Christmas met Severus and Lily on the doorstep of Lily's house after a long day travelling from Hogsmeade to London, London to Manchester. Actually, it was Rose that answered the door, but her appearance was not dissimilar. She was wearing a pretty dress which was salmon pink in colour, and had silver bells for earrings. The silver theme was reinforced with tinsel perched atop her crown of hair, and flat shoes.
"Lily, darling!" She exclaimed upon opening the door to see the two children with Mark. "Severus!"
"Rose," Severus nodded, as Lily squealed and made a beeline for her mother. The embrace lasted a good half a minute, during which Severus crossed his arms with displeasure at the sentimental sight. Then, however, Rose seized him too, and he was pulled, rather unwillingly, into a group hug, while his arms still remained crossed. He scowled.
"Loosen up, Sev," Lily whispered, smiling at him.
He rolled his eyes.
Later that evening they sat around in the sitting room; Rose and Mark on the loveseat, and Lily, Petunia and Severus squeezed on the sofa opposite.
"Christmas lists, girls!" Mark demanded cheerfully, holding his hands out. The girls both screamed in excitement, showing similarities for once, and stuffed scraps of scribbled-on paper into his outstretched hands. There may only be a few days left until Christmas, but the things Petunia and Lily requested were usual simple things, like having their favourite meal on Boxing Day, or (in Petunia's case) getting the money required to buy a new cassette.
Rose turned to Severus.
"Any requests?"
Severus was gratified, but not surprised, that she had asked him that. Lily's parents had often sent him chocolates for Christmas in his past life when he hadn't been invited to theirs for the festivities, and had refused to believe that Severus actually detested chocolate, even when Lily claimed to have eaten all of them.
"Don't worry, Rose," he said stiffly. "You, all of you, being nice to me is the best gift I could ever receive."
And more than you ever got from your parents, his subconscious reminded him. Though this thought was left unsaid, Severus strongly suspected that both adults had guessed the insinuation.
"Are you sure?" Rose asked anxiously, her face softening as she took in his earnest expression.
"Positive," he nodded.
"Very well," remarked Mark.
*
As schools were always let out only a few days before Christmas Day, Severus and Lily only had four days to wait until the actual day, and it came quickly, and without fail. Rose brought out crackers for their evening meal on Christmas Eve, and all three children also assisted her in making the lunch, for the next day, in the afternoon. Severus, he noted amusedly, had been assigned to making sauces, as was his perpetual job.
"Will you ever let me near a knife again?" He joked.
Rose simply glared at him.
*
Christmas Day emerged with very little fanfare. No snow graced the ground in Cokeworth, and the Evans' didn't attend church services, so the morning was lazy and relaxed, just how Severus liked it. Dumbledore had always enjoyed making a fuss out of Christmas, decorating the trees in the Great Hall as few days in advance as possible, sending irksome little fairies to wake up his fellow professors, and in general being annoying, but the Evans' didn't go overboard, despite being over-cheerful at the crack of dawn.
Severus was unnecessarily woken up at five by Lily, who jumped on his bed in the spare room with exuberant enthusiasm.
"Lily?" He said, bleary-eyed. "What are you doing in here?"
"It's Christmas Day, Sev!" Lily cried excitedly. "Get up now!"
"No," Severus moaned. "It's early, Lils. Go back to sleep."
"But I can't!" Complained Lily. "Can I get in with you?" She questioned suddenly, already beginning to get under the covers. Severus stopped her.
"Lily, you can't," he said.
"Why?"
"Well, it's... inappropriate," he whispered the last bit. He was nearly forty, after all.
"I don't care," Lily declared childishly.
"Your parents will kill me," Severus sighed, as Lily snuggled up to him.
"They'll have to go through me first."
This sentence did not comfort Severus one bit, but he did eventually drift off to sleep, and they lay undisturbed for another two hours.
*
Severus did not enjoy being woken up by a loud scream. Especially not after having been woken up in a similarly disruptive way barely hours earlier.
"Petunia, for goodness' sake, be quiet," he hissed.
"What were you doing with my sister?" She demanded, hands shaking as she clenched them into fists.
"Nothing," Severus emphasised, disgusted. "Don't jump to conclusions."
Petunia's scream, however, had woken up her parents.
"What's wrong, dear?" Rose inquired.
Petunia pointed a shaking finger at Severus, who sat upright, indignant, and Lily's curled form under the duvet. Mark had him up and out of bed in an instant, and against the wall.
"What did you do?" He roared.
Lily had now woken up.
"Dad, what are you doing?" She cried. "Mum, what's going on?"
"Why were you in bed with my daughter?" Mark said, shaking Severus like a rag doll. If Severus had cared to explain, he would have pointed out that it was his bed, and that, in fact, it had been Lily who had 'made the move', so-to-speak, not him.
"Dad, it's my fault," Lily protested. "I woke him up and asked him to get up. When he refused, I asked if I could share the bed, and although he refused again, I still did it."
"Mark, they're twelve," Rose whispered. "Let go of Severus – you're hurting him."
Mark released the boy, and he stepped away, clutching his bruised arm.
"I won't apologise," Lily exclaimed. "Accusing Sev like that. As if he'd do anything untrustworthy!"
Lily moved towards Severus, whose emotionless expression hadn't changed, but he flinched, and left the room without a word. Glaring round at her parents and Petunia, Lily stalked out, leaving the other three to stand in silence.
*
Despite the incident so early on in the day, Rose did not let it spoil their Christmas. Petunia, though regretful, acted like her normal indifferent self, and tried not to be sulky. Mark sat mainly in silence, apologetic but not bringing himself to say the words, but affected good cheer to please his family, and Lily and Rose were the life and soul of the party, although casting glances at the immobile Severus every now and again.
Finally, the whole sorry affair was over, and it was time for the children to make their wishes.
Lily's was fairly simple, although she did blush as she thought it.
Severus prayed for something that he knew wouldn't happen easily.
And Petunia.
Petunia muttered something and Severus, having heard, looked at her interestedly, and remained in contemplative silence for the remainder of the holiday.
*****
A.N. An interesting chapter, even if I do say so myself.
Mark isn't meant to be like Tobias, if anyone was wondering. Unlike Tobias, his rage is because he is very protective of his two wonderful daughters, not because of the opposite.
Thank you for reading and PLEASE COMMENT!!