The 12 Days of X-Mas

Severus had decided, long before he opened his eyes, that he didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. He was much too comfortable and the birds would be back in the halls if he wasn’t mistaken (and he was rarely mistaken). So while this dilemma played about in his head the potions master spent an unheard of twenty minuets enjoying the warmth of his post dreamless sleep simply doing nothing at all.

He then remembered that it was Saturday and while he didn’t have any classes to teach, he did schedule a demonstration with Lupin for the students in the Great Hall at one.

With a grunt he levered himself out of bed and prepared to start his day, mind never once straying to the velvet lined box now tucked safely in his bedside drawer. He ate breakfast at his desk while he marked a few papers though most of his time was spent fondly watching the two turtledoves on the corner. He had made it a habit to let them out once or twice a day and stretch their wings (they had not been clipped) but he hadn’t dared bring them out of his rooms just yet. He wanted to be sure they would not fly away as soon as they found open skies; he had grown used to them after all.

--//--

Noontime lunch came and went and Severus had managed to pass the time in his rooms thus far. He was more than a little apprehensive about leaving them. Geese were anything but quite and while he couldn’t hear them through the spells around his apartments he still had a gut feeling that there was little silence to be had beyond them.

The appointed time did arrive, however, and Severus donned the traditional sweeping battle robes. A crest on his left breast indicated his rank (Master of Potions), family seal (two crossed swords), and three silver stripes along the border indicated recognition and awards in the ring of professional dueling. Severus hadn’t always been a teacher at Hogwarts and the students were about to discover just what it was he did to gain Voldemort’s attention all those years ago.

Severus passed through his rooms on his way up out of the dungeons to collect a few pre-made potions. They were more for show than to be used, but if he was going to make an impression he was going to go the whole nine yards. Of course, entering his classroom on a Saturday was perhaps the biggest mistake he had made yet this week. Several geese, (he’d take a guess and say six) were trolloping about in a line quite loudly. They were neon green and glittering silver, technically house colors, but no where near close enough for his tastes.

He pulled his wand and changed their colors (twelve spells, he counted this time) to something resembling dark emerald, black, and a non-glittering silver. His eye twitched when they lined up behind him quick as you please. With a scowl he stalked around the room to collect his vials, the birds followed his every move. He shook his head and stalked back out of his room, slamming the door behind him before the birds could follow him out as well. He passed a student, who giggled into her hand and Severus shot her The Death Glare. It didn’t do much as she wasn’t looking at him.

Snape turned in time to see the last two of six geese pass through his solid oak classroom door as though it was air. He watched them stupidly for a moment then whirled and stomped the rest of the way up the stairs, giving up the battle for now.

--//--

Severus found a surprise waiting for him when he entered the Great hall, six birds in tow. Not only had what looked like the entire school population settled down in huge bleachers but there were a few guests among the teachers at the head table. Severus had time enough to recognize a thatch of black hair before there was a girl-like squeal behind him. The geese all collected around a trilogy of girls that were only more than delighted to coo at them. Severus was not one to pass up an opportunity. He called one of the girls sharply and she hesitated for a moment before leaving the birds to her friends and approaching the foreboding potions master. “Miss. Helan, would you do me the favor of looking after the birds while I am here? I do not want them underfoot.” The girl’s face lit up and she immediately enlisted the help of her friends as she herded the geese away from the entrance.

“Professor…”

Snape spun on his heel, eyes wide. “Sweet Merlin, Draco when did you get back?”

The blonde’s stoic face cracked into a haughty smile as he offered his hand. “Just last night. I heard you were to put on a show and Harry mentioned he’d save me a seat.”

Severus clasped the proffered hand and resisted the urge to yank the man into a hug. He hadn’t seen him in eight years, after all, and my, had he grown. As tall as his father at least, same hair, and same eyes but with his mother’s vela grace. Severus shook his head in disbelief.

“Draco! Remus says its time to start!” Draco’s gaze fixed over Severus’s shoulder on Harry and softened. Snape watched him closely.

“It seems I have to take my seat.” Draco looked back to Severus. “I’ve got twenty galleons on you professor.” The blonde winked and made his way back to the teacher’s table with Harry, whom, Severus had to admit, had also filled out very nicely, talking as though old friends.

This day just kept getting more and more bizarre.

A shrill whistle rang out and even the geese quieted to listen. Everyone was instructed to their seats and the lights were slowly dimmed to pitch black A single ray of light blinked on above Severus and there was a chorus of cheers from the slytherins. A second ray of light illuminated Remus, who had his back to the crowd, chatting with Harry until he realized that the roar of sound was every other house drowning out the booing slytherines. He turned to face them with a brilliant smile and a shallow bow. They cheered louder if that was even possible.

The sound eventually died down and both teachers stepped toward each other in the large space available to them. They lifted their wands and at the same time, cast a circular spell around the area they had agreed upon. The ground rumbled and shook as it raised itself up a full two inches. Another spell was cast by the both of them, this one dome-shaped to catch and reflect any spells that missed their mark. The dome also looked to the pair inside like a black stone wall to cut down on the distraction of cheering fans. The students and staff on the outside saw merely a soft shimmer of silver and gold where the shield had been cast.

Dumbledore’s voice boomed out to the spectators, explaining the actions of the participants to those who were not familiar. Said participates didn’t hear a word. They measured their steps toward each other, paused, bowed low, and immediately began to circle each other. The battle was on.

--//--

The back and forth of the duel will not be narrated here for it was little more than the casting and deflecting of various spells and of little interest save for those who were there. For those unfamiliar, however, and explanation of the dueling has been here forth directed by the higher ups.

