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A bright light was creeping into the dark room through every little hole and edge possible. Through the cracks of the heavy, red and gold curtains. Through the tiny spaces between door and floorboard. It was the kind of light only existing on a snowy winter day. Not sunlight, not as brilliant and warm, but bright, reflected by so much snow. It woke Violet up softly.
When she opened up the curtains, the first thing she loved to do in the morning, the window outside were covered in a frosted pattern, like tiny delicate flowers spreading over the cold glass. Thick icicles hung from the roof and ended right above the edge of the window. They glittered a little bit in the light. Watching this Winter Wonderland, Violet suddenly remembered that she was all by herself in the dormitory and that it was Christmas morning. She didn't anticipate anything special to happen. At the very least she had considered that it would be possible that she'd get any presents at all. But there they were, at the foot of her bed, a tiny, neat stack of wrapped presents. Most of them had the shape of books and somehow that made Violet happy and sad at the same time. Happy, because she loved books above all things else in the world. Sad, because probably none of her friends had made an effort to think of another present. If she would really get just books it was her fault after all. She wasn't exactly an open book when it came to her preferences in presents. Maybe that was because she hardly ever got presents.
Sighing, Violet took the first parcel into her hands. It was wrapped in pretty red paper. A card, tied to the gold ribbon, said it was from Hermione. This was most definitely a book. Hermione wouldn't give her anything else. Violet unwrapped the present slowly. A thick, leather-bound book was hidden behind the paper. It was heavy and Violet tried to make out the title. It seemed to be some sort of encyclopedia. Curiously Violet opened the book and found to her surprise that scattered on every page were annotations in Hermione's neat handwriting. The book was about the most useful, defensive spells and Violet smiled upon Hermione's eagerness to comment on every spell. This was much better than just a book. It was a book that screamed friendship.
The next parcel was from Ron, well more precisely the Weasley's. It contained a thick wool sweater and Violet had to love about the color, it was violet. There was also a whole box of homemade cookies. They smelled so good that Violet could hardly contain herself from eating one.
The next parcel was clearly a book too. It was from Harry and Violet wondered if he would have followed Hermione's idea and write something inside a spellbook. But the book she got from Harry was far away from what Violet had expected it to be. It was a photo album. With shaking hands Violet opened it up, not sure which pictures would be in it. The first was the picture of their mother. Lily was young, beaming, in her wedding gown, standing all by herself under a beech tree. The flowers in her bouquet were pink roses and Violet smiled about that. Everyone would probably have expected her mother to have lilies in her wedding bouquet, but she didn't. Violet would have done the same if she had been in her mother's shoes. The next picture showed Harry, Ron and Hermione. The three of them were very young, beaming into the camera proudly. A note under the picture said it had been on the last day of their first school years in Hogwarts. It went on with pictures of Hogwarts and Harry, Ron and Hermione. There were several that made Violet laugh, like the one where Ron posed with something that was named "Blast-Ended Skrewt" in the note underneath the picture. Ron made a silly face at the lobster-like creature. After she had skipped through all the pictures Violet felt a little more part of the trio. But she also regretted not having been dragged to Hogwarts earlier. It sure looked like they had a lot of fun throughout the years, even though a shadow was overcastting them since their first year.
The sudden wish made Violet wonder how it would have been, if she had been standing in line with all the other first years, two years before Harry had been going to school. She imagined how it would have felt like to get up to the stool and have the hat put upon her head, knowing her father was bursting with proud at the teacher's table. Would he have been proud or disappointed if the hat had sorted her into Gryffindor? And without the knowledge about her mother, without the awareness of the Gryffindor blood pulsing through her veins would she even have been sorted into this house? Or would the Sorting Hat have decided upon some other destination for her instead, because of her character trades? Would she have become a true Slytherin at heart maybe? Getting lulled into false beliefs of blood pureness? All these questions made Violet's head spin and she quickly grabbed the next parcel, to keep her mind of the things that could have happened. This present was wrapped in dark blue paper, midnight blue, almost black. Just the paper could have told Violet that this was from her father. It turned out to be a book. One about Legemency and Occlumency. Violet had heard about that branch of magic. Only those who were strong willed and skilled could mingle with the mind of others and protect their ones. Violet wondered if this present was a hidden hint from her father. Maybe he found it useful if Violet considered shielding her mind from unwanted intruders. There was also a card, wishing her a Merry Christmas and an invitation to have tea with him this afternoon. Violet looked forward to that. It was the best present he could have given her, spending alone time with him.
The last parcel was wrapped with very elegant silver paper and tied up with a purple, silk ribbon. It was smaller than all the others, square though, and made Violet wonder who it could be from and what could be inside. The less patient part of her wanted to rip the paper of, but Violet refrained herself and unwrapped it very carefully, trying to get the purple bow of whole, it was so pretty. The present turned out to be a black box, one which was usually meant for jewelry. Violet's hand shook as she opened the lid of the box carefully, not knowing what to expect. Who in the world would give her jewelry? On a bed of black velvet lay an exquisite silver necklace. The chain was quite delicate, very thin and elegant. On it hung the most beautiful pendant Violet had ever seen. It was a heart, silver like the chain, but embedded with tiny diamonds, so that it glistened and glittered. Violet was speechless and then a sudden thought struck her. What if this necklace was from the one person she desperately wanted to have gotten it from? What if Draco had sent her the necklace? For Violet there was no other possibility, it must have been Draco. Who else would cover their identity by not sending a card? Who else did she know who was so rich that he would be able to afford such a necklace?
With trembling fingers Violet put the necklace on, hurrying of to the bathroom in order to look into a mirror. There she was, standing in her pajamas, the diamond heart sending out sparks in every direction.
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