When Harry woke up the next time, it was just getting light outside. He could see the still dark sky through the charmed window in his room. He went over into the sitting room and sat down on the sofa. Then he threw a glance at the beautifully decorated tree and let out a gasp of shock when he saw the piles of presents under the tree.

A minute later, Severus was at his side. “What is wrong Harry? Are you all right?” he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

Harry cleared his throat and replied, “Yes, Professor. Good morning.”

“Are you feeling up to opening Christmas presents?” Severus asked Harry casually. Poppy had given him, Minerva, and Albus a detailed report about her conversation with Harry yesterday, and the four colleagues had decided to have Christmas breakfast together with Harry in the Snape living room.

“Christmas presents?” Harry asked with a confused expression on his face.

Severus went over to the Christmas tree, where many presents were piled, took one that said ‘Harry’ on it, and brought it over to Harry.

Harry gave him a shocked glance and asked unbelievingly, “For me?”

“Yes, Harry, of course it is for you,” the teacher said as casually as possible.

Harry carefully opened the wrapping paper and saw… “The bear I made in Transfiguration. What does this mean?” he asked, even more confused now.

Severus inwardly sighed at Harry’s expression and explained patiently, “I took your bear and gave it to Professor McGonagall, who transfigured it into a bag. She then gave it to Madam Pomfrey, who put an inhaler in it for you to keep it with you at all times. Look at its back; it has a zipper. Now, Professor Flitwick has put a charm on the bear, so that Madam Pomfrey will know every time you take the inhaler out. She will also know for how long you took it out, so that she will be alerted immediately, if you are having severe problems.”

Harry turned the bear and opened the zipper. Everything was as Severus had explained. Harry was still confused. He had thought Christmas presents came from Santa, but this one seemed to have come from his Professors and Madam Pomfrey. He threw Severus a curious look, who then proceeded to patiently explain to him about the real nature of Christmas presents.

When Severus finished his explanation, Harry blushed horribly and said flabbergasted, “If that’s true, then I should have bought Christmas presents for all my friends, but I didn’t because I didn’t know that! What am I going to do?”

The teacher patiently explained that presents were not so important and that his friends would understand, but he couldn’t calm Harry with this theory. Therefore, he suggested, “You could make a bauble for each of your friends, and we’ll let Tipsy hand them to the school owls to deliver them before lunchtime.”

Harry thought that was a good idea. He nodded excitedly and immediately started to transfigure parts of the wrapping paper he still had in his lap. He made a bauble each for Hermione, Ron, Draco, Blaise, and Hagrid. Severus put the Unbreakable Charm on them before he called Tipsy and asked her to wrap the presents and send them as quickly as possible. Then Harry made two more baubles for Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. On Dumbledore’s he placed two fire phoenixes like Dumbledore and Fawkes. The two birds were animatedly talking to each other. Madam Pomfrey’s was decorated with several potion phials flying toward a green phoenix that kicked at them playfully.

“Both are beautiful,” Severus assured him. Assuming that Harry must be tired after doing so much magic, he conjured wrapping paper and proceeded to wrap the ornaments for him.

In the meantime, Harry found that he was tired, so he lay down. No sooner had he done so then the fireplace flared and Albus and Minerva stepped into the room, shortly followed by Poppy. While Poppy checked on Harry, Severus called Tipsy and asked for Christmas breakfast for the five of them.

Harry was much too excited to eat anything. There had been so many presents under the tree, and on his way to Severus’ small dining area he had seen at least another one with ‘Harry’ written on top.

“Harry,” Severus called him in his soft, silky voice, “you have to eat something before you can open your presents.” He handed him a bowl and added, “Look what Tipsy brought specially for you.”

Harry managed to eat a bit of fruits yoghurt, which was his absolute favourite, and impatiently waited for the others to finish their breakfast. The teachers had to try hard not to laugh. They knew that Harry’s lack of appetite was not only because of his excitement but also because he was still not well. Despite that, however, Harry really behaved like a child waiting for Santa.

-----

“This is something your father gave me for you,” Dumbledore told Harry and handed him a soft package as soon as they had returned to the living room. Harry opened it and …

“Albus, do you really think that wise?” Professor Snape blurted out. Seeing Harry’s questioning look, he added, “This is an Invisibility Cloak, and your father caused a lot of mischief hiding under it. However,” he added pensively, “as you are not your father, I hope that you will use it wisely.”

