Chapter 29
The next morning, Harry awoke to the sound of laughter coming from the living room bright and early. Curious, he got out of bed and pulled his robes over his pajamas and his cloak over that before he grabbed one of the several blankets off of his bed and wrapped it around his shoulders as well and set off into the living room. What he saw when he entered though made him wish he had just stayed in bed. Hermione had her wand aimed at a bundle of mistletoe that was in the air above her and Ron who were kissing, seemingly completely oblivious to the rest of the occupants in the room who were all laughing at Ron's hair, which had green stripes through it, making him look more than a little strange. When Harry saw his best friends' hair, he began to laugh as well, alerting Ginny, Remus, and Sirius to his presence. Ginny motioned for him to come sit next to her and as soon as he was seated on the floor, she gave him a tight hug, and deciding to make the best of the situation, he removed his arm from the embrace and with a wave of his hand they were now the ones sitting beneath the mistletoe.
"I think you owe me a Christmas kiss" he said accusingly and at seeing Ginny's baffled expression he pointed up at the floating leaves and berries and she smiled widely and leaned in and rewarded him with a quick kiss before she settled back again and threw a well aimed gift at Ron's head.
"Hey you two, are you planning on stopping long enough to open gifts this morning?" she said to the pair who had broken apart as soon as Ron was hit with Ginny's gift. Both blushing madly, they settled on the floor and began to open the gifts that Ginny had given them, from the Weasley parents.
"Hey Ron, should I even dare to ask what happened to your hair?" asked Harry as he pulled his gift onto his lap.
"Lets just say he made the mistake of eating something Fred and George sent him this morning" explained Hermione as she glanced at her boyfriend "His hair should be back to normal by tomorrow though"
Harry laughed again before he too began to open his gifts. All four students received the traditional Weasley jumper as well as delicious baked goods and Harry immediately pulled his sweater on over his pajamas before bundling back up in his robe, cloak, and blanket. He missed the worried look that Remus and Sirius sent each other while he was doing this and when he looked back up their faces were once again smiling widely at the collection of prank items that Fred and George had sent the younger students.
Harry had received a letter from the twins as well informing him that they had deposited a portion of their earnings in his vault after they had decided to make him a full time partner due to his generous contribution and telling him to be sure to use the pranks well so they would not be disappointed. Hermione had gotten both he and Ron a book on the most advanced hexes and curses known as well as their very own copies of Hogwarts: A History, which caused both boys to burst out in fresh waves of laughter since they nearly knew the book by heart due to her quoting it on a quite regular basis. From Remus and Sirius, Harry received a trunk full of items that had belonged to his parents that they recommended he sort through after they finished opening the other gifts.
Harry had given both of them a copy of some of the photos that Hagrid had given him during his first year as well as several of himself and his friends and some of the three of them that Colin had taken during the previous year. He had gathered all of the photos together in simple yet beautiful photo albums with their names engraved on the front and the date. Both men looked touched by the gifts and spent the rest of the morning looking lovingly at the photos.
Ron had given Harry a book on quidditch plays and tactics and Harry had given him a book entitled 1001 Legal Moves for a Keeper since he had joined the team during their fifth year and had become a terrific keeper. For Hermione, he had gotten a photo of the three of them from their first year that he found in the bottom of his trunk and put it in a delicate frame with their names written across the top and the words friends forever on the bottom. She had cried when she saw it and launched herself across the floor to give him a bone crushing hug as thanks, which caused even more laughter from the others. Just as she released him, a large brown owl came through the open window and dropped a box on the floor in front of Harry and held out its leg so he could remove the letter tied there before flying off again. They all looked at him curiously as he read the letter before looking at the box nervously.
"Who's it from Harry?" asked Sirius
"Hagrid, he says its name is Sherlock" he said as he continued to stare at the box
"What exactly is Sherlock?" asked Ginny as she too suspiciously looked at the box
"He doesn't say, he just wrote to have a happy Christmas. Do you think I should open it?" he asked the others present in the room.
"Surely Hagrid wouldn't send you anything dangerous, would he?" asked Hermione with apprehension
"Hermione, this is Hagrid we're talking about here, remember, the man who had us buy biting books" answered Ron as though he couldn't believe she would say such a thing.
"Well, we can't just sit here all day and look at the box. Open it Harry, it can't be that bad" said Sirius as he inched toward the box at the same time everyone but Harry moved away from it.
"If you are so sure of it, why don't you open it then" he demanded of his godfather
"But it's your gift, not mine" he said, but his eyes were still focused on the box longingly
"Come on Sirius, you know you want to open it, and I won't mind, so go ahead" said Harry as he too backed away from the box, leaving Sirius alone in the middle of the room with it.
"All right, I'll open it, but only because I don't think it's right to leave it in the box" relented Sirius and he hesitantly grasped the lid of the box and slowly opened it as he peered inside its dark depths.
