The Hogwarts Ho

Chapter 4: Under the Mistletoe

My fifth Christmas in Hogwarts was about to start on a very snowy day of December. Naturally everyone would go back to their warm welcoming houses and are greeted by their family, everyone except me. The Elles insisted to stay with me after I told that I’m not going home for the winter holiday. I told them that mom was having a bad case of pneumonia so I can’t bother her at all; in fact I wished she really would get one. I didn’t want to go back to the Leaky Cauldron either, because Tom will work my ass off during the busiest season of the year. And better yet, he sent me an owl that he wished me to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday because he doesn’t want taking a risk of having me seen in the inn during the Christmas holiday. The Elles can’t stay at Hogwarts with me anyway; Adele’s annual family reunion is always in the winter holiday. Although she abhors the idea of all the hundred something number of her relatives flocking together into her parents’ large castle house, she doesn’t want to miss the chance to see her favorite cousin Genevieve from New York, the prima ballerina of the American Wizards Ballet Academy. Sylvie misses her mother’s homemade sweets. Nina’s mother is extremely strict and formidable to her nine daughters; she’s raised the girls all by herself since Mr. Rodriguez, a magical zoologist, was eaten by a mountain troll while he was traveling over the Rocky Mountain ten years ago. Nina is the youngest daughter. Her family reunion on the Christmas holiday should be held in an orderly fashion because Mr. Rodriguez was died on the Christmas Eve. And Mary Jane’s only family is her 65 year old aunt who owns a huge bakery in the Knockturn Alley; the whole family was either a cook or a patissier since 1700’s. Mrs. Weston is a small, plump lady who always sends me a huge basket of cakes and cookies on my birthdays and holidays. I know she loves me as she loves MJ, but the last thing I would do is to interrupt their Christmas holiday, even though Mary Jane practically packed my bag last night to go with her. It was so hard to see her mad like a crazy veela, but I really wanted to be alone. Sylvie’s noble healer family doesn’t think that I am a proper witch because my trash mom is a muggle. And I am so scared of the family anyway, because the rumor says that one of the family members is a werewolf.


Anyway, two days before the holiday, we Elles shared kisses, hugs and goodbyes each other at the school gate. When I came back to the house common room, it was completely empty and I felt so peaceful. I picked up a sappy romance novel that Adele left on the common room table and started reading it until midnight.
When I woke up, I realized that I fell asleep on the big ugly black sofa in the common room. The dawn was breaking through the cold grey sky and snow was falling without sound. I felt a terrible headache all of a sudden. Maybe it was too cold in the common room, I thought. I got up and went back to my room, swallowed a couple of multi purpose cold pills and snuggled into my bed. Now I felt a shudder, and my whole body started burning up even though my hands and feet were so icy cold. There, I am sick now, I thought. But it is just too much bothering to go up to the infirmary. I’d rather sick in my bed now…


I must’ve slept throughout Christmas Eve, groaning with fever and aching body. I cried to my pillows till they got completely soaked. While I was repeating the cycle of sleeping and groaning with pain, Christmas came with a lot of presents under my bed. A big box of fine chocolate cakes and pies from Mary Jane; a beautiful ballet photograph book from Adele; a crocodile skin wallet from Nina with a card, saying that she skinned the crocodile by herself; and a large box of hand made scented soaps from Sylvia. Nothing from my trash mother of course, but the jackass stepfather sent me a cheesy card and a cherry liquor filled chocolate box. Obviously he is missing his sex toy a lot, because the card says that he already bought a small cottage house in a remote suburban town and promised that he won’t touch a single of my hair. I tore up the card into pieces and threw it with the stupid chocolate box into the fire place. My head was still spinning and I started sobbing madly again. I should go to the Christmas tea in the great hall, but I’d rather die right now than facing all the people-especially McGonagall. I fell onto my four poster bed and decided to sleep more.


Is it a dream…? Now I feel no more pain or headache; I know I’m still sleeping in my bed but something is different. A warm comfort is surrounding my body and I feel as if I’m ready to fly. It is just so wonderful…after a severe cold, I thought. Should I open my eyes now? But I don’t want this to end. Yet my curiosity never stops at anything, so I slowly opened my eyes to see that I’m in a dream. I saw myself wrapped in the blanket rather tightly, and I could smell a mixture of apple and lemon grass from nowhere. My favorite flavor, I thought. The fire was crackling merrily in the corner, and then, I almost stopped breathing as I saw the head of the Slytherin House was standing right next to my bed, looking down at me with his cold black eyes. I sprang from the bed, but he ordered me to lie down again, in his usual dangerous whisper. I stared at him for a second.


“What are you doing here, professor? You shouldn’t be in a girl’s dormitory at all” said I, but fearfully.

He frowned.

“It is not your place to tell me where I should be or shouldn’t be, Miss Rocher. Unless you want to take 50 points off, be quiet and lie down. You are still recovering from a cold” said he.

