Day Twenty-Five - Presents
On Christmas Day, some of the Gryffindors and Slytherins get together in the 7th year common room to exchange gifts.
A/N: This one might not be great. I've been writing it on and off a few different days here and there, and finished it today, Christmas Day, while everyone is out the house and I have some time to myself. I also struggled for ideas on the gifts so I hope it's not too out there or repetitive. Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates! Wishing everyone a relaxing rest of 2022 3
It was strange for Slytherins and Gryffindors to be getting along for a change. It was even more strange that some of them were exchanging meaningful gifts with each other on Christmas Day.
With it being their last year at Hogwarts, most of the 7th years had decided to stay at the castle to celebrate instead of going home. It was nice to spend Christmas with their friends every so often.
They'd discussed doing Secret Santa, but worried that a Gryffindor would get a Slytherin and not have a clue what to buy, and vice versa, and they might struggle to ask someone else what to get without ending up spoiling who was buying for who.
Instead they decided to work together and buy a few gifts for each person as a group. They spent a few hours in the library one day, talking quietly and discussing what to buy and who would gift it. One person would leave the group while the others decided who would get what, and then return for the next person to leave the group, and so on and so on.
Once it was decided, they split up on the next Hogsmeade visit, each with a list of what to get. Each gift would be from a couple of people, so they'd all get four gifts each. They were all very proud of their system. It was a good way for them all to exchange gifts until they knew each other well enough to buy everyone individually or to do Secret Santa.
On Christmas Day, they opened their usual gifts from family first thing, but they decided to wait until after breakfast to exchange gifts, since they wanted to all be together and they had to find a place to do it. Hermione suggested they gather in the Room of Requirement for the exchange, so they all headed there once breakfast was finished.
The group of Gryffindors were the first to arrive. They nipped back to the common room to fetch the presents first then set out for the Room of Requirement. Once there, they requested a joint common room for the two houses and were thrilled to find it decorated in both houses colours for Christmas when they entered.
Hermione set about separating the gifts into piles based on the name tags. The others chuckled as she was essentially assigning everyone seats, placing each persons gift pile next to a seat.
The Slytherin's arrived shortly after, and Daphne and Pansy moved to help Hermione finish separating out the gifts while the boys sat themselves down and got comfy. Blaise had thought to bring some Butter Beers up from his stash in his dorm and handed out the bottles.
Once the girls were finished they sat themselves down, accepted a Butter Beer from Blaise, and began to relax a little more.
'So, how do we want to start this?' Blaise asked, taking a sip of his drink.
'How about we each open our gifts one at a time?' Hermione suggested. Everyone simply nodded in agreement.
'Ladies first,' Draco gestured to the girls.
'I'll go first,' Daphne spoke up, clearly excited to open her presents.
Her first gift was a charm bracelet from Pansy and Hermione. She then opened her gift from Draco and Harry to find a matching necklace.
'Thank you,' she gushed, immediately putting them on.
Next she opened up a bottle of her favourite perfume from Blaise and Neville, and finally a few of her favourite hair products from Ron and Theo.
'Thank you all,' she said as she put the paper aside to admire her products and spray some perfume on herself.
'You go next,' Hermione told Pansy, who didn't need telling twice.
Her first gift was a necklace and earring set from Hermione and Daphne, and her second gift was a matching bracelet from Draco and Harry. Like Daphne, she immediately put them on, thanking the boys.
Next she opened up an excellent make up kit from Blaise and Neville, and finally her favourite perfume from Ron and Theo.
'You've done well, boys,' she told them as she admired her new things. 'And thanks so much for these, girls,' she said as she gestured to her necklace and earrings.
It was Hermione's turn to open her gifts next. First was a necklace and matching bracelet from Daphne and Pansy. Again, like the other two, she put them on immediately. Second was an expensive looking perfume from Draco and Harry.
'We didn't know what your favourite perfume was, so we found a place that makes custom ones and told them you like books. They ran with it,' Harry told her.
She hesitated a moment before she sprayed some onto her wrist and gave a sniff.
'That smells amazing!' She praised.
'Thought you might like it,' Draco said smugly.
She sent him an eye roll before she moved onto her next set of gifts. From Blaise and Neville she received a couple of books on magical gardening and potion making, and from Ron and Theo, a set of wizarding story books.
'I remember you said you loved fictional stories as a kid, and thought you might like a set of wizarding ones. Those are some of the more popular ones a lot of people read to get you started,' Ron told her.
'And I remember you saying you'd love to start up your own garden with magical plants,' Neville told her.
'We thought the potions book went well with that, since you can use the plants for them, so it could help you decide which plants you might want to grow,' Blaise said.
'Thank you so much,' Hermione gushed, admiring her new books.
Next up to open their gifts was Draco. He received a broom care kit from Harry and Daphne and some new Quidditch protective gear from Pansy and Hermione.
'Thought it was time for you to start taking care of your own broom instead of having the house elves do it for you,' Harry laughed as Draco admired the kit.
'Shut it, Potter, you think I'd trust anyone but myself to take care of my broom?' Draco joked.
He next opened his gift from Blaise and Neville, which was a new travelling cloak. Draco admired the fabric for a few moments before giving a look of approval and thanking them before moving onto his final gift. It was a set of potion making books from Ron and Theo.
'Everyone forgets you're studious as well as too into Quidditch,' Theo told him.