"Well Padfoot, what is it?" asked Remus curiously after several silent moments
"I can't tell, it's too dark" said the black haired man as he dropped the lid and picked up the box and brought it closer to his face so he could see inside of it. "It looks like, OH MY GOD" he screamed as he fell and landed on his back, sending something bright green sailing through the air before it landed heavily on his stomach where it sat as though in a daze, starring down at the man he was lying on for several minutes before it began to slither up toward his face slowly. Through clenched teeth he managed to spit out three words. "Snake.Harry.move"
Upon realizing just what the box held, Harry scrambled to his feet and hurried to his godfathers side where he knelt cautiously, getting the attention of the snake who began to move toward him instead, its' sharp fangs exposed as it prepared to strike through its' hissing. Harry immediately began to hiss back to the snake.
Hello, please don't bite anyone, we mean you no harm Harry told the snake, who stopped its advance as soon as he heard Harry speaking to it.
You can speak our tongue asked the snake in amazement
Yes, my name is Harry he answered
Why was I trapped it that box and then thrown through the air? asked the snake angrily as it began to coil it's self up on Sirius' chest
Because my friend sent you to me, but my godfather, who you're sitting on, was a little startled to see a snake in the box he was holding and tripped Harry explained
Oh, well I won't bite your friends was all that the snake said
Just then, the voice of Sirius interrupted their conversation and both Harry and the snake turned to look at him.
"Um, Harry, do you think you could ask him to get off" he asked hesitantly, as though he were afraid of the snake biting him.
"Sorry Sirius, I will" he said before turning back to the snake
Would you like to come with me, so Sirius there can start breathing again he asked the serpent with a grin
Yes answered the snake and Harry out his arm out for the snake and he wrapped himself securely around it and allowed Harry to take his first good look at his new pet. The snake was only about eight inches long with solid black eyes and emerald green scales, the same color as Harry's eyes.
Do you have a name? asked Harry curiously
No, but would you give me one?
Well, my friend who sent you said to call you Sherlock, how is that?
I like it answered the snake
Harry then turned his attention back to the others in the room who were all looking at him in amazement. They all knew he was a parselmouth of course, but none of them had ever heard him hold an entire conversation with a snake before and the sound of the strange hissing had them all transfixed.
"Guys, this is Sherlock" he introduced them all to his snake with a wide grin on his face "Don't worry, he won't hurt you" he said as he tried to reassure his friends.
"Are you sure Harry? I've read about this kind of snake before, their bite will render a full grown wizard unconscious within thirty seconds of it's bite and they will stay that way until a parseltongue gives them a drop of their blood mixed with the venom of the snake that bit them" said Hermione worriedly as she starred at the green serpent.
"Don't worry Hermione, he won't bite anyone unless I tell him to" said Harry in an attempt to calm his friends worries.
"If you say so Harry, but if that thing bites me you had better start bleeding pretty quickly" threatened Sirius as he sat down, on the opposite side of the group from Harry who just grinned at the older man.
The group continued to open their gifts until there were only four left. Hermione was the first to give Ron her gift, which turned out to be a set of season passes to the Chudley Cannons for the following year. He was ecstatic and grabbed her and spun her around the room.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" he said as they spun in a circle.
"Your welcome Ron, but I think you're trying to make me sick, could we please stop spinning" said Hermione as she laughed, happy that he had liked her gift. Laughing himself, he allowed her to sit back down as he handed her his gift.
As she began to unwrap to box, his face was steadily beginning to turn bright red, anxious to see how she would like the gift. She opened the small black box to reveal a thin gold chain with a beautiful heart shaped pendant hanging from it. The sight of it caused her to break into tears for the second time that morning.
"Oh Ron, it's the best necklace I've ever seen" she said through her tears "Would you put it on for me?" she asked and his face broke into a smile as he slipped the chain around her neck and his face returned to its normal color.
When they had finished, all eyes turned on Harry and Ginny.
Ginny smiled as she handed Harry his gift which was a large box. Curious, he removed the gold paper and lifted the lid to reveal the most beautiful cloak he had ever seen.
"Ginny I love it!" he exclaimed as he removed his black cloak.
Dropping the empty box on the ground, he stood and drew the new cloak around his shoulders. It was a brilliant scarlet color trimmed in fine gold and quite thick. Instead of the traditional clasp to hold it closed, it had a beautiful red and gold jeweled phoenix with its wings outstretched in flight. As he fastened the clasp, he pulled Ginny to her feet and wrapped his arms around her thin frame, both of them ignoring the snake who poked his head out from the sleeve of his robe.
"Thank you so much Ginny, it's the most beautiful cloak I have ever seen" he whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle.
"I'm glad you like it Harry, Happy Christmas" she whispered back
When he released her a moment later, they both settled back on the floor and he drew a small box from the pocket of his robes and handed it over to her, his face beginning to flush almost as much as Ron's had as she slowly lifted the lid.
