Xenith
Chapter Thirty-six
"Hey, Harry?" Ron said, nudging Harry in the side.
Harry groaned, pulling his comforter over his head.
"You can't say I didn't ask nicely," Ron grinned slyly, and ripped the blanket from his friend. Harry went spinning to the ground in a mass of arms and legs and hair.
Harry curled into a ball on the floor.
"Harry," Ron said threateningly.
"Fine, fine," Harry grumbled. "I'm up, what do you want?" Harry stumbled to his feet only them catching sight of the gifts piled at the ends of each of their beds (all five boys having stayed over for the holidays.
"It's Christmas, you prat," Ron said, striding back over to his bed and attacking the presents he had piled there.
Harry pulled his gifts and opened them with much less fervor than the other boys. //Why had they stayed?//
"Hey, Harry," Seamus said from the bed across from him. "Better now?"
Harry nodded, setting his newest Weasley jumper (scarlet with a golden Snitch emblazoned on the front) aside with a smile.
"Good," Dean said from his bed. "Because I've never stayed over the holidays, except for last year, and Seamus is going to be locking lips with Lavender---" ("Hey!") "---the whole time and I'm going to need _someone_ to hang with."
"Yeah, sure," Harry laughed softly.
"Harry, did you open mine---" Ron started.
"Happy Christmas!" Hermione, Ginny, Lavender, and Parvati exploded into the boys dormitory followed by a quiet Colin and Conner Donnalley.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be---" Seamus objected half-heartedly before Lavender leapt onto his bed and tackled him.
"Hullo, Harry," Conner said, sitting Colin down at the end of Harry's bed. "Happy Christmas," Colin put a gift down at Harry's crossed feet. "That's for you."
"Hey, Colin, are you all right?" Harry asked, putting the gift into his lap and reaching beneath his bed fro Colin's present.
"He'll be fine, we just need to give him some time." Conner answered for him.
"Don't worry, we'll find him."
"He---"
"I know," Colin cut in before Conner had a chance to reply for him. "It's just hard . . . and weird."
"Here," Harry said, changing the subject as his fingers wrapped round a parchment envelope. "I got you this," Harry put the envelope, wrapped only in a thick ribbon with a large lopsided bow. "Can you guess what it is?" Harry grinned.
"Thanks," Colin pulled the bow off and ripped open the envelope, pulling out the parchment within. "World Class Quidditch, a subscription," Colin read from the top of the sheet. "Cool, thanks, Harry."
"No problem, I just expect to see you up in the air at every game next year, first string."
"Hey! What about me?" Conner protested.
"We'll see come tryouts," Harry grinned mischievously at the two keepers.
"Yeah, next year," Colin smiled back. "Open you gift."
Harry tore away the paper, once again ancient newsprint, to reveal a book of photographs. On the cover was a photo of the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team striped green and silver and beaming brighter than the sun. He, Ron, and Hermione were lurking off to the left with their arms thrown over each others shoulders, Slytherin coloured Harry in the middle.
"Do you like it?" Colin asked nervously, wringing his hands in his lap.
"This is great, Colin," Harry said, running his fingers over the gilted cover. "When did you have time to do all this?" Harry asked, flipping open the album to find more photographs of himself and his housemates. Most ere of he, Hermione, and Ron, taken without their knowing, laughing and playing chess or Quidditch. Many of the photos had notes written to him from his housemates. Dean had drawn a picture of him and Malfoy coming at the Snitch from opposite ends of the page and enchanted it so the wings of the Snitch flapped and Harry and Malfoy's hair and robes flying on the wind. "Wow . . ."
"You gave him his present then?" Dean asked from across the dormitory. "That's from me and Seamus too, we took it round and got all the signatures and stuff. You're welcome!"
"Yeah, hope you like it," Seamus added, not looking away from Lavender.
"I didn't get you anything," Conner said, straightening his pyjam shirt importantly. "But I did write you something," Conner flipped through the pages of the album and pointed to a small paragraph squeezed in between a photo of he and Colin and the Whomping Willow in its slings from second year, the former of which appeared to have been taken at an arms length. "Right there. My gift to you." He exclaimed proudly as he straightened his shirt again, took a rather elaborate bow and flopped to the floor at the foot of Harry's bed.
"Thanks, Conner, it means a lot to me," Harry replied sarcastically.
"No problem," Conner folded his hands over his stomach, tipped the baseball cap his dad had sent him last summer and he never took off outside of class over his eyes. Within moments he was fast asleep.
"Well, that was quick, wasn't it?" Seamus said from his wrapping paper and Lavender covered four-poster. "He's an odd one, that lad is."
