....................................THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS...................................................

"Only four days till Christmas…" Jessica said smiling, marking another day off her calendar. "Not counting today of course." Setting the calendar back on her night stand, Jessica caught sight of a glimmer of red. Smiling, she picked up the Sorcerer's Stone Heart, as she been prone to calling it every since the day after she gotten it from her 'Secret Santa'. She ran her hands across its smooth surface, entranced at how the light shone and reflected off its surface, marveling at how it was cut like a fine diamond. She still didn't know what it did, if it did anything at all…but for some reason she had the strangest feeling that it would eventually do something. Getting no reaction from it, she set it back down beside her bed.

All the gifts from the past seven days were kept close by her side, on her nightstand, in her trunk, and even in her pocket (she wore the things that were meant for it) and in her heart.(had to add the mushy part, heh heh)

Jessica fell back onto her bed, sighing contentedly. If her 'Secret Santa' kept with the song, there were still five days of giving left.

Will he let me know who he is on Christmas Day? She thought to herself. That seems the logical thing to do…

That is if he ever lets me know… Jessica groaned into her pillow, he wouldn't be so cruel as to never tell her who he was would he?

Would he?

When her mind couldn't reassure her, she groaned again. If she didn't find out who was behind this, she was surely going to go insane.

She picked up the heart again and placed it in her robes pocket. Standing up and straightening her scarlet Weasley jumper, Jessica headed down for breakfast.

The Great Hall was, as expected, nearly empty. She saw Neville talking to Colin Creevey at the far end of the table. Jessica sat herself down in between Hermione and Ginny, who were chatting away to her brother, Ron, and Harry. Shoveling food on her plate, she tuned out their conversation and began on her food. She was roused from the delights of her strawberry pancakes by Oliver waving a hand in front of her face.

"Jess…JESS!" He shouted, making people from the neighboring tables look up at them curiously.

"Yes?" Jessica replied, trying to be patient and rubbing her hand from where she had stabbed herself with the fork. Sudden noises had always accomplished her spilling, dropping or stabbing herself with something.

"I was just wondering where you got all the new stuff…" He started, looking very curious.

So he finally notices. Jessica thought slightly amused. She wrapped her hand around the snowflake jewel hanging from her neck out of habit. There's no telling what he's thinking about all this....he's one to jump to conclusions like how Ron is with Ginny but I'm sure if I explained the situation he'd understand....But unless he asks about it right out and asks for an explanation, I'm keeping my silence. Jessica thought, her other hand wrapped around the heart in her pocket.

"Haven't you noticed them before?" She asked, trying to sound surprised, and feeling she hadn't due to Hermione's slightly narrowed eyes. Why does she have to be so…observant? Jessica thought, but she was determined to keep her cool.

"Yeah, I have actually, but figured it was nothing…" Oliver was staring at her hard, as if he would find the answer in her face.

"It is nothing." Jessica replied calmly. "They were just some early Christmas presents." I hope he doesn't ask from whom…She thought desperately, but knowing she would have no such luck. The trio would never let a mystery go unsolved, and Ginny was staring at her curiously. Her eyes flicked over to Harry, hoping to see some kind of reaction to this on his face. To her great surprise, he was staring at her just as hard as Ron was.

Either he's a really good actor or he has nothing to do with this. She thought, slightly hoping for the former instead of the latter.

She felt a dull warmth somewhere in her body, at first thinking it was the result of his enchanting green gaze. Seconds later, it was revealed to be the ruby red heart resting against Ginny's hip in her pocket. She could feel the warmth spreading up through her hand, through her arm, and the rest of her body.

She was about to take it out, to see what it was doing, but she realized just in time the sight of the ruby red treasure would only bring up more questions.

It's such a nice feeling…she thought pleasantly, as the heart continued to give off the odd sort of warmth.

"Who were they from?" Oliver persisted.

Jessica just shrugged and made to get up from the table.

"You don't know?" He asked her incredulously. Hermione, Ron and to Jessica's slight disappointment, Harry all three looked as shocked as her brother. Ginny was grinning slightly.

"I didn't say that. I just don't think it's any of your business." Jessica said evasively, starting to leave the Hall. Oliver gaped at her, but to Jessica's immense relief didn't follow.

Jessica retreated to the Transfiguration classroom, which had lately become sort of her retreat. Pulling the heart out of her pocket, she was disappointed to find it had stopped doing whatever it was doing at breakfast.

Why would it react like that when Harry was looking at me…She thought, thoroughly confused. Maybe it has something to do with him noticing I was in the room…..or.....Could he possibly be my 'Secret Santa'? I assumed he was still carrying a torch for Cho Chang, but I could be wrong.....You never know, I suppose.....

Before she could ponder this idea any further, any light that was entering the room was extinguished and Jessica was plunged into uncomfortable darkness. Jessica gasped out loud when she heard the door being pushed open, and someone joining her in the empty, pitch black classroom.

