Happy Christmas my little sweet peas! I am starting this story right now 4:20 on Christmas morning and hopefully I will have it done before midnight tonight. Just a one shot Snarry for the holidays, my gift to you all.

Disclaimers: As always all Harry Potter characters and such belong to the brilliant J.K. and Warner Brothers. I only own anything you don't recognize from that fantastic world that has brought us all so much joy. Also I make no claims to be great with grammar nor do I claim to write for a little so no whining sweet peas it will just irk me later.

My Favourite Christmas Story

"Tell me the story again Father." The little girl looked up at her father with joyful eyes as the man settled down next to her on the sofa. The two sat in front of the roaring fire while snow gently fell against the window.

"I've already told you the story twice today." The man said with a sigh before chuckling and shaking his head at the little girl who merely looked up at him with pleading eyes that he wasn't quite able to resist.

"Please! You know it's my favourite!" She exclaimed with a pout.

"Very well." He said with a put upon sigh as though he were about to do something that pained him which only earned a giggle from the girl.

Harry Potter rushed through Diagon Alley seemingly in quite a fit with none other than Draco Malfoy being pulled along behind him, scowling the whole way. While some people still found it strange to see the two together, the two having put their childish hate away after going back to finish their last year at Hogwarts since the destruction of Voldemort five years previous, most people no longer even raised a brow at the antics of the two who fought like a little old married couple, when in fact Draco was now married to Harry's ex-girlfriend Ginny and had been for almost three years.

That had come as quite a shock to the Weasley family and had forced poor Ron and Draco to finally agree to at least attempt to be civil to each other, though between being in-laws as well as co-workers the two were having a much easier time than they wanted to admit.

"I would like to keep some sort of feeling in my wand hand Potter!" Draco finally snapped out at the raven haired young man who merely blushed and finally let the hand go. It was rare that Draco used his last name and usually only did so when he was beyond annoyed with the Harry.

"I just don't know what to get him!" Harry finally cried, running a hand through his messy hair. The two had been up and down Hogsmeade, running in and out of every shop there before finally giving up and heading to Diagon Alley where the search had started all over again. It was Christmas Eve and Harry still had nothing.

"Uncle Severus will like whatever you get him, though why you're bothering I'll never know you know how the man feels about Christmas. I mean you've been working with him for how long now?" Draco asked smoothing down his now ruffled robes.

"Two years." Harry answered simply while shuffling his feet a little.

Severus surviving the final battle had been a shock to everyone but it seemed no one more so than the Potions Master himself, but Hermione's quick thinking to check the man for any potions that might have helped him surprised no one, and neither had the fact that he had anti-venom and blood replenishing potions on his person. He later stated that if one didn't think far enough ahead to carry those sorts of things about their person when dealing with a mad man and a giant snake they didn't deserve to live nor be called a Potions Master.

When he woke though a week after the battle he had been rather grumpy about the whole thing and quickly turned over the title as Head of the magical school of Minerva as fast as the Ministry could get the paperwork processed, even though he had to remain as Deputy to get the woman to do it. Surprisingly though he hadn't changed much, true he didn't snap as often and was far fairer when it came to deducting house points, though he had to be with his new position, he was still rather closed off from everyone and Harry was surprisingly one of the few on staff that he talked to. The young Auror returning to the school to take up the mantle of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor as well as Head of Gryffindor.

"You want to get him something special right?" Draco finally asked when the feeling returned fully to his hand, which earned a nod from Harry. "Follow me." He said before leading Harry down an alley he hadn't noticed before to what looked to be a jewellery shop.

"Merlin's Heart?" Harry mused aloud while eyeing the sign before following Draco into the building.

"I got Ginny's engagement ring here." The blond said simply before nodding towards the woman behind the counter. "Good afternoon Madame Roxin, looking lovely as always I see." He said to the old woman whole blushed lightly at the comment.

"Good afternoon Lord Malfoy, have you come for those earrings that Lady Malfoy had her eye on?" The lady asked with a chuckle.