"And you're not?" Dean shot back, gnawing on a chunk of toffee he'd received from Ron.
"I call'em as I see'em---" Seamus cut off, suddenly taken over by an uncontrollable gale of laughter in which the rest of the dormitory quickly took part in.
"What?" Dean asked thickly, his chocolate skin turning a dark shade of purple. Dean had eaten one of Fred and George's Skin Sweets (just out this month) which caused the victim's skin to change colours depending on the sweet. "What?!" Dean demanded.
"Lo---Look at your hand!" Lavender squealed, clutching her stomach and falling back onto Seamus bed.
"Ron!" Dean said indignantly, pelting Ron and Hermione, who was seated next to Ron on his bed, with the remainder of the sweets.
"Hey!" Ron cried, blocking Hermione from the shower of toffees. "I never said they weren't trick sweets!
"Besides," Hermione threw in. "What else would you expect from a Weasley?" She smirked mischievously up at Ron. Forgetting, momentarily, that they were in a room full of people, Ron took Hermione into his arms and tickled her ferociously.
Ginny shot Harry the smallest of smiles. Harry could feel his cheeks flush.
Seamus, no stranger to public displays of affection, landed one of the longest, wettest, snogs in the history of Hogwarts on an all too willing Lavender Brown.
Dean, Colin, and Parvati were making gagging noises, shaking all out of their private worlds with a batch of nervous laughter.
---
"Well," Ron said with a yawn as they entered the Gryffindor common room, stretching his lanky arms over his head before wrapping one of them round Hermione's shoulders. "I'm full. I just love ending Christmas like that. Don't you?"
Hermione could only smile sleepily up at him.
"Chess tomorrow, Harry? Let's make it a tournament, eh?" Ron cocked an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry scowled. "More like a slaughter."
"Yeah, let's go all the Weasley's against the rest of Gryffindor!" Ron grinned.
"Sure," Harry agreed lazily. "I guess I don't mind losing to you lot for a day. It'll be good for my ego."
"See you in tomorrow then," Ron bid Harry off, wanting a moment alone with Hermione before leaving her to her dorm-mates.
"See you, mate," Harry entered the boy's dorms, crashing on his bed, more than exhausted.
---
¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ ·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- tbc -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*
Chapter Thirty-six
"Hey, Harry?" Ron said, nudging Harry in the side.
Harry groaned, pulling his comforter over his head.
"You can't say I didn't ask nicely," Ron grinned slyly, and ripped the blanket from his friend. Harry went spinning to the ground in a mass of arms and legs and hair.
Harry curled into a ball on the floor.
"Harry," Ron said threateningly.
"Fine, fine," Harry grumbled. "I'm up, what do you want?" Harry stumbled to his feet only them catching sight of the gifts piled at the ends of each of their beds (all five boys having stayed over for the holidays.
"It's Christmas, you prat," Ron said, striding back over to his bed and attacking the presents he had piled there.
Harry pulled his gifts and opened them with much less fervor than the other boys. //Why had they stayed?//
"Hey, Harry," Seamus said from the bed across from him. "Better now?"
Harry nodded, setting his newest Weasley jumper (scarlet with a golden Snitch emblazoned on the front) aside with a smile.
"Good," Dean said from his bed. "Because I've never stayed over the holidays, except for last year, and Seamus is going to be locking lips with Lavender---" ("Hey!") "---the whole time and I'm going to need _someone_ to hang with."
"Yeah, sure," Harry laughed softly.
"Harry, did you open mine---" Ron started.
"Happy Christmas!" Hermione, Ginny, Lavender, and Parvati exploded into the boys dormitory followed by a quiet Colin and Conner Donnalley.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be---" Seamus objected half-heartedly before Lavender leapt onto his bed and tackled him.
"Hullo, Harry," Conner said, sitting Colin down at the end of Harry's bed. "Happy Christmas," Colin put a gift down at Harry's crossed feet. "That's for you."
"Hey, Colin, are you all right?" Harry asked, putting the gift into his lap and reaching beneath his bed fro Colin's present.
"He'll be fine, we just need to give him some time." Conner answered for him.
"Don't worry, we'll find him."
"He---"
"I know," Colin cut in before Conner had a chance to reply for him. "It's just hard . . . and weird."
"Here," Harry said, changing the subject as his fingers wrapped round a parchment envelope. "I got you this," Harry put the envelope, wrapped only in a thick ribbon with a large lopsided bow. "Can you guess what it is?" Harry grinned.
