It was still snowing when Severus opened his eyes the next morning. Harry would be pleased. Speaking of which, he was surprised to find the boy still asleep. Didn’t all children, regardless of age, wake up well before the adults on Christmas morn? Then again, Harry had drunk enough Advocaat to make him silly the night before. At least the boy had taken his advice and drank water before he fell asleep.

Severus slipped out of bed and used the loo before filling Harry’s water pitcher and a glass and leaving both on his bedside table. Then, he settled back into bed with a book to wait for Harry to awaken. It wasn’t until he slid his legs under the covers that he noticed two small wrapped packages on the pillow beside him.

Bemused, he picked them up to investigate. While he had made sure that Harry would have gifts, he hadn’t been expecting any himself. He cast a few charms on them to make sure they were safe—even though he knew they’d have never made it through the wards if they were not. Reassured, he set them back on the pillow and waited. Loath as he was to admit it, he was looking forward to seeing Harry’s reaction to the gifts Severus had procured for him.

It was nearly an hour later before Harry rolled over and turned his bleary gaze on Snape, then the foot of his bed. “Oi! Presents!”

“You got your wish for a white Christmas as well,” Severus said.

“I did?” Harry jumped out of bed and went to the window. “Wow. There’s even snow on the ground! We are definitely not in England.” Harry turned his attention back to Snape. “Happy Christmas, Professor.”

“Happy Christmas to you as well, Harry.”

Harry clasped his hands and rocked back on his heels. “Can we open our presents now?”

“Of course,” Severus said, more interested in watching Harry than opening the few trifles he’d received, however unexpected they were.

Harry darted back to his bed and drank the glass of water that Severus had left for him. “I wasn’t really expecting any gifts. Not here. Save for Dobby’s.”

“Ah, so that is who I have to thank for these,” Severus said, holding up the two wrapped packages for Harry to see. “I suspect I anticipated receiving gifts even less than you.”

Harry rooted through his pile. He picked up a lumpy package and squeezed it. “This feels like a Weasley jumper, but how…”

Severus cleared his throat. “I may also have enlisted the help of one particularly resourceful house-elf.”

“Dobby!” Harry proclaimed.

A loud pop sounded. “Harry Potter is calling Dobby, sir?”

“Oh,” Harry said. “No, I didn’t mean…” Then Harry’s face lit up. “Hang on a minute, Dobby. I have something for you.” Harry went to his trunk, pulled out a festively wrapped package, and handed it to the elf.

Dobby’s eyes grew wide. “Harry Potter is giving Dobby a present,” the elf keened with delight. Severus suddenly felt like a heel. He hadn’t thought to get the elf a gift.

“Go on then,” Harry encouraged.

With trembling fingers, Dobby opened the package to reveal a loosely knit scarf in Gryffindor colors.

“I know you have a ton of hats and socks, Dobby, so I thought you might like a scarf.”

Glassy eyes gazed at Harry. “Oh, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is loving his new scarf, sir.” Dobby ran the yarn through his fingers, his hands quivering. Then, very carefully, he wrapped it around and around his scrawny neck. “Dobby is never taking it off, sir. Dobby will cherish Harry Potter’s gift forever, sir.”

Harry smiled brightly. “I’m glad you like it, Dobby.”

“Dobby is giving Master Harry Potter and Master Snape gifts, too. They is wrapped in gold and silver.” Dobby watched, his fingers popping in and out of the knit weave of the scarf, as Harry picked up the package and unwrapped it.

Harry held up one bright yellow sock that had a dragon on it, the wings wrapping around the length of the knee-high sock. The other sock was dark red and only ankle-high. It had a golden lion caught in mid-roar across the top of the foot.

“Thanks, Dobby!” Harry slid the socks onto his feet and modeled them. “Look, they’re perfect!”

While Dobby tittered with delight, Severus opened his own gold and silver package. It contained one black sock with a green snake winding from ankle to knee. The other sock was neon green and decorated with cauldrons in a variety of mind-numbingly bright, flashing colors.

Harry looked over and grinned. “Well, put them on, then.”

Severus hid a grimace and slid the hideous things onto his feet. “Thank you, Dobby.”