"Who-s Th-there?" She asked, finding her voice. She clutched the ruby heart tightly in her fist, and backed up into Professor McGonagall's desk.

No one answered her, but Jessica could still feel the presence of someone in the room with her. She was about to ask again when a pair of strong arms encircled her waist. Jessica stiffened in fear, opening her mouth to call out, but the person who was breathing raggedly on her neck, leaned in, and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

The heart in Jessica's hand immediately sprung into action, giving off such heat that Jessica had to drop it back in her pocket before it burnt her hand. However, dropping the heart didn't stop the flow of warmth that was quickly engulfing her body. She had expected to be scared or disgusted when this person had started kissing her. It was the complete opposite. She had never felt anything like it before, the feelings were so intense, Jessica couldn't help but respond. Instinctively, somewhere in the depths of her mind, she knew that this was the person behind the gifts. That was, however, the only thought that was going through her mind at the moment.

With a muttered curse, the boy attached to Jessica's lips separated himself and bolted out of the room at such a speed that Jessica had no chance of following. Especially after the experience that had left her knees weak and her body trembling. The lights in the classroom flooded back to life, making Jessica squint and wince at the sudden brightness. The only thing different about the classroom was the red envelope lying on one of the desks.

Once Jessica gathered her thoughts, she grabbed the heart and examined it for a moment before returning it to her pocket. Picking up the envelope, she opened it and read:

On the eighth day of Christmas,

Your true love gave to you,

Eight pixies dancing under a full moon.

Go to the paddock farthest from the castle, and nearest to the forest at eleven o'clock.

Jessica stared at the instructions, how was she supposed to sneak out that late at night without getting caught? Not that she was a saint…she just knew the chances of not being seen were very slim, and even though her grandfather was the headmaster, that didn't excuse Jessica from a detention on Christmas.

Now if I had been here the whole time and was a key member of the trio, I'd have this kind of stuff down to an art…and that's when a brilliant idea hit her.

Harry's invisibility cloak!

"So let me get this straight, you need to borrow my cloak so you can investigate one of the Slytherins tonight, scoping him out to see if they're trying to recruit new Death Eaters and create a new Dark Lord?" Harry asked, looking at Jessica with adventure gleaming in his eyes. "Now Harry, I can't take you with me, Grandpa said specifically that I had to go alone."

"But Jess, What if you're attacked? What if they catch you and hold you hostage or something, I seriously think you need some backup." Harry argued.

"Harry, I'm a big girl, and I know more than enough spells to throw them off and get back up here should worse come to worse." Jessica replied smiling slightly

"Oh alright Jess, you win, but I don't like this."

Harry handed her his cloak. "Thank you Harry, and I promise, I'll come back early so you'll be reassured that I'm okay."

"Well, I'm gonna head up to my dorm and go to bed. Wake me up when you get back just to check in, okay?" Harry told her.

"It's a promise." She replied, wrapping the cloak around herself and disappeaing through the portrait hole.

I can't believe he actually believed me! And he's supposed to know better by now! Jessica thought, chuckling softly at the thought of Harry.

Jessica was feeling a serious thrill when she thought of what awaited her.Very few people were fortunate enough to witness the pixie 'circle.' (At least that's what Jessica assumed was going to happen.) They would come out on certain full moons and dance, each group had their own circle, and if you were lucky enough to find one, at the full moon you could come out and watch to your hearts content.

Just like all the other gifts, the pixies dance was absolutely amazing. When Jessica arrived, she was far enough from the castle to take off the cloak, much to her relief. She had followed the line of the forbidden forest until she had reached a paddock sort of paddock thing.

The pixies emerged from the trees at eleven o'clock. The full moon was bright up in the sky, and seemed to beam down, illuminating only their circle as they danced. There was no music, nothing but the sounds nature provided them, but they danced as if there was always a tune to jump to.

Jessica cast a Cushioning Charm on the snow and sat down, watching them, completely mesmerized.

Time was no longer a factor, and she sat and watched, her spirits light, joy in her heart until the full moon faded in the sky and there was nothing left to watch. One minute she had been there, the next Jessica snapped out of her daze and realized it was already early morning.

"Wow…" She said. There was nothing else to say.

Invisibility cloak in hand, she made her way back up to the castle.

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Jessica crept silently into the boys dorm. She saw her brother, Ron, and Neville all sleeping like their regular selves. She shook her head in amusement. Then she turned her head towards Harry's four poster.

She tiptoed over to it and peeked between the curtains. Harry was lying there, sleeping peacefully. She just didn't have the heart to wake him up. She spoke softly, conjuring up a quill, ink , and a piece of parchment and wrote a thank you note to Harry. She folded up his cloak, putting it away in his trunk and lying the note on top of it. She left the lock undone, knowing he would look for it there first. She looked at him one last time, whispering, "Sweet dreams Harry" before quietly going to her own dorm, careful not wake Hermione or Ginny, and fell into bed, mulling the memories form the day for only a moment before falling dead asleep.