Yuletide Potions III
Title: Yuletide Potions
Team: the Order of the Phoenix
Word Count: 11 x 100
Rating: G
Challenges: Santa Severus, Secret Wish
Characters: Severus, Hermione
Author’s Notes: Woot! Finally, I got my contribution for today done. Happy holidays!
Part One
Part Two
*****
After seeing her yesterday-whilst playing Santa at the orphanage-Severus felt that he was prepared for what he was about to walk into when he entered the workshop he shared with Hermione Granger.
In his experience, a woman whose greatest wish was to simply not spend Christmas alone would be wading through a deep depression. He had already prepared himself for the darkened room, the pints of chocolate ice cream, the dozens of used tissues littering the desk, and the unceasing sniffling and tears.
When he opened the door, he realized that he had not been nearly prepared enough.
*
The workshop that they used was located beyond the backroom of the Hogsmeade Apothecary. It was convenient for her as it allowed her the freedom to manage the small apothecary, whilst it gave Severus the feeling that he was not isolated from the rest of the wizarding world.
Granted there were times when he cherished his privacy, but he was human and spending time in solitude did begin to take its toll. Working with Granger in the workshop of her business was reasonable.
And she kept her workspace neat and clean. It was generally a peaceful place to work.
Generally.
*
“Merlin’s shorts! What the hell is this?”
“Good morning, Severus!” Hermione called from the vicinity of what had once been her desk.
What had once been a sparsely decorated room, with nary more than a mirror on the wall and some pale green drapes, was now decked out to the rafters.
Deck the halls, indeed; though there was far more than a few boughs of holly in the rather small room.
There were enough tinsel, fairy lights, and brightly colored baubles to decorate the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
Obviously Hermione’s method of coping involved something more than wallowing in misery.
*
First he had been forced to endure a rowdy group of children whilst they fought over who got to sit on Santa’s lap and once they did they begged for things. (Okay, to be fair, most of the children requested things that were simply impossible to give them… with or without magic. After all, magic had its limitations and bringing back the dead was one of those limitations.)
The headache which had followed his afternoon of hell had been nothing compared to the migraine that he felt forming behind his right eye because of the sheer gaudiness of this room.
***
Hermione poked her head from around the Christmas tree in the far corner of the room. “Well, what do you think?” she asked as she dusted off her hands admired her own handiwork.
She saw Severus’ tightly pinched face and she felt her mood-which had been artificially elevated by the holiday decorations-begin to slip away.
“It’s colorful,” he snapped.
Determined not to allow him to lower her spirits, Hermione forced the corners of her lips back up. “Would you like some tea?”
“No.” He removed his cloak. “How long will I be forced to endure this eye sore?”
*
Hermione reached out to take his cloak and placed it over a chair. In her urge to decorate the room for the holidays she’d Transfigured the cloak rack into the Christmas tree which she was just now walking away from.
She stood back and looked at the room again. “Okay, perhaps I did go a bit overboard.”
Snape snorted.
“But it makes me happy and… it reminds me of home.”
Severus’ face softened as he nodded slightly. It was only from working so closely with him the last few years that she was even able to notice such minute reactions.
*
“Please tell me that you’ll not be decorating the front of the shop this same way.”
Hermione laughed. “No. Well, not to this extreme in any case. I didn’t mean to get so carried away, honestly. It started when I thought that I’d hang a wreath on the wall over there and then I thought that a bit of snow would look nice on the floor over in that corner and then….”
She shrugged.
“I see. Perhaps you should leave the rest of the shop as it is and simply come back here if you feel the need to indulge.”
*
“Or better yet, you could move this obnoxious display out front and return my workspace to its original condition.”
“I thought that you just said that you didn’t want me to decorate the rest of the shop.”
"The rest of the shop is your responsibility. I simply commented for your benefit and that of the customers. It has nothing to…”
He stopped and wrinkled his nose.
“What is that smell?”
“What?”
“It’s almost like peppermint.”
“Oh! I tried to charm the air to smell like peppermint and freshly baked biscuits. But it didn’t work quite as well as I’d hoped.”
*
Severus brandished his wand. After thinking for a moment he gave a small wave and the smell in the room changed from the slightly rancid odor that Hermione had conjured to the sweet smell that reminded her of Christmases at home.
She inhaled deeply and let the smell wash over her. There was something else in the air that she couldn’t quite place-cloves, perhaps?-but it reminded her of sitting on Santa’s lap the day before.
Hermione inhaled again and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Now, is there any hope of us getting any actual work done today?”
***
The smell in the room was almost nauseatingly sweet. Couple that with the overabundant amount of decorations and he was certain that he was living in a new version of hell. Yesterday he’d briefly wondered what could be worse than being forced to play Santa for a group of children. And today, he’d entered into what had to be the equivalent of Santa’s workshop.
He massaged his temples.
Why did he tolerate this? But he didn’t even have to ask himself that question.
She was in pain and just knowing that caused a flurry of emotion to surge within him.
*
From the tone of her voice to each movement of her body, he could see it the hurt radiating off of her. A glance at her hand confirmed his previous suspicions that something had happened with the Weasley prat who she’d recently been engaged to.
Throughout the day he found that he had difficulty focusing on his work. He wanted to do something for her, but he wasn’t sure what.
Hermione’s words echoed through his head, “I wish that I did not have to spend Christmas all alone this year.”
And he wanted nothing more than to fulfill that wish.
