Harry and Ron spent the night in Alaina's quarters, so when they woke up the next morning they would already be in the midst of all of their presents. Alaina insisted the two of them could have her bed and she would sleep on the couch, but they wouldn't have it. Harry slept on the couch and Ron in the easy chair. So when Dumbledore came late that night to deliver the presents she made sure she was up to open the door. He had sneaked in and floated them right under the Christmas tree without either of the boys knowing anything about it.
Ron was the first to open his eyes. He instantly sat upright and his eyes bulged at the sight of all the presents.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed.
His cry woke Harry up. His eyes fluttered open slowly. He felt over on the coffee table for his glasses. Once he got them and put them on, he knew what Ron had been so excited about. He grinned.
"That is a lot of presents," Ron commented. "Are they all for you?"
Harry rubbed his eyes. "No. I expect some of them are for you, too."
"Oh right. Let's see!"
Harry got down off the couch and Ron hopped out of the easy chair. They raced over to the Christmas tree and slid into the presents, almost knocking some of them over and bursting out in fits of laughter. The noise woke Alaina up and she got dressed to go out and join them. When she opened the door, she had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at them. They were both sitting in the floor with presents all around them. They looked up when she walked into the room with sheepish expressions.
"Sorry we woke you, Mum," Harry apologized.
"Yeah, sorry Professor Evans," Ron said.
She smiled. "It's Christmas. You don't have to apologize for being excited."
They both grinned.
"So, let's get this party started," Alaina said. "Go ahead and tear into your presents. Let's see what you've got." She sat down on the couch and watched them open each and every one.
Ron got one from his family, a maroon knitted sweater monogrammed with an 'R'. The rest were from Alaina, a basket of candy, a brand new set of robes, and a few other little things. Harry got a sweater from Ron's mother with an "H" on it. It was blue and a basket of candy as well. He got a new pair of shoes and a few other things. When he had opened them all, there were still two more that had his name on them at the back of the tree. Alaina frowned. She hadn't remembered getting anything like that and wrapping it up.
Harry grabbed them before she could say anything. He turned. "What are these, Mum?"
"I'm not sure. Let me have them before you open them though."
He got up and took them to her. Alaina took out her wand and ran it over them.
"Well," she said, "there's nothing dangerous in there." She handed them back to Harry. "Go ahead and open them."
Harry walked back over to the tree and told Ron to help him open the smallest one. It was a velvet pouch. Harry opened it up and pulled what was inside out. It was a small vial of some kind of liquid potion. He frowned. "I wonder who this is from." He held it up for Alaina to see. She smiled.
"I know who it's from."
"The only person in the world who would give you a potion would be Snape," Ron guessed. "But why would he get you a present? He hates you."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He knew Snape didn't hate him, but he doubted he would get him any kind of present. Ron was right. He put the potion off to the side and opened the next one. It was a cloak, decorated intricately with a design he had never laid eyes on before. "It's a cloak of some kind."
"Well, let's see then," Ron said, standing. "Put it on."
Harry stood and draped it around his shoulders. He twirled around. Alaina's eyes widened. She knew exactly what it was and who it had belonged to. They were really rare, but who had given it to him?
"There's a note," Harry said. He opened it up and read it out loud. "Your father left this in my possession before he died. I think it's time it was returned to you. Use it well." He looked down and his eyes bulged. "My body's gone!"
"I know what that is!" Ron exclaimed. "That's an invisibility cloak!" Then he frowned. "I wonder who gave it to you. They're really rare."
"Yes, they are, "Alaina agreed as Ron voiced her thoughts.
"Who do you think gave it to me, Mum?" Harry asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know. But it was hard enough to keep up with you when you couldn't turn invisible," she told him with a chuckle.
He grinned. Harry and Ron got distracted by the presents they received a few short seconds later and played around with Harry's new Invisibility Cloak. They scared Alaina twice and burst into giggles after each one. It was all good fun, but she prayed they wouldn't keep it up for very long. The last time they had nearly caused her heart to stop.
