to the doorway, apparently simply a decoration now. Under it was a plaque which read:

The Phoenix House

The old Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

This house served as headquarters for the ...

Severus was distracted from reading the rest as Hermione mumbled something, then tapped the knocker once, and the door opened to admit her.

Inside the entry, Severus noticed, besides the new fabric covering the walls and fresh paint, there was a huge painting depicting all the members of the Order of the Phoenix where Mrs. Black had once hung. In the background of the painting, behind the collected members, was a depiction of another portrait, showing the original members of the Order of the Phoenix. They were all there, even Lily, Caradoc Dearborn, Clarinda Havenworth and Emmeline Vance, their smiles sent a knife through his heart. He'd betrayed each one, 'necessary sacrifices' Dumbledore had said, 'for the greater good.' Severus was portrayed as a thirty-eight-year-old adult in the painting beside Dumbledore as well as himself at twenty, young and stupid, in the background painting. No, he wouldn't reminisce about what had happened; he had too much to look forward to. He turned his head, saw Hermione's sympathetic smile, and shook his head.

She nodded in understanding.

"May Kreacher takes your cloak and coat, miss, mister."

Severus looked down and was startled. The ugly old house-elf looked transformed. He wore a clean, red pillowcase over his body, one side held by a knot and the other with a sword-shaped kilt pin with a bit of holy tucked underneath. A shinny gold locket hung about his scrawny neck, and he wore a Santa hat perched on his head.

"Master is in the drawing room," Kreacher stated and then disappeared with Severus' cloak and Hermione's coat.

Severus looked up and saw that the house-elf heads had been removed, and in their place were a number of framed photographs. He felt a stab of regret at the two pictures of Lily and Potter, and sneered slightly at the one of the Marauders (as they liked to call themselves) and the picture of Harry and Black.

When he and Hermione stepped into the drawing room, he was astounded again by the transformation. Behind the huge Christmas tree hung new dark green drapes. The fabric on the walls had been replaced with a cream silk with thin, intricately woven flowering vines and all the wainscoting and boarders were an off white. The new Persian rug on the floor was beige with green and black accents – definitely much homier than he'd remembered the room. The years of built-up grime on the marble mantelpiece were gone, and the fireplace looked well tended. Above it hung a huge gilded mirror, but the silver snake candelabras on either side he'd remembered from before had been replaced with delicate gold oak branches. A sparkling chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling, the ceiling now painted in variegated shades of green... Potter had certainly spent a lot of his inheritance refurbishing the house.

"Severus, Happy Christmas," Ginevra said, holding out a mug for him to take.

"And to you, Ginevra," he said politely as he accepted the drink, nodding to Harry as he approached.

"Hello, Severus, welcome," the boy said, smiling – actually smiling at him.

"Thank you," Severus said and took a sip from the mug. It was hot spiced rum, well blended so that the flavors enhanced each other rather than fought for dominance. Hermione watched him expectantly from over the rim of her own mug.

"Well, do you want the tour?" Harry asked.

He nodded to the boy – no – young man.

"You've seen the entry."

"Yes," he said with a smirk. Severus followed Harry through the house as he pointed out the various rooms. The dining room was now mostly red. The sitting room the girls had used as a bedroom had been returned to its original function, now pale salmon with russet and gold touches. Every bedroom was freshly painted with new curtains, and throughout the house all the old furniture had been reupholstered. The hardwood floors gleamed, and there were new rugs on nearly every floor. He hardly recognized the place as the same house. Their room, the one the twins had occupied, was done in shades of teal and white. Severus smirked at the bed, somewhat smaller than the one at school, but large enough for two. Hermione was clutching her bag in the doorway, talking to Harry. He turned when he caught a snippet of the conversation.

"...I told him we'd go around about eight."

"Go around where?" Severus growled softly and held his breath, waiting for the bad news.

Harry looked up at him. "The Longbottoms'. Neville invited us for desserts and cocktails."

"Cocktails," Severus repeated as he exhaled. That's not so bad.

"Yeah, he invited most of the DA over," Harry stated, and Hermione smiled. "Luna said it's formal, but I suppose your robes are okay."

