A Very Harmony Christmas

That's Snape!

Prompt: December 19th. A Christmas Carol / Die Hard.

~~~

That's Snape!

"Harry, Hermione, thank you," Madam Bones said. "I will be in contact with you soon."

With that, the Head of the DMLE apparated away from the Granger's backyard with a crack.

"She's gone, Sirius!" Harry called.

At once, the big black grim that had been hidden and watching from the underneath a bush against the back fence slunk into view. He took a careful look around before transforming back into a man.

"Well? How'd it go?" Sirius asked.

"Good. I think," Harry shrugged. "At least, she listened a lot and took lots of notes."

"She didn't ask as many questions as I thought she would," Hermione admitted.

"I wouldn't be surprised if half of those notes that you said Madam Bones took were questions, questions that she'll try to find the answers to independent of you before asking you about them," Sirius said. "If everything that I've heard about her is true, she'll want multiple sources confirming things before she acts – less problems than if it simply came down to 'he said, she said'."

"At the end, Madam Bones also made a comment that she'd found a single case of a person being sent to Azkaban without a trial," Harry told his godfather, making him stop and stare. "She didn't say much, other than that she was looking into what had happened and why."

"I had the impression that she really didn't like the implications of finding that out and was going to make sure that the injustice was corrected," Hermione added.

"That's ... that's amazing! Hope. I'd almost forgotten what that felt like," Sirius said, his eyes glistening suspiciously. "Thank you both."

He drew them into a fierce hug before releasing them.

"Come on, I guess we should get back to Grimmauld," Sirius said as though he was tasting something particularly vile.

"Do we have to go back so quickly?" Harry near-whined.

"If we can stay a little longer, we could indulge in one of my family's Christmas traditions?" Hermione suggested.

"A family tradition?" Harry asked interestedly. "But we're not wearing our Ugly Christmas Jumpers."

"What tradition would that be?" Sirius asked.

"We could watch a Christmas movie together," Hermione said. "Maybe have some popcorn and hot chocolates with it as well?"

Harry couldn't help but grin at the idea. "That'd be brilliant! Can we, Sirius?"

"I don't see why not," Sirius laughed.

Hermione led Harry and Sirius into the living room and, while they were getting settled, she turned on the television and video player. She pulled open the drawer that contained the Granger Video Selection and her hand hovered over the Christmas movies. Normally, she and her mother enjoyed a feel-good Christmas movie, preferably with some romantic undertones. But then she considered who was going to be watching it.

Her hand slid to a different set, the set that her father much preferred, even if there was some debate about whether one of them was even a Christmas movie or not. Home Alone was possible but, seeing that other one she sighed and picked it out.

I wonder what they'll make of... she thought as she pulled the video from its case and inserted it into the machine.

While it was loading, she quickly went to the kitchen to make the popcorn and prepare the drinks.

By the time that she returned, the opening credits of Die Hard had rolled through and the hero, John McClaine, was already in the front of the limousine on the way to Nakatomi Plaza.

As the music changed and the truck filled with the bad guys descended into the carpark, Hermione shifted in her seat to ensure that she had the best view possible of both Harry and Sirius' faces. Her heart started beating slightly faster as she remembered her own reaction to what was coming.

"WHAT!"

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME?" Sirius' yell was punctuated by him jumping to his feet, inadvertently sending the bowl of popcorn flying to scatter its contents all over the carpet.

"SNAPE! What's Snape doing there?" Harry exclaimed, gesturing wilding at the video of the man on the screen striding down the corridor.

"That's not Professor Snape," Hermione laughed. "It's just an actor that looks like him. Alan Rickman."

"No way! That's Snape! I'd know him anywhere!" Sirius refuted, shaking his head.

"I assure you, that it's not!" Hermione insisted right back. "Besides, can you imagine Professor Snape being in a muggle movie?"

Harry and Sirius shared a disbelieving look.

"She does make a good point," Sirius said.

"Something that Hermione is eminently good at," Harry agreed. "But, still..."

He finished with gesturing to the screen once again.

"That's not Snivellus?" Sirius asked, a trace of doubt in his voice.

"No. It's not. Now, just watch the movie," Hermione assured him. "I suspect that you're really going to enjoy it."

"Snape's a bad guy in this?" Harry asked.

"It's not Professor Snape," Hermione repeated, allowing a trace of annoyance into her voice. "But yes, the actor Alan Rickman, is playing a 'bad guy' named Hans Gruber."

"Well, whoever he is, that face looks just right as a bad guy," Sirius stated. "The slimy git."

"He doesn't have greasy hair," Harry pointed out, almost sounding disappointed.

"And that beard? I can't imagine Snape with a beard. Well, I couldn't. I can now, I guess," Sirius stated. "I don't like it."

"It's Snape. What's to like?" Harry asked rhetorically, eliciting a roll of her eyes from Hermione.

As she'd expected, the two of them kept up their running commentary for how alike Snape was to the actor and how much the two of them were bad guys. And, just as expected, it increased their interest in the movie.

Hermione couldn't wait to see their reaction when Hans Gruber (with Severus Snape's face) fell from Nakatomi Plaza.