Your mother invited me to Christmas Day celebrations at your house.  I normally did not do much by way of celebration of the holiday.  I normally did not have much to celebrate.  That year I had my renewed friendship with your mother to warm my spirits.”  Severus explained.

“I was familiar with your mother’s family’s traditions.  They always attended evening Mass on Christmas Eve.  It was something important to your grandmother, but as you have probably guessed it was less so to your mother.  I cannot make a statement about her faith, simply attendance.  

“Along with going to Mass, her family always opened one gift on Christmas Eve.  Stockings were opened at breakfast and it was only after the washing up was done that the proper gift opening took place.  This was done in turn.  You can see where a lot of our traditions come from.”  Severus said.

Harry nodded.  “Your family didn’t do anything special Dad?”

“I’ve mentioned before my family’s… tendency to fail in commemorating dates.  Christmas was no exception.  Tobias was often known to go on long drunken rants about how horrible the holiday season was.  Why should he be required to buy anybody rubbish?  He complained about the proximity of my birthday as well, as if I got presents for either.  No, there was not much for me to look forward to at home when it came to Christmas.”  Severus explained.

“For this very reason I stayed at school for break my first, sixth, and seventh years.  The other years your mother convinced me to return to Cokeworth, but to stay over at her house. I complied mostly with this.  I would go and see my mother on some of these occasion, possibly stay the night.  Those were rare however as we did not wish to upset Tobias.”

Severus paused.  “This first Christmas after the attack would be difficult.  It was the first major event since James’ death.  It was your second Christmas, but the first one where you could take part in the festivities.  It was going to be a painful remainder of your father not being there.”

“Many of Lily and James’ friends planned to stop by or call.  They wanted to make sure your mother was handling everything okay.  I knew Lily would actually would rather be left alone to deal with it in her own way, but she was too nice to turn away other people’s well wishes.  No, instead she would make sure the people she truly cared about and wished to see were also present.”

“James and her parents’ death reminded your mother just how fleeting life could be.  For this reason she invited your Aunt Petunia and her family to stay for the holidays.  I was less than pleased to hear of the initiation and almost considered resigning my acceptance.  I had no desire to ruin Lily’s holiday by causing the inevitable row between Petunia and myself,”  Severus continued,“Nevertheless Christmas Day finally arrived...”  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus wrapped the scarf once more around his face in preparation of crossing the snowy Hogwarts’ grounds.  Only that morning he discovered he was out of Floo Powder.  It would be easier to face the brutal weather, than the many questions of his colleagues as to where he wished to go on Christmas Day.

Severus sighed.  He would probably not escape the questions, now he thought about it.  Somebody was bound to ask why he was not at the school Christmas dinner.  He would deal with that later.  Now all he wanted to do was get to Lily’s.

The walk to the gates seemed to take twice as long as normal.  The wind blew his hair into his eyes and mouth.  There were times he wished there were fewer wards around the school.  The students could Apperate to class, saving those seventh years precious minutes from whatever kind of sordid behavior they might be getting into.  Was there really any threat of people with no proper business at the school to come in?  Severus stopped himself.  He very well knew there were people who would.  He was a member of their company not too long ago.

Finally Severus reached the gates.  Without looking back he turned and Dis-Apperated.  He reappeared around the corner from Lily’s house.  The weather was a bit nicer here.  These was a fresh layer of snow, but far less wind.  Severus knocked on the door only a moment later.

The door flung open to reveal a very harassed looking Lily.  Harry sat on her hip, still clothed in his pajamas.  Lily visibly relaxed at the sight of Severus.

“Hey Sev,” Lily greeted letting him into the house.

“Happy Christmas,” Severus returned pulling the scarf from around his neck.  “Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine.  I’m just tired.  The Marauders turned up at 5:30 this morning wanting to open presents. I had to explain to them I would not be responsible for handling the cranky toddler if they woke Harry up early.  When Harry did wake up, they wanted to get started on everything right away.  They didn’t seem to care about tradition,” Lily explained exasperatedly.  “I managed to hold them off though.  Honestly, I think a pair of five year olds would be easier to handle than those two at points.”

“Gryffindors,” Severus grumbled.

“Hey,” Lily protested smacking her friend lightly one the arm. “I was a Gryffindor too.”

“Even the Sorting Hat had been known to make mistakes from time to time,” Severus replied coolly.

Lily made a face at him.  The two headed down the hall as Severus’ goods were now put away.

“I told them they weren’t allowed to open anything until we got back,” Lily explained.  “Let’s see if they listened.”

Sirius sat on the floor by the Christmas tree, a sea of shredded paper around him.

“Clearly not,” Severus said disapprovingly at the paper ruins.

Lupin was a bit better.  He had a small box by his ear.  It was clear he’d been trying the age old method of shaking it to see if you could determine the contents.

“Uhh…” Lily groaned.  “Was it so hard to wait the two minutes for me to come back?”  Seeing Lupin, “You too Remus?”

“But Lily… presents,” Sirius protested.

