Silver BelSnowSnowglobe Hell

Blush attractively? Good gods, what am I thinking?

\"Toes up your nose, sir? Um, is that what made you turn around last night?\"

\"Hmph!\" How would he know I\'d turned around last night, he was supposed to be asleep. Does that mean he was awake and aware of being in my arms and it didn\'t upset him?

\"I\'ll take that as a yes.\"

Severus stacked the plates from breakfast and moved them to the bathroom temporarily so that Harry could put down the pies.

\"Well, Potter, don\'t just stand there, set the food down so we can eat.\"

\"Oh, right. Lunch! You know, sir, I wonder what\'s making the castle cough up decent food now?\"

\"Who knows what this castle is capable of, seeing as how Albus charmed it.\"

Severus watched as Harry placed the full plates of food down on the table and nearly spilled the contents onto the mistletoe and letter. Severus picked them up before anything could happen to them. He fingered them absent-mindedly as he continued to watch Harry set the table. Harry watched the professor out of the corner of his eye and especially eyed the mistletoe.

\"Maybe we should hang the mistletoe from the ceiling somewhere so it doesn\'t accidentally get discarded, Professor.\"

\"Yes, perhaps, we should. But first, let\'s eat the food before it gets cold.\"

Both men took their seats and began to eat their lunch silently, stealing glances at one another, when they thought the other was not looking.

Several times Harry opened his mouth to say something, anything to break the silence, then thought better of it. As much as he liked to hear his professor talk, most of what came out of that mouth was not polite or cordial. Especially where he was concerned.

For his part, Severus felt that Potter wanted to talk, and for once he would actually welcome a conversation with the young man, but wasn\'t sure how to break the silence himself.

It was Harry that finally broke down and spoke first. \"You know, you never did tell me why you hate Christmas so much...,\" he said between mouthfuls of savoury pie, while his eyes locked onto his professor\'s face.

\"I said that I might tell you why. It wasn\'t a guaranteed thing.\"

\"Oh. I see.\" For some reason, the fact that his professor wouldn\'t open up to him disappointed him, especially after he had literally bared his soul to the man earlier. Plus, he had been looking forward to knowing more about this man who had been his teacher for almost seven years.

Severus watched the disappointment cross his student\'s face. And something inside of him shifted, changed...he wasn\'t sure what to call it. He honestly wants to know more about me. No one has really wanted to know more about me, no one has ever asked me directly what it was that made me hate Christmas, not even Albus.

They finished up their lunch in silence, with Harry clearing up the dirty plates when they were done.

\"Should I take these back to the Room of Requirement and wash them there?\"

\"No, take them to the kitchen. If they haven\'t disappeared by now, I\'m not going to worry about them overly much.\"

\"Alright. Um, since we don\'t really have anything planned or something to occupy our time until dinner, do you want to try watching a film?\"

\"A film? Is that what was downstairs in the Great Hall?\" Severus enquired.

\"Yep. What do you say? Would you like to join me? Who knows, it could be fun.\"

\"Very well, Mr. Potter. Seeing as how there isn\'t much else to do in this god forsaken place.\"

Harry chuckled as he gathered up the plates and glasses, happy to have gotten a fairly civil response from Severus. Severus went to the bathroom and retrieved their other dishes and they carried them back to the kitchen. From there they proceed to the Great Hall.

\"I wonder if that same film is playing from when we entered the first time.\" Harry pondered just as they reached the doors. Harry reached for the handle and held the door open for Severus. \"After you, sir.

\"The way things are going around here, I would not be surprised if the same film was still playing in there.\"

Upon entering, Severus looked up at the marquee and saw that it was not the same film. The sign now said, \"How the Grinch Stole Christmas\" by Dr. Suess.

\"Hmm, I wonder if this is Albus\' none to subtle way of telling me to stop acting like a \'grinch.\'\"

Harry chuckled, \"You know, I think I actually caught this film on the telly once when I was living with the Dursley\'s. You do remind me an awful lot of the Grinch sir.