To say that the wizarding world had been shocked when Harry and Ginny had broken up would have been an understatement. They had been confused and wondered if perhaps something had happened to one of them during the final battle but the truth was that Harry just didn't quite feel the same way that Ginny had for him. True he had thought himself in love with the young woman for a time but after being away from her for so long and between Severus' memories and seeing the man alive again after the battle Harry knew he was just fooling himself. Even when he had thought the man had killed Albus there was just something about him that drew Harry to him and the young man just couldn't figure out what it was exactly, not that he tried very hard to put a name to it. He found it was far safer when he didn't try to name things before they were ready to be named.

"Actually no, we're here for Lord Potter; he's looking for a gift for someone special." Draco explained before grabbing Harry by the wrist and pulling him from behind him so that the woman could get a look at him. Harry turned a brilliant red at the title, despite knowing that he was a Lord, being the last of the Potter line, he still hadn't gotten used to be called such and always found himself rather flustered when someone used the title.

"My goodness, well let's see what we have." The woman said before clapping her hands together which caused a number of trays to appear on the counter for the young men in inspect.

Harry wasn't looking long before something caught his attention. It was an interesting bracelet, the band was silver and inlayed with emeralds which formed what appeared to be a serpent pattern and he couldn't help but be rather taken by it. Picking it up, he turned it around in his hand looking at it from every angle when his own wrist suddenly started to feel very warm. Glancing down at it he gasped as a band of gold appeared on his wrist with an inlay of rubies appeared.

"Ah, I see you've found the set!" The woman yelled happily while Draco merely raised a brow but said nothing. "When the person who is meant to own these holds one, the other will appear to them." She explained though the tone in her voice sounded like this was something that Harry probably should have been aware of already. Harry merely nodded but he still felt like there was something he was missing about them, something neither of the other were telling him, but he didn't ask as he handed the woman the bracelet so that she could wrap it.

The two men quickly left the store, Harry thanking Madame Roxin a thousand times over, and once outside Draco stopped Harry with a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry how exactly do you feel about my godfather?" He asked giving his friend a curious look that was tinged with a hint of seriousness that made Harry very aware of the fact that he should be choosing his words wisely.

"I don't know it's hard to explain. I like spending time with him and even after all this time it sometimes feels like he's the only one I can really be myself around, I know it sounds strange but I care about him a lot." Harry said with a sheepish smile which in turn caused Draco to give a small smile of his own before nodding his head.

"Just be very sure about your feelings when you give him that." The young Lord explained. Harry, while still not completely sure what he meant, nodded his head before the two went their separate ways.

Returning to Hogwarts after being gone for five years had honestly felt more like coming home to Harry than anything else. True in the beginning there had been some now legendary fights between himself and Severus, but eventually the younger man had worn down the Potions Master, and put the assumption that he was his father to rest once and for all, it was then another battle to get Severus to realize that Harry was in fact his own person, he was not James nor was he Lily, he was simply Harry.

Heading to his own rooms Harry was vaguely aware of those that greeted him as he made his way through the castle and nearly jumped out of his skin when he ran smack into the back of someone.

"Honestly Harry." A low voice muttered out with a hint of amusement in it. Harry looked and gave Severus a sheepish sort of smile, one that he seemed to be giving him quiet frequently, before he realized that they were standing outside of his own rooms.

"Afternoon Severus, something I can do for you?" He managed to get out without sounding overly flustered about being so close to the man.

"Just making my yearly rounds to remind everyone that I don't care what season it is I don't do Christmas gifts." He grumbled out. At his words though, Harry blushed a bit before moving past the man and muttering out the password to his rooms.

"Care for some tea?" Harry said stepping aside to allow the man entry if he decided to take him up on his offer and he was pleased that he did so.

The first time that Severus had been in Harry's rooms he had been there to drop off a potion for the younger man's godson as it seemed the child was having nightmares about being eaten by werewolves. He had expected it to look like Godric Gryffindor himself had thrown up in the room but was surprised to find it done in jewel tones that were very easy on the eyes, not that he would tell the younger man that. The man had surprised him on more than one occasion and he honestly couldn't remember when it was that he started calling him Harry from time to time and he really couldn't remember when he had given the other permission to call him by his first name. He was started out of his musings when he was suddenly handed the tea that had been offered. As Harry took a seat he looked at Severus with a curious expression which caused the other man to merely smirk.

