It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 51

"I'd be frantic!" gasped Mrs. Weasley.

"You'd be more worried about the house, Molly, especially if it was Fred and George who were left behind," laughed Sirius. 

"Oh, dear, I believe you might be right," laughed Molly.

"We heard that!" George called, from two tables away.

"But Sirius is right, too," added Fred, which caused everyone to laugh.

"So, what all DID you do to get this old rock pile ready?' asked Dan, leaning forward, eager to hear all the details.

"Well . . . " Hermione started to speak. "I actually had seen that particular movie, over my first Christmas holiday from Hogwarts.  My parents took me to the cinema while I was home and I did come up with a few suggestions for our defenses," she admitted.

"No . . . did you?"  Emma grinned at her friend.  "Which bits?  I watched that movie while we were filming, so I could say I'd seen some of Chris' work."

"Suck up," whispered Rupert, which earned him an elbow in the ribs. "Ow!"

"We all watched Chris' movies at some point . . . they are really funny and we could see his touch in the staging and little bits of business," Dan informed them.

"Yeah, there's 'Goonies',  'Gremlins', 'Adventures in Babysitting' . . . you could have a Chris Columbus Film Festival some weekend and  . . " Tom enthused.

"I don't know about that, Tom  . . .  too many ideas for little, and older, minds," Emma injected, looking pointedly at the Weasley twins and their children

"What?"  Fred asked, innocently. "Who us? "

" 'Adventures in babysitting' . .got it!  Anymore?"  George asked, pretending to write on his hand.

" 'Oh dear, oh dear, we are in trouble now'," Angelina leaned over and whispered to her sister-in-law, Alicia, who nodded and rolled her eyes.

X X X

"Slowly, Severus . . . make sure you have your weight on one foot before trying to move the other," instructed Healer Treiber, as Severus pushed her, in his wheelchair, around the Hospital wing.

"I believe you are having a bit too much fun, being pampered like this," Severus remarked, as he navigated a turn in the maze that Katie had formed by re-arranging the beds. "Shouldn't you be walking alongside me, in case I start to topple over?"

"Nonsense! You aren't going to 'topple over'," giggled the Medi-Witch.  "This is for improving your balance and strengthening your leg muscles.  Plus, my weight in this wheelchair makes for a bit of weigh resistance.  I'm just making sure you are ready to start walking without assistance and you're doing quite well, I might add . . . apart from the dent in the doorframe . . . and the overturned stool . . .and . . ."

"Cheeky little . . . " Severus growled, just as he made a turn and was presented with a fairly long straightaway.  He picked up his pace and hurried, as quickly as he dared, toward the end of the room.

"Severus!!!!! Oh, no!  Stop! STOP!"  Katie squealed, covering her eyes as the wall loomed in front of her.

Severus slowed but put the chair right up against the low wall, so when his Healer opened her eyes she had a view of the Black Lake and Forbidden Forest spread out before her. It was snowing, and the late afternoon sunlight was fading quickly. She could see Severus' reflection in the glass; he was standing, looking down at her, smirk on his face but a twinkle in his eye.

Katie turned to face Severus, kneeling on the seat, wagging her finger at him.

"You, Professor Snape, are a naughty, naughty boy and Father Christmas won't bring you presents tonight, if you don't say you're sorry!" she huffed at him, trying to look stern.

"Father Christmas hasn't visited the dungeons of Hogwarts for years, so that isn't much of an incentive for making me feel guilty," replied Severus, as he straightened up and rocked from one leg to the other, bending his knees to work the kinks out of his muscles.  He looked up to see the stricken look on Katie's face and immediately realized he'd said the wrong thing.  "But," he quickly added. "If you think it would make a difference; I'm sorry if I worried you.  I really do feel my legs are responding a lot better today."

"I'm sorry, too, Severus, for . . . well, I wasn't being very . . . I didn't know . . . ." She stumbled to a halt, looking up at her former teacher, now her patient, as he stood there with his usual stoic face firmly in place. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, or imply . . ."

"I know you didn't."  Severus offered her a small smile.  "I've been alone for so long, I hardly notice holidays at all, birthdays, either."  He shrugged. "One gets used to it."

"Well, not this year! Not this Christmas, Severus Snape!"  With that, she reached up and put her hands on his cheeks and pulled his face down to her level.  "Happy Christmas, Severus Snape!" 

She leaned forward and kissed Severus, before he could think to pull away . . . and then his mind told him that was a singularly foolish thing to do, in any case.  As his arms went around Katie's waist, he threw caution to the wind and kissed her back, knowing this was the start of a cautious, but hopefully, fulfilling relationship.