\"Look who\'s talking, Mr. Potter-Grinch. You\'re stuck here with me for the exact same reason that I am stuck here with you.\"

\"I guess. Look, there\'s some popcorn, how about we get some of that, sit down and hopefully the film will start.\"

They each grabbed a bowl of what appeared to be warm, buttery popcorn and took their seats. As soon as their bums settled, the film started playing.

When it began, Severus pointed out what he felt was a glaring oversight, \"It\'s not even got real people in it, what is this?\"

\"What does it look like, it\'s an animation, sir. A series of drawings. It\'s fun, just watch.\"

\"Wow, professor, the Grinch does bear a striking resemblance to you, don\'t you think?\" Harry said teasingly.

\"I\'m certainly not that particular shade of green,\" Severus grumbled.

\"Well, no, sir. You definitely do look better than the Grinch. I mean, your sneer is definitely more intimidating, while his is very cartoonish.\"

\"But you just told me that he resembled me! Does that not make me cartoonish as well? Well, which is it Potter?\"

Harry felt that any ground he had been making with his professor in forging some sort of friendship or comradery was slipping, and he rushed to correct his mistake. \"I don\'t think you are cartoonish at all, sir. Far from it. I meant that he resembled you in attitude only.\"

Severus relaxed a little in his chair then. \"Oh. I see. So is there any hope for me?\"

\"Hope for you how, Professor?\"

\"Don\'t worry yourself about it, Potter. Let\'s just watch the animation.\"

Harry continued to look questioningly at his professor. Will I ever understand this man? Harry sighed quietly and turned his attention once more to the screen.

Severus secretly bagan to enjoy the film. It was lighthearted and fun, but he understood the underlying message Albus was trying to make.

At some point midway during the short film, Harry began to lean closer to Severus, his head coming to rest on the taller man\'s shoulder. Severus became painfully aware of the warm body inching closer to his own. Not only did he have to fight the urge to rest his chin upon the young man\'s head, but he also wanted to reach for the hand just mere inches away from his own.

Before they knew it, the short film was over and the marquee overhead changed once more. Next film showing was \"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.\" Severus grinned to himself. Though he had never before seen a Muggle film, he was quite enjoying himself. Of course, it didn\'t hurt that he had a warm body snuggled up next to his.

Severus sat very still, afraid to even breathe, for fear of breaking the spell that had been cast over them. He didn\'t think that Harry was aware of what was happening, and he did not want to draw attention to the precarious situation.

However, Harry was very aware of the situation. He was willing the man next to him to reach out to him, going so far as to brush his hand against Severus\'s several times with the hope that he would take hold of it. But for being an educated man, his professor was terribly obtuse and Harry\'s hand remained un-held.

The next film was also short, but highly entertaining to the two wizards, at one point where Rudolph ran off with the elf-dentist, Harry wanted to remark about how the elves in the film looked nothing like the house-elves at Hogwarts. Harry though was afraid to break the spell. He was enjoying his position next to Severus, therefore he was scared that if he spoke the other man would go back to being his mean, aloof self and shrug him off, but he decided to take a chance and mention it anyway. Happily, Severus did not throw Harry\'s head off his shoulder and he bravely snuggled closer.

All to soon, the second and apparently last film ended. Harry did not want to move, he was so comfortable where he was, and for several minutes both wizards sat in silence.

But as the silence stretched and the minutes grew longer, Severus began to realise how inapproriate it was. Strangely, my heart is urging me to stay right where I am. But when have I ever listened to my heart? My head is telling me that this is wrong.

Severus shifted ever so slightly, hinting thatwas was time for Harry to move. He didn\'t want to push the young man away. He didn\'t want to give the impression that he was upset with him. Far from it. But it was time to get up and stretch their legs. If he could avoid having to go back to their room with Harry, he would. However, Albus had made sure that they would both have to spend the majority of their time in the room or be assaulted with unlimited Christmas cheer. But just maybe Albus knew what he was doing after all. I certainly don\'t feel as ambivalant about the holidays as I did just yesterday afternoon.

\"Well, Potter, I must say that was somewhat tolerable.\"

\"Honestly, sir, call me Harry.\"

tbc