A Christmas Gamble by Whitetail
Past Featured StorySummary: In the Wizarding World, Father Christmas exists. Of course, not all witches and wizards know this, because only children who would not receive presents otherwise are given a present from the man himself. But when something unexpected comes up Christmas Eve, he’s in the market for two substitute Santas to tag-team his complicated route. Who better to ask than the boy whose name has been on his list almost ten years running, and the man who has forgotten what Christmas once meant for him? Either Father Christmas is crazy to put Harry Potter and Severus Snape on the same team, or he knows something they don’t. One way or another, it’s going to be one heck of a gamble if he wants all the gifts delivered on time. Entrant in 2013 Holiday Fic Fest.
Categories: Fic Fests > #15 Winter Fest 2013, Snape Equal Status to Harry > Comrades Snape and Harry Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required)
Snape Flavour: Snape is Kind
Genres: Action/Adventure
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 1st Year
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: A Christmas Gamble
Chapters: 9 Completed: Yes Word count: 24757 Read: 32618 Published: 10 Jan 2014 Updated: 11 Jan 2014
Sparks Over Cokeworth by Whitetail

"Well, Potter, what's keeping you?" Snape barked as they soared across the countryside. "Where do we go first?"

"Hang on," Harry said, opening the Big Book, which was very firmly held on its shelf. The cold air whipped his hair, and he pulled his hat further down on his head. It seemed to be magic, because the warmth it gave of was wonderful. His jacket and trousers were the same, and he hardly felt the cold at all.

Scanning the first page, Harry found the name.

"Suzie and Jeffery Hopps," he said. "Looks like we're starting along the countryside. Number three Thistle Road"

"Hold on, Potter," Snape said, then called out the address to the reindeer.

With a startling crash of bells and flurry of sparks the sleigh shuddered, and the world disappeared for a fraction of a second. When the darkness cleared Harry looked down below at the stretching farmland, which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere as the remaining sparks from the Reindeer spiraled past.

"Amazing!" Snape said, to Harry's amazement. "Not even painful like normal apparition!"

Knowing he had best do his job right, Harry busied himself with reading the precautions.

"She has a cat sir, so be careful not to trod on it because it sleeps by the fire. Looks like you can go in through the floo."

Snape nodded as the rooftop got closer and closer. The reindeer soared in, and landed with an amazing amount of softness atop the roof.

"It's slippery sir, so be careful," Harry added, glancing at the snow and ice.

"I am not an idiot, Potter," snapped the Professor as he jumped out of the sleigh.

Harry called out the children's names to the sack, and two small gifts shot out of it and into Harry's hands. He gave them to Snape, who put them under one arm and grabbed a pinch of the floo powder from his pocket. He walked carefully toward the chimney.

***

Severus supposed that the boots he had on were charmed to grip the ice and the steep angle as well, because it was relatively easy moving across the roof. He was irked that Potter had warned him to be careful. Like the boy knew anything about being careful.

The pinch of floo powder he had taken was quickly cast at the foot of the chimney by his feet. In a whirl off fire he appeared in the fire, and stepped out. Indeed, there was a cat, and he carefully stepped over it. It remained sleeping, for his boots were silent as Father Christmas had said.

The house was still and quiet, and he felt like a ghost as he walked without a sound over the wood floors. The iron stove sizzled slightly, and the heat that radiated from the dying coals was pleasant. Severus saw the staircase, and he made his way up it. He supposed the two children must have been there somewhere. When he saw the drawn pictures taped to the door with images of tractors, and also of princesses, he assumed that they shared. Then, just as he was about to open the door, the floor creaked. Heart hammering, Severus saw the door at the end of the hall open, and a man in his forties came out, looking haggard and tired as he scratched his head and stumbled toward Severus, his dressing gown drawn tightly around him.