“Dobby is happy to serve Harry Potter and Professor Snape, sirs.”

“You’re the best, Dobby,” Harry said, patting the elf on the shoulder.

After quite the emotional display of thanks from the elf, Dobby Disapparated.

Harry glanced over to Snape and burst out laughing.

“Is this a common occurrence?” Severus asked.

“It is,” Harry said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “One year I gave Dobby a matching pair of socks and he said that there must have been some mistake because he’d got two of the same sock.”

“I see,” Snape said. “Do I need to wear these all day?”

“Definitely,” Harry said, opening the other lumpy package and pulling out a navy blue jumper with a yellow broomstick on the front. He pulled it on over his pajama top. “Mrs. Weasley knits jumpers for everyone each Christmas. It’s tradition.”

“It matches well the spectacle that is your socks.”

Harry stuck out a foot and pulled on the hem of his jumper. “I do make quite the fashion statement. Once we add the paper hats from the crackers, my Christmas outfit will be complete.”

“I should have brought a camera,” Snape said.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Harry laughed. “Your turn. Open your other present.”

Snape picked up the small rectangular package that was wrapped in green shiny paper and tied with a silver ribbon. Was it from Dumbledore, perhaps? He removed the ribbon first and set it aside before sliding a finger under a seam in the paper and carefully pulling the two ends a part. A small, ornate journal that radiated magic fell into his palm. Surprised, he opened it, wondering what the charm did.

“It’s not much,” Harry said, causing Severus to glance up in surprise. Harry had got him a gift? “But I thought of you when I saw it. It’s charmed so that when you write potions recipes in it, it will notice patterns in the potions and ingredients and point them out to you.”

Snape sat stunned, staring at the journal, completely overwhelmed by Harry’s thoughtfulness.

“It’s probably stupid, now that I think about it,” Harry said, scratching the back of his neck.

“No,” Snape said, jerking his gaze up to Harry. “No, it’s… I…  thank you. It will be very useful.” He paged through it, thinking about the various uses he could put it to and quite pleased that Harry had thought to get it for him. “When did you get this?”

“I purchased it in Hogsmeade the day that… the Death Eaters…” Harry trailed off, instinctively hunching in on himself.

Not wanting to ruin the day with memories of Harry’s abduction, Snape closed the journal and held it close. “Thank you, Harry, truly. This is a fine gift and I appreciate it greatly.”

“You like it? Really?” Harry asked, and Snape regretted that he wasn’t better at these things.

“I do,” he confirmed. “I was not expecting anything from you. It is a pleasant surprise.”

Harry beamed at him. He unwrapped his next gift to find a book of European Quidditch teams. It had a self-updating spell on it that listed each team’s players, their active roster, the players’ positions, scores, and personal bests, as well as the current score of each match as it was being played. Harry deemed it ‘brilliant’.

Hermione Granger had sent a veritable tome on practical defensive spells, potions, and charms with a note that she hoped it would help him in his “quest.” Harry groaned but admitted it was a useful gift.

The last gift had a note that it was from both Ron and Hermione. Harry opened it to find a framed photograph of the three of them from the summer before. They were in Diagon Alley, in front of Flourish and Blotts. Ronald stood in the middle, the tallest of the three. He had an arm around Harry’s and Hermione’s shoulders as they stood on either side of him. They were bent forward, laughing, their eyes alight with humor and easy companionship.

Harry sucked in his breath and studied the photo for a long moment before pressing it to his chest. He closed his eyes and swallowed a few times.

Severus gave him some time to compose himself before he said, “You missed a gift.”

When Harry opened his eyes, they were over bright with emotion. He looked at the photo once more and then set it on his bedside table facing him. “I’ve opened everything.” At Snape’s raised eyebrow, Harry glanced back to the foot of his bed, where another gift magically appeared.

Tentatively, Harry reached for it. Unlike his other presents, this one he opened carefully, as if whatever was inside might be fragile. He pulled out two leather-bound notebooks; one was midnight blue and the other was a deep cranberry red. The first two-thirds of the journals were blank. The last one-third had a rectangular hole cut out in the middle of the pages, a convenient place to hide something small.

