Christmas time was almost there and I've been invited to spend Christmas holidays on 12 Grimmauld Place with the Weasleys and Sirius, of course, after a reunion with the members of the Order of Phoenix.
I couldn't be happier about this.
But as always, something went wrong.
Harry was having an undesired connection with Voldemort and in the middle of the night, we were awoken when he had a dream about Arthur Weasley being hurt by Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. And fortunately, they were able to save the poor hurt man.
So, when I arrived the Grimmauld Place, he was happy to be alive and thankful for Harry's' vision and all the family was reunited for a Christmas dinner. But first, we had the reunion.
Dumbledore was the first to talk. "Harry is in a vulnerable moment. He has this connection with Voldemort we can't understand. And we need to cut it. I proposed Severus to teach him Occlumency." There were members nodding with their heads, agreeing with Dumbledore's proposition. "Meanwhile, the recruitment is not going very well. The giants are hard to convince. And the Death Eaters are doing the same as us. We need more allies. Anyone. It could be the one next to you. Someone you trust."
"How can we know who we can trust?" Molly asked.
"You'll know. You'll need to look that person in the eyes and know their full intentions."
Then he proceeded to talk about his plans to gather more forces and when the meeting ended and everyone got up from their seats, Severus turned to me and opened his mouth to talk, - "Angel..." - but Sirius interrupted him and pulled me to the couch.
Fumbling, I looked by the corner of my eyes to him and saw his unhappy look.
"Unfortunately, I cannot stay for your lovely dinner. But I hope you have a Merry Christmas with your family." Dumbledore said before heading for the exit.
"I must leave too," Severus said sternly before turning and leave after Dumbledore.
I got up immediately and still caught him before he closed the front door. Dumbledore looked back and saw me grabbing his arm so he just smiled before disappearing.
"Do you have any Christmas dinner scheduled?"
"No. I don't do Christmas." He said without looking at me in the eyes.
"Well, now you do. Have dinner with us." I asked with a smile on my face. "No one should be left alone this time of the year."
"I've been alone my whole life. Why would it change?" He replied with a bitter tone on his voice, pulling his arm away from my grip.
"Because now you have me. And because I want you to stay."
"It seems to me you already have a good company." I realized who he was referring to. I still don't know what happened between Sirius and Severus, but this was getting out of proportion.
"Why do you act like this?"
"Like what?" He was getting impatient, so as I.
"One moment you almost show emotions and the other you just push me away. You want me away from you?" I asked, too afraid of the answer, cursing myself for asking him that out loud.
He closed his eyes and breathed, looking like he was holding something inside him. "No."
I grabbed his hand and said softly. "So have dinner with us. Besides... I bought you a gift." He looked surprised at me. "Yey, it's no big deal."
"I don't have anything to give you back." He admitted.
I looked at our hands intertwined. "Your presence in this dinner is the best gift you could ever give me."
And with that, he smiled. A genuine smile, not only with his lips but also with his eyes that were shining.
The dinner was filled with happiness and joy. Severus was a little more relaxed than usual and he almost laughed when Ginny threw a glass of water to Ron's' face when he was mocking her. The food was amazing, as always, and the desserts... Hmm, Molly is a goddess in the kitchen.
We were all full and satisfied and when the midnight came - which meant it was time to exchange gifts. I brought Ron a darts target that would electrocute whenever the player failed. I gave Ginny a complete makeup kit. To Molly, I gave her a necklace with a heart pendant that on its back had "Thank you for everything." And to Arthur, I gave him a wine kit. Sirius got a new pocket watch. For Harry, I got a book of advanced Quidditch, with all the tricks and tips and also the full history of the sport.
And finally, it was Severus turn.
He opened the box and it had a black exquisite writing feather, with horizontal support, with an engraving: "Severus Snape. Devoted friend." He looked at me with mouth-opened and an incomprehensible look on his eyes.
"Thank you." He murmured and the corner of his lips turned into a small smile.
Sirius Black was observing us very attentively, with a raised brow and he finally acknowledged something that he didn't saw before. And even though it was Severus, he smiled.
"Now it's your turn." Molly snapped me out of my thoughts. "This is a gift from all of us. I hope you like it. Open it."
They put a huge box in front of me and I eyed them curiously while I was opening it. Tears started to run down my face like a waterfall. My hands were covering my mouth, and I was gasping. Everyone was smiling, but Severus had an interested expression.
"You like it?" Harry asked.
I hugged him. "You little brat. You told them."
"I didn't think you would mind. Do you like it?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"Let me show you how much I liked it." I opened the box fully and picked up a brilliant dark blue classic guitar, put it on my lap and started to tune it. "I hope I still remember how to use this."
So I started to play immediately. Everything came back to my head, every music, every chord I played when I was little and was left alone in the dungeons. It was the only thing that would calm me down after the storm. After my dad's' beatings... After my uncle...
Tears continued flowing down my cheeks, falling on top of my legs as my fingers started to play and I started singing "Can't help falling in love" by Elvis Presley. When I ended, I looked around me and everyone was smiling and clapping.
"Thank you all. This is... perfect." I wiped my tears away.
"You deserve the best, Angel. You suffered so much, more than anyone in this room can imagine and you still bless us with that sweet smile. We just wanted to see that smile once again, so we decided to give that gift to you." Molly said, hugging me.
"It's the exact same copy like the one I had. How did you do it?" I asked Harry.
"You described it and I looked for it. And eventually the man from the music store in the Diagon Alley just asked me for a photo of you and he knew exactly what to give to you." He smiled.
"Thank you. Really."
"Now, now. You can continue to grace us with that sweet voice." Sirius finally spoke and Severus huffed. Sirius looked at him from the corner of his eyes with a smirk on his lips, so he proceeded: "I didn't know you had such lovely talent. Your voice is very soft and fragile, but when you sing, it's just amazing." He saw Severus getting annoyed but trying to suppress it.
"Thank you, Sirius," I said, embarrassed.
"Really. I could fall asleep with a lullaby sang by you. Would you do it for me?" He chuckled.
"I don't think I would be heard with all your snoring." I mocked him. His face was priceless and Severus tried to mask his laugh by coughing, receiving a malicious look from Sirius.
"What more talents do you have hidden?" Molly asked, trying to end the conversation between Sirius and me.
"Well, I can also play the piano." I heard a "Wow" from Ginny and I smiled at her. "And I can also move my ears." I pulled my hair back, focused on her and my ears started to move by themselves.
They all laughed and Severus tried to hide his laugh. Molly started to observe him and was mesmerized by the man's' reaction to me. He was finally showing that he had a heart and a sense of humor. Odd, she thought.