There was a painfully awkward silence, until Remus cleared his throat. "These books are brilliant, Harry, thank you! Have you read them?" He started talking to Harry about the stack of Defence books in his lap, allowing Snape to open his present without all the attention on him — something that both Harry and the Potions Master appreciated.
By the end of it all, Harry had a small mountain of presents to take back to Gryffindor Tower, and Sirius was just tipsy enough to be singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs. None of them were willing to tell him to stop not even Snape. Sirius had been through a lot in the last decade; he deserved a bit of joy at Christmas. Harry merely joined in with the carols he knew, laughing when Sirius drew closer and closer to Remus, shaking him by the shoulders until he was singing with them as well. Even drunk, Sirius knew to leave Snape well alone, and the Slytherin looked like he was regretting many life choices. "I think I'd best get this lush back home," Remus said eventually, laughing. "Let you get on with the rest of your Christmas surprise, Harry."
"There's more?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised. Remus winked at him.
"I suggest when you're done here, you head to the Potions classroom," Snape told him, his face impassive. Harry's curiosity began to burn; what could possibly be waiting for him in the classroom? Another present?
Sirius threw himself at Harry, making the boy stumble a little as he was wrapped in a tight hug. "Have fun at the Yule Ball," the dog animagus instructed. "Dance lots, don't give a damn about Skeeter or any of the reporters, and snog your boyfriend if you get a quiet minute." He cackled when Harry blushed. "Seriously, kiddo. You've been under a lot of stress lately. Just forget it all and enjoy yourself, alright? You deserve it." He dropped a kiss on Harry's forehead, ruffling his hair.
"I'll try," Harry promised. He turned to hug Remus. "Thanks for coming. And bringing Sirius with you."
"We couldn't miss out on family Christmas," Remus insisted. A lump grew in Harry's throat. His first ever family Christmas, of a sort. "I'll see you in the new year, cub. Behave yourself." That was said with a lopsided smile; Remus knew better than to genuinely expect that of him. Harry grinned. "I'll try," he said again.
"Not very hard, I'm sure," Snape drawled lightly. Harry turned to the man, even more wrong-footed about him than he had been during the summer. At least there they were away from school and lessons and all the things reminding Harry of his evil Potions professor. Having Snape like this — like family — in the middle of the school year was weird to say the least. Just a week before, the man had been yelling at him about his stirring technique.
"I'll see you at the ball tomorrow, Professor," he said eventually, assuming the man would be going back to Seren Du as well. He and Remus hadn't exchanged gifts; they were probably going to do their own private Christmas. Harry didn't want to think about it too much. "Thanks for hosting this."
"I don't believe I was given a choice," Snape replied, though he didn't look too upset by it. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Potter."
"You could at least try and call me Harry, y'know," Harry replied cheekily, shouldering his bag. "It might not kill you."
"Get out of here, brat." Harry laughed, swinging the invisibility cloak over his shoulders and leaving the man's private quarters.
Harry moved as quickly as he dared under the cloak, heading straight for the Potions room. The door was locked, but a quick Alohomora made easy work of it. When Harry slipped in, he let out a quiet gasp.
The room had been utterly transformed. All the desks and chairs had been pushed to the sides of the room, and in the space in the centre was a dark green blanket laid out on the floor, a tiny little Christmas tree in the centre. Floating all around the room were multicoloured little fairy lights, twinkling softly. In the midst of it all, smiling as Harry removed his cloak, was Draco. "I was wondering when you would show up," the Slytherin greeted, sat on the blanket.
"Draco," Harry breathed, looking around in wonder. "This is amazing!" "Uncle Severus said as long as it's all back to normal by morning, we can stay in here as long as we like," Draco relayed. He wrinkled his nose. "He also said several other things that I wish I could Obliviate from my mind, but I won't traumatise you by repeating them."
Harry snorted, even as his stomach turned a little bit at the thought of Snape contemplating any part of his potential sex life. He hadn't had a talk from Sirius or Remus yet — he'd managed to avoid that for now by telling Sirius about the book George had given him. With any luck, it would stay that way.
He left his cloak in a pile by the door and joined Draco on the blanket, leaning in for a kiss. "What's all this for?" "There's no way the two of us are going to get any time alone in all of tomorrow's chaos," Draco said. "I just wanted to see you. When Severus told me what Remus was planning for today, I thought I'd jump in off the back of it, since you'd already be down in the dungeons." He smiled shyly, running a thumb over Harry's cheekbone. "I have to take my opportunities where I can. Once school starts back up, you'll be in a dozen places at once again."
"I'll still insisted.
have
time
for
you," Harry
"But will you have time for this?" Draco retorted, gesturing to the room at large. "We don't have to be anywhere or do anything until curfew. No one but Severus knows we're in here." Harry's eyes darkened as his brain ran through several ways the evening could play out — all of which were probably things Snape had told Draco not to do. Well, what the Potions Master didn't know couldn't hurt him.
"If I'd known, I would've brought your Christmas present with me," he said sadly, thinking of the wrapped gift hidden in his trunk. Draco smirked.
"I actually had Ceri help me with that one." He gestured to the small tree on the blanket, making Harry realise there were two wrapped gifts beneath it; one of which was his gift for Draco.
"Sneaky
snake,"
Harry
murmured, pressing his lips to Draco's with a soft sigh. "Should we open them now?" He was suddenly nervous about his gift, and he didn't want to spend the whole evening worrying about Draco's response to it.
They exchanged gifts and opened them simultaneously, neither wanting the pressure of being stared at while they unwrapped their present. Harry eyed his curiously; it was a palm-sized disc of shiny black stone, engraved with runes all over. He glanced up at Draco, who smiled tentatively. "It's a Meditation Wardstone," the blond explained. "Put it under your pillow, and it'll make it easier for you to meditate before bed — and strengthen your Occlumency shields while you're asleep. I know you've been having those dreams, and I… I thought it would help."
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