A/N: Hello! This is my holiday fic, which is a little twist on the 12 Days of Christmas. Instead, we're looking at twelve years of Christmases between Severus and Hermione. Drarry will also be present, but I really don't know how much yet. I'll upload a chapter a day, and the last will be posted Christmas day (I won't be offended if you don't read it on actual Christmas, I promise). I hope you like it, and Happy Holidays!

Snow was falling hard, swirling around in the wind and piling deep on the grounds. The castle was especially drafty tonight as the temperatures sank lower and lower. This winter was harsh, even for Scotland, and it was only going to get colder. Hogwarts really was beautiful, despite the frigid temperatures- students bundled in cloaks were huddled around tables in the Great Hall, their chatter and laughter filling the room and providing a warm atmosphere. Christmas trees lined the walls and the ceiling mirrored the snowfall outside.

The few students who had stayed behind for the holidays appeared to be having a good holiday, even though they weren't able to go home- some had been left by their parents, and others just didn't have a home to go back to; the war had ended nearly four years ago, but so much had been lost. Wizarding Britain was still being rebuilt, and they had a long way to go. It was getting better every day, though, and things were expected to be more-or-less normal by this time next year.

A lot had changed in the years since the war, notably Hermione Granger. She had earned her Mastery in Transfiguration and taken over for Professor McGonagall this year so the elder witch could focus more on her duties as Headmistress. She had gone away to Germany to study and had been pleased to see how far Britain had come in her time away.

Now, she was seated at the Head Table between Hagrid, who was still as warm and kind as he had been when she was a student, and Professor Snape, who Hermione now had mixed feelings towards. Of course she held him in the highest respect for all he'd endured during the war, and seeing Harry eventually forgive him had helped some, but she could still remember the horrible things he'd said and done during her years under his tutelage. She knew he was absolutely brilliant- even as a student she'd known this to some degree, but in her past three months as his colleague, her eyes had more than opened to his intelligence.

Now that he was actually taking care of himself, he wasn't too bad looking, either.

Hermione suddenly found herself choking on whatever food was in her mouth (she'd been so lost in thought that she wasn't paying the least bit attention) and as she coughed, she felt her elbow dig into something. Regaining control of herself and trying to figure out where that thought had come from, she sipped on her water and glanced at Professor Snape, who was scowling down at her. It took her a moment to figure out why until she realized she hadn't elbowed something, she'd elbowed someone. Oops…

Sending an apologetic smile his way and sighing to herself when he just turned away, Hermione spent the rest of dinner focusing entirely on eating her meal and not at all on those dark eyes and long hands and…

Oh, boy… it was going to be a long meal.

Not much later, once she'd made it through the rest of dinner without embarrassing herself further, Hermione was walking back to her office to finish grading exams when she tripped over an uneven stone on the floor. A small shriek escaped her and she prepared herself to hit the ground, but before she could fall completely, there were hands on her arms, pulling her back to her feet.

"Perhaps it would do you well to watch your step, Miss Granger," Snape drawled, glaring down at her for the second time in the past hour.

"Professor Granger," she corrected. "And thank you for catching me." Without looking back at his face- which would surely still be cold- Hermione continued her trek back to her office. Had she chanced a look back, though, she would have seen an expression that could almost be classified as surprised.

As it were, she made it back to her destination in one piece, and flung herself into her chair. She really wasn't sure how she felt about Severus Snape, but she definitely wanted him to see that she was a respectable professor. After tonight, she doubted that would be happening anytime soon. But really, why was he being so cold- it was Christmas Eve, for Merlin's sake! Hermione shook her head. That was just the way he was, and she'd just have to accept it.

For her part, Hermione was excited to be able to spend Christmas at Hogwarts again. Her years in Germany had been wonderful, but this was her home, especially since her parents had regained their memories and consequently decided that they wanted nothing more to do with her. Last year had been the first year in a while she'd spent Christmas with anyone, and that had been at Harry and Draco's flat in Diagon Alley.