"Oh my" she whispered as she looked to Harry, her brown eyes wide.
"It's a promise ring" he explained hesitantly "so you won't forget about me after I graduate"
"Oh Harry, I love it!" she exclaimed as he removed it from the box and took her left hand in his.
"So you'll wear it?" he asked before he put it on
"Of course I'll wear it!" she said as she looked in his eyes and smiled
Smiling back, he slipped it on her ring finger and she held it out for everyone else to see. It was a simple gold band with alternating diamonds and emeralds embedded in the metal.
"Harry, Ron, I'm impressed" remarked Sirius "You two actually have decent taste in jewelry, unlike James, the engagement ring he was going to get for Lily was terrible, huge and gaudy, luckily Moony and I knocked some sense into him before she had to" he said with a smirk on his face as he looked to Remus who was also grinning at the memory.
Harry could only smile as he looked to Ron. During the last Hogesmede weekend, the two of them had spent nearly an hour in the jewelry store looking for just the right thing to get Hermione and Ginny, and after consulting with the shop owner to get her opinion they had settled on their gifts, but neither were going to tell the two marauders or their girlfriends the truth.
After all of the gifts had been opened, all but Harry and Sirius went off in the directions of their respective rooms to get ready for the Christmas feast which would start in an hour. Harry gathered up his gifts and put them all in his room before he moved the trunk from Remus and Sirius in there and settled on the floor in front of it as he allowed Sherlock to slither off of his arm and onto the floor next to him. With trembling hands, he lifted the brass latch and raised the heavy lid to see what was inside.
The first thing he saw was a pair of wands, one dark and one light, but both in terrific condition, as though they had last been used yesterday instead of sixteen years ago. Longingly, he rubbed his hands over the wands before removing them and placing them gently on the bed. The next thing he found was a small wooden box, and when he opened it he saw a pair of gold rings, each with a name engraved on the inside of the band. The larger of the pair said 'To James~with all my love~Lily' and the smaller said To Lily~with all my love~James' those words brought tears to Harry's eyes, but for once he didn't brush them away, but let them remain as he closed the box and set it too on his bed. After that, he removed several photo albums of his parents with their friends during their Hogwarts years, one filled with wedding photos, and one filled with pictures of him with his parents. He then found his baby book and read over the numerous entries about himself, written in two different types of handwriting, one obviously his mothers and the other most defiantly his fathers. The next pair of books in the trunk were identical journals, one with Lily written on the cover and the other with James. Deciding to wait to read them until that night, he set them aside as well and picked up the last book which caused him to smile. It was a large and thick book made of brown leather with writing in gold across the front saying 'The Famous Hogwarts Marauders Most Notable Pranks by Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs'. He decided immediately to wait to look at this particular book until he returned to the tower so that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny could join him so he put it back into the trunk and began to put the other books up as well, but he decided to leave the wands and rings out and placed them on his dresser where he could see them.
Once through, he changed out of his pajamas and his new sweater from Mrs. Weasley and into his black slacks and shirt with his school robe over top. He then carefully pulled his new cloak on again and fastened the phoenix clasp at his throat to try to keep as warm as possible during the feast, gathered Sherlock and let him secure himself around his wrist, and he set out of his room and was met by Sirius waiting for him in the living room, also dressed and ready to leave. When they arrived in the great hall, they were shocked to see that they were the last to arrive, even Ron with his green and red stripped hair was already seated and filling his plate with large amounts of food. Like years past when only a small number of students had remained over the holidays, everyone was seated at one table in the middle of the hall.
Besides the four Gryffindor students, there were only ten other students present, all but one younger years from other houses. The one that was their age was none other than Draco Malfoy. Harry hadn't spoken to the blonde haired Slytherin once during the entire term and hadn't even thought about what had happened to the other seventh year student. His father was now dead and his mother had refused contact with him since he had turned his back on his family in order to defend and protect Ginny, so he was now alone as well. Most of the Slytherin students were still on friendly terms with him and treated him as they always had, but his once loyal sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle had been among those fighting the other students during the battle so they had been sent to Azkaban for being death eaters.
He no longer walked the halls of the school with a smirk on his face, and almost avoided students from other houses except for classes and meals, but none of them had anything against him any longer. They all saw him as an equal and an ally, since he had shown that he was loyal to the light side and not Voldemort. Right now he was seated at the end of the table opposite that of the Gryffindor students, and Harry, noticing that there were two empty seats at his end of the table approached his one time enemy.
"Happy Christmas Draco" he said hesitantly once he had reached the other boys side. Draco immediately turned and faced Harry.
"Same to you Harry" he replied hesitantly, his brow furrowed as though he were trying to figure out why the black haired boy was speaking to him.