"Thanks," Colin pulled the bow off and ripped open the envelope, pulling out the parchment within. "World Class Quidditch, a subscription," Colin read from the top of the sheet. "Cool, thanks, Harry."
"No problem, I just expect to see you up in the air at every game next year, first string."
"Hey! What about me?" Conner protested.
"We'll see come tryouts," Harry grinned mischievously at the two keepers.
"Yeah, next year," Colin smiled back. "Open you gift."
Harry tore away the paper, once again ancient newsprint, to reveal a book of photographs. On the cover was a photo of the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team striped green and silver and beaming brighter than the sun. He, Ron, and Hermione were lurking off to the left with their arms thrown over each others shoulders, Slytherin coloured Harry in the middle.
"Do you like it?" Colin asked nervously, wringing his hands in his lap.
"This is great, Colin," Harry said, running his fingers over the gilted cover. "When did you have time to do all this?" Harry asked, flipping open the album to find more photographs of himself and his housemates. Most ere of he, Hermione, and Ron, taken without their knowing, laughing and playing chess or Quidditch. Many of the photos had notes written to him from his housemates. Dean had drawn a picture of him and Malfoy coming at the Snitch from opposite ends of the page and enchanted it so the wings of the Snitch flapped and Harry and Malfoy's hair and robes flying on the wind. "Wow . . ."
"You gave him his present then?" Dean asked from across the dormitory. "That's from me and Seamus too, we took it round and got all the signatures and stuff. You're welcome!"
"Yeah, hope you like it," Seamus added, not looking away from Lavender.
"I didn't get you anything," Conner said, straightening his pyjam shirt importantly. "But I did write you something," Conner flipped through the pages of the album and pointed to a small paragraph squeezed in between a photo of he and Colin and the Whomping Willow in its slings from second year, the former of which appeared to have been taken at an arms length. "Right there. My gift to you." He exclaimed proudly as he straightened his shirt again, took a rather elaborate bow and flopped to the floor at the foot of Harry's bed.
"Thanks, Conner, it means a lot to me," Harry replied sarcastically.
"No problem," Conner folded his hands over his stomach, tipped the baseball cap his dad had sent him last summer and he never took off outside of class over his eyes. Within moments he was fast asleep.
"Well, that was quick, wasn't it?" Seamus said from his wrapping paper and Lavender covered four-poster. "He's an odd one, that lad is."
"And you're not?" Dean shot back, gnawing on a chunk of toffee he'd received from Ron.
"I call'em as I see'em---" Seamus cut off, suddenly taken over by an uncontrollable gale of laughter in which the rest of the dormitory quickly took part in.
"What?" Dean asked thickly, his chocolate skin turning a dark shade of purple. Dean had eaten one of Fred and George's Skin Sweets (just out this month) which caused the victim's skin to change colours depending on the sweet. "What?!" Dean demanded.
"Lo---Look at your hand!" Lavender squealed, clutching her stomach and falling back onto Seamus bed.
"Ron!" Dean said indignantly, pelting Ron and Hermione, who was seated next to Ron on his bed, with the remainder of the sweets.
"Hey!" Ron cried, blocking Hermione from the shower of toffees. "I never said they weren't trick sweets!
"Besides," Hermione threw in. "What else would you expect from a Weasley?" She smirked mischievously up at Ron. Forgetting, momentarily, that they were in a room full of people, Ron took Hermione into his arms and tickled her ferociously.
Ginny shot Harry the smallest of smiles. Harry could feel his cheeks flush.
Seamus, no stranger to public displays of affection, landed one of the longest, wettest, snogs in the history of Hogwarts on an all too willing Lavender Brown.
Dean, Colin, and Parvati were making gagging noises, shaking all out of their private worlds with a batch of nervous laughter.
---
"Well," Ron said with a yawn as they entered the Gryffindor common room, stretching his lanky arms over his head before wrapping one of them round Hermione's shoulders. "I'm full. I just love ending Christmas like that. Don't you?"
Hermione could only smile sleepily up at him.
"Chess tomorrow, Harry? Let's make it a tournament, eh?" Ron cocked an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry scowled. "More like a slaughter."
"Yeah, let's go all the Weasley's against the rest of Gryffindor!" Ron grinned.
"Sure," Harry agreed lazily. "I guess I don't mind losing to you lot for a day. It'll be good for my ego."
"See you in tomorrow then," Ron bid Harry off, wanting a moment alone with Hermione before leaving her to her dorm-mates.
"See you, mate," Harry entered the boy's dorms, crashing on his bed, more than exhausted.
---
¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ ·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- tbc -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*