'There's no such thing as "too into Quidditch",' Ron argued, 'but he's right that you're studious. You're in the library almost as much as Hermione.'
'For once we agree on something, Weasley. Thanks for the books, I'll make good use of these.'
He sat admiring the covers of them as Harry began opening his presents next.
From Ron and Draco, Harry received a new set of Quidditch protective gear, similar to Draco's, and from Blaise and Neville he received a book on Quidditch manoeuvres.
'This'll certainly come in use for the final games of the season,' he commented as he flicked through some of the pages.
'Blaise!' Draco chastised. 'As if you gave the enemy a book of ideas.'
'Sorry, mate. It was Neville's idea and I went with it.'
'And no one thought of it for me?' He huffed jokingly.
'Maybe you don't need it,' Blaise reassured him.
'Cause Gryffindor will win either way,' Neville joked.
'Oooooh! Fighting talk there Neville,' Blaise laughed as the Quidditch players in the room all tensed.
'Okay, let's move on before we get into an argument over Quidditch on Christmas Day,' Hermione rolled her eyes. 'What are your other presents, Harry?'
Harry opened his next gift from Daphne and Hermione, which was a calendar with a picture for each month. Each picture had Harry in it, all with one of the others in the room or other friends from the school. He also received a leather bound diary.
'I know how bad you are at keeping track of things. I thought the calendar would be a good addition to Grimmauld Place,' Hermione told him.
'And we figured you could do with somewhere to write down appointments and stuff for when you get into the working world after we graduate,' Daphne said.
'Thank you guys, they're brilliant,' Harry said as he admired the many pictures in the calendar. As with all other pictures in the Wizarding World, they were moving.
Finally, Harry opened his last gift from Theo and Pansy to reveal a new travelling cloak. Again, it was similar to the one Draco had been given.
'Thank you, it's fantastic,' he said as he admired it. 'I don't actually have one so this'll be good for when we graduate.'
Blaise was next to open his gifts. From Draco and Harry he received a pair of dragon hide boots.
'I know you've been wanting a pair for ages,' Draco told him.
'I have, thanks mate,' Blaise said.
Next, he received a bottle of his favourite cologne from Hermione and Daphne, and from Pansy and Neville he received a pair of dragon leather gloves.
'To match the boots, of course,' Pansy told him. Blaise nodded at her gratefully.
'Thank you all,' he said before he opened his final gift, which was ? From Ron and Theo.
Neville opened his gifts next. He received some protective gear for gardening from Draco and Harry, some books on Herbology from Hermione and Daphne, and some new gardening tools from Pansy and Blaise. Finally, he received another couple of books on exotic magical plants from Ron and Theo.
'We know you're really into Herbology and you intend to go into work with magical plants and stuff, so we figured all this stuff might come in handy, or at least be interesting,' Ron told him as he finished looking at his new books.
'They're all great, thank you,' Neville gushed.
They were almost finished with their presents now, with just Ron and Theo left to open them. Ron went next, leaving Theo to open his last.
Ron's first gift was a set of Chudley Canons tickets for one of their games next season from Draco and Harry.
'The other ticket is for me to go with you,' Harry told the ecstatic red head.
It took a few minutes for him to calm down before he opened his next gift from Hermione and Daphne, which was a new travelling cloak, again similar to those of Draco and Harry. He thanked them profusely before moving onto his two final gifts. He received a set of Chudley Canons robes from Blaise and Neville, and a cologne from Pansy and Theo.
'Hope it smells okay,' Theo told him as Ron sprayed a bit and took a sniff.
'Brilliant, mate,' Ron enthused before standing up to put on his new Chudley Canons robes. 'As are these,' he nodded to Blaise and Neville who both nodded back.
Finally it was Theo's turn to open his gifts. He received a new set of robes from Draco and Harry, and a new cologne from Hermione and Daphne, which he immediately sprayed himself in.
'I do love a good cologne,' he said with a wink as he moved onto his next gifts. From Blaise and Neville he received a set of books on Transfiguration.
'We know you're a fan of the subject, so thought you'd enjoy those,' Blaise told him.
'Excellent,' Theo said as he leafed through them quickly before moving onto his final gift, which was a new leather bound dairy, like the one Harry received, and a set of peacock feather quills from Pansy and Ron.
'I know how you like to stay organised,' Pansy told him.
'And I figured you'd appreciate the fine writing equipment,' Ron laughed as Theo admired the quills. He was silent for a minute more before he spoke again.
'Well, thank you everyone for these, they're all great,' Theo announced to the room.
'Yeah, mine too,' Draco spoke up.
Everyone else around the room agreed, all thanking everyone together.
'Cheers everyone,' Draco said as he stood up and placed his Butter Beer bottle in the middle of their circle. The others stood up and copied him.
'Cheers,' they chorused in response.
They spent the next twenty minutes admiring their gifts and finishing their drinks before they each started to gather their new things up to take back to their dorm rooms.
'Anyone up for going out into the snow for a bit?' Ron asked before they all filed out of the room.
'Not if it involves a snowball fight,' Daphne and Pansy chorused.
'Doesn't have to be. You guys can make snowmen if you want,' Blaise shrugged.
Everyone agreed, the girls convinced since they didn't have to join in with the boys snowball fight.
'Everyone meet in the grounds in half an hour?' Harry asked.
They all agreed as they left the Room of Requirement and headed back to their common rooms.
All in all, it had been a successful gift exchange.