“Oh no,” Harry groaned, “Dementors again. I had completely forgotten that they were not gone yet. What are we going to do? It’s not enough to chase them away, we have to vanquish them!” Otherwise they’d come back again as they had to be hungry, now that nobody was in charge of them.

He thought for a moment, then took his wand and a chocolate frog out of his pocket and configured the chocolate frog into a big machine with a huge hose on the top.

“What is this, and what is it for?” Severus asked amusedly.

“Wait.” Harry took his wand and pointed it at the machine. “Sensus humanicus”.

Severus eyed him questioningly. Harry sighed. It was getting colder. “Severus, go and tell the people to hide in the houses and shops because Dementors are coming. This is a vacuum cleaner, which simulates human senses for fooling the Dementors. And when they come near, they will be sucked in… if it works like I want it to work.” He transfigured another five chocolate frogs into the same kind of machine and put his spell on them, just in time for the first Dementors to arrive. This just had to work. If not, he would just have to chase them away with his Patronus.

Severus came running back to Harry. “All right so far Harry? Do you think it will work?”

“I don’t know but transform to your snake, please. I will change as well as soon as I see that it works and I don’t need my Patronus. Animals are not affected by them.”

Severus obliged and transformed into a snake. The Dementors headed for Harry, but… it worked! The first few already had been sucked in.

Relieved he said to Severus in Parseltongue, “Severus it works”.

The snake glared at him. “Why can you talk to me? And shouldn’t you change as well?”

Harry felt the coldness taking over and his mind slipping away, so he quickly changed into Icicle. He felt better immediately. But how could he communicate with Severus like that? He tried Phoenix tongue.

#Severus, can you hear me?#

No answer. They could not communicate. He would think about that later. In the meanwhile, nearly all Dementors had been sucked into the machines. Therefore, he transformed back just as the last Dementors had vanished. He transfigured the machines into cow dung and scourgified all cow dung.

“All right. They have gone, but we need chocolate now,” he said to Severus who had also changed back in the meantime.

“You were not supposed to be here, were you?” Severus said slightly amused. “You can’t imagine in just how much trouble you will be tomorrow morning, when two certain ladies get a glance of the headline of the Daily Prophet.”

Harry, who was already feeling quite queasy, turned white. “Why? Did they take photographs?”

“Yes, they did. Lots. And everyone knows you by now, because you saved the village before and because you vanquished the Dark Lord. Let’s hurry back, flash us to Dumbledore, he will have chocolate for us.” Harry groaned and changed into Icicle.

-----

With a flash of ice, they arrived in Dumbledore’s office. As he saw that Dumbledore was alone, Harry transformed and plopped into a seat. Severus sat down as well.

“Sorry Professor to just flash into your office,” Severus apologized.

The headmaster’s eyes twinkled. “That’s no problem my boy, I’m glad you are back without anyone noticing. Is everything okay?” He looked over to Harry worriedly.

“Professor, we need some chocolate please. There were Dementors,” Severus said shortly.

“Twinkle!” With a pop the elf appeared.

“Please bring two big pieces of chocolate for the boys.”

The chocolate arrived within seconds, and Severus and Harry began to munch it immediately. Pleasant warmth began to spread within their bodies. Harry tried to give his grandfather a weak smile and said, “I hadn’t thought about the fact that the Dementors were not gone yet. And how things are, they arrived just when we were in Hogsmeade. At first I thought to just chase them away as usual, but then I knew they would only come back a few days later because they had to be hungry and no one was controlling them.”

“That should be correct I suppose,” nodded Dumbledore. “So what did you do to them? You are affected more than the last time, and you even more than Severus, Harry.”

“I told Severus to transform into his snake form as soon as they arrived, so he was not affected so much. But I had to make sure my plot worked before I could change. If it hadn’t worked, I would still have had to chase them away.”

“So what did you do?”

