Severus himself had not had many 'real' christmases. Before his grandmother had died he and his mother had had a few Christmases with her, but that was when he was too young to remember. After that Christmases were always barren and often dissappointing until he went home with Lily in their sixth and seventh years to spend Christmas with her family. He supposed he'd have to draw on those few experiences to put something together for Harry and Draco. Presents he had already taken care of for the two boys, but his quarters were another matter, which was why he was on the hunt for Hagrid, who was not in his hut and could not be found in the castle either.

"Minerva," Severus said, catching the woman on her way to lunch in the Great Hall. "Have you seen Hagrid?"

"He was with Argus. I believe they were dipping into spirits early. That was hours ago, I doubt he'll be in any shape to speak to now."

Severus frowned.

"Was there something I could help you with?"

"I need a Christmas tree."

"A tree? Severus, I had no idea you had so much Christmas cheer," she teased, eliciting a dour look from him.

"I am not. Harry and his friends will be spending Christmas in my quarters, and I have no decorations."

"I see," she said. "And since you never help the staff put up decorations in the castle, you don't know where they're kept either."

Severus let out a low growl and she laughed. "Oh Severus, you know I'm only teasing. The rest of the decorations are in the storage room next to the kitchens, and when I see Hagrid I'll try to sober him up to get you a tree."

"By tonight, please."

"Oh, it must be important. You said please." She laughed again at the look on his face and went into the Great Hall. Severus had barely turned to make his way to the storage room by the Kitchens when Albus came striding out with a large, overly cheerful smile on his face.

"Severus, there you are."

"Make it quick," Severus said, in no mood to endure more teasing from his colleagues.

"Perhaps we can talk on the way to whatever task you are in the middle of completing."

"If you wish." They set off for the Hufflepuff/Kitchen corridor and once they were inside the large storage room, Severus began rummaging around through boxes.

"Ah, I see you're looking for Christmas decorations. Can I assume they are for Harry?"

"And his friends."

Albus clasped his hands together as if he were pleased, and conjured a box from thin air for Severus to put the things he needed in.

"I wanted to ask you about Harry. Minerva said that he managed a full animagus transformation. A bear was it?"

"An ursid. I believe he is part grizzly, part polar bear."

"And I can assume you will not be registering his form with the ministry?"

"Not until after Voldemort is gone, unless you wish him to give away all of his advantages."

"No. Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have both approached Minerva and asked for her help learning to transform. I thought that with how close Draco and Harry have grown that he would also ask for help, but I believe he no longer needs it."

Severus stood up straight from the box he'd been rummaging through and turned to face the Headmaster. "Meaning?"

"I was on my way to see Professor Flitwick this morning when I saw a white fox running down the hall. Being naturally curious I peeked around the corner, and the fox was gone."

"And you just assumed it was Draco."

"Given the recent curiosity Harry's friends have in the subject, and also given that I have never seen a white fox the color of Mr. Malfoy's hair until today, yes, I assumed." He smiled then and Severus narrowed his eyes and turned around to look through another box.

"I will speak to him about it."

"Don't mistake my comment on the matter as displeasure Severus. I'm pleased that students have taken it upon themselves to further their knowledge and education and have achieved such results as a result of their perseverence and curiosity."

"Of course," Severus said, but he wasn't happy about it and Albus knew it. He wondered if the Headmaster had lauded the accomplishment of Black and his friends for becoming animagi when they were in school, even though it lead to Severus almost getting killed, and thanks to Pettigrew's trick of betraying the Potter's and blowing up the street, Black getting thrown into Azkaban. If Severus followed Lupin's line of reasoning, then Pettigrew's ability to turn into an animagus was also responsible for turning Black into an abusive guardian. Severus didn't believe it however because he knew what Black had been like in school. Nothing more than a rich, bully.

"To answer your question, Harry is fine. He wanted to keep himself busy and stay out of trouble, so he wrote to Lupin and asked him for a book on Animagus transformations. Lupin in kind, replied, leading to the incident in the Entrance Hall the other night."

"It is curious that he turned into a hybrid bear. I would think one or the other but not both."

"I am uncertain why it matters."

"It doesn't my boy. It was only a curiosity. Perhaps he simply does not know which one he wants to be." Severus turned again to see the elder man's infurating all knowing smile. He reached out and took the box and began filling it wil ornaments and garlands that looked as though they had seen better days.

"I'll leave you to it Severus. I am glad to hear that Harry is well. Can we expect you at the feast tomorrow night and on Christmas?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful! Have a good evening Severus!"