"I know what you're going to ask so before you waste your time I'm telling you why I despise Christmas." Severus said sternly though there was none of the usual venom behind his words. Harry merely held up his hands at this in mock surrender.

"You know it's tradition for me to try and find out Severus." Harry said with a small laugh which caused the man to shot a half-hearted glare at him before a low chuckle escaped.

The two spent the rest of the evening talking about random odds and ends while dancing around the subject of Christmas and Harry could practically feel himself itching to give Severus the present he'd gotten him but managed to refrain by simply telling himself that it was only one more day. After Severus left Harry jumped and whipped around pointing his wand towards his floo as Ron and Hermione appeared.

"Bloody hell! You two nearly gave me a coronary!" He laughed before hugging the both of them.

"Mum sent us to try and bribe you to come to dinner tomorrow; it'll be the first time you haven't been there in years ya know." Ron said while brushing the a little soot from his robes.

"Yeah I know but it might take me all day just to get Severus to accept the gift I got for him." He said before laughing a little at the face Ron made.

"I think it's wonderful that you're trying to include him." Hermione said while elbowing her husband who finally nodded.

"Yeah best of luck to ya mate, hopefully he won't kill ya." The red head said with a laugh which caused the other two to chuckle.

From that the three spent the rest of the three of them spent the time enjoying each other's company and using the time to finally catch up properly since Ron and Hermione's children were back at the Burrow with their grandparents. While telling the about the bracelet he had gotten for Severus, Harry couldn't help but laugh at the dreamy expression that Hermione had gotten on her face. A little after midnight the two excused themselves and headed back to the Burrow assuring Harry that if he changed his mind he was more than welcome to attend the holiday gathering and surprisingly it was Ron who suggested he bring Severus along if he could get the man to agree to it.

Harry stayed up a little while longer after the two of them left and merely sat in front of the fire with the small wrapped box in his lap before setting it aside and finally heading to bed for the night.

When he woke the quickly wrote a note to Severus inviting the man for a non-Christmas related lunch and he was pleasantly surprised when the man sent one back informing him that he accepted on the grounds that it would keep him out of the Great Hall and away from Filius' habit of randomly belting out Christmas tunes at the table. Shortly after noon Harry looked up from the book that he had been reading at the door swung open to reveal a rather irked looking Severus. Harry raised a brow at the man who merely shook his head.

"It seems that even staying away from the Great Hall I was not safe those disgusting Christmas carols. Filius thought it would be rather delightful to wait outside of my room and started singing to me the moment I stepped out." He said with an annoyed sigh and roll of his eyes. At the news Harry burst out into laughter before getting up to grab the lunch tray that one of the house elves had brought for the two of them. He settled the tray down onto the table as well as a small wrapped box. Rather than accept the box though, Severus merely looked at Harry with a raised brow.

"I know, I know, you don't do Christmas gifts, but that doesn't mean I can't get you something whether you want me to or not." Harry huffed at the stubborn man in front of him. Severus said nothing to this though and just took the small package from the table.

Opening it slowly, as if he expected it to blow up in his face, his mouth dropped open when he saw what was inside. The bracelet was beyond words. Slipping it on, he marvelled at its brilliance for a moment until he felt a strange pull from somewhere near his heart. It was then that he noticed the matching bracelet on Harry's wrist. He looked at the younger man with something akin to horror on his face before he suddenly started to feel very light headed.

"You idiot boy, what have you done?" He muttered out before the two of them slipped into unconsciousness.

"What the hell do you mean it's legally binding?" Harry woke to hear someone screaming. It only took him a moment to realize it was Severus.

"Just what I said Severus, whether intentional or not, the bond had been made." The amused sounding voice of Minerva followed. Hearing the two of them go at it told Harry that whatever had happened wasn't good if Severus was already in a snit over it.