The man looked straight through Severus, not seeing him as he went downstairs. A light turned on in the kitchen, and the clinking sound of a glass could be heard. Carefully, when he was sure that the man wasn't looking, Severus tried the door. It didn't squeak, so he crept inside. There were two children, fast asleep. The boy looked to be five at the most, and the girl not much older. Carefully, Severus placed the two packages on their shared bedside table. He spared them a glance for a second, then went back to the door. He listened a moment, his years of spying allowing him to pick out the smallest traces of sound. Footsteps came up the stairs, and passed by the door. The creak of a door at the end of the hall once more. With one last glance at the children in their beds, Severus stepped out of the room and went to the fireplace. He threw a pinch of powder in the fire and stepped in. He reappeared on the roof. He smirked slightly.

"How did it go?" Potter asked eagerly.

"Fine," said Severus, not elaborating. Potter seemed slightly disappointed. "Next house."

Severus jumped back in the sleigh.

"Hyah!" he said to the Reindeer as he grabbed the reins. With utmost silence the Reindeer shot into the sky, using much less takeoff space than was required before. They were experts of flight, and not a moment after they had hit the sky did Severus call out the next address given to him by Potter.

And so began the process again.

 ***

Harry wasn't sure how many houses they'd gone to, but the speed at which they did so was amazing. The countryside homes were done first, which Harry presumed was because many were farms and thus required early risers. Snape hardly spoke to Harry, which Harry was alright with. It left him to take in the beauty of the swirling snow that was falling in many areas of the United Kingdom that night. Other places it was raining, but luckily the sleigh seemed to be equipped with charms to repel both rain and snow, and so they did not get wet.

Thankfully, things were going well. Snape was only sharp with Harry on occasion, usually when Harry got distracted by the often beautiful sights.

"Sir?" Harry said after a while, when they were taking a few minutes to get to the outskirts of London per instructions of the book. A little note had said that on this leg of the journey it was okay to let the Reindeer rest a little and simply fly the ten minutes that was required.

"What?" Snape said, looking tired as he rubbed his face with a free hand.

"Why did Father Christmas choose you for this?" Harry asked. "Did you know him before this?"

"I might ask the same of you, Potter," said Snape sharply, looking at Harry as though he'd done something sneaky to get there.

Harry didn't want to tell Snape about the Dursleys. Snape was clearly not going to divulge anything of the reason for him being in the sleigh at the moment either, and as Harry hardly wanted to start, he sighed.

"Right," Harry said. "I guess we'll both just have to accept we have our reasons."

***

Of all things for Harry Bloody Potter to say, that was one of the last things Severus would have expected him to come up with, let alone any eleven year old. Potter basically had just said that he wouldn't pry, and that if Severus didn't ask, neither would he. Strange. Potter baffled him sometimes. It amazed him, and despite the fact that Potter was a spoiled brat, for the moment, he didn't want to chuck him out of the sleigh.

But still, why on earth would Potter be here? What made Father Christmas think that Potter was a good candidate for this? The kid had been waited on his whole life! He'd had everything that Severus hadn't as a child.

"Sure Father Christmas didn't just want to give the famous boy who lived another go at getting everything he wanted?" Snape said coldly. It was a low thing to say, and he knew it. The second it came out of his mouth he regretted it. Potter hadn't pried too much before this. He'd been much less a headache than usual, that was for sure.

"That's not who I am, sir," muttered Potter, sinking into his seat and looking at his feet.

The boy didn't even fight back. He just took it, and swallowed the insult like it was medicine. With no friends to scowl at comments pointed his way, Harry Potter simply let it slide.

"Good," Severus said, because he didn't know what else to say, and he didn't know how he could take it back. Sure, Potter was a brat, but the comment had come unprovoked.

Severus shook his head. What was Father Christmas thinking? He wasn't a good enough man to do this job. He was just Severus Snape, Death Eater, traitor, killer of the only one he'd loved, and insulter of children. Scum, in other words.

Sighing slightly, Severus glanced over the edge of the sleigh. The world below had lit up like fire as the outskirts of London came into view. It was beautiful, but to Severus it was empty. Potter gasped and stared.

"Right, where's out first stop in London?" asked Severus.

