Author:bonfoi Rating: PG Pairing: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, Gideon Prewett Summary: Given the chore of collecting mistletoe for Christmas decorations, Lupin and Snape come across something interesting. Challenge:adventdrabblesPrompt #16: Wassail Word Count: 937 including lyrics Genre: Alternate Universe; EWE; Slash; Adventure; Romance Warnings: none A/N: I could not resist this prompt!
Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the copyrighted works of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., her publishing companies and affiliates. No profit was made from the writing of this story nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author or the actors/actresses who so brilliantly have brought them to life.
This author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country.
As they stood before Severus’ door, Remus coughed and said softly, “You know your wards have been breached, don’t you?” Severus nodded. Both wizards had their wands out and at the ready. “Care to do the honors?” Remus whispered.
“ALOHAMORA!” Severus shouted as Remus pushed the door open. Severus high and Remus low, they covered the entrance, searching for the interloper. Messy black hair slowly appeared from around the wide back of a smoking chair just as blond hair popped up over the back of the sofa.
“Hallo, Remy!” Harry Potter burbled.
“Godfather,” Draco Malfoy drawled.
“What in the bluest of blazes are you doing here, Draco?” Severus went to pinch the bridge of his nose, his wet feet forgotten for the moment. Unfortunately, he almost took out an eye, forgetting he had his wand in his hand.
Remus cast revealing spells and anti-glamour charms on the two young men lounging on Severus’ furniture. Remus growled, and then he sent a pair of Stinging Hexes at them for all the trouble they’d caused. And for botching his first chance at seeing Severus’ probably narrow, lickable feet up close and in his hands.
Draco merely flinched and rubbed at his ear, glaring impartially between Severus and Remus.
“Hey, now!” Harry popped out of the chair, shaking his left hand, eyebrows somewhere north under his bangs. “We didn’t do….” his voice faded away. “Um, Draco? Maybe…” Harry waggled his eyebrows in some esoteric, unknown language which Malfoy seemed able to translate.
“What my tongue-tied compatriot there cannot say is that we ran away from our respective obligations because you, Severus, and you, Mr. Lupin, were not at those respective respectable and tedious events.” Draco sipped his pilfered liquor—Remus could smell the lovely aroma of well-aged Muggle brandy wafting from the snifter—and translated further, “In other words, I was bored, crashed Potter’s almost-engagement and rescued him from a lifetime of ginger. He came willingly enough, but we have to hide for a bit.”
Remus laughed out loud, a full belly-laugh that had him bending over and flashing his arse at Severus. “Oh, I’d have given ten Galleons to see that!”
“I’d like to know why you ran to my rooms, Draco.” Severus’ right eyebrow was flirting with his widow’s-peak. “You could have sent me word, Mr. Malfoy. You are, after all, a wizard.” Severus rolled his eyes and slanted a glare in Harry’s direction. “As are you, Potter.”
Harry grinned and held up a loving cup shrunken to goblet size, the liquor sloshing a bit. “He got me schnockered, Remy. Then he kissed me an’ I had ta follow him…” Harry blinked like an owl in daylight. “’Sides, he’s always kept ma feet on the groun’, you know.”
Remus began whistling under his breath as Severus stalked over to a bench and pulled his boots off, a slight squelching accompanying his muttered imprecations. Harry and Draco resumed their poses, sharing soft glances. Throwing caution to the wind and putting up his wand, Remus began singing softly…
Here we come a wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a’wandering So fair to be seen.
Chorus Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you a happy New Year. And God send you a happy New Year.
Our wassail cup is made Of the rosemary tree, And so is your beer Of the best barley. Chorus
“Now that’s a proper song, Draco!” Harry said loudly. Then, he hiccupped. Severus watched as Harry hiccupped for several minutes, his glasses sliding down his nose until they lost the battle with gravity. “A…hic…prop-prop-proper c-care-carol.”
“It’s an old Wizarding carol bastardized by Muffles,” Draco intoned. As Severus snorted, Draco’s eyes narrowed and he reviewed what he’d said. “Muf-Mug-Muggles, I mean.”
Remus called a house-elf and asked for hot tea and plain toast for Harry and Draco and hot chocolate for him and Severus. Severus got up from the bench—Remus saw his feet were narrow, lickable, and kissable, too—and removed the snifter from Draco’s relaxed grip and Summoned Harry’s loving cup.
“You two hooligans are going to sober up the Muggle way and then you’ll tell us why I shouldn’t have you hanging from Filch’s shackles.” Severus glared into Draco’s eyes and then turned the strong gaze onto Harry who slouched back into the winged-back chair. “Kissed into idiocy! If he’d done it correctly, alcohol wouldn’t have been involved!” Severus threw up his hands, forgetting the glasses still had brandy in them. Remus’ mouth watered as he had to refrain from licking the drops from Severus’ hands.
“This is not the evening I was looking forward to, Lupin,” Severus groaned.
“There’ll be more, Severus,” Remus said only for Snape’s ears. He’d moved silently across the room, secure in the knowledge that the two young wizards had eyes and ears for only each other in their liquid states. “We’ll find a room for these two, I’ll tell you stories that will warm the cock…les of your heart and then…”
Draco’s drunken warble interrupted Remus.
We are not daily beggars That beg from door to door, But we are neighbours’ children Whom you have seen before.Chorus
Chorus Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you a happy New Year. And God send you a happy New Year.
Severus sniffed loudly, but nodded at Remus’ smiling face. “Oh, aye, ‘neighbours’ children’ I’d lief as leave on the roadside for the next three hours,” Severus muttered. “Where’s that tea, Lupin? I had plans!”
Alternate Titles: “Here We Come A Wassailing,” “Here We Come A-Caroling,” and “Here We Go A-Caroling.” Words: English Traditional, 17th century
1. Here we come a wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a wandering So fair to be seen.
Chorus Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you a happy New Year. And God send you a happy New Year.
2. Our wassail cup is made Of the rosemary tree, And so is your beer Of the best barley. Chorus
3. We are not daily beggars That beg from door to door, But we are neighbours' children Whom you have seen before. Chorus
4. Good Master and good Mistress, As you sit by the fire, Pray think of us poor children Are wandering in the mire. Chorus
5. We have a little purse Made of ratching leather skin;(1) We want some of your small change To line it well within. Chorus
6. Call up the Butler of this house, Put on his golden ring; Let him bring us a glass of beer, And the better we shall sing. Chorus
7. Bring us out a table, And spread it with a cloth; Bring us out a mouldy cheese, And some of your Christmas loaf. Chorus
8. God bless the Master of this house, Likewise the Mistress too; And all the little children That round the table go. Chorus
(1) Bramley and Stainer add a footnote explaining that ratching is leather that will stretch. Shaw and Dearmer, in The English Carol Book, First Series, substitute the word stretching, as does Rickert.