"Listen, I never thanked you for what you did for Ginny" said Harry as he locked his green eyes onto gray ones "it meant a lot to me and her, thanks" he said sincerely
"I was only doing what I thought was right, she did nothing to him, he had no right to want to kill her" said the blonde boy as he turned back to his plate
"Draco, he tried to kill you for what you did, not many people would have risked their lives for another person like that" said Harry, desperate for Draco to understand how grateful he was to him.
"Well, I was willing to give my life to save hers and anyone but you would have died to save mine, seeing as you were hit with the killing curse, so it should be me thanking you, not the other way around" said Draco
"All right then, we're equal" said Harry with a smile, not wanting to result to arguing on Christmas day and holding out his hand to shake the others.
"Equal" agreed Draco as he took Harry's hand and shook, a smile on his face as well until he caught sight of Sherlock who was curled around Harry's wrist "Hey Harry, is that what I think it is?" he asked as he pointed at the sleeping serpent.
"Oh yeah, that's Sherlock, Hagrid gave him to me for Christmas" said Harry as though having a poisonous snake coiled around your wrist was an every day occurrence.
"Say Draco, would you like to eat with us?" asked Harry, draying the other boys eyes away from the snoozing snake.
"Only as long as this doesn't get back to the rest of my house. Just think of what they would say if they found out I ate Christmas dinner with the captain of the rival team two weeks before the match" he said as he looked around the hall and saw the rest of the Gryffindor students who were all looking at the pair curiously.
"Deal" Harry said with a laugh as he imagined the reaction of the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team if they saw this. True, all the houses were on much better terms with each other than ever before in the halls and classes, but as far as quidditch was concerned, the old rivalries were as strong as ever, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin. With that said, Draco stood and began to walk to the other end of the table with Harry.
"Hey Harry, nice cloak, who gave it to you?" asked Draco as they began to sit next to each other, Harry next to Ginny and Draco beside Remus with Ron, Hermione, and Sirius across from them.
"Ginny gave it to me this morning" he said quietly so not to interrupt the conversation going on around them between Hermione and the two defense professors about what they would be learning after the holidays.
When the others noticed Harry and Draco sit down though, the conversation ceased and everyone greeted the Slytherin like an old friend, all old animosity between Ron and he gone. They all had a pleasant meal and spoke of things ranging from quidditch to classes to what everyone was planning on doing following graduation.
"I'm going to try to get on at the ministry, perhaps in the Accidental Magic Reversal Department or the Experimental Charms Department. But I'm going to speak to the headmaster and see if I can assist in charms classes for a year first to make sure that's what I want to do" said Hermione as she dished herself a massive helping of the chicken.
"I want to go into Magical Law Enforcement as an Auror, and maybe I can convince Professor Dumbledore to let me work here as well, for next year at least, and get some training from Sirius before I apply to the academy" said Ron as he glanced shyly at the ex convict as though asking his permission.
"I'd love to help you Ron!" he exclaimed "I'm honored that you would ask"
"You really want to be an Auror?" asked Draco, speaking up for the first time
"Always have actually. Why do seem so shocked?" asked Ron, some of the old hatred leaking through
"Because I never thought we had anything in common, I guess I was wrong" said Draco with a smile on his face
"Why don't you let me give you some pointers as well Draco?" asked Sirius, which caused Draco to blush as he starred open mouthed at the man for several moments before he spoke.
"You wouldn't mind?" he asked, amazed that someone would offer to help him with something so important.
"Not at all, I think it would be good for both of you to have someone to work with all the time since I'll still have my classes to teach. Remus and I are going to continue to teach together, but next year I'll teach the fifth, sixth, and seventh years and he'll teach the first through fourth years" he explained and Remus nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, I'd appreciate any help I could get" said Draco
"What about you Harry, what are you're plans for next year?" asked Hermione as she fixed her gaze on her best friend who suddenly paled at her words.
"It just depends on what happens between now and then, I haven't planned that far ahead yet" he said quietly and the three other seventh years shot each other curious looks, none of them understanding his words before Draco changed the topic by asking about what the others had received for Christmas after he sensed Harry's discomfort on the topic.
Ginny, Remus, and Sirius though understood perfectly. They didn't know how much longer Harry could last with Voldemort's spirit inside of him and until they found a way to destroy it his future was only planned minute by minute. He didn't have the luxury of being able to plan events nine months into the future, but what they didn't know was just how desperately wanted to be able to do so. When he had originally bought Ginny's ring, he had intended it to be an engagement ring and asking her to marry him, after she graduated of course, but since he had discovered the truth about the voice he wasn't willing to do that to her. She had already given three months to him when everyone thought he was dead, and he didn't want to do that to her again. He couldn't bring himself to ask her to marry him when he didn't know if he would be the same person when he woke up tomorrow or weather or not he would be alive in a week and until they were sure that Voldemort was gone for good and Harry was able to live his life like a normal wizard, he wouldn't ask her to make such a decision. He had no intentions of making her a widow just as he was to make her a wife.