Severus continued. “He transfigured chocolate frogs into several huge vacuum cleaners with big hoses on the top, put a spell on them simulating human senses to fool the Dementors, and the Dementors were all sucked in. Probably you’ll be able to see a picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow.” He smirked.

The headmaster’s look became stern. “So we will all be in big trouble tomorrow when your grandmother gets to know of your Hogsmeade visit.”

Harry sighed. “It’s not my fault that I wasn’t allowed to go and buy my Christmas presents before.”

Severus sneered. “We won’t be in trouble tomorrow, we will be in trouble at lunch, as soon as they see Harry, won’t we? Look at him.”

Harry’s face was white as a sheet, only his cheeks were flushed, and dark rings marked his eyes. Feeling absolutely awful, he contradicted, “No, Severus, because I’m going to skip lunch. I will go to sleep for a while. You can tell the dragon I’ll be going to get my nutrient Potion before curfew,” and with a flash of ice he was gone.

Albus and Severus looked at each other amazed.

“Oh, Severus, how does he manage to always get himself in so much trouble?” Dumbledore sighed and sat back in his chair.

Severus laughed. “That’s what I really would like to know. I have always wondered since I have first met him.”

“Now my boy, what do you think, shall we go to the lion’s den, or shall we have lunch here in my office today?”

Severus smirked, looking hopefully at the Headmaster. “Would that be possible? I’m scared of just how angry your wife will be, and as Harry won’t be there…”

The headmaster’s eyes twinkled. “Let’s do it. They’ll be angry anyway, so we can at least have a peaceful lunch together.”

A few minutes later, when they had just started to eat, there was a knock at the door, and Minerva entered the office. Needless to say that she was very annoyed with them having lunch in the office.

“Albus, when there are only 10 people for lunch, don’t you think everyone will notice when 3 of them are missing?” she asked sharply.

“I’m sorry Minerva, I just had something to discuss with Severus privately, and I thought this might be good timing.”

“And where might I find Harry please?”

Severus shrugged. “When I met him the last time he told me he would go back to the dormitory to put his things away before lunch. Maybe he has fallen asleep?” He quickly lied.

“Ah, but why don’t you at least have lunch first, Minerva? Harry will be okay; I’m sure he will be somewhere in the castle.”

“Don’t give me that Albus. Please behave yourself, especially in front of students.”

“Oh oh, she’s getting upset. Poor Harry,” Severus commented as soon as the professor had left the office.

Ten minutes later the stern teacher was back. “Could one of you please be so kind as to tell me what is being played at here?”

Dumbledore and his student watched her with a surprised look.

“Harry is sitting on this bed in his phoenix form, his head on his back fast asleep und huddled under a mountain of blankets. What happened and what’s wrong with him?”

The two culprits frowned at each other. “Ah, he will be okay Minerva, go and have lunch my dear,” the Headmaster tried to calm his wife.

“Albus, I want to know what is wrong. Severus, have you been together with Harry this morning?”

“Yes Professor.”

“And what have you been doing?”

“Minerva, dear” Dumbledore interrupted her, “don’t get yourself so upset. Everything is fine, believe me.”

“Then why can’t Severus tell me what they have been doing this morning, and why is your grandson skipping lunch AGAIN?” Her voice was starting to get louder.

“You know, Minerva, last Saturday we had the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas, didn’t we? But I was afraid to let Harry go, so he spent the day here.”

“And?” His wife asked impatiently.

“He had to go and buy his Christmas presents.”

“And you let him go? Without Poppy’s consent? You are really irresponsible Albus! But that still doesn’t explain what is wrong with Harry.”

“Minerva, I did NOT let him go. I told him he was probably not allowed to, but he could ask you or Poppy, and he frankly told me he was not going to ask but would flash there and come back immediately. So I only allowed Severus to go to Hogsmeade, but not Harry. And when they were in Hogsmeade, the Dementors showed up again, so Harry vanquished them forever.” He told her the whole story.

