Perfect Illusion: Scars Saga 2

Christmas Dinner

Chapter 14

Christmas Dinner

My revenge on Snape came swiftly. And thanks to an eager, and bored now that the castle was mostly empty, Poltergeist, Snape had no proof that I had anything to do with it. Of course he suspected, and he was right, but... He had no proof.

Christmas morning dawned with a blanket of snow. The fire blazing in my private chambers kept me nice and warm though. I opened the few gifts that had been sent, including a new knitted jumper from Molly and a stick of licorice from Dumbledore. He hadn't sent me licorice for some time, and I could only guess at what he was hinting at.

Around 10:30 I dressed and headed to the Great Hall for our Christmas luncheon, really it was more of a brunch. Since there were so few of us staying this year, the four house tables had been pushed aside and replaced with a single table for students and Professors alike. Dumbledore greeted everyone with a cracker. Jonathan gave me a merry hug. Perhaps the best greeting though, was Harry's.

"Happy Christmas, Miss Porter," he said with a big smile.

"Happy Christmas, Harry. Did you enjoy all if your presents?"

"Oh, yes! Thank you," he replied cheerfully.

"You're quite welcome. I hope you can put it to good use."

"Oh I plan to."

"I see Mum made you a jumper too," Ron said.

"Yes, and it's the warmest jumper I've ever had. Where's yours?"

"I—er-..."

Remus walked up then and Ron drug Harry into the hall. We greeted each other with a warm smile.

"I see Harry is speaking to you again."

"Yes, thankfully. He must really like the Quidditch playbook I got him. I thought he could share some of the moves with the team and perhaps win the cup."

"You know, we're not supposed to take sides."

"Yea, well...Jonathan's a Gryffindor. What's your excuse?"

He grinned. "Touché." He held out his arm and allowed me to enter the Great Hall first.

Things between me and Remus were better than I could have ever imagined them. I'd lost my nerve to tell him, however. I still knew that I needed to, but it almost felt like I didn't. Apart from Wednesday when he spent the full moon locked in his chambers, we'd spent much of our holiday together. We didn't have any more moments like we'd had in the staff room, but we were slowly building to one.

Our conversations were deeper and we were more open with our affection towards one another. There was frequent hand-holding, a few brushes of a hand across a cheek, and even the occasional hand on the knee. I realize this all seems rather juvenile considering I have a son. But since Remus was both the first and the last guy I've ever been with (he was the only guy I've ever been with), these small affectionate displays were quite a big deal to me.

Before the luncheon could start, Professor Trelawney came down from her high tower to join us.

"Sybil! What a pleasant surprise," Dumbledore said as he stood to greet her.