"Surprised" was an understatement for her reaction to finding out about that little development, but she was truly happy for the two. When she'd left Britain, the boys had still been at each other's throats, and three years later, she received an invitation to stay with them for the holidays. She'd been skeptical at first, but they balanced each other out well and Harry had recently told her that he was beginning to think about proposing (Hermione had squealed and actually jumped with joy for her friends).

Focusing again on the work before her, Hermione spent the next two hours reading over her students' work, grading firmly but leaving commentary where she could. By the time she'd reached the end of her first stack of papers, it was time for her rounds.

She wasn't quite sure what the point of rounds was when there were so few students at the castle, but she still began her trek around the school. By the time she was nearly finished, she could tell that no more grading would be done that night, so she began moving towards the library. She'd already read her way through it all, but there were a few she wouldn't mind reading again.

Hermione sighed with happiness when she entered- the room smelled strongly of books, and that was something she'd never tire of. Running her fingers along the spines as she went, Hermione took her time deciding which book to take with her. Once she made up her mind, she heard something. Looking around her, she didn't see anything. Deciding to look more thoroughly, she couldn't stop herself from thinking that maybe this was why they still had rounds over the winter holiday. Turning a corner, she found herself face to face with a glaring Professor Snape for the third time that night.

"Professor Snape, you startled me," she said quietly. "I thought I was the only one in here."

"Well, it appears you thought wrong, Miss Granger."

He cast a quick tempus charm, which Hermione glanced at. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to my rooms," he said snidely.

"It's Professor Granger," she said as she stepped aside. "And Merry Christmas, Professor."

She didn't miss the falter in his step, but she didn't mention it. Instead, she watched as he glided out of the library without looking back.

Before going to bed that night, Hermione thought, mostly about Snape. She had realized he likely spent the holidays by himself, and was now determined that no matter how much he infuriated her with his snark, she would make sure he knew he wasn't alone by the end of Christmas day, even if it killed her. Some part of her mind told her that it possibly would, but she told it to hush and turned out the lights.

Hermione dreamed of Severus Snape. It wasn't anything strange or scandalous- in fact, it was quite believable. She was walking around the castle and she ran into him, and his only response was an ice-cold glare. This dream occurred three times before Hermione decided to sit up with the book she'd taken until she could get her thoughts under control. Snape glared at her enough in real life; she didn't need that in sleep, too.

After an hour of flipping through pages and not absorbing any of the words, Hermione set the book aside and went to make a cup of tea. It seemed as if this was just going to be one of those nights where sleep evaded her.

Perhaps a change of scenery would also be helpful. Pulling on her dressing gown and grabbing her tea, Hermione left her rooms and went to the big window at the end of the hall to watch the snow fall in the night. It was freezing out and she could feel the cold coming through the glass, but the tea and the night were calming her. It was a beautiful night, and Hermione could see the moonlight reflecting off the snowy grounds. A few stars peeked through gaps in the clouds, and the scene had a bit of a sparkling effect.

No sooner had she finally relaxed when a voice called out to her.

"And just what do you think you're doing out of bed at this hour?"

Of course it was the very man she was trying not to think about. Of course she didn't hear him come up behind her. Of course she was so startled she jumped and her tea slipped from her hands, the cup shattering on the stone floor.

Turning around, Hermione tried to glare, but had a feeling it came across more as a sheepish smile than anything else. Not that her glare would have matched the one he was currently giving her, anyway.

She knelt down to pick up the pieces of her favorite cup- Draco had actually gotten it for her; there were irises around the sides, which were her favorite. As she gently pulled the broken pieces from the remnants of her tea, she didn't see one of the sharper edges in the darkness.

"Damn," she muttered.

"What was that?"

He was much closer than he had been before, and he just looked bored now. Well, that was marginally better than the frosty glare, she supposed.

"Nothing, Professor, just cut my hand a bit," she answered, hoping he would just let her finish cleaning this up without any more difficulty.