"I'm going to kill him when he wakes up." Severus finally hissed out. At this Harry rolled over and for the first time noticed the pounding in his head as he moved.

"I'll be happy to let you if it will get rid of this bloody pounding in my head, I feel like my brain is trying to break out." Harry moaned out while gripping his head in his hands. He wasn't stuck like that for long though before someone thrust what smelled like a headache cure potion into his hands and he gulped it down. "What in Merlin's name happened?" He finally asked after he felt a bit more like himself and the pounding was done to more of an annoying throb.

"You married us you bloody moronic Gryffindor." Severus hissed from the bed across from his own. At the statement though, Harry's eyes went wide.

"I… What?" Harry gasped out not really sure he was hearing what he thought he heard.

"Harry, what did the person who sold you those bracelets tell you about them?" Minerva asked lightly, though to Harry it looked like she was trying her hardest not to laugh at the two of them and the damn twinkle in her eyes was starting to remind him of Albus.

"Just that I found the set and that whoever was supposed to own the one would be able to make the other appear." He said wracking his memory for anything else. "Draco said that I should be really sure before giving the one I gave to Severus." Harry mused aloud while Severus seemed to scowl even more at the words he spoke.

"Correction first I'm going to kill my godson and then I'm going to kill my husband." He said hissing out the word as though it left a bad taste in his mouth before he quickly climbed out of bed and stalked out of the infirmary.

"He's in for a nasty shock when he realized he can't get into his rooms in the dungeons anymore." Minerva said with an amused look on her face for a moment before she looked at Harry with a much softer expression. "Well Professor Potter-Snape, quite the pickle you're in again now isn't it?" She said the hint of amusement coming back again. Harry decided the woman was having far too much fun with this and merely gave her a glare that he was sure Severus would have been proud of if he was still in the room.

"Minerva what happened?" He asked with a sigh before hanging his head a bit suddenly feeling like the friendship he had formed with Severus had just flown out the window.

"Love Harry, love happened." She said with a smile and again Harry found himself eerily reminded of Albus and wondered if it was a Headmaster thing, though he doubted it very much as Severus had never spouted anything about love while he had been Headmaster, or at least not that anyone was aware of.

"Those bracelets that you bought are bonding bracelets, the wizard version of bonding rings. Whenever a wizard in love holds a bonding bracelet its counterpart will appear," She noticed Harry opening his mouth and held up her hand. "Even if the wizard doesn't exactly know that he is in love." She went on to say. "For the bond to even take effect though you must feel very strongly for Severus and whether he wants to admit it or not he has to feel something for you as well." She added watching as Harry's eyes started to shine with something like hope before it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"I never meant for this to happen, he most likely hates me all over again." Harry said with a sigh before managing to get himself up and out of the bed.

"I think perhaps this just wasn't the way Severus had planned on you finding out." Minerva said with a kind smile.

"Knowing Severus, I highly doubt he ever planned on me finding out." The young man said with a shake of his head. Minerva merely nodded and could clearly see just how well Harry actually understood the other man and couldn't help but find it touching.

Harry bid the old witch goodbye as he headed towards his rooms, no matter how much he wanted to believe her he just couldn't imagine Severus ever being happy with the situation in anyway and to be honest Harry wasn't exactly jumping over the moon with joy or anything he just wasn't sulking about it either. With another sigh he headed into his rooms and almost jumped at the sight of Severus sitting there in his chair by the fire with a scowl on his face.

"It seems the castle saw fit to make these our rooms." He growled out as Harry moved to sit across from him on the sofa.

"I am so sor…" Harry started but the look Severus gave him caused the words to stick in his throat and he couldn't seem to find his voice.

"Don't Potter." He snapped out which caused Harry to scowl right back at him and his voice that had been lacking for a moment quickly found its way back.

"So it's Potter again is it?" Harry hissed out which caused Severus to raise a brow at him causing his scowl to turn into a sneer.