“Sirius Black, if you don’t want to follow the Christmas traditions of this house, you can open your gifts somewhere else next year.”  Lily threatened.

“But we…” Sirius began.

“We wait to open our gifts until everyone is here and then we do it in turns,” Lily told him, sternly.

“Harry got to open all of his.”  Sirius pointed out.  He sounded closer to 12 than 22.

“Harry’s not even two.  He gets to open all of his so we have a chance to do ours properly.”  Lily explained slowly.

Sirius pouted.  “Fine.  What do I do now?”

You can clean up your mess – without magic. Then you can watch as everybody gets their gifts.”  Lily told him.

“Lily,” Severus said from his seat on the sofa.  “I must apologize.  I only have gifts for you and Harry.”

“It’s fine, Sev.  You didn’t expect anybody else to be here.”  Lily said setting Harry back to playing with his new toys.

In the past the Evans always made sure to have a count as to who would be there and how many presents so everybody got an equal share.  This meant at least nominally Severus bought a gift for Petunia and vice versa.  Although in reality Lily did the purchasing for both.

“Remus, would you like to start since you already have a gift in hand?”  Lily asked.

Remus gave her a sheepish smile.  The werewolf carefully pulled back the corners of the dark blue paper.  It revealed a small wooden box.  Inside the box, were several small vials .  Remus recognized them immediately as healing potions.  There was a muscle relaxant, a pain potion and an aid for mending and strengthening bones.  These would ease his post-transformation symptoms, making recovering much easier.  Normally they were far beyond his meager budget.

Looking up he said, “Thank you, Lily.”

“You shouldn’t thank me alone.  I got Severus to brew them for you,” Lily explained,.

Remus was surprised.  After a moment he collected himself enough to say, “Thank you Severus.”

Severus nodded in return.

Sirius watched the exchange skeptically.  Lily caught his look and glared.  “They’re fine Sirius.  Severus wouldn’t do anything to hurt a friend of mine.”

Sirius didn’t look any more at ease.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Remus agreed.  “Thanks again Severus.”

Remus handed Lily a silver wrapped package.  Lily pulled back the paper to reveal a heavy leather bound book, Modern Mothering and Household Charms.  Lily gave Remus a searching look.

“I hope that isn’t some sort of subtle message Remus,” Lily said teasingly.

“No, of course not,” Remus said putting up his hands defensively.  “You mentioned the other day you wanted something to help with household spells.  The witch as the bookstore said this was the best, if you couldn’t afford a house elf.”  He explained with an uneasy chuckle.

“Like you want one of those bloody things creeping around.”  Sirius commented.  “Just look at Kreacher.”

“I’m sure Kreacher would have been very different if he didn’t work for your family.  Even if I could afford one I wouldn’t want a house elf.”  Lily said.

Remus and Severus nodded.  Both were familiar with Lily’s discomfort with the creatures’ status in wizarding society.  It was one of the many things she and Sirius disagreed on.  He being from a Pure Blood family, could not understand.

“Thank you Remus,” Lily handed a box to Severus, an old fashioned leather one.

Severus looked at it curiously.  He was surprised first off that the gift was not wrapped and by the age of the box.  He carefully lifted the lid to display a handsome rectangular faced watch.  He looked back over to Lily.

“This was –” Severus began.

“Yeah,” Lily confirmed.  “He wanted you to have it.  I told him watches were  traditional coming of age gift and I didn’t think you would get one from your own family.  I don’t know why he didn’t send it.  He might not have realized Mum was still sending biscuits.  Or it was …”

“Out of loyalty to you,” Severus finished.  “Thank you.”  He took the watch from the box and secured it around his wrist.

Severus handed Lily a package wrapped with green paper and gold stars.  Lily impatiently tore off the paper.  Severus suppressed the urge to smile.  He would not let the Marauders know how amusing he found her tendency of doing just that.  Inside was a paper box.  Lily threw the lid to the side.  Inside was a dark green silk scarf.  When it shimmered, it reminded Severus of Lily’s eyes, especially when she was being mischievous.

Lily picked up the scarf to reveal a small leather book.  Lily picked up the book and read the title, Pride and Prejudice.

“Sev, you remembered,” Lily said looking up at her friend.

“What is it Lily?” Remus asked.

“A particular novel Lily obsessed over when we were 13 or so.  She pestered me to read it for the entire summer.  I only gave in when she threatened to stop speaking to me.”  

“I did not,” Lily protested.  

“Indeed you did.  I even had to speak to Petunia on the telephone to inform you I had completed it.  You even went as far as to quiz me about it to make sure I was telling the truth.”  Severus corrected.  “It is not an original edition.”  Severus supplied, a slight note of disappointment in his voice.  Severus paled at the mention of Lily’s sister’s name.  “Tuney is not visiting tonight is she?”

Lily shook her head.  “She’s spending the day with her family in Surry.  She said Harry and I could come down there, but it was too much of an ordeal for her precious Diddy-dums.”

“Diddy-dums?” Remus asked before forcing a gagging expression.

“It’s what she called Dudley.”  Lily explained.