Harry stood up from the sofa and threw the fabric around himself. He looked down at his body and found, to his awe, that it had vanished from sight. Finally, he pulled the cloak off and sat down again, noticing that a few presents were piled on the table next to him. He started to open the presents, wondering if he was trapped in a nice dream or if this was actually reality.

He received several books. In Hagrid’s package he found a book about magical animals, Hermione had sent him his own copy of “Hogwarts – A History”. The Headmaster gave him a book about phoenixes and two packages of different phoenix treats. Harry couldn’t help laughing when he opened Professor Dumbledore’s present.

However, Professor McGonagall told him, “You see, Harry, we know from experience how nice it is to have a treat when being in our Animagus form. It might be that you don’t want to transform back for one or the other reason, and then you will be happy to have something to eat.”

Harry gave her a smile and said, “Yes, thank you, Professor. I appreciate it very much, although I still think it’s funny. But I will try hard to transform my head so I can try the treats.”

From Ron and Blaise Harry received chocolate frogs, and Draco had sent Harry a book “Potions for Fun and Mischief”. Harry giggled when he unwrapped the present.

Severus threw a glare at Harry and threatened, “Wait until I get my hands on that boy. How dare he?”

Harry couldn’t help laughing again. “He probably thought you would be happy, if I studied more about Potions than I have to, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall snorted and proceeded to open her present from Harry. She gasped when she saw the bauble. “Harry, thank you very much. This is beautiful, and I am really impressed. This is very advanced transfiguration, and I am sure that only a very few of my seventh year students would be able to do this.”

She handed Harry another present, which contained a robe in a beautiful green that matched the colour of Harry’s eyes.

Harry was stunned. He couldn’t believe it. After all these years, he had worried about Santa in vein. He hadn’t been a bad boy like he had always assumed. It was only because nobody had cared enough about him to give him a present. “Is this really for me?” he asked in a small voice.

“Yes, Harry, this is for you from me,” she answered and handed him another, larger package, “and this is from Professor Snape.”

Harry opened the present and didn’t know what to think anymore. It contained two dark blue trousers, two T-shirts and two sweatshirts, as well as a voucher for an afternoon in Hogsmeade to buy more clothes. One of the T-shirts was red with writing in white letters that said, “I like potions”. The other one was green and had a similar white writing saying, “Catch me” as well as a Snitch that was moving around. The sweatshirts were in dark blue and green. The blue one had the same, moving Snitch on it, while the green one was decorated with a bubbling cauldron that kept saying several things in turn like “Don’t insert that now!”, “Stir counter-clockwise!”, or “Run and hide!” He threw an anxious glance at Severus.

The teacher gave him an encouraging nod and explained, “I thought you needed something urgently. However, I promise that we will go to Hogsmeade together to buy more clothes for you as soon as you are healthy.”

Harry nodded and said, “Thank you very much, Professor. I'd like that a lot, but I don't think I really need anything else right now. This stuff is perfect. Thank you so much!”

“No, you really need more clothes,“ Severus answered thinking that spending the day in Hogsmeade would be fun for Harry in any case.

The last present was from Mrs. Weasley. Harry was very surprised when he pulled a handsome green Weasley sweater out of the package.

-----

Harry spent the afternoon on the sofa, filled up with potions and fast asleep. He woke up when a cool hand was placed on his forehead. He unconsciously flinched back from the touch but calmed down immediately when he recognized Severus’ voice.

“Now, Harry, do you feel well enough to attend Christmas dinner in the Great Hall?” Severus asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry replied honestly. “I would like to though.”

“Then I would suggest that you take a shower and dress properly. We will see how you feel then. However, don’t use too much hot water, and leave the door open please. If you feel unwell just shout.”

Harry did as he was told. After he had showered, he chose his new green sweatshirt and the new trousers, both of which fit perfectly. Finally, he put his new robe on and admired himself in the mirror.

“You look quite dashing, Harry, but our dinner is getting cold, you know,” Severus said, and Harry blushed immediately.

