Chapter Twenty-Five

"Wake up, Harry!"

Harry jerked awake, and, consequently, fell out of bed.

"Merlin's beard," he groaned.

"Merry Christmas!" chirped Ronnie.

Harry's mood brightened considerably.

"Merry Christmas," he returned.

Ronnie began collecting their assorted presents.

"Room of Requirement?" she said, in response to Harry's confused expression.

"Oh," said Harry, "'corse."

Draco, Rachel, Louise, Fred and George were already waiting in a cosy lounge room when Harry and Ronnie reached the Room of Requirement.

"Finally!" exclaimed Fred, throwing a small ball of hair into the air.

"Oi!" exclaimed Louise, catching the object, which was, in fact, a small puffskein. "Leave Harriet alone!"

"She likes it," retorted Fred with a grin and, indeed, the puffskein was squeaking in a manner that could be interpreted as happiness.

"Morning, love," said Harry, giving Draco a quick kiss.

Draco grinned.

"Presents?" he asked shyly.

"Here," said Rachel, handing Ronnie a silver box. The red-headed girl eagerly began ripping off the wrappings.

Louise beamed as the unwrapped what appeared to be the entire collection of Encyclopaedia Wizania.

"Just what I wanted!" she exclaimed, pecking each of the twins on the cheek.

"Oh!" cried Draco. "A cursed dagger! Harry, you're so sweet!"

And then, without warning, he burst into tears.

"Are you ok?" asked Harry nervously.

"Of course I am!" snapped Draco, his tears vanishing as quickly as they appeared.

"Alright …" said Harry warily.

Draco sighed.

"I'm sorry, Harry, it's just … well it's that time of the year … you know …"

The look on Harry's face, however, made it quite clear that he did not know.

Draco sighed again.

"I'm a Veela," he said quietly, "and it's mating season."

"OMG," said Harry, "does this mean we get to hide ourselves in a room for a month and spend the entire time shagging?"

Draco shook his head.

"It's not constant," he said, "and it's two months."

Harry grinned.

"OMG!" squealed Ronnie, bounding over to the two boys and hugging Draco firmly. "228 Totally Obscure Chess Moves Bound To Bore You Opponent to Forfeit! Thank you Draco!"

Draco wheezed loudly.

"Can't breathe …" he gasped.

"I wonder if Severus liked his present?" mused Rachel.

"OH MI GAWD, baby, what's that SMELL?" shrilled Hermione, clutching her nose.

"Mooncalf dung," replied Severus happily.

"Ew!" exclaimed Hermione.

Severus frowned slightly, which went unnoticed by Hermione.

"Oh!" she cried, wrapping a small pink box. "My ring!"

She proudly held up the small gold band.

"Now we can get married, Sevvy!"

"THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW?" shrieked Rachel Grey.

"Yeah," nodded Louise, "Harry told me that Hermione got the ring back yesterday."

Rachel let out an enraged howl.

"There, there," said Louise awkwardly, "you've still got all of today … maybe you could just up the dosage a bit?"

Rachel grinned manically.

"Oh," she said, "I'll up the dosage alright."