The Best In People-Christmas Fic by Judgment99
Summary: Just a Christmas fic. Open it up. Oh ya, for the Fic Fest.
Categories: Fic Fests > #5 Winter, Snape Equal Status to Harry > Comrades Snape and Harry Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required)
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Action/Adventure
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: None
Prompts: Snowball Challenge, Christmas
Challenges: Snowball Challenge, Christmas
Series: None
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes Word count: 3005 Read: 2933 Published: 24 Nov 2007 Updated: 24 Nov 2007
An unexpected, but not unwanted, guest... by Judgment99

"Come on hurry Ron! The cloak is falling off! " A voice said as two invisible bodies ran through the corridors of the school.

"Coming! I'm coming!" The second voice sounded. "Do you think they locked the doors?"

"No, they never lock them. Look see! It's still snowing. I told you." Harry said, obviously excited. He needed a break from all the things happening at the moment. As soon as he got outside, Ron would never know what hit him...well he would probably figure out after a few moments. Harry quietly slid the door leading them outside open. They soon came to the same spot where Malfoy was changed into a ferret by the Moody impersonator. Which still made Harry laugh every time he thought about it.

They quickly took off the cloak and stared at each other for a few moments before all the snow kicked it. Harry, having the quicker reflexes, dove to the ground to make the first snowball, which he quickly uses to hit the stunned Ron. Ron was also making a snowball and then promptly threw it at Harry, who by now was a good 10 feet away.

Ron got to his feet and clumped some more snow. And was running toward Harry. He quickly threw the frozen wad of water at his friend, who ducked just in time. "No fair! your a seeker, your quicker than me!" Ron whined.

Harry his friend distracted and chucked a snowball at him, hitting square in the face.

Ron's look must have been priceless, for Harry was now rolling on the snow laughing. Ron turned red and grabbed a large amount of snow and flung it at Harry. The target hit, perfectly. Harry stopped laughing and took off his glasses, to shake all the snow off.

Ron saw the perfect moment and flung more snow at his vulnerable friend. Harry quickly put his glasses back and rolled out of the way of the flying ball of ice.

Quickly standing up and clutching another snowball, Harry rushed at his friend. Ron started to laugh and ran to the center of the lot. He quickly dodge the snow and picked up a handful, then ran behind a tree.

"I can still see you! Your not gonna win!" Harry teased. It had been a while since he had any real fun. "You wish, Potter!" Ron said, using a really bad Draco impression. "Pppffftt! That was bad!" Harry laughed.

Ron had placed his hand on the tree and was now trying to pull away. His glove was stuck on some of the bark on the tree. He would have tried to unhook it, but aware of the current danger he just took it off. Harry was advancing fast and he needed to stop him. He grabbed a handful of cold snow and packed it tight. He jumped in from of Harry and Reeled backwards, getting ready to throw it. Then, the snow slipped from his exposed hand and flew backwards, hitting something...

Harry stopped in front of his friend, about 6 feet from him, getting ready to demolish Ron with the snowball. He raised his hand, then looked to where Ron's snowball had flew. There stood Snape, in his usual black robes, but his head, shoulders, and hair were messed with snow. Harry's eyes widened. Oh no! Were dead!

Ron saw the look in Harry's eyes and turned around. Snape was now walking toward them.

"Mister Potter...may I ask why you are out after curfew and why you decided to throw a snowball at me?" Snape said, sounding a little to calm.

"I-I...I didn't throw that at you! R-Ron did!" Harry said, dropping the snow that was in his hand and faced Ron.

"Really? I do not remember seeing Mr. Weasly holding snow? Did you not just drop some? And you yet to answer my first question." Snape said, getting angry.

"We were just having a little fun! That's all. We didn't mean to hit you." Harry stammered. Why did Snape have to ruin EVERYTHING?

"Hmm...yes. 10 points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew. And...20 for attacking a staff member." Snape ended with a smirk.

"Attack? We didn't attack you! A snowball accidentally hit you! That’s not fair!" Harry said, staring at his potions master.

"I'm sure you accidentally hit me Mr. Potter." Snape said, slowly getting out his wand. He put his hands behind his back and held his wand. He muttered something under his breath and flicked his wand, which was still oblivious to the two Gryffindor's.

"Pro-" Ron stated, but was immediately hit with a giant snow ball and knocked to the ground.

Harry stared at his friend then laughed harder than he ever did. Ron sat on the snow and looked more surprised than he ever had. Soon a giant snowball, the same as Ron's, hit Harry.

Harry looked around wildly to try and see who had done that. Did Snape just throw a snowball at me? Harry thought. He stood up and helped Ron to his feet. He looked at Snape, who was smirking at them. "You two don’t know how to have a snowball fight." He said after seconds of silence.

"Wh-what?" Harry asked, bewildered. Did he just challenge us?…no…

As if sensing Harry thoughts, Snape pulled his wand from behind his back and sent another 2 clumps of snow hurling at the pair. Harry quickly jumped out of the way, but Ron wasn't so fortunate. Snape continued to smirk even as he dodged Harry's snowball. "That is not a snowball Mr. Potter. This is." He said, putting his wand away and flinging some snow at Harry.