They finally settled down when Alaina fixed them some breakfast. They spent the rest of the morning watching Muggle cartoons on the television she had brought with her. Alaina went into the bedroom and got ready for her outing with Severus. She couldn't help overhearing Ron's comments about how the coyote never caught the road runner. She nearly dropped to the floor laughing at him. Harry was trying to explain it all, but it wasn't getting through to Ron at all which was all the more hilarious.
Alaina made Harry and Ron get dressed when it was about time for lunch, much to their disappointment. When they came back out, she gave them a couple of options.
"Guys, you can either stay in here until tonight and have your fun after lunch, or you can back to you dormitory."
"How come?" Harry questioned. Then he noticed she was wearing a long dress she had only worn when they were going some place special. "Wait, are you going somewhere?"
Alaina grinned. "Yes. I'm going for a walk if you don't mind," she said with a chuckle.
"Oh no. I don't mind. Ron and I have loads to do. Don't we, Ron?"
Ron stared at him like he had three heads, his brow furrowed in confusion. "We do?"
Alaina chuckled to herself as Harry tried to elbow him in the ribs discretely. "Harry, if you and Ron want to spend the day with me, just say so. I'll cancel my walk."
"No," Harry protested. "Like I said, we have stuff to do."
"Oh yeah," Ron said. "I remember now. The stuff."
She shook her head. They were lying right through their teeth, but it was sweet they were letting her go. "You're sure?"
"Yes," Harry answered.
She smiled at him and gave him a quick hug. "Now if you need me, I want you two to send up sparks with your wands."
He frowned. "I don't know how to do that yet, Mum."
"Me either," Ron admitted.
Alaina took out her wand and instructed Harry and Ron to do the same. She was surprised when they pulled them out without hesitation.
"Okay now. There are only two people who knew this spell. One was obviously me and the other was my sister Lily." Harry blinked when she said her name. "She taught it to me when I was twelve. She said if I ever got into trouble all I had to do was send them up into the sky wherever I was and she would come to me or send help if she couldn't make it. She invented it. It was sort of our buddy system. I'm going to teach it to the two of you now, but only under one condition. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it or teach it to anyone else."
Harry and Ron's eyes lit up. A secret spell? They were all for secrets. "We promise," they said in unison.
Suddenly Harry frowned. "What about Hermione?"
Alaina smiled. "You can tell Hermione, but that's it."
"You got it, Professor Evans," Ron said.
Harry simply smiled.
"Okay," Alaina continued. "All you have to do is point your wands to the sky and say 'Periculum Azura'."
The boys repeated the spell after her perfectly.
"What does it do exactly?" Ron asked.
"It produces blue sparks. I have never had to use it, but the sparks show themselves to the person you're thinking about when you cast it."
"Sounds wicked," Harry commented. Ron nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Mum."
"You're welocme," she stated.
Alaina walked Harry and Ron down to the Great Hall so they could have lunch. She told them goodbye and then she headed outside. She had dressed herself in boots so the snow wouldn't soak through to her feet and the warmest robe she owned was wrapped around her. Still the temperature was freezing. It didn't help that the wind was blowing slightly or that there was an occasional snowflake still falling from the sky. She didn't care what the weather was like though. All she wanted to be able to do was to spend time with Severus. She didn't want him to spend Christmas alone. Harry had Ron to keep him company, but all Severus had was his potions. While she suspected he would probably be perfectly happy alone, she couldn't stand the thought of it.
She walked down the path leading to Hagrid's, taking her time on the stone stairs, and stopped when she reached the edge of the forest. This was where she was supposed to meet Severus. She waited there for ten minutes and she didn't see any sign of him. Of course she hadn't really set a time for him to be there, but she figured he would have shown up by now. She was about to give up on him when she saw him heading carefully down the stone stairs. He hurried up to her.
"Forgive me for being late," Severus apologized, "but I thought we could sip on this while we walked and it took me longer than I thought to make it." He handed her a steaming cup with a lid.
Alaina smiled. "It's alright. What is this?"
"Hot apple cider."
"Wow. And you made this?"
"With my own two hands."
Alaina took a sip and the sweetness of it made it delicious. "Oh my. I love it."
