Christmas

"You know," Harry said one day, twirling his wand around aimlessly as they waited for potions to start, "it's not really fair."

Draco looked up from his parchment, furrowing his brow. "What's not fair?"

Harry shrugged. "The fact that the three of us are currently competing for the top grades."

Hermione's mouth dropped. "How could you say that? We work hard for our grades."

"Yeah," Harry snorted. "Sure. We work hard. Doesn't help at all that we already know the answers."

Hermione shrugged. "It's not our fault. I don't understand why there wouldn't be some new content they taught us."

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Hermione, we're time travelers. We went back to the past, not the future. So, yes, they are teaching us the exact same content. However, it's not their fault."

"We could always self-study," Draco said, turning back to his parchment.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm already doing that. I've been doing that since last first year."

Ron turned around, brow furrowed. "Last first year?"

"Shut up, Weasley. No one invited you into this conversation," the blond said, crossing his arms.

"Maybe we should talk somewhere else. You know, after class," Harry said, scanning the public classroom. The three nodded and turned back to wait for Professor Snape.

The door slammed open. The resounding thud echoed through the room. Harry jumped.

Draco turned to his friend, brow quirked. "You okay?"

The boy-who-lived closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He nodded.

"It's just Professor Snape. It's just Professor Snape," he chanted to himself.

Draco shook his head, returning his attention to the front of the room.

After class was over, the trio ran from the dungeons toward the room of requirement. They paced and a door appeared. They entered.

The boys quickly screwed their faces into ones of disgust.

"Who thought of this?" Draco asked as he surveyed the bright purple living room.

Harry nodded in agreement. It quite resembled a dinosaur in a tv show his aunt usually showed the neighbor kid when she babysat. Draco glared at Harry, accusingly.

Harry's mouth dropped and his eyes narrowed. "Hey, don't look at me. I couldn't think of something this girly!"

After a moment, both heads swiveled to Hermione, who dropped elegantly into an electric purple, overstuffed chair. She sighed in delight.

Draco rolled his eyes. "That explains it."

The boy-who-lived crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you think we could wish for something to sit on that's not as close to Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"

The blond shrugged in reply. Harry closed his eyes, and two beige recliners appeared.

"So, what are you going to do for Christmas, Granger?" Draco asked the young girl now cuddled up in her fuzzy chair.

She shrugged. "Go home. See my family." She sighed. "I spent the summer trying to make up for the fact I obliviated them. I'm trying to come up with some good Christmas presents that will aid me further."

Draco sat up straight. "You Obliviated your own parents?" Did Hermione Granger have the nerve to do such a thing?

"Yes, I sent them to Australia to keep them safe."

Silence filled the room.

"Scarhead, what was up with you in potions?" Draco asked, laying back down in the recliner.

Harry sighed. "It's nothing."

"Yeah, and I'm the minister of magic," Draco said, arms crossed. Hermione giggled. "What's it to you, Granger? Don't think I can do it?"

The young girl shook her head. "No, I'm just used to the muggle saying. Never heard the wizarding equivalent before."

"What muggle saying?"

"You know," Harry said, more than willing to keep the conversation away from its previous subject, "'and I'm the Queen of England'?"

"The muggles have a queen?" Draco's brow furrowed. "And they think we're antiquated. At least we live in a democracy."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They vote for almost everyone else, and the queen doesn't have much say in legal matters anymore." She faced Harry. "But it seems Harry has done well in diverting our original topic."

The boy in question grimaced. "You caught that, huh?"

"What's up, Harry? You weren't half this skitzy last time."

"It's nothing," the boy said, shaking his head.

"Does it have to do with Voldemort?"

"I doubt it," Draco said, eyes rolling. "I never saw the boy-who-lived cower in fear before the dark lord."

"What do you know, ferret?" Harry asked, nose scrunched.

"I know you have many more people to fear than a crazed mass murderer."

Harry averted his gaze.

Hermione's brow furrowed. "Harry? What's he talking about?"

"It's nothing, Mione."

"Nothing my arse," the blond said, shifting in his chair to face the girl. "His uncle beats him."

"Draco," Harry said, his tone darkening.

"No, scarhead. If you won't help yourself, you need others to do it for you."

"I don't need saving."

"Then why won't you tell us why a slammed door would suddenly cause you to hyperventilate?"