“Sir?” Harry asked.

“I know you’ve been missing your friends, Harry. I know it hasn’t been easy for you to be trapped here with only myself for company.” Severus ran his fingers over the ornately decorated cover of the small potions journal, feeling unaccountably nervous. “Since there isn’t a way for them to visit you here, nor for you to leave, I thought you might like a way to communicate with them.”

Harry sat up straighter, his gaze intense. “How do they work?”

“Mister Weasley has an identical copy of the blue journal, and Miss Granger has a copy of the burgundy one. You will be able to write back and forth to one another using the journals.”

“And no one else will be able to read them? In case they get lost or stolen or something?”

“No. I had Dobby gather a few strands of hair from your friends and used a special potion and spell combination to bind the journals to their individual magical signatures. I also added extra protections to ensure that they are a secure and unbreachable means of communication.”

“And the hole in the back pages?”

“Ah,” Snape said, feeling smug. “That is in case you wish to pass objects back and forth. You need only shrink the item, set it inside your journal, and close the cover. The object will then relocate to the connected journal on the other end.”

It took a moment, but then a radiant smile overtook Harry’s face. Severus let out his breath in relief. He knew Harry would like the gifts, but… “Ooof.” His thoughts were interrupted as he found his arms full of Harry Potter.

“You are brilliant, you know that?” Harry said, giving him a quick but fierce hug. Then, as if remembering himself, Harry stepped back. Still smiling, but seeming a bit chagrinned, he said, “Thanks. Just, thanks. You’ve no idea how much this means to me.”

Snape nodded, feeling as if he’d finally done something right by the boy.

Gesturing to the notebooks, Harry said, “Would you mind if I wrote them a quick note? I know they’re probably celebrating Christmas with their families, but I’d like to thank them for my gifts and wish them a Happy Christmas.”

“You may, but before you do, we need to discuss some ground rules.” Assured of Harry’s full attention, Severus said, “You are not to mention where you are or that I am here with you. Likewise, avoid answering any such questions should your friends ask.” He stopped to think a moment before adding, “Do not mention Dobby, either. If you are unsure as to whether you can write safely about something, ask me first, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, rummaging through his trunk for a quill and ink.

Excitement and happiness radiated off of Harry and Severus was beyond pleased that he’d put in the effort to make this happen. He had one other gift for the boy, but that could wait until after Harry had written to his friends. “I will leave you to it, then. Join me for breakfast when you are finished?”

“Yeah, I will,” Harry said, still digging around in his trunk. As Snape made to leave the room, Harry glanced up. His eyes shone with gratitude. “Thanks again, Professor.”

“You are welcome,” Snape said, patting Harry on the shoulder as he strolled past.

Christmas carols were still playing on the radio when Harry came down for breakfast, which consisted of toast and fresh fruit, and very little of it at that. “I think this is the smallest breakfast we’ve had so far,” Harry commented.

“If I had to guess,” Snape said, “Dobby will be bringing Christmas trimmings from Hogwarts for lunch.”

“Oh!” Harry exclaimed. “That makes sense.” Harry tucked in and ate until he was full but not over-stuffed. “What shall we do today?”

“After you have watered the tree and taken care of the fairies, I thought we might try something I haven’t done in a number of years.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Snape grimaced as if he was having second thoughts. “Ice skating.”

“Really?” Harry asked. “Can you teach me? I’ve always wanted to give it a try.”

“I will do my best.”

Twenty minutes later, they were dressed in winter clothing and headed out to the shed. Once inside, Snape said, “Two pairs of wool socks and two pairs of ice skates, if you please.”

Immediately two tan-colored boots with blades attached appeared in the center of the shed. Two sets of cream-colored wool socks appeared folded on top of them.

“Where are we skating?” Harry asked as he picked up the smaller pair of skates along with the socks.

“Do you remember the brook that we saw when we were searching for the fairy grotto?”

“Yeah, but, there isn’t enough water in it to skate, is there?” Harry asked.

“The brook opens up into a pond a bit farther down. If I’m not mistaken, it should be sufficiently large and frozen.”

“Wicked,” Harry said.