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The next morning, Harry awoke to the sound of laughter coming from the living room bright and early. Curious, he got out of bed and pulled his robes over his pajamas and his cloak over that before he grabbed one of the several blankets off of his bed and wrapped it around his shoulders as well and set off into the living room. What he saw when he entered though made him wish he had just stayed in bed. Hermione had her wand aimed at a bundle of mistletoe that was in the air above her and Ron who were kissing, seemingly completely oblivious to the rest of the occupants in the room who were all laughing at Ron's hair, which had green stripes through it, making him look more than a little strange. When Harry saw his best friends' hair, he began to laugh as well, alerting Ginny, Remus, and Sirius to his presence. Ginny motioned for him to come sit next to her and as soon as he was seated on the floor, she gave him a tight hug, and deciding to make the best of the situation, he removed his arm from the embrace and with a wave of his hand they were now the ones sitting beneath the mistletoe.
"I think you owe me a Christmas kiss" he said accusingly and at seeing Ginny's baffled expression he pointed up at the floating leaves and berries and she smiled widely and leaned in and rewarded him with a quick kiss before she settled back again and threw a well aimed gift at Ron's head.
"Hey you two, are you planning on stopping long enough to open gifts this morning?" she said to the pair who had broken apart as soon as Ron was hit with Ginny's gift. Both blushing madly, they settled on the floor and began to open the gifts that Ginny had given them, from the Weasley parents.
"Hey Ron, should I even dare to ask what happened to your hair?" asked Harry as he pulled his gift onto his lap.
"Lets just say he made the mistake of eating something Fred and George sent him this morning" explained Hermione as she glanced at her boyfriend "His hair should be back to normal by tomorrow though"
Harry laughed again before he too began to open his gifts. All four students received the traditional Weasley jumper as well as delicious baked goods and Harry immediately pulled his sweater on over his pajamas before bundling back up in his robe, cloak, and blanket. He missed the worried look that Remus and Sirius sent each other while he was doing this and when he looked back up their faces were once again smiling widely at the collection of prank items that Fred and George had sent the younger students.
Harry had received a letter from the twins as well informing him that they had deposited a portion of their earnings in his vault after they had decided to make him a full time partner due to his generous contribution and telling him to be sure to use the pranks well so they would not be disappointed. Hermione had gotten both he and Ron a book on the most advanced hexes and curses known as well as their very own copies of Hogwarts: A History, which caused both boys to burst out in fresh waves of laughter since they nearly knew the book by heart due to her quoting it on a quite regular basis. From Remus and Sirius, Harry received a trunk full of items that had belonged to his parents that they recommended he sort through after they finished opening the other gifts.
Harry had given both of them a copy of some of the photos that Hagrid had given him during his first year as well as several of himself and his friends and some of the three of them that Colin had taken during the previous year. He had gathered all of the photos together in simple yet beautiful photo albums with their names engraved on the front and the date. Both men looked touched by the gifts and spent the rest of the morning looking lovingly at the photos.
Ron had given Harry a book on quidditch plays and tactics and Harry had given him a book entitled 1001 Legal Moves for a Keeper since he had joined the team during their fifth year and had become a terrific keeper. For Hermione, he had gotten a photo of the three of them from their first year that he found in the bottom of his trunk and put it in a delicate frame with their names written across the top and the words friends forever on the bottom. She had cried when she saw it and launched herself across the floor to give him a bone crushing hug as thanks, which caused even more laughter from the others. Just as she released him, a large brown owl came through the open window and dropped a box on the floor in front of Harry and held out its leg so he could remove the letter tied there before flying off again. They all looked at him curiously as he read the letter before looking at the box nervously.
"Who's it from Harry?" asked Sirius
"Hagrid, he says its name is Sherlock" he said as he continued to stare at the box
"What exactly is Sherlock?" asked Ginny as she too suspiciously looked at the box
"He doesn't say, he just wrote to have a happy Christmas. Do you think I should open it?" he asked the others present in the room.
"Surely Hagrid wouldn't send you anything dangerous, would he?" asked Hermione with apprehension
"Hermione, this is Hagrid we're talking about here, remember, the man who had us buy biting books" answered Ron as though he couldn't believe she would say such a thing.
"Well, we can't just sit here all day and look at the box. Open it Harry, it can't be that bad" said Sirius as he inched toward the box at the same time everyone but Harry moved away from it.
"If you are so sure of it, why don't you open it then" he demanded of his godfather
"But it's your gift, not mine" he said, but his eyes were still focused on the box longingly
"Come on Sirius, you know you want to open it, and I won't mind, so go ahead" said Harry as he too backed away from the box, leaving Sirius alone in the middle of the room with it.
"All right, I'll open it, but only because I don't think it's right to leave it in the box" relented Sirius and he hesitantly grasped the lid of the box and slowly opened it as he peered inside its dark depths.