Harry scowled. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Harry," Hermione said gently, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever it is, you can tell us."

He averted his eyes once more. "Mione, I can handle it myself."

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

Harry sighed. "My home isn't the safest place for me."

"But, Professor Dumbledore said…"

"The blood wards, yes. Magically speaking, it's safer than Gringotts."

Draco snorted. "That's not saying much anymore."

"Anyway," the boy-who-lived said, glaring at his blond friend, "physically speaking, it's very dangerous. Uncle Vernon hits when he's angry, and he uses whatever's within arm's reach."

Hermione closed her eyes. "Harry…"

"No, let me finish," the boy said, holding a hand up to stop her. "He's broken bones before, enjoyed forcing my hands onto a hot stove when I burned food, and went days without feeding me."

"What's this got to do with the door?" Draco asked, eyes narrowing.

"Sometimes, when he was really angry, he'd slam the door of my cupboard open and…"

"Wait," Hermione said, eyes widening. "Did you say cupboard?"

"Well…"

"They kept you in a cupboard?"

"Just until my Hogwarts let…"

"I'll kill the muggles," Hermione yelled, throwing her hands in the air before she began pacing.

"Mione, it's nothing-"

"Nothing? Keeping you in a cupboard is nothing?"

"Don't forget treating him like a house elf," Draco said, smirking. At least he wasn't the only one ready to Crucio the Dursleys.

"A house elf?" the girl asked, face reddening.

"Mione, can we talk about something else, please?" Harry asked softly.

"How could you even think of asking me that?" She shook her head. "We need to file a report. We have to have proof." She conjured a parchment and quill. "Now, I'm going to record while you give me a detailed account of everything that happened…"

"Mione," Draco said, rising and walking over to his friend. "I know an injustice occurred. I know you want to help your friend. I even know that the wizarding world would jump at a chance to put the Dursleys in Azkaban. However, I don't see that happening."

"Whyever not?"

The blond shook his head. "I don't think Dumbledore would allow it."

Hermione's mouth dropped. "How could you even think that?"

"You're telling me the greatest wizard in the past century couldn't recognize the signs of child abuse?"

"I'm sure he would have taken Harry away if he did."

"You are so idealistic," Draco said, shaking his head. "It's cute-really, it is-but it's not reality."

"Oh, and I suppose you're a realist?"

"Well, yeah…"

"More like pessimist."

"Guys," Harry said, jumping in-between them. "Look, I appreciate the concern." He shook his head. "I just don't want to deal with this right now, okay? Maybe someday, I'll go to Dumbledore and he'll let me leave there. Until then, I don't want to focus on something I can't change. Can we please talk about something else?"

"Fine," Hermione huffed, returning to her fluffy chair. "So, Harry, do you still think you'll get presents from the Weasleys this year?"

Harry rolled his eyes, but shrugged. "I'm on the team with the twins, and even though I don't like him, Ron likes me. We'll see."

"Won't you get presents from anyone else?" Draco asked, brow furrowed. Surely, someone as adored in the wizarding world as Harry would get loads of presents

"Well, losing your parents at a young age doesn't necessarily lend itself to massive stacks of gifts," Harry replied sarcastically. He shook his head. "Seriously, the Dursleys hate me, I haven't seen my parents' friends in years, and until first year I never had any friends. Doesn't give a lot of giver options."

"Oh," the blond said, staring down at his hands.

Harry smiled, eyes sparkling. "But I will get the invisibility cloak that's rightfully mine."

Draco sat, still staring at his hand for a moment before his eyes widened and he hit Harry upside the head. "So that's how you did everything."

Harry rubbed the offending spot. "Yeah, it's my dad's. Dumbledore has it." His brow furrowed. "Thinking back, he made it sound like he was doing me a favor by returning it. It was rightfully mine and should have been saved in my parents' vault, not at Dumbledore's disposal."

They echoed through the room.

Finally, Hermione rose from her seat. "Well, boys, we still have two more weeks of classes before Christmas break. Let's forget about this depressing conversation and finish strong."

She helped the boy out of their recliners and they all headed back to the Gryffindor tower.

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"Now, remember Draco and Harry," Hermione said as she drug her suitcase down the stairs. "We need to research how to take the tracers off our wands. Perhaps when you get the invisibility cloak, you can look in the restricted section for a while."

Draco snorted. "Yes, Mum."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Harry. "Have a great Christmas."

