Bella awoke the next morning riddled with guilt from the night before. She felt awful, keeping to herself that her and Freya had spotted Black on the grounds. At the very least, Harry deserved to know.

"You can't tell him!" Freya whisper-yelled as they walked down teh stair-case to the common room.

"And why not?!" Bella whisper-yelled back. "He deserves to know."

"It'll only make him feel worse." Freya said, catching Bella's arm and stopping her before they reached the common room.

"Freya -"

"He's gone. They'll never find him now. What use would it be to make Harry feel worse now?" Freya said sadly.

Bella had to admit that she was right; Harry was already distraught after his discovery yesterday, he didn't need this.

"Fine." Bella sighed. "But if it happens again, we tell someone straight away."

"Of course." Freya said.

"I don't know what they would think, do I? They're dead!" The yelling from the common room reached their ears and they hurried down into the common room. Harry and Ron were standing in front of the fire, furious looks on their faces. Hermione looked between the rowing boys with panic on her face.

"And you think running off on some mad crusade is going to fix that?! Get a grip of yourself, Harry. Listening to anything Malfoy says is just stupid."

"What is going on?!" Bella yelled before Harry could reply.

"Harry thinks it's a good idea to go looking for Black!" Ron yelled pointing his finger at Harry.

"I do not!" Harry yelled.

"Would you please stop fighting!" Hermione yelled, getting to her feet. "It's nearly Christmas, for Merlin's sake!"

"She's right, you know." Freya added.

"Right okay." Ron sighed. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Harry added.

"Why don't we all go and see Hagrid, we haven't been in a while." Ron said cheerily.

"Are you mad!" Hermione cried. "Harry isn't allowed to leave the castle!"

"No, come on. Let's go." Harry said, heading for the door.

"I think I'm just going to stay here." Bella said quietly.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked, placing her hand on Bella's arm gently.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired." Bella replied with a soft smile.

"I'm gonna stay too." Freya said, linking her arm through Bella's. "Tell Hagrid we said hi though."

For the rest of the morning the girls wandered the corridors, looking at all of the beautiful Christmas decorations. From the window on the first floor, Bella spotted the others coming back from Hagrid's and she and Freya went down to meet them.

"What's up with you lot?" Freya asked as they climbed the front steps with sombre faces.

"It's Buckbeak." Emily said sadly.

"What about him?" Bella asked.

"He's being executed. It's all Malfoy's fault." Ron grumbled.

"Ugh, I could kill him." Bella said, shaking her head.

Unfortuntely Draco had gone home for the holidays so Bella didn't get the chance to 'kill him' but the six of them spent every minute they could looking for a way they could save Buckbeak. Even Christmas Eve didn't stop them.

"This is useless, we've looked everywhere." Bella sighed, closing yet another book and rubbing her eyes.

"There's got to be something." Emily said harshly.

"Well, I'm going to bed." Bella said, getting to her feet. "Goodnight."

Up in the dorm, Bella wasn't surprised to find Crookshanks lying at the bottom of her bed - she was surprised to find a note hanging from his collar, however; 'Go to the cupboard on the seventh floor, you know which one. There's something in it for you. Happy Christmas' The handwriting looked different yet familiar and Bella couldn't quite place where she'd seen it before. With the note clasped tightly in her hand she walked quickly down the staircase and through the common room. Their yells followed her but she continued on. She opened the door of the cupboard she and Draco were locked in during her first year and found she was right. On top of the shelf lay a parcel, wrapped neatly and wrapped with ribbon. 'Happy Christmas Bella' was written in the same handwriting as the note andshe finally realised where she'd seen it before; the notes she'd gotten each Christmas before. She took the parcel and left the cupboard, hoping no teachers would catch her out after curfew. She stopped just outside the common room and looked between the portrait and the parcel in her hand. She shoved it up the front of her jumper and tucked it into the waistband of her trousers, holding it in place against her stomach. Her jumper was baggy enough that she hoped it wouldn't be noticed.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked when she entered the common room.

"I - I forgot something in the library earlier." She said quickly.

"Right." he said slowly, looking at her sceptically.

"Well, goodnight." she said, hurrying up the stairs to the dorms.

She sat down on the bed and pulled the parcel from under her jumper. She squeezed it gently and it felt soft. She pulled the ribbon away slowly and was just about to rip into the wrapping paper when a voice spoke from behind her; "What have you got there?" Bella jumped in fright and turned to find Freya standing at the bottom of the bed, a smirk on her face.

"N-Nothing." Bella stammered.

"Go on, open it." Freya insisted, sitting down on the bed beside her.

"It's not Christmas yet." Bella said quickly, holding the parcel tight in her hands.

"Like that matters." Freya laughed.

"Fine." Bella sighed.

She ripped open the wrapping paper and sighed softly when she felt the fluffy material against her fingers. She pulled the material from the paper and held it out in front of her. It was a fluffy green scarf and when she opened it out something fell to the floor with a clatter. Freya bent down and picked it up, handing it to Bella. It was a gold, sparkling photo frame with the newspaper clipping of her family in Egypt.

"This is goregous." Freya commented. "Who sent it to you?"

"I'll give you one guess." Bella sighed.

"Not - Malfoy?" Freya said quietly.

Bella nodded her head slowly then said; "You can not tell the others."

"My lips are sealed." Freya said, holding up her hands in surrender.

"I'm not even sure if it is him." Bella sighed, getting to her feet. She placed the gifts on the bed and began to pace the room.

"What do you mean?" Freya asked.

"Well, you know the necklace and bracelet I got the last two Christmases?" Freya nodded her head. "Well, the handwriting on the notes looks very similar to Draco's and green? who else would give a Gryffindor a green present." Bella handed Freya the notes that were tied around Crookshanks collar and the parcel.

"But why would Malfoy give you a present every Christmas anyway?" Freya asked.

"I don't know!" Bella replied, throwing her hands up in the air.

"When you say you're not sure if it's him, you mean you've never asked?" Freya said.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Hey Draco, did you, by any chance, happen to send me really expensive Christmas gifts the past three years?' Come on Freya. Even if it is him, he's not going to admit it." Bella sighed, sinking down onto her bed.

"Where's the note you sent him when you were in hospital?" Freya asked suddenly.

"What?" Bella replied.

"The note. Where is it?"

Bella reached into the drawer beside her bed and pulled out the note, handing it to Freya. Freya opened it out and sat it on the bed between them and placed the note attatched to the parcel below it.

"The writing is identical. It has to be him." She said, pointing between the two.

Bella tilted her head and realised that Freya was right, the writing was identical.

"What are you going to do?" Freya asked.

"What can I do?" Bella said.

The door to the dorm opened suddenly and Bella threw the scarf and picture into the open drawer beside her and slammed it shut. Hermione and Emily looked suspiciously between Bella and Freya as they sat silently on Bella's bed.

"Everything okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Freya replied, jumping to her feet. "I was just telling Bella about my stomach troubles."

"Too much information, Freya." Emily cringed.

Freya turned over her shoulder and winked at Bella, making her smile. Bella changed quickly and climbed into bed, thoughts still focused on the scarf and picture lying in the drawer inches from her head. She had known all along it was Draco sending the anonymous Christmas gifts but it felt strange having someone else confirm it. Bella knew that she had done the right thing confiding in Freya about Draco even though she didn't feel there was much to tell. As long as Ron didn't find out who the anonymous gift sender was then Bella could relax.