"Well Padfoot, what is it?" asked Remus curiously after several silent moments
"I can't tell, it's too dark" said the black haired man as he dropped the lid and picked up the box and brought it closer to his face so he could see inside of it. "It looks like, OH MY GOD" he screamed as he fell and landed on his back, sending something bright green sailing through the air before it landed heavily on his stomach where it sat as though in a daze, starring down at the man he was lying on for several minutes before it began to slither up toward his face slowly. Through clenched teeth he managed to spit out three words. "Snake.Harry.move"
Upon realizing just what the box held, Harry scrambled to his feet and hurried to his godfathers side where he knelt cautiously, getting the attention of the snake who began to move toward him instead, its' sharp fangs exposed as it prepared to strike through its' hissing. Harry immediately began to hiss back to the snake.
Hello, please don't bite anyone, we mean you no harm Harry told the snake, who stopped its advance as soon as he heard Harry speaking to it.
You can speak our tongue asked the snake in amazement
Yes, my name is Harry he answered
Why was I trapped it that box and then thrown through the air? asked the snake angrily as it began to coil it's self up on Sirius' chest
Because my friend sent you to me, but my godfather, who you're sitting on, was a little startled to see a snake in the box he was holding and tripped Harry explained
Oh, well I won't bite your friends was all that the snake said
Just then, the voice of Sirius interrupted their conversation and both Harry and the snake turned to look at him.
"Um, Harry, do you think you could ask him to get off" he asked hesitantly, as though he were afraid of the snake biting him.
"Sorry Sirius, I will" he said before turning back to the snake
Would you like to come with me, so Sirius there can start breathing again he asked the serpent with a grin
Yes answered the snake and Harry out his arm out for the snake and he wrapped himself securely around it and allowed Harry to take his first good look at his new pet. The snake was only about eight inches long with solid black eyes and emerald green scales, the same color as Harry's eyes.
Do you have a name? asked Harry curiously
No, but would you give me one?
Well, my friend who sent you said to call you Sherlock, how is that?
I like it answered the snake
Harry then turned his attention back to the others in the room who were all looking at him in amazement. They all knew he was a parselmouth of course, but none of them had ever heard him hold an entire conversation with a snake before and the sound of the strange hissing had them all transfixed.
"Guys, this is Sherlock" he introduced them all to his snake with a wide grin on his face "Don't worry, he won't hurt you" he said as he tried to reassure his friends.
"Are you sure Harry? I've read about this kind of snake before, their bite will render a full grown wizard unconscious within thirty seconds of it's bite and they will stay that way until a parseltongue gives them a drop of their blood mixed with the venom of the snake that bit them" said Hermione worriedly as she starred at the green serpent.
"Don't worry Hermione, he won't bite anyone unless I tell him to" said Harry in an attempt to calm his friends worries.
"If you say so Harry, but if that thing bites me you had better start bleeding pretty quickly" threatened Sirius as he sat down, on the opposite side of the group from Harry who just grinned at the older man.
The group continued to open their gifts until there were only four left. Hermione was the first to give Ron her gift, which turned out to be a set of season passes to the Chudley Cannons for the following year. He was ecstatic and grabbed her and spun her around the room.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" he said as they spun in a circle.
"Your welcome Ron, but I think you're trying to make me sick, could we please stop spinning" said Hermione as she laughed, happy that he had liked her gift. Laughing himself, he allowed her to sit back down as he handed her his gift.
As she began to unwrap to box, his face was steadily beginning to turn bright red, anxious to see how she would like the gift. She opened the small black box to reveal a thin gold chain with a beautiful heart shaped pendant hanging from it. The sight of it caused her to break into tears for the second time that morning.
"Oh Ron, it's the best necklace I've ever seen" she said through her tears "Would you put it on for me?" she asked and his face broke into a smile as he slipped the chain around her neck and his face returned to its normal color.
When they had finished, all eyes turned on Harry and Ginny.
Ginny smiled as she handed Harry his gift which was a large box. Curious, he removed the gold paper and lifted the lid to reveal the most beautiful cloak he had ever seen.
"Ginny I love it!" he exclaimed as he removed his black cloak.
Dropping the empty box on the ground, he stood and drew the new cloak around his shoulders. It was a brilliant scarlet color trimmed in fine gold and quite thick. Instead of the traditional clasp to hold it closed, it had a beautiful red and gold jeweled phoenix with its wings outstretched in flight. As he fastened the clasp, he pulled Ginny to her feet and wrapped his arms around her thin frame, both of them ignoring the snake who poked his head out from the sleeve of his robe.
"Thank you so much Ginny, it's the most beautiful cloak I have ever seen" he whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle.
"I'm glad you like it Harry, Happy Christmas" she whispered back
When he released her a moment later, they both settled back on the floor and he drew a small box from the pocket of his robes and handed it over to her, his face beginning to flush almost as much as Ron's had as she slowly lifted the lid.