The boy smiled as he hugged her. "And a happy new year."

Hermione swiveled to face Draco. "Happy Christmas."

Draco's brow creased. "Have a good new year?"

With that, Hermione jumped into his arms, squeezing him tight.

"Take good care of him. Promise?" she asked in the blond's ear.

He nodded, never needing to express his agreement verbally.

The boys watched as Hermione's carriage drove away, remaining silent. Neither one wanted to show the other how much they missed the curly haired girl.

The next few days were chaos. If it weren't for Draco, they wouldn't have gotten any research done whatsoever. However, the blond somehow managed to keep Harry on track and soon they had several viable options to test once Hermione got back.

On Christmas day, a stack of presents lay at the end of the bed, surprising Harry greatly. He'd told Draco the truth, he didn't have many friends to begin with last time around, and his list had dwindled further. He hadn't kept in touch with as many of his mentors.

Among the usual-invisibility cloak from Dumbledore, Quidditch through the Ages from Hermione, the five pence from the Dursleys, a Weasley sweater from Molly (with a not-so-subtle note stating that her Ronniekins helped her make it)-Harry found an unusual package with Draco's name on it. He unwrapped it to find a copy of 1984 by George Orwell.

He quirked an eyebrow. How did Draco know about a muggle book? Better yet, why did he think to give it to Harry? The boy opened the cover. After reading the first few words, he dropped the book, mouth agape.

"You alright there, scarhead?" the blond asked, blinking his eyes a few times.

Harry shook his head. Behind the front cover, was a note: To Severus. I know you loved Animal Farm, so I thought you might like this book, too. Maybe we can read it together and discuss it. Hope you enjoy! Lily.

His mother. His mother had given this book to Professor Snape. He looked over at Draco.

"How…How did you get this?" Harry asked, voice cracking.

Draco grinned sheepishly. "I remembered you saying Uncle Sev was a friend of your mother. I asked him for something of hers and he gave me this." He paused for a moment and added, "Look in there again. I remember him saying something about giving you a trinket, as well."

Harry looked back in the box and his breath caught. Inside was a muggle photograph of a young Lily, sitting on a swing he recognized as the swing where she and Professor Snape met. His throat tightened and his eyes welled with tears.

"Thank you." He whispered, directing his gratitude toward Draco.

The blond shrugged. "It was nothing, really. It was mostly Uncle Sev."

Harry shook his head. "But you asked him. This is more than Ron ever did for me. Thank you."

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"Come on," Harry whispered, quickly glancing behind him.

"Where in the world are you taking me, Harry?" Draco asked as he tried to stay under the invisibility cloak.

"Nowhere if we get caught." Harry came to a halt, and Draco slammed into him.

The blond scowled. "Warning would be nice." Harry pulled off the cloak. "And what happened to come on?"

"We're here," Harry said, eyes sparkling.

"What joy," Draco drawled as he surveyed the dusty room. "Where are we?"

"Some unused classroom, but that's beside the point." Harry stood in front of an old mirror. He stayed silent for a few minutes before sighing and turning to Draco. "Your turn."

"My turn for what? Admiring myself for a godforsaken amount of time in front of an old mirror?" Draco sneered.

"I'm not that vain." Harry grabbed the blond's shoulders and positioned him in front of the mirror. "Just look, and tell me what you see."

Draco sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Might as well indulge the boy-who-lived in his moment of madness.

"Well, what do you see?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. "Granger and myself with a bunch of kids."

Harry's eyes widened. "That's your greatest desire?"

The blond glared. "No." He averted his eyes, and waivered in his spot. "What do you mean?"

Harry pointed to the top of the mirror. "You read it backwards. I show not your face, but your heart's desire." He turned to his blond friend. "Since when do you have a crush on Hermione?"

Draco sighed. "I…I don't know." He shook his head. "I wasn't sure I had one. I mean, yeah, I did. Who didn't? She's the smartest witch of her age. I…thought I was over it, though."

"Well, the mirror says otherwise."

"What do you see, Harry?" Draco asked. The sooner they got away from the topic of Hermione, the better.

"My parents and Sirius." Harry said, shrugging. "At least I have a chance at having Sirius back." Draco's eyes widened and he nodded. "Anyway, that's all I wanted to show you. So, now you know."

Harry slipped the cloak back over the both of them and they headed off to bed.