Great. This gets better and better.

"Harry!" Hermione admonished him. "We've got formal robes." She turned to Severus. "You packed yours, right?"

"Of course," he replied smoothly as Hermione hurried from the room. He followed Ginevra and Harry back to the drawing room, resigned to behave as politely as he could. Hermione returned several minutes later, looking quite pleased about something.

Thankfully, Hermione seemed to have a lot to talk to Harry about, and the young people chatted away happily. Severus merely made the noncommittal smirk or affirmative or negative grunt occasionally as he listened to the girls relate life at Hogwarts to Harry, and he discussed life as an Auror trainee.

When the clock chimed half past six, Kreacher announced that dinner was served. Severus followed the young people down the kitchen, although he was hardly hungry.

The kitchen hardly looked any different. It had been freshly painted, but the fireplace and the furniture remained the same. The scrubbed wooden table was set with simple, formal bone china, nice stemware and silver place settings on a red tablecloth with holly and candles as a centerpiece. The smells from the stove reminded him of Molly's cooking.

Severus sat himself next to Ginevra as she passed out the Christmas wizard crackers. He smirked at the Weasley Whistling Lollypops, confetti and tall, pointed hat covered in color-changing stars that emerged from Hermione's; the glasses with the fake nose, Weasley's Stealthy-Disguise Specs and white Shako hat with a huge kelly-green and canary yellow plume Harry received, and Ginevra's ascot with the white and ice blue swan and Weasley Bubble bath ducky. Each one had a slip of parchment with a joke, which each person read aloud to peals of laughter or embarrassed snickers. Severus stared at his wizarding cracker with trepidation.

"Well, go on, see what you got," Harry urged, and Severus shot a glare at him.

"How bad can it be?" Hermione began to ask, then clamped her mouth shut.

"Severus," Ginevra said, and he looked at her. "George made yours specially. The hat may be ridiculous, but he selected the crackers himself. So if it's horrible, well, I won't mind if you singe it."

"And I shall know who to blame," he said, reluctantly pulling on the end. Six bell-shaped, footed black objects fell out, and a wide-brimmed, black Fedora with a questionable peacock pheasant feather trimming on the side popped out. He cocked his eyebrow at the simple hat as the others smiled.

"Plumesmoke Decoy Detonators," Harry said with a smile. "Very helpful those. I keep a set in my desk for raids."

"Indeed," Severus said, wary about touching the Detonators on his plate, lest they go off.

"Oooh, that's a nice hat! Put it on, Severus," Hermione urged him, a bit too enthusiastically.

"Men don't wear hats inside," he grumbled, setting the hat at the end of the table. Only the ridiculous hat flew back up toward his head. He tried again but with the same results. Considering the others were wearing theirs, and it appeared he had little choice, he put the hat on, and a small slip of parchment fell onto his plate.

Professor,

George Weasley

Severus slowly and deliberately crumbled the note in his hand and set it with the remains of the cracker. Although he hated wearing hats, he could see that this one could possibly come in handy on occasion, and he appreciated the fact that the Weasley boy had at least given him a hat with certain sense of style – unlike Potter's Neapolitan monstrosity with its garish plume, or Hermione's ridiculous witch's hat with its color-changing stars, reminiscent of the ones that Dumbledore had liked to wear. Good grief, he thought, glancing at her as the swan on Ginevra's hat stretched its wings when she leaned forward to retrieve the pitcher.

Ginevra pulled her wand out, sending the cracker remains in the bin as Kreacher served the dinner. A traditional roasted beef in port surrounded by roasted parsnips and a turkey wrapped in bacon appeared on the table on a huge platters. Serving bowls of herbed apple stuffing, bread sauce, crisp roasted potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts with chestnuts and bacon, Yorkshire puddings, and, of course, little chipolatas and sausages...

Severus groaned inaudibly and smirked at Hermione's slight grimace. He helped himself to his second Christmas Eve dinner as Harry continued to entertain the girls with his wondrous exploits as an Auror.

~ T B C ~>

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Author's notes: