Silver BelSnowSnowglobe Hell

Silver Bells, Snowglobe Hell
Part Four
by weasleyswizardwheezes

\"ARRRRGH!!!\"

Severus leapt to his feet when he heard Potter\'s scream. Logically, he knew that there was nothing here that could harm them, but old habits were hard to break. Before he could reach the door, it flew open and there stood a wet, bedraggled Harry. The poor boy looked like a drowned rat with a towel wrapped around his waist. \"What on earth caused you to scream like a girl, Potter?\" He noticed Potter starting to shiver while he was standing there.

\"Cccc..Cold...water.\"

\"What? Speak up, I can barely make out what you\'re stuttering.\"

\"I said...Cold. Water.\"

Severus moaned, and he could swear he heard the final straw snap. However much he hated the situation and no matter how much the young man got on his nerves, Severus couldn\'t bear to watch him standing there shivering, with his teeth chattering like a wind up toy. He pulled the blanket down on the bed and motioned for Potter to slide underneath.

\"Go on. Get in. Can\'t have you catching pneumonia, now can we?\" the irate man mumbled.

Before he could get in, Harry went back into the bathroom and towelled off then changed into the one-piece pyjama. When he returned, Harry looked at Snape queerly as though he had grown a second head, but gratefully crawled into the warm bed. He can\'t actually be concerned. I mean, really, I\'ve never known him to be nice before, to me or anyone else. As soon as Harry had snuggled deeply into the thin, but warm blanket, another blanket suddenly appeared at the foot of the bed.

\"That\'s odd. Maybe the castle feels you need another blanket to keep warm.\"

\"No, this one is fine, Professor. Don\'t waste that one on me now, we might need it later. Maybe you can use it as a pillow....\"

\"Hmm, perhaps I should. But first, I think I need to wash up as well. Even if there is no hot water.\"

Before heading into the bathroom to change, Severus pulled the s of of mistletoe from his pocket, along with the letter Albus had left them, and placed them on the table.

Severus did not make the mistake of stepping under an ice cold shower. Instead, he soaped up a flannel and washed the important bits, then towelled off and donned his own festive red jammies. When he exited the bathroom he found Potter already asleep and sprawled over the entire bed. \"It figures! He would hog the whole damn bed.

Severus walked over to the side of the bed closest to him and pushed at Potter\'s shoulder. \"Potter! Wake up!\"

Potter just swatted at his hands and mumbled, \"Go away, Ron.\"

\"Mr. Potter, wake up!\" He shoved at the young man\'s shoulder even harder. Severus rolled his eyes. Honestly! \"Potter! Quit hogging the bed, I\'m exhausted, I need some sleep.\"

He finally gave up trying to wake him, and just shoved the young man over so that he could get into the bed. The extra blanket was fluffed with the hope of making it a comfortable pillow, and with a tired sigh, Severus slipped his legs under the blanket next to the warmth of Potters body.

\"Mmmm. Y\'know, we could heat waterRoomRoom of Requirement,\" Harry mumbled sleepily. \"G\'night, Sev\'rus.\"

Severus laid there, stunned. Had he just heard Potter correctly? I cannot believe that Mr. Potter called me by my first name. It was his last coherent thought before dropping off into a deep sleep.

At some point in the middle of the night, Severus was awakened by the inability to breathe. He peered from under sleep heavy lids to see Potter\'s toes shoved firmly into his nose. Bloody hell! He pulled the offending foot out of his face, grabbed his \"pillow\" and switched to the head of the bed. Potter would just have to deal with it.

Harry woke up bright and early, on what he could only assume was the next morning only to find himself wrapped in the arms of his potions professor. \"Wow! He has nice, strong arms. I had no idea how good it would feel to be held like this. It feels safe and somehow... right. Momentarily forgetting that these were Snape\'s arms he was nestled in, Harry rolled over to face the stern man. He looks so different when he\'s sleeping, he marvelled. He closed his eyes again, and draping an arm around the waist of his professor, he settled in to enjoy the sensation of being held.

When Severus woke some thirty minutes later, he had a totally different reaction to the situation. Severus stiffened when he realise that the slight body of his student was enveloped within his arms.\"Merciful Merlin! How did we end up like this? Terrified of being discovered in such a compromising position, Severus scrambled to extricate himself from Potter\'s arms. All he managed to do was fall out of the bed, landing on the floor with a loud thud. Severus righted himseuickuickly and checked to make sure that he had not disturbed his student. He saw that Potter was still sleeping contentedly and he sighed with relief.

Harry of course, had felt his professor stiffen and then jerk away as if he had been stung. Snape must truly be disgusted by the thought of having me in his arms. Harry cringed when he heard Snape hit the floor, and his eyes flew open when he heard the door click shut. He rolled over and sighed, trying to bury his concerns by escaping into sleep. The last thought that crossed his mind before sleep overtook him was his own I wish he didn\'t hate me so much.

Severus, who was still in his red flannel jammies, nearly ran to the library; the decorations passed by him in a blur. The only thought running through his mind was Potter would never let me live this down if he knew I had held him in my arms. He didn\'t even hear that incessant music that was still echoing through the corridors. \"Run, run Rudolph, Santa\'s got to make it to town, Can\'t you make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down, And away went Rudolph a whizzing like a merry-go-round...\"

Before long, he was at the entrance to the library. He was hesitant to enter, afraid that like every other room they had encountered so far, this one would be different as well. Unfortunately for him, he was not wrong. The moment he entered he knew he was once more in a dimension of hell so deep that he could not escape from it. Instead of books lined along the shelves, they were filled with stuffed bears, wooden trains, toy soldiers, and buildinocksocks. Every toy imaginable could be found on the shelves of what was formerly the Hogwarts library. It rivaled what he would assume was Santa\'s workshop. He backed out of the room, slowly afraid that any sudden movement would make the toys jump out at him. From the back of the \'toy store\', he could hear \"Toys galore, Scattered on the floor, There\'s no room for more, And it\'s all because of Santa Claus!\" playing.

He’d begun the trek back to their ‘room’ when he remembered Potter\'s words before he had fallen asleep the previous night about heating water to wash up. He took a detour to the dungeons in order to confiscate a couple of cauldrons for just that purpose.

As he entered his personal laboratory to retrieve his cauldons, the room was now playing another tune entirely. \"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven swans a swimming...\"Severus responded to the music as if it were talking to him personally, \"You are correct, I will be swimming, or at least washing. In warm water, as soon as I gather up a couple of cauldrons.\" The music once again warbled briefly to acknowledge Severus\' speech.

By the time he returned to the room, Potter was awake, and to his surprise, dressed in a fresh set of robes. The young wizard shrugged. \"They just ared red out of nowhere.\"

\"Would there happen to be a set for me as well?\"

\"Yes, over on the chair.\" Severus followed Potter\'s finger as it pointed to a chair pushed up against the far wall. He set down the cauldrons, grabbed the robes and disappeared into the bathroom to change.

Harry looked at the cauldrons, puzzled. \"Why\'d you bring cauldrons?\" he called out to Snape through the bathroom door.

\"To heat up some water by using the fire from the Room of Requirement.\"

\"Oh, nice idea, Professor.\"

\"Actually, Potter, it was yours,\" Snape said as he re-entered the room.

Harry stood there, puzzled by what his professor had said. \"Mine?\"

\"Yes, yours. You mentioned it just prior to falling asleep last night.\"

Harry thought for a moment, then paled as he remembered. \"Um...\" Harry started to apologise for calling his professor by his first name when the man interrupted him.

\"Potter, I don\'t know about you, but I am feeling a bit peckish. I suggest we try to find some breakfast.\"

\"We haven\'t tried looking in the kitchen yet, sir.\"

\"Very well then, let us proceed.\"

They walked silently toward the kitchen, trying to ignore the gaudy displays they passed on the way. They reached the painting of the bowl of fruit and Harry reached out to tickle the pear.

Please, please...have something normal for us to eat, Harry silently begged as the painting slowly swung open.

Sadly, it was not to be. There waiting on the tables, were gaily decorated gingerbread houses and plates of Christmas pudding. Severus could not accept that this was all that the castle would provide them; he pushed his way past Potter and headed for the cupboards that were lined against the walls.

Harry watched as Snape yanked open one door after another, only to see the man slam it shut again in frustration. And again there was the music. \"Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer..\" Severus paused in his quest and tried to calm himself. He clenched his hands and took several deep breaths.

\"This is getting ridiculous. Would he have us subsist on sweets, then?\"

\"At least we haven\'t seen any lemon drops present.\"

\"Speak for yourself. You haven\'t been to the dungeons lately.\"

Harry shuddered at the thought. \"Well, we have to eat something, Professor, even if it is sweet. I\'ll grab some plates of the pudding and you can get us some cutlery.\"

\"Is there any brandy sauce there for the pudding, Potter?\"

\"Yes, I\'ll bring some of that as well.\"

They carried their items back to their room aet uet up the table for their first meal inside the globe. Both men were ravenous, having not had a meal since lunch the previous day. Severus covered his pudding with some of the brandy sauce and tucked right in. After several bites, he bit down on something cold and hard, nearly chipping a tooth.

\"Ouch!\" He reached into his mouth to remove the offending object. It was a gold ring.

\"Well, well, Professor,\" Harry grinned. \"It looks as if you will be getting married before the next year is through. Is there something you\'ve been keeping from everyone?\"

tbc