Yule
Taking Tonks to the Yule Ball was undoubtedly enjoyable, strangely so, considering he hadn’t wanted to go in the first place. It had begun already when he met Tonks by the carriage he had taken up from the gates together with a few other visitors. Tonks was dressed in a dress robe made of silk damask in dark green and black with silver embroidery and buttons, his shoulders were square, his sleeves wide and his waistline narrow before the robe streamed out into a flowing skirt with a small trail. His hair was long and silver, not silver blond or white with a sheen, but as pure a silver as was possible to get a hair colour, and the part of his hair closest to his face was put in an elaborate updo. There was a plethora of intricate braids that gathered on the back of his head, above the waterfall of silver locks that reached his lower back. The braids were held in place with an intricate piece of jewellery in white gold, emeralds and black diamonds. The main piece was a bird in flight, most likely a raven with shining green eyes and chips of black diamonds on its wings. From the raven hung a delicate net with more chips of emerald. Up from the raven went several thin chains to five thin hair sticks that had been placed between the braids and Tonks’ head, most likely to help keep the braids in place. The hair sticks were also decorated with emeralds and black diamonds.
Tonks looked like royalty.
Severus felt quite privileged when he escorted him from the carriage and into the Entrance Hall. Severus had done his best to clean up, too, of course, but he had nothing on Tonks. He had bought new black dress robes with a bit of silver embroidery, his slacks and black shirt underneath the robes were also new. The cufflinks and small neck pin were two of a very few inherited pieces he had from his mother’s family. It was the nicest jewellery he owned, as he didn’t much like to dress up, and as he had something he thought would do, he had never bothered to buy anything else.
Escorting someone like Tonks, he wondered if he maybe, just maybe, should consider putting a bit more thought into his appearance. No matter the fact that Tonks had asked for a date when he looked like he always had. He was well aware that he put worryingly little thought into his exterior, as long as his body worked with minimal pain. His one concession to this, except the new clothes, had been to ask Andromeda to help him restore his teeth. The combination of his father’s genetics with bad teeth and Severus’ own years of living on little but coffee and booze and having a problem with grinding his teeth when stressed, had left obvious problems. Now all his teeth were straight and white, and to his shame, much less painful. He hadn’t known how damaged his teeth actually were. A thoughtless comment to that regard had Andromeda forcing him to let her cast several diagnostic charms on him, on threat of telling Harry and Tonks if he didn’t comply. Because of that he had several potions to brew for himself and his own health over the winter break, to help restore his nerves, his organs, and his bones. He was nowhere near as bad as Harry had been, but Andromeda had insisted that he let himself be healed, nevertheless. A lot of the damage was from his childhood and then the war. Andromeda admitted that it seemed like his new Warder powers had begun to heal him, just some months ago, but some help was never wrong. And as she still threatened him with Harry and Tonks, combined with Andromeda being a Black by birth, Severus surrendered as gracefully as he was capable, which was to say, not at all.
“Pardon me, Tonks, but may I know the pronouns for the night?”
Severus was almost certain, but Tonks’ looks was too androgynous for him to not want to ask.
“Oh,” he met Severus’ eyes, a small blush on his otherwise pale cheeks. “’He’ is good, thanks. I just … I felt like this face and body would suit the robes better. Is it alright?” he leaned closer and whispered the words.
“More than alright. You appear positively radiant.”
He was also correct. While the attire might still suit a more muscular person, Tonks’ softer features enhanced the outfit. And if Tonks’ himself was comfortable changing himself to suit an outfit, who was Severus to object, as long as Tonks’ only did it because he wanted to, and not because he felt like he had to.
Tonks’ blush deepened.
“Thank you, Severus. You look very nice yourself.” He shortly gripped the arm that his own was resting on. “My new jewellery has a story of its own. I have never seen it before tonight, Mum sprung it on me as a surprise and I so want to tell you all about it, but now is not the time.”
In addition to the spectacular headpiece, Tonks also had several ropes of thin chains around his throat that hung down his chest. Some were simple chains with different breadth, others were flat or decorated with jewels, again mostly black diamonds and emeralds, but also shimmering moonstones and labradorites. On the longest chain hung the raven in flight again, gleaming in white gold and precious gemstones.
“I look forward to hearing it,” Severus said just as they stopped by the other Champions and their dates outside the door to the Great Hall.