"Oh my" she whispered as she looked to Harry, her brown eyes wide.
"It's a promise ring" he explained hesitantly "so you won't forget about me after I graduate"
"Oh Harry, I love it!" she exclaimed as he removed it from the box and took her left hand in his.
"So you'll wear it?" he asked before he put it on
"Of course I'll wear it!" she said as she looked in his eyes and smiled
Smiling back, he slipped it on her ring finger and she held it out for everyone else to see. It was a simple gold band with alternating diamonds and emeralds embedded in the metal.
"Harry, Ron, I'm impressed" remarked Sirius "You two actually have decent taste in jewelry, unlike James, the engagement ring he was going to get for Lily was terrible, huge and gaudy, luckily Moony and I knocked some sense into him before she had to" he said with a smirk on his face as he looked to Remus who was also grinning at the memory.
Harry could only smile as he looked to Ron. During the last Hogesmede weekend, the two of them had spent nearly an hour in the jewelry store looking for just the right thing to get Hermione and Ginny, and after consulting with the shop owner to get her opinion they had settled on their gifts, but neither were going to tell the two marauders or their girlfriends the truth.
After all of the gifts had been opened, all but Harry and Sirius went off in the directions of their respective rooms to get ready for the Christmas feast which would start in an hour. Harry gathered up his gifts and put them all in his room before he moved the trunk from Remus and Sirius in there and settled on the floor in front of it as he allowed Sherlock to slither off of his arm and onto the floor next to him. With trembling hands, he lifted the brass latch and raised the heavy lid to see what was inside.
The first thing he saw was a pair of wands, one dark and one light, but both in terrific condition, as though they had last been used yesterday instead of sixteen years ago. Longingly, he rubbed his hands over the wands before removing them and placing them gently on the bed. The next thing he found was a small wooden box, and when he opened it he saw a pair of gold rings, each with a name engraved on the inside of the band. The larger of the pair said 'To James~with all my love~Lily' and the smaller said To Lily~with all my love~James' those words brought tears to Harry's eyes, but for once he didn't brush them away, but let them remain as he closed the box and set it too on his bed. After that, he removed several photo albums of his parents with their friends during their Hogwarts years, one filled with wedding photos, and one filled with pictures of him with his parents. He then found his baby book and read over the numerous entries about himself, written in two different types of handwriting, one obviously his mothers and the other most defiantly his fathers. The next pair of books in the trunk were identical journals, one with Lily written on the cover and the other with James. Deciding to wait to read them until that night, he set them aside as well and picked up the last book which caused him to smile. It was a large and thick book made of brown leather with writing in gold across the front saying 'The Famous Hogwarts Marauders Most Notable Pranks by Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs'. He decided immediately to wait to look at this particular book until he returned to the tower so that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny could join him so he put it back into the trunk and began to put the other books up as well, but he decided to leave the wands and rings out and placed them on his dresser where he could see them.
Once through, he changed out of his pajamas and his new sweater from Mrs. Weasley and into his black slacks and shirt with his school robe over top. He then carefully pulled his new cloak on again and fastened the phoenix clasp at his throat to try to keep as warm as possible during the feast, gathered Sherlock and let him secure himself around his wrist, and he set out of his room and was met by Sirius waiting for him in the living room, also dressed and ready to leave. When they arrived in the great hall, they were shocked to see that they were the last to arrive, even Ron with his green and red stripped hair was already seated and filling his plate with large amounts of food. Like years past when only a small number of students had remained over the holidays, everyone was seated at one table in the middle of the hall.
Besides the four Gryffindor students, there were only ten other students present, all but one younger years from other houses. The one that was their age was none other than Draco Malfoy. Harry hadn't spoken to the blonde haired Slytherin once during the entire term and hadn't even thought about what had happened to the other seventh year student. His father was now dead and his mother had refused contact with him since he had turned his back on his family in order to defend and protect Ginny, so he was now alone as well. Most of the Slytherin students were still on friendly terms with him and treated him as they always had, but his once loyal sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle had been among those fighting the other students during the battle so they had been sent to Azkaban for being death eaters.
He no longer walked the halls of the school with a smirk on his face, and almost avoided students from other houses except for classes and meals, but none of them had anything against him any longer. They all saw him as an equal and an ally, since he had shown that he was loyal to the light side and not Voldemort. Right now he was seated at the end of the table opposite that of the Gryffindor students, and Harry, noticing that there were two empty seats at his end of the table approached his one time enemy.
"Happy Christmas Draco" he said hesitantly once he had reached the other boys side. Draco immediately turned and faced Harry.
"Same to you Harry" he replied hesitantly, his brow furrowed as though he were trying to figure out why the black haired boy was speaking to him.
