Title: Tis The Season
Author: GrapeSmshr
Rated: PG13, just in case
Coupling: HP/SS slashy goodness
Disclaimer: Potter and Snape belong to JKR, but Harry and Sev belong to my heart...
Posted on: December 27, 2007
A/N: Happy belated X-mas! Ok, so I should technically have finished this fic by now, but… well... life gets in the way. I know all you guys know that. So I decided to put myself in gear and get this chapter cranked out! I've just been super busy with my new job, and school and whatnot… And my b-day was last week, and with the holidays it just makes things insane. I'm happy it's all almost over. So anyway, enough with the rant. Read on and enjoy!
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Chapter 6: Gifting
"So, what is it?" Hermione asked eagerly, holding up the simply wrapped package and eyeing it scrutinizingly.
"Open it and find out," Harry told her with a grin. "I wouldn't advise shaking it, though."
"Huh? What?" Ron's eyes widened at these words, as he had been vigorously shaking his gift from Harry. And if his gift was the same as Hermione's… He was almost scared to open it.
Ripping open the gift, Hermione squealed in delight. She had received a tin filled with different types of candies that Harry had made the Muggle way. She had only once gotten to taste his confections before, and she and Ron had instantly fallen in love with them. To have a ton of them all to herself was heaven on Earth. "Thank you, Harry!" She hugged him.
At seeing the tin's contents, Ron had opened his own gift and had proceeded to stuff his mouth full of the candies. "Yeah, thanks," he mumbled almost unintelligibly through his mouthful of chocolates.
"You're welcome," Harry laughed, amused at his friends' antics. He had gotten similar reactions from his other friends at their gifts, which were tins of different types of biscuits. The House-elves had been only too happy to let Harry borrow a corner of their kitchen to make his gifts.
So far everyone looked to be having a blast with their gifts. Harry had made sure that every person had gotten something; the students he noticed were not much for joining he had sent a tin of biscuits to—anonymously, of course. The last thing he wanted was an entourage of infatuated students following him around for the rest of the hols.
Harry had received many great gifts in kind. Ron had knitted him a jumper in Gryffindor colors. He figured that Ron had been so enthused about finally learning the spell that he decided to make use of all the hassle. Not that Harry was complaining; it was a pretty decent jumper.
From Hermione Harry had received a photo album of Harry, Ron, and herself throughout their years at Hogwarts. In the margins she had written jokes and funny stories about their adventures. The last page had a photo of them taken after the War, when they had finally found each other on the battlefield. They were embracing one another tightly, all three bloody and dirty and so happy that it was all over. Harry wasn't one to cry, but the photo left him misty-eyed. When he embraced Hermione to thank her for the gift, he had whispered, "I love you, you know."
"I love you, too," she returned with a watery smile before taking her leave to go find Blaise.
"So… did you finish that thing you've been working on?" Ron asked Harry.
"Yes; this morning, actually. I sent it with a school owl before we came here." It had taken Harry hours, but he had finally completed the object he had been working on for what felt like forever. Ron, while not understanding his feelings for the object's recipient, had been supportive nonetheless.
"He's not here," Ron observed, scanning the room. "Not that I expected him to be."
Harry hadn't expected him to be, either. That's why he had instructed the owl to take the gift down to the dungeons instead. He had been quite nervous, actually, which was why he decided not to deliver the gift in person. He wanted the meaning of the gift to sink in before he approached its new owner.
Noticing Harry's apprehension, Ron changed the subject. "So, when are the fireworks going to explode?"
Seeing as Harry kept no secrets from his friends, he had reluctantly admitted to them about his horrifying encounter with Malfoy—both of the encounters, actually. Ron showed his disgust, spewing out choice words that Harry wholeheartedly agreed with. While the redhead was sufficiently distracted by this, Harry and Hermione shared a laugh over how they had both been curious about what being snogged by Malfoy would be like. Harry had confided that it probably would have been enjoyable had the Slytherin not been a complete arse.
"Hedwig should be delivering it shortly." Harry had given her explicit instructions to drop the package and leave without trying to nick any food. When the idea was not readily accepted, Harry had promised to bring her a special meal after the gift exchange. Then and only then did Hedwig agree to not linger.
