WHITE FLAG ▹ potter

007. i think your house is haunted

Lilium thought everything was brill 'til Hermione mentioned gifts.

She hadn't even thought of gifts — for anyone. She'd never purchased Yule presents before, and she didn't have much money for it, mind, but she'd been saving up her Knuts and Sickles. She figured she might be able to pull off something, though.

So, Lilium got Dumbledore a pair of stockings — a solid set of thick, woolen socks. Snape thought she ought to give him a book or something reasonable, but she was stubborn and she refused to be moved. Anyway, Dumbledore said it was exactly what he wanted — the first 'Christmas' in years that someone had given him a gift he actually needed. And she'd gotten McGongall some yarn and Hagrid some new oven mitts. He'd like those.

Hermione of course received a new volume of books entitled 'Ancient Magic, 10,000 BC to Now'. She'd like that; besides, it was far more entertaining than anything Professor Binns had to say. Ronald received an entire army of chocolate frogs, but she struggled with what to get Potter. What to get the famous Boy Who Lived? Eventually, she settled on a new pair of Seeker gloves (top of the line) and refused to respond when he thanked her.

And Snape...

Well, she had no idea what the hell to get Snape.

She could just gift him with good behaviour; he might appreciate that more than anything, but... it didn't feel like enough.

She'd think of something — she had to.

The biggest tragedy was that Hermione was to go home for the winter hols.

"At least you'll have the boys for company," her friend said, as if trying to comfort her.

"Grand," Lilium grumbled back, watching her pack her luggage glumly.

Their investigation — into the Stone and her mother — had more or less been put on hold for holiday. Hermione promised to keep researching while Lilium and the boys swore to keep poking round, but... there wasn't much they could do 'til school started back up.

It was summed up rather simply when Lilium said, "My father might hate your guts, Potter, but he's not about to murder you... I don't think."

"How reassuring," he told her dryly.

She shrugged unhelpfully.

While Potter and Ronald slept in the tower, Lilium celebrated the holiday in her father's quarters in the dungeons — as usual. But it was strange being back home. Everything felt slightly... wrong, and she couldn't tell if it was the place that had changed or the people who inhabited it.

She'd grown so used to the roaring fires and heat in the Gryffindor common room that the chill of the dungeons felt ten times worse than usual. Wind rattled the windows, and the corridors were full of icy drafts. Her breaths were visible puffs of white and she kept as close to the fireplace as she could.

Snape looked... shocked when she gave him his present.

It made sense, after all, it was the first time she'd ever given him such a thing.

It was a small parcel, tiny enough to fit in her hands but heavy enough to be a slight strain, and he took it like he expected it to blow his fingers off. As if she'd give him an explosive, she rolled her eyes, Well, not without some warning anyway. She felt impossibly shy and impossibly stupid as she released a breath and raised her chin, trying to bury her nerves with her bravery.

Fun fact: Severus Snape was perhaps the only person she knew who cautiously unwrapped parcels so as not to tear the paper. Ridiculous. She waited in agony as he finally finished ever so carefully unfolding the present, and her pulse thudded wildly in her ears when he didn't immediately speak.