Innocence | Severus Snape x Reader

48 - Christmas

I, as I often found myself, was sitting with Severus. We were both drinking our tea and just relaxing. I was looking at the Christmas tree. Currently, there were only four presents under the tree. Tomorrow morning there would be seven. I had three more presents for him, that I had managed to hide and would be waking up early to put under the tree. 

I know that gifts weren't the ultimate form of affection, but I wanted to make up for the missed Christmases and birthdays. It was also the only way I could think of to convey my affection in a way I hadn't already. 

I felt a pat on my head and saw that Severus had stood, stroking my hair. I smiled up at him and he smiled down at me. 

"I'll go start dinner." He said. I nodded and he went to the kitchen. 

I usually cooked, just because I was better at it, but this was part of Severus treating me, and I was very thankful for it. Already I felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, though I did have more time to think about things, it wasn't so hostile in my own mind anymore. It was more f me going over things and mentally addressing them. Positively compartmentalizing. 

I felt as though I was beginning to calm myself over situations that had upset me. 

For dinner, Severus went with a fairly safe option and made a stew. It was quite good, so I assumed he had followed a recipe, but I loved it nonetheless and showed him my thanks, then we went to bed. 

I awoke about an hour earlier. I'm sure you're wondering where I had the presents, but I had a charmed bag, it was very small, but it could hold an entire room worth of things. I planned on making good use of it, but I decided to practice with smaller, more trivial items for now. 

I put them under the tree and then sought after my second task for the morning, which was to make breakfast. Though Severus promised to cook, I could not allow a catastrophe. For some reason, cooking eggs were a challenge for him. 

I decided on simplicity. Eggs, ham, and some waffles. Quite an American breakfast but it was cheap, simple, and quite delicious. I knew that by the time everything was done cooking, Severus would be up, either on his own internal clock or the smell of food. I made each of us some tea and set everything out on the table. 

After a few minutes, Severus didn't come and I assumed he must still be sleeping. 

I walked from the kitchen to our room. 

The layout of Severus' home was quite odd, but I didn't complain. Since we shared a room, we didn't use the extra bedrooms for anything. They were quite literally empty rooms, and we didn't have the money to put anything in them, nor the time. At this point, with so many unknowns, I thought it best for us to wait before building up our home until everything was (hopefully) over. And nothing has even really begun outside of the disappearances. 

"Severus," I said, lightly shaking his shoulder. He was dead asleep. 

I couldn't help but wonder what had made him so tired. We hadn't been up any later than usual, we hadn't been up to any activities the night before, and he was such a light sleeper that most nights I would accidentally wake him up just by moving. 

"Severus," I said a bit louder, shaking his shoulder a bit harder. 

"Hmm?" He said, very groggily. 

Perhaps his exhaustion came from a mental tire.

"It's Christmas, my love. I've made us breakfast and fresh tea. It's getting cold." At my words, he sat up, slowly of course. He was in no rush and I didn't mind at all. 

He looked at me and smiled, "Merry Christmas darling," he said. 

I leaned in for a kiss and he met me in the middle, cupping my face. 

We both went down to the kitchen to eat our breakfast. Neither of us spoke, we didn't have to. 

There was a period in which we were both finished with our food and just drinking our tea. I got up to put our dishes away in the sink and rinse them. 

"You ready to go open gifts?" I asked. 

"Of course. I'll take your tea out to the living room." He said, and I smiled in response. 

This was a nice Christmas, already. Though it was simple.

"Why are there more gifts under here than there was last night?" Severus asked as he lowered himself to the floor. It always surprised me how lumber he actually was, despite his normal stiff and rigid movements.

"Well, you insisted on my main gift being relaxation, so I thought I'd repay the favor in a more... discreet and superficial way," I explained, sitting next to him on the floor.

"You didn't have to..."

"There's no point in arguing, we're both too stubborn." I grabbed one of the smaller presents and handed it to Severus. "Here," I said. 

We spent the rest of the morning opening the gifts. I had gotten him a top brand bottle of ink, new robes, a new book, and wand polish. 

He had gotten me a necklace, a dainty chain with a small moonstone pendant (image above), and some of my favorite perfumes, which I did need more of. 

It was actually quite satisfying for me to watch Severus open his presents. The smile that would cross his face, his looks towards me as he saw what each one was. He did the same thing when I opened the two he gave to me. He was like an excited little boy almost, eagerly waiting just to see my reaction. 

I had one more surprise for Severus. 

"I'm going to go take a bath, Sev." I said. After dinner, I had done exactly that. I spent the time meticulously. Making sure I was clean, groomed, and smelled nice. The finishing touch was the lingerie. 

I walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, I had a robe on, but one side was hanging off my shoulder to tease the lace strap. 

"I'm off to bed," I said to Severus, who was sitting down reading. He looked up and his eyes met mine, but quickly trailed.