*****
Go on to Part IV
Team: the Order of the Phoenix
Word Count: 11 x 100
Rating: G
Challenges: Santa Severus, Secret Wish
Characters: Severus, Hermione
Author’s Notes: Woot! Finally, I got my contribution for today done. Happy holidays!
Part One
Part Two
*****
After seeing her yesterday-whilst playing Santa at the orphanage-Severus felt that he was prepared for what he was about to walk into when he entered the workshop he shared with Hermione Granger.
In his experience, a woman whose greatest wish was to simply not spend Christmas alone would be wading through a deep depression. He had already prepared himself for the darkened room, the pints of chocolate ice cream, the dozens of used tissues littering the desk, and the unceasing sniffling and tears.
When he opened the door, he realized that he had not been nearly prepared enough.
*
The workshop that they used was located beyond the backroom of the Hogsmeade Apothecary. It was convenient for her as it allowed her the freedom to manage the small apothecary, whilst it gave Severus the feeling that he was not isolated from the rest of the wizarding world.
Granted there were times when he cherished his privacy, but he was human and spending time in solitude did begin to take its toll. Working with Granger in the workshop of her business was reasonable.
And she kept her workspace neat and clean. It was generally a peaceful place to work.
Generally.
*
“Merlin’s shorts! What the hell is this?”
“Good morning, Severus!” Hermione called from the vicinity of what had once been her desk.
What had once been a sparsely decorated room, with nary more than a mirror on the wall and some pale green drapes, was now decked out to the rafters.
Deck the halls, indeed; though there was far more than a few boughs of holly in the rather small room.
There were enough tinsel, fairy lights, and brightly colored baubles to decorate the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
Obviously Hermione’s method of coping involved something more than wallowing in misery.
*
First he had been forced to endure a rowdy group of children whilst they fought over who got to sit on Santa’s lap and once they did they begged for things. (Okay, to be fair, most of the children requested things that were simply impossible to give them… with or without magic. After all, magic had its limitations and bringing back the dead was one of those limitations.)
The headache which had followed his afternoon of hell had been nothing compared to the migraine that he felt forming behind his right eye because of the sheer gaudiness of this room.
***
Hermione poked her head from around the Christmas tree in the far corner of the room. “Well, what do you think?” she asked as she dusted off her hands admired her own handiwork.
She saw Severus’ tightly pinched face and she felt her mood-which had been artificially elevated by the holiday decorations-begin to slip away.
“It’s colorful,” he snapped.
Determined not to allow him to lower her spirits, Hermione forced the corners of her lips back up. “Would you like some tea?”
“No.” He removed his cloak. “How long will I be forced to endure this eye sore?”
*
Hermione reached out to take his cloak and placed it over a chair. In her urge to decorate the room for the holidays she’d Transfigured the cloak rack into the Christmas tree which she was just now walking away from.
She stood back and looked at the room again. “Okay, perhaps I did go a bit overboard.”
Snape snorted.
“But it makes me happy and… it reminds me of home.”
Severus’ face softened as he nodded slightly. It was only from working so closely with him the last few years that she was even able to notice such minute reactions.
*
“Please tell me that you’ll not be decorating the front of the shop this same way.”
Hermione laughed. “No. Well, not to this extreme in any case. I didn’t mean to get so carried away, honestly. It started when I thought that I’d hang a wreath on the wall over there and then I thought that a bit of snow would look nice on the floor over in that corner and then….”
She shrugged.
“I see. Perhaps you should leave the rest of the shop as it is and simply come back here if you feel the need to indulge.”
*
“Or better yet, you could move this obnoxious display out front and return my workspace to its original condition.”
“I thought that you just said that you didn’t want me to decorate the rest of the shop.”
"The rest of the shop is your responsibility. I simply commented for your benefit and that of the customers. It has nothing to…”
He stopped and wrinkled his nose.
“What is that smell?”
“What?”
“It’s almost like peppermint.”
“Oh! I tried to charm the air to smell like peppermint and freshly baked biscuits. But it didn’t work quite as well as I’d hoped.”
*
Severus brandished his wand. After thinking for a moment he gave a small wave and the smell in the room changed from the slightly rancid odor that Hermione had conjured to the sweet smell that reminded her of Christmases at home.
She inhaled deeply and let the smell wash over her. There was something else in the air that she couldn’t quite place-cloves, perhaps?-but it reminded her of sitting on Santa’s lap the day before.
Hermione inhaled again and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Now, is there any hope of us getting any actual work done today?”
***
The smell in the room was almost nauseatingly sweet. Couple that with the overabundant amount of decorations and he was certain that he was living in a new version of hell. Yesterday he’d briefly wondered what could be worse than being forced to play Santa for a group of children. And today, he’d entered into what had to be the equivalent of Santa’s workshop.
He massaged his temples.
Why did he tolerate this? But he didn’t even have to ask himself that question.
She was in pain and just knowing that caused a flurry of emotion to surge within him.
*
From the tone of her voice to each movement of her body, he could see it the hurt radiating off of her. A glance at her hand confirmed his previous suspicions that something had happened with the Weasley prat who she’d recently been engaged to.
Throughout the day he found that he had difficulty focusing on his work. He wanted to do something for her, but he wasn’t sure what.
Hermione’s words echoed through his head, “I wish that I did not have to spend Christmas all alone this year.”
And he wanted nothing more than to fulfill that wish.
*****
Go on to Part IV