Mister Krum escorted Miss Granger to the ball, not surprising Severus one whit. Neither was he surprised by the fact that Mister Diggory escorted Miss Delacour. He had seen them together enough to know that while there might not be romance, there was at least friendship, and that it would most likely be more preferable for both of them to go with each other, than to bring a simpering, and in Miss Delacour’s case, drooling, fan to the ball.
Everyone greeted each other before Minerva came to let them into the Great Hall where everyone else already were seated. Tonks sailed in by his side, as royal as any monarch, and Severus had to bite back a satisfied smile. He would not ruin his reputation by grinning like a fool.
The dinner was, again, surprisingly pleasant. Mostly because of Tonks’ presence and his stories from work, his own time at the school and his small anecdotes of getting ready for the ball together with Andromeda and Harry. Apparently, Harry was the one who had spelled his hair into that intricate hairdo after Andromeda had decided on how to do Tonks’ hair. But Miss Granger’s short question about pronouns before continuing to chatter at Tonks about his jewellery, hair and robes, had been an agreeable surprise both to Severus and Tonks’ himself. Severus had been able to feel how Tonks relaxed when Miss Granger took the change of pronouns in stride, and the rest of the Champions followed without hesitation. Apparently, Harry had not outed Tonks to his friends. They hadn’t talked about it, and Severus didn’t know if Tonks would have liked Harry to tell his friends, so Tonks’ didn’t have to, or if he was satisfied with the situation as it occurred.
Nevertheless, the dinner proceeded with amicable conversation and very good food. When the dancing was about to begin, Tonks, Miss Delacour and Severus were deep into a conversation about a potion that just now was being tested for the market. Miss Delacour was an outstanding brewer and while her interest was both real and deep, Severus doubted that she would want to go for a Potion Mastery. He had seen her speak with much more passion about both warding and curse breaking and he rather suspected her to go for a Mastery in one, or both, of those professions. Being a superb brewer would only help her ambition, though.
Severus would greatly have preferred not to open the dance floor, but it was not difficult to do either. And Tonks was a most excellent dance partner. So, excellent in fact, that they did little else but dance for the following two hours. Mostly with each other, of course, but they agreed to switch partners when Septima asked for a dance with Severus and Mister Diggory asked for one with Tonks. Other than that, Miss Delacour and Mister Krum danced one dance with each of them, and then they kept to themselves for the rest of the night. To Severus’ pleasure. Tonks was a far preferable partner, both to speak with and to dance with.
They left by Severus’ Floo before midnight and went to bed relatively early at the Tonks’ residence, where Harry and the wolf and the mutt already slept. Ted and Andromeda welcomed them home before they all went to bed. They had discussed how they would celebrate Yule when Severus and Tonks wouldn’t be able to be there with them on the Sabbath itself, but after discussing it and thinking about it by himself, Harry decreed that it would be alright to celebrate the Sabbath the day after the ball, as the magic would still be right. Because Harry said it, Severus believed it, even if he had no idea why Harry would be the right person to decide such a thing. He just knew that he was. And as both Harry and Severus agreed, the rest of them followed.
The day they had decided to have the Yule Ritual and begin their yuletide, begun sunny and suitably cold with frost on the ground. Severus found Harry in the kitchen happily chatting away with the wolf and Ted as they made breakfast for everyone. The mutt had apparently been ordered to keep out of the way, as he sat dejectedly by the kitchen table with his coffee. Harry grinned at Severus while giving him a cup of coffee and telling him good morning.
“Not before my coffee, it’s not,” Severus grumped, but without any real rancour, as Harry knew from the mirth shining in green eyes, “as you very well know, brat.” He took a swallow from his perfectly temperate coffee and watched Harry’s grin grow.
“Why do you think I made coffee for you so you could get it at once,” Harry chirped and Lupin tried not to laugh while Ted didn’t even try to hold back.
“Disgusting morning people, the lot of you.” Severus sat down by the table. He was truly no use in the mornings before his coffee.
“Don’t speak like that to my godson, Snape!” Black almost shouted and Severus saw Harry flinch before Lupin shot a spell at Black that made him silent.
“Don’t worry, Harry, Remus will sort him out, again,” Ted said and put a careful hand on Harry’s shoulder while Lupin took Black by the ear and dragged him out of the room to massive, but completely silent, complaints from Black, just as Tonks skipped into the room, silver hair flying behind him.
