~ Support & Read 20 Advanced Chapters Available now on my Patreon!
————
Snowflakes danced and swirled outside the window.
Severus Snape clutched two hooded cloaks in his hands, leading Pandora slowly out of the Great Hall, heading toward the fourth floor.
"Aha!" A shrill cackle echoed from above, startling them both.
They hadn't noticed, but they'd just passed right beneath Peeves.
The poltergeist hung upside down from an ornate chandelier, grinning mischievously with bared teeth.
"Are you sure you want to open your mouth?" Snape drew his wand, eyeing Peeves with a menacing glint.
"Little Snivellus and loony girl, sneaking off from the crowd—" Peeves began to bellow.
But before he could finish, Snape, quick as a flash, pointed his wand at the poltergeist.
Peeves clutched his throat desperately, choking, his face twisted in panic.
He zoomed out through the window, making rude gestures at Snape and Pandora, but not a word escaped him—his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.
Free of Peeves, Snape and Pandora continued on, soon reaching a statue of a hunchbacked, one-eyed witch on the fourth floor.
"Hogsmeade," Snape whispered into Pandora's ear, his voice low. "There's a secret passage here that leads straight to Honeydukes' cellar. The entrance is in the hump of this old hag."
"Everyone's busy with their own plans today. Want to slip off to Hogsmeade for Christmas?"
Pandora, clearly no stickler for rules, lit up at Snape's words, her eyes sparkling.
She instinctively patted her wizarding robes, then nodded eagerly.
Seeing her agreement, Snape glanced around quickly, then drew his wand and tapped the statue lightly, muttering, "Dissendium!"
At once, the statue's hump opened, revealing a hole just wide enough for a slim person to slip through.
"You first," Snape said.
He scanned the corridor both ways, then followed Pandora, diving headfirst into the passage.
They slid down what felt like an endless stone chute, the wind whistling in their ears, until they landed on cold, damp earth.
Snape scrambled to his feet, brushing dirt off his robes, and raised his wand. "Lumos!"
The faint glow revealed they were in a narrow, low-ceilinged dirt tunnel.
"Follow me," Snape said, leading Pandora forward.
The passage twisted and turned, more like a giant rabbit burrow.
Snape held his wand aloft, its weak light flickering in the darkness. The uneven ground made him stumble occasionally over ruts and dips.
Time dragged on in the dark, feeling like an hour had passed before the tunnel began to slope upward.
After another ten minutes, they reached the base of a worn stone staircase that stretched up into the unseen distance.
"Come on," Snape whispered to Pandora.
They climbed the steps carefully, trying not to make a sound.
One step, two steps… They counted at first—one hundred, two hundred—but soon lost track.
Without warning, Snape's head slammed into something hard with a thud.
It was a trapdoor. Rubbing his head, Snape paused, listening intently for any noise above.
After a long moment of silence, he slowly pushed the trapdoor open, peeking cautiously through the gap.
"No one's here. Let's go up. They're probably all off celebrating," Snape said softly.
They were in a cellar stacked with crates and wooden boxes.
Snape climbed out first, steadying himself before reaching down to pull Pandora up.
He gently closed the trapdoor, which blended almost perfectly with the dusty floor—nearly impossible to spot unless you knew it was there.
"Put this on," Snape said, handing Pandora one of the cloaks. "We'd better be careful out there."
With their hoods up, they crept toward the wooden staircase leading upward.
They reached the door at the top and slipped through, finding themselves behind the counter of Honeydukes.
The shop was empty, its lights off.
Snape and Pandora moved as quietly as possible past the counter. "Alohomora," Snape whispered, unlocking the shop door with a wave of his wand.
They slipped outside.
The street was just as quiet, save for the faint glow and occasional bursts of cheerful noise from the pub near the station, breaking the night's stillness.
"Come on, this weather's perfect for a butterbeer," Snape said, turning to Pandora.
They pulled their robes tighter and headed toward the Three Broomsticks.
The wind was biting, their hands nearly frozen. Finally, they crossed the street and, a few minutes later, burst into the pub with a flurry of snow.
A beautiful Christmas tree stood in the center of the pub, adorned with twinkling lights and colorful ornaments.
The place was packed tonight, the usual tables cleared away. People milled about, drinks in hand, toasting one another.
Snape pushed through the crowd to the bar, pitching his voice higher as he called to Madam Rosmerta, "Two butterbeers, please!"
Madam Rosmerta turned, eyeing him curiously for a moment before breaking into a warm smile and handing over two frothy, steaming mugs of butterbeer.
As Snape took the mugs, he felt Madam Rosmerta's little finger lightly brush the back of his hand.
A pang of guilt hit him, and he stole a glance at her from under his hood.
But she'd already turned away, busy serving other customers, leaving only the sight of her long ponytail—tied back in a style Snape had never seen her wear before.
"Like it?" Snape asked Pandora, who was gulping down her butterbeer. He had to raise his voice over the lively Christmas music blaring from the radio.
Celestina Warbeck's smooth voice flowed from the wooden radio, filling the room.
"It's amazing!" Pandora said, raising her mug gleefully. "Happy Christmas!"
Snape took a deep swig, the rich, sweet flavor bursting in his mouth, warming every inch of his body.
Under the cover of a particularly jazzy tune, A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love, Snape and Pandora chatted loudly, clinking their mugs.
"Oh, come stir my cauldron,
And if you do it right,
I'll boil you up some hot, strong love
To keep you warm tonight."
They polished off their first butterbeers quickly.
Then came the second, third, fourth… Snape lost count of how many times he returned to the bar.
He even found himself grinning foolishly at Madam Rosmerta.
When he handed Pandora another mug, she looked a little tipsy, her eyes glassy.
"Severus, I've got something for you," Pandora said, her voice slightly slurred from the alcohol.
"What's that?" Snape asked, swaying slightly to the music.
"This." Pandora pulled a men's wallet from her robes, squinting as she spoke. "It can hold a lot."
Celestina had moved on to You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me.
"Oh, where has my poor heart gone?
It's left me, charmed away.
Now that you've torn it apart,
Please give my heart back today!"
Celestina ended the song with a long, soaring note, and the radio erupted with applause. Pandora clapped excitedly, caught up in the moment.
————
Supporting me on Patreon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .com/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Patreon normally.)