Professional dueling is a very exact sport and not something to be taken lightly. The first spell to be cast is always one that sets the dueling field so that both participants and the observers know what constitutes out of bounds. The field is then razed and lifted two inches to give the participants even ground. The second spell both protects the observers and makes the duel a little more challenging to the participants. The dome blocks all distractions outside its range and also acts as a reflective mirror to any spells it comes in contact with. Thus, the only way for a spell to die is for it to run out of energy, be canceled out by another spell, or to strike one of the participants.

This causes such duels to become very short lived if enough spells are cast and avoided. As we know, some spells, when they come in contact with one another, amplify themselves and join together to become one larger curse to deal with. Some spells are impossible to see however most are within the visible light spectrum.

The duel that was preformed that day between Remus Lupin and Severus Snape went down in the books as perhaps one of the most memorable. There were no few losses of his wand on Remus’s part, and Severus escaped some close calls using methods that are still in hot debate even today but a good time was had by all and just in time for the evening meal.

--//--

Severus had managed to escape the crowds and to his rooms to shower but not before he was instructed by Albus to return for the dinner meal. The geese tagged his every step but, thankfully, not into the shower. He did, however, find a goodly pile of eggs awaiting him when he returned to his sitting room.

Dinner was actually something Severus was looking forward to, knowing that Draco would be joining them. He arrived in the great hall to several waves of noise from various directions. He took his usual seat at the end and was not at all surprised when Draco arrived to take the one next to him. None other than Harry Potter tailed the blonde and the two were deep in conversation when they entered the hall, neither letting up more than to nod to the professor when they sat.

The meal interrupted them but not the students and Severus could pick out no less than twelve separate retellings of the duel, each more and more elaborate than the previous. The arrival of the owls interrupted the chatter. Harry’s white owl received a lot of attention on her flight over. Much pointing and gawking, Severus noticed. The bird dropped off a single letter and left immediately for wherever she was staying. Harry glanced at the envelope and slipped it into his robe pocket for later. He looked up in time to see Draco’s hawk.

“There’s Alptraum.” He gestured to the large bird as he soared in for a well practiced landing on Draco’s upheld fist.

Snape fought a smirk. “Strange choice of name, Draco.

The blonde just shook his head with a smile, accepting the letter the bird gave him. The hawk moved to his shoulder and promptly snatched a slice of goose from one of the plates. “I bought him off of a man in Germany when I went to visit. Didn’t really care what his name was though I did find it fitting. He was apparently trained for fighting and has more than a little bit of inherent magic-“ Another slice of goose disappeared, this time off of Harry’s plate.

“Greedy twit... as though we don’t feed you enough already…” Harry levitated a half full plate of the meat and let it hover behind Draco’s chair. The bird turned about and settled down to his meal.

Severus finally commented on the familiarity between them. “You two aren’t bickering. I can only assume you’ve exchanged correspondence since Draco left?”

“Since the very day of.” Replied Draco. Harry suppressed the urge to roll his eyes while Severus tried to figure out why he was hurt by that statement. “I couldn’t have talked to Dumbledore or you, or anyone else for that matter. They were watching me. But who would have kept an eye on sworn enemies sending jibes overseas?” The hurt eased… but not by much.

--//--

Severus was in his kitchenette making tea when there was a knock on his door. He directed the pot and two cups to the table in front of the fire and opened to door to find Draco with a package. The professor had invited the man down to his rooms for tea but the box was an unexpected addition. He gestured the blonde in but Draco only managed four steps before he noticed the tree and stopped again.

“Redecorate without me?” He put the box down on a chair and walked over to the tree, brushing his pale fingers over the dark stones in curiosity. Backing up again he noticed the birdcage and contents. “Are those doves?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have sent them, would you?”

“Heh, no but it’s a good idea for you to have some company down here finally. Though doves would not have been my first choice.”

“They are turtledoves, and quite company; easy to care for.”

Draco looked back to the tree as though something had occurred to him. His fingers tapped an obscure rhythm on his thigh as he thought, only to be interrupted by Severus asking, “Tea?”

He turned with a nod and hefted the box again from the chair. “Alptraum intercepted me on the way down, gave me this. It had a note indicating I should give it to you.” He handed the box over. “Any idea what it is?”

Severus said nothing as he took the box and his own seat. “Accio letter opener” the potions professor muttered under his breath. The silver blade zipped across the room, Snape opened the box and used both hands to carefully lift out another delicate figurine. Draco snatched the knife and looked it over curiously, eyes flicking back to the tree silhouetted on the wall. Two and two abruptly made four.

“It’s a pear tree.” Then he laughed and pointed to the doves. “Two turtledoves, four calling birds, six geese, where are the hens and rings, Severus?” His jibe was merely to poke fun but when the professor opened his wine case with a wave of his wand and a particular velvet box soared in from the bedroom, Draco quickly sobered.

“You mean you actually have hens and rings?” Draco muttered.

He made to open the box in his lap when it was flicked back to the bedroom with a sharp, “Wait. Look at the hens first.”

Draco’s brow creased but he rose and did as he was instructed, taking a moment to admire the small animated birds. Shaking his head in amusement he closed the wine cabinet and made for the bedroom where he could see the box sitting on the nightstand.

Severus looked at the paperweight in his hand with absolutely no discernable expression on his face. The figurine was a family of geese, two large and four small twined around each other and taking up very little space indeed. It was interesting to look at, captivating the eye with semi-transparent depths. How long he sat there, lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t know but when he looked up Draco was standing before him, eyes slightly glazed.

“Did you use them?” The question was completely breathless.

Severus flicked his eyes to the blonde’s finger where the fifth ring twined. “No.”

”Want to?”

Severus swallowed carefully. “You did send them then…”

“No,” Still breathless, “But I’m beginning to wish I had.”