“Oh, he is starting early today,” he grimaced and took a cup of coffee from his father before beginning to set the table with his wand. “I really had thought that that chat with Mum would hold him on the straight and narrow for a little longer.”
Harry gave a world-weary sigh and went back to the stool by the cooker where he made the pancakes and cooked the bacon while Ted kept watch, cut up the fresh rolls and continued the work on the omelette that Lupin had been working on, all at once. Severus didn’t know what he could say to make it better. By now it was obvious that nothing they said or did would ever convince Black that Severus actually truly cared about Harry, no matter his mood or words. Harry knew him well enough not to even blink at him being a grump in the morning, or calling him brat. Severus did his best to keep the worst of his snark away from Harry, or at least not use it against Harry, but he knew from experience that Harry could snark like the best of them and that he actually could be a brat, when he felt safe, or when the situation called for it. He was a teenager, sometimes he just couldn’t help himself.
As soon as Severus had drunk his coffee, he got up to help Tonks set the table and decorate it with twigs of pine, mistletoe, cinnamon sticks and oranges, there were also candles, festive cloth napkins in green and silver and small chocolates wrapped in gleaming paper of red, green and gold. He would have helped Ted with the omelette, but Lupin came back and took back that job and Ted began to put food and drink on the table.
“Severus, Remus made a hot chocolate from a recipe he got from a chocolatier in Belgium,” Harry hummed happily while sitting down beside Severus at the table. He leaned towards the cup of hot chocolate by his plate. “I can’t wait to try it; it smells so good!”
“It really does,” Tonks said and sniffed the air with Harry before they grinned at each other.
Then Andromeda came into the kitchen with Black and they all sat down to eat the feast of a breakfast. Even if Severus was not a particular fan of chocolate, the hot chocolate truly was good. Harry drank two cups before they called the feast done.
That was the beginning of a terrific Yule celebration. They decorated two trees, one inside and one outside and put their gratitude for the past year into small glass orbs that they hung on the tree inside where they glowed in different colours. They decorated the Yule Log and put the last year's regrets on small slips of paper that would burn away during the twelve, now eleven, days of Yule. They decorated the whole house with wreaths of pine and mistletoe and herbs and spices that smelled good. There was mistletoe above every door and anointed candles for peace and happiness and light on every possible surface. Harry asked to lead the ritual and after he and Andromeda talked it over, Andromeda gave him that honour. Severus hadn’t participated in a lot of Yule rituals, but it seemed to him that Harry did marvellously. The magic that flowed through them and renewed them to help them through the following months and dark times before the sun returned in full, seemed to agree.
“That … was something else,” Andromeda whispered when Harry had concluded the ritual, and they had all trooped inside again. “It was wonderful, Harry, truly wonderful,” she hurried to add when Harry seemed to shrink in on himself, “and so much more powerful than I have ever felt, even in my youth when my whole family participated.”
Black nodded and Lupin seemed dazed. Tonks was grinning from ear to ear. Severus felt both energised and strangely calm. His magic was like a mighty river just under his skin, not deep in his core as it always had been. He knew that was because he was a Warder with a bonded Wyrd. His magic had changed, the magic itself, how he could use it and how easily he could use it. He was no longer human, after all. Or less and less human for every week that passed, even if he was able to hide it, most of the time.
“I might be wrong, but it feels like … my magic is cleaner, somehow, or … brighter?” Ted asked uncertainly.
“That’s pretty much the whole point of the rituals, Dad,” Tonks said. “To renew our magic and renew Magic in turn. To give and to take. In a circle we are all part of.”
Ted nodded slowly.
“That was well done, Harry, very well done,” Lupin said hoarsely.
Black nodded. “I can’t remember the last time my magic felt this … at peace,” he mumbled, with eyes that were suspiciously bright.
Andromeda went to the kitchen and came back with mulled wine and hot chocolate and cookies. Some food would help them to balance themselves after such an experience.
They ate by the fire, with only the sound of the flames and a low murmur between them filling the air. When Harry told Severus good night sometime later, he admitted that he thought he would sleep very well for once, and that he definitely was going to continue participating in the Sabbaths and the rituals and with following the Old Ways. Severus agreed with him, wholeheartedly.