"Indeed."

* * *

"It is tradition that you should open one present on Christmas eve," Severus said to Harry as he lead him and Draco down to his quarters after the Christmas Eve feast."

"We have presents?" Draco asked.

Sensing the unasked question about his parents, Severus clarified, "From me."

"And me," Harry said with a grin, as they entered the quarters.

Harry's Christmas eve present was a new red scarf and mittens, as it turned out, and Draco's was a new green scarf and mittens. As they drank hot cocoa and played chess on the floor in front of the fire, the boys commented on Severus' Christmas decorations, which had been as much of a present for them as had the gloves and scarves. There was a small tree next to the fireplace decorated in red and green ornaments, with white tinsel going around the tree and fairy lights placed on random branches. There was also white and blue tinsel on the mantle above the fireplace and along the edges of the bookshelves against the wall. When Harry went to put away his gloves and hat in the guest room, he found that this room too was decorated with tinsel and the ceiling had been enchanted to have falling snow that never hit Harry or the furniture or ground. Draco found Christmas ornaments hanging from the bathroom ceiling, and tinsel strung around the kitchen.

"Mother would have had a fit," Draco said with a laugh to Harry when Harry came back out of his room, but Harry was grinning.

"I love it. I've never had decorations in my room before."

Harry wasn't aware that his father had heard them, but he had, and he smiled at Harry's response.

They left that night with instructions to bring their presents back the next morning before breakfast, and to plan on spending the day until at least lunch, and Harry relayed the information to Ron and Hermione. Hermione seemed pleased, but Ron seemed uncertain.

"It will be fine Ron, honestly. Why do you always have to expect the worst?"

"Because he lives in the dungeon. Christmas in the dungeons Hermione. It's like something from a Muggle horrible movie."

"You mean horror movie?"

"Whatever."

"The Slytherins spend every Christmas in the dungeons," Harry said.

"Yeah, and look how most of them turned out."

Harry laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes. Since they were alone in the tower, they had decided to abandon the rules for Christmas eve and had dragged all of their pillows and blankets downstairs to the common room so they could all sleep in front of the fire. They also had cookies and cupcakes leftover from the Christmas Eve feast, which Ron had snuck into a bag to save for later.

"It will be a good Christmas," Hermione said. "Don't worry."

"How do you know?"

"Because it's already a good Christmas Eve," Harry said, eyes closed as he enjoyed the company of his friends and warmth of the fire.

The next morning, Ron and Hermione found that they each had a small stack of presents at their feet, but Harry had none.

"What?" Ron said, "I got you something. Where is it?"

"Maybe it's already down there. Hurry and pack up your presents so we can go down."

"In my pajamas?" Ron raised his brows and Harry laughed.

"Go get dressed. He said bring a coat and gloves and hat too."

They were ready after ten minutes and made their way to the dungeons, where Draco met them in the hallway on the way to Severus' quarters. Like Harry, he had no presents to carry.

"If there are no objections, we will eat breakfast here," Severus said as they came in and Ron and Hermione set their presents by the presents for Draco and Harry that were already under the tree.

Ron's eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw the food on the coffee table waiting for them. There were mugs of steaming hot chocolate, frosted cinnamon rolls, croissants, pumpkin muffins, lemon biscoti, pumpkin bread, and a large bowl of scrambled eggs, along with plates, forks, and napkins.

"Looks great," Harry said, and he and Ron immediately dropped to their knees by the table and started loading up plates with food.

"Thank you Professor Snape," Hermione said, and he gave her a nod. They ate fast, anxious to get to their gifts, and when they were done Severus waved his hand at the presents to indicate it was ok to start.

"Open mine first Harry," Ron said, and Harry picked up the present his friend had indicated. Inside were several tins of the invisible hair cream.

"I thought we could look up a charm to make clothes invisible."

Hermione rolled her eyes but Harry appreciated the gift. It could come in handy, and he wondered if the invisibility cream would work on his ursid form.

Harry also received the customary Weasley sweater, a book from Hermione about the commercial uses of potion making, a bag of candy from the twins, and a pair of soft brown leather hand sewn flying gloves from Ginny. There was also a leather book from Hagrid that looked as though Hagrid had hand tooled the leather. The book had blank pages and a note inside that said it was to put photos in.

"You have two presents from me," Severus said when Harry had gone through his stack of gifts, "and they are both in your room."