But Merlin forbid he make this easy for her. No, he instead knelt next to her, carefully taking her injured hand and looking at it under the light of his wand. He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a small vial, because of course he carried dittany with him, and poured it over the gash across her palm. She hissed as the wound closed, but other than that she didn't react. She didn't think about how his touch was gentle, and she definitely didn't think about how warm and soft his hands were.

Realizing he was finished, she looked back at his face, only to see him glaring again.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Yes, well, do be more careful, Miss Granger."

He turned on his heel and was halfway down the corridor by the time Hermione had gathered her thoughts enough to softly call out, "It's Professor Granger," before rising and going the opposite direction.

She didn't notice that her cup was whole again.

Hermione woke on her couch with an open book on her lap. Her neck and back were sore and she was exhausted, but it was Christmas morning! She looked around her sitting room and saw the small stack of gifts waiting for her. Smiling, she went to make tea before she started, and it wasn't until she was pouring the milk in that she realized that this cup had been in pieces only a few hours ago. She had been planning on fixing it in the morning, but here it was. She was fairly sure she hadn't done it, so that only left…

Professor Severus Snape had healed her hand and then, without her even noticing, proceeded to fix her favorite tea cup, probably without even knowing how much she loved it.

Who is this man?

Shaking her head with a small smile, she took her time opening her gifts. Chocolates from Ron and Harry (some things never change), a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a random assortment of things she'd never use from George, new transfiguration books from Minerva, and some new tea blends that Draco had been working on. Hermione smiled, trying not to think about how there wasn't anything from Professor Snape. It wasn't like she'd gotten him anything this year, after all. She vowed then that next year, that would change.

Finally getting ready for the day ahead of her, Hermione went down to breakfast. She smiled at Professor Snape on her way in, but she was met with yet another glare. Hermione would have been lying if she said she was surprised.

The rest of her Christmas went much the same way- she passed Professor Snape in the corridor again that afternoon and was glared at again, and the same happened at dinner that evening.

By the time dinner was over, Hermione was bored and decided that she would do some more grading to pass the time. She got quite a bit done, and was nearing the very last of it when she came across a paper that wasn't making any sense. It had absolutely nothing to do with turning a rat into a chalice- in fact, it had nothing to do with transfiguration at all. Scanning through it, Hermione soon realized that this paper was actually a potions paper, and the student who'd turned it in must have switched the assignments by mistake.

Sighing, Hermione took the paper and made her way quickly down to Professor Snape's office in the dungeon. Knocking twice, Hermione waited for the dour man to come to the door.

She wasn't disappointed- the door flew open and a glaring Snape was there to greet her. Hermione couldn't help it; her mind automatically compared him to the Grinch, and she found herself stifling giggles as she was let into his office.

"What could I possibly do for you, Miss Granger?"

"It's Professor Granger. One of my- well, our students mixed up their assignments. I believe you will find a transfiguration paper somewhere in your grading to be done for your second years," she said as she slid the potions assignment to him across his desk. He glanced it over and sighed.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath.

Hermione bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything. Instead she took a seat as she waited for Snape to flip through his papers in search of the desired document.

"If it would make it easier, I wouldn't mind helping with your marking, Professor," she offered quietly. Snape glanced up at her and stared for a moment before handing a quill and a portion of the work to her.

"You know how I grade. Don't be gentle, it won't do them any good."

"Of course not," she replied absentmindedly.

If she'd been looking, she would have seen his smirk, as well as the transfiguration paper sitting next to the stack of work he was marking.

No, Hermione didn't notice this, but she did notice the change in atmosphere in the small office. It was warmer than usual, and she didn't mean in temperature. It felt… less hostile. She found that she actually liked it there when Snape was being decent.

She spent an hour on Snape's marking before she felt her exhaustion overcoming her, and she was slowly falling asleep over her work. It was only then that the lone transfiguration paper was placed in front of her.

"I… appreciate your assistance, but it is late and I think enough has been done for tonight."

"Thank you for finding the correct assignment, Professor Snape," she said. "Merry Christmas."

As she closed the door behind her, she was almost positive she heard a soft, "And to you, Professor Granger."