Harry slowly took the glasses of his face and shook the snow off of them. He put them back on and gaped at his professor, who was smirking at him. "Did…did you just throw a snowball at me?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Hmm…not as dumb as you always look. Mr. Weasly please get up from out of the snow." Snape smirked. Harry gave Ron a look that they both knew. It was the look they gave each other when the twins were around outside. Ron quickly stood up, holding a clump of snow behind his back. Ron gave a 'don’t you think we'll get in trouble' look, Harry shrugged just enough for Ron to see then picked up a snowball for himself.

"Now…Mr. Weasly please put your hands in front of you. Where I can see them." Snape said, with a snowball also in his hands. "Why? Scared Professor?" Harry asked. Trying to put as much emphasis on the last word as possible.

"No Potter, but you should be." He ended with a nasty smile. Harry looked at Ron once again and smiled. Ron got it and smiled too. Snape narrowed his eyes at the two Gryffindors.

"…..NOW!" Harry shouted. The two began to run towards their professor with the snow in their hands. They quickly went opposite ways as they neared Snape, trying to get behind him. Snape was too quick, apparently all they years of being a teacher started to come in handy. He quickly turned around and ducked in time to miss a flying snowball. He smirked and stood up looking at the two boys in front of him. "Hmm…I really thought that you two would put up more of a fight." He said sarcastically. "But I see--" Snape was stopped mid-sentence by a clump of snow landing right on his head.

Ron stared at Harry with a 'what did you do that for?!' look. Harry was grinning wildly. It was the first time in a long while that he had actually had some fun. He never expected that Snape would be the one that made it happen.

Snape slowly brought his hands up to his head and took the snow off. He soon removed almost all of it, except for a few pieces still clinging to his hair and cloak. Snape moved so quickly that Harry barely saw him move, Snape chucked the snowball he had been holding right at Harry, who unfortunately had not managed to avoid it. It landed on Harry's right shoulder, making him spin around and fall to the snowy floor beneath him.

Harry was shocked that Snape could move that fast, or that he just hit him with another snowball. He looked towards Ron, who was obviously trying to stop from laughing by biting his lower lip. He put his hand out to Harry, who took it and allowed himself to be pulled up by Ron. They both turned to Snape who was smirking at both of them. Snape almost seemed…happy? No way…

"Well, it seems that I won. As I have said before, you two don’t know how to have a snowball fight…For lack of such, 10 points from Gryffindor." He said. Snape put his hands in his coat pocket and began to walk towards his students.

Ron's smile was gone, but Harry seemed strangely happy. He may have lost more than enough points for Gryffindor, but it was worth it. He had done what anybody at Hogwarts wished to do, nail Snape with a snowball, not once, but twice. Well Ron hit him the first time, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was that he was happy. An emotion, that for the longest time since Sirius's death, had eluded him. "Well get it over with…" Harry said.

"Get what over with, Mr. Potter?" Snape said as he finally stopped about 4 feet from the both of them. Snape, also, seemed strangely happy. Of course, who wouldn’t want to throw a snowball at The Boy Who Wouldn’t Stop Getting Into Trouble?

"You know, about getting us expelled? Or making us lose all our privileges for the entire year to have detention with you or Filch everyday? Just take us up to Dumbledore." He said, smiling a little. Ron looked like Harry just morphed into the Giant Squid.

"I have given up on you both ever getting expelled. It seems that no matter what you do, the Headmaster will not ever expel his star student…or Mr. Weasly. It is to my extreme displeasure, but since you are not in my House, I cannot do anything about it." Snape said, a slight hint of malice in his voice. "However taking points shall make due for the time being. Now…I suggest that you both go directly to your dorms, and tell none of this to anyone."

"Th-that's it?!" Harry asked, astonished.

"Ah yes, and detention for a week. Starting tomorrow at 8 o'clock, the both of you." Snape ended with a smirk. "Back to your dorms before I change my mind!" He ended with a death glare. Harry and Ron saw this as their cue to leave, and fast. They ran to the door and disappeared behind it. Leaving Snape in the snow.


Snape started to walk towards the Headmasters office, his glare had been replaced by a calm expression. He was thinking over what had just happened, slowly a small smile began to find its way to his lips. It had, also, been a while before he had any real enjoyment. Getting tortured by the Dark Lord wasn’t exactly a vacation. Nor was teaching incompetent brats.

Snape quickly reached Dumbledore's office and spoke the password, which happened to be "Chocolate Peppermint's". It really annoyed Snape the way Dumbledore always made the password some sort of candy. The man had the sweet tooth of a 4 year old.

Before entering Snape put on his best scowl, which wasn't hard at all with all his years of practice. After knocking on the door a few times he heard the 'come in' he was hoping he would be denied.

"Ah Severus! Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore offered, extending a hand with a small bag filled with yellow spheres.