“Sorry, Professor, it’s just that I’ve never had such beautiful clothes,” Harry admitted.

“All right, Harry. Sit down here for a few minutes and rest,” ordered Severus. When Harry complied, Severus waved his wand over him and sighed. He pulled a phial with Fever reducer out of his robe and handed it to Harry.

Harry relaxed as the potion worked immediately. His teacher’s voice penetrated his ear.

“If you really want to go, we should be on our way. As you are in no condition to walk all the way up to the Great Hall, we will take the internal Floo system. Are you ready?”

Harry gave him a short nod and stood up.

Severus ushered him into the fireplace and stepped next to him shouting “Great Hall.” When they’d transported, Severus explained. “As you know, students are not allowed to use the internal Floo. Therefore you cannot go on your own, we only can use the Floo together.”

Christmas Dinner exceeded Harry’s expectations by far. Only very few teachers – mainly the Heads of House, the Headmaster and Madam Pomfrey – had remained at Hogwarts. Five students were there beside Harry, and the House tables had been replaced by one round table in the middle of the Great Hall. The Hall was filled with Christmas music, and dinner was delicious.

Although Harry didn’t think he could eat much, he ended up trying everything. He had made the mistake to let Severus choose where he sat, so Harry had ended up between Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, who made him eat much more than he wanted.

When they had finished dinner, which had taken more than two hours, the candles on the huge Christmas trees lit themselves, and a huge pile of Christmas crackers popped up on the table.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Professor Sprout suddenly asked from the opposite side of the table. “You seem to be far away.”

“Ah, sorry,” Harry replied tiredly. “I just thought that this is my first real Christmas and that I like it much more than I had expected.”

-----

The rest of the first week of the holidays passed in a blur. Harry spent much time on the sofa in Severus’ living room reading every book he could get into his hands. Madam Pomfrey came twice a day to check on him, and Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore visited Harry and Severus nearly every day. Harry couldn’t wait to be allowed to get up and take a walk around the lake, but at least he felt very comfortable living with Severus. The man was very friendly to him and was always there whenever Harry needed him. Severus even comforted him when he had a nightmare or when he felt depressed because his condition didn’t improve fast enough.

At the beginning of the second week, Harry felt better, and he was finally allowed to leave the castle for short walks around the lake in Severus’ company. He then got a head start on his homework, and it only took him two days to finish his homework completely. When he read one of the books he had received for Christmas for the second time, he suddenly had an idea.

“Severus…” He turned to the teacher hesitantly. “…do you think I could use the Potions classroom to try to brew a potion?”

Severus eyed him suspiciously. “It depends on your condition and on the potion you want to brew.”

Harry reached for the book Draco had given him for Christmas, opened it and pointed to a potion he thought could be interesting. Severus looked at the book and scoffed humorously. He hadn’t played a prank since he was a fifth year student. However, the company of this child during the holidays somehow made him feel much younger than he had felt during the last years.

“You mean you want to celebrate your comeback to the Great Hall with a prank? All right, I will help you, but you may not tell people that I helped you as this would gravely undermine my authority.”

“All right,” Harry agreed. “When can we start to brew?”

It took Harry little more than two hours to brew the potion. While he prepared the ingredients, Severus busied himself at a table next to Harry’s where he started three different potions at the same time. However, he seemed to watch Harry’s every move. He suddenly gripped Harry’s arm and hissed, “Counterclockwise! Be careful to actually read the instructions!”

Harry complied immediately and mumbled, “Sorry, Professor.” Finally, Harry managed to brew a flawless potion. When he filled the potion into a huge phial, he giggled inwardly. To think that the so called ‘Greasy Git of a Potions Professor’ Snape had helped him to prepare a prank was a contrary idea in itself.

Severus called Tipsy, handed her the phial, and instructed her, what she had to do with the potion.

Tipsy smirked as she knew enough about potions to know that this had to be funny and bowed deeply. “Tipsy give it to the kitchen elves immediately, Master Snape, Master Harry.”

-----

It was the first time that Severus and Harry had been able to attend dinner since Christmas, and they were welcomed warmly.

“Hello, Harry. How have you been doing today?” McGonagall asked from his right side.