It took them nearly half an hour to reach the pond and it was indeed plenty large to learn on. Harry breathed in the crisp winter air, missing his friends and Hogwarts, but relieved to be outside and doing something he’d always wanted to try.

There was a large, fallen tree near the edge of the makeshift ice rink. Snape stepped over it gracefully and proceeded to catch Harry as the younger tripped over it.

“I’m no longer sure this is the best idea,” Snape teased. “You don’t seem to be able to stay on your feet even without skates.”

“That’s not funny,” Harry said, but he was laughing, too. He liked this more laid-back side of Snape. And surely there must be charms that could help him stay upright while he was learning. Although if Snape would teach them to Harry was another matter entirely.

Snape cleared the snow off the log and cast a warming charm on it. Then he sat down and removed his boots and socks, replacing them with the wool socks and skates instead. Harry followed suit.

After they’d both laced their skates, wrapping the long laces around their ankles several times and securing them, Snape cast anti-untying charms on the knots and helped Harry to his feet.

“I’m going to skate around a bit to get my feet under me,” Snape said. “Then I should be able to help you.”

Harry watched as Snape glided onto the snow-covered ice, a bit wobbly at first. After skating around the pond half a dozen times, Snape looked like a natural. Harry, meanwhile, had made it about a foot onto the ice before falling on his arse. Twice.

“How are you so good at Quidditch?” Snape asked, offering his arm to Harry.

“Riding a broom doesn’t require me to use my feet for balance.” Harry accepted the outstretched arm and hoisted himself precariously to his feet. He hastily grabbed onto Snape’s arm with his other hand as well when his feet nearly slipped out from under him.

Snape chortled. “Good thing, too. All right, first things first. Stand with your feel shoulder-width apart and bend your knees slightly. Shift around a bit and feel for your center of balance.”

Harry kept hold of Snape’s arm with his left hand, but let go with other, holding his right arm out to the side for balance. He wobbled badly at first and almost fell. Once he managed to steady himself, he said, “Now what?”

“Now, relax. It’s very difficult to skate if every muscle in your body is clenched tight.”

“Easy for you to say,” muttered Harry, but he took a deep breath and relaxed as much as he could.

“Now, lift one foot off the ice about an inch, set it back down, and lift the other. Do this until you feel comfortable.”

“All right,” Harry said, still holding tight to Snape’s arm. This was much easier said than done, Harry reflected. First off, his feet felt like heavy bricks, anchoring him safely to the ice. Lifting one off the ice seemed like a sure way to lose what little balance he had.

Bracing himself, he lifted his right skate gingerly off the ice, wobbled on the remaining skate, slammed his foot back down to compensate, and overbalanced.

Snape raised his arm to help steady Harry, which Harry appreciated. He tried it a few more times, his confidence ebbing and flowing as he sometimes managed it well enough, and other times managed to just keep his feet from slipping out from under him.

“Now lean back,” Snape directed.

Harry did so and promptly fell on his arse. “Hey!”

Snape snickered. “You will fall, Harry. You need to learn how.”

Harry muttered and used Snape’s arm to pull himself back to his feet.

“If you lean backwards while skating, you’ll fall backwards. If you are going to fall backwards, make sure to bend your knees and land on your arse. Try it again.”

“You’re serious?” Harry asked.

At Snape’s cocked brow, Harry sighed, bent his legs, and leaned back. “Happy?” he asked from the snow-covered ice.

“Very,” Snape said with a smirk. “Now try to get up without my assistance.”

Harry supposed Snape did have a point as he struggled to his feet, fell, and tried again. This time he managed to stand on his own, albeit unsteadily. He grabbed Snape’s arm and locked his knees, waiting for his next instruction.

“Bend your knees and try to relax,” Snape said.

“Right,” Harry said, fighting his body’s instinct to go rigid.

“Now, the next thing you need to know if you wish to spend your time upright on the ice is to keep your eyes trained forward, in the direction you want to go. If you constantly watch your feet, which beginners seem to like to do, you will fall.”

“I’m pretty good at falling already, thanks,” Harry said, rubbing his wet denim-covered arse.

“Luckily for you, ice is slippery, so falling is rarely painful.”

