It is our choices (A Harry/Severus friendship fic post DH) (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 10- There are all kinds of courage

Author's note: I dedicate this chapter to mintyqaz for leaving so many comments on this story. It has been a joy to read your thoughts! Thank you :)

Christmas time has arrived! Please keep in mind that most of this chapter is about the children discovering about their parent's past, not so much about Severus\/Harry. But i promise, there are many more Harry/Sev moments to come!!! But consequently, this chapter is very long and from here on in, my chapters will remain about this length- i'm sorry, i know it is inconvenient :( Also, at the rate you guys are going i will be updating every day (provided i receive 5 comments :P). My apologies to those who are catching up, but at least you don't have wait for updates :) Thanks so much to all of you for reading and please remember to comment! :)

Chapter 10- 'There are all kinds of courage'

Just before the Christmas holidays began, another sighting of Dementors created panic at Hogwarts. Although the creatures were a little bit closer to Hogwarts than the last time they were found, the ministry was still at a loss as to how they escaped. Harry, as the head of the Auror department was especially concerned because as far as he could see, the only people who could have freed them from the enclosure are those who work at the ministry. But what is even stranger still is that the culprit has never been caught despite the 24 hour security and monitoring of the place. Minerva and the staff at Hogwarts knew the students were safe while they remained within the grounds; Minerva's spells and charms around the castle were sufficient to prevent the Dementors from endangering the students. But nevertheless, the staff were being extremely strict on the students' whereabouts; the Dementors were starving for a large dose of happy thoughts. Of course, the Aurors managed to find the Dementors and used Patronus charms to force them back into their enclosure, but there was still confusion as to how they kept getting out. Kingsley was no longer convinced it was someone's mistake, but a purposeful plan. Harry and Ron were also convinced someone was behind it, but they had no inclination of who or why someone would release them constantly, knowing full well that the Dementors wouldn't get very far. However, with Christmas only a week away, both Harry and Ron had their mind occupied with other things like gifts and Christmas Eve. 

After talking to Snape some three months ago, Harry spoke to Ginny about Snape coming over. She thought it would be a good idea, but was a little nervous to see the man after so many years. They decided not to tell Hermione and Ron that Snape would be coming, but did inform them of what happened when Harry went to Hogwarts to give his speech. Both of them were speechless that the man was still alive and neither of them expected that they would ever see him. Harry and Ginny decided it would be fun to keep it a secret and Harry smiled at the thought. Ron and Hermione were looking forward to the occasion because unlike the Potter children, Rose and Hugo knew nothing of their past. All four parents were surprised they had managed to keep the secret for so long, but felt that it was time they spoke to their children. Although Hermione was a little hesitant to do so because she still thought Lily and Hugo were too young, the other three convinced her that they'll be okay, and that they'd ensure their children understood what they did, and why and how it is different to the present situation; they didn't want their children to be scared of it happening again or to have nightmares that they or their parents will be murdered in the middle of the night. 

On the night of the 23rd, Harry and Ginny told their children that the following day, their cousins would be coming over and together they would discuss their past and give more detail about Voldemort and the people involved in the fight against him. All three of their children were especially excited and found it hard to sleep. Although Christmas was coming, Harry and Ginny were surprised that their children were looking forward to Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

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After roughly three months, Snape still couldn't believe he had accepted Potter's invitation to Grimmauld Place for Christmas Eve. Firstly, the house once belonged to Sirius and that in itself was enough to deter Snape away from the place; he never liked going there for the Order meetings and always left as quickly as possible. But more so, Snape just couldn't see how this conversation would work out and feared how Potter's children would judge and perceive him. He was, after all, their professor and although Minerva had no problem with Snape seeing them out of the school term, Snape felt nervous; he was sure Potter's children wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut once they returned to Hogwarts and he didn't particularly want the whole school knowing that he was a Death Eater and changed to the good side because he loved Lily. Although Snape wasn't ashamed of his feelings for Lily, he had kept them private for so long that he would never feel comfortable for everyone to know. Even though Harry may be content with everyone knowing his thoughts and feelings, Snape was quite the opposite and didn't like the idea of being present when Potter's children found out he loved their grandmother.