Dark Magic

Severus

I knocked thrice on the classroom door, a muffled voice responding with a simple 'Enter', as I twisted the steel knob and stepped inside. One of my arms remained behind my back, as I hid the surprise from my Professor. His eyes averted from his desk to my own as I stepped into the light, a small but barely noticeable smile caused his lips to curl at each end. He looked at my dress for a brief moment, then back to me.

"Miss Potter. I see you have dressed for the festive occasion?"

I nodded, a small chuckle escaping my lips. "I have indeed, Professor. And I see you have dressed in your usual, dismal attire?" I smirked, causing him to narrow his eyes in false offence.

"Black is in fashion and suits any occasion, I'll have you know. And you best watch that tongue of yours before I deduct some house points from Slytherin." I nodded, pursing my lips as I took a seat opposite his desk. "Well, I suppose I better keep my mouth shut, then." I sighed, making myself comfortable.

 He scanned me confusedly, "Surely, you cannot be wishing to waste your Christmas here. You should be spending it with your brother and friends. I hear it is snowing outside, today." He resumed marking his papers, causing me to nod in acknowledgement. "True. But you are the closest thing I have to a friend, Professor."

He grew silent, to my surprise, coming to a halt mid-paper. His gaze, however, remained on the parchment in front of him. "I cannot imagine what gave you that impression, Miss Potter. I have only ever been unkind to you and your brother."

I shook my head, adamant he was wrong. "That's not true. You are my friend, whether you like it or not. And I wanted to give you something for Christmas." His eyes darted to my hand, as I took it out from behind my back and presented him with a rectangular, brown box. Placing it on the table, he reached over and removed the lid, peering inside.

His eyes widened as he reached inside and took the wand out, holding it up in the light. His eyes watered a little, his lip quivering. "It took me over a month to find it. I had to ask Dumbledore for help in the end but...That man seems to always have his ways." I chuckled, shaking my head in disbelief, before continuing.

"But once I had it, I didn't know what to do with it. And then it dawned on me, who would keep my mother's wand safer than anyone else in the entire world..." I trailed away, his eyes meeting mine as a single tear finally trickled down his cheek. The first tear I had ever seen the wise Professor shed. I reached across the table, placing my hand over his, my thumb rubbing his knuckles comfortingly. I was now also the one crying.

"She would want you to have it." I sniffled.

He nodded, smiling as he wiped the tear away with the swift flick of his wrist. "Thank you." His voice croaked, causing me to nod in acknowledgement. And not another word was spoken until I reached the door, turning to face the Professor as his gaze locked onto my own once more.

"Merry Christmas, Severus." Before he had the time to respond, however, I closed the door behind me and allowed the rest of my tears to fall...

***

"EM! EM!" I jumped, looking up from my breakfast bowl to find none other than my brother and his red-headed friend as they hurdled excitedly towards my table. Trying not to laugh at their attempt to drag two sleds behind them and a set of ice skates each, they finally reached where I was sitting. 

"We're going out for a snowball fight and some sledding. Do you want to come?" Ron asked excitedly. I took a sip of my hot chocolate, gulping loudly.

"Merry Christmas to you, too!" I chuckled. Harry sighed, shaking his head, his eyes catching the light my earrings must have reflected. "Do you like them?"

I nodded, "I do, thank you so much Harry." Pulling my brother into a hug, I noticed he was missing something about his attire. I reached into my pocket and presented him with a knitted scarf in Gryffindor's red and gold colours.

"I learnt a knitting spell and thought it would make a nice gift. You're welcome." I bowed sarcastically, causing a loud chuckle to sound from the Gryffindor table. 

I glanced over, my eyes meeting those of Ginny's, "That scarf will match the jumper mum knitted you, Harry!" She cheered, as the rest of the table joined in on her joke. My eyes widened as I glanced down and found a hideous jumper that Mrs Weasley had made for my brother, the letter 'H' portrayed in the very centre.

Trying not to laugh at the horrendous coincidence, he covered it with his coat, so that only the scarf was on display.

"Thanks, Emerald." He spoke through gritted teeth, causing me to laugh once more. Ron looked impatient, as though he was about to burst, "Well!? Are you coming with us or not?" 

I chuckled, nodding and grabbing my hot chocolate as we made our way from the hall and down towards the school grounds.

Professor Snape was right. A blanket of thick snow had fallen overnight, turning the school into a Winter Wonderland. We had never had a white Christmas at the orphanage. And if we did, we were not allowed to play outside with the other children. And the hallways at Wool's were colder than the snow outside.

"Come on, Em!" Harry called from down the hill as they headed towards the black lake, having frozen over entirely. I picked up my pace, trying not to shiver at the cold weather as the snow fell down onto my black coat. We had to share the ice skates, as there were two pairs between the three of us. Harry and Ron had the first turn, due to Harry protesting he was the oldest. I never thought I would have such an argument, but I gave in, nonetheless.

I watched them as they laughed and toppled over too many times to count. They raced one another from one side of the lake to the middle and asked me to time them both, to see who had the highest record. Ron, due to his practise at his house, won almost every time. The times Harry won, were due to Ron falling over. My brother's triumph was nothing that a confundus charm could not fix, conjured by yours truly.

After an hour of watching them, they finally allowed me to take a turn. Ron came out onto the lake with me, helping me along. He was, after all, the most skilled at skating out of the two and I had never tried ice skating before. He coached me, and after several minutes I was able to tread along the ice without stumbling.

Ron cheered, happy with my progress and his 'profound teaching methods', in his exact words. He made his way back to the shore of the lake where Harry was sitting, promising to catch me if I fell. I took longer strides, and within a few moments found myself gliding towards him across the lake. 

He continued to shout excitedly, as I found myself closing the gap between us. And it was only as I found myself a few meters away from him, that my toe caught in the ice. The blade caused it to chip and break, giving way beneath me. And the sound of the ice crumbling was all that I remembered, before my entire world turned to utter oblivion...Nothing.