After a short while the snowy owl flew into the Hall, a large white envelope clutched in her talons. As she circled round the Slytherin table, all conversation tapered off. Of course everyone recognized Hedwig, what with her being the only owl of her kind at Hogwarts. They were all eager to see what Harry Potter was giving Draco Malfoy.
Clutching the envelope, the blonde winked conspiratorially at Harry. He then proceeded to carefully rip the white paper. When he peered inside, he pulled out a smaller red envelope. By the time realization dawned, it was too late.
The envelope split into a gaping mouth that shrieked in Harry's voice, "I snogged Harry Potter, and all I got was this lousy Howler!"
As the words repeated themselves, Draco's expression turned from confusion to horror to anger. He raised his wand and attempted to incinerate the offending thing before remembering that Howlers couldn't be destroyed. He shot Harry a murderous look as he stormed out of the Hall with the Howler trailing behind him, the shrieking being drowned out by the sound of applause and catcalls.
"That was awesome, mate!" Seamus patted Harry on the back.
Harry couldn't wipe the smirk off his face. It was totally worth telling the entirety of Hogwarts that he had—unwittingly—snogged Malfoy. Besides, for all everyone knew, he had just made it up to embarrass the Slytherin.
Hermione, who had scampered back over amidst all the drama, leaned in close. "I don't think he'll be propositioning you again anytime soon," she told him with a snicker.
Hopefully that was true. Malfoy could be a bit stubborn sometimes… Harry turned his attention to the Head table, his eyes drifting over the empty seat. He was relieved that Snape wasn't here for this excitement. While the message was not exactly cohesive to Harry's plan, the thought behind it hopefully superseded that fact. He had it on good authority that Snape thought Malfoy was an arrogant little twit. He had told Harry so during that rare time that they were on friendly terms. This information, he gathered, was not something that Snape would readily share with just anyone, since Draco was his godson. Harry took that to mean that he was trusted more than others on some level. The thought had warmed him at the time. Now it gave him hope that this…whatever they had budding… could be rekindled.
Now all he had to do was wait.
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It had arrived not ten minutes ago, via a school owl. He had immediately become suspicious and started performing every hex-revealing spell he knew. To his surprise, he detected nothing save a non-threatening thrum of magic that he couldn't quite place but knew he should.
His first guess was that the small package was sent by the headmaster, but Albus had presented his gift earlier—a pair of thick wool socks in obnoxiously clashing hues. Besides that, it had been wrapped in ridiculously patterned paper; this one was covered in simple brown packaging.
Well, he supposed there was no time like the present to see what was occupying the package. He hesitantly gripped the small parcel, pausing only briefly before starting to undo the wrapping. As he tugged the paper away, he was left with a small square box. When he opened the lid, his breath hitched.
In the box was a small gold medallion emblazoned with turquoise and kunzite pieces. He could literally feel the magic radiating off of it. Power. Healing. Protection. Love. Each thread of magic shone diligently on its own and intertwined tightly together. It was an intricately charmed token that must have taken months—possibly years--to perfect. Amulets were immensely difficult to make with even one magical element. To layer on four magical elements was, quite honestly, masterful work. And he knew exactly who had made it, for the magical signature saturated the gold piece.
But what he didn't understand was why it was sent to him, such a valuable and extraordinary gift. It completely contradicted the scene he had been witness to earlier. He was not one to be made a fool, and he wasn't about to sit around and wait for something to happen.
Gripping the box tightly, he stormed out of his room in search of one Harry Potter.
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Woohoo! And let the fun begin! I pretty much have this fic mapped out… It's just a matter of finding time to write the darn chapters! But I'll try my best, I swear! Cause the sooner I get this one finished, the sooner I can finish Misnomer, and the sooner I can start my new project (which you guys are gonna get a kick out of, I just know it). As a side note… I think this is the first year that I haven't worked on a fic specifically for the X-mas or New Year holiday… Well, I still have a few days… Maybe I can remedy that!
In the meantime, thank you for reading! And reviewing! And all of your support this year and the past years and all that jazz. You guys are so completely amazing that I can't even describe it in words. I love you all! Peace out, and I'll see ya in the coming '08!