Harry and a box

By Star Mirage

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his universe belong to J.K Rowling.

With a thoughtful look Harry stared at a box. 'Who could send it?'

It was a Christmas morning and like everyone in the castle Harry was sitting on his bed, unpacking his presents with a keen interest.

He already had unpacked the most of his presents. Ron had bought him a new kit for broom care. Hermione, as always, gave him an education-related present. It was not a book (surprise, surprise!) as it was every year, but a pack of parchment with an inkpot. Mrs. Weasley, in her usual style, sent him a new sweater. Lucky, it was a green one, and Hermione said that it complimented Harry's eyes much better than that nauseate orange garment he received last Christmas…

The gifts from his room-mates were also here. A quidditch-themed photo album from Seamus; the quidditch game cards from Dean. Ever Neville had brought some crazy-looking flower in a pot for Harry… Harry threw a wary look at the said bright-canary colored flower that was moving (or was it dancing?) in tact with a noise dominating in the room.

There also was a present from Ginny. The bottle of perfume stood on Harry's table beside the dancing flower from Neville. 'Maybe that poor flower also has an allergy to that perfume's sweetness, that's why it's moving like a crazy worm.'

Harry smiled, and once again turned his eyes to the unidentified box. It was a big box wrapped in some dark green paper with a flashy white ribbon over it. All Christmas presents were usually delivered by house-elves, and so there was no mistake that this box was meant for Harry… Still, Harry didn't know who had sent this gift to him since there was no card from the sender…

Well, there was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled the ribbon off the box.

As soon as the box was opened, with a loud 'pow' a big cloud of sparkling snowflakes came out of it. All people in the room turned to Harry, whose whole body and bed were now covered with that sparkling powder. Everyone in the room burst out laughing, while Harry, being in stupor, didn't move, ever when Ron ran to him with a concerned "Are you okay, mate?"

Finally, blinking, Harry said "What… what is it with this present?" With an aid of his closest friend he began to brush the snowflakes off, while keeping a wary eye on the suspicious box. After cleaning himself off, Harry looked into the box only to find yet another box there. Also wrapped in the same deep green paper, with a white ribbon on top…

"Eh?" Harry scratched his head, wondering what to do.

"What a funny present you have here, mate." Ron also looked into the box. "A box in the box? What a tricky idea!"

And so, learnt by experience, Harry decided to check the inner box with some spell before opening it. To his surprise and utter disappointment, the said gift was protected with an anti-look-through spell, as well as with an anti-magical-unpacking one. Therefore, there was only one way to find what that present was. Once again taking a deep breath, Harry pulled the ribbon off the next box.

This time the cloud of rose petals burst out from that second box. Spitting out the petals that somehow managed to get into his month, Harry cast a displeased look at his room-mates who were rolling with laughter.

"Pphe, the tricky gift indeed," Harry confirmed and began to laugh at the look of Ron, who was careless enough to be close to Harry when the box was opened, and therefore, also became covered with rose-petals from the very top to the bottom.

With a dumb look, Ron spit some petals then moved to his own bed. "You know mate, I'll better watch from here. It is not safe to be next to you while you are trying to find out what is in that stupid box of yours."

Brushing the rose-petals off his shoulders, Harry smiled and looked into the second box. He froze dumbfound in the middle of brushing, discovering yet another, smaller, but still deep-green box there… "What the…? Is this some kind of Russian matryoshka thing?" Harry pulled it out.

"I think someone wanted to give you those boxes as a present," Seamus said smiling, while unpacking his own Christmas gifts. "Look, you already have three green boxes!"

Cautiously checking the third box, Harry found that it indeed looked as the previous two ones. The same wrapping paper and white ribbon. Only this time there was a small cream colored card attached beside the ribbon. 'Finally, I'll find who has sent me this gift.' Harry picked the card and read the text, written in an accurate curly style.

'I want…' it said.

'Eh?' Harry frowned. 'I want…? And that's all? Where is the rest of the text?' He checked the reverse side of the card, but that one was blank.

Harry put a card aside, and frowning, pulled the next ribbon off.