Harry made a noncommittal noise and cast a drying charm on his wet denim-covered bum.

“Shall we try moving forward?”

Harry took a deep breath. “Yeah, all right. How do I do that?”

“Lift one foot, turn it sideways just a bit, put it back down on the ice, and push off. Then repeat with the other foot.”

Although that sounded easy enough, Harry had learned that ice was a tricky beast. Cautiously, Harry did what Snape said and promptly sprawled on the ice. He glared up at Snape as the man laughed.

“This is the best entertainment I’ve had in ages,” Snape said, chuckling

Harry mumbled something unkind under his breath as Snape pulled him to his feet. “Watch me.”

Harry watched as Snape over-exaggerated the lifting of his feet and the pushing off. Then Snape returned to a more normal gait and glide and Harry could see how it was done. Not that he had any confidence he could do it himself just yet.

“Ready to try again?” Snape said, coming to a stop beside him.

“Yeah, let’s give it a go.” Harry clenched his hands in determination. He was going to get the hang of this.

It took about fifteen minutes, but Harry had managed to figure out the basics and was skating clumsily beside Snape, grabbing him for balance every few seconds, but managing a few strokes on his own.

At one point he’d somehow hit the serrated tip of the skate. He windmilled wildly and grabbed Snape at the last minute, managing to pull them both down onto the ice.

“Sorry!”

“If you need to fall, Harry, I’d prefer you not take me with you,” Snape said, pushing to his feet.

“Are you all right?” Harry asked.

“I’m fine,” Snape said, brushing the snow off his trousers. Snape crossed his arms over his chest. “You have now reached the point where you have the skills you need to skate. You have also reached the point where you are a danger to your fellow skaters.”

“Hey,” Harry said. “I’m not that bad.”

Snape cocked an eyebrow. “Show me.”

“You don’t ask for much, do you?” Harry mumbled. He steadied himself, took a deep breath, and pushed off. Slowly. This wasn’t so bad. A few wobbles and a near fall, and he was doing all right. Until he hit the front edge of his skate again and went flying forward again.

Snape was still standing with his arms crossed, but now he was guffawing as well.

“What did I do wrong this time?” Harry groaned as he pushed himself to his feet and brushed the snow off himself.

“These are figure skates,” Snape said. “They are easier to learn on than hockey skates as they have wider blades. However, they also have a toe pick at the front. Figure skaters use them to do jumps. You tilted your foot forward and caught the pick on the ice, thus catapulting yourself forward.”

“Lucky me.”

“Try again,” Snape said. He dropped his arms and began to skate beside Harry, but not so near as to be within grabbing distance when Harry fell.

Which he did. Many more times. Forty minutes later, however, Harry was successfully skating around the pond—albeit slowly, but without falling.

“This is more tiring than I thought it would be,” Harry observed, occasionally flinging his arms out wide for balance. Butt muscles he’d never noticed before were protesting and his feet were cramping, but he was upright and that was all that mattered at the moment.

“That is mostly because you are learning. Once you are more confident on your feet, it’s actually quite relaxing.”

“How long did it take you to learn?” Harry asked.

Snape frowned. “I’ve no idea, actually. My mother taught me when I was very young, probably around three years old. The city flooded the square every winter and skating was free.”

“Can you do any tricks?” Harry asked, looking over at him as he did so, which caused him to lose his balance and topple onto the ice.

Snape helped him up. “Such as?”

“I don’t know, skate backwards or something?” Harry asked.

Snape twisted his hips and legs, and then he was skating backwards in front of Harry.

“Wicked,” Harry said with a grin. “Can you teach me to do that?”

“Once you get comfortable with skating forward,” Snape said, turning to face front once more.

By the time they made their way back to the fallen log to change back into their Christmas socks and shoes, Harry was winded and hungry, but happy. He’d got the basics of ice skating down and had managed to skate around the rink with Snape while carrying on a conversation at the same time, without falling once.

Harry finished tying his shoes and glanced up at Snape, who was waiting for him, his hand extended to help Harry up.

Harry grinned and let Snape pull him up. “Thanks for teaching me to skate, sir.”

Snape made a conciliatory noise in his throat and together they walked back to the safe house.