“I completed my homework, read a book, and in the afternoon, I brewed a potion,” Harry replied and tried hard not to giggle in anticipation of the results of their prank. However, he couldn’t help a giggle escape his mouth and quickly turned it into a coughing fit.

“Severus, do you think Harry is already well enough?” McGonagall worriedly asked Snape.

“I wouldn’t dare bring your precious ‘Half-Gryffindor’ here, if he wasn’t,” Severus replied coolly, so that Harry had a reason to laugh aloud.

Finally, the meal popped up on the table, and everyone started to pile food on their plates. When they started to eat, Harry unobtrusively watched the people drinking the pumpkin juice. Then he addressed Poppy, who was sitting just opposite of him.

“Professor Snape and I thought about going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. May I go?”

Madam Pomfrey watched him pensively before she opened her mouth to reply. But it was not words that came out of her mouth; it was a blue flame.

The others gasped, and the same kind of flame came out of their mouths. Harry couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore, but once more he efficiently hid it behind a coughing fit.

“Here, Harry, drink something,” Professor McGonagall, who had not yet drank from her juice, told him and held his glass out for him.

However, Harry shook his head, still coughing, and quickly conjured a glass with water from which he took a big swallow.

“Oh, is this wine, Harry?” Severus asked innocently. “May I have a glass too?”

Harry conjured a glass of wine and handed it to his teacher.

As McGonagall, Snape and Harry were the only ones able to talk without blue flames coming out of their mouth, everyone was glaring at them suspiciously.

“How long is this going to last?” McGonagall whispered to Harry.

“About ten minutes,” Harry mouthed.

“You know what this means, Harry, don’t you?” Severus asked. When Harry shook his head, he explained, “That we have to be gone by the time it wears off. Minerva, are you coming with us?”

When she nodded, Severus motioned Harry to feign another coughing fit, and when he complied, Severus got up and said, “I shall take Harry back to our quarters. We shall see you tomorrow.”

Harry got up as well and followed Severus.

“I will go and make sure that Harry eats something,” Minerva said quickly and went after the two.

Having arrived in Severus’ quarters, the three collapsed on the sofa laughing.

“They will kill us tomorrow. Nobody will believe that I am completely innocent,” Professor McGonagall said sternly. “Whose idea was that?”

“You came to make sure that I will eat something, right? Then maybe we should call Tipsy and ask her for dinner,” Harry suggested innocently, managing to change the topic efficiently.

Later in the evening, Harry wrote a letter to Draco, telling him how useful the book that he had given him for Christmas was.

-----

Harry enjoyed the last days of the holidays very much. In the morning, he went to Professor McGonagall’s office to practise the Animagus transformation. He spent the afternoons in the Potions classroom with Severus so he could brew several potions from his new book. However, he also helped Severus to brew Healing potions for the Hospital Wing.

Severus watched Harry while the student was brewing a Pepper-up Potion for Madam Pomfrey. It was astonishing how fast Harry had adapted to the life together with the professor. He was no longer as shy towards Severus as he used to be, and he seemed to have gained a lot of self-confidence being together with him. Even when Severus touched him – for example to feel his forehead – he mostly didn’t flinch away anymore. Moreover, Severus was surprised how well he, Severus, had been able to get used to the boy’s company in his own quarters. The only person he had ever been able to stand for more than a few hours had been Lily, but somehow it seemed to be the same with her son.

One day, Severus had taken Harry to Hogsmeade to buy some more clothes, underwear, pyjamas and shoes for him. Harry had enjoyed the day very much. When he was together with Severus, it felt as if he had a father – at least he imagined that it had to be like this if someone had a father.

Finally Sunday arrived. The other students would be back in time for dinner, and it was nearly a bit sad. As happy he was to finally have all his friends back, Harry had gotten used to his life together with Professor Snape and he enjoyed it very much. Especially since he could imagine that it was something like having a family.

While he was waiting for his friends to arrive, Harry’s eyes were twinkling mischievously. He had already prepared several new potions from his book, and on Sunday afternoon, he told Severus what he intended to do. Harry asked him to call Tipsy to take one of the phials to the kitchen elves. This time, Severus and Harry had decided they would drink the pumpkin juice as well, so that nobody would know who was behind the prank. Still, Harry had another plan he was not about to tell Severus.