Fellowship & Fairydust

Severus Snape sat down in a black leather armchair by a warm fire. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he reflected that this was Christmas Eve, and that tomorrow night he would participate in chaperoning young teenagers with raging hormones while they danced to the Weird Sisters, a Wizard Rock Band. He didn’t understand all of the hype.

Dumbledore also wanted him to actually stay and socialize with the staff after Christmas dinner. Apparently, he thought Severus needed some warmth and happiness in his life, and should work more on his relationship with his colleagues – put his bitterness aside and enjoy the holiday. Normally Severus just went for dinner and left after a few minutes. He wasn’t interested in sticking around.

Some people said that his shoes were too tight; some said that his head wasn’t screwed on just right, but for whatever reason, he sat in his office tonight once again, hating the season. He sighed, closing his eyes; perhaps this year would be better than his past Christmases… Probably not, though.

He gradually became aware of a distant clanking sound, and it was getting louder. Suddenly the flames in the fireplace flared up, and the clanking sound increased to a volume that made his ears hurt.

Severus sat up and looked around frantically. What was going on? Then a ghastly face appeared in his fireplace. For a brief moment, Severus felt himself shiver in fear. As the face got closer, he finally recognized the figure of the Bloody Baron, as the apparition made its way into his living room area.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, Baron! What kind of an entrance is that?! Are you trying to startle me into next week?!”

“My apologies, sir, if I frightened you,” replied the Baron, staring at Severus.

“You’d have to try harder than that if you truly wished to frighten me,” Severus stated with a snort, leaning back in his chair. “What brings you to my quarters at this late hour?”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” the Baron replied, floating down into a vacant chair by the fire.

“And?” Severus raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a night full of reminders of the wasted happiness and comforts of life, Professor Snape,” said the Baron. “I should like you to not suffer that fate, as I myself have.”

“How thoughtful of you,” he sniped.

“Do not mock me, Professor,” said the Baron sternly. “Tonight, you will be haunted by three spirits.”

“What do you mean by that?” Snape snapped.

“You will see,” replied the Baron. “Expect the first when the hour strikes one.”

And with that, the Baron vanished.

For another hour or so, Severus stayed up reading his latest potions text before deciding to call it a night. Tired, he went to his four-poster, climbed between the sheets, and closed his eyes in the hope of a long, relaxing sleep. What awakened him sometime later made sure that he didn’t get any sleep at all that night.

They had other plans for him.

A strange sound made Severus rise up in bed. “What in the bloody hell is this!?” he said, gripping his wand, ready to destroy whoever or whatever it was.

Nearly Headless Nick was floating in front of the four-poster.

“What are you doing in my dungeon?!” snarled Severus.

“I am the Ghost of Christmases Past,” explained Nick patiently. “I am to show you your past Christmases and help you to change your ways.”

“The Baron sent you?” 

“I am not Nicholas. We spirits just take the form of someone you recognize, in order to make you more comfortable,” he explained. “Now, all you need to do is watch and listen.”

“I think that…,” he began, but the question died in his throat as he looked around in disbelief. His bedroom was no longer a bedroom. Instead, he found himself outside, standing in the snow. For a moment confusion won, but then he realized where he was—the park in Cokeworth where he and Lily had always hung out.

There were three people on the playground. One girl was swinging unnaturally high, wearing an emerald-green Christmas jumper over red tights. She also had a green beanie that covered her thick, dark red hair, and the small boy looking at her in complete adoration was… himself.

“You seem exceptionally happy here?” said Nearly Headless Nick.

“She always was able to make my day better,” nodded Severus. “Can we please get on with this?”

“Not yet,” said Nick.

A bit farther away, Petunia was standing with her arms crossed; she had always resented Lily’s abilities and her friendship with Severus.

Getting off the swing, Lily threw a snowball at Severus. The two had a snowball fight, before setting to work building a rather large snowman. Then the children were called by Lily’s mother, and they ran off inside to eat dinner at the Evans home.

“I was always welcome in their home,” said Severus, watching. “Even when I was being a complete idiot, while we were friends, I was always welcome at the Evans’.”

“Let’s go see another Christmas, why don’t we?” suggested Nearly Headless Nick. “Take my hand.”

“But…,” said Severus, a little unsure of how exactly he was supposed to grab onto a ghost.

“Just do it,” said Nick, and when Severus did, the scene changed.

Now they were in the Hogwarts library. A young Severus was there, studying by himself. He looked to be about thirteen. He opened one book and slammed another down.

Students looked at him as they walked by with annoyed faces.

“Seems to me, that you’re driving everyone crazy,” said Nearly Headless Nick.

“It’s a talent,” he said smugly.

The young Severus looked up at the table across from him. He made a face and went back to his books.

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were at a table laughing and enjoying the Christmas Holidays. They were pointing at something that seemed to be very funny. Looking in the direction that they were pointing, he realised that they were pointing at Lily. She was on her tiptoes looking for a book.

James put a finger to his mouth, but before he could make a move to get to Lily, Severus was already running over to her.

“Need help?” asked the younger Severus, catching his breath.

Lily smiled at him and nodded her head.

Sirius stood up, but James put a hand out to motion him back to his seat. They watched as Severus pulled the book down for Lily. He turned to walk off, but Lily grabbed his arm before he could.

“Happy Christmas, Sev,” said Lily.

“Happy Christmas to you, too, Lils,” said the younger Severus quietly.

Then something happened that startled both of them. Lily looked up first, and her eyes widened when she saw mistletoe hanging over their heads. Severus followed her eyes and almost choked. Then he took off running, leaving Lily with a shocked look on her face.

“Don’t you celebrate Christmas?” Sirius called after Severus in a scornful tone.

Watching the scene, the adult Severus yelled at Sirius, “You idiot!”

“He can’t hear you,” explained Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his lopsided head.

James and his friends laughed and came over to Lily, who was still standing under the mistletoe, gaping after Severus. James then proceeded to talk in his suave voice, attempting to hit on Lily, arrogantly grabbing her waist as he tried to kiss her.

“Can we see something else?” pleaded Severus.

“Oh, fine!” retorted Nearly Headless Nick, and moments later, they were back in Severus’ cold, lonely bedroom.

“What? No more punishment?” Severus said as Nick laughed at his terrible state.

“You know,” said Nearly Headless Nick, “if you keep feeling sorry for yourself, you’ll always be lonely, and it’ll all catch up with you eventually. You already look older than you are.”

“Care to discuss anything else besides my health?” inquired Severus sardonically.

“Alright, alright,” said Nick. “Just keep it in mind. Much of this you’ve done to yourself.”

“How considerate,” snorted Severus.

“Well, you’ll be getting a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present in about an hour,” said Nearly Headless Nick. “I recommend resting.”

With that, the ghost waved once and vanished.

Severus rolled his eyes. Wearily he lay on the bed, and to his surprise, almost instantly fell back into a deep sleep.

|Next>