"No thank you, Albus. " Severus said, scowling. Why did he continually offer him Lemon Drops even though he always refused? "I believe you understand why I am here. Are you quite pleased now?" Snape said, still scowling.

Fawkes stirred in his corner of the room and flew towards Dumbledore, landing on his shoulder. "Yes. Thank you, Severus. Harry needed a little cheering up." He said, starting to stroke Fawkes.

"I don’t understand why YOU couldn’t go and cheer Mr. Potter up. It is obvious that he prefers you over myself." Snape argued, scowling his best.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and looked at Snape. "Because you needed a little cheering up to, Severus. Christmas brings out the best in people, you know. Have a little fun." Dumbledore said, with that twinkle in his eye. "You did seem like you were having a good time, Severus. I am sure you enjoyed throwing clumps of snow at Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasly."

Snape couldn’t deny that. He did have a little fun throwing things at them. Who wouldn’t? Crazy old coot! Why must he insist on making people happy?! "Will that be all Albus? Or do you have another ridiculous task for me?"

"No, no Severus. That is all. But I do have just one question. How do you feel?" He asked, the twinkle in his eye a little more noticeable.

Snape raised an eyebrow at the man sitting in front of him. "I am," Annoyed, paranoid, pissed, aggravated, a little confused, cold, and strangely…"fine. Thank you for your concern, I am afraid I must be going." Snape said, getting up from his chair and waiting for the headmasters say-so to leave.

"Of course Severus. Have a good night." He said putting Fawkes back on his stand.

"Good night headmaster." Snape threw over his shoulder as he exited the office, in order to head down to his own.

Snape quickly reached his quarters and entered the strangely warm room. The air in the office was different, as if someone was there moments before. Snape ran his eyes around the room, making sure that he was indeed the only one in the office. His eyes landed on a small folded piece of paper on his desk. He walked towards it and eyed it for a few seconds before picking it up. It read simply:

Professor,

Thanks.

-Anonymous

Snape place the note back on his desk. The writing was all to noticeable to be anyone else's besides Potters. He'd recognize that chicken scratch anywhere. He wasn’t sure what he should be feeling at that moment. He was a angry that Potter was in his office, it was a good thing he didn’t have the pensive in there anymore. He was also a little surprised that Potter could spell anything longer than six letters. And he was…happy? Happy for what? Had he really had fun? No, Severus Snape doesn't have fun playing in the snow. Well for whatever reason, he wasn’t mad.

But he wanted to know what Potter was thanking him for. Thank you for almost knocking me unconscious with a snowball? Or, thanks for not expelling me? He knew what he was thankful for, the same thing he was. Apparently Potter had fun also? But did he write thank-you notes to everyone that he had fun with? That would surely be the Gryffindor thing to do. Stupid Potter…why did he leave a thank-you note? I did nothing to make him happy. But if he likes being hit with snow then so be it. Snape sat down on his desk chair, still thinking over the nights events. Perhaps…Christmas does bring out the best in people…


Harry ran up the steps to the Gryffindor common room as fast as he could. His heart was pounding as he left the dungeons and ran past Snape. Snape seemed like he was thinking about something, and didn’t notice that Harry walked right by him, under the cloak. He had left a note to his Professor, he signed it as 'Anonymous' but knew that Snape would recognize his writing, anyone would.

Harry finally made it to the painting "Mistletoe!!" He nearly screamed at the portrait. The Fat Lady jumped as soon as she heard Harry. She glared at him and lazily opened the door. "Shouldn’t even be out this late.." He heard her grumble.

Harry quickly went up to his room and dressed into his night clothes. "Hey, mate!" Ron whispered. "Where'd ya go?" He asked leaning in a little. He looked rather sleepy, his eyes drooped a little as he tried to stay awake.

"Uhh..I just went.." Harry started, he couldn’t tell Ron where he really was, he'd flip out. "I just went to see if Snape had taken any more house points. He didn’t…just what he originally took out." Harry lied. That seemed to satisfy Ron. He just grunted in approval and fell asleep. Harry had never realized what a good liar he was…is that good?

Harry lay down in his bed, thinking what he had just done. He wondered whether Snape would confront him about it. If he would get in trouble. He even wondered if Snape would write back, Pfffttt…yeah right. He doesn’t even want to talk to me. Why would he want to write me? Harry smiled at the idea of Snape scribbling on some paper trying to write back to him in a hurry. That would be funny. He'd probably write something like…Potter, don’t thank me for obliterating you with snow. 20 points from Gryffindor for incompetence. And another 20 for breathing in my office without my permission. - S.S.

Harry wearily smiled at his thoughts. He lay awake looking at the ceiling for a while before his eyelids started to droop. He slowly pulled the covers over him and took off his glasses. He still couldn’t help but smile at the nights events, even Snape seemed like he was having fun. Dumbledore, who looks an awful lot like Santa around Christmas time, says that Christmas brings out the best in people. Slowly Harry began to fall into a deep sleep. Yeah…maybe Christmas does bring out the…best…in people.

The End.
End Notes:
Yes, a little chessy, but its my story so I love and care for it.


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