"What do you expect? This level of stupidity is something only your dim-witted father could have achieved." The older man yelled out. "I thought you slightly more competent than him, Potter."

"Merlin! Do you honestly think I would have given you that bracelet if I knew what they did?" Harry yelled out but when Severus said nothing he continued on. "How often do one of you have to explain something to me about the wizarding world even after all this time?" He asked with a frown firmly plastered on his face. "I would have waited Severus!" He added before jumping to his feet again. "I know I'm not Mum, I know I can't replace her for you, but I couldn't help but hope that maybe you felt something, anything for me!" He cried out before turning and rushing out of his rooms once again.

Severus sat there in stunned silence. He couldn't believe what Harry had just told him could he? He knew that Harry was no Lily and he had never tried to fool himself into thinking that he was, okay maybe he had a little, and the comparison to James had been made in anger and it was more so at himself for actually having any sort of feelings for the younger man other than their slowly building friendship. In the beginning he had tried to blame those on the fact that Harry had Lily's eyes and then on the fact that Harry was one of the few people that had visited him when he had been recovering from the battle and that fact that Harry was one of the few people who actually stood up to him.

He more so than anyone had been surprised that Harry had taken it upon himself to keep in touch with him while he had been working with the Aurors. He'd also carefully hidden the fact that he had been rather pleased when Minerva had informed him that Harry would be coming to teach.

He hadn't known what possessed him to start having tea on a semi regular basis with the younger man but he found himself enjoying the fact that Harry had actively sought out his company shortly after he'd gotten settled into his position. Yes he was angry that he suddenly found himself married but he it was more at how it had happened as opposed to who he was suddenly married to, a thought that actually surprised him a great deal. He was even more surprised over what Harry had said about waiting to give him the bracelet, a small portion of his mind was full of a kind of joy that he hadn't felt since he was eleven and found out he would be going to Hogwarts, while the rest, the more critical side decided to wait and see how Harry would react when he returned. With a sigh he settled himself in the chair to wait for his young husband to return.

Harry hadn't known where he was going at first when he had left the school so when he found himself standing in front of Malfoy Manor he'd been slightly surprised until he remembered the part that Draco had played in all of this and suddenly had a vicious urge to play a rousing game of eat the ferret. Being let in by one of the house-elves Harry stormed his way into Draco's office and scowled at the blond.

"Something you forgot to tell me about those bracelets Draco?" He growled out at the blond who didn't even look all that surprised to see him.

"Not that I can think of." The blond said with a smirk.

"Then would you care to explain to me why I suddenly find myself MARRIED TO YOUR GODFATHER?" Harry bellowed out. Sure enough that wiped the look right off Draco's face and Harry couldn't help the small smirk of his own that appeared as Draco paled a little.

"The marriage bond activated?" Draco gasped out before erupting into a fit of laughter that had Harry's eyebrow twitching. "Oh Merlin! I figured you loved Uncle Severus all right but I never imagined he loved you too." He said between laughs.

"Your confidence in him is mind blowing." Harry deadpanned with a glare.

"You have to understand Harry I knew Uncle Sev cared about you; I mean do you honestly think he had tea with everyone? But I didn't know he loved you. There are two different levels to a bonding bracelet, the first being that of deep friendship, meaning you'd be able to tell when he was in trouble and vice versa. The second level is one of deep love." Draco explained and as he did Harry slowly felt his anger towards the blond die down and a brilliant blush worked its way onto his face. "Can I ask whose last name changed?"

"Mine did, Harry James Potter-Snape at your serive." He grumbled out as his cheeks darkened to a deeper shade of pink as he came to realize yet again that he'd been married. Draco merely chuckled again but he soon stopped laughing when Harry told him about the fight he'd had with Severus before he'd left.

"You know he's an idiot as times, though why you let it work you up so much is beyond me." Draco commented with a shake of his head. Harry merely sighed at this and nodded, though he supposed that snappy attitude of the man was one of the things that Harry enjoyed so much about him.

The man looked down to notice the little girl snoozing away and lifting her up he carried to her bedroom and noticed his son was already in bed as well. Tucking the little girl into her bed he headed back out to the living room to find his husband now lying on the sofa looking at him with a small smile.