But I didn’t; I just wanted to know why he is in here, taking care of me like this. He could’ve sent for Madam Pomfrey for this kind of matter. I mean, no man can come up to the girls’ dormitory at all…oh how naïve I am. He is a teacher and a powerful dark wizard…

“I thought you were dead when I got here last night”

said he, but there was something more in his voice that I couldn’t tell right away.

“You’ve missed all the meals for two days straight, and as a head of the house I have a duty to take care of what is going on with all the students”

now he sat down right next to my bed, with a small sigh.


“You might think that your life is worthless, but with your grades in potions and all the other subjects, you are not. So stop this nonsense of getting yourself sick and take care of yourself” said he.

It was so true that I have been feeling despair so far, but since he pinpointed what I’m thinking, I was embarrassed. I felt my cheeks were getting red, so I hung my head down.

“I’m sorry, professor Snape” whispered I, in a tiny voice.

But then I felt so freaking stupid and miserable, and I saw tears were dropping on to the bed.
Oh my god, this is déjà vu all starting again…just like I passed out in his dark dungeon! It is time to take care of myself, I thought. And this weird attention from the Potions master is getting very uncomfortable and annoying. I have to ask him to leave now; it’s just so absurd that he should take care of me like this. He is not my guardian angel or anything!

“Please, professor. I really would like you to leave me alone now. I can take care of myself and everything”

whispered I, but scared of what he would do next.
His face was contorted with anger and spits flew from his thin sallow mouth.

“You don’t even know what you are doing to yourself now! You silly girl, you are just running away from everything you can’t handle! Who said life is easy? Being a true Slytherin, you should know what is good and bad for you. What are you going to do from now on? Working as a house elf in that wretched inn for the rest of your life?! You are more than that, Miss Rocher! To me, you are not working hard enough to make yourself worthwhile. Your grades are awful in this semester, and Professor McGonagall is about to kick you out of the school if you get another zero on your Transfiguration homework. Honestly, you got a hold of your sorry self and work hard until you graduate, whether you would be a house elf or not!”


How he could be this mean to anyone, I wondered, while tears were flowing like a river from my eyes. I couldn’t see his face directly, because everything he said is so very true. But then, I felt a sudden rush of anger, and I started screaming at him.

“What do you know about me, professor?! You have no idea what I’ve been going though so far! How would you feel if your own mother kicked you out of your house? What are you going to do if your father rapes you every single day?! Do you want to be embarrassed for good when you report them to the police, being the gossip of the town till you die?! I’d rather to be a house elf in the Leaky Cauldron forever than facing this ugly world all by myself! I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do with my life because I’ve had it enough! I don’t care about my life anymore and I will jump off from the Astronomy tower if you say anything more about my life, I mean it!”

My voice got hoarse from the screaming and I felt so tired. My head started spinning again and I wanted to collapse on my bed, but I kept staring at him with my red, teary eyes.
Then…


He grabbed me and drew my head to his lean hard chest. I could hear his heartbeats, strong and steady to my ears. Oh my, here we go again…he is holding me again. but this time, he tilted my wet chin upward to face him, and I saw his black fathomless eyes were filled with agony and yearning.
I didn’t know what I was thinking…but I dared to ask.

“Do you like me, professor Snape?”


He let out a tiny, bittersweet laughter.

“Yes…Dinah, I like you…I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you under the ridiculous sorting hat” whispered he, which was totally unlikely of him.

But before I said a word, he tilted my head again and pressed his thin lips to mine, very carefully. Then he forced his tongue into my mouth and surprisingly, I saw myself responding him. It was not like my jackass stepfather forcing me to do so; professor Snape knows how to kiss to a girl. His callous fingers were gently caressing my hair, my face and down to my neck and the ruffles of my tear-soaked blouse. However as his grip on my breasts were getting firm, old ugly memory of the past came alive, and I pushed him away. But he was too much excited now, his breaths were disgustingly hot to my face.

“Please, professor! Please let me go, please…please don’t do this to me”

I started sobbing in fear. It’s not like having sex with the idiot boys in the school; he is a grown man and I know what a grown man would do when he is ready…only too well. Seeing hurt and fear in my eyes and goose bumps all over my body, he sighed and loosened the grip. He came back to his usual cold self now but his face has turned to red from the making out.
He cleared his throat, and then took a tiny blue box that was wrapped with silver ribbon.

“I thought you could do with a little Christmas spirit…”

said he, as he took my hand and placed the little box onto my palm. I was surprised, but I couldn’t help myself but to smile at him cordially. His face was lit with a small smile too, and then he left the room without saying a word, before I even thanked him properly. The fire was burning ever so brightly in the brick fire place, and I realized that the house elves have decorated the entire room with the holly and mistletoe while I was half dead last night. I wrapped myself with the blanket and laughed; someone is loving me, for the first time in my life!