"I figured you would. Your sister did."
She smiled reflectively. "You're right. She did. You really know a lot about her, don't you?"
He smiled sadly. "I loved her."
"I know you did. Can I ask you a silly question?"
"Anything."
She licked her lips. "Do you think you'll ever get over her? I mean, do you think you'll ever love anyone else?"
He stared at her blankly. "She'll always be a part of me. She was my friend and I loved her, but if the opportunity presented itself I'm sure I could love someone else." He frowned. "Why would you ask me such a question?"
Alaina swallowed nervously. "No reason. Just curious." She began to walk and Severus followed.
"It's the first time I've ever admitted it out loud. But on to a more cheerful subject. How was your morning?"
"Great," Alaina responded. "Thank you for sending Harry the potion by the way."
Severus didn't deny it. "How did you know?"
She grinned. "Only you would get him a potion for Christmas." She chuckled.
"Does Harry know it was from me?"
"No. I think he might suspect it was from you. He didn't really say. He was rather intrigued by his father's Invisibility Cloak."
Severus quirked an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't know Albus had parted with it."
Alaina stopped. "Albus gave it to him?"
"Yes. He used it to spy on the Dark Lord sometimes. This means Harry will have yet another way to disobey the rules."
She laughed. "He better not, but you're probably right. He is mischievous." She shivered as she sipped on her cider. The contrasting temperatures between it and the weather caused her to shiver again.
Alaina and Severus walked through the woods for a good ten minutes before they stopped to rest. Severus pointed out his spot where he used to come to read and rattled off a story about how it was the only safe place he could escape bullies.
"I can't believe you were bullied," Alaina commented. "You're so strong. It's hard to imagine."
"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger," he quoted. "It guess it's true. I've been through a lot in my life. Bullied at home and at school. But I'm stronger for it."
"Yes, you are," she appeased. She looked around. "The trees are really white and pretty with all this snow on them. It makes them heavy." She was about to get upset, so she changed the subject. The thought of anyone being cruel to him was too unimaginable to her.
"It does." Severus shoved his free hand into his pocket. "Alaina, I'm curious. Why did you ask me to come with you on this walk?"
"I just wanted to spend some time with you," she answered. "Plus, I didn't want you to spend Christmas alone. I'm here for you."
He smiled. "Thank you. That's really comforting to know. You're amazingly sweet to me."
Silence fell between the two of them as they drank their cider and continued to walk and talk about small things. They finished their drinks and made the cups vanish with a spell. It wasn't until the wind kicked up and it started to pour the snow that they decided they had better start heading back. They turned suddenly and Alaina lost her footing. She nearly took Severus down when she slammed into his chest, but he managed to stay on his feet. Alaina gazed up at him. He had thrown out his arms to catch her and he was holding her there now. He was grinning until he realized she was staring at him strangely. He hadn't seen such a look in her eye before. His smile faded. He just noticed the two of them were incredibly close, close enough he could smell the apple cider on her breath.
Alaina's heart was beating wildly, screaming for her to take action. Moments like these were hard to come by. She may never get another opportunity to show him they were more than just friends in her eyes. On impulse, she captured his lips with hers.
Severus was so surprised at the gesture he nearly toppled over backwards. Luckily they were near a tree. He just fell against it, steadying himself. He pulled Alaina closer to him and deepened the kiss, opening his mouth slightly so he could taste the sweetness of her mouth a little better. He had been wanting to taste her lips again ever since he saw her that day at Diagon Alley.
The kiss seemed to go on forever before they both had to catch their breath.
"What was that?" Severus asked breathlessly.
Alaina's cheeks reddened. "An amazing kiss."
"I agree."
They both laughed.
"It warmed me up," Severus disclosed.
Alaina smiled. "Me too, but we better get back to the castle."
"Yes," he agreed. "I need to get a little bit of rest before I have to patrol tonight." He slowly reached for her hand and wrapped his around hers.
Alaina retained her smile, but she didn't say a word. They walked back to the castle holding hands. She hoped what she had just instigated wasn't a huge mistake.