"Tell me the rest of the story." The imp of a man said with a sigh. Smirking, he took a seat, the younger man laying his head on his lap.

When Harry finally noticed the time he stood and bid Draco a good evening before returning to the castle. He had barely stepped back into his rooms when he was suddenly pushed against the door as a pair of demanding lips covered his own. He'd expected Severus to be angry, swear, throw things at him even but he hadn't been expecting this, not that he was complaining mind you. He found himself whimpering into the kiss before it broke as quickly as it had started.

"You would have waited?" Severus asked, glittering onyx eyes meeting sparkling emerald. Harry merely nodded his head before Severus claimed his lips once more and had Harry moaning quickly.

"Sev… Severus… What are we doing?" Harry gasped out between kisses. At the question Severus merely smirked against his soon-to-be-lover's throat.

"Consummating our new marriage." He said before running his tongue along the side of Harry's neck. "And before you ask, I am well aware that you are not Lily, you don't have any of those unnecessary curves." He said and as he had hoped his words had the desired effect as Harry quickly launched himself at him and for a moment Severus couldn't help but wonder what had taken him so long to finally admit how he felt.

"Take me to bed Sev, I think we've both waited long enough." Harry purred out at the man who said nothing else before sweeping Harry up into his arms and carrying him into the bedroom where he made damn sure to memorize every inch of Harry's body and every noise his young husband could make in the throes of passion.

The marriage came as quite a shock to the wizarding world, many, mostly women, not wanting to believe that Harry was officially off the market. For those that knew the two men, or at least as well as anyone could know either of them, they all agreed that it was about time the two had done something about whatever it was that was between the two of them, though marriage had been a bit extreme until they found out how it happened, and all ended up agreeing that that would indeed be how Harry ended up getting married much to the younger man's degradation.

Two years later after thing had settled down, and many debates about it, the couple welcomed their daughter Lily Eileen Potter-Snape into the world with the help of Mara, a delightful surrogate witch that the two had chosen after much deliberation and another year later they welcomed their son James Sirius Potter-Snape. The name had been debated a great deal between the two of them, leading to a number of brilliant fights in the castle and Harry had only won when he pointed out how James and Sirius would be rolling over in their graves if they ever learned that their names where tied to Severus.

Harry leaned up and kissed Severus gently on the jaw before the two stood and headed down the hall to check on the children again. Wrapping an arm around Harry's waist Severus rested his chin on Harry's head as the two of them watched their children sleep.

"I have to agree with little Lily." Harry whispered out while nodding towards their daughter.

"And why would that be?" Severus asked looking down and raising a brow at him.

"That's my favourite Christmas story too." He said with a grin that caused Severus to chuckle at bit at him.

"Happy Anniversary Harry." He said before giving the younger a quick kiss before leading him to their bedroom.

"Hey Sev." Harry said with a hint of mischief in his tone. "Can I un-wrap my Christmas/Anniversary gift now?" He asked eyeing Severus like he was in fact a present.

"It is Christmas isn't it?" The older man said with a smirk before being pounced by the younger and both of them toppling to the bed.

As the two lay there a time later Harry snuggled up against his husband with a contented sigh listening to his beloved's heartbeat.

"I love you Severus." He said with a sigh as he slowly felt sleep pulling at him.

"I love you too Harry, now get some sleep." He said with a chuckle before allowing himself to watch out the window for a moment as the snow gently continued to fall before staring the silver bracelet that rested warmly against his wrist.

He had been so shocked after their first night together when the bracelet easily slipped off his wrist, he knew it was a sign that he hadn't loved Harry as much as Harry loved him but he'd never had the heart to tell the younger man that and in the end he was glad he hadn't because after the first few months of being with him he couldn't get the bracelet off no matter how hard he tried.

So no matter how many times he told the story to their children he always left that little bit of information out of his favourite Christmas story.

End! It's now 8:32 Christmas Day and I hope you all enjoyed your little prezzie from me.