“What kind of a name is Dudley?” Sirius asked from his corner.

“I don’t know,” Lily said.

“When am I supposed to give Harry his gift?” Severus asked as a brief silence settled over the group.

“You can do it now,” Lily said watching the toddler play.

“Perhaps it would be better given to you.”  Severus said handing her a small flat package.

Lily pulled the paper back to find another book, The Little Prince.

“My mother read that to me when I was young.  I was rather fond of the line ‘Draw me a sheep”’ for whatever reason.  This novel will be a bit less…painful.  You can’t possibly enjoy the endless repetitions of the drivel that you endure at the moment.”  Severus told them.

“That’s a Muggle book,” Remus pointed out.

“Well spotted, Lupin,” Severus replied snidely.

“How come your mum read you Muggle books?  I thought she was Pure Blood.”  Remus clarified.

Severus stiffened as he always did at the mentioning of his family.  “I am uncertain as to how my mother ran across the book for the first time.  As to why my mother chose to read me as a child is none of your business.”

Remus put his hands up.

“Thank you, Sev.  We’ll read it tonight.”  Lily said breaking the tension between the two wizards.

A moment later the hearth flared to life.  The face of Minerva McGonagall was in the emerald flames.

“Good morning, Lily.  I was wondering if not would be a good time to come over and give you and Harry your presents?”  The older witch asked.

“It’s fine.  Remus, Sirius, and Sev are here too.  Come on through,” Lily said welcomingly.

Minerva stepped through the flames into the living room.  

“Hello Professor,” Remus greeted.

“Good morning Mr. Lupin,” Minerva returned.  Looking to Severus she said, “I did not expect to find you here.  Is Albus aware you left the castle?”

“I am sure it has not passed the Headmaster’s notice.  However, as I am not a prisoner at the castle I felt no need to inform anyone of my departure.”  Severus retuned coolly.

Minerva looked the young man over sharply, “Very well.  These are for you Lily.”  Minerva said handing over several more packages.

As the day progressed more people arrived.  Some started for a while, others just long enough to deliver their presents and find out how Lily was doing.  With each person’s arrival Severus’ presence was almost instantly questioned.  By lunch the constant questioning was starting to wear both Lily and Severus down.

Severus tried to excuse himself, but a pleading look from Lily stopped him in his tracks.  Severus found a much needed break when Lily asked him to help put Harry down for his nap.  Severus immediately agreed, even if he had no idea how to go about helping.

Lily carried her son on her hip up the stairs.  Severus followed shortly behind her.  He could not miss the chatter of the people behind him about Lily’s request and his very presence.  Lily placed the boy on the floor to change his diaper.

“Could you not simply use a ‘Scourgefy’ and Switching Spell for that?”  Severus asked as he watched her movements with practiced ease.

Lily chuckled.  “You and James…. James didn’t see why he couldn’t do it that way.  He didn’t like doing anything without magic if he could help it.  You can’t use ‘Scouragefy’ because it it too harsh a spell for the delicate flesh down there.  You need to make sure the area is clean, which you can’t do if you use a Switching Spell.  There are a few charms you can use to change nappies, but they’re more effort than they’re worth.” Lily explained.

Severus nodded, unsure what to say.

“Thank you for coming today.  I’m sorry everyone is being so… unpleasant.”  Lily said sadly.

“It is to be expected,” Severus dismissed.

“That doesn’t make it okay.” Lily said picking up the redressed Harry.  The boy was figihting the much needed nap.  Lily looked from her sleepy, but stubborn son to her friend.  “I normally don’t do this before his nap, but I’m not really ready to go back down yet.  Could you read Harry a story?”  Lily asked hopefully.

Severus looked at her in surprise.  “Are you sure?”

Lily nodded.

Reluctantly, Severus agreed. “Very well, as long as it’s not that rubbish I read the last time.”  

She directed Severus into the rocking chair.  She placed Harry in the wizard’s lap an instant later.  Lily gave Severus a warm smile and Summoned The Little Prince.  Severus read for the next 15 minutes or so, when Lily said, “That’s enough, Sev.  He’s out.  We’d better get back before they send out a search party.”

“Very well,” Severus said looking for something to mark their place.

Lily took the book from him and folded the corner down.  Severus frowned at the action.  Lily took the sleeping boy from his lap and placed him in his crib.  She carefully tucked a blanket over him.  The two left without another word.  When they reached the foot of the stairs Severus stopped.

“Lily, I must not take my leave.” Severus said looking uneasily down the hall and back to his host.

“Sev, don’t…” Lily began.

“No, I must be getting back to Hogwarts.  It has been a most enjoyable day.  There are things that need attending to however.  I… thank you.” Severus said.

Lily sighed.  “Thanks for coming.  I just wish people could have been a bit nicer to you.”

Severus looked at her.  “I am used to it.”  His coat and gloves now on.

“Again, that doesn’t make it right.  Happy Christmas, Sev.”

Severus finished putting on his scarf.  “Happy Christmas, Lily.  I shall see you soon.”