The Herbology Assistant

Chapter Forty One

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" Clarice was woken suddenly by two children jumping on top of her in bed.

"Wha- Oh! Merry Christmas!" She came to her senses and wrapped Marnie and Dylan up in the covers. Hearing their tiny little laughs was the best sound she had heard in a long time. It made her smile as she tickled them.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Marnie exclaimed as she tried to get out of Clarice's grip. She didn't notice Severus was watching them in the doorway with a grin on his face. Clarice met his gaze and he nudged his head meaning for her to follow him.

"Let's go look at what Santa brought us!" Clarice let go of the kids and threw on her slippers and robe. As she came into the living room, Severus handed her a cup of coffee and they sat together on the couch. Gwen was feeding Sophie in the rocker and the children were rummaging through the gifts.

"There's more here than when we went to sleep. Santa really did come!" Dylan yelled.

"Why don't you hand out the gifts Dyl?" Clarice suggested while making a Santa hat appear on the boys head. His smile grew twice the size.

"I want one!" Marnie yelled and this time Severus used his wand to give her an elf hat with huge ears. She adored it. Clarice smiled at the man she had grown to love and thought about how far they had come. Last Christmas was nothing compared to this.

"This one's yours!" Dylan brought a gift over to Clarice. It was a decent sized box and she took off the card that was attached. She tore the bright red envelope and opened it up.

My Dearest Clarice,

After everything that I've been through, I never believed I would find someone like you. Having met you in my life is best gift one could ask for. No one has a perfect past, and everyone has a sad story to tell, you never got tired of listening to mine.

You make me believe that I am worth loving despite my imperfections. I never saw you wanting to give up on me even if there were times I was under the weather. I just want to tell you that I am more than happy and thankful to have you in my life. I love you so much.

Merry Christmas xoxo

Your Severus

She blinked trying to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling out from his beautiful letter. She quickly unwrapped the gift to see a polaroid camera.

"Is this the kind where they move when you take a photo?" Clarice asked with a delicate smile.

"Of course it is," Severus told her.

"Oh, I love it. I've always wanted one of these!" She told him and hugged him tightly.

"You're turn!" She summoned his gift into her hand and handed it over to him. He eyed her suspiciously as she handed him a long box. She watched excitedly as he unboxed his gift. His brows furrowed as he lifted a silver cloak from the box. Clarice laughed at his expression.

"It's an invisibility cloak. I made it with the help of my demiguise, Dolly, of course." She told him.

"That's extremely thoughtful." He told her.

"It'll fade in about a decade, but they're always nice to have. Just in case." She smiled.

"Do you have one?" He asked and she nodded her head.

"Yes."

"Have you used it recently?" He asked.

"Only to spy on you when I'm bored." She laughed.

"Claire!"

"What? It's cute when you read books out loud to yourself." She laughed as he tackled her into a hug and gently kissed her warm lips.