1A/N: Wow! So many reviews I honestly didn't expect anyone to review, except my friends who would take pity on me and tell me it's nice even when my story is really rubbish. Thanks to: thequeeneb, but he hit me first, oONatOo, na-no-the-wonder, blackangelkitty, x3 Ginny Weasley x3, deepred316, wicked cool whiz, violette, hAzElEyEs, tib, NYGiantYankee (dallas cowboys rule), darklordbob, harrystwinfromhell, the tall violets, psycho-ellie, harry'ssecretadmirer, thewaytoheaven, depth.of.a.shadow., slam a revolving door, warrioratheart, R.K.R, misswtch, hollow13, ravenyofthedarkness2rock, rachel, nightblue, billy, miadragonlover, KCOVL, lyra cruz, brittagirl, bookluvr4life, krazykrazykt, bananna15, spacecow, ashyra-the-amarog, torri-chiobie, annie evans, spiderlily, forever harry, school-of-rock101, dark672, moon of the court, theirofblueness, smittened by marauders, rachael, anna, queencate, m'rika, merchant-of-death, poison blossom, fizzing whizbeez, bookworm92, and bonnythebunny. Whew! Ok now that's over there's a few things I hope to address. But I'd rather do it at the end of the chapter so people will actually take a read. Do take a look though because I'll answer some questions I received and maybe drop some hints for future chapters. Oh and if I forgot anyone I apologize! So, without further ado, may I present to you Chapter 2! (Oh the rhymes)

Birds of Morrigan

23 Days 'til Christmas

The next day dawned bright, early, and cheerful, much to the chagrin of the 5 boys trying to sleep in the 5th year gryffindor dorm. The birds were chirping, the charmed armor was singing, and even the Whomping Willow seemed almost, well, happy, this morning. Okay, not really, but it certainly seemed that way to the annoyed fifteen year olds as they grudgingly got up to start their day. All that is, except one Mr. Harry Potter. It wasn't until Ron physically forced him out of bed that he started to actually pay attention to the world and come out of his haze.

After being forcibly shoved into his uniform, Ron proceeded to drag Harry down the stairs and to the Great Hall for breakfast, where Hermione was, as usual, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Cheer up mate. Hogsmeade weekend in two days, after all!"

Harry muttered something unintelligible and speared his morning sausage which much more gusto that usually necessary, ignoring the chatter around him until he had finished his meal, his mind obviously elsewhere.

"Harry, you looked like you haven't slept!" Hermione observed as they made their way over to the greenhouses for Herbology.

"Took a bloody long time to get him out of bed this morning, as well. What's going on?" Ron asked as Harry managed to trip over his feet for the second time as they fought their way through the snow. Finally, as they walked into the warm climate of Greenhouse Three, Harry replied.

"Nothing really. I was just thinking about my Secret Santa all night."

"Did you get someone special then?"

"You could say that." Harry muttered darkly. Unfortunately more talking was cut off as Professor Sprout began the lesson.

After classes, Harry and Ron were enjoying a chess game, in which Harry was losing spectacularly, when Fred and George appeared in the Common Room.

"Well what do you want to do tonight, dear brother?" asked George, a comically bored expression on his face.

"Well, we could work on our Secret Santas, or do homework, or maybe we could vegetate." said Fred, as Ron's knight demolished Harry's rook with a rather barbaric strike.

"Oh, brilliant idea! Let's vegetate!"

"Hey Ronnie-kins, would you like to vegetate with us?" When Ron ignored the twins they decided to approach the concentrating pair.

"What vegetable should he be?" inquired George, as he stepped in front of the fireplace, effectively blocking the light as Ron pondered his next move.

"Can you leave us alone, please? We're trying to play a game." As usual, Ron's pleas were ignored as his brothers continued to pester him while Harry watched on with a grin on his face.

"Eggplant?"

"No!"

"Zucchini?"

"NO!"

"Oh I know! Be an acorn squash!"

"I don't want to be an acorn squash!"