Flats and houses and alleyways and children on the streets, gifts dropped into homeless laps and silence all around. The system worked perfectly. No cats were stepped on, and all gifts were delivered successfully in London. There was something sort of amazing about it. Severus found it strange to pass completely unnoticed through countless homes, abusive, poor, or otherwise. It felt sort of nice though to leave something for kids that had so little. But all the while, almost nothing was said between the pair that brought hope to these children. There were simply no words to say among two so different people. Severus doubted either of them had anything in common, and as they soared away from London he wondered how much more silence he could take. Potter was being remarkably quiet. Silence was better than arguing, however, and so far they had made it halfway through the journey without any major mishaps.

"Where next?" Severus asked.

"Um, let's see …" Potter said quietly. "Wow, lots of kids here. Cokeworth."

"Cokeworth," said Severus quietly under his breath, closing his eyes a second. Cokeworth. Spinner's End. Lonely Christmases and broken arms. Cokeworth.

"Um, I don't think the reindeer heard you," Potter said hesitantly, looking puzzled by the look on Severus' face.

"That's because I wasn't addressing them, foolish boy," Severus growled. "Atlas, Calypso - Cokeworth!"

Sparks flying and bells jingling the world disappeared. The sooner this was over the better.

They reappeared the second before they hit it, the muggle cell phone tower just outside town that Severus recalled had been completed during the summer.

"LEFT!" shouted Severus as he yanked the reins to make the reindeer turn.

Potter yelled as they narrowly missed the tower, but the frightened Reindeer had turned too sharply, and Severus saw it all happening a moment before it did. They were going into a barrel roll. So much for a promise, he thought fleetingly.

They went round once, twice, and true to Father Christmas' word, everything and everyone on the sleigh stayed in its place, like super glue was sticking both him and Potter to their seats. In one dizzying second, his mouth open in silent horror and his ears full of Potter's frightened cries, he saw the dark, wet fields on the outskirts of town beneath them, upside down and his hat just about slipping off. Getting the reindeer to apparate out of the barrel roll would be hopeless, so thankfully on the third turn the Reindeer caught themselves somewhat. For a moment, relief flowed through Severus' veins, but it was all for naught. They might have been alright if it hadn't been for the loss of altitude and the bare tree arching its branches out in the moonlight, but that wasn't the case. He tried to pull the reindeer to the right, but they didn't turn quick enough, and the branches crunched and cracked.

"Watch your face, Potter!" Severus shouted as he shielded his own with his arm and they descended. Through the tree they went, the Reindeer snorting, and with a crumpling, skidding crash, they hit the earth and slid through the wet grassy slopes and down into a creek.

The silence that fell when it was over pressed in on Severus' senses, and he glanced over at Potter.

"Potter, are you alright?" Severus said, feeling his hands shaking as he pried Potter's arm from around his head and took a look. "Good, just a few scratches. Okay. You didn't hit your head?"

"N-No sir," Potter said. He glanced over at the Reindeer in front, which were moving and stumbling in the muddy, icy water of the creek. "But I think one of the reindeer is hurt."

Severus felt the blood drain from his face as he looked at the feebly stirring reindeer that had yet to regain its feet. He vaulted himself out of the sleigh. He held out his hand.

"Come on, Potter, I might need your help," he said sharply, knowing now was not the time to be picky. Potter stared at a second, surprised, then took Severus' hand and got out of the sleigh, which was sitting at an odd angle.

Over to the reindeer they went, and it was immediately clear that it was Rain who was injured.

"Oh Rain, Rain, what have I done?" Severus said before he could stop himself, his heart hammering erratically as he sunk down to her level, not caring that the mud and water of the creek rose above his boots and poured in.

"Broken leg, sir, look," Potter said quietly from the bank, pointing to her back leg. There was no blood, but it was at an angle that was clearly unnatural.

"Okay Potter, help me unhitch her," said Severus. "Come on, start the buckles on that side."

Without a moment of hesitation, for which Severus was both surprised and grateful, Potter waded down the small bank and into the creek too, unbuckling the strap around Rain's belly.