This time a bunch of colorful paper serpentines shot out of the third box. Harry just sighed. He understood that he looked very stupid sitting there with the paper ribbons hanging down of his ears that looked like some colorful noodles. Therefore, he decided not to pay any attention to his howling with laugh room-mates.

Harry shook the serpentine off, and looked into the third now-opened-box. Well, he was not even surprised to find the fourth box inside of it. The same dark-green colored box, with a ribbon and a card attached to its top. With anticipation, Harry took the card only to find another unfinished sentence written there: '… to give you…'

Harry frowned. This all looked like a riddle. Who could think out the idea of an unusual Christmas gift like that? He put both cards onto his coverlet and read the text those two formed. 'I want to give you…' Funny, how many boxes he had to open to receive the whole message?

And he was not mistaken. The fourth box contained the fifth one, along with the soap bubbles that burst out of it and were hovering over Harry's head now. Discovery of the sixth box was accompanied by a cloud of small magic butterflies. Those small luminescent blue creatures quickly scattered all over the room, making it look even more festive.

Each box was very similar to the previous ones, just smaller in size; and each of them had their own short message. All together the cards formed the following text: 'I want to give you the best gift ever…'

Harry looked at the sixth box. That one was pretty small as compared to the other five boxes. About ten inches each side. Harry took it out and slightly shook it close to his ear. Still, he was unable to comprehend what was hidden inside.

There was no sense to wait any longer. In excitement, Harry pulled the white ribbon off.

The box silently opened. But without any special effect that accompanied the opening of all previous boxes. Holding his breath, Harry cautiously looked inside, only to smile happily a moment later. The whole box was filled with the diamond shaped candies. Harry was fond of those 'Diamondes' pretty much. Well, that was a secret though. Harry hadn't paraded his liking to everyone. Could it happen that someone learned about it and decided to send them to him?

Stuffing several sparkling candies into his mouth, Harry was surprised to find to find yet another box lying on top of the candies. A narrow, palm-sized box of black color. It looked like some jewelry case with its rich velvet texture. A white card atop was its only decoration. The message, written on it, said 'That is…'

A bit confused, Harry stared at the unfinished text. Then he put the card along with the previous ones. The whole message read - 'I want to give you the best gift ever. That is…'

Harry scratched his head. What does that mean? That the candies were not the main thing here, but some kind of filler, protecting the core of the present?

With an utter care Harry opened the small black box. There was a thin white object lying there and across of it was written one word only. '…Myself.' Harry took that object and slowly turned it over. It was a photo. A photo of a smiling person that was walking by a sandy shore with a beautiful sunset at the background… A very familiar person…

Harry blinked several times, trying to collect his agitated thoughts. Then his glance fell onto the collected cards that formed the complete message now. 'I want to give you the best gift ever. That is myself.'

Staring at the photo in his hands, Harry didn't know what to think about this situation. It was really unexpected to receive a gift from that person. Especially such a gift. Still...

"So what was in all those boxes?" Ron asked, arriving beside Harry and making him to start with surprise.

Harry quickly hid the photo in his pocket and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "As you see, I've got several boxes, candies and a lot of special effects as a Christmas bonus."

Without any ceremony, Ron took several Diamondes from Harry's box and stuffed them into his mouth. He nodded in understanding, then asked the next question. "And who is this gift from?"

Harry again shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. Maybe someone from my fan club?"

Meanwhile, Ron noticed the cards, lying on Harry's bed, and inquiringly raised his brows. Harry just foolishly smiled. He quickly got rid from all stuff that came from the boxes during their opening, like snowflakes, rose petals, serpentines… and was about to leave the room, when Ron's voice stopped him with another question. "Going somewhere?"

Harry turned to Ron and with a smile answered, "I'm going to claim my last Christmas present." With that he left the room.

Half an hour later, passionately kissing the person from the photo in some deserted classroom, he whispered to their ear.

"You are right. This is the best gift ever."

The person happily smiled in return.

END.

AN: Any idea who had sent that present to Harry? ;)