"And why not? Acorn squashes are wicked, ickle Ron."

"I don't want to bloody vegetate!"

"Ron! Such language! What would our dear, sweet mum think about that?"

"Break her poor heart, it would."

"Or Hermione, for that matter."

"Just bugger off and leave me alone!"

"Fine, fine, but only this one time Ron"

"We'll be back!"

"Finally!" said Ron, exasperated "Let's get on with the game, then." In a few moves, Harry was thoroughly trounced, as he had been laughing too hard to concentrate anyway.

"No, no you've got it wrong in paragraph three, Ron. Switching spells aren't really about transforming—"

"Hermione, do we have to follow the parchment?" Harry interrupted, looking up from his own Transfiguration homework.

"What are you talking about?" she said, with a perplexed look on her face.

"The parchment, the Secret Santa parchment. Do we have to follow what's written there?"this time a strange look was in his eyes, or perhaps it was just the firelight reflecting in his glasses.

"Well I suppose you don't have to. They're more like guidelines, really. What's written on the parchment is supposed to lead to what the person would most desire from you" At this statement, Ron jerked up from his corrected essay to stare at his two chatting friends.

"Actually, Hermione..." The twins had decided to intrude on the conversation.

"that's not really true. You see,"

" we might have left something out when we were discussing the guidelines with you." At this statement, Hermione gave them an annoyed look.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. See, once you put your name into the hat, you are magically obligated to follow what's on the parchment you receive," explained Fred.

"The riddle is just to make it more fun. Brilliant idea, wouldn't you agree?"

"I know I would."

"Thank you, brother dear."

"You're welcome" Fred said, with a tip of an imaginary hat.

"Wait, so we have to follow what's on the card?" asked Ron, looking befuddled.

"That's usually what 'magically obligated' means, Ronnie-kins" said George

"Oh shut up." he said, scathingly.

"Well it's not our fault you lack the intelligence—"

"Wait, what happens if we don't follow the parchment?" interrupted Harry for the second time that night.

"If you don't follow it? Well, "

"It's quite ingenious, you see. We've added a bit of a hex so that if you don't follow the parchment–" The twins gave a dramatic pause as the other three teens leaned closer.

"You're be stuck withe permanent acne–"

"Well, not permanent."

"Right, right, but pretty darn close. It'll wear off in about-"

"Two years, give or take." At their shocked expressions, the twins attempted to console them.

"Now, don't look so horrified. I mean–"

"Who would try to get out of it anyway? It's all in the spirit of Christmas!" And with that parting remark, the twins flounced away to spread even more Christmas cheer.

As Ron and Harry trudged up to bed later on, they were still discussing the new information they had received about the Secret Santa.

"Blimey, I wouldn't want to end up looking like Eloise Midgen for the rest of my time at Hogwarts" commented Ron as they changed into pajamas and prepared for bed.

"Yeah I know. Horrible, isn't it?" said Harry absently, his mind on his Secret Santa, yet again.

"Well, no worries, though. I mean, you said your Secret Santa was special. Get any redheads?" Ron asked jokingly.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah sure. Goodnight, Ron"

"Goodnight, Harry." Once again, the Boy-Who-Lived was the Boy-Who-Would-Not-Sleep, as he laid in bed thinking about his supposedly 'special' secret.

A/N: Not as long as last time, and I apologize for that. Life has been keeping me busy lately but once I finish all my Christmas shopping, the updates will be faster and (hopefully) longer. I've already got ½ of the next chapter done, so no worries.

Now someone mentioned that I Ron said "it's our last year". I meant last year of Divination, just to clear that up.

Also some people pointed out grammar mistakes. I don't have a beta so feel free to point any out for future reference, as I'm much too lazy to go back and change it. But I'll still try to pay extra attention to such things in the next chapter.

And finally, you all thought I'd reveal the Secret Santa, huh? Well, I was planning on it, but imagine my surprise when 0 out of 55 reviews guessed who the person was! So I think I'll keep you all hanging.

Click the little button on the bottom please.