"That tower, that stupid tower," Severus said as he fumbled to undo the straps around her head, the reindeer around her snorting with worry. "Shh, Royal, Halcyon, it's alright we'll fix her, I promise. That stupid tower - I remember them building it this summer - what an eyesore …"

Potter looked up, confused.

"You know this place?"

"Help me get the harness free so I can get her out of the water," Severus said quickly before he had to reply. "I'm going to levitate her into the sleigh. We have to take here somewhere she can rest. I can heal the leg, but she won't be able to use it for a few hours without caution. Landing and taking off is out of the question."

"Where will we take her?"

"I'm working on it," muttered Severus while he mentally considered his parents' old bedroom and how comfortable it would be for a reindeer.

Severus waved his wand, and Rain was slowly lifted out of the water. He twisted his wand slightly and directed her toward the bank, where he set her down gently and cast a drying charm on her, as well as a warming charm.

"Alright, time to get the rest of these reindeer out of the creek," Severus told Potter. "Go down the line on your side to see if any are hurt."

Silently, the two of them walked past each reindeer, and besides a few minor scratches, which Severus healed with a swish of his wand, the others were fine. Then, Severus unhitched Calypso, and brought her around to put her next to Royal. Royal nickered and looked off to where Rain was.

"She'll be fine," said Potter, stroking Royal's head.

"Sorry, Calypso," muttered Severus. "You're needed back here. Atlas is leading now."

Carefully, Severus stepped through the wet, muddy stream, and got to the front of the lineup and adjusted the harnesses so that Atlas was hitched front and centre.

"Alright, Atlas, lead them out of the water, carefully," Severus called. "Potter, stand back."

Obediently, Potter backed out of the stream.

***

"Wait!" Harry cried. "Sir, there's a rock in front of the runner on my side. We'll have to move it before they can pull the sleigh forward."

"Woah!" called Professor Snape, and the reindeer stopped straining. Snape walked around the back of the sleigh and to where Harry was. "Good eyes, Potter."

Harry watched as Snape waved his wand, and with a gritty clunking noise the rock rolled out of the way.

"Forward!" he called.

Side by side they watched as the sleigh - which slid easily through the water and mud thanks to the slippery, enchanted runners - was shifted from the water. With a quick spell, Rain was lifted into the sleigh and tucked into the back. Then, Harry watched Professor Snape take a hold of Atlas's harness and lead him forward with the sleigh, out toward the clearing ahead. Once the area was free, Snape glanced at his watch.

"What time is it, sir?" asked Harry.

"Two thirty in the morning," said Snape tiredly. "Get in the sleigh, Potter."

Harry did as he was told, and watched his Professor examine Atlas.

"Well, here we go," Snape said to the reindeer. "Are you and the others fit to fly?"

Atlas looked up, and with a snort he pawed the ground and brought his head up and down in a nodding motion. The other reindeer followed suit. Snape went back to the sleigh and jumped up. Harry watched as Snape clamoured into the back of the sleigh and bent over Rain. He took out his wand, and he held it to her wound, muttering a complex string of words. There was a snap as the leg repositioned itself, and Rain kicked a front limb. Snape put his free hand against her coat to steady her. A few more muttered words and the limb gave off a blue light. Snape patted Rain's flank then climbed into the front seat again.

"Onward and upward," Snape said under his breath, looking apprehensive as he took the reins again. He glanced to the back of the sleigh, where Rain was sitting, huffing slightly.

Harry looked back at her too, worried.

"She will be fine," Snape said when he noticed where Harry was looking.

Harry nodded, and then with a shout Snape had the reindeer rearing and charging. One thump. Two thumps. Three, and they left the ground behind.

"Spinner's End!" Snape cried to them.

Harry looked to Snape, wondering what place that was, because the name was not on the page designated next in the rounds.

The reindeer reappeared on the street. In the still night, the looming image of a smokestack in the distance met Harry's eyes.

"Where are we, sir?"

Harry looked over to Professor Snape, who was staring off at the crumbling smokestack like it was a ghost from another life.

"Sir, where are we?" Harry whispered.

The End.


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