Harry got up, leaving his friends by the fire as they were still opening presents, and went down the hall. He pushed the unlatched door open and found a completely different room than the one he'd walked into the night before. Severus stood behind him as Harry took a step inside and let his eyes rake over everything that was new. There was a soft red blanket on the bed, a Gryffindor poster on the wall, a golden yellow rug on the floor, a new desk and chair, and a bookshelf full of new books on things like Quidditch, Potions, and Transfiguration. There were also several coat hooks installed on the wall, and Harry noted that the bed had been turned into a four poster with dark brown hangings. His eyes swept the room three times before they finally landed on the brand new broom mounted on the wall above the dresser.

"Is that-"

Severus came in now. "A Thunder Struck."

Harry went over to it and took it off the wall. It's handle was dark gray and it was sleek and shiny like the blue Zephyr he'd given Ron. He'd only seen this broom in catalogs. It was so expensive that they didn't even carry it in the Quidditch stores.

"But I didn't have enough money for a new broom yet."

"I know. This is a Christmas gift. The money you earned earlier is yours to keep."

"But, it costs so much!"

"And one would expect it to considdering it is the fasted broom currently on the market."

Harry turned to look into his father's eyes. He'd done all of this for him. He'd decorated his room, given him a new broom, and given him a Christmas with his friends, and his family.

He didn't say thank you, but he did take a step forward and wrap his arms around his father. Startled, it took Severus a few moments to hug his son in return.

"Merry Christmas dad."

"Merry Christmas Harry."

Just as suddenly as he'd given him a hug, Harry had pulled away again and was hurrying back down the hall and to the living room with his new broom.

"You didn't," Severus heard Draco say loudly, followed by Ron saying, "He did! He got a Thunder Struck!" When he made it back to the living room, the boys were all gathered around Harry's broom and even Hermione had taken an interest in it.

"We have to take it out," Ron said. "We've all got new brooms now. We can race."

"We will go out in an hour once the sun has had a chance to warm things up a little," Severus said.

"I'll be right back," Ron said, heading for the door. "I want to get my broom." Draco followed him out, leaving Harry, Hermione, and Severus alone together.

"Too bad Ginny's not here," Harry said. "She'd like to race with the Firebolt."

"I'm sure she's having fun." Hermione sounded like she wanted to say something else though.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Nothing."

He raised his brows and she could see he wasn't going to drop it. "The Weasley's are spending Christmas at Grimmuald Place. There was something going on with the Order over Christmas. The twins were going to be there too, and Bill and Charlie."

"Oh."

"Information was leaked that an attack might occur on the Burrow around Christmas, so it was decided that several order members would take up residence in the Burrow while the Weasleys stayed at Grimmuald place."

Harry was glad that they would be safe, but was unsettled that they were having Christmas with Sirius. He wondered if Remus was there too, or if he was at the Burrow. The unbidden thought came then that at least Sirius wouldn't be alone for Christmas, followed by the thought that if bad things hadn't happened this summer, Harry would have been spending Christmas there too. Did Sirius know he'd given his Firebolt to Ginny then? Would he be upset that Severus had given him a new broom?

"Harry."

Harry looked up at his father. "Let's go out to the pitch now. Go get your coat and flying gear."

Harry nodded and did as he was told, and when he came back out of his room, Ron and Draco were both back with their flying gear.

Harry wanted quiet time to think on the way out to the pitch, but Ron had other plans as he oggled at Harry's Thunder Struck and talked about all of it's features verses the features of the Blue Zephyr and Draco's Lightning Bolt.

If the Weasleys were there with Sirius, did they know what had happened between him and Harry? Had someone told them? Even if they hadn't they would wonder why Harry was choosing not to spend Christmas with them and Sirius this year. It all just felt so complicated. He didn't want them to know, and if they didn't, they soon would.

"Come on!"

Harry watched as Ron and Draco got onto their brooms and took off into the air.

"What about you Hermione?" Harry asked. She was bundled up like they were and he hated to think she would just sit there in the stands and be cold while they raced around.

"I'll use a school broom. Go on, I'll be up in a minute."

Harry took off into the air and he raced around the pitch several times, laughing because Ron and Draco couldn't keep up despite how fast their brooms were. This was the broom most of the professional players played with.

It was a few minutes before Hermione came up into the air with a beat up red Quaffle and threw it to Ron.

"Oy! What are you doing up here?"

"I'm playing Quidditch, what does it look like?"

"You?" Ron laughed, but in the next second, Hermione had flown forward, hit the ball, dislodging it from Ron's arm, and taken off across the pitch with it towards the goal posts Ron usually guarded as Keeper for Gryffindor team. He raced to catch up with her, but she had too much of a head start and threw the ball through the center goal post.