"Listen, I never thanked you for what you did for Ginny" said Harry as he locked his green eyes onto gray ones "it meant a lot to me and her, thanks" he said sincerely
"I was only doing what I thought was right, she did nothing to him, he had no right to want to kill her" said the blonde boy as he turned back to his plate
"Draco, he tried to kill you for what you did, not many people would have risked their lives for another person like that" said Harry, desperate for Draco to understand how grateful he was to him.
"Well, I was willing to give my life to save hers and anyone but you would have died to save mine, seeing as you were hit with the killing curse, so it should be me thanking you, not the other way around" said Draco
"All right then, we're equal" said Harry with a smile, not wanting to result to arguing on Christmas day and holding out his hand to shake the others.
"Equal" agreed Draco as he took Harry's hand and shook, a smile on his face as well until he caught sight of Sherlock who was curled around Harry's wrist "Hey Harry, is that what I think it is?" he asked as he pointed at the sleeping serpent.
"Oh yeah, that's Sherlock, Hagrid gave him to me for Christmas" said Harry as though having a poisonous snake coiled around your wrist was an every day occurrence.
"Say Draco, would you like to eat with us?" asked Harry, draying the other boys eyes away from the snoozing snake.
"Only as long as this doesn't get back to the rest of my house. Just think of what they would say if they found out I ate Christmas dinner with the captain of the rival team two weeks before the match" he said as he looked around the hall and saw the rest of the Gryffindor students who were all looking at the pair curiously.
"Deal" Harry said with a laugh as he imagined the reaction of the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team if they saw this. True, all the houses were on much better terms with each other than ever before in the halls and classes, but as far as quidditch was concerned, the old rivalries were as strong as ever, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin. With that said, Draco stood and began to walk to the other end of the table with Harry.
"Hey Harry, nice cloak, who gave it to you?" asked Draco as they began to sit next to each other, Harry next to Ginny and Draco beside Remus with Ron, Hermione, and Sirius across from them.
"Ginny gave it to me this morning" he said quietly so not to interrupt the conversation going on around them between Hermione and the two defense professors about what they would be learning after the holidays.
When the others noticed Harry and Draco sit down though, the conversation ceased and everyone greeted the Slytherin like an old friend, all old animosity between Ron and he gone. They all had a pleasant meal and spoke of things ranging from quidditch to classes to what everyone was planning on doing following graduation.
"I'm going to try to get on at the ministry, perhaps in the Accidental Magic Reversal Department or the Experimental Charms Department. But I'm going to speak to the headmaster and see if I can assist in charms classes for a year first to make sure that's what I want to do" said Hermione as she dished herself a massive helping of the chicken.
"I want to go into Magical Law Enforcement as an Auror, and maybe I can convince Professor Dumbledore to let me work here as well, for next year at least, and get some training from Sirius before I apply to the academy" said Ron as he glanced shyly at the ex convict as though asking his permission.
"I'd love to help you Ron!" he exclaimed "I'm honored that you would ask"
"You really want to be an Auror?" asked Draco, speaking up for the first time
"Always have actually. Why do seem so shocked?" asked Ron, some of the old hatred leaking through
"Because I never thought we had anything in common, I guess I was wrong" said Draco with a smile on his face
"Why don't you let me give you some pointers as well Draco?" asked Sirius, which caused Draco to blush as he starred open mouthed at the man for several moments before he spoke.
"You wouldn't mind?" he asked, amazed that someone would offer to help him with something so important.
"Not at all, I think it would be good for both of you to have someone to work with all the time since I'll still have my classes to teach. Remus and I are going to continue to teach together, but next year I'll teach the fifth, sixth, and seventh years and he'll teach the first through fourth years" he explained and Remus nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, I'd appreciate any help I could get" said Draco
"What about you Harry, what are you're plans for next year?" asked Hermione as she fixed her gaze on her best friend who suddenly paled at her words.
"It just depends on what happens between now and then, I haven't planned that far ahead yet" he said quietly and the three other seventh years shot each other curious looks, none of them understanding his words before Draco changed the topic by asking about what the others had received for Christmas after he sensed Harry's discomfort on the topic.
Ginny, Remus, and Sirius though understood perfectly. They didn't know how much longer Harry could last with Voldemort's spirit inside of him and until they found a way to destroy it his future was only planned minute by minute. He didn't have the luxury of being able to plan events nine months into the future, but what they didn't know was just how desperately wanted to be able to do so. When he had originally bought Ginny's ring, he had intended it to be an engagement ring and asking her to marry him, after she graduated of course, but since he had discovered the truth about the voice he wasn't willing to do that to her. She had already given three months to him when everyone thought he was dead, and he didn't want to do that to her again. He couldn't bring himself to ask her to marry him when he didn't know if he would be the same person when he woke up tomorrow or weather or not he would be alive in a week and until they were sure that Voldemort was gone for good and Harry was able to live his life like a normal wizard, he wouldn't ask her to make such a decision. He had no intentions of making her a widow just as he was to make her a wife.
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