CHRISTMAS STORIES

Twas the Night Before Christmas

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"Don't you want me to read a Christmas story?" Harry asked with a laugh, setting the Christmas book he had brought down on the bedside table. Annabel pouted and slammed her stuffed unicorn onto her bed.

"I want to hear the hairy heart, Daddy!" Annabel declared.

"The hairy h-Severus!" Harry shouted.

"There is no need to shout, Mr. Potter, when I just got your son to sleep," Severus said from the doorframe.

"Did you read 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart' to your daughter?" Harry demanded.

"Yes," Severus replied, raising his eyebrow.

"She's only three!" Harry said. "She does not need to hear stories about…murder and suicide."

"It was in a children's book, she is a child, I assumed it was safe," Severus remarked unapologetically. "It has no graphic details."

"That's not the point," Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

"It is a cautionary tale of the consequences that befall those who attempt invulnerability," Severus said.

"It could have given her nightmares," Harry muttered.

Severus scoffed. "Vanessa was reading that story on her own when she was Annabel's age."

"Yes, and she had nightmares," Harry grumbled.

"Just read your daughter a bloody story, it's getting late," Severus said before walking out of the room.

"Hairy heart, Daddy!" Annabel said excitedly.

"What about 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer'?" Harry asked, holding up one of the thin books he had brought along.

"Hairy heart!" Annabel argued.

"Or 'Merry the Christmas Fairy'?" Harry suggested, frowning at the book of The Tales of Beedle the Bard his daughter had clutched in her hands.

"Noooo! Hairy heart!" Annabel said with a frown.

"Father Christmas won't come unless we read a Christmas story, Anna," Harry tried.

Annabel paused and eyed the small stack of books resting on her bedside table. "Otay. Merry Fairy, then!"

Relieved that that tactic had worked, Harry climbed into the pink and purple princess bed of his daughter and stretched out beside her, taking the requested book in hand and opening it up. Midway through the story, Annabel was snoring quietly and Harry smiled and set the book aside, slithering out from under her small body and pressing a kiss to her black hair. He gathered up his stack of books and carried them back downstairs, putting them on a shelf on the "children's bookcase" in the living room.

"Is it really so hard to put them where they belong, Mr. Potter?"

Harry turned in surprise, having not seen his husband sitting on the couch in the dark, sipping at a glass of Superior Red. Harry was fine just setting the stack on the shelf as is instead of going through and putting them where they belonged. It was late at night and Christmas was in the morning and Harry was tired.

"I'm lazy, remember?" Harry pointed out. He couldn't count on both hands how many times Severus had called him lazy…The majority of times had come from his schoolboy days, but the insults hadn't exactly stopped when they became romantically involved.

"Indeed," Severus said, taking another sip of his wine. "Well, does Annabel appear traumatized?"

"No," Harry said, walking over to the couch and flopping down beside his husband. "She actually seemed excited about the story…But I managed to convince her to let me read a Christmas story."

"Hmm," Severus said.

"You have a problem with Christmas stories?" Harry asked, taking the glass from Severus as he lifted it for another drink, swallowing half of it down himself. He tried not to laugh as Severus glared at him, feeling some of the wine slip out of the corners of his mouth and dripping down his chin. Before he had a chance to wipe it away, Severus reach out and captured his chin in his hands and wiping the trail on both sides with his thumbs.

"Disgusting as ever. Kindly do not waste my good wine in such a manner again," Severus said, downing the rest of his glass. "As to your question, no, I do not have a problem with Christmas stories. I have a problem with you forcing our daughter listen to sentimental drabble when she would much prefer a dark tale that depicts the worst of human nature that manages to properly punish those who hope to achieve similar goals shared by that of the Dark Lord. She is not nearly so flighty and romantic as her sister and you are attempting to squash out her more mature, intellectual nature in favor of more natural childlike preferences."

Harry blinked and laughed. "She's three. I hardly think Annabel is reading very much into things."

Severus huffed. "She is my daughter."

"So is Vanessa…and Samson is your child, too…And they like happily ever afters," Harry pointed out.

"I maintain the belief that you consumed too much sugar during those pregnancies," Severus reminded him.

"Pregnancy cravings…Not my fault," Harry muttered. He scooted closer to his husband and curled up against him, staring into the fire Severus had conjured there. Severus pulled an arm free and wrapped it around his younger husband, causing him to smile. There was nothing better than being curled up here with Severus…A fire in the fireplace, their Christmas tree standing tall and lit up by colorful Christmas lights, three stockings on the mantle waiting to be filled, gifts already under the tree, cookies and milk waiting for Father Christmas, and a mistletoe cleverly charmed to move location every few hours.

Severus and Harry had hardly had the best of childhoods between them. Being together now at this time of year, making sure their three children never suffered as they did, was the best Christmas gift Harry could imagine. Christmastime was a time for love and family and it brought with it this great warm and loving feeling that Harry couldn't quite get enough of. You could feel Christmas…At least he did. The feeling grew stronger and stronger and lasted all through December. Now, with only a couple of hours until Christmas, he felt it more than ever.

"We need Christmas music," Harry decided, after a few long minutes of silence.

"Well…Get your lazy arse up and put in that atrocious Christmas mix you made," Severus said.

"It is not atrocious," Harry laughed, sitting up reluctantly and standing. "It's our Christmas stories."

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Author's Notes: So I know I already have a few fanfics to work on, but I couldn't resist doing something for the holidays. Every chapter but the first and last will have Christmas songs and will tell a story from every year's Christmas from the year they realized their feelings for each other to this year. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys! No worries, I will put most of my focus into writing Lost and Damned and Resistance, but yeah…Just a side project I was suddenly inspired to create! Please leave reviews!