Complications // Severus Snape

• Ch 18 A Very Veela Christmas •

A/N: It's been so long but we're going back! I am going to be completing the story, so I hope that this chapter and the chapters following it are all right.

Recap: "Don't flatter yourself, Amarina. I don't fancy you."

"What're you doing for break?" I asked Severus the last night before break. "Stay here. Since Halloween, being a double-agent had proved much easier." "Of course it has, You-Know-Who's gone." "His followers aren't," Severus replied, "And there's a debate on that."

"Nothing new with me. Except..." "Except?" I asked. "I'm engaged."

I was no longer my father's favorite girl, it seemed.

*   *   *

I awoke at sunrise on Christmas morning, either due to my excitement or due to the fact that I hadn't taken a sleeping potion or pills the night before. Had I not been so eager to see what lay in store for the day's festivities, I would have witnessed the beautiful sight of the sun peeking up out of the horizon, the sky around it a mixture of pink found in candyfloss and orange found in caramel.

Not bothering to run a comb through my tangled hair, I banged loudly on the door to my dad's room, in an attempt to wake him and Ella. However, I heard no noise from the other side of the door, so I crept into the lounge and filled a large bowl with cold water. I slowly crept back to my dad's room, the water sloshing over the brim of the bowl with each tiptoe. When I entered the room, I found my dad and Ella cuddled up together on his bed, fast asleep.

Slightly disgusted, I flipped the bowl of water over, spilling its icy contents onto the sleeping couple. They jolted awake, and I ran out of the room with the bowl, laughing hysterically.

After returning the bowl to the kitchen, I made my way to the lounge and sat with my legs folded beside the Christmas tree. I turned on the tree's multi-colored lights, which were the main source of light in the house at such an ungodly hour.

While waiting for the couple, I decided to make myself useful by sorting everyone's gifts into separate piles. I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of gifts I had received; usually it was just a few from my father, grandparents, and a few of my Ravenclaw friends at Hogwarts, but this year I had also received gifts from Ella, the Gryffindors I had befriended, and Severus.

The drenched couple finally came down the stairs twenty minutes later, looking somewhat put-together. "Care to explain your little stunt?" asked my dad, trying to sound strict but ultimately failing, as his amusement was evident by the smile on his face.

"It's Christmas." I said simply.

My father shook his head, and I heard Ella ask him, "Is zis 'ow you usually wake each ozzer?"

With a laugh, he replied, "Only on special occasions."

With that, the gift-unwrapping commenced.

My dad had taken me shopping for Ella the day after I returned. I hadn't the faintest idea what to get her, so I settled on a pair of earrings—which were a good choice, I suppose, as she ended up liking them (or at least pretending to).

For my dad, I purchased a strange-looking wizard culinary device which I had seen in Diagon Alley. I wasn't sure what it did, and neither did my dad, but he seemed to be excited about it nonetheless.

There were impersonal gifts to me such as socks and jumpers from grandparents that I rarely saw and sweets from my school friends, however the most interesting gifts were from Ella and my dad. My dad and Ella gave to me a gray owl—which I named Llewellyn—and my mother's old locket.