"You can't do it again," Ron challenged, and she retrieved the ball from the ground, zig zagged around Ron and scored another goal.

Ron looked at her in awe. "Hermione. Why didn't you tell us? You could have been on the team!"

"And spend all those hours practicing instead of studying, only to come back to the common room bruised and battered each time?" She scoffed and Ron raised his brows and shrugged. "It's fun," he said to Harry who was hovering near him now, and Harry gave a nod.

"Well it's not fun for everyone."

"But I don't understand," Ron went on. "Where did you even learn? I haven't seen you on a broom since first year flying lessons."

"When Ginny was trying to make the team a couple of years ago she needed someone to practice with. She didn't want to practice with you or Fred and George, so I went out with her and we used the school brooms. And last summer while you were busy reading comic books, Ginny and I were out in the paddock practicing new moves she wanted to learn."

Ron looked like all of his assumptions about Hermione had just been shattered and it made Harry want to laugh. If anything Ron looked even more infatuated with her now than he had before. Hermione noticed too and turned a little red at the attention she was suddenly getting. Even Draco looked impressed. She threw the ball to Harry, who caught it, and said, "Are we going to play or not?" Harry grinned and he went to guard the other goal post while Draco tried to take the ball from Hermione. All in all it was a fair game since Draco and Harry weren't used to playing anything other than Seeker. Draco scored several goals past Harry and Hermione used moves Ron didn't expect she was capable of to get past him and put the Quaffle through the goal posts. To make it fair, they traded places halfway through their impromptu match, and Hermione and Draco found that they were just as bad at goal keeping as Harry had been.

When Severus called up to them that it was time to go in for lunch, Draco and Ron were up by ten points, much to Hermione's chargrin.

"You're really good," Draco said as they walked back up to the castle. "You should become a backup player."

She turned red but gave a single nod. Wanting to get to lunch, they took all of their gear into the Great Hall with them and sat at the only table set up with food. The staff had abandoned the staff table as was custom on Christmas to join the students, and Harry got many 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from students about his new broom. As far as he knew, he was the only student in school with a Thunder Struck.

"That is a very expensive broom Severus," Minerva commented from her seat next to Severus near the end of the table. They watched as a second year Hufflepuff asked Harry if he hold the Thunderstruck.

"He needed a broom."

"You could have gotten him a Cleansweep."

He scoffed, and took some pleasure in saying, "Not for my son."

* * *

Harry stayed in his newly decorated room in his father's quarters that night. After lunch Ron, Harry, and Draco got into a debate about who was the best gobstone player, only to be shown up when Severus had won seven games in a row against them back in his quarters much to Hermione's amusement. After that they had gone to the feast, where Ron won a new Gobstone set from a giant Christmas cracker (causing Hermione to laugh outright).  When dinner was over Harry finally retired back to his father's quarters with his father.

"Here," his father said as Harry sat on the couch looking through the book Hermione had given him.

Harry looked up. "What's this?"

"Your Christmas stocking. I did not have one for Draco or the others, so I waited until they were gone to give it to you."

"I've never had one before."

"Some children choose to take each item out one by one, and others dump theirs out all at once."

Harry reached inside and found several chocolate frogs, a bag of every flavor beans, an orange (because he suspected his father couldn't stand to not have at least one healthy thing in there), a candy cane, a bar of Honeydukes chocolate, a Quidditch magazine, and new watch.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Harry was so full of candy and sweets from the Great Hall that he couldn't stand to eat another piece, even though he really wanted to, so he went to his room for the night. It had really been a good Christmas, he thought to himself, and just then he wondered if Sirius had had a good Christmas then, or if he'd stayed shut up in his room the whole time. Had anyone even gotten him a present? Was Remus angry at him for what he'd done to Harry?

Feelings of happiness mixing with uncertainty, sadness, and a little of the old fear of Sirius, Harry pulled out a quill and parchment he found in his new desk.

What am I doing, he asked himself. Sirius doesn't care about me at all, or he wouldn't have done what he did. But you're not Sirius, are you, he told himself, and you do care.

Christmas was good, he wrote, and paused. Why would Sirius care if his Christmas was good if he was having a bad Christmas, and if he didn't care about Harry? He didn't know but he kept writing and drew a picture at the bottom, and in the morning, he sent off his letter with Hedwig.

Christmas was good. I ate too many sweets and got tired out playing Quidditch with Ron, Draco, and Hermione. I got a broom. Remus sent me a book. Don't write back.