Then Severus added, “And finally he transfigured the vacuum cleaners into cow dung and scourgified it.” Severus and Albus giggled.

Even Minerva had to smile a little, although she was still angry. “So what is wrong with Harry?” She asked worried. “Was he affected by the Dementors, or did he use too much magic again?”

“He was affected by the Dementors; he ordered me to change into a snake quite fast, but he stayed in his human form much longer to be sure his idea worked.”

“And none of you has thought about taking him to the Hospital Wing?” McGonagall asked angrily.

“He just flashed away Minerva, what could we have done?” Dumbledore countered helplessly. “I thought we could just let him go and look after him later.”

“I would have thought at least you would be more responsible, Severus,” she said disappointed.

“Sorry, Professor, but I think he is on the verge of having nightmares about the Hospital Wing, so I agreed to just let him rest now. Please don’t be angry, Mam, Harry is so happy here and just wants to enjoy his time here now.”

“But nevertheless he cannot just do what he wants even without permission,” she said sternly. “Severus, you will be grounded for the rest of the day for going with Harry although he was not allowed to go. Please stay in the dormitory with Harry, I will send up Poppy later for Harry, and I shall instruct a house elf to bring dinner for you. And Albus, you won’t get any more lemon drops until Christmas,” she said ignoring the disappointed expression that spread on her husband’s face.

“Regarding Harry’s punishment I will come to your dormitory and have a word with him in the course of the evening,” she threatened with a very angry look on her face.

-----

On Christmas morning, the grounds were white with snow – Harry woke up very early, changed into Icicle and enjoyed an early morning flight over the grounds. It was beautiful – what a pity that he had been grounded by his grandmother until the end of the holidays and couldn’t have a big snowball fight with all remaining students and teachers. He flashed back to the dormitory several times to see if Severus was awake, and finally his friend was moving.

“Good morning Sev, and happy Christmas!” Harry beamed.

Severus smiled back. “Merry Christmas to you too Harry. Did you already open your presents?”

“No, I was waiting for you to wake up, and in the meanwhile transformed and went for a little flight. Nobody will be able to notice me against the snow,” he chuckled.

“Oh Harry stop it, don’t put yourself in even more trouble,” Severus said annoyed. “Now let’s open our presents.”

It was Harry’s first Christmas since his 11th birthday without a Weasley sweater – but probably the second one in his life with a present from his mother. Lily had sent him a broom polishing kit. ‘Just like Hermione,’ he thought happily. In James’ package, he found a book on famous wizards; Sirius had sent him a defence book and Remus a large package of assorted chocolates of Honeydukes. From Severus he received a Potions book, and from his Great Grandparents a Pensieve, a very nice robe and a really warm, fluffy coat, each in a very pretty green that matched his eyes. Poppy gave him a book about Healing for beginners. Finally, there was only an envelope left. Harry wondered what it could be. When he opened it, he saw a card with just one sentence on it, which said: ‘You are not grounded on Christmas day. Granny’.

“YEEEAAAHH!” he cheered.

Severus watched him astonished. “Harry? All you all right?”

“Yes! Sev, I’m not grounded today, look, we can have a proper snowball fight today! Wow!” He showed Severus the card from his Head of House.

Severus chuckled. It was good to see his best friend so happy. “Anyway, we have to go down to breakfast within three minutes, otherwise you’ll be grounded again” he sneered.

-----

At breakfast, Harry said to his grandmother, “I challenge you to a snowball fight after breakfast Granny.”

She laughed. “I’d like that Harry, but be careful, I’m better at snowball fights than you might think.”

Harry smiled. “Who else is coming? Grandfather? Severus? Madam Pomfrey? Susan? Jack?” he addressed all the others surrounding the table. Finally, everyone went together for a big snowball fight on the beautiful snowy grounds.

Harry went over to his friend and whispered, “Look Severus, we have to decide on a tactic. We should play together and always attack a group of two or three of them at the same time.”

