Harry just nodded, still recovering, and waited for the punch line, but the headmaster simply stood there then, the usual twinkle in his eye.
"Was… do you need something, sir?" the boy asked, curiously.
"Well, as a matter of fact, I do," Dumbledore began, circling around the chair to stand in front of Harry, hands behind his back. "Whilst we were in the great hall earlier, it occurred to me that it's Christmas Eve." Harry thought for a moment, before it dawned on him.
"Oh."
Dumbledore nodded. "Oh, indeed."
"The mince pies…" he mumbled, looking at his hands as he remembered the headmaster turning up at Snape's quarters, a plateful of delicious, warm pies in one hand – his first taste of them, and something Dumbledore had announced they should do every year on Christmas Eve.
"Forgive me, Harry, but it… saddened me to see you were here alone, and not with Professor Snape this evening," Dumbledore said, softly.
Feeling more than a little awkward, Harry simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Have the two of you had a disagreement?" he pried.
"Something like that," Harry muttered.
"But perhaps, for the sake of the festive season, you could let bygones be bygones?" Dumbledore suggested.
Harry thought about it for a moment, before peering up at Dumbledore and scrunching up his nose. "I hit that boy in the face. The Hufflepuff one."
"Ah," the headmaster nodded thoughtfully. "That is true, of course. Yet, whilst I don't condone your actions Harry, I feel sure that you have already paid the price for them, have you not?"
"Well… I wrote him a letter to say sorry, and I had detention with Professor McGonagall," he agreed. "But I'm still grounded, sir."
"Yes, yes, you are. But I am certain your grounding does not extend to spending your evening with Professor Snape, in his quarters."
Harry thought hard for a moment.
"Well… you see, the thing is sir, Hermione's staying at Hogwarts for Christmas this year too," he explained. "So… you know… I just thought… I'd better keep her company and all."