Severus nodded reluctantly. “If I have to play at all, then let’s do it like Potions, only the other way – you tell me and I’ll do what you say”.

In the end, the two friends were fighting against Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. The Headmaster had been overwhelmed by the two Slytherin 5th years who had concentrated their fight on him.

Harry whispered to Severus, “Wait a moment, stand far away from them and watch!” He suddenly transformed into Icicle, so that he could hardly be seen on the snowy ground, flew over just in front of the two ladies and flashed back to Severus leaving the two teachers surrounded by a huge flash of ice. Everyone except for the two women nearly fell into the snow laughing.

“And the winners are….” announced Dumbledore, “Severus Snape and Harry Pane. Congratulations my boys! Thanks everyone for a very nice game, and now let’s head into the Great Hall and have a hot cup of cocoa before lunch.”

-----

They spent the rest of the day reading their new books in the Gryffindor common room. After eating too much of the delicious main courses and desserts the house elves had prepared for Christmas dinner, Harry suddenly noticed just how quiet the normally lively common room was and couldn’t help thinking of Ginny, Ron and Hermione. ‘What will they be doing now?’ he thought… ‘but no, that’s crazy, they are not even alive…’ With this thought, he felt homesick for the first time in his life.

Severus secretly threw a curious look in Harry’s direction. What was wrong with him? He seemed to be on the verge of crying. “Harry, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Severus, I’m fine,” Harry replied with a small smile that did not reach his eyes.

“I know that it’s late, but I would like to go and brew a Potion,” Severus tried. “Would you care to join me?”

To brew a Potion – that was about the last thing Harry wanted to do – but the thought of remaining alone in the big Gryffindor tower was not so very attractive either, so Harry decided on joining his friend.

Severus quickly got some ingredients and placed them on the table before he asked, “Harry, would you help me to prepare these please?”

Harry shrugged and began to cut and crunch Potions ingredients thinking ‘what a crazy thing to do at 11 p.m. on Christmas day’. Severus, who had been silently watching Harry all the time, grinned to himself in relief. It took about an hour until the Potion was finished. After they had tidied up the Potions classroom they went back to Gryffindor tower, but the nearer they came to the tower, the more Harry’s feelings from before returned, and by the time they had reached the dormitory, tears were swimming in his eyes again.

Severus handed Harry one of the phials of the Potion they had just made and said, “Drink it please.”

Harry downed the Potion and didn’t even ask what the Potion was that they had been brewing, and Severus was sure he couldn’t have recognized it because it was a new mutation of the calming draught Severus just had invented the week before. But it helped and he was much calmer now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Severus asked carefully, eying his friend piercingly.

Harry replied, “I’m fine, it’s just so quiet here and I suddenly had to think of my friends in the future, and when I thought about what they might be doing now, I realized that they don’t even exist at the moment. I think I’m going to bed. Thanks for the Potion; it really helped.”

There was a knock at the door, but Harry just ignored it and went to bed. A moment later, his Grandmother entered the room and seemed quite upset.

“Where have you been after curfew tonight?” she asked quite angrily but Severus managed to calm her by waving her over to his bed and telling her that Harry had been homesick and was in need of a calming draught, so they had gone and brewed his very new invention which had helped immediately.

Harry didn’t hear any of it; he was fast asleep – dreaming of Christmas at Hogwarts with snowball fights of phoenixes and snakes against cats and other animals. When he woke up early the next morning, he had a bad cold, probably from being outside in the cold snow for such a long time. But Severus, who had woken up early as well from Harry’s sneezing and wheezing, went immediately to brew a batch of Pepper-up Potion and fever reducers for him, so that nobody else noticed and bothered Harry.

The second week of the holidays passed very quickly, and in no time, the other students would return. As much as Harry had enjoyed the quiet time together with Severus, learning and researching about Potions during this time, he couldn’t wait